Christmas is a wonderful time for family bonding. That is, until you can’t stand the sight of your relos any longer and need to retreat into a dark corner of the house to be alone, never to emerge again until Boxing Day rolls around.
Look, there’s no judgement here, it’s happened to the best of us.
Instead of just sulking over whatever passive aggressive comment your aunt just made, why not distract yourself with some seriously A+ telly? Yep, we know you’ve seen Big Little Lies, Mindhunter, Stranger Things and all those other mega-hyped shows of 2017 (as rounded up in our end of year list).
But do a nice thing and give a chance to the poor little shows that, while you may have heard of them, didn’t come with Game of Thrones-level hype when they dropped. Promise you won’t regret it.
The Punisher
There’s been a bunch of these Marvel / Netflix shows and not all of them hit the mark. Both of 2017’s early offerings, the drawn-out Iron Fist and rather dumb The Defenders didn’t really wow viewers, which might have done The Punisher (which dropped in November) a disservice. It is far superior to both of those series put together – in fact, it’s up there with the best Marvel shows Netflix has on offer. The brutal and bloody tale follows our semi-reluctant vigilante Frank Castle (an excellent Jon Bernthal) as he finds himself mixed up in some serious government conspiracy fuckery. Bernthal is supported by a top-notch cast including Ben Barnes, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Amber Rose Revah.
Ultimate Beastmaster
If you frothed Channel Nine‘s ratings juggernaut Australian Ninja Warrior then give this show a whirl because it’s, dare we say it… even better. Over two seasons it pits competitors from 18 different countries up against each other and each nation has its own pair of hosts taking on commentary duties. The course is more insane than Ninja Warrior so the physical feats are impressive, but it’s the hosts that make it. One of the USA hosts in the first season is your boy Terry Crews, and the Italian duo in season two are just wild. They film the whole series in one day, and I’m pretty sure these two chug huge amounts of Pinot Grigio for hours because by episode 9 they’re completely off chops. This is the ideal show to watch after stuffing your face with Xmas food and making your annual vow to become fit next year.
SMILF
If you’re into supporting the work of extremely talented and funny women, then you’ve gotta hit up SMILF. Created by Frankie Shaw, who also writes, directs, produces and stars in the show, it’s a super funny take on the life of a sassy South Boston single mum named Bridgette… hence the name SMILF, geddit? The series also stars ya girl Connie Britton (she of Friday Night Lights and Nashville fame), as well as the legendary Rosie O’Donnell (as Bridgette’s mum) and Aussie Samara Weaving. There’s only 7 episodes on Stan so far, so you can binge it in no bloody time at all. Oh, and just look how cute Bridgette’s son Rafi (Miguel Gomez) is:
No Activity
For once America has picked up an Aussie show and done a pretty damn good job of it. The Stan original No Activity, which premiered back in 2015, was adapted for US audiences by Will Ferrell‘s production company and the funnyman serves as an executive producer. Borrowing a bit from the Brooklyn Nine Nine school of making police business funny makes for super entertaining viewing, as do the slew of guest stars including JK Simmons, Jason Mantzoukas (a recurring star on Brooklyn), Jake Johnson and Ferrell himself. It’s also a bonus to see Aussie boy Patrick Brammall, who stars in the local version, also heading up this one.
The Deuce
Okay hi this is coming from an extremely biased place, because I am a long-term James Franco fan and there’s bloody TWO of him in this show. Like, he plays twins so it’s like that time Tom Hardy played twins in a movie and my heart almost couldn’t take it. Anyway, this show, a HBO one that airs on Foxtel‘s Showcase, is just highly enjoyable even without the double Franco situation. Co-created by David Simon, an ex cop who also gifted us with classic TV series The Wire, it follows the rise of the porn industry in 1970s New York and it’s just a wild ride. Franco plays Vincent and Frankie Martino, twin bros who become fronts for the Mafia, while the totally excellent Maggie Gyllenhaal (seriously, has she ever been bad in anything?) plays Candy, a sex worker who decides to get in on this new porn thing that everyone’s talking about. There’s only 8 eps, and trust me you’ll be hanging out for season two once you’re done.
