Jason Bateman stars in a jet black comedy about middle-aged malaise while Jimmy Barnes opens up about his extraordinary career in this week’s must-watch TV.
DTF ST. LOUIS
NEW EPISODES MONDAYS, HBO MAX
There’s no denying that this jet black comedy makes for uncomfortable viewing sometimes – but it’s well worth sticking with. And for a show that takes its title from a hook-up app for married people, it’s also decidedly unsexy.
As a portrait of middle-aged malaise and the secrets of suburbia, however, it’s both fascinating and often very funny. Jason Bateman does what he does so well as the morally ambiguous, put-upon TV weatherman Clark, who seeks out the app as a cure for his bored married life and ropes in his new sign-language translator and bestie Floyd (David Harbour) as a fellow explorer.
But when Floyd ends up dead in a pool house beside some gay porn, and it’s revealed that Clark has been having an affair with his wife Carol (Linda Cardellini), there are serious questions to be answered about their bizarre love triangle.
Oscar-nominated veteran Richard Jenkins is also in top form as the grizzled and slightly baffled cop assigned to the case, who butts heads with his much younger and “porn positive” colleague Jodie (Joy Sunday).
JAMES WIGNEY
In a somewhat awkward case of art imitating life, this new drama sees David Harbour playing a loveable dude named Floyd whose secret online trysts are exposed in the most terrible of ways.
In real life that involved Harbour’s ex-wife Lily Allen’s explosive tell-all album West End Girl, but here the sordid truth slowly emerges after Floyd is found dead, next to a nude calendar and a can of Bloody Mary premix.
As sparring detectives Jodie Plumb and Donoghue Homer (Joy Sunday and Richard Jenkins) launch rival investigations they unearth a love triangle between dependable Floyd, local weatherman Clark Forrest and Floyd’s wife Carol (Linda Cardellini).
How and why did Floyd end up dead? And, more importantly, who loves who? These are just some of the questions you will be asking yourself as this terrific black comedy unfolds.
With Cardellini being predictably great, Bateman doing his usual schtick as the eager-to-impress, nice guy and Harbour once again brilliant as a loveable oaf, this is definitely a show to add to your watchlist.
SIOBHAN DUCK
CREATIVE TYPES
THURSDAY, 8.30PM, ABC
After a stack of autobiographical books and movies, there aren’t too many startling revelations about Jimmy Barnes in the third season opener of Virginia Trioli’s documentary series about some of the country’s great creative minds. But it’s always a pleasure to hang out with the Cold Chisel frontman as he reminisces about his extraordinary career, difficult upbringing and the hard-living days that nearly killed him. There’s also insight into his inspirations, glimpses inside his home studio and bulging notebook of ideas and confessions, and tributes from the likes of Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett and his old friend and colleague Don Walker.
FINAL SIREN: INSIDE THE AFL
PRIME VIDEO
The producers of the F1 series Drive To Survive have turned their gaze to Aussie rules and once again been granted extraordinary access to the parts of the sport that fans don’t usually get to see – both inside the change rooms and in the homes of some of the league’s top names.
It traces the fortunes of seven players in the lead-up to last year’s finals as they deal with various dramas on and off the field.
Melbourne’s Max Gawn is trying to lead his team through coaching crises, Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli is in the midst of contract wrangles, two-time Brownlow-winning Dockers legend Nat Fyfe is wrestling with injury and the prospect of retirement and Giants bad boy Toby Greene is trying to change the public perception of him as the game’s greatest villain.
THE HOSPITAL: IN THE DEEP END
THURSDAY, 8.30PM, SBS
Former MasterChef judge Matt Preston, DJ and actor Ruby Rose and tennis player turned commentator Jelena Dokic are the celebrities who have traded their day jobs for hospital scrubs in the second season of this excellent and sobering documentary.
The trio join frontline healthcare workers in St Vincent’s hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne, placed in a different department that has a personal connection to them for each of the three episodes.
For Preston, who lost his mother to dementia two years ago and brother to epilepsy four decades ago, his time in the geriatric and neurology wards are the most emotionally challenging – but all come out of the experience with a sense of awe at the dedication of the hospital staff as well as frustration that more isn’t being done to properly resource them.
AUSTRALIAN FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX
FROM FRIDAY, 11.30AM, CHANNEL 10 AND 10 PLAY
After blowing the chance last season to become Australia’s first Formula One champion in 45 years, all eyes will be on hometown hero Oscar Piastri and his revamped McLaren at the first race of the 2026 season this weekend.
The Mercedes and Ferraris have looked mighty impressive in testing though and will take some beating, as will Piastri’s teammate and defending champ Lando Norris.
Channel 10’s commentary over the weekend, leading up to the big race at 3pm on Sunday, will be hosted by Scott Mackinnon, alongside F1 great Damon Hill, commentators Tom Clarkson and Richard Craill and guest expert Guenther Steiner.
BLUE MURDER MOTEL
SATURDAY, ABC, 7.30PM
Lovers of cosy crime shows will be best suited to this middling antipodean entry to the very well-stocked genre. Set in New Zealand, and with a definite Death In Paradise vibe, it stars Michala Banas and Brett Tucker as former Australian detectives who have retired from the force for a slower life running in a slightly shabby hotel in a sleepy seaside town. Naturally, when there’s a suspicious death of one of their guests, they can’t resist their sleuthing instincts and take over the investigation from the rookie local cop who shows up in boardies and thongs. While ingenious and ultimately effective, their methods are questionable at best – and sticklers might say also highly unlikely to stand up in court.
HOME AND AWAY
MONDAY, 7PM, CHANNEL 7
It’s been a decade since tough guy River Boy Darryl “Brax” Braxton – the role that earned Stephen Peacocke a couple of Logies – faked his death after several run-ins with the law and then fled Summer Bay with his great love Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) and son Casey.
As revealed in this special run of episodes produced in partnership with Tourism Western Australia, it turns out he’s been laying low on a remote cattle station, giving rise to sweeping vistas and stunning landscapes clearly designed to lure holiday makers.
It all feels a bit tacked on compared to the dark and serious domestic violence storyline unfolding back in the Bay, but diehard devotees will love seeing the fan favourites back and discovering whether Brax can truly escape his dodgy past.
YOUNG SHERLOCK
PRIME VIDEO
Having already had a crack at the older version of Sherlock Holmes in two movies with Robert Downey Jr in the lead role and Jude Law as his loyal offsider Dr. John Watson, director Guy Ritchie turns back the clock for a look at the formative years of the brilliant and beloved private detective. Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays the amateur investigator as a 19-year-old who is sprung from prison by his older brother Mycroft (Max Irons) and then put to work as a lowly servant at an elite Oxford University college, where he hones the spectacular powers of deduction for which he will become famous. Ritchie’s frenetic direction, rocking soundtrack and frequent punch-ups might have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spinning in his grave, but it’s all fabulous, if mindless, fun.
#TRENDING
NEVE CAMPBELL
STREAMING, TUBI
After sitting out the last horror show due in protest over the paltry pay, Neve Campbell has reprised her iconic role as Sidney Prescott in the seventh instalment of the Scream franchise. While there’s no doubting that (aside from Jamie Lee Curtis) there’s no-one in the business as good at screaming and surviving attacks from knife-wielding assailants as Campbell, she’s also got a lot of other tricks up her sleeve.
And when she wasn’t trying to outrun Ghostface, Campbell found time to appear in this 2007 British workplace comedy.
The Party of Five star plays Abi, an aspiring actress who moonlights as a waitress in a second-rate London restaurant.
The action takes places over a single night where Abi and the other staff deal with rats, unruly diners and a Hollywood celebrity.
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