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Pick of the week
Nobody Wants This
The first series of this sparkling romcom about Kristen Bell’s sex podcaster Joanne and Adam Brody’s hot rabbi Noah was given real spice by its sense of jeopardy. The pair were obviously made for each other but could their union survive the cultural realities underpinning their lives? It’s time to find out. Will Noah’s family accept the relationship continuing on an inter-faith basis? How will Joanne handle Shabbat? (“Ooh! I love how shiny this bread is!”). Can Joanne feasibly continue with her famously plain-speaking podcast? Nobody Wants This insistently carries an important message about tolerance – but the breezy dialogue and crackling chemistry help it slip down easily.
Netflix, from Thursday 24 October
Harlan Coben’s Lazarus
Prolific novelist Harlan Coben has a sideline in cheerfully absurd TV potboilers. This series – co-written with Danny “Brassic” Brocklehurst – contains a familiar Coben trope; a visitation from the dead as a metaphor for buried trauma. It stars a moody Sam Claflin as Joel Lazarus (see what they did there?), a forensic psychiatrist whose father Jonathan (Bill Nighy) takes his own life. Soon, Joel is beset with phantoms: memories of his past and victims of unsolved murders become intertwined in his fevered brain. It has the good sense to entirely commit to its own concept but it’s utterly ridiculous all the same.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 22 October
Happy Town: Pumpkin Party
Former Spice Girl Mel B has found a new niche, narrating this kids’ TV show, with a primary coloured, precisely gridded look that gives it the air of a retro platform-style computer game. The series is cute enough in its own way, following the adventures of Pep the hedgehog and his ladybird pal Tabitha as they keep the Happy Town sign glowing. However, this Halloween special should see the erstwhile Scary Spice coming into her own – as befits the season, expect games, pumpkins and some age-appropriate, extremely mild spookiness.
Sky Kids, from Monday 20 October
Mob War: Philadelphia vs the Mafia
In 1993, there was a power vacuum at the very top of the Philadelphia mafia. This documentary series examines the brutal battle for control that took place between old-school mobster John Stanfa and cocky young upstart Joey Merlino. It hears from the mafia soldiers implicated in perpetrating this carnage but also from the FBI agents – including some who worked undercover, at massive personal risk – who were tasked with ending the war. There’s little of the tawdry glamour sometimes associated with mob life on display here; it’s a grim and gritty story.
Netflix, from Wednesday 22 October
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The Monster of Florence
Bursting with slightly inappropriate jump-scares and unashamedly expository dialogue (“We’ve got to stop him now!” says one detective), this florid Italian drama tells the story of the titular serial killer who terrorised Florence between 1968 and 1985. The murderer preyed on couples and he’s thought to be responsible for 16 deaths. The sluggish police operation is vaguely reminiscent of the British police force’s struggles to capture Peter Sutcliffe – and despite two men being convicted, there remains some doubt that the true killer was ever caught.
Netflix, from Wednesday 22 October
Entrepreneurs
Talentless, overprivileged, self-important millennials are the butt of the joke in this Spanish comedy. Gonzalo, the loser son of a millionaire, joins forces with self-styled “entrepreneurship guru” Jacobo to establish a co-working space called No Comfort Zone. It contains tiny basketball hoops, Segways and all the other signifiers of hipsterish dilettantism – but might there be a dark side? Gonzalo’s sister Julia thinks so, but can she stop her brother from making a fool of himself? The stakes never seem quite high enough to make any of this matter.
Disney+, from Thursday 23 October
Bordertown
This Finnish series occupies a space between a crime thriller and a bleak psychological drama about a disintegrating family. At its heart is Det Kari Sorjonen who, it might not be a surprise to learn, is both gifted and troubled. After a domestic tragedy during season two, there’s an increased focus on Kari’s desire to do right by his kids. However, the town they call home continues to be plagued by crimes ranging from poisonings to the reign of a dangerous cult leader. The self-consciously dark tone can drag but the villainy is entertainingly melodramatic.
Channel 4, from Friday 24 October
