But amid all the hype and anticipation,you may have missed just how many new and largely original Australian titles have also recently dropped,or are about to. We’ve picked a few of the best to tide you over between your weeklySuccession watch parties.
From Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe to Wellmania and Class of ’07,it’s a big month for Australian comedy.ABC/Netflix/Paramount
Class of ’07 (out now on Prime Video)
The perfect show for fans ofYellowjackets,warped noughties’ nostalgia and gross-out Aussie humour (the first ep features a bird shitting in someone’s mouth and multiple scenes that take place on or around something called “the fingering bench”).
Class of ’07is a high-concept comedy about a group of women trapped at their 10-year high-school reunion at the end of the world.
The action all starts when an apocalyptic tidal wave hits our shores but,as the show’s creator-writer-director,it’s not exactly like what you see in the movies. Instead,like real-life climate change disasters tend to do,it all very casually creeps up on us. And both the drama and comedy are propelled by the decade-old and deeply passive-aggressive relationships of these often grating Millennials who must now band together to survive.
AloneAustralia (out now on SBS)
Billed as “the ultimate test of human will”,Alone is undeniably the most hardcore reality show on TV. The series,which has been running in the US since 2015,follows 10 contestants as they individually try to survive – with – in the wild for as long as they possibly can.
The game ends when one person is left standing (people can “tap out” and get evacuated at any time,usually at their absolute mental or physical breaking point). And,until then,you have no way of knowing how many people remain in the game.
Though the show has had previous international versions in Denmark and Norway,this is Australian survivalists’ first chance to get in on the (horrifying) action.
The season takes place over a winter in a remote area of western Tasmania,the winner will take home $250,000 and – if past US seasons are any indication – everyone else will go home with.
Wellmania (out now on Netflix)
A comedy for everyone whose eyes roll back in their skull whenever Gwyneth Paltrow starts.Wellmania is a new local Netflix Original following a fictional Aussie food writer’s chaotic attempts – from cleanses to cupping and colonics – to improve her health and win back her green card to secure her dream job in New York.
The show is based on a non-fiction and is co-created by Delaney and Benjamin Law (The Family Law),but most viewers will be drawn in by the promise of Celeste Barber as the lead.
This is the biggest TV role to date for the Australian comedian and,and the perfect vessel for the “everywoman” persona that made her so popular on Instagram.
Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe (starts April 12 on ABC)
Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe,which loosely revolves around three best mates running a struggling Melbourne cafe,is Aunty Donna’s first show on the ABC.
It’s a surprising fact considering the beloved viral sketch group first hooked up with the national broadcaster in 2014 (to work on aFresh Blood web series) and only got their first TV gig years later on Netflix in the US (Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun,released in 2020). But it’s exciting nonetheless – and this long-awaited series definitely delivers on the local laughs. Think:Richard Roxburgh playing a barrister named “Rake” (no,not Cleaver Greene) who gets in a fight about being “team tomato” while watching old replays ofReady Steady Cook.
Other notable cameos in the proudly absurd six-part series include Pia Miranda,Shaun Micallef,Miranda Tapsell,Steven Oliver and Nazeem Hussain.
Turn Up The Volume (out now on ABC iview)
This new series on ABC ME recently earned and was called “a rare production tailored to adolescents that’s also engaging for adults”.
Set in Footscray,Turn Up The Volumeis inspired by the 2019 documentary, which followed Melbourne’s first – an event designed to “empower girls,trans and non-binary youth” through music. The fictionalised version is just as sweet and fun,while also sophisticated enough to meaningfully explore issues like social anxiety,online bullying,and gender expression.
As actor:“The older I get,the more I realise you don’t just learn from your elders ... you learn from people younger than you.”
Find out the next TV,streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees..
