(US) Network TV is back!

And my predictions for the new era of US 40 (odd) minute dramas and shorter comedies.

It all started with the return of FOX's Animal Control for a fifth season. The series has moved to Sunday's or Monday's where it streams on BINGE alongside return Aussie crime series, High Country.

Animal Control is a quiet achiever. Lead by, Joel McHale as Frank Shaw, the series has entered its fifth season with no idea of an episode count. Nine episodes was the lowest episode count, with Twelve the highest. I reckon this series will head into 2027, with roughly ten or twelve episodes this run. I also predict a sixth season. Filmed in Vancouver, this seems to be a low production, sitting in nicely with The Simpsons, Grimsburg and Universal Basic Guys on FOX's Sunday.

My other two FOX series return in 2027. Memory of a Killer was a big surprise last TV season. The other is the new reboot of Baywatch. Unlike Animal Control, both will stream on STAN.

My prediction is Memory of a Killer has a limited storyline. Patrick Dempsey is a TV favourite, however, this show can't run forever if you know the storyline. Baywatch could be Rescue HI-Surf V2.0. Time will tell for both. But I am not hopeful for either. Apparently Baywatch launches in January.

The other poor performing network, The CW's last original concludes on STAN tomorrow. All American ends its eighth season run tomorrow night.

RJ Decker has started on ABC, however Disney+ seem to be holding it. Reason being, it's apparently only a seven episode second season. So bring on a Christmas binge.

ABC has filled its schedule to the brim with The Rookie, Will Trent and High Potential to return in 2027. High Potential is the most likely ABC series to secure another season. RJ Decker though, could be heading to the scrap heap if it doesn't get any buzz.

ABC also has long running 9-1-1 and spin-off 9-1-1: Nashville incoming next month. I'm not sure if the OG series, or the spin-off will call it a day this year. But with a new Grey's spin-off incoming, ABC needs to clear a spot on it's schedule, or reduce episode counts for one of it's Thursday series.

Successful ABC comedy, Abbott's Elementary, is almost guaranteed to return for another run too. Disney+ almost always release this in two batches. One at the end of the year, one at the end of the TV season.

Last but not least, CBS are holding NCIS Sydney to March (or so) next year. With Fire Country, Y:Marshalls, Sherriff Country and a pile of other series returning next month. Apparently Fire Country, has a reduced episode count to only thirteen episodes this season. Meaning it'll end earlier this season than previous. Another Country spin-off is in the works. This time a medical one. Maybe we will get a short run February/March 2027.

My prediction is NCIS: Sydney may solve its last Sydney based crime in the new year. The other three CBS series on my radar (all streaming on Paramount+) will most likely be renewed. 

CBS have the most well rounded roster, with any underperforming series needing to make way for their one to two new series per new TV season.

Look out for my All American wrap tomorrow or Wednesday and potentially RJ Decker wrap in my next TV quarter series.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Fightland - Season One

When newly crowned British-born heavyweight boxing champion Duke Kilroy sees his brother die in a frenzied assault, Duke snaps. 

After spending eight years in a U.S. prison, he returns home to London seeking vengeance against the man he believes set him up – criminal kingpin, and his former promoter, Kingsley Marshall. But Kingsley has disappeared, leaving his children and his wife, Joy (the love of Duke’s life), to pick up the pieces. 

Working with a cartel desperate to control London’s drug market, Duke begins a high-risk game to infiltrate Kingsley’s empire and destroy it from within. And when Kingsley returns, Duke will take his revenge.

Fightland is a boxing/crime drama co-pro between Starz & Sky Atlantic, streaming on Stan back in Australia. Created by 50 Cent, this takes 50, outside of the Power universe. However, Fightland and (any) Power series remains present here.

Starrring, Howard Charles as Maduka "Duke" Kilroy, Nicholas Pinnock as Kingsley Marshall, Deborah Ayorinde as Joy Marshall, Charles Babalola as Ezekiel "Zeke" Marshall, Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Cebella "Cece" Marshall, Tahirah Sharif as Kim Harper, Tyler Conti as Justin "Jay" Hall, Richard Pepple as Gary "Gazzer" Kilroy and lastly, Sylvester Akinrolabu as Joseph "The Jackhammer" Minott.

Starz had a short but sweet go with former sports Heels, will Fightland also be short lived by the Power network?

P-Valley concludes later this year after years on hiatus, Outlander has found it's spin-off, while new spin-off from S.W.A.T has just commenced.

Starz is a funny old premium network. Whilst relying heavily on the Power and Outlander franchise, few other shows outside of these universes gets much of a go.

With Power: Origins on the way, you almost feel like Fightland was a filler series as we wait for more Power, along with leading into the new Outlander spin-off.

This is no UK Mobland. Whilst it has a strong start, it just became another by the numbers, crime, everyone dies series.

I would be surprised if they hit renew on this UK co-pro. There is more chance of the cheaper co-pro, The Couple Next Door.

Until next time, the long weekend is almost here.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - You're Killing Me - Season One

OMG fun. Six episode binge, You're Killing Me on Stan, is just what I needed this week. Set in a quaint New England colonial town, You're Killing Me follows bestselling novelist (Brooke Shields) who forms an unlikely alliance with an aspiring writer and podcaster (Amalia Williamson) to find the killer of a close friend.

You're Killing Me also stars The Flash vet, Tom Cavanagh. Produced by Acorn TV, the series has been renewed for a second 6-episode season. Filming for season two has started through to November, with Toronto among its production locations.

Acorn TV said that during its first ten days the program had become the service's number-one series launch to date in subscriber acquisition and viewership.

You're Killing Me follows bestselling mystery novelist Allison "Allie" Chandler (Shields), who teams with aspiring writer and podcaster Andrea "Andi" Walker (Williamson) to investigate murders in the fictional Maine town of Founders' Cove, while Cavanagh plays Jack Kerrigan, the town's police detective.

The first season also followed Allie's developing relationship with Jack and Andi's search for information about her mother, who disappeared when Andi was a child.

This was like Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries and every other whodunnit, however, with the "boomer" Shields vs millennials Williamson, it does make for fun TV.

Also Shields, really has fun with it. It looks like she really enjoys the series. The season also ends, really teasing more fun to come.

If (like me) you need some new comfort viewing, this is it. I had a real Stan week, with Fightland also concluding yesterday afternoon. All American concluding its (long) eight season run, Tuesday night.

We are close to the end of the Winter be Bingeing 26' TV series. A RATED list is coming soon. Stay cool today, Sydney!

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Good American Family - Season One

Good American Family is an American true crime drama anthology series. 

The first season is based on the adoption by Kristine (Ellen Pompeo) and Michael Barnett (Mark Duplass) of Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid), a child with dwarfism whom the Barnetts decide to abandon after she starts to display peculiar behaviour, falsely claiming she had been an adult pretending to be a child to justify doing so. 

Good American Family premiered on Hulu/Disney+ last March. The first season received generally mixed reviews from critics. In August, the series was renewed for a second season, which will focus on Lorena Bobbitt.

Told from multiple points of view, as a means to explore issues of perspective, bias, and trauma, this compelling drama is inspired by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism. 

But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is. As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom.

So I am no Grey's Pompeo mega fan. But this was addictive TV.

It felt a little like Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's story I watched in Hulu's The Act.

If you like true crime, this has dark twists and turns. You see Pompeo in a whole new way. I have no idea who to believe after watching this eight episodes. Bring on season two I say.

Anthology series seem to be all the rage right now! See you next time.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Lioness - Season Three

In season three, as hidden networks, foreign operatives, and personal betrayals collide, Joe walks the line between duty and home as unseen forces circle her world, leaving her to reckon with a war that now reaches into every part of her life.

Lioness, also known as Special Ops: Lioness, created by Taylor Sheridan streams with his other series (except Yellowstone - on Stan) on Paramount+. Back in October last year, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered back at the start of August.

With an all-star cast including executive Producer and Oscar Winner Zoe Saldaña, Oscar Winner Morgan Freeman, Emmy® Nominee Michael Kelly and Executive Producer and Oscar Winner Nicole Kidman.

Damn what a cast!

This season really belongs to Zoe Saldaña. She owns the eight episodes. The drama, the suspense, the open ended finale. Bring on a fourth season. There is no news yet, however, the more people I talk to, the more are discovering Lioness, for the grit, the drama, the suspense. It's like a whole new Homeland era.

If you are a little behind this Paramount+ premium title, don't read ahead of the trailer! You have been warned.

With NSA support, Kyle tails lobbyist Dmitri Sokolov, suspected of involvement in the kidnapping. 

Petrov asserts Joe’s kidnapping was not authorised by Russia, and confirms to Mullins that Yurimov’s return will help ease tensions. 

Renat meets with Sokolov in a D.C. bistro to arrange passage out of the country. Joe orders the team to engage, conflicting with NSA orders to detain. Renat executes Sokolov before being shot dead, but the visiting Foreign Minister of Senegal and her security get killed in the crossfire, and Tex and Randy are injured. 

When retrieving Yurimov from GTMO Camp Delta, Alex, the handler Kyle imprisoned, recognises Joe from the contract offer he declined and promises details about Renat's benefactors for his freedom. 

Yurimov tells Joe that Iran has more personal reasons to target her than Ukraine, and not to underestimate how many people hate the US. 

Alex provides further intel implicating Iran via their proxy KSS, but Joe discovers Balakin has already been killed. Joe finds her home empty with a for sale sign outside. 

It is revealed that Aaliyah masterminded the kidnapping. Now married to a wealthy man in Qatar, she orders another attempt, wanting Joe to be extracted so she can kill the whole Lioness team when they come to rescue her.

The ending really opens us up to the future of Lioness. Let's hope that Taylor Sheridan's new NBC deal does not impact a fourth season being developed.

NOT another streaming Movie - Resident Evil

Resident Evil based on the Resident Evil video game franchise by Capcom.

I never saw the original films, this reboot follows the failure of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and the cancellation of the 2022 Netflix television series. 

The reboot, has grossed $26 million at the box office and received positive reviews, becoming the highest-rated film based on a video game on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. Scoring well over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was actually a really fun film.

From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) comes a thrilling, and terrifying reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. 

In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. 

With a small cast alongside Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser also star.

Abrams really carries the action, in this first person horror, survival film. The action moves swiftly over the just over an hour and half. I enjoyed this film. Pure popcorn escapism.

The movie moves so fast, before you know it, the end credits are screening. So if you are into video games, horror or action films. With a side of horror, this is for you.

I may go back and watch some old Resident Evil films.

Speaking of video games, man I am waiting for Street Fighter! Bring it on!

For Resident Evil, 4 Stars right up in here!

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat

Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, streaming now on SBS on demand, after moving from ABC iView. So now you get multiple Allianz ads per episode.

Man their ads are repetitive! I have to say, I keep banging on about this but they are bad.

The series returned for a third season in June, titled Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, based on the second novel. The series has been renewed for a fourth season titled Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned, based on the third novel. 

Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac / Thomas Pitt, Aussie, Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt, and Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy,  reprise their roles in the season three. Jennifer Ehle, Damien Atkins, Ella Ballentine, Jeanine Serralles, and Christopher Heyerdahl, Sheila Atim was later cast as Akasha, the mother of all vampires and the title character of the third book The Queen of the Damned in October, while Noah Reid, Ryan Kattner, Seamus Patterson and Sarah Swire joined the cast as Lestat's band members. Whilst Amaka Umeh was announced in the role of Dee Pharma, a member of Lestat's entourage.

So it sounds like we will see loads more of Sheila Atim in season four. We will have to wait though. Mayfair Witches will return in 2027, so until then, no more Ann Rice as Talamasca: The Secret Order, was cancelled after one season.

So how does episode seven go down? If like me, you are cheap and refuse to pay for AMC in Australia and wait for SBS, don't read ahead unless you have watched all seven, musical episode. Yes season three goes a little musical. I know right.

 

While Daniel carries Lestat's head to a bowling alley to allow him to slowly die due to separation from his body, Lestat's subconscious is tormented by visions of Magnus, Gabriella, and all his fledglings, who force him to confront all his failings, resulting in him eventually coming to a point of self-acceptance. 

Armand keeps Louis' severed head restrained and tries to force him to admit that he was in the wrong for the failure of their relationship, revealing in the process that he found and hired Regina to get close to Louis to manipulate him; Louis eventually gives a heartfelt apology for not being able to truly love Armand, causing him to relent and restore Louis' head to his body. 

Raglan retrieves Lestat's head from Daniel, revealing that the Talamasca want the Great Conversion to happen as a means of population control. Once restored to his body and reunited with Louis, Lestat confronts his mother and refuses to perform the concert. 

In a flash forward, Lestat looks out over a ruined city as he reflects on his part in Akasha's rise and the subsequent mass death.

So season four is all set up. Will there be some Easter Eggs in the next season of Mayfair Witches? Time will tell. Up next week. Fightland and Lioness conclude.