New TV for the autumn

Autumn always sees a flood of new TV shows and this year is no different. But because there are more streaming platforms and more TV channels than ever before the flood is turning into a deluge. There's way too much to watch so here's 10 I think will be worth giving a go at least. Ya I know it's nearly all American but one thing that country does well is good TV. When possible I'll give info on how to watch and I won't judge when people decide to go off the beaten track to watch either......

The Romanoffs

Diane Lane, Corey Stoll, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Eckhart, Clea Duvall, Noah Wylie, Isabella Hubert and many more star in this story of a group of people claiming to be descended from The Romanoffs, royalty long thought decimated in the 1918 Russian uprising. From the pen of Matthew Weiner who created Mad Men. Even the description of this one oozes class. Amazon Prime in October.

Narcos : Mexico

A old show but one rebooting itself for Season 4. This time instead of Colombia we travel to 1980's Mexico to see the devastating effect the drug cartels have on the country and it's psyche. The brilliant Michael Peña (above) plays a DEA agent charged with infiltrating the Guadalajara cartel. If it's anything like the 3 seasons before it, it should be great. This will be on Netflix soon.

Forever

June and Oscar have been married for ages and things are getting stale. So they decide to do something about it. This new comedy sounds like a million before it but Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen are two brilliant comedians so I've a feeling this will be something special. Amazon Prime in september.

Jack Ryan

Tom Clancy's series of Jack Ryan novels comes to TV with this Amazon show that's just debuted online. This time Jack is played by John Krasinski of The Office fame and is joined by Wendell Pierce as Admiral James Greer. I've seen 2 episodes of this. Its solid, crunchy entertainment and one that will fill that 24/Homeland shaped hole in your viewing. Amazon Prime from the 31st of August.

America To Me

A documentary set around a high school in Chicago and a microcosmic look at education, race and the general state of modern day America. This one comes from Steve James who made the phenomenal documentary Hoop Dreams and early word on this is saying it's eye opening and unmissable stuff. Most likely Sky Atlantic.

Kidding

Jim Carrey returns to TV properly for the first time in 24 years. Here he plays Mr Pickles, the friendly face of a famous TV show for kids who's personal life is slowly falling apart around him. And there's the brilliant Catherine Keener beside him, a brilliant actress who is ridiculously underused. This looks like it will be dark but funny. Hopefully leaning more towards the latter. Starting in September. Probably Sky Atlantic.

Mayans MC

If you liked Sons Of Anarchy you'll like this. Kurt Sutter's follow up TV show is a spin off of SOA set in the same universe but this time focussing on a Mexican biker gang called The Mayans. Hopefully it will be a lot more streamlined than the bloated beast Sons became in it's latter years. The always great Edward James Olmos is a regular and Ireland's own Sarah Bolger stars too. Starting next week. No idea where it will screen here yet.

The First

Loads of big film stars are appearing on the small screen this year and the latest is Sean Penn in this story of the first manned mission to Mars and the astronauts partaking in the perilous journey. This looks quality but hopefully it won't be too earnest. Channel 4 are showing this next month.

Dead Lucky

Rachel Griffiths who was so good as Brenda Chenowith in Six Feet Under returns to the small screen in this Australian miniseries about an obsessed detective. It's only 4 episodes but the best thing about a miniseries is there's no filler, it's all story with no padding. No idea where this will be shown/streamed. 

The Cool Kids

It's always good to have one old fashioned sitcom on the list and this is it. All comedy set in an old folk's home from the creators of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia about 3 old boys who think they are the business until a new arrival rattles them. How can it go wrong? I can see this turning up on E4.