Pop CultureJuly 22, 2024

New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week

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We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

If you love a fantasy drama: Time Bandits (Apple TV+, July 24)

The highly anticipated TV remake of the 1981 fantasy film is here, and it arrives with some big names: Taika Waititi! Jemaine Clement! Lisa Kudrow! Rachel House! Filmed in New Zealand, Time Bandits follows an 11-year-old boy named Kevin who discovers his wardrobe is actually a portal through time. He joins a ragtag group of thieves and criminals as they zip through time and space, stealing treasures from different historical periods. The 10 episode series is written and directed by Waititi and features lots of recognisable New Zealand locations, including Wellington pretending to be 1920s New York.

If you love a dark comedy: The Decameron (Netflix, July 25)

Set in ye olde 1348 and based on a 14th century book written by a bloke called Giovanni Boccaccio, Netflix’s new series will bring the laughs, despite nearly everyone dying from the plague. The dark comedy features an all-star cast including Tony Hale (Veep), Zosia Mamet (Girls) and Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls), who play a motley set of aristocrats and servants who visit an Italian country house to wait out the plague with plenty of wine and sex. It’s like Love Island in the 14th century, because as we all know when new bombshells enter the villa, everything starts to go wrong. Looks absolutely bonkers, in a very good way.

If you love a behind-the-scenes documentary: Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (Netflix, July 24)

Netflix is proving itself as the place to go for engrossing documentary series, and Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is its latest winner. The series looks at the troubled history of Ron Perlman, the influential music manager who launched the careers of some of the biggest boy bands of the 90s, including NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. He was also a major scam artist, conning a lot of people out of a lot of money and exploiting the talent he was supposedly looking after. Expect plenty of shocking secrets, as well as lots of iconic 90s tunes.

If you love a British thriller: Keeping Faith (TVNZ+, July 23)

If you’ve finished The Jetty (new to Neon) and are looking for your next British drama fix, try Keeping Faith, a Welsh thriller that came out in 2018 but still holds strong today. Faith (Eve Myles) is a small-town lawyer on maternity leave when her husband leaves for work one morning, and never comes home. He vanishes into thin air, setting Faith and her trusty yellow raincoat on a perplexing search that reveals many secrets about the man she thought she knew. Wales has never looked better, and all three seasons are available on TVNZ+.

The rest

Netflix

Eve (July 22)

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (July 24)

Resurrected Rides (July 24)

Kleo S2 (July 25)

The Decameron (July 25)

Tokyo Swindlers (July 25)

Australia Day (July 26)

8 (July 26)

House of Gah (July 26)

My Little Pony Movie (July 26)

Non Negotiable (July 26)

The Bank (July 26)

The Dragon Prince Mystery of Avaros S6 (July 26)

The Inseparables (July 26)

TVNZ+

Keeping Faith (July 23)

Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup (July 24)

Glastonbury 2024 (July 24)

From Dusk Till Dawn (All episodes, July 26)

Cats (July 27)

McDonald and Dodds (July 28)

ThreeNow

Prosecuting Evil with Kelly Siegler (July 22)

Surgeon’s: At the Edge of Life S3 (July 24)

Couple to Throuple (July 25)

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way S3 (July 27)

Neon

Ramy Youseff: More Feelings (July 22)

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee (July 23)

Extended Family (July 24)

Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of American Music (July 24)

The Path S1-3 (July 25)

One Life (July 26)

Robin Hood (2018) (July 26)

Bad Neighbours (July 27)

Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising (July 27)

Cast Away (July 28)

Simple Minds: Everything is Possible (July 30)

Prime Video

Ungentlemanly Warfare (July 25)

Disney+

Futurama S12 (July 29)

To Catch a Smuggler: Seasons 2-7 (July 31)

Apple TV+

Time Bandits (July 24)

Acorn/AMC+/Shudder

Tromeo and Juliet (AMC+/Shudder, July 22)

Nightbeast (AMC+/Shudder, July 22)

Keep going!

The cast of season five of Taskmaster NZ (Photo: TVNZ)

Pop CultureJuly 21, 2024

Who’s who in season five of Taskmaster NZ?

Tara Ward

Staff writer

The cast of season five of Taskmaster NZ (Photo: TVNZ)

Meet the five funny people competing for glory.

As we reach the deepest, darkest depths of winter, it’s good to know that hope lies on the horizon in the form of a cheery new series of Taskmaster NZ. That’s right, New Zealand’s most hectic panel comedy show returns in August for a fifth glorious series, and the format remains exactly the same: five comedians enter the Taskmaster house with a desperate need to impress Taskmaster Jeremy Wells and his faithful assistant Paul Williams. They’ll undergo a series of pointless and perplexing challenges like “make a tree sexy” or “catch a grape with a tuba”, and the comedian with the most points at the end of the series will take home a trophy of Jeremy Wells’s head.

Any questions? Didn’t think so. Let’s learn more about the five intrepid comedians vying for the Taskmaster’s heart.

Abby Howells

You might have already seen this Billy T Award-winning comedian on shows like Shortland Street, Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee or 7 Days, but Taskmaster is about to show Dr Abby Howells in a whole new light. That new light, according to TVNZ’s Taskmaster NZ press release, involves “celebrating a football goal, taking an order from a mannequin and completing a task on the roof!”. All at once? Let’s hope so.

Ben Hurley

Breaking news: Ben Hurley’s appearance on Taskmaster NZ shatters the myth that he will only feature on TV shows with “seven” in the title. A regular presence on both Seven Sharp and 7 Days, Hurley has also been a powerhouse on the New Zealand comedy circuit for many years, and regularly tours his comedy show from one end of the motu to the other. Will he take Jeremy Wells’ head with him next time? Only the Taskmaster knows for sure.

Hayley Sproull

Sproull is an actor, performer, radio host and comedian, so this busy multi-tasker should thrive in the chaotic and unpredictable environment of the Taskmaster manor. Sproull is also the host of The Great Kiwi Bake Off, which is bound to come in handy if the old “make the most pleasant sausage using seven ingredients” challenge rears its meaty head again (and so it should, pleasant sausages are always the best).

Tofiga Fepulea’i

Fepulea’i first rose to fame as one half of The Laughing Samoans, but the actor, comedian, musician and entertainer has also appeared in everything from Insider’s Guide to Happiness to movie Take Home Pay. This versatility will come in handy for Taskmaster NZ, which one minute wants the contestants to brush Paul Williams’ teeth from the furthest distance, and the next, perform an educational puppet show. Love to see it.

Tom Sainsbury

Between presenting Snack Masters NZ, writing an award-winning podcast and making hilarious social media videos, it’s a miracle Tom Sainsbury could fit Taskmaster NZ into his busy schedule. Given his Facebook page says he’s “willing to do anything (ANYTHING!) to be liked”, we should prepare for some major chaos from this comedian. How far will Sainsbury go to get those precious points from the Taskmaster? Fingers crossed he does at least one task as Gingerbread the Cat.

Taskmaster NZ premieres on Tuesday August 6 at 7.30pm on TVNZ2 and streams on TVNZ+.