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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S2|Mondays from 3am, express from the US
The second season of House of the Dragon is flying express to Showmax and M-Net every Monday, with two episodes already up.
Based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. Following King Aegon Il’s coronation, Alicent and Rhaenyra cling to fading memories of their old friendship as their opposing factions gear up for civil war.
Matt Smith is back in his Critics Choice-nominated role as Daemon, as is Emma D’Arcy in her Golden Globe-nominated role as Rhaenyra and multi-award winner Olivia Cooke as Alicent.
The Emmy-winning first season was named Best TV Series – Drama at the 2023 Golden Globes and Best TV Series at Rotten Tomatoes’ Golden Tomato Awards for the best-reviewed show of 2022. Season 2 similarly has a 93% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Seattle Times saying, “House of the Dragon evolves into such smart, thrilling and heartbreaking storytelling that it threatens to become the rare prequel that outshines the original.”
After the S2 premiere helped Max to its most-watched day yet, House of the Dragon has been renewed for a third season.
KILLING IT S2 | First on Showmax | Binge from Monday, 1 July
Co-created by Emmy winner Dan Goor (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Killing It earned Craig Robinson (The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor as Craig.
Season 2 opens with Craig and Jillian (Emmy-nominated comedian Claudia O’Doherty) getting ready for the farm’s first shipment of saw palmetto berries, but a series of unexpected visitors puts everything they’ve worked for in jeopardy, while a new employee proves to be a thorn in their sides.
Season 2 has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus calls it “scathing as ever and even funnier than before.” As The Hollywood Reporter says, “Few current series are sharper or funnier about our modern capitalist dystopia.”
BOOKIE S1 | First on Showmax | Binge from Friday, 12 July
From Emmy nominees Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, The Kominsky Method, and Two and a Half Men) and Nick Bakay (Young Sheldon, Mom), Bookie follows a veteran bookie struggling to survive the looming legalisation of sports gambling, and his increasingly unstable clients, family and co-workers.
Award-winning comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (Green Book) stars as Danny, with Black Reel winner Omar J. Dorsey (Power Book III: Raising Kanan)as Ray, with a supporting cast that includes Andrea Anders (Michelle Lasso in Ted Lasso) and guest appearances from the likes of Charlie Sheen and his Two and a Half Men co-starAngus T. Jones (as themselves).
With a 90% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Max has already booked a second season.
THE IRRATIONAL S1 | Binge from Friday, 12 July
Critics Choice nominee Jesse L. Martin (Detective Ed Green in Law & Order) stars in The Irrational as Alec Mercer, a renowned behavioural scientist who uses his unconventional approach to human psychology, body language, and emotions to solve illogical puzzles and perplexing mysteries.
Based on bestselling author Dan Ariely’s non-fiction book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, the series is written and produced by Humanitas Prize winner Arika Lisanne Mittman (Dexter, Elementary).
The Irrational has already earned Martin a nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series at this year’s Image Awards, and a second season of the ratings hit.
WEEK THREE: 15-21 July
THE REGIME S1 | Binge from Monday, 15 July
Oscar winner Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown, Titanic) stars in The Regime as Chancellor Elena Vernham, who presides over a fictional modern European autocracy – for now – from within the walls of her luxurious palace.
Directed by Oscar nominee Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons) and Emmy winner Jessica Hobbs (The Crown), the six-part limited series is created by six-time Emmy winner Will Tracy (Succession, The Menu).
The Regime is already popping up in Best of the Year So Far lists on the likes of BBC.com, Polygon and Vogue, while Inverse calls the show, “An uncategorizable, oddly surreal political drama that is one of HBO’s grandest experiments yet — and one of its most outlandish successes in years.”
Look out for the likes of Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough (Alice & Jack, To Leslie), Emmy nominee Hugh Grant (Love Actually), and Emmy winner Martha Plimpton (Mass).
ALERT: MISSING PERSONS UNIT S2 | Binge from Friday, 19 July
Co-created by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Alert: Missing Persons Unit centres on the dedicated detectives of Philadelphia Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit, where Detective Nikki Batista and her ex-husband, Detective Jason Grant, work tirelessly to save lives, having experienced their own child being kidnapped.
As Season 2 starts, Nikki has been promoted to captain and is engaged to marry Mike Sherman, who’s now partnering with Jason.
Dania Ramirez (Sweet Tooth, Devious Maids and Heroes) and Golden Globe nominee Scott Caan (Hawaii Five-0 and the Ocean’s trilogy) co-star, with Emmy winner Gil Bellows (Chucky, Ally McBeal) as the new commissioner, Hollis Braun.
Also look out for the likes of Ryan Broussard (Will Putnam in Only Murders in the Building), Nigerian-American actress Adeola Role (Blue Bloods, The Good Fight) and guest cast like Critics Choice winner Taye Diggs (All American, Empire, the Best Man movies), and Ade Chike Torbert (Scrappy in Power Book III: Raising Kanan).
With Ramirez nominated for Best Actress – Drama at the Imagen Awards, the police procedural has already been renewed for a third season.
THE CURSE S1 | Binge from Monday, 22 July
The Curse explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring in their new home-improvement show.
Oscar winner Emma Stone (Poor Things) stars alongside the show’s co-creators: Emmy nominee Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal) and Critics Choice nominee Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems).
The Curse has a 94% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Best of the Year mentions everywhere from Rolling Stone to Wired. Entertainment Weekly hailed it as “the weirdest, most unforgettable show of 2023” while, The Guardian, in a five-star review, praised it as, “exquisitely cringe-worthy… like nothing else on TV… It is exhilaratingly tense, it ends magnificently and I found it impossible to look away.”
Keep an eye out for the likes of Oscar-nominated Somalian actor Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips, Eye in the Sky), Emmy nominee Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law), and Screen Actors Guild winner Constance Shulman (Yoga Jones in Orange Is the New Black).
ALL-AMERICAN: HOMECOMING S3 | First On Showmax | Mondays from 22 July
All American: Homecoming continues the journey of a young tennis hopeful from Beverly Hills and an elite baseball player from Chicago as they contend with the high stakes of college sports while navigating the highs, lows and sexiness of unsupervised early adulthood at a prestigious, historically Black college.
Nigerian-American creator Nkechi Okoro Carroll won a 2024 Gracie Allen Award for the young adult sports drama, which Variety calls a “a big-hearted, worthy spinoff” of All American.
The new season sees Simone Hicks (GeffriMaya, reprising her role from All American) and Damon Sims (Peyton Alex Smith from Legacies) return for a new semester of freshman challenges – on the court and off. Emmy nominee Kelly Jenrette (The Handmaid’s Tale) is also back as Amara Patterson.
SULLIVAN’S CROSSING S1 | Binge from Friday, 26 July
Sullivan’s Crossing centres on Boston neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan from When Hope Calls), who decides to take a time out from her professional life in the city following a scandal. She returns to her childhood home in Nova Scotia, where her estranged father, Sully, runs a picturesque campground called Sullivan’s Crossing.
Five-time Teen Choice Award winner Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) co-stars as an enigmatic newcomer, with Scott Patterson (Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls) as Maggie’s father.
Based on the novels by New York Times bestseller Robyn Carr (who also wrote the Virgin River novels) and created by Roma Roth(who exec produces the Virgin River TV series), Sullivan’s Crossing already has a second season on the way.
BEST OF THE YEAR SO FAR
We’re not sure how it’s already half-way through 2024, but Best Series of 2024 So Far listicles are upon us, and coming in fast.
In addition to House of the Dragon and The Regime above, Showmax contenders include:
• Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show: #4 on MetaCritic’s Best TV Shows This Year, and #11 on Rotten Tomatoes
• True Detective: Night Country: #1 on BBC.com, and #16 on Rotten Tomatoes
• Curb Your Enthusiasm S12: #14 on Rotten Tomatoes
There’s much more on the way before the end of the year, including Fantasmas (#2 on MetaCritic), Hacks S3 (#6 on Rotten Tomatoes), Mary & George (#7 on Rotten Tomatoes), The Sympathizer (#9 on MetaCritic), Elsbeth (#13 on Rotten Tomatoes), and A Gentleman In Moscow (#18 on Rotten Tomatoes).
