Ted Lasso

The Emmy-winning comedy series, Ted Lasso, is the TV embodiment of a big, warm hug. It became a pop culture sensation when it premiered in 2020, winning hearts with its relentless optimism.

Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso, a small-time college American football coach from Kansas hired to coach UK professional soccer team AFC Richmond, despite having no experience coaching soccer. With unwavering positivity, he takes on that challenge, but mentoring a motley crew of clashing personalities, including egotistical up-and-comer Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and the hot-headed veteran footballer Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), proves to be tricky.

And, unknown to him, there is a powerful force within the club that doesn’t want him to succeed: AFC Richmond’s new owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham).

Still, there are no pure villains in the show. And it’s precisely Ted Lasso’s militant belief in the goodness of people — even ones who do nasty things — that feels like a balm for the weary soul. If you’re ever feeling down, Ted Lasso is just that ray of sunshine you need in your life.

Pachinko

Based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, this epic drama chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive.

Epic in scope and intimate in tone, the story begins with a forbidden love and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan, and America to tell an unforgettable story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph, and reckoning.

Pachinko is told in three languages — Korean, Japanese, and English — to maintain a ring of authenticity. 

It uses something very specific — the migrant experience — to illuminate universal truths about being human: the need for a sense of belonging, the power of familial bonds, and the dreaming of a better future.

Featuring Academy Award-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) and hotshot actor Lee Min-ho in its huge cast, Pachinko is a sprawling, moving drama that proves that when it comes to relating to art, language is indeed no barrier.

Loot

After splitting from her tech-billionaire husband, Molly Wells (Maya Rudolph) is left with billions, a shiny new charity foundation, and absolutely no clue what to do with either. Desperate for purpose, she dives into philanthropy headfirst — and lands in one hilarious mess after another. With the help (and eye-rolls) of her quirky team, Molly learns that money might buy jet planes and mansions, but it can’t buy meaning, humility, or true connection. Sparkling with wit, sharp observations, and unexpected heart, Loot is a workplace comedy about reinvention and the priceless things in life.

The Studio

For anyone who’s ever wondered about what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood, this is your all-access pass.

Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, a cinephile caught between his passion for making quality films and the harsh realities of running a studio driven by corporate interests and blockbuster franchises. Matt navigates studio politics, clashes with executives, manages demanding talent, and juggles absurd situations — like pitching a movie based on the Kool-Aid mascot — all while supporting quality films and ambitious filmmakers. 

With a stellar supporting cast, including comedic firepowers Catherine O’Hara and Kathryn Hahn, as well as celebrity cameos from Dave Franco and Zoë Kravitz, The Studio offers an unabashed look at showbiz’s highs and lows. The series asks the question: Is it possible to make great art in a world obsessed with box office numbers and superhero sequels?

And The Studio proves that, yes, it is possible. The show is a technical accomplishment — many of its long scenes are shot in single takes or edited to look the part, giving it a Birdman-esque intensity. In fact, the much-talked-about 25-minute episode “The Oner” unfurls in one uninterrupted take. But artistic bravura aside, the show has all the crowd-pleasing goods as well, with plenty of laugh-out-loud jokes and chaotic shenanigans.

Simultaneously a biting satire and a loving homage to Hollywood, The Studio will appeal to both cinephiles and cynics alike.

Foundation

Based on the award-winning novel series of the same name by Isaac Asimov, Foundation chronicles the lives of humans across the galaxy who are living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.

When the revolutionary Dr Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, he and a band of loyal followers venture to the far reaches of the galaxy to establish the Foundation in an attempt to rebuild and preserve the future of civilisation. Enraged by Hari’s claims, the ruling Cleons (Lee Pace, Terrence Mann, and Cassian Bilton) — a long line of emperor clones — fear their grasp on the galaxy may be weakening as they’re forced to reckon with the potential reality of losing their legacy forever.

This first-ever adaptation of Asimov’s groundbreaking series took over 50 years to materialise, and there’s a good reason why it took so long: the novels are famously massive in scope, and many consider them to be nigh unadaptable. The first instalment alone spans 200 years, while the series writ large transpires across 600 years. The book series is also more concerned with ideas than people; philosophical inquiry takes primacy over character development and emotions, making adaptation even more daunting.

That hasn’t stopped screenwriter David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Man of Steel) from creating this adaptation. He has, however, taken creative license to make major changes to the books, such as gender-swapping and reimagining some characters. Salvor Hardin, portrayed as male and the mayor of Terminus (the capital planet of the Foundation), has been changed to be female and the warden — not mayor — of Terminus.

The series successfully captures the scale of the novels while injecting action and emotion into the show. Sci-fi with heart? Now that’s a winning combination.

Camp Snoopy

Looking for a show to watch with your little ones? Or do you just want a heartwarming series to make you feel all cosy inside? If so, you’re probably going to want to check out Camp Snoopy, which follows the Peanuts gang as they embark on fresh adventures.

After discovering their troop is in danger of disbanding, Snoopy and the Beagle Scouts set off to immerse themselves in nature and the Great Outdoors to earn their badges, with the Beagle Scout Manual as their guide. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown and friends enjoy their summer at Camp Spring Lake, crossing paths with Snoopy as they experience hiking, swimming, sitting around campfires, and everything summer camp and the outdoors have to offer.

With a combination of gentle sweetness, good-natured humour, and summer exuberance, Camp Snoopy makes for a thoroughly comforting watch.

Severance

When work-at-home arrangements became the norm, conversations about work-life balance naturally dominated social media. When your office space is also your living space, where does work end and life begin? Is it even possible to separate those two things?

In the award-winning high-concept thriller Severance, work-life balance is taken to the extreme — with frightening results. The biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries has developed a medical procedure called ‘severance’, which allows its employees to compartmentalise their memories based on whether they are at work or not.

When a ‘severed’ worker is at work, they are dubbed ‘innies’ and cannot remember anything of their lives or the world outside. When outside work, they are dubbed ‘outies’ and cannot remember their time at work. Due to this, innie and outie experience two different lives, with distinct personalities and agendas.

Sounds like a useful procedure? Not quite. This excessive separation of professional and personal hurts innies, who experience a lack of agency and a constant sense of despair.

Severance paints a bleak portrait of the excesses of corporatism, one that explores how the need to suppress personal baggage in pursuit of productivity can ultimately hurt people.

The Morning Show

There’s little wonder why The Morning Show has turned out to be one of Apple TV+’s biggest hits. It explores the cutthroat world of morning news and the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, and it is packed with terrific performances, especially by headlining stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. 

Told through the lens of Alex Levy (Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon), two complicated women navigating the minefield that is the high-octane world of morning news. The show is full of chaos — scheming! backstabbing! office politics! — and, well, drama. Multiple plotlines move in tandem at any one time, and they progress so briskly that you’re always engrossed. 

In Season 1, Alex, the co-anchor of a morning talk show, is left feeling abandoned and lost when her co-presenter, Mitch (Steve Carell, who proves he has dramatic chops in addition to comedic talent), is accused of sexual misconduct and fired. It was their chemistry that kept their show’s ratings high; with him gone, she’s in a vulnerable position.

But when she finds a new partner in Bradley, who comes from a serious journalistic background, the show starts taking flight in the ratings again. Along the way, Alex and Bradley discover that the network CEO’s negligence and deliberate inaction fostered a culture of sexual abuse in the company. 

Fearless and fun, the unapologetically candid series looks at the power dynamics between women and men, and women and women, in the workplace without being preachy or heavy-handed. Sophisticated and engrossing — now that’s smart entertainment for you.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters introduces a novel chapter in the MonsterVerse, the multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other gigantic creatures.

The show is set in a world where the existence of Titans, or huge monsters (kaiju in Japanese), is the reality for humans.

The show’s kaiju are as varied as they are fascinating. You’d have probably seen (or at least heard of) the iconic, dino-like Godzilla, but the rest of the monster cast are less frequently seen, including Mother Longlegs, a gigantic spider, and Mantleclaw, a crab-like kaiju with the ability to burrow beneath Earth’s mantle. The show also features the Endoswarmers, an insectoid superspecies, and Skullcrawlers, a two-limbed amphibious menace. New titans like the Frost Vark and the winged bat-like Ion Dragon add to the show’s diverse roster of monstrous beings.

Magnificent and terrifying as the kaiju are and colossal as the action scenes may be, the show still mostly focuses on the human stories that unfold against the backdrop of these gargantuan creatures. The kaiju are often the backdrop — and sometimes the catalyst — for grounded drama to play out. Character development is given priority, and, fortunately for the show, its ensemble cast are impressive in their various roles.

Headlining stars Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt portray former US Army Colonel Lee Shaw across different timelines. They play the character with winky mischief and action-hero brashness but balance that out with gentleness during quieter scenes. Other cast members like Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, and Kiersey Clemons complement the Russells with their performances, and the chemistry between all of them is palpable.

Newly minted Emmy winner Sawai, who plays Cate, a woman suffering from PTSD after a kaiju attack, is the beating heart of the show. To accurately portray the trauma and agony of surviving the ordeal, Sawai tells The Hollywood Reporter: “I reflected on my memory from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. I didn’t lose family, but so many Japanese lost people important to them.”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a powerful reminder of storytelling’s ability to bridge disparate worlds. It celebrates the human capacity to adapt and thrive, even under the shadow of giants.

Slow Horses

Who says you need labyrinthine plots or gun-slinging to make an espionage thriller work? Forget about pyrotechnics or outrageous plot twists — Slow Horses proves that great acting and even greater writing are all you need to make an exciting spy drama.

Based on Mick Herron’s Slough House novel series, Slow Horses follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in Slough House, a dumping-ground department of MI5, due to their career-ending mistakes. 

After River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), an up-and-coming MI5 agent, makes a life-altering mistake in a public training exercise, he is relegated to performing dead-end work at Slough House. He resents his new ramshackle workplace, which is populated by intelligence officers who have, like him, committed serious blunders. Making his life even tougher is his boss, the curmudgeonly Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who’s the brilliant but irascible leader of Slough House.

Haunted by his past mistake and itching to redeem himself, he sticks his nose into an investigation of a far-right terrorist group despite not being assigned to it.

Despite its name, Slow Horses never feels sedate. While it eschews frenetic plotting, the show smuggles in plenty of twists and cliffhangers. The espionage dealings, while suspenseful at every turn, are grounded in a sense of authenticity. Tense but believable at all times, serious but also wickedly funny, the show is one of the best under-the-radar gems on TV right now.