Pick of the week
Ted Lasso<\/p>\n
Are we still in the mood for football with a side order of ripe American cheese? In the light of reservations about the recent World Cup (and, particularly, the final\u2019s half-time show featuring Ted Lasso), it\u2019s certainly up for debate. The premise of this fourth series<\/a> is \u201cback to basics\u201d \u2013 which is the only way the show could conceivably still work as an underdog story. Ted (Jason Sudeikis<\/a>) is in the US when he\u2019s visited by Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham<\/a>) and Keeley (Juno Temple<\/a>). Can he be persuaded to manage their second-tier women\u2019s team, Lady Greyhounds? The excellent cast \u2013 which now also includes Sex Education star Tanya Reynolds \u2013 keep the ball rolling. Monsters of GodCompelling \u2026 Tyler Nolen with an indigo snake in Monsters of God. Photograph: HBO Max<\/p>\n A rich, strange, largely unknown world usually makes for a compelling documentary series and film-maker Eric \u201cTiger King\u201d Goode\u2019s deep dive into exotic animal smuggling is no exception. Many of the people we meet here fall into the likable oddball category \u2013 it\u2019s clear that their enthusiasm for snakes and lizards is entirely sincere. However, that\u2019s not the whole story. Goode gets the lowdown on the huge money that can be made by liberating (or stealing, depending on your point of view) animals from sanctuaries and trafficking them to both zoos and private collectors. One Hundred Years of SolitudeThe magic is never far away \u2026 One Hundred Years of Solitude. Photograph: Mauricio Gonz\u00e1lez A\/Netflix<\/p>\n Back to Macondo for the second part of this Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez adaptation which does an admirable job<\/a> of capturing the uncanny, earthy strangeness of the original novel<\/a>. And there\u2019s worrying news: the era of the exploitative American United Fruit Company is upon us, so along with carefully measured bananas, the town is to be modernised in all the worst possible ways. The plotline inevitably gives this season a more socially conscious and polemical slant but as \u00darsula Iguar\u00e1n\u2019s ancient curse begins to manifest, the magic at the heart of the realism is never far away. Big Chicken: A Fast Food ConspiracyPoultry-related horror \u2026 Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy. Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n The format for comic Mo Gilligan<\/a>\u2019s investigation into the chicken industry is far from original: his attempt to live on nothing but fast-food chicken for 28 days is clearly derived from Morgan Spurlock\u2019s 2004 film Super Size Me<\/a>. However, there\u2019s merit elsewhere as Gilligan reveals a catalogue of poultry-related horror: the exploitation of workers; the targeting of low-income communities; the terrible conditions faced by the chickens; and the lack of nutritional value in the food. This is an industry long overdue the scrutiny it receives here. Sterling PointVoyage of discovery \u2026 Ella Rubin as Annie and Bo Bragason as Oona in Sterling Point. Photograph: Sabrina Lantos\/Prime Video<\/p>\n More drama about the growing pains of wealthy American teens in this YA series which, in terms of atmosphere at least, has echoes of The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/a>. The action pivots round a brother and sister who (in an infuriatingly casual way) inherit a lake island. Problems, problems. However, things are set to become more confusing still: when Annie (Ella Rubin) arrives at Sterling Point, she\u2019s shocked to bump into a girl who is the absolute double of her late mother. Could she have a secret sister? An emotionally fraught voyage of discovery ensues. The ShardsCo-created with Bret Easton Ellis \u2026 Hayes Warner as Debbie and Igby Rigney as Bret in The Shards. Photograph: Ray Mickshaw\/FX<\/p>\n A new series from TV\u2019s most prolific purveyor of primary coloured pulp, Ryan Murphy<\/a>. The Shards was co-created with Bret Easton Ellis and adapted from the author\u2019s semi-autobiographical novel<\/a>, set in the early 1980s within a jaded, privileged friendship group at an elite LA school. The world of aspiring writer Bret (Igby Rigney) is thrown into chaos by the arrival of Homer Gere\u2019s charismatic Robert. Is this just school politics? Maybe, but there\u2019s a serial killer on the loose and he and Robert seem connected. Restraint and understatement aren\u2019t really in the picture. Alley CatsMisguided \u2026 Diane Morgan as Olive in Alley Cats. Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n
Apple TV, from Wednesday 5 August<\/p>\n
HBO Max, from Friday 7 August<\/p>\n
Netflix, from Wednesday 5 August<\/p>\n
Netflix, from Wednesday 5 August<\/p>\n
Prime Video, from Wednesday 5 August<\/p>\n
Disney+, from Thursday 6 August<\/p>\n