10 of the best new shows to watch in February – The Irish Times

Gunther’s Millions

From Wednesday, February 1st, Netflix

It’s anything but a dog’s life for Gunther VI: he’s the world’s richest mutt, sporting the kind of bling that would make Snoop Dogg green with envy. Gunther is the fourth generation of a doggie dynasty that began when his great-grandfather was bequeathed millions by his owner, a mysterious countess who had no heirs. But who’s really benefiting from Gunther’s millions? This four-part documentary is no shaggy-dog story but a tale of excess, greed and fraud focusing on one Maurizio Mian, hired by the countess to oversee Gunther’s fortune, and who has built up a huge financial empire on the back of the tycoon tyke.

Dear Edward

From Friday, February 3rd, Apple TV +

In the race to become the top tissue-box set on telly in February, this new family drama series could win by a nose. It’s the life-affirming story of a 12-year-old boy who miraculously survives a plane crash in which every other passenger is killed, including his own family. Ready for that Kleenex yet? As Edward and the families of the other dead passengers try to process their loss, the doors are opened for some tense confrontations and intense emotional exchanges, as old bonds are broken and new hopes emerge from the wreckage of so many lives. Better get a multipack of tissues, just in case. Or a sick bag.

You

From Thursday, February 9th, Netflix

Penn Badgley returns as serial the stalker/killer Joe Goldberg in the fourth series of You, and this time he has a new country, a new identity and a whole new set of potential victims to pick from. Moving to London and posing as a professor, our homicidal hero has gathered a new, well-heeled circle of friends – but now he has a new problem to deal with: another killer is on the loose and is targeting his new pals. Joe must turn his stalking talents to detective work to identify the homicidal interloper. The way this series is going, don’t be surprised if Joe also shows a hidden talent for jumping the shark.

Full Swing

From Wednesday, February 15th, Netflix

Netflix has had a hit with its turbocharged documentary series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Prepare for another thrill ride in this documentary series set in the headspinning world of PGA golf. The series follows an elite group of professional golfers as they prepare for a gruelling season of competition, including the Masters, US Open, PGA championship and FedEx Cup playoffs.

Hello Tomorrow!

From Friday, February 17th, Apple TV+

For every scientific breakthrough there’s a bunch of grifters hoping to make a quick buck. This series is set in a retrofuturistic world where the look is American Graffiti but the tech is Forbidden Planet. The classic 1950s cars hover above the ground, and retro-looking robots go around doing all the menial work. Billy Crudup stars as slick travelling salesman Jack Billings, who recruits a team to flog timeshares – on the moon. He’s out to convince folk that the moon is the ultimate suburban dream of the future, but not everyone is buying the sales pitch. In fact, some are wondering what’s really going on behind this lunar living project, and it’s not long before Jack’s vision of the future starts to look decidedly fuzzy.

Carnival Row

From Friday, February 17th, Prime Video

Orlando Bloom is back as former inspector Rycroft Philostrate aka Philo, in season two of this fantasy/detective series set in a world where mythical creatures known as the fae folk have arrived seeking refuge from a terrible war, leading to tensions between them and their human hosts. Philo is charged with investigating murders within the fae community, but he has been concealing the truth that he’s half fae himself. Cara Delevingne also returns as Vignette Stonemoss, a fae and Philo’s former lover. If you’ve managed to make sense of the convoluted plot of series one, then you should have some idea of what’s going on as the series heads towards its epic ending.

Fleishman Is in Trouble

From Wednesday, February 22nd, Disney+

It’s the old story: there you are, freshly divorced, and your dating app is hopping with offers of no-strings sex, when your ex-wife suddenly disappears and leaves you with the two kids to look after. This is the fate to befall 41-year-old medic Toby Fleishman in this new drama series starring Jesse Eisenberg as Toby and Claire Danes as his missing ex, Rachel. With 11-year-old Hannah and nine-year-old Solly in the house, Toby will have to put his planned summer of sex on hold, but what really happened to Rachel and why has he not heard from her? Soon, Toby is putting Manhattan’s eligible women to one side while he tries to get to the bottom of this marital mystery.

Outer Banks

From Thursday, February 23rd, Netflix

This teen drama plays like a mix of reality-TV show and Hunger Games – with a bit of class struggle thrown in – as two disparate groups of teenagers in the Outer Banks of North Carolina battle to unearth a legendary treasure and claim social supremacy. On one side are the Kooks, rich kids who swan in to stay at the coastal resort during the holidays. On the other are the Pogues, local working-class kids who, naturally, harbour a bit of a grudge against the wealthy interlopers. In season three the Pogues find themselves on a desert island, but any dreams of turning it into a paradise are soon washed away.

The Reluctant Traveler

From Friday, February 24th, Apple TV+

Stanley Tucci did it; Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon did it; now it’s the turn of Eugene Levy to pack his valise and vamoose to some exotic locations trailing a camera crew behind him. Levy, the star of Schitt’s Creek, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and American Pie, admits he’s not much of a globetrotter, preferring to stay close to home, but in this new series the Canadian actor’s stepping out of his comfort zone to learn about cultures in such far-flung locations as Costa Rica, Finland, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Portugal and South Africa. He’s even going to push the boat out and explore corners of North America he’s never seen before.

The Consultant

From Friday, February 24th, Prime Video

Christoph Waltz stars in a toxic-workplace comedy-drama where not only your job but your very life is at stake. CompWare, a gaming company, wants to boost its business, so it hires a new consultant, the creepy, bow-tied Regus Patoff, to knock the business into shape. Patoff brings some pretty radical and downright weird ideas about productivity, but staff reluctantly go along with them in the hope of gaining a competitive edge. It’s not long, however, before Patoff appears to be running the company, and turning it into a not-so-benign dictatorship, with employees in fear of being fired – or, worse, literally terminated.