Phony
Tuesday, streaming on Disney Plus
Spooky TV is having a moment right now. Unsurprising really: we are on the down-slide to Halloween — TV streamers are cashing in, delivering on-demand jump-scares to the easily titillated.
What I like about this latest crop of shows — think Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story (Netflix), plus the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie (Prime) and the Friday The 13th horror spin-off Crystal Lake (Stan) — is that they’re doing their horror a little differently, dispensing with well-worn tropes in favour of something far more interesting.
This new drama, starring The White Lotus’ Sam Nivola and Connie Britton, is cut from the same cloth, and it’s an interesting one.
On the surface, there’s not much to suggest it’s even particularly spooky at all, though its premise is decidedly unsettling. It’s all about Nivola’s character Sonny, who wakes in hospital following a car crash to discover his beloved mum — his best friend and confidant — appears to have been replaced by an impostor.
This impostor looks like his mum, acts like his mum, and to all intents and purposes IS his mum — it’s only Sonny who can see she’s not the same.
This will surely have viewers questioning what is real, what is imagined, and whether what we’re seeing is actually nothing more than a hallucination of Sonny’s own making. If you’ve spied the trailer, you’ll know this is shaping up to be quietly terrifying.
‘Tis the season for unsettling TV though — and we are THERE for it.
Yaga
Friday, streaming on Binge
Starring Schitt’s Creek’s Noah Reid and The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss, this atmospheric genre-bender is part folk horror, part detective caper and part erotic thriller — and if THAT hasn’t piqued your interest, we don’t know what will.
It’s a modern reimagining of the classic Slavic folklore tale of Baba Yaga, which is a story all about an old witch who lives in the forest . . . and eats children.
Obviously, that’s not happening in this. Instead we get Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams — piqued now?!
Of COURSE you are!
Telethon
Today, Seven and 7Plus
Crosses to the phone room! The masked pie thrower! Celebrity lip-sync battles! Doorstopping the winner of that free car! What’s NOT to love about Perth’s annual 26-hour charity fest? Unhinged fun for a good cause.
Sam Pang Tonight
Monday, 8.40pm, Ten
Kudos to Ten for bringing back Sam’s late-night chat fest. This will be its third season — looking forward to seeing what he does this time.
Last One Laughing UK: Halloween
Friday, streaming on Prime Video
This Halloween special sees some of our fave players returning. It has the same bonkers premise: laugh (or scream) and you’re off the game. Expect spooky surprises and plenty of ridiculous fun.