An immature, energetic, recovering alcoholic who has been through several failed marriages is now a business executive. Is there anyone more perfect to play this role than Robin Williams? After all, the recovering alcoholic has already done the research on his own.
He and his daughter (Sarah Michelle Gellar) work at a Chicago-based ad agency that will do whatever is necessary to survive. For example, when McDonald’s threatens to go with another agency, they hire Kelly Clarkson to sing an erotic advertisement featuring not so clever ‘meat’ puns.
The show provides an interesting glimpse at the advertising world in all its ridiculousness, as these professionals are forced to negotiate with children eating cookies and posing for photos.
Originally premiering last year in the US, The Crazy Ones earned a solid 7.1 on IMDB, but the seasoned Williams has certainly been better with his improv-style comedy – as the New York Times put it: “Audiences can’t help recalling how much more elastic and powerful [he was] at [his] peak.”
The Crazy Ones, 3+, Sat 17:00
Also new:
DR3, Sun 18:10 How Sherlock Changed the World
Modern policing owes a huge debt to Arthur Conan Doyle and How Sherlock Changed the World shows how many of the techniques employed by the detective became a reality several years later. From ballistics and blood splatter to toxicology reports and criminal profiling, Doyle presciently predicted the future with amazing accuracy.
The way they go on, the subjects of I was a Jet Set Stewardess (DRK, Wed 20:00) solely invented free love back in the 1960s. “We were the supermodels of our day,” recalls one, presumably in reference to the copious amount of airsickness bags onboard.
If the expenditure of the World Cup made you puke, you might want to avoid Cinderella of the Slums (DR3, Wed 20:45), a doc about the lavish amounts spent on birthday debutante balls in Brazil.
Elsewhere, it’s neither Martin Luther King’s birthday or deathday, but DRK is paying homage anyway with The March (Mon 20:55 or Tue 18:10) and MLK: The Assassination Tapes (Mon 21:55); we’ve got the 2014 episodes of Midsomer Murders (SVT2, Tue 21:00); and there’s another chance to watch holy land-based thriller series The Promise (DR2, Mon 20:30). (BH)
Coming Soon:
Mexican drug cartels have taken over yonder woolpack
Ay up, it's Yorkshire's answer to Jack Bauer in a cardie
Taking place in West Yorkshire, England, Happy Valley depicts the rough drug culture of rural England, where apparently spending the afternoon in a dingy pub drinking under-carbonated ale has been replaced by kidnapping and drugs.
But despite it sounding a little implausible, the reviews (8.9 on IMDB) have been excellent.
Sarah Lancashire, a British TV actress who never fails to impress, plays a police sergeant trying to stop the man responsible for her daughter’s death. (LS)
Sport of the week:
TV3 Sport 1, all week from Mon Wimbledon (Photo: Scanpix)
It’s easy to forget Wimbledon in the shadow of the World Cup, and it will feel odd watching a Brit defend the title for the first time since the 1930s. Meanwhile, will England still be in the World Cup come Tuesday’s game against Costa Rica? At least the smart money’s on Lewis Hamilton winning the Austrian GP. (BH)
DR1, Tue 18:00 2014 World Cup: England vs Costa Rica (Photo: Scanpix)
3+, Sun 12:30 Austrian Grand Prix (Photo: Scanpix)
Film of the week:
Hard to think you could do worse than Hansel & Gretel, but Witchslayer Gretl starring Shannon Doherty did just that, scoring 11 on RT. Freedom Writers is pretty much a remake of Dangerous Minds and The Conspirator revisits the Lincoln assassination – the 72nd time someone’s played John Wilkes Booth since 1913. (BH)
DR2, Fri 00:05 The Conspirator
DR3, Fri 21:45 Freedom Writers
TV3 Puls, Fri 23:00 Witchslayer Gretl
