Monday’s TV tips
After being plugged to death in recent weeks, finally the US comedy starring Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeff Garlin and George Segal begins.
It centres on 11-year-old Adam Goldberg. With the aid of his parents’ video camera, he starts his film-making career by documenting his family’s life in 1980s suburbia.
As we soon discover, coping with overbearing mum Beverly, hot-tempered dad Murray, rebellious 17-year-old sister Erica and emotional 16-year-old brother Barry is far from easy.
Added to the mix is his wild Lothario of a grandfather, Pops.
In the opener, Barry wants to start driving on his birthday, but his mum has other ideas and refuses to let Pops to give the teenager his old car.
With a fixed smile, even when it’s clear she’s horrified by what she’s seeing, the eponymous star of this new series has become one of TV’s best troubleshooters in recent years.
Here, Alex tries to find new head chefs for restaurants that have a desperate need to fill a vacancy.
Imagine MasterChef meets The Apprentice and you get the idea.
Over four nights, nine candidates are put through a gruelling interview and testing process.
First stop is The Gilpin in the Lake District, a fine dining establishment with family owners looking for a new executive head chef.
In ‘Dáil on the Dole’ four TDs spend time with people in their constituencies who are surviving on social welfare.
Ordinary Irish people do not believe their representatives in the Dáil have any idea about the issues that rule their everyday lives and TDs think they work more hours than anyone on the planet. This is their chance to walk a mile in each other’s shoes.
In this episode, Fianna Fáil TD Willie O'Dea meets Limerick native Jamie O'Sullivan.
Jamie is homeless. He is trying to leave behind his chequered past and make a fresh start away from the drugs and petty crime that led to his alienation from his family and friends.
Gotham traces the rise of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told.
In an attempt to get his job back, Gordon seeks to capture Jack Gruber (guest star Christopher Heyerdahl), a deranged electrical genius who escapes Arkham Asylum.
Meanwhile, Falcone struggles to hold on to his empire after Fish Mooney makes her next move.
We’ve seen some remarkable stories from film-maker Vanessa Engle in this jaw-dropping medical documentary.
This week her camera focuses on Emma Tallon, 27, who wants liposuction on her thighs.
We also meet care worker Michael Pulman, who thinks that paying £7,500 for a hair transplant will improve his life, and Andrea Carter, 72, prepares for another surgical procedure.
As with last week’s episode, it proves to be stunning stuff, but not the show to watch if you’re tucking into your supper.
Aside from being a great platform for its cast (take a bow Helen Monks and Alexa Davies), Caitlin and Caroline Moran’s sitcom has helped turn no-nonsense Wolverhampton mum Della (Rebekah Staton) into a cult star as she channels Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.
Her obsession with Chris Packham and Springwatch has an added degree of topicality; part of the series was screened at the same time as the BBC2 favourite.
There’s no shortage of laughs from the Garry family in the last of the current run.
Perfectly capturing that British Midlands wit, for many fans a potential second series cannot come soon enough.
Following the unexpected deaths of their mother and father, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are shipped off to stay with a distant relative.
Unfortunately, the mysterious Count Olaf is no good Samaritan – he’s cold, manipulative, cruel and greedy.
Desperate to get his hands on the orphans’ inheritance, he launches a dastardly campaign to bump them off.
Ably directed by Brad Silberling, it boasts an outstanding cast, including Jim Carrey on top form as the cunning Count.
However, it’s Liam Aiken, Emily Browning and Kara and Shelby Hoffman who steal the movie. These young stars should melt even the coldest heart.
72%
A trashy portrait of 1969 swampy, small-town Florida, where newspaper journalist Ward Jansen returns to blow open the case of death row inmate Hillary Van Wetter, who is accused of murdering a local sheriff.
Lee Daniels’s movie, based on Pete Dexter’s 1995 novel, veers wildly from murder mystery to sex comedy.
If there is method in the film’s spiralling madness, it’s not always easy to see but if you surrender to The Paperboy, and resign yourself to taking a shower afterwards to wash off the grime and sleaze, it delivers queasy and lurid treats, and a fair few shocks to boot.
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo and Nicole Kidman.
42%
