If you’re looking for a new movie to stream, a magical Channing Tatum is your only option this week. Luckily there’s also a whole lot of series debuts including thrilling local drama Unseen, acclaimed adaptation Kindred, classic revival Quantum Leap, and more!

MOVIES

Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Google Play Movies/Apple TV+ – 15 March 2023

No, that date above is not a typo. Somehow, without much fanfare, and with it having debuted in cinemas just four weeks prior, Magic Mike’s Last Dance suddenly showed up on Google Play Movies and Apple TV+ for rental last week. Thanks to how unexpected its appearance was, I actually missed it in last week’s round-up, but I’m here to let you know that Channing Tatum’s iconic male stripper is now doing house calls. This final entry in the Magic Mike franchise sees Tatum’s titular character being drawn out of retirement by Salma Hayek’s wealthy socialite to stage a play in the UK, only for sparks to fly between the two hotties.

SERIES

Up Here

Disney+ – 24 March 2023

Do you hear voices in your head all the time? Hopefully, they’re not telling you to do really bad stuff, but much like Mae Whitman’s Lindsay, they do chime in on your everything you do. Especially your love life… at least the remnant of it that you have! Up Here is a musical romantic comedy series set in 1999 New York City that sees Lindsay finally meeting somebody that is almost perfect for her… because he has his own voices to contend with!

Quantum Leap

Showmax – 24 March 2023

Hands up if you remember watching the original Quantum Leap. Wait, not so fast with the hands or you’ll throw your back out and need more ibuprofen! Yep, us old folks can still clearly remember Scott Bakula hopping around through time and space – and bodies! – in the late 1980s/early 1990s, but it’s time for a new for a new generation. Enter this recent revival of the classic series… yes, revival and not reboot, as this show is set 30 years after the events of the original with new lead Dr. Ben Song and his team setting out to piece together the mystery of Dr. Sam Becket and the incredible Quantum Leap accelerator he disappeared into decades ago.

The first season of Quantum Leap is only hitting local screens now, six months after the show’s US debut, but it’s already been renewed for a second season.

Kindred

Disney+ – 29 March 2023

Based on trailblazing science fiction author Octavia E. Butler’s critically acclaimed 1979 novel, Kindred follows Dana, a young African American woman with ambitions of becoming a successful writer. That pursuit of that dream life turns into a nightmare though when Dana starts being inexplicably and randomly yanked backwards through time to a 19th century slave plantation. Just what is happening, and how is it linked to Dana’s ancestors?

Unseen

Netflix – 29 March 2023

Watching the trailer for Unseen when it first dropped a few weeks back, it already looked like a compelling local drama focused on a mild-mannered cleaning lady who gets caught up in bloodshed and crime while searching for her husband who went missing after being released from prison. But not only does show come from the producers of smash hit Blood and Water though, I also learned that a few of the episodes were penned by Sean Drummond, the scribe behind incredible local western Five Fingers for Marseilles. All of that makes this one must-see TV, if you ask me!

The Big Door Prize

Apple TV+ – 29 March 2023

I’ll be honest, I don’t quite know what to make of The Big Door Prize. The upcoming comedy series (yes, it’s actually billed as a comedy) just has this enigmatic trailer above and the following blurb to work from: “A machine appears in the grocery store of a small town that is able to predict the destinies of those who observe it”. That definitely sounds intriguing and Chris O’Dowd is always a solid actor. The biggest draw for me though, is that The Big Door Prize was created by David West Read, an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer on Schitt’s Creek. Anybody who worked on that brilliant show instantly gets my attention.

Unstable

Netflix – 30 March 2023

Looking for more offbeat comedy? Rob Lowe has you covered in Unstable. The new Netflix series sees Lowe playing the eccentric genius head of a biological research company who is spiraling out of control. Despite not being on the best of terms, his son is convinced to join his father’s company in the hopes that he can stop his dad from unraveling and get back to his brilliant inventive ways.