It used to be that you’d be seated at a dinner party and the most terrifying thing that could possibly happen to you was that the conversation would turn to current affairs topic or a recent political upheaval that you had no idea about.
Then you’d just be left looking down at your salmon-with-barley-concealed-shame while your dinner companions held a robust conversation around you, a conversation that may as well have been in Dothraki for all the sense it made.
But times have changed. Now, the threat of becoming a social pariah comes from not being up on the latest batch of ‘must see’ TV shows.
You know, all those groundbreaking, golden-age-of-television, changing-the-social-conversation shows you’ve missed because when you finally did find a moment to collapse in front of the TV, all you felt up to watching was a rerun of Dawson’s Creek.
But there is a golden light at the end of this TV tunnel. To help you navigate the seemingly endless sea of new TV, here’s a cheat sheet to the four shows that everyone is talking about right now. And exactly where to watch them.
So you’ll never be defeated by an awkward dinner party conversation ever again.
For the biggest TV news of the week, plus all the new shows you should to be watching, listen to the latest episode of The Binge.
Top Of The Lake
Why should you watch it? The world is still obsessed with Elizabeth Moss after her stunning turn in The Handmaid’s Tale (available now on SBS On Demand if you still need to watch it) which has put the spotlight back onto her previous groundbreaking performance as detective Robin Griffin in Top Of The Lake.
This seven-episode drama follows Robin as she returns to her remote hometown of Laketop in New Zealand to investigate the pregnancy and disappearance of a 12-year-old girl named Tui Mitcham. Top Of The Lake can be quite brutal viewing, but it’s also completely mesmerising. You’ll find yourself sucked into this cold little community while you watch the mystery unravel before your eyes.
You should also get yourself up to speed before season two premieres in Australia, because the Australia based second offering is sure to dominate conversations as soon as it drops and has added Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie to the line-up.
Where can you watch it? Top Of The Lake season one is available now via Foxtel. The second season, Top of the Lake: China Girl, will premiere 8:30pm Sunday August 20 on BBC First and is available via Foxtel.
Listen to Mamamia Entertainment Editor Laura Brodnik give a spoiler free explanation about why you should watch Top Of The Lake.
Gypsy
Why should you watch it? Naomi Watts is back on our screens in her juiciest roll in recent memory, and it’s a welcome shake-up to the glut of “white, straight, middle-aged suburban male anti-hero” shows that have been dominating our screens of late.