The latest power move from our state broadcaster proves it's not afraid to get weird with it. So rejoice, fans of the bizarre, because America's cult TV station Adult Swim has dived on to TVNZ OnDemand as the platform's newest digital channel. The station's shows are wildlysurreal, totally out there and full of appeal for those whose view to the TV is often blocked by a thick hazy smoke... We're talking the quick-fire, pop culture riffing of stop-motion animated skit show Robot Chicken, the superhero fast-food team Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the lo-fi, WTF comedy stylings of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! among many others. The station's breakout hit, however, is Rick and Morty, and you'll also find that here, albeit, with a limited viewing window, Adult Swim is free on TVNZ OnDemand and available now.
News of the World (Netflix)
Tom Hanks saddles up his horse and hits the trail in this western drama set five years after America's Civil War. He stars as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a war veteran who has reinvented himself as something of a travelling newspaper, journeying from town-to-town and regaling audiences with thrilling non-fiction stories from around the world. During his travels, he's tasked with transporting a young girl across the wilderness to return her to her biological aunt and uncle. Directed by the Bourne franchise's director Paul Greengrass, who last worked with Hanks on the Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips, the movie's been described as "a rough and tumble Texas road trip movie". Streaming from next Wednesday.
Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) and Johanna Leonberger (Helena Zengel) in News of the World.
The BBC's infamous 1995 interview with Princess Diana was one helluva royal shocker. It saw the recently divorced people's princess shining a searing spotlight on to the darkest regions of the Windsor family and exposing all the traumas and scandals of life in the royal palace. Everyone loves a good gossip and Diana's candid 54-minute long Panorama interview attracted an audience of nearly 23million people, at the time more than 39 per cent of the population. This documentary looks at the clandestine efforts of the film-makers to get the groundbreaking doco made, the fallout from the interview, as well as the psychological portrait it painted of Diana. Streaming from Sunday.
Princess Diana talking to a group of schoolchildren during the royal couple's visit to Tauranga in April 1983.
The Snoopy Show (Apple TV+)
Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty and, of course, Good Ol' Charlie Brown all return to earth after Snoopy in Space, Apple's widely acclaimed animated series from 2019. This time around they may be staying on the ground but the stories aren't likely to be any more grounded as the show dives into the fanciful world of wild imagination and daring adventure that Snoopy prefers to spend his days in.
Snoopy as a World War I flying ace with best friend Woodstock.
Each show consists of three seven-minute episodes that see the famed beagle slipping into one of his various personas; there's the hip Joe Cool, famed arm wrestler Masked Marvel and the World War I Flying Ace who is constantly battling against the Red Baron in exciting dogfights. Keeping the look and tone faithful to Charles M. Schulz's original comic strip, this is sure to please kids and those roped into supervising their screen time. Streaming from tomorrow.
