Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat to The Madison – the seven best shows to stream this week

It’s a return for the hugely funny reality show that drops an unsuspecting member of public into a staged situation, while Taylor Sheridan sends Michelle Pfeiffer into the middle of the Montana wilderness

Pick of the week
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat

The first run of this series in which an unsuspecting (though carefully selected) member of the public is dropped into an entirely orchestrated and deeply excruciating situation was a cringe masterpiece. This second story repeats the trick: Anthony Norman is the new stooge, recruited as a temporary PA for the annual retreat of a fictional hot sauce company. Once the crew arrive at their resort, poor Anthony is faced with fist-bitingly awkward moments as the enforced corporate jollity gets stranger and stranger. But, crucially, as funny as it is, Anthony is never the butt of the joke – he remains resourceful and good-natured as the business threatens to crumble around him.
Prime Video, from Friday 20 March

***

The Madison

Taylor Sheridan’s celebrated creation, Yellowstone, shamelessly romanticises the wilderness of Montana. His love affair with the state continues in a drama that stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Stacy, the matriarch of the Clyburn family. She’s a New Yorker but her husband Preston (Kurt Russell) longs for a more rustic life. When tragedy forces members of the family to abandon Manhattan and decamp to a cabin in the mountains, many fish-out-of-water lessons are learned. The Madison idealises the rural urban life and could use a little nuance to undercut the wholesome, slightly simplistic messaging. PH
Paramount+, from Saturday 14 March

***

Imperfect Women

There are distinct undertones of Big Little Lies in this glossy US drama (adapted from Araminta Hall’s novel) about three close friends drifting through largely unexamined lives in suburbia. When tragedy strikes one of them, it triggers a chain of events that will undermine every assumption they’ve made about each other and end in betrayal and violence. It’s a fairly generic addition to the growing canon of serialised thrillers about unhappy rich people but the fine trio of leads (Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara) keep the pot boiling.
Apple TV, from Wednesday 18 March

***

Radioactive Emergency

In 1987, Goiânia in Brazil saw a nuclear incident that had long-term ramifications comparable (albeit on a smaller scale) to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster aftermath. An unsecured radiotherapy unit was stolen from an abandoned hospital, disassembled and sold off by the thieves. As a result, hundreds of people were exposed to the lethal waste, large areas of land were rendered unusable and there were several fatalities. This tense, ominous drama explores the incident and communicates the escalating sense of terror as radiation poisons a community.
Netflix, from Wednesday 18 March

***

Last One Laughing UK

Observing the timeless pub pool table tradition of Winner Stays On, Bob Mortimer is back to defend his crown in the second season of this comedy gameshow. Nothing much has changed in terms of format: the set is a comfortable open plan room and Jimmy Carr and Roisin Conaty look on as contenders – this time including Diane Morgan, Alan Carr, Mel Giedroyc and dangerous dark horse Sam Campbell – show us their occasionally disintegrating poker faces. It’s great, impossibly bingeable fun. Plus, you get to see David Mitchell arm-wrestling. What’s not to like?
Prime Video, from Thursday 19 March

***

Deadloch

This quirky Australian detective series continues to offer a twist on a formulaic premise: a death in a secretive, isolated town. Its appeal lies in its refusal to take itself remotely seriously: it’s the creation of comedy duo Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan and their primary intention is grubby, goofy fun. This time, detectives Dulcie and Eddie wash up in the outback town of Barra Creek where the discovery of a mystery body part has coincided with the disappearance of two backpackers. Expect low-speed boat chases and evidence discovered in the bellies of crocodiles.
Prime Video, from Friday 20 March

***

Wonder Pets: In the City

Another season of this teeth-itchingly saccharine kids’ show which follows the animated exploits of Izzy the guinea pig, Zuri the rabbit and Tate the snake as they rocket around the world, doing good deeds. It’s relentlessly upbeat and full of extremely broad moral lessons (“In a team, every part is important!”) which are, of course, helpful for children to learn however they are delivered. The gang’s exploits include making flower garlands to cheer up sad hippos and helping turtles who have fallen on to their backs to turn over. Cute, possibly to a fault.
Apple TV, from Friday 20 March