Television

The Golden Age of television is giving way to a period more gilded, but streaming giant Netflix has still bankrolled some worthy viewing this year, in the form of Dumplin’ and American Vandal.

The final season of House of Cards may have lost every plot save for the one the former president is buried in, but with Robin Wright’s perfectly costumed and coiffured Oval Office connivances it remains a delight to the eye.

While Netflix series such as Wanderlust have made middle-aged women – and their hitherto latent desires – suddenly visible, the question is, are these shows entirely worth seeing?

Known for her masterful Saturday Night Live impersonations and starring role in the comedy hit film Bridesmaids, Maya Rudolph is now tackling the subject of married mundanity in the new series Forever. But while her own life is far from dull, her priorities for work and family remain very simple. “For me, when I became a mum, I changed, and my needs changed. I didn’t want to be away from my kids … If something I’m loathing is taking me away from my kids, then I shouldn’t be there.”

The current chaotic state of the ABC cannot be blamed on a single high-ranking person. And nor can its woefully mundane programming. Instead, it’s the fault of the c-word – compromise.

The third season of Australian Survivor on Network Ten finds the reality show developing an entertaining style distinct from the enduring juggernaut of its American forerunner.

There is happily nothing to learn from Younger, the latest series from Sex and the City creator Darren Star. It is another enjoyable series about ‘void women’ and their glamorous material desires.

As a portrayal of misogyny and violence against women, The Handmaid’s Tale ticks all the boxes. As a piece of empowering feminist storytelling, it couldn’t be more misguided.

While The Americans masterfully resurrects memories of Cold War anxieties, it also offers an unnerving lens on US politics as they are today.

The second season of Westworld continues the series’ Baudrillardian illusions of reality and fakery as its robots develop a class-consciousness rare on our screens.