What to Watch: Dream Productions, Dexter: Original Sin, Love Me, Elton John: Never Too Late, No Good Deed

Dream Productions

Wednesday, streaming on Disney Plus

Few animated releases have had the kind of impact that the charmingly poignant Inside Out and its recent sequel, Inside Out 2, have managed.

Directed by Pete Docter, who co-wrote the screenplay with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley, the film was born out of Docter’s observation of his daughter’s personality changes as she transitioned from child to young adult. The film made sense of this confusing time in a kid’s life, like very few coming-of-age tales have managed thus far.

Audiences lapped it up.

It’s unsurprising, then, that Pixar Animation Studios would take the opportunity to develop more spin-offs — this new four-part limited series is the latest.

It takes place between the events of the first and second movie, and sees us returning to Riley’s mind, “where dreams really do come true — every night, on time and on budget”.

Yes, that’s right: this series is all about the little folks in Riley’s head that make her dreams, focusing on two characters: Dream Productions’ “director” Paula Persimmon and her young upstart colleague, Xeni.

“Riley is growing up and when her memories need some extra processing, Joy and the rest of the Core Emotions send them to Dream Productions,” an official explainer reads.

“Acclaimed director Paula Persimmon (voiced by Paula Pell) faces a nightmare of her own: trying to create the next hit dream after being paired up with Xeni (voiced by Richard Ayoade), a smug daydream director looking to step up into the big leagues of night dreams.”

This mockumentary-style series sees many of the original cast returning to reprise their roles, and early indications are that it maintains all the charm of the original films.

Mark your diaries — this is going to be a big one.

Dexter: Original Sin

Friday, streaming on Paramount Plus

This new crime drama is a prequel to the hugely successful Dexter, which ran for several seasons from 2006. It sees the show’s original creator back to tell the story of Dexter Morgan’s early years, with newcomer Patrick Gibson taking on the titular role. Michael C. Hall, who brought the character to life originally, returns as narrator, lending the series a nice sense of continuity. This is already getting lots of buzz — one to watch.

Love Me

Sunday, 8.40pm, ABC

If you missed Binge’s superb original drama when it dropped on the streamer, now’s your chance to find out why audiences fell hard for this beautiful locally produced series. Starring Bojana Novakovic, Hugo Weaving, Bob Morley and Heather Mitchell, it weaves a fabulously relatable story of a family rebuilding itself after the death of a loved one. This first series is something of a modern classic. If you’ve not seen it yet, seek it out.

Elton John: Never Too Late

Friday, streaming on Disney Plus

This doco follows Elton as he looks back at his 50-year career, while preparing to perform one final concert in North America at the Dodger Stadium. Given the headlines of late, this will likely be an emotional watch for fans as he delves into how he overcame “adversity, abuse and addiction” in those tumultuous early years to become a bona fide icon.

No Good Deed

Thursday, streaming on Netflix

Lisa Kudrow, Ray Romano, Abbi Jacobson, Luke Wilson — talk about a stacked cast! This series, from Emmy-winning creator Liz Feldman (she’s also behind Dead To Me), tells the story of an empty-nester couple (Kudrow and Romano) who decide to list their beautiful LA home — and find themselves at the centre of a bidding war. Their stories, and those of the potential buyers, are fleshed out, weaving an intriguing narrative. Hard to explain, but worth a look.