The Weekly with Tom Gleeson, Charlie Pickering and Kitty Flanagan may not suit everyone, but it is having a good year so far.
Free to air
The Weekly with Charlie Pickering
ABC, 8.30pm
He’s something of an acquired taste, but Charlie Pickering and his weekly news satire, if that’s the genre into which The Weekly falls (Is it a chat show? A news review?), do seem to be improving. That said, it could arguably be more edgy (although its many fans would say it was already a standout in the local comedy scene) and zany sidekicks Tom Gleeson and Kitty Flanagan tend to grate.
The Ugly Face of Disability Hate Crime
ABC2, 8.30pm
Made for the BBC, this film focuses specifically on the law in Britain, but obviously resonates elsewhere. The program is presented by Adam Pearson, who cheerfully informs us he has ‘‘one of those faces you remember’’ – he was born with neurofibromatosis type 1, a condition which causes benign tumours to grow on his nerve endings. Pearson sets out to investigate why what he calls ‘‘disablism’’ (prejudice against the disabled) isn’t treated in the same way as other hate crimes, namely those perpetrated on religious or racial grounds. He reveals the startling fact that – in Britain at least – the perpetrator of a crime against a disabled person can land in jail for six months, while a similar crime based on race or religion can lead to a two-year jail stint. Using a hidden camera, Pearson gives us a small taste of his daily life – the staring, pointing, and the eternally empty seat next to him on the bus – but it’s the more insidious harm faced by disabled people that he wants to address. Kylie Northover
Pay TV
Chicago PD
Universal, 8.30pm
When you’re only dipping in and out of Dick Wolf’s latest cop show it can be a little unclear whether dodgy detective Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) really is a criminal. Well, apart from the savage violence he dishes out to suspects every time there’s a ticking-clock scenario. Unsurprisingly, there’s another clock on the tick tonight, with the father of a missing girl having taken one of Voight’s men hostage. Looks like someone’s going to be feeling the pointy end of a fireplace poker down in those dimly lit holding cells. Beghe makes a terrific tough guy, and he’s ably supported by the likes of John Seda, Sophia Bush and Elias Koteas. None of it is what you’d call believable, though. Brad Newsome
Movie
Paris-Manhattan (2012)
SBS, 12.05am (Thursday)
While much of the world ponders why there aren’t more female film directors, the French just get on with it. Sophie Lellouche is a case in point. After just one short, Lellouche made Paris-Manhattan, a generously budgeted first feature about thirty-something Alice (Alice Taglioni). She is the pharmacist daughter of sweet parents who too insistently want the best for her – like getting married. Alice believes that movies on DVD can cure the sick (no argument there) and is obsessed with the witticisms of Woody Allen. She even has conversations involving sound bites from Allen’s movies, which is all cute and fine, but is sadly let down by Allen having re-recorded the famous bursts of dialogue in a bland and dispirited voice. Oh, for the spark and genius of the originals. But let’s not complain: this insistently slight romance is pleasurable for the confidence of its conceit, the presence of Taglioni and a cameo from the great man himself. Scott Murray
