Mercado on TV: Love on the Spectrum, Sticks & Stones, Craig McLachlan

Some familiar faces return when the delightful Love on the Spectrum (Tuesday on ABC) returns for a second series. The hit romance show about young adults on the autism spectrum is still finding new fans thanks to its first series now screening (and trending) on Netflix. It's highly recommended by this week's Mercado on TV column.

Given the first episode began by introducing us to Michael, it’s lovely to see him back at the start to open this series. Still single, but with more confidence, he is back along with fellow first series participants Mark, Jimmy and Sharnae.

Newcomers Teo, Ronan, Kassandra and Jayden should mix things up, given some of them are keen to explore their bisexual and/or pansexual sides. It will all end with a double episode finale which is promising to be a “must-watch TV event”. Count me in.

Filthy Rich was a TV series made in New Zealand in 2016. Like many NZ dramas, it was a hit but that is never considered good enough for Australian prime time. I don’t remember it airing here, which suggests it was probably shown late at night in a non-ratings period. It’s thanks to that lousy loophole in the trans-Tasman agreement that allows NZ dramas to count as local drama points.

Filthy Rich now has a US remake (Thursday on Seven) starring Kim Cattrall, Gerald McRaney and Aussie guest star Gia Carides. The family business has now been switched from a corporation to a Christian television network, and that means an even bigger fortune.

Filthy Rich is good soapie fun but sadly, it didn’t get renewed for a second season. Maybe the audience didn’t warm to the idea of a televangelist fathering three children out of wedlock. Given the endless exposés about hypocritical pastors though, Filthy Rich is spot on the money.

American TV complicates solid formats by making them too over the top, whereas the Brits revel in a simple premise. Sticks & Stones (Thursday on BBC First) opens with an office presentation going wrong because a laptop won’t connect to the Wi-Fi. From that point on, it slowly reveals itself as a workplace bullying story.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones is just three episodes long so it’s an easy watch. It’s the latest drama from Mike Bartlett, who also created the brilliant Doctor Foster. He also did Life which just wrapped on BBC First. Both are worth a binge.

Is an hour and a half of 7NEWS Spotlight: Craig McLachlan (Sunday on Seven) going to be too much, given that’s twice as long as an average episode of The Doctor Blake Mysteries?

And can HBO find another word to use given their latest documentary Generation Hustle (Sunday on FoxShowcase), all about internet scammers, has nothing to do with their drama Generation (Binge) which is about horny teens?

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