Searching for a new series this month? I’m particularly keen on Stan’s Australian murder mystery The Killing at Parrish Station, which combines eerie vibes and the mighty Mia Wasikowska, and the Disney+ comedy Alice and Steve, where best friends have to navigate an awkward new dynamic. There’s something for everyone though, with new shows from Harlan Coben, Sam Pang and even Barack Obama.NetflixAustralia’s Sam Worthington as David Burroughs in I Will Find You.NetflixMy top Netflix recommendation is I Will Find You (June 18).When he’s not the true-blue lead of the Avatar blockbusters, Australian actor Sam Worthington has built an eclectic career around action flicks and thrillers. With this new series, adapted from the 2023 Harlan Coben novel of the same name, he leans into the latter. Worthington plays David Burroughs, an American prisoner serving a life sentence for the murder of his own son. David’s unheard pleas of innocence become an escape plan when he learns that his son may actually still be alive. Any Prison Break fans getting the tingles? Severance devotees get to see that show’s breakout star, Britt Lower, as David’s ally, his former sister-in-law and a disgraced journalist. Expect many twists.Also on Netflix: One of the trickiest gigs in the romantic-comedy trade is finding the right foil for Jennifer Lopez. Everyone from Ralph Fiennes to Owen Wilson has tried to perfect the meet cute with J.Lo. Office Romance (June 5) offers an intriguing candidate: Ted Lasso star and Shrinking co-creator Brett Goldstein. The English actor co-wrote this feature, where he plays a corporate lawyer who falls in love with his new boss, Lopez’s no-nonsense airline CEO. Do they have a work trip to the tropical delights of the Dominican Republic? Absolutely. The director is Ol Parker (Ticket to Paradise), and the goal is to circumvent the formulaic.May highlights: Kylie proved that the celebrity documentary can be done right, Legends was a cracking British crime drama, it was retirees versus monsters in the sci-fi adventure The Boroughs, Zach Galifianakis hosted the idiosyncratic This is a Gardening Show, Unchosen was a spicy British cult drama, while the action-thriller remake Man on Fire fizzled out.HBO MaxLarry David and former President Barack Obama feature in this new HBO Max series.HBO MaxMy top HBO Max recommendation is Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness (June 27).In his first major project since Curb Your Enthusiasm concluded in 2024, comedy great Larry David headlines a sketch comedy series that takes a less than august view of American history. Former US President Barack Obama is a producer on a show that will definitely not be textbook faithful, and will reportedly also feature in a sketch. David’s contacts list means the list of guests is top-tier: Bill Hader (Barry) and Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along) will play Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, while Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) will struggle to get airborne as the Wright brothers.Also on HBO Max: House of the Dragon (June 22) has something to prove with its third season. Despite a large and loyal audience, the Game of Thrones prequel has never had the acclaim of its fantasy epic predecessor. The second season coyly concluded before a major battle in the civil war between the dragon-riding rulers of Westeros, while Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has publicly washed his hands of creator Ryan Condal’s show. Word is that the new season features more large-scale set-pieces and scorched-earth dragon battles, both of which are budget-intensive. The new episodes also have to set up the fourth and final season, which has been commissioned for a 2028 release.May highlights: Australian comedian Sam Campbell’s first TV show, Make That Movie, was just as strange as you’d expect, and the deadpan heroines of Japanese action-comedy Baby Assassins Everyday! offered an absurdly fresh take on Generation Z.Amazon Prime VideoMatt Cornett as Sam Florek and Sadie Soverall as Percy Fraser in Every Year After.Cate Cameron/Prime VideoMy top Amazon Prime Video recommendation is Every Year After (June 10).Amazon Prime Video has made tempestuous romantic dramas a cornerstone of their original programming, debuting the likes of watch-party favourite The Summer I Turned Pretty and Off Campus. Their latest effort in this burgeoning streaming genre is an adaptation of Carley Fortune’s best-selling novel of the same name, which charts the six-year relationship between Persephone ‘Percy’ Fraser (Sadie Soverall, Saltburn) and Sam Florek (Matt Cornett, High School Music: The Musical: The Series). The setting for this tale of first love is, yes, an idyllic lakeside town, and the creators include Amy B. Harris (Sex and the City). It’s another cost-of-loving crisis.Also on Amazon Prime Video: At the other end of the relationship scale is the feature film Over Your Dead Body (June 10), a blackly comic thriller about a mutually homicidal couple’s weekend away. When struggling filmmaker Dan (Jason Segel, Shrinking) and aspiring actor Lisa (Samara Weaving, Ready or Not) arrive at a lakeside cabin their toxic relationship has reached the point of murderous plotting, but their scheming soon runs afoul of outside circumstances that introduce a supporting cast including Timothy Olyphant (Alien: Earth) and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets). Jorma Taccone, who automatically goes to cinematic heaven for making MacGruber, directs.May highlights: Nicolas Cage took the Spider-Man universe into 1930s private-eye territory with the terrific Spider-Noir, plus John Krasinski returned as Hollywood’s favourite CIA analyst turned field agent with the covert action feature Jack Ryan: Ghost War.Stan*Mia Wasikowska and Xavier Samuel star in The Killings at Parrish Station.StanMy top Stan recommendation is The Killings at Parrish Station (June 24).Mia Wasikowska is the Australian actor of her generation, so it’s important to take note when the Tracks and Alice in Wonderland star returns home for her first television role in 18 years. A dual-timeline murder mystery, the story cuts between a young police detective, Georgia Cooke (Wasikowska), investigating four murdered scientists and a lone survivor at a remote outback research station, and the veteran Georgia (Heather Mitchell, Fake) confronting a similar case 37 years later. Created by Ben Jenkins (At Home Alone Together), the plot uncovers mania, ritual and the occult – all grounded by a sturdy supporting cast that includes Xavier Samuel (Blonde), Emma Lung (Strife) and Robert Taylor (The Newsreader).May highlights: Horror fans got a dose of the good – i.e. scary – stuff with the psychiatric ward menace of The Terror: Devil in Silver, while Half Man was a complicated, unrelenting drama about two intertwined men from the creator of Baby Reindeer.Apple TVAmy Adams and Patrick Wilson star in Cape Fear on Apple TV.Apple TVMy top Apple TV recommendation is Cape Fear (June 5).You can’t go lightweight in a remake of Martin Scorsese’s 1991 thriller about a nightmarish former convict who stalks the family of the lawyer he blames for his imprisonment. The film – a darker rendering of the 1962 original – starred Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, and that’s matched here with Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) as Max Cady, who’s all menacing stillness and jailhouse legal skills as he circles former attorney Anna Bowden (Amy Adams, Arrival), her husband Tom, (Patrick Wilson, Aquaman), and their teenage children. The creator is Nick Antosca, who did freaky things with Netflix’s horror series Brand New Cherry Flavour. Fingers crossed he has a worthy new take.Also on Apple TV: I am appreciative of Apple’s support for their shows because I did not expect Sugar (June 19) to get a second season. A modern-day noir with unpredictable stylistic flourishes and a science-fiction undertow, the first season was ungainly in parts but got by on a committed performance from Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) as John Sugar, a private eye who moves in mysterious ways. The new season gives Sugar a fresh case in Los Angeles, with the supporting cast including Shea Whigham (Perry Mason) and Jin Ha (Pachinko). Notably, there’s also a change of creative direction, with Sam Catlin (Preacher, Breaking Bad) taking over as the showrunner from creator Mark Protosevich.May highlights: It was a comedy, it was a horror tale, it was a Matthew Rhys showcase – Widow’s Bay was something special, plus a suburban mum got in over her head and liked it with the black comedy Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, and Soviet-era paranoia flourished in the space-race drama Star City.BingeDavid Morrissey (left) and Alan Cumming lead Russell T. Davies’ new drama Tip Toe.BingeMy top Binge recommendation is Tip Toe (June 2).Whether it was bringing new life to Doctor Who or excavating gay history with the wrenching 1980s HIV/AIDs drama It’s a Sin, Russell T. Davies is one of the most vital showrunners in British television. His latest limited series examines contemporary fault lines and the new rearing of old prejudices through long-time Manchester neighbours: Leo (Alan Cumming, The Good Wife) is a gay bar owner in the city’s Canal Street district, while Clive (David Morrissey, Daddy Issues) is an electrician with two teenage sons. When a disagreement between the two turns nasty, the fears Leo grew up with start to reappear in the present day. Given it’s written by Davies, expect great heart and lived-in humour even as the story becomes a thriller.Also on Binge: In the 30 years since she exited Home and Away as fan favourite Angel, Melissa George has enjoyed an eclectic, high-profile career. The Australian actor has featured in everything from Grey’s Anatomy and In Treatment to The Mosquito Coast and The Slap. Her new series, Ms X (June 30), is a comic-drama from New Zealand in which George plays put-upon suburban wife and mother Mia. Enlisting her best friend, Saskia (Simone Kessell, Yellowjackets), Mia tries to scare her philandering husband into being faithful, but the deception has an unexpected impact – both the criminal underworld and the police become very interested in the new Mia.May highlights: A security guard handcuffed to an inmate everyone else wanted dead sets up the British action-thriller Prisoner, while the historic revenge saga got a makeover with A Woman of Substance.Disney+Jemaine Clement and Nicola Walker star in Alice and Steve. Lara Cornell/Disney+My top Disney+ recommendation is Alice and Steve (June 8).I’m excited about the distinct pairing of leads in this upended British comedy created by Sex Education writer Sophie Goodhart: dramatic heavyweight Nicola Walker (The Split) and Kiwi comic Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords). The two play the titular best friends of 30 years, whose bond is torpedoed when Steve finds himself in a budding relationship with Alice’s on-the-rebound twenty-something daughter, Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder). With awkward dynamics at every turn, from family get-togethers to an enthusiastic Izzy introducing Steve to her nonplussed friends, the show aims to navigate cringe comedy and genuine need.Also on Disney+: While her on-screen appearances are sporadic nowadays after making her name in The Office and The Mindy Project, Mindy Kaling has been a comedy powerhouse this decade, creating Never Have I Ever, The Sex Lives of College Girls and Running Point. Her new series is Not Suitable for Work (June 2), which catalogues the employment struggles and personal entanglements of five New York twenty-somethings starting their post-university careers on the bottom rung of their respective ladders. Hopefully, Kaling can nail a Gen Z mindset with the right mix of laughs and lessons. She has an appealing young cast that includes Ella Hunt (Dickinson) and Avantika (Mean Girls).May highlights: The classic British bonkbuster found salacious new footing with the action-packed second season of 1980s comic-drama Rivals, plus a surprise new one-off episode of The Bear – search under Gary – cooked up a road-trip flashback.Paramount+Brenton Thwaites and Phoebe Tonkin in Two Years Later. Their characters decide to go on eight dates to decide if they should get married.Paramount+My top Paramount+ recommendation is Two Years Later (June 4).A love story with sharp edges, this Australian series stars Phoebe Tonkin (Boy Swallows Universe) and Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) as Emily and Ryan, a pair of Brisbane commuters who bonded pre-COVID on the daily bus ride into the CBD. When they reconnect post-lockdown, Ryan impulsively suggests they go on eight dates – a large enough sample size to determine if they should get married. Emily agrees. There are romcom vibes here, not to mention two very attractive leads, but the personal lows definitely balance out the highs.Also on Paramount+: The first season of The Agency (June 22) took a big swing and connected, delivering a tense, intricate espionage thriller centred on the London station of the CIA. With Michael Fassbender (The Killer) as a just-returned undercover agent who couldn’t abandon the Sudanese academic (Jodie Turner-Smith, Bad Monkey) he was in love with, the show mixed personal duplicity and geopolitical intrigue. The second season further explores the deadly ramifications of the couple’s risky affair, which complicates the plans of the CIA’s London bosses, played by Richard Gere (Pretty Woman) and Jeffrey Wright (Westworld).May highlights: The Yellowstone spin-offs brought out the big guns, with Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser’s Rip taking on Texan heavyweights in Dutton Ranch.ABC iviewJosh McConville, Emma Harvie, Dylan Murphy, Sam Pang and Lucy Durack in new ABC comedy Ground Up.ABCMy top ABC iview recommendation is Ground Up (June 7).Sam Pang and sports are a winning combination, whether it’s co-hosting the AFL panel show The Front Bar or breaking down football’s World Cup with Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever! Now the comic, presenter, and talk show host is headlining a timely sitcom, playing the (very fictional) AFL administrator dispatched to Tasmania by the league to get the state’s 2028 team under way. Pang’s Hugh Shen has to deal with a divided public, costly stadium proposals, a wealthy club president who doesn’t know the game (Marg Downey, Kath & Kim), and a league boss enjoying his predicaments (Josh McConville, Black Snow). Created by long-time Shaun Micallef collaborator Gary McCaffrie, this is a scenario rich in satirical promise and part of an Australian television lineage that includes The Games and Utopia.May highlights: Creator Anne Edmonds and Kitty Flanagan were a comic dream team as polar opposites in the arts satire Bad Company, plus our nation’s gambling crisis was thoroughly dissected in Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke.SBS On DemandAndrew Lincoln (right) leads Scottish thriller Coldwater.SBSMy top SBS On Demand recommendation is Coldwater (June 10).While he will never fully escape the role of Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead – especially since he’s intermittently back in the show’s The Ones Who Live spin-off – Andrew Lincoln has spread his wings over the past few years. In this British drama, he plays against his trademark heroic resilience as John, a husband and father struggling with feelings of failure. When a public confrontation goes wrong, John uproots his successful restaurateur wife, Fiona (Indira Varma, Game of Thrones), and children to relocate from London to a Scottish village. Desperate for a second chance, he grows close to his new neighbour, Tommy (Ewen Bremner, Trainspotting), only to suspect he’s made another poor decision. Welcome to the midlife-crisis thriller.May highlights: Empathy was a bittersweet, moving Canadian drama about the complexities of private and institutional mental health, while a veteran Australian provocateur reassessed where he stood with Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran!* Nine owns Stan and this masthead.Want more TV? We’ve got you.Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.John Safran: He made his name on Race Around the World, now the professional agitator is back where he began – as a judge. Plus, we review his new SBS documentary about free speech.Off Campus: The YA adaptation has broken streaming records, and its Australian star Josh Heuston is feeling the love.The Assembly: Why this much-loved ABC show is more than “inspiration porn”.Rolf Harris: A new ABC documentary gives the disgraced entertainer’s Australian accusers a chance to be heard.Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the TV shows she recommends watching right now (below)