{"id":50046,"date":"2025-09-08T01:34:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50046\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T01:34:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:34:17","slug":"taskmaster-the-late-late-show-and-only-murders-are-back-plus-new-shows-to-watch-from-tonight-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50046\/","title":{"rendered":"Taskmaster, The Late Late Show and Only Murders are back, plus new shows to watch, from tonight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pick of the weekGl\u00fain ZThursday, TG4, 8pm<\/p>\n

What do we know about Gen Z, the generation born between the late 1990s and early 2010s? Well, we know they\u2019re pretty good at delivering a blank stare<\/a> when asked a question they don\u2019t consider worth answering. But what else do we know about the generation that is coming into young adulthood poised to inherit the world? This new four-part series introduces us to 12 actual \u201czoomers\u201d at different stages in their lives as they try to navigate their way through an increasingly complex world, deal with the demands and responsibilities of modern life and try to secure their future in an uncertain environment. They\u2019ll also freely answer questions (as Gaeilge) about their hopes and dreams, work and relationships and the challenges they face. The first episode examines the financial pressures facing Gen Zers in a cost-of-living crisis, where owning your own home is a distant dream. We\u2019ll meet college student Colm, who is living in his van because he can\u2019t find accommodation, and Sin\u00e9ad, who is facing the double whammy of being jobless and without a place to call her own. We also meet Aoibh\u00edn, who is working hard to keep her business in the Gaeltacht running, but considers herself lucky to be able to work from home. <\/p>\n

Highlights LionessSunday, UTV, 10.15pm\"ZoeZoe Salda\u00f1a in Lioness. Photograph: Paramount <\/p>\n

Nicole Kidman and Zoe Salda\u00f1a star in this spy series that\u2019s been touted as a sort of female Slow Horses, but Kidman\u2019s character \u2013 a high-ranking CIA official \u2013 doesn\u2019t look quite as scruffy as Slough House boss Jackson Lamb. In fact, she\u2019s as immaculately turned out as you\u2019d expect Kidman to be. She plays Kaitlyn Meade, the head of the agency\u2019s Lioness programme, with Salda\u00f1a as the team leader on the ground, Joe McNamara. Their brief is to recruit agents to infiltrate terrorist organisations, using such tactics as befriending the terrorists\u2019 wives and girlfriends, and even getting up close and personal with the terrorists themselves, in an effort to uncover and thwart planned attacks. It\u2019s high-octane stuff, as McNamara tries to balance her personal life and her extremely dangerous job, while Meade must play a tense game of political chess to ensure her operatives get out alive. The eight-part series \u2013 created by Taylor Sheridan, the man behind Yellowstone, and based on a real-life CIA programme initiated during the Iraq war \u2013 also stars Morgan Freeman as US secretary of state Edwin Mullins. Lioness was first aired on Paramount+ in 2023 to strong reviews, and a second series was shown in 2024 \u2013 could we be looking at the new Homeland?<\/p>\n

Global EyeMonday, BBC Two, 7pm<\/p>\n

BBC World Service has an enviable reputation for getting to the heart of global news stories, and this weekly current affairs programme showcases the best reportage and analysis from the World Service\u2019s crack documentary unit, BBC Eye. These experienced journalists will bring insight into some of the hot-button events happening around the world, including the deadly migration trail in Africa and the extremist settlers in the West Bank. BBC Eye investigations have had a positive impact, says Global Eye\u2019s executive editor Liz Gibbons, raising awareness of urgent issues and giving voice to people affected by them, and also in some cases leading to perpetrators being arrested and laws being changed. <\/p>\n

TaskMonday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm\"Task:Task: Mark Ruffalo. Photograph: HBO <\/p>\n

The working-class suburbs of Philadelphia are being rocked by a series of daring robberies. The FBI needs to put together a cross-agency task force to take down the perpetrators. So who do they choose to head this crack team? Why, the disgruntled, recently widowed old boy with a head full of demons, of course. Mark Ruffalo<\/a> plays FBI agent Tom in this seven-part thriller series created by Brad Ingelsby, the co-creator of the hit series Mare of Easttown, starring Kate Winslet. Ingelsby has found another Hollywood heavyweight to head the cast in this new series, and Ruffalo is joined by Tom Pelphrey as Robbie, a garbage collector and separated dad who moonlights as a violent armed robber, with Emilia Jones as Robbie\u2019s niece Maeve, and Jamie McShane as the leader of the Dark Hearts biker gang, who for some reason are being targeted by Robbie\u2019s heist crew. Martha Plimpton stars as Tom\u2019s FBI boss Kathleen McGinty. <\/p>\n

Stacey & JoeTuesday, BBC Two, 8pm\"StaceyStacey & Joe. Photograph: Elisabeth Hoff\/Optomen TV\/BBC <\/p>\n

Are you ready for another visit to Pickle Cottage? Think you can handle another adventure with celebrity couple Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash, and their blended family of teens and toddlers, plus their ever-expanding menagerie of pets? Course you can. Stacey and Joe are opening the cottage doors to the BBC camera crew once more, and they\u2019re ready to share the next chapter in their busy lives, as they juggle the demands of media work and parenting, not to mention keeping their own romance alive amid all the madness and mayhem of family life. Come inside, sit down and watch as Stacey and Joe show you how they keep the whole circus running smoothly, and how they work hard to ensure their children get all the love and nurturing they need to thrive. You\u2019ll be privy to the family\u2019s everyday life and, as you\u2019ll know from the first series, it\u2019s a life far less ordinary. In this series, Belle is starting her first day of nursery school, while Zach is getting a driving lesson \u2013 from grandad Dave. Meanwhile, Stacey opens up to her sister about her health, while Joe makes some headway on his lake project. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to take everyone on this crazy journey we call life!\u201d say the couple. We can\u2019t wait to go on it. <\/p>\n

The Donald Trump ShowWednesday, Channel 4, 9pm<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s pretty clear by now that the world has become one big unreality TV show, and US president Donald Trump is the star. The rest of us are just extras, or NPCs, watching on helplessly as Trump upends society\u2019s every norm, and turns the US into an authoritarian oligarchy. So what can we do? Just sit back, get the popcorn in, and watch it all play out. The Donald Trump Show is a new series that avoids pointless pontificating on Trumpism and its causes, and instead simply blends news and archive footage and dramatic storytelling to recount the first nine months of Trump\u2019s second term in office. There\u2019s no hand-wringing, impotent outrage or ineffectual criticism, just the real-life events, unfolding like a fast-paced political thriller, with a cast that could rival Dallas and Dynasty \u2013 including Melania Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk and RFK jnr \u2013 and set to a classic rock soundtrack that includes Sam and Dave, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and John Lee Hooker. Episode one focuses on the doomed bromance between Trump and Tesla boss Musk, who took a chainsaw to the federal government, but soon found himself cut loose. <\/p>\n

TaskmasterThursday, Channel 4, 9pm<\/p>\n

The law of diminishing returns clearly doesn\u2019t apply to Taskmaster, the fiendishly funny series in which comedy guests carry out surreal assignments overseen by Greg Davies and \u201cLittle\u201d Alex Horne. The 19th series, aired earlier this year, was hailed by many as the best yet, so this 20th series will have to seriously up its game if it wants to outdo its predecessor. The new line-up of guests should be well up to the challenge: Reece Shearsmith from Inside No 9, Sanjeev Bhaskar from Unforgotten, and stand-up comedians Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam and Phil Ellis. They\u2019ll be taking on some bizarre tasks in a bid to win the coveted Taskmaster trophy: the golden head of Greg Davies. As usual, Horne is coy about what challenges he\u2019ll set for the hapless contestants, but we\u2019ve been told it involves \u201ccodes, gym balls and disgusting noises\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Late Late ShowFriday, RT\u00c9 One, 9.35pm\"TheThe Late Late Show: Patrick Kielty. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a turbulent summer for Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty, as he and his wife, presenter Cat Deeley, announced their separation<\/a> in July. The couple have two children and live in London, with Kielty commuting to Dublin every week to present RT\u00c9\u2019s flagship chatshow over the past couple of years. RT\u00c9 has dispelled any doubts Kielty would be back for his third run in the hottest seat in Montrose, saying it is \u201clooking forward to Patrick returning to The Late Late Show in September\u201d. In fact, RT\u00c9 reckons this could be his best season yet. Who will be Kielty\u2019s first guests? There\u2019s no word yet at time of going to press, but based on what\u2019s been grabbing our attention in recent weeks, a few presidential candidates, the Ireland women\u2019s rugby team and the Kneecap lads would be obvious choices. <\/p>\n

StreamingOnly Murders in the BuildingDisney+ from Tuesday, September 9th\"OnlyOnly Murders in the Building: Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin in series five. Photograph: Patrick Harbron\/Disney <\/p>\n

When they launched their crime comedy series, back in lockdown, Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez probably didn\u2019t expect they\u2019d be still going strong five years later, but the amateur sleuthing trio are back with their fifth series. At this stage the murder rate in the Arconia building might challenge even Cabot Cove, from Murder, She Wrote. In this new series, Lester, its beloved doorman, has been found dead, and Charles, Oliver and Mabel suspect he may have been murdered. Their investigations take them deep into the dark heart of the city, and soon the Mob have the trio in their crosshairs. But an even greater danger is in store: a bunch of billionaires who\u2019ll stop at nothing to protect their wealth.<\/p>\n

The GirlfriendPrime Video from Wednesday, September 10th\"TheThe Girlfriend: Robin Wright. Photograph: Amazon Content Services LLC <\/p>\n

Is it a good idea to bring your new girlfriend home to meet your mom? Most Irish mammies either think no girl is good enough for her precious little prince or wonder why any self-respecting young lady would go out with a li\u00fadram\u00e1n like you. Rich and successful Laura (Robin Wright) is not an Irish mammy, but when her darling son, Daniel (Laurie Davidson), arrives with the beautiful Cherry (Olivia Cooke) in tow, Laura suspects this interloper may be a scheming, social-climbing gold-digger. Is she Daniel\u2019s dream girl or a potential nightmare?<\/p>\n

The Breslau MurdersDisney+ from Friday, September 12th<\/p>\n

In the east German city of Breslau in 1936, a killer is on the loose. The Third Reich is not too happy about this, as the eyes of the world are on Berlin, which is hosting the 11th Olympic Games. The last thing they need is a brutal, sensational murder stealing the show. It\u2019s up to Breslau\u2019s unconventional police commissioner, Franz Podolsky, who is of Polish origin, to put aside his hatred of the Reich and catch the killer before they strike again. But time is not on his side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the weekGl\u00fain ZThursday, TG4, 8pm What do we know about Gen Z, the generation born between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,117,19,17,30875,30168],"class_list":{"0":"post-50046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-only-murders-in-the-building","13":"tag-the-late-late-show"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}