Manly shows for Father’s Day

Warriors, bankers, evangelists, vampires: these series that are perfect for a winter’s day binge will intrigue, entertain or amuse fathers lucky enough to be given a chance to chill on Father’s Day.

Warrior S1-2

Warrior is a gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial arts prodigy who emigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful organised crime families. Filmed in Cape Town, the show is based on the writings of martial arts legend Bruce Lee and is created by Jonathan Tropper (Banshee), with Fast and Furious director Justin Lin as an executive producer. 

Warrior has an 8.3/10 rating on IMDB and was nominated for an Emmy last year for Best Title Design. 

True Detective S1-3

The 29^th highest-rated TV show of all time on IMDb, where it has a 9/10 rating, True Detective is a seasonal anthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law. 

Season three follows two timelines: 

1980: Will and Julie, the children of feuding parents Tom and Lucy Purcell, go missing a week after Halloween in West Finger, Arkansas.

2015: Retired detective Wayne Hays, who originally investigated the crime, is asked to look back on the twists of the unsolved case with a true-crime documentary producer.

Season 3 earned 9 Emmy nominations, including Best Actor In A Limited Series for Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays. Season 1 earned 4 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Miniseries, and won five Emmys, including Best Director, Best Actor (Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey), and Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Monaghan). 

Succession S1-3

Winner of the 2020 Golden Globe for Best Drama, this hit HBO series follows four very rich siblings who behave very badly as they try to win their father’s approval – and control of his company, a global media empire.

 The cast includes Brian Cox (2020 Golden Globe winner for his role as Logan), Kieran Culkin (nominated for the Golden Globe as Roman), Jeremy Strong (Critics Choice nominee as Kendall), Sarah Snook (Critics Choice nominee as Shiv), Matthew Macfadyen (Critics Choice nominee as Tom) and multi-award winner Hiam Abbas (Ramy, Blade Runner 2049). 

Succession topped numerous favourite lists from AV Club to The Guardian to Uproxx. As The Guardian said: “2019 was the year HBO threw millions upon millions of dollars at the final season of Game of Thrones, only to have another of its shows blow it out of the water entirely. That show was Succession, Jesse Armstrong’s dizzyingly seductive drama about a billionaire media family, which became a runaway hit with its second series. A veritable powerhouse, Succession contained all the things that had once drawn us to Westeros: power, wealth, loyalty and sheer nastiness.” 

Succession, which has a 92% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, won 2019 Emmys for Best Script and Best Theme Music, the 2019 BAFTA for Best International Series, the 2019 American Film Institute Award for TV Program of the Year, and the 2019 Director’s Guild of America Award for Adam McKay. 

Barry S1-2

This pitch-black comedy stars Bill Hader as Barry, a depressed war-vet-turned-hitman who finds passion and romance in a local acting class while on a job in LA. Hader won back to back Emmys for the role in 2018 and 2019, while Henry Winkler won the Best Supporting Actor Emmy in 2018 as his acting coach, Gene Cousineau. 

As Season 2 opens, Barry tries to extricate himself from a violent criminal triangle involving the Chechen, Bolivian and Burmese underworld – not to mention some deeply suspicious LA detectives and Monroe Fuches, Barry’s former boss, who has found it exceedingly difficult to hire a replacement as capable as his onetime ace assassin

The show has a 99% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has won six Emmys and been nominated for six Golden Globes so far. It also won the 2019 American Film Institute Award for TV Program of the Year, the 2019 Directors Guild of America award for Hader, the 2019 Writers Guild of America for both Best New Series and Episodic Comedy, and a Peabody Award. 

Power S1-6

James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) is a drug kingpin turned wealthy New York night club owner who has it all, catering to the city’s elite and dreaming big. 

Look out for Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan and 50 Cent as Kanan Stark.  

Power has an 8.2/10 rating on IMDB and was a People’s Choice nominee for Favourite Premium Drama Series in 2017. 

Mr Robot S1-4 

Mr. Robot centres on Elliot, a brilliant but highly unstable young cyber-security engineer and hacker who becomes a key figure in a complex game of global dominance when he is recruited by vigilante anarchists working to bring down the financial system. 

Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) won the Emmy as Elliot, while Christian Slater (True Romance) won the Golden Globe as Mr. Robot. 

Other cast members include Portia Doubleday as Angela and Emmy nominees Michael Cristofer and BD Wong as Phillip Price and Whiterose respectively.

Mr. Robot has a 94% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, was hailed as “the defining show of the 2010s” by Vice, and won a Best Drama Series Golden Globe, among other accolades. 

Silicon Valley S1-6

A collaboration between Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) and Alec Berg (Barry), Silicon Valley takes a comedic look at the modern-day epicentre of the high-tech gold rush, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. Thomas Middleditch stars in an Emmy-nominated role as Richard Hendricks, a Silicon Valley engineer trying to build his own company called Pied Piper.

Silicon Valley was nominated twice for the Golden Globe for Best TV Comedy, won two Emmys, and has a 94% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Ray Donovan S1-7

Ray (Liev Schreiber in a Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated performance) is a fixer for Hollywood celebs, who moves to New York in later seasons to make problems go away for the likes of media mogul Sam Winslow (Oscar winner Susan Sarandon) and her New York City mayoral candidate Anita Novak (Lola Glaudini from Criminal Minds). 

Look out for Oscar winner Jon Voight in a Golden Globe-winning role as Ray’s dad, Mickey, who’s just been released from jail as Season 1 begins. 

Ray Donovan has a 8.3/10 rating on IMDB and has been nominated for five Critics Choice and two Writers Guild of America awards, among other accolades. 

What We Do in the Shadows S1-2

From Jemaine Clement (Flight Of The Conchords) and Oscar winner Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit), the hit mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows is a look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of three vampires who’ve lived together in New York for over 100 years – plenty of time to get on each other’s nerves.

What We Do In The Shadows has a 94% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus calls it “delightfully absurd and ridiculously fun… A mockumentary worth sinking your teeth into.” The series was also nominated for two Emmys; the Television Critics Association and Writer’s Guild of America awards for best new series; and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films’ Best Horror TV Series Award. 

Billions S1-5

Billions is a hit drama set in the world of hedge funds and high finance. In Season 4, former enemies Bobby Axelrod (Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis) and Chuck Rhoades (Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti) have come together to form an uneasy but highly effective alliance with Wendy Rhoades (Critics Choice nominee Maggie Siff), the chief counsellor to each, aimed at the eradication of all their rivals, like Grigor Andolov (Oscar nominee John Malkovich) and Taylor Mason (Screen Actors Guild nominee Asia Kate Dillon). 

The show has a 89% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for 2020 Critics Choice Awards for both Best Actor (Giamatti) and Best Supporting Actor (Dillon).

Ballers S1-5 

Exploring the glamorous and often cutthroat world of pro football through a group of past and present players striving to stay in the game, Ballers stars Dwayne Johnson (Jumanji) as ex-superstar Spencer Strasmore, who has reinvented himself as a financial manager for today’s players. Emmy winner Rob Corddry, BAFTA nominee Russell Brand and 2019 Image Award nominee John David Washington (yes, he’s Denzel Washington’s son) co-star. 

Ballers was nominated for two Emmys last year, as well as Image Awards for Best Actor (Johnson) and Best Supporting Actor (Washington) in a Comedy.

The Righteous Gemstones S1

The Righteous Gemstones tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed and charitable work. Creator Danny McBride (Vice Principals, Eastbound & Down) stars as Jesse, the eldest of three grown Gemstone offspring, who looks to lead in his father’s footsteps, but finds his past sins jeopardising the family ministry. Golden Globe winner John Goodman stars alongside Teen Choice and MTV Movie Awards winner Adam Devine (Pitch Perfect, Modern Family) and Emmy nominee Walton Goggins (Justified).

The Righteous Gemstones has a 8.1/10 rating on IMDB.