TV for Saturday, May 9
American Gods is a foray into a shadowy underworld.Credit:
American Gods
Double episode new series ★★★★
9.20pm, SBS Viceland
Even those who find the supernatural stuff a bit of a stretch will have to admit those aspects of this post-prison adventure thriller based on Neil Gaiman’s novel enrich the drama. The opening credits alone are a sensory feast, the gothic imagery invoking the underworld into which ex-con Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle, The 100) is shoved by the audacious Mr Wednesday (Ian McShane, Deadwood). This promises to be a battle both of the flesh and conscience.
The world didn't end in 2012, but Ancient Aliens is still putting together the pieces.Credit:
Ancient Aliens
★★
8.30pm, SBS Viceland
The main problem with the Mayan doomsday prophecies on which this flimsy pseudo-history documentary hangs itself is that it is eight years out of date. Perhaps we should take some comfort in the fact that the world didn’t end in 2012, as these gaily dressed experts in 2009 proposed it might, according to ancient calendars possibly influenced by alien visitors. By that logic, the psychics who predicted said the plague of 2020 would end us all could be wrong, too.
Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts in Stepmom, the pair were rumoured to be fighting with each other. Credit:
Stepmom
Movie ★★★★
9.20pm, Nine
Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts are a magnificent pairing in Chris Columbus’ heartfelt 1988 examination of the tenuous relationship between mother and stepmother in a blended family situation. This one is made yet more brittle by the terminal cancer diagnosis of the first wife (Sarandon). Ed Harris, as the dad caught in the middle, also gives a moving performance. It goes without saying that you’ll need the tissues handy by the story’s inevitably tear-jerking end.