In an age where there’s an infinite number of TV shows to choose from, there’s nothing better than one that cuts the fat. That’s exactly what “Beef” does, says “Streaming” columnist NICK OVERALL. 

A NEW Netflix series, “Beef” it gets its plot into gear in the opening minutes and refuses to slow it down.

Made up of 10 episodes that run at a swift 30 minutes(ish) apiece, “Beef” tells an amusing and anxiety-inducing tale of two strangers whose lives intertwine and subsequently plunge into chaos after a road-rage incident at their local hardware store.

It’s a cynical, sliding-doors moment, a chance encounter that, rather than being romanticised like they so often are, changes these character’s lives for the worse and forever. An improbable but definitely possible twist of fate that’s rather frightening when one thinks too much about it.

If the premise sounds odd, that’s because it most certainly is. 

The show comes from production studio A24, which was also behind this year’s bizarrely brilliant best picture winner “Everything, Everywhere All At Once” (streamable on Binge).

The strange setup of “Beef” wouldn’t work without two very solid performances holding it all together,

One of those comes from Steven Yeun, best known as fan-favourite Glen in “The Walking Dead”, while the other is from Ali Wong, famous for the 2019 Netflix rom-com “Always Be My Maybe”.

In both of their most famous roles these actors play likeable types, but in “Beef” they’re the opposite. An obsessive, vindictive and neurotic duo who go further and further in their attempts to ruin each other’s lives, all escalating from that first tiff in a car park.

What keeps the pace kicking along so well is the constant back and forth between these two characters. One is only ever on screen for a few minutes before the camera cuts back to the other, a sly method of keeping things fresh.

Who are we rooting for? You never really know, but its no less enjoyable watching these two become mortal enemies.

PRODUCERS run a risk setting a story in the world of academia.

When done well, we can get classics such as “Good Will Hunting”, but it’s also easy for the setting to fall into dreary territory.

Enter “Lucky Hank”, a new comedy drama that ensconces itself in the world of college life, telling the story of an English professor suffering a midlife crisis. 

At the same time his wife Lily also begins to question her career choices, having taken up a position as the vice principal of the local high school.

Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning book “Straight Man”, this new series on Stan was inspired by author Richard Russo’s own college teaching career, promising an authentic and amusing look at the world of education.

So does the show fall into that rare sub-genre of stories about school that can entertain? Sadly, not.

The only thing giving “Lucky Hank” an inch of hype is its lead Bob Odenkirk, who’s famous for playing the slimy lawyer in “Breaking Bad” and its spin-off “Better Call Saul” (the latter of which this columnist pronounced as the best television series of last year).

This new show starring Odenkirk tries with all its might to cash in on the hype of “Saul” and, admittedly, it was enough to rope me in to give it a try. 

Don’t get me wrong, Odenkirk’s performance here is committed and finely crafted, as is the cinematography, production value and all that film jargon hoo-ha, but the story of “Lucky Hank” is so esoteric that it will only appeal to a very small audience.That formula may work in the world of books but not in the world of television, and certainly not in the world of streaming. 

I wanted to like “Lucky Hank” but unfortunately it had me feeling like I was nodding off in class again.