Louis Theroux, who has built a career diving deep into strange subcultures that are often hard or awkward to talk about, now seeks to pull back the curtain on the ‘manosphere’, reports streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

For around three decades now British-American broadcaster Louis Theroux has managed to keep himself in the zeitgeist. 

Starting with a simple satire series that ran on NBC in the ‘90s, the now 55-year-old has gone on to make dozens of documentary programs that continue to spark conversation today as well as a podcast that’s become a Spotify hit. 

Now he’s collaborated with Netflix on his newest project, an up-close look at the “manosphere”.

For those unfamiliar with this hot-topic term, it’s used to describe an online, male-centric culture obsessed with dating and gender dynamics.

This includes men’s rights activists, focused on the ways men are disadvantaged in society, as well as pick-up artists and “red-pill” communities, claiming they have “woken up” to the reality of how the genders interact.

“Red pill” being a reference to the film The Matrix in which the main character is shown “the real world”.

Critics call this hypermasculine subculture that has become fodder for social media algorithms a hotbed of misogyny. Andrew Tate is perhaps the most commonly used name to describe the worst of the “manosphere”.

Theroux, who has built a career diving deep into strange subcultures that are often hard or awkward to talk about, now seeks to pull back the curtain on this one. 

Will Inside the Manosphere, like his other docos, spark real discourse on this increasingly controversial subject?

That’ll be up to the viewers.

STEVE Carell has become one of the most recognisable comedic actors of the streaming age.

His portrayal of the irritating yet endearing manager of a struggling paper company in The Office made the show one of the biggest hits of the last decade.

But for the last few years now Carell has shown off his dramatic acting chops.

In Rooster though, a new series on HBO Max, Carell returns to his comedic roots and he has not lost any of his timing.

Here he plays Greg Russo, a low-brow but successful novelist who has to drop his own career when the life of his daughter, a university professor, begins to implode.

Greg makes a move to the campus to help her out and soon finds himself getting pulled deeper and deeper into a college life he never had himself, going to parties, joining strange social groups and spending late nights studying.

The premise sounds simple on paper but a lot of the comedic tension comes from Carell’s mismatched age with the rest of his university company.

Greg’s connection with his daughter, Katie (Charly Clive) also gives the show a heartfelt dynamic that brings it home.

WHAT is the reality behind the person we project to the rest of the world? 

That is the question at the centre of Apple TV Plus’ new psychological thriller series, Imperfect Women.

It follows three friends living in a cashed up enclave in California who were once college friends.

Eleanor (Kerry Washington), Nancy (Kate Mara) and Mary (Elizabeth Moss) have a relationship that seems perfect from the outside. They’re wealthy, successful and they believe their bond is unbreakable.

But when a murder shakes their Golden State existence, the secrets of their pasts and who they really are come to the surface.

Addictive and moody, these eight episodes now streaming are quick to get their hooks in.

ANOTHER week, another classic film remade to cash in.

This time it’s actually pretty good though.

Liam Neeson is the star of The Naked Gun (Paramount Plus).

Neeson is on the shoulders of a comedic giant with this one.

Leslie Nielsen’s hilarious performance as the incompetent detective Frank Drebin may have hit cinemas in the 1980s but even today still makes viral rounds on social media.

Producers must have spotted the popularity, casting Neeson as a new iteration of the detective.

My hopes were pretty low for this one but Neeson actually manages to pull it off with enough laughs to make the watch worth it.

Almost 40 years later and The Naked Gun is, somehow, still on the beat.