Streaming columnist NICK OVERALL explains how a 20-second very viral meme of actor Jon Hamm dancing came from the underrated show Your Friends and Neighbours that’s lit up the show’s second season.  

Your Friends and Neighbours is a series that epitomises how one simple meme can become a publicity powerhouse in the digital age.

Anyone with Tik Tok, Instagram or Facebook is likely to have encountered it in the last few months.

Jon Hamm on a neon-blue dancefloor, eyes closed, in absolute bliss listening to an obscure electronic dance song, Turn The Lights Off by a Danish DJ named Kato.

It sounds simple but this 20-second clip exploded in popularity, becoming a viral, humorous representation of overconfidence and passion that’s been shared by millions.

It catapulted Kato’s 15-year-old song to glory. The song entered Spotify’s top 50 and has been on the global mainstream radio rotation for weeks now.

What a lot of people didn’t realise though is that the clip of Hamm dancing itself came from the show Your Friends and Neighbours, an underrated drama-comedy series on Apple TV Plus.

Hamm stars as Andrew Cooper or “Coop” as he’s known in the cashed-up, New York suburb he inhabits.

Coop has it all. He’s a successful hedge fund manager with a slick sports car, an adoring family and a house with a dollar figure that can make eyes water.

That is, until one day where everything that can go wrong, does.

After Coop is unexpectedly fired from his job it sets off a chain of events that brings his wealthy existence crashing down.

All of a sudden he’s left on his own, broke and without any of the luxurious comforts he’s so accustomed to.

Trying to find some new spark in life, Coop begins stealing from his wealthy friends to keep up with appearances and his bills.

His thievery starts small, but as the series goes on his suburban conquests only become more ambitious, spiralling into a case of kleptomania that ends in disaster.

I named it one of the best shows of last year and Apple TV Plus has not delayed in getting another instalment of episodes out there right on the back of the meme that has now given it major mainstream attention. The second season is now streaming.

OVER decades Nicole Kidman has stayed in the cultural spotlight both in a more antiquated Hollywood age as well as the newer streaming one.

Her impressive resume in recent years includes the HBO hit Big Little Lies as well as Nine Perfect Strangers, Expats, The Perfect Couple, Roar and perhaps her strongest TV performance to date in The Undoing, alongside Hugh Grant.

All that in just under 10 years and the Aussie leading lady is back yet again with another drama series now streaming on Prime Video.

It’s called Scarpetta and it stars Kidman as a forensic pathologist who blends her passion for science and intuitive eye to investigate strange deaths.

If it sounds a bit familiar that’s because it is. Scarpetta is based on a popular book series by Patricia Corwell that wears its genre influences on its sleeve.

What makes this murder mystery a little more interesting is the focus on the medical side.

Scarpetta is first and foremost an expert medical examiner, often gaining most of her clues from the bizarre autopsies assigned especially to her.

That gives it a darker tone that mixes in with its more classic detective tropes. Think Sherlock Holmes meets House. 

Does the blend work?

Sometimes.

The show has a cracking premise with all the ingredients to cement it as a streaming hit, but tries a little too hard to be a little too complex.

Too many subplots entangling with one another in an attempt to add depth leave the story disjointed and frustrating.

The central concept is great. Why not run with it?

It’s a shame because Kidman brings a magnetic aura to the role that’s easily the best part of it.

Those who are intrigued by the plot can give the first two episodes a go. If it sticks, great. If you don’t like it by that point, give the rest a miss.

The plan is for Scarpetta to have more seasons, so hopefully it can tighten some screws.

With the help of Kidman it has all the elements to crack the case.