What to watch this weekend: Desperate ways to avoid the Kardashians

Yes, it’s true. There’s a new* Kardashian *season out on Disney+ and the first episode is streaming.

Now, just before you swallow your remote in a gasp, at least there are some great shows and movies available to indulge in while resisting the temptation to succumb to Kim, Khloé, and the clan.

Apple TV has a great movie. And if you’re too young to know what the Cold War was, ask your parents before watching it.

*Mayday *stars Ryan Reynolds as Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a US Navy pilot whose top-secret mission over Soviet Russia in 1987 goes horribly wrong when his aircraft is shot down behind enemy lines. His unlikely rescuer is Nikolai Ustinov, fabulously played by Kenneth Branagh, a disillusioned former KGB agent with a peculiar obsession with American pop culture.

Watch the Mayday Trailer

Rather than hand Troy over to the authorities, Nikolai decides to help him escape, setting the mismatched pair on a mad dash across the frozen Russian countryside with a ruthless KGB officer called Alexander Volkov hot on their heels.

Along the way, Nikolai must also confront his troubled relationship with his estranged daughter Anna, who has been hiding her sexuality from her apparently conservative dad.

The flick to watch this weekend: ‘Mayday’. Picture: Supplied

There is plenty of Cold War paranoia, unlikely friendship and the kind of ridiculous situations that only Hollywood can imagine, including stealing a mobile nuclear launcher and an aircraft in a desperate bid to get Troy home alive.

It’s a fantastic movie that’s not particularly demanding, but gives you plenty of fun in return for your time.

And that’s kind of what the Kardashians want from you. Your time. But the question must be asked: after so many years, how is this family still relevant, and why do we dislike them so much, yet love them at the same time? And why is it as addictive as watching a spy thriller?

Yes, the ‘Kardashian’ trailer

There’s no skop, skiet and donner, but when there’s friction between whichever family members are at war this week, it’s as engaging as a medieval public execution. You don’t wanna watch, but flippit, you cannot help yourself.

Thankfully, there’s also a new season of the fantastic private investigator series* RJ Decker* on Disney+.

This time around, the show, with episodes released weekly, is far tighter, with more plot twists and turns, more mayhem and deeper humour.

Its fourth episode is out, and with more likely to follow, it’s a good binge start to the weekend while gathering the courage not to flick to The Kardashians.

Short fifth season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is also back on Disney+ with a shortened season. It’s a cut-down version of the saucy and absolutely seductive reality show because filming was halted in March 2026 amid domestic violence and child welfare investigations involving Taylor Frankie Paul and her former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.

The controversy intensified when footage of a violent 2023 altercation between the pair surfaced, contributing to the cancellation of Paul’s season of The Bachelorette.

Fellow cast members were reportedly uncomfortable continuing production, and although filming briefly resumed in May, it was limited to individual interviews rather than group scenes.

Now, believe it or not, despite the shortened season and the dirt that made it so, a sixth season is already in development.

But five episodes are not enough to avoid flicking back to Kardashian contemplation. It may even be worth hopping onto Netflix and looking for Snowpiercer. It’s an almost-oldie about the survivors of an apocalypse who live aboard a train endlessly crisscrossing a frozen planet.

It’s a fabulous show, with four seasons to get through, and made parts of lockdown bearable at the time. Well worth watching again or, if you have not seen it, looking for it, because it’s entertaining beyond entertaining.

If after all that you’re still desperate to avoid being reeled into a new season of the Kardashians, there’s always the bizarre ten-hour-long video on YouTube where you can watch paint dry at your leisure.

Now, watch paint dry