So many of us will be completely staying at home for the next four years. This rundown of the shows I’ve checked out in the past handful of months may prove helpful.
LOVED
History of White People in America (YouTube) It’s a shame Martin Mull passed away, as we could use a MAGA-era installment of this wickedly funny 1985–86 mockumentary series. In six episodes, narrator Mull uses a typical suburban family, headed by Fred Willard and Mary Kay Place, to explore different aspects of white culture. Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Edie McClurg, Eileen Brennan, Bob Eubanks, Steve Martin, and Teri Garr also add to the laughs.
2024 Summer Olympics (NBC) Simone Biles’ comeback! Katie Ledecky’s consistency! Noah Lyles showing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! Steph Curry stepping up and leading the USA to hoops gold again! The Olympics never disappoint.
LIKED A LOT
Bad Monkey (Apple) Classic Vince Vaughn in a classic Carl Hiassen setting and plot. Suspended police detective Vaughn — pulling out all his smug, charming, wisecracking stops — is trying to find the owner of a severed arm somewhere between Key West and the islands. The series didn’t quite stick the landing, but there was an awful lot of fun, funny, detective stuff before that. And a monkey.
Everybody Still Hates Chris (Comedy Central) What a pleasant surprise to find this animated revival, picking up where the 2005–09 live-action series left off. The adult voice actors return — notably Terry Crews, Tichina Arnold, and most importantly narrator Chris Rock — while the kids are understandably voiced by new, young actors. Very much in the funny, urban realistic spirit of the original show.
We Are Lady Parts (Peacock) A few different people had recommended this series, so before my Olympics-month Peacock subscription ended, I decided to check out the first season. Very nice mix of humor, drama, and heart in a unique premise: an all-female Muslim punk band in London. I noticed there’s a second season but the first season had such a satisfying arc, I didn’t want to ruin things for myself.
LIKED
Baby Reindeer (Netflix) Full disclosure: This should’ve been in my previous installment of what I’ve been watching, but I forgot. Maybe I was trying to block it from my memory. This was definitely compelling and disturbing. But I like to have a character to root for, and this series did not provide that.
Devs (Hulu) After seeing the terrific movie Civil War, I was reviewing the work of writer/director Alex Garland (one of my current faves) on IMDb. I was quite surprised to see a TV series from 2020 listed that I’d completely missed. And it shared several of the stars from Civil War: Nick Offerman, Cailee “Romulus” Spaeny, and dependable wise old guy Stephen McKinley Henderson. Offerman is an Elon Musk/Steve Jobs/Bill Gates figure; Sonoya Mizuno (also in Civil War!) is an employee, and her boyfriend — recently transferred to the mysterious Devs division — has vanished. It’s pretty cool but Garland went way too deep into sci-fi mumbo-jumbo this time, so it starts to feel kind of stupid.
Sugar (Apple) Hey, it’s Colin Farrell! I like him! So, he’s, what? A private eye in a modern L.A. Confidential (a movie I liked a lot less than most, finding it overly slick). But I was into the show, he’s tracking down James Cromwell’s missing granddaughter, the plot is really piling up but I’m managing, hanging in there, but then there’s a “reveal” where I just burst out laughing.
ONE AND DONE
Mr. Throwback (Peacock) Steph Curry, you can’t win ’em all. I saw many, many commercials for this during the Olympics, and, you know, still had Peacock for a couple of weeks, so I gave it a (3-point) shot. Lead character Adam Pally didn’t appeal, and I didn’t return.
YES, I STILL WATCH THE SIMPSONS
Was unclear why they aired the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode the Sunday after Halloween instead of the Sunday before.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
Will finally sample The Penguin.
SHOWS I USED TO WATCH AND IN MANY CASES STILL DO
Links to Edition I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, and XXVI.
Jack Silbert, curator