I know, you’ve been on pins and needles, waiting a month for my biannual recap of what I’ve been watching. Flipping from streamer to streamer to network to network with no guidance whatsoever. You can now relax, I’m here with the latest installment.
LOVED
Kids in the Hall (Amazon) I was in college and then without HBO for the majority of this Canadian comedy troupe’s original TV run. But their CBS season, Brain Candy movie, a live Buddy Cole show by Scott Thompson at Caroline’s NYC, a reunion TV miniseries in 2010, and a reunion stage show in New York in 2015 made me a true fan. I was so pleased to see the guys hadn’t lost a step in their new sixth season. Two things I especially appreciated: Many of their new characters are older, rather than pretending that no time has passed, and most importantly, they’re still as dark and weird as ever. Now I’m going back to the original series on FreeVee, and with a new documentary on Amazon, you can really do a deep dive into the Kids.
Benjamin Franklin (PBS) Obviously with no you-are-there video or photography or first-person interviews, Ken Burns still managed to make a really compelling documentary series. I learned a ton about Franklin and was especially interested in his rough relationship with his jerky New Jersey governor son. And of course you cannot go wrong with Peter Coyote narration.
2022 Winter Olympics (NBC) Despite Covid keeping spectators and much of NBC’s crew at home and also the shadow of China’s human rights violations hanging over these games, by god I just couldn’t stop watching! Mikaela Shiffrin choked big time but accepted it with dignity. Shaun White couldn’t summon the magic once more; his tears showed it was time to pass the mantle. NBC, with just enough boots on the ground, did the best they could to make the Games look “normal.”
LIKED A LOT
Severance (Apple TV+) This is just about as much sci-fi as I can handle; if it went a little weirder I would’ve had to bail. But the conceit is so compelling — a chip in your brain so you don’t remember your personal life at work, and vice versa — and the performances are so good, I couldn’t wait for the next week’s episode to “drop.” Adam Scott is our everyman, suddenly plunged into a managerial role in an Orwellian office. John Turturro is initially a hoot and then tugs at the emotions as a by-the-book older employee. Ben Stiller once again casts Patricia Arquette, who was so good in Escape at Dannemora, and she’s scary and a little off as the boss. It’s fun peeling back the layers of this show and I really look forward to season two.
Under the Banner of Heaven (Hulu) OK, I admit to bailing on the movie adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, but I stuck with him this time, another true story, and I’m glad I did. Watching Andrew Garfield in the first episode, I thought perhaps the series should’ve been titled The Overly Emotional Detective. But it’s Garfield’s ability to convey both sides of his conflicted character — the dedicated Mormon husband and father, and the detective determined to solve a murder, despite the collateral damage it may cause in his church and family. Good to see Kurt Russell/Goldie Hawn spawn Wyatt Russell again, who I enjoyed a lot in Lodge 49 and Everybody Wants Some!! And Daisy Edgar-Jones should be in every Hulu series.
Ten Year Old Tom (HBO Max) I was a big fan of Steve Dildarian’s previous animated series, The Life & Times of Tim, and though it took about a decade, I’m glad there’s finally a follow-up. Tom is not very different from Tim, despite being 10 years old. The character still finds himself in hilariously awkward situations and always gets blamed. Solid supporting voice work, including Gillian Jacobs and John Malkovich. It took me a few episodes to get into the groove but overall I enjoyed this quite a lot.
Maid (Netflix) Margaret Qualley — who I’ve been a fan of since The Leftovers season one — gives an Emmy-worthy performance as a would-be-writer young mom who flees an abusive relationship and struggles to make it on her own, kid in tow. Based on a true story, we see the holes in our public safety net for those in need, but we’re also reminded that there are often better angels around when we’re willing to accept their help. Plus Qualley must’ve had a blast duking it out with her real-life mom, Andie MacDowell. The limited series dragged a little in the middle but ends very strongly.
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+) After watching and seeing how Paul was basically running the show at that point, I did some Googling and learned the unsaid: Lennon was on heroin for the entire stretch. OK, that tracks. To be a Beatles fan anywhere from decent to obsessive interest, this is must-see, fly-on-the-wall stuff. It’s fun to see them working against the clock to present… they don’t quite know. A concert? An album? A TV show? If I have one gripe, I didn’t need to see them rehearse the same song over and over and over. I laughed when, even in the legendary rooftop concert, they repeated a song!
We Own This City (HBO) I was thrilled to learn that David Simon was returning to the streets of Baltimore, and the police, but this time taking a very hard look at the city’s law enforcement in the wake of the Freddie Gray killing. For fans of The Wire, we get to see Sgt. Landsman, Marlo, and Herc, alas in different roles. (Hey, this one is based on a true story.) Nice touch in this corruption tale to cast Treat “Prince of the City” Williams in a small but key role. Josh Charles is fun to watch as a really bad cop. But blowing everyone away is star on the rise Jon Bernthal as the world’s most corrupt cop. He gives us rage, machismo, envy, bro love — Bernthal definitely deserved an Emmy nomination but the whole series was snubbed.
Tokyo Vice (HBO Max) I was very impressed with Ansel Elgort in West Side Story, and here he’s great as a completely different sort of guy — and able to speak Japanese! His character, Jake Adelstein, is based on a real newspaper reporter who covered Tokyo’s underground in the late 1990s. With Jake, we inhabit a club where men pay to have beautiful women drink with them. And we get in the middle of warring factions of the Yakuza, and the police trying to keep the peace. It’s tense and stylish and Jake can be a jerk but we’re pulling for him.
As We See It (Amazon) Sweet, sad, funny series about three on-the-autism-spectrum young adults who are roommates. Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, is terrific as their caregiver. With one roomie in an office job (albeit struggling with the social graces at work), one having a lot of trouble at a fast-food gig, and the third having trouble even leaving the apartment, the show really enhanced my understanding of autism and the spectrum. Plus I teared up at least once an episode.
Landscapers (HBO) You’d be hard-pressed to find two better current actors than Olivia Colman and David Thewlis, and they shine here playing a real-life, down-on-their-luck couple suspected of murder. The short series is part procedural, part character study, presented with laughs, sadness, some quite artful filmmaking, and the specter of Gerard Depardieu. Oh, the things we do for love.
George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO) A well-deserved, well-made documentary about one of the top comedians of our time. I was lucky to see him live once, in college, which was a fitting audience for Carlin’s politically charged later years. Indeed, the doc is split into two parts, with the first part mostly dealing with the early clean-cut years, young married life on the road, corny TV variety shows, and the like. The most fascinating section — and what warranted this documentary — is Carlin changing his act and his look, mirroring the times and speaking out against the injustice and inanity he saw around him. There’s also drugs and family trouble (his daughter provides great insight into their home life) and career swings. As a result, part two suffers a little from its “he makes a comeback, he falls out of favor, makes another comeback, falls out of favor again” cycle. But overall a very worthwhile look at a comic whose sharpest work is unfortunately still relevant today.
LIKED
The Girl From Plainville (Hulu) I know the guy who did the music supervision so that was my excuse to tune in for this not exactly world-class true crime series. Based on the infamous murder-by-text case that I didn’t pay any attention to, this series was all new to me. Elle Fanning does a solid job as the weird, icy, image conscious teen whose text exchanges with her emotionally vulnerable “boyfriend” were said to lead to his suicide. Despite a decent cast including Chloë Sevigny, Norbert Leo Butz, Kelly AuCoin who I once had drinks with, and an unnecessary part for Homicide’s Peter Gerety, this overall had a very Law & Order feel but on the cheap.
Father Ted (FreeVee) I’ve wanted to watch this late 1990s British/Irish series ever since learning it was an earlier effort from the guy behind The IT Crowd and Black Books. Finally, via the magic of Firestick, I was able to watch it officially on IMDb.tv (which morphed into FreeVee) instead of the low quality uploads on YouTube. I’ve only watched the first season so far, but it’s the kind of lightly funny, lightly blasphemous, charming show I can tune in to anytime.
State of the Union (Sundance) So much time (three years) had passed between seasons, I literally thought that Joe Biden had delivered the State of the Union address and my DVR had decided to record it. But no, it was the return of the Nick Hornby/Stephen Frears “let’s listen to the married couple chat before their counseling appointment” series. This time it was supposedly set in the U.S. instead of England, and the couple was Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson, and this time the barista played more of a role. But it was unfortunately just as “pretty good” as last time.
EXCITING NEW CATEGORY: SHOWS I HONESTLY THOUGHT I’D KEEP WATCHING AFTER ONE EPISODE, YET DIDN’T
The Pentaverate (Netflix) Mike Myers! I love Mike Myers! Playing multiple parts! I love when Mike Myers plays multiple parts. Some kind of high concept about five guys who control global events, eh, I couldn’t be bothered.
Slow Horses (Apple TV+) I like Gary Oldman. And a ragtag group of MI5 agents sounded promising. Promise unfulfilled.
Murderville (Netflix) Wait, I actually watched two episodes. Wacky format borrowed from a British series. Will Arnett is a detective paired with a zany guest star who isn’t given the script so has to improvise through a murder case. The first guest was Conan O’Brien and I kind of liked it. The second was Marshawn Lynch and I kind of didn’t.
We Need To Talk About Cosby (Showtime) Apparently I did not need to talk about Cosby.
MacGruber (Peacock) I liked it! Maybe even a lot! Hell, I paid to see the MacGruber movie in a theater! But, I guess Peacock doesn’t have a free trial anymore, and I didn’t want to sign up for another service only to cancel, and I didn’t really like the episode that much….
ONE AND DONE
The Outlaws (Amazon) A new series from Stephen Merchant? I love Stephen Merchant! And Christopher Walken is in it? Wawa-wee-wah! But what they don’t over-advertise: The series is co-created by one of those motorcycle-drama show guys, and the result is not some delightfully smart Stephen Merchant comedy.
BAILED AFTER 4 MINUTES, 11 SECONDS
Teenage Euthanasia (HBO Max) High-concept animated show (zombie family runs a funeral home, I think?) and great voice cast — Tim Robinson! Maria Bamford! Jo Firestone! Kristen Schaal! Bebe Neuwirth! — but! Not funny! I bet it took me longer than 4 minutes, 11 seconds to research and write this paragraph.
YES, I STILL WATCH THE SIMPSONS
Congrats to the recently wed Yeardley Smith. They say the third time’s the charm.
LOOKING FORWARD TO
A lot of people like The Bear and I did watch one episode so I hope it doesn’t end up in my new category next time. I still need to watch I Love That For You and I will. Still waiting on that Party Down reboot. And Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary about the United States and the Holocaust will hopefully be superb.
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, and XXI.
Jack Silbert, curator