Sunday
-Bob's Burgers: The best of Fox's animated offerings for a while now, the adventures of the Belcher clan and the beach town they live in continue to be one of the best ways to spend 30 minutes on a Sunday night. Full of heart, humour, and an endless supply of catchy songs with no signs of slowing down, Bob's Burgers is a delight.-The Last Man On Earth: Will Forte's inventive comedy about a handful of people in a world where everyone else has died continues to surprise and delight with a strong cast and top-notch comedic setpieces (A recent episode featured a hallway of Billy Bass endlessly singing 'Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog' and it's incredible). Will Forte's Phil "Tandy" Miller can still be very hard to take at times, but he rarely crosses over into the "unlikeable jerk" territory he spent most of season 1 in, being more of a well-meaning nuisance than anything else.
-Once Upon A Time: Once Upon A Time has never been a great show, but it's reimagination of an endless number of classic fairy tales and stories, Disney and otherwise is typically entertaining so I keep watching it. The 6th season is full of some of the show's favourite themes like second chances, the duality of good and evil, and whether you can change destiny. Plus Aladdin and Jasmine are there now so that's cool.
-Westworld: It's hard to say what HBO's new drama about a futuristic theme park full of robots who exist to serve the whims and desires of the park's guests is about. The fact that some of the robots seem to becoming aware of the nature of their existence and getting access to their (constantly erased) memories of death and rape is part of it. Ed Harris as a mysterious guest in search of a mysterious maze is part of it too I think. Anthony Hopkin's Park Founder is definitely up to something too. But while the point of Westworld is kind of oblique at this point, it's a compelling and fascinating show with Evan Rachel Wood giving a stand-out performance as one of the park's robot "hosts", Delores who seems to slowly be getting agency.
Monday
-Jane The Virgin: One of my favourite shows on television, the ongoing saga of Jane Villaneuva is a delight week in and week out. Packed full of crazy twists and turns, but grounded in well-developed characters and a sense of whimsy, Jane is definitely worth your time.-Supergirl: Supergirl struggled in it's first CBS season, but the move to The CW has benefited it greatly. Melissa Benoist is perfectly cast as Kara Danvers, the girl of steel. The Season 2 premiere also debuted Tyler Hoechlin as one of the best takes on Superman in media that I've seen in a long time (Though his presence is secondary to Kara's story as it should be). Add in an exploration of Aliens as a prejudiced class X-Men style this season and there's plenty to love about Supergirl.
-Timeless: When Timeless debuted, I called it dumb fun and I stand by that, but Timeless has quickly become confident and comfortable with itself with great results. Watching the central trio try and protect various points in history is a blast and Matt Lanter's Wyatt has quickly gone from a generic bore to an interesting character in his own right. The conspiracy stuff is still ill-defined and dumb, but there's plenty of time for that to be fixed too.
Tuesday
-The Flash: After a stellar first season of Silver Age-style comic book fun, The Flash struggled a bit in season 2 with a villain that felt like a less-compelling rehash of season 1's Reverse-Flash. Season 3 has been promising so far though, as Barry's screwing with the timeline at the end of last season leading to various interesting changes. Grant Gustin also continues to be great in the role to the point where I've almost forgotten how furious he made me back when he was on Glee.-New Girl: What started as an alright Zooey Deschanel vehicle has evolved into a stellar ensemble comedy to the point where Zooey sitting several episodes out last season did nothing to affect the show's quality. New Girl even made great use of Megan Fox of all people to the point where I'm excited for the upcoming return of her character this season. Season 6 has featured Schmidt and Cece adjusting to married life, while Jess deals with her re-emerging feels for a somewhat more stable, definitely unavailable Nick and Winston keeps being Winston. It's not as good as it's season 2 peak, but it's still a lot of fun.
-Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Brooklyn Nine-Nine started out strong and has kept on being strong for going on 4 seasons now. Five episodes into the 4th season, Brooklyn has been packed with a 3-part storyline about Jake and Holt in witness projection in Florida, a "crossover" with New Girl, and their annual Halloween episode. The result is a season that hasn't really had time to settle down yet, but is still as funny as it ever was.
-Fresh Off The Boat: A family comedy about an Asian-American family living in Florida in the 90's, Fresh Off The Boat no longer resembles the memoir it was based on (And it parted ways with Eddie Huang at the beginning of the 2nd season), but it's become all the better for it, telling lots of funny, heartfelt stories that feel specific and unique, even when they're taking on classic sitcom plots. Plus the season 3 premiere became the first American TV Production to film in Taipei, Taiwan so that's pretty cool.
-Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is never going to be as interesting or as good as some of the Marvel Netflix shows can get, but it's become a pretty solid show over the years with Clark Gregg's Coulson and Chloe Bennet's Daisy heading up a strong ensemble. Season 4 has brought in Ghost Rider too and the results have been entertaining so far.
-No Tomorrow: No Tomorrow, a new romantic dramedy has quite a hook. Evie (Tori Anderson) is an orderly, uptight woman who strikes up a romance with free-spirited Xavier (Joshua Sasse) who encourages her to seize the day because he believes an asteroid is going to destroy the world in eight months. While not without it's flaws, No Tomorrow (which has it's new episodes put on Netflix Canada every week) is fun and quirky, and has built a compelling world in a short amount of time.
-Atlanta: Created by Donald Glover, Atlanta just wrapped up a stellar first season Tuesday night. An exploration of what it's like to be black and the Atlanta hip-hop scene, it's an incredibly surreal show that doesn't fit neatly into comedy or drama boxes and is all the better for it. Moments of sudden violence come and go as quickly and suddenly as jokes about invisible cars or Justin Bieber (who is black in the show's universe because of course.). Typical television structure goes out the window with Atlanta so you never quite know what you're gonna get when you flip it on. All you know is whatever happens, it'll be interesting.
Wednesday
-Arrow: The first of The CW's new wave of superhero shows, the 5th season of Arrow is shaping up to possibly be the best season since the 2nd one. Stephen Arnell is still pretty broody as Oliver Queen, but he's training a new team now while also serving as the mayor of Star City and that's a lot of fun. The flashbacks are also more interesting than they've been in years, as we've finally gotten to the Russia part of Oliver's story.-Survivor: 33 seasons in, Survivor is still as enjoyable as ever. This season, they've been doing Gen X Vs. Millennials, and the parts of the show where they play into that theme are exactly as annoying as you think they'd be. Luckily, a good mix of strong players and some cool challenges make the whole thing enjoyable.
-Designated Survivor: Kiefer Sutherland plays the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who suddenly becomes President when a terrorist attack takes out everyone else of the chain of succession. That alone should explain the appeal of Designated Survivor. The show is still figuring itself out, and the non-Kiefer Sutherland characters and storylines aren't as interesting as the Kiefer Sutherland stuff, but the Kiefer Sutherland stuff alone makes the show fun to watch. Kiefer is an amazing actor who gave an iconic performance for years in 24, and his President Tom Kirkland just might wind up being equally iconic if Designated Survivor survives long enough.
-You're The Worst: FXX's twisted romantic comedy about two damaged, awful people who fall for each other is another one of my favourite show's on television. As the couple at it's centre, Chris Geere and Aya Cash are both terrific as Jimmy and Gretchen, making the two likeable and compelling, despite their myriad of flaws. As their friends who are damaged in their own ways Edgar and Lindsay, Desmin Borges and Kether Donohue are also terrific, with Borges in particular a standout as the PTSD-addled Edgar. You're The Worst is hilarious, tragic, crude and dark in equal measure with an honest exploration of relationships and growing up that's often poignant. Season 3 isn't quite as good as season 2, which featured an incredible story arc about Gretchen's struggles with depression, but it's been interesting in it's own right as it explores ideas of family and happiness.
-South Park: South Park has been slowly getting more serialized the past couple seasons and that serialization has been taken to Netflix levels for season 20 as every episode so far has been part of one large story about trolling and harassment on the internet, a building gender war between the boys and girls at South Park Elementary, the U.S. Presidential election, and the way nostalgia and 'membering the glory days leads to not caring about problems in the present and recycled Star Wars sequels. Also J.J. Abrams might be behind everything. 6 episodes into the 10 episode season, everything is starting to come together and I'm excited to see how this all turns out and what the ultimate point winds up being.
-Modern Family: Eight seasons in, I'm watching Modern Family out of habit more than anything else at this point. That being said I still enjoy it and it can still pull off a great episode every so often. It's weird watching Luke and Manny be high school seniors though.
-Speechless: I was impressed by Speechless' pilot and I continue to be impressed five episodes in as it becomes more confident with every episode. Though Minnie Driver's Maya is still the most dominant character on the show, the rest of the DiMeo family has come into their own as well, with John Ross Bowie's Jimmy and Kyla Kenedy's Dylan quickly becoming the stealth MVP's for hilarious moments. Micah Fowler's J.J continues to impress to as he gives a very nuanced, very funny performance.
-Rectify: A beautiful, moving drama about a man who finds himself released from death row when new DNA evidence overturns his conviction after 20 years and his family who find their lives upended with his return, Rectify (which also gets new episodes released weekly to Netflix Canada) is a stunning portrait of life, empathy, and redemption in the American South. As Daniel Holden, the man suddenly thrown back into a world he never thought he'd see again, Aden Young gives a powerful, overwhelming performance that draws you into Daniel's headspace as he grapples with how to be in the world. The rest of the cast from Abigail Spencer as Daniel's devoted sister Amantha to Clayne Crawford as Daniel's abrasive but human stepbrother Teddy is just as good. Now on it's 4th and final season, it's still unclear to everyone (including Daniel) if Daniel actually committed the crime he was convicted of or not but the mystery is beside the point. Rectify is about everything great and terrible about humanity and that focus on humanity is what makes it great.
Thursday
-Grey's Anatomy: I was introduced to Grey's a couple years ago and was immediately hooked on it's irresistible mixture of soapy personal drama and medical stories. 13 seasons in and with much cast changeover through the years, the saga of Meredith Grey shows no signs of slowing down. It's less outrageous than it's used to be, but still interesting and compelling and it's long history gives it a lot of emotional heft to draw on. I wouldn't have thought when the show began that Alex Karev would become one of the most compelling characters, but here we are.-Superstore: I write about Superstore a lot. And for good reason! It's really good! It reminds me of The Office in a lot of ways. Season 1 started out solid and got more confident and funny as it went along and that has carried into an even more confident and funny season 2. Season 2 so far has featured everything from strikes, theft, and gun sales to serial killing spokesmen, loose crows, and puppy adoption. Definitely worth your time
-The Good Place: I write about The Good Place a lot too! Probably my favourite new comedy of the fall, this show about a woman who dies and is accidentally sent to The Good Place where she tries to learn to be a better person is a constant delight with lots of twists and turns. With great performances from Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, William Jackson-Harper and basically everyone in the ensemble, plus a fascinating look at what it means to be a good person, I hope The Good Place sticks around for a long time.
-Legends of Tomorrow: The 4th of The CW's DC superhero shows, Legends of Tomorrow is probably the messiest and least consistent, but when it works, it really works. The first season sent it's large ensemble of Arrow and Flash supporting characters across time to fight Vandal Savage with mixed results, due to Savage not being that compelling. The second season has dropped a few characters who didn't work and added a couple promising ones with a simpler focus of "protect the time stream" and it's been much better so far. Hoping for good things this season.
-How To Get Away With Murder: How To Get Away With Murder (Or HTGAWM for short) constantly swings for the fences with it's wild plotting and over-the-top twists and character turns. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it's impossible to look away. And though the quality varies from episode to episode, you can always count on Viola Davis' Annalise Keating to give a powerhouse performance.
-Better Things: Pamela Adlon stars in this semi-autobiographical comedy she created with Louis C.K. as Sam Fox, who makes her living as an actress while being a single mother to her 3 girls. It's an honest, funny, winning look at motherhood that's cut from the same cloth as Louie (Which makes sense considering who's behind it), but manages to feel like it's own distinct thing. The kids are also perfectly cast and are just as whiny and annoying as real kids are, but also funny like real kids can be.
-Pitch: This drama about a pitcher who becomes the first female player in MLB history is flawed, but always interesting, providing an insider look into all the different aspects of baseball, while examining the pressure that comes with being a trailblazer. I'm not a Baseball fan, but I enjoy Pitch a lot.
Friday
-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: The only thing I watch on Fridays and the first thing I wrote about when I relaunched this blog, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a delightful musical comedy with a lot to say about love, addiction, mental health, how we treat women, and the things we do to be happy. Rachel Bloom gives a delightful lead performance as Rebecca, who's an anti-hero but a very sympathetic one. The songs are top-notch too and just add to making Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a unique and compelling viewing experience.Phew. So there you have it. A list of everything I watch on television. I could and should probably cut a couple things loose but I doubt that'll happen. This list is definitely going to be updated every several weeks or so as shows end their seasons or I start watching new shows. Will the number of what I watch go past 30? I hope not but it seems like something that'll happen sooner or later. So stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment