January Roundup, '21
Welp, for all the folks who thought 2021 would be less wild than 2020, to you I give hearty "oof." But at least TV's getting cute again! Dive on in to the new crop below with, as always, the extra good shit in bold...
Watch This Shit:
If this is the reason Dorcas died, then good for her because 1: the end of Chilling Adventures was garbage. And b: this boarding school for fairies (think The Magicians, but a little younger) is rife with opportunity for her to be a lot more dramatic than being the quieter of three sisters offered.
Anyway, yeah, if you loved your time at Brakebills, then Alfea should definitely be the school you transfer to.
Bob's Burgers meets Alaska. It's real cute. Jenny Slate for the win.
Next up on Nicolas Cage's quest to never turn down a gig, he hosts this history of curse words. Definitely my kind of show. It's a bit of I Love the '90s meets Drunk History meets general fuckery. Obviously, the first fucking episode fucks with "fuck." So, get the fuck into it, fucker.
You ever play Werewolf? This is that. Plus trivia and Craig Ferguson, who's always a good time.
From the creator of Queer as Folk and Cucumber/Banana/Tofu comes '80s UK Gays: The 5-Part Drama.
HBO's answer to Netflix's Tiger King. This wild four-part docuseries tells the tale of a trans woman who unsuccessfully created a 3-wheeled car during the oil crisis in the '70s, as well as the outrageous fraud trial that followed.
People aren't head-over-heals loving this one, but that's likely only because it deals with an inexperienced man winning an election and it just so happened to premiere during what somehow turned out to be the largest dumpster fire of the Orange presidency. However, it's classic Tina Fey gold and will without question make you laugh. Period. Personally, I do wish it were her starring in it rather than Ted Danson, but we take what we can get these days. (Yes, that's a very subtle dig at Biden.)
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
Netflix's latest true crime tale, told by two detectives who hunted down serial killer Richard Ramirez.
Chris Hansen's take-down of the YouTuber who deserves it continues in this three-episode docuseries.
Quintessential New York through the lens of Fran Lebowitz, a quintessential New Yorker.
Alan Tudyk is everythinggggg! And in this case an alien accidentally masquerading as a regular-ol'-human doctor in small-town Colorado.
Near Death Experiences: The Docuseries. As someone who was once clinically diagnosed with death anxiety, I can tell you it may be a hard watch, but it's worth it. Truly wild stuff.
Meh:
Truly, the Episodes version of Miranda. Fox has taken a much beloved British sitcom about a lovably silly and very single owner of an independent "joke shop" (think Spencer's, fellow dumb Americans) and turned it into a sitcom about a somewhat likably silly owner of a cat café. A cat café! The heterosexual love interest is Cheyenne Jackson (eyeroll) and the best friend character has been split into two: a sassy black girl (eyeroll again) and an old gay (I can never be mad at Leslie Jordan, but another eyeroll nonetheless).
To be fair, it's not terrible. But it's certainly not Miranda (a cat café!), no matter how hard it tries to be. Compare the almost verbatim Orlando Bloom joke from the first episode of both series and you'll see what I mean. (Yeah, Miranda's on Hulu, y'all. It's just sitting there waiting for you to binge the shit out of it. Because it's really fucking good. And also because CAT! CAFÉ!)
Kyra Sedgwick (I love me some her) is a widow and empty nester who's very worried about one of her two kids who hasn't called her back in four days, so she flies to LA from Iowa to check on him, against the advice of her bestie (Sherri Shephard). After arriving, she meets her son's girlfriend (she's annoying), her daughter's gay roommate (he's real fun), and that cute guy from that zombie show (he's a divorcee) whom she rents a room from [and almost-smooches]. There's some silly dramz she's obviously going to stay in town to fix, but she's so loveable, you can't even be mad at her for it. Just ignore the laugh track and you'll probably have a good time.
Guided Meditation: The Web Series! A Buddhist monk (who's a dead vocal ringer for Piff the Magic Dragon) breaks down meditation and guides you through it, using the many techniques he's learned over his years of monkery. Sure, it's a bit froofy. But it's a real good time, I swear. Everyone should meditate and this TV show, which only Netflix could possibly make, is a lovely way to do it.
If you've been reading my oh-so-very-amazing microreviews for a while (thanks, gorgeous), you know I love me some game shows. I also can't get enough of Leah Remini. So, her hosting Crossword Puzzle: The Game Show gets a big thumbs up from me. However, there's a new episode every single day. That's just a lot to commit to. So: Meh.
Anyone who calls themselves a proper TV lover has got to watch what is essentially a spoof on classic sitcoms. But, based on the first episode alone (which is the entire deal 'round these here blog parts), I have no idea what's going on or if the pay-off is going to be worth it. So, be warned. It just might suck. But so far, it's at least intriguing and damn well-made enough for me to want more.
Don't Watch This Shit:
Hey, CBS... read the room. You really thought this would be the perfect time to release Republican Border Porn: The Drama Series?
Honorable Mention:
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
Well, damn. They did my job for me and made the title of this film its own microreview! So, if it's still unclear what this one's about, here's a longer title for you:
How Cocaine Decimated the Black Community With the Aid of Cops While Reagan, Bush, and Big Billy Actively Gave Zero Fucks: The Documentary.
Magic as theater. We are talking David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, David Blaine, et al. type magic. We are not talking "dude and his 'lovely' assistant running around on stage, flailing their arms as blaring music plays and blinding lights incessantly flash" type theater. You may not even know it (I didn't), but you have within you a desperate need to watch this film. And you absolutely should. No pun intended: it is fucking magical. Long live the Rouletista.
The Shit I Missed:
This was called "After the Night" when it premiered in Australia, but the title changed for some reason [after Netflix's Night Stalker blew up]. In the first episode, at least, this remarkably similar (which is interesting because it actually premiered well before Night Stalker) four-part true crime docuseries begins telling the tale of serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke, mostly by community members. Ultimately, though, the series becomes about how police (surprise, surprise) are relatively useless when they're not being all-together corrupt.
A winding supernatural mystery full of right proper dramz. (Why, yes, I do become very faux British when I watch British shit.) Russel Tovey's about to off himself when his future wife pops on the telly (see?) pleading for her missing sister to come home or for someone, anyone to come forward with information about the missing lass. Jump to seven years later, Russel's still around and (as mentioned) now-married when a creeping creepy creeper knocks on the door to say "They're searching the woods. We've got to move her." Insert wide-eyed emoji here, you say? Indeed and thanking you, Madame. (Okay, I'll stop.)
An Indigenous teenager is struggling to be the bread winner because of his hard-partying mom when some, shall we say, mystical shit keeps happening to him. In the first episode alone there are some doppelgängers and a talking crow. But don't let that make you think it's weird. This is straight drama, just with some very unique elements.
It premiered in the US this month (after initially launching in Canada this past October) with a second season on the way, but unfortunately it's been scrapped after it was revealed just a couple days back that series co-creator Michelle Latimer's lineage was in question. It seems, at the very least, that it wasn't a full-Dolezal situation as she based her ancestry on familial oral histories, but never did proper genealogy to confirm. It's definitely a shame as far as the series goes, but it is what it is.