if dissociating is your goal, this'll do nicely

This week: TV show suggestions cause it’s slim pickings out there

Hi friends!

As our lives and the way we consume entertainment continue to change (example: when’s the last time you went to the movies???), so too does the style of this newsletter.

Thanks for coming on this journey. If there’s something you especially like (or don’t), please reply and let me know.

If replying to this email fills you with dread, I get it. You can also use Substack’s handy comment feature via the button below:

I’ve been working on accepting compliments and criticisms alike so you’d really be doing me a favor.

---

Let’s get to the matter at hand

Today’s theme: TV show suggestions cause it’s slim pickings out there

It’s been rough going for us binge-watchers. Even as new things keep being released and Netflix announced their manic “new movies every week” plan for 2021, I can’t help but feel like there’s NOTHING to watch. And yet…there is always something to watch.

To save you from endlessly scrolling the menu of your preferred streaming service, here are a few shows I’ve seen lately that will definitely help you waste a few hours in isolation.

For the last round of recommendations, the theme was more light-hearted. You can find those “Shows to help you restore your faith in humanity” here. 10 months into this pandemic though, I’m less bright-eyed or bushy-tailed. So let’s just help you pass the time at home.

Netflix

Call My Agent!

If you feel like you miss your office, Call My Agent will dissuade you of that.

En français, this Netflix original is called Dix Pour Cent, or Ten Percent, after the fee most agents take out of their clients’ salaries. The series is set in Paris and centers around ASK, a talent agency. In that sense, it’s a little like Entourage. Don’t worry, that’s where the similarities end.

Aside from providing a glimpse into things our lives currently don’t have — like film premieres, glamourous trips, or…a social life — Call My Agent also highlights modern French work culture in case you happen to miss your own office politics.

The show’s main bit is that it gets real French celebrities like Cécile de France, Jean Dujardin, Juliette Binoche, and even Monica Belucci to play exaggerated versions of themselves.

Best yet, the fourth and final season just came out. So if you liked Emily In Paris but wish it was more down-to-earth and decidedly less American, then consider RSVP-ing “oui” to this gem.

What to watch after: The Hookup Plan (Netflix)

Hulu

Freaks and Geeks

I can’t in good conscience tell you anything about Freaks and Geeks that you haven’t already heard. The show among Judd Apatow’s and Paul Feig’s first big projects and basically launched a lot of careers, especially for Seth Rogen, James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, and Busy Phillips.

Phillips shares quite a bit about her time filming the sitcom in her memoir, This Will Only Hurt A Little. That includes juicy tidbits about Franco basically being a shit (read: generally terrible and evenly allegedly abusive) and Rogan being a sweetheart.

Basically, everyone considers this teen drama a must-watch regardless of where you fell in the lunch table hierachy. So make an evening of reliving your adolescence.

What to watch after: Sex Education (Netflix) or PEN15 (Hulu)

Prime

Beecham House

Please note Lesley Nicol (aka Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Patmore) on the left.

This is by no means a good show. But it is a beautifully designed show. Plus, the two male leads are pretty hot and India looks like a really lovely place to visit one day. Also good, it’ll eat up an entire evening or afternoon (or afternoon-into-evening, if you time it right) and provide you with a sliver into the horrors the British East India company committed in that country.

Beecham House falls into one of my favorite British TV genres - specifically, it’s a historical drama that partially deals with colonialism while also glamorizing those same oppressive ancestors; before inevitably getting canceled after one season.

6 episodes in, the story ends frustratingly, and I’m not sure the cultural politics are accurate or appropriate. But if dissociating is your goal…yeah, this show will do nicely.

What to watch after: Indian Summers (Prime)

HBOMax

Frayed

Sneakily, I have saved the best for last.

Frayed was a wonderful surprise, despite sitting ignored in my queue for a couple of months. It’s a bit like an Australian Schitt’s Creek, which should be recommendation enough.

It’s about a wealthy London woman named Simone (Sarah Kendall), whose husband dies suddenly. Left with two teenagers and the revelation of massive debt, she takes her kids back to her hometown in Australia where they’re greeted by a significantly more normal family than the one she’s fabricated; plus, a bunch of people who are super pissed about the way she disappeared 20 years ago.

The show is very fun and genuinely funny. It’s also heartwarmingly kind about adults making pretty big mistakes. Plus the late-’80s fashion is both ridiculous and inspiring.

Even better, there will reportedly be a season 2 so that’s something to look forward to.

What to watch after: Sisters or The Let Down (both Netflix)

---

Other things I watched:

• The original Supermarket Sweep, which is the definition of soothing early-’90s nostalgia. For 20 blissful minutes, the SoCal contestants’ teased bangs and high-rise pleated pants pair nicely with the show’s extremely low-stakes challenges and make me feel as calm as a small child with absolutely no real-world worries. (Netflix)

• 9-1-1 and its spin-off counterpart 9-1-1: Lonestar have returned. Do yourself a favor and watch this lovely example of low-stakes prime-time network television. It asks nothing of you and in return, provides 40 minutes of wholly satisfying entertainment, led by either Angela Basset or Rob Lowe. As the kids say, choose your player. (Hulu)

• Five Star Life is an Italian movie that’s been in my queue for a while. It seems extremely up my alley and yet, I have still not actually finished it 6 days later. It’s about a single lady who reviews 5-star hotels for a living so just the travel component alone is perfect for These Times. Then Lesley Manville shows up at the 56-minute mark and things really start to get interesting. Tune in next time to see if I actually get to the end. (Prime)

• I wanted to hate Prom but, in fact, found myself thoroughly enjoying how much obvious fun Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman are having. After exclusively watching Nicole plays Very Upset Wives With Very Bad Husbands in Big Little Lies and The Undoing and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, it is genuinely refreshing to see her hamming it up for Ryan Murphy in short dresses and a French twist. (Netflix)

• Mr. Mayor is the newest Tina Fey/Robert Carlock production airing on NBC. It’s new, which is rare; stars Ted Danson, which is a no-brainer; and includes Holly Hunter in a role that’s entirely unexpected for her and to which she commits 1000%. If you like this kind of thing (I do), you should also watch Good News. (Peacock/Hulu)

• Late Night with Seth Meyers, which I watch most days for the Closer Look and because he’s a delightful interviewer who seems perfectly at ease chatting with his guests over video call. Right now, it’s extra endearing to see his on-camera interactions with the minimal staff and crew that are allowed in the studio. (Peacock/Hulu)

• Law & Order: SVU is obviously a streaming stalwart but Season 22 is particularly great because they’ve gone ALL IN on incorporating the pandemic into their narrative to results I love/cringe in equal measure. (Peacock/Hulu)

• Grown-ish is back with a continuation of season 3. I mostly watch this Black-ish spin-off because it makes me feel simultaneously old and cool - kind of like scrolling TikTok. (Freeform/Hulu)

• Finally, DO NOT make my mistake and rent Unfaithful, the 2002 thriller where Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez *do it* in a public bathroom and, later, a hallway. Cue The Ashleys. This overwrought cautionary tale wants us to believe a wife’s infidelity ruins her family forever but honestly, miss me with your patriarchal morals. In reality, it filled me with deep annoyance once I realized it is essentially the story of two white privileged narcissists, one of whom is also a murderer. (Just don’t)

---

Final thoughts

• My writing services continue to be available for hire.

• If you want to take this conversation more online, you can tag me on Twitter.

• Do please share the subscription link so folks know where to find #theart.

Stay safe. Wear a mask. And let me know what you’re watching.

xoxo,
-delia