Hi friends!
Welcome back to my weekly-ish TV diary newsletter. If you’re new here, welcome! I’m so happy to have you! If you’re returning, I’m doubly happy you’re back. Please share A Waste Of Time with someone you think is cute and tell them to subscribe.
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Here’s what I watched last week - the good, the bad, and the embarrassing:
Sunday, July 7
Decompressing from the Fourth, I spent a lazy morning on the couch with a sheet mask and the first two episodes of I Think You Should Leave - the Netflix sketch show from former-Saturday Night Live cast member Tim Robinson. His vignettes range from cute-weird to wtf-weird and it’s genuinely great to watch something inherently bizarre on television. Plus I always like seeing what under-appreciated SNL alums go on to do after Lorne Michaels fires them (see: Jenny Slate).
More weirdo content please!
Then I discovered a UK sitcom called Bad Education starring former Fresh Meat actor Jack Whitehall. Fresh Meat is one of my all-time FAVORITE shows about a house full of freshmen at a university in Manchester. It’s very funny, very real, and very sweet all at once AND it is currently streaming Hulu.
On the other hand, Bad Education is not all that great, especially not when one of the main plot lines is Alfie (the main teacher) and his headmaster both vying for the affections of the young, recently-single, female teacher and much of the storylines surround the two hapless men outdoing each other to get a date with her. In 2019, incessantly asking a coworker or employee on a date, after they have repeatedly said no, counts as sexual harassment and it’s overall pretty embarrassing to watch. I did not finish the first season and went to Ikea instead.
*Big Little Lies spoilers ahead. Skip to the next day to avoid.*
That night, I watched the newest episode of Big Little Lies and was truly shaken by the ending where Zoe Kravitz walks past the police station to find Shailene’s Cabbage Patch boyfriend walking out. Also! Zoe Kravitz’s mom telling her to kill her is SO FUCKING EERIE! Generally with this episode (and this entire season), I have no idea what’s going to happen and I. Don’t. Like. It.
My feelings about all the cliffhangers in Big Little Lies.
That said, it’s bullshit they cut this scene of Reese throwing her ice cream cone at Meryl but I continue to live for all of their encounters. Reese is the only actress in the cast holding her own this season while Meryl wipes the floor with everyone else’s acting abilities. And yes, I am including Nicole’s embalmed skin and lack of facial expressions.
Also want to share this excellent tweet from Who? Weekly host and general funny dude Bobby Finger (we talked about his podcast last week) as I have not stopped thinking about it:
“Think About the Lie”
Where to watch: For I Think You Should Leave & Bad Education - Netflix, for Big Little Lies - HBO
Monday, July 8
I got an assignment to write this story for Elle Magazine about the shocking thing that happens at the end of Stranger Things 3. *DO NOT READ IT if you haven’t finished the season - the entire thing is a spoiler*
Things I love: 1) Hopper’s awesome shirt 2) Joyce’s excellent shag.
I had not yet watched this season so in order to write the article, I started season 3 and continued watching pretty much all damn day. At about 2:00 am with only one episode left, I gave up and went to bed.
Where to watch: Netflix
Tuesday, July 9
Tuesday morning, I watched the final episode of Stranger Things 3 and then wrote this article about the ending. Again, *the entire thing is a spoiler.* You’ve been warned.
Un-freakin-canny.
I ultimately liked this season but could have done with less monster shit. My absolutely favorite parts were 1) the Thurman-Hawke child (Maya Hawke) who is the perfect blend of her two very famous parents and her character Robin’s sweet storyline and 2) what happens to Billy and how Eleven does..the thing she does because it is a win against the patriarchy and I am here for it.
I especially liked this piece from Bustle: The Monster In 'Stranger Things 3' Wasn't The Mind Flayer — It Was Toxic Masculinity. Once more, *spoilers abound*. Don’t click unless you’re ok with that.
Expect me to recreate SJP’s entire outfit when it is cold again.
Tuesday night, I watched the newest episode of Divorce twice because it is so damn delightful. I mentioned all the reasons I love the show last week but there was even more of SJP’s new boyfriend (James Lesure, aka Coach Mike from Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce) in this episode and he is honestly very cute and his character is very sweet and supportive and we should have more of that on television please.
Where to watch: for Stranger Things - Netflix, for Divorce - HBO
Wednesday, July 10
I watched Aziz Ansari’s new stand-up special “Right Now” on Netflix and felt very conflicted about it because I believe women. If you don’t remember, an anonymous writer detailed her bad date/alleged sexual coercion with the comedian last year in a now-infamous Babe.net post. It was complicated and messy and after the fallout, it surprised me when people started posting from his comedy shows throughout the country. Much like Louis CK, Aziz as an entertainer is dead to me and although it makes me really sad because I very much liked Master Of None, especially all the Italy episodes, I continue to believe women even more than I like watching programming made by men who’ve been accused of being shitty to women.
But curiosity got the better of me - I really wanted to see if/how he’d address the accusation - so I pressed play. Aziz does indeed bring up the incident, makes an awful joke about pawning it off on fellow Netflix comedian Hasan Minhaj (because they’re both brown, get it? 🙄), and then adds some overwrought line like, “Well, if that story about me is getting people to open important conversations they wouldn’t otherwise be having, then I’m glad to be helping the cause.” I’m paraphrasing his faux woke-ness (fauxkeness?) but it’s fairly wishy washy in the remorse department and ultimately seems like Aziz knows this is all going to be just fine and forgotten in the eyes of most fans in another few months. Gross.
Family takes many shapes.
A few weeks back, my friend Traci recommended Man Like Mobeen so I finally decided to give that a try. It’s about a Pakistani man raising his teenage sister in Birmingham, England with the help of his ridiculous, well-meaning best friends. There are only 2 seasons and they’re 4 episodes each so it goes quick. I really liked the first episode but fell asleep before it was over.
Where to watch: both on Netflix
Thursday, July 11
It was a busy day but I managed to watch all of Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room before bed. Katherine is a Canadian who lives in London. My favorite parts are when she talks about her tiny, British daughter who is, by all accounts, very fancy and calls her “Mummy.”
Where is the lie?
Katherine is also deeply feminist, honest about her failures in love, and talks about “letting a man into your home” (rather than, say, “getting a boyfriend”) in a way my misandrist soul finds entirely hilarious.
Where to watch: Netflix
What to watch next: Katherine Ryan: In Trouble - her first stand-up special on Netflix
Friday, July 12
I wrote this second article for Elle Magazine explaining the Mind Flayer from Stranger Things 3 and rewatched episodes 4 and 5 for it.
With a couple hours to kill before dinner, I watched more Man Like Mobeen and realized it’s a show you really need to pay attention to. The jokes are amazing but quick and, coupled with their English accents, it’s just not something to have on in the background without missing the entire plot. But it is absolutely worth paying attention because star and creator Guz Khan approaches tough modern-day issues like racism, police brutality, gang violence, and white supremacy with the same open-mindedness that he discusses YouTube makeup tutorials, making a perfect smoothie, and getting the best fade in town.
“Why are you and the Daily Mail so afraid of halal?”
Where to watch: both on Netflix
Saturday, July 13
My friend Kaitlyn (who earlier alerted us to the tragic cancelation of AP Bio) came to spend to the weekend with me and it came out she’d never heard of Rick Steves. As an extremely cool child who grew up on PBS programming, I was VERY excited to share this Bob Ross-of-travel gem of a human with her so we watched the first episode of Rick’s Travels Through Europe (in Portugal) during dinner.
After getting home from a party around 2:00 am, we rented the 2010 masterpiece Burlesque and watched a little over half of it before going to bed.
No mere mortal can resist the Lord Cher’s charm.
Burlesque is an excellent piece of trash nostalgia because although Christina Aguilera cannot act and it was written by the brother of the woman who created the Pussycat Dolls (an act that is decidedly not cool or exciting by 2019 standars), it also has a very decent cast including:
our Lord Cher
perfect human Stanley Tucci doing literally the same character he plays in Devil Wears Prada (no complaints)
Peter Gallagher with genuinely awful gelled hair (who allowed this?!)
Kristen Bell, although she plays a bitchy brunette and it feels very wrong
Julianne Hough
McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy
And even Mr. Barbra Streisand (James Brolin)
Where to watch: for Rick Steves’ Travels Through Europe - Hulu, for Burlesque - wherever you rent movies
Sunday, July 14
We woke up, had iced coffee (Trader Joe’s has these AMAZING bags that make THE BEST iced coffee at home. GET THEM!), and finished watching Burlesque. The thing about Burlesque is that you should only say the name of the film in a Cher accent. And not even a regular Cher accent but an over-exaggerated Jack McFarland on Will & Grace doing a Cher accent. Basically my Cher accent is campy af and I suggest you get on my level.
“HeyoOOO000ooo.”
Anyway, Burlesque is a perfect time capsule to an era when Christina Aguilera was so wildly famous that we could all collectively ignore her lack of acting abilities and watch her headline a studio film alongside motherfucking CHER wherein the villain is a condo developer! Incredible. The only things that remain the same today are Cher’s face and the evils of condo developing. Please rent it.
After a day out with Kaitlyn, I planned to settle in for the newest episode of Big Little Lies. Instead, there were 3 hours left on my Burlesque rental so I just watched it again up to the part where Cher sings her opening song and then I went to bed.
🎶 Welcome to Burlesque 🎶
Where to watch: wherever you rent movies - it is worth every penny
And that’s all she wrote, folks. Stay tuned for next week’s TV diary where we WILL continue discussing the return of Jane The Virgin.
xoxo,
-delia
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