My Favourite Shows: TV Round-up
If you listen to the podcast I co-host with Liv Purvis called The Fringe Of It, you’ll know we love chatting about what we are watching on TV. I also wrote a post of some of my favourite TV shows I watched last year here. It’s worth noting that I can’t stand watching anything scary, too violent, tension filled, gory or crime related - which rules a lot of popular shows out. No thanks to Game of Throne, Stranger Things or Killing Eve, people tell me to give it a chance, but I know myself and I can’t stomach it (to cut a long story short when I was younger I had dream therapy after brain surgery, to banish some ugly thoughts of surgery that I used to plague me). With that in mind here is a mammoth round up of some of my favourite shows:
Schitt’s Creek
Ok this is an odd one, because I did not like the first half of the first series, but some how kept going with it, which normally if I don’t like something I give up within the first couple of episodes or chapters. THANK GOD I KEPT GOING BECAUSE IT IS SIMPLY THE BEST (in joke, of which there are so damn many). On the surface the outline is a rich family loose all their money and move to a small town to live in a motel. The script writing and general empathy for the Roses could go wrong on so many levels, as on the surface they don’t have many loveable qualities. Over the six series, you get to know and really love the characters, most of all they make me grab the remote to hit pause, so I can belly laugh. I watch my favourite scenes on YouTube for the comedy value, you’ll never see Kevin’s mum from Home Alone in the same light again.
This Is Us
The opposite of Schitt’s Creek, if you’re looking for belly laughs you are not going to find it here, however if you like a cathartic cry then this might just be the show for you. And I am warning you, there’s many a cry to be had. I can’t say too much about it, as you have to watch the first episode for everything to fall into place, but let’s say at the end of that 60 minutes, I was hooked. Not telling you much about a show isn’t really a vote of confidence for choosing to watch it, but let’s say I get messages daily on Instagram discussing the plot line of This Is Us. Also Mandy Moore has a dreamy 70s aesthetic for a portion of it, and that’s worth tuning in for alone. There are so many plot twists, I never see coming even though I am familiar with the format of the show, they get me EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Series three is now available in the UK, but the US has finished with season 4, c’mon already and put us out our misery.
Modern Love
An eight part series from Amazon based on the New York Times column of the same name, which is also a book. Each episode focuses on a different character and new situation, the main thread is their individual love stories but in all their complex, messy, nuanced glory. It’s about that bit before and after the I love you, focussing on couples that don’t necessarily get the screen time they deserve in the classic Hollywood sense of boy meets girl. It also features both Dev Patel AND Andrew Scott, but I think the Anne Hathaway episode is my favourite. This whole show makes you feel like being human is ok, and confirms that no-one has a clue what they are doing and we are figuring out this thing called life one step at a time. I am thrilled to report that it has just been renewed for a second season, in the meantime I am reading the book to tide me over.
The Morning Show
This was an intense watch but so good and so important. I am going to put a trigger warning in here about sexual misconduct and assault. You can find it on Apple TV and it stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Anniston and Steve Carrell. To briefly summarise, the show opens with Alex (Jennifer Anniston) and Mitch (Steve Carrell) who have been co-anchors of America’s top morning show, called The Morning Show for a decade. At the very start, Mitch is fired for sexual misconduct, the show follows everyone’s relationship to Mitch and the culture of this behaviour within this industry. It’s 10 episodes long, I think I watched them in two days, the ending is explosive and utterly utterly brilliant. I would also like to highlight Billy Crudup’s character aka Russel from Almost Famous. His performance had me in hysterics, he’s the cat amongst the pigeons as the new CEO of the network. Jennifer Aniston won a SAG award for her role as Alex, and that was the same night those photos with Brad Pitt came out and I was so mad, as I was like we should all be talking about TMS and her acting and the issues it covers, not about her damn ex husband. BUT ANYWAY! A great TV show and I can’t wait to season where season 2 takes the story.
Pose
This show! I cannot do it justice in a brief synopsis, however if you pick one show to watch from this list - make it this one. Everyone that has seen it, my mum in included, cannot sing it’s praises enough, and we spend so much time breaking down each episode after watching. Set in the late 80s and early 90s in New York city, it focuses on the African American and Latino LGBTQ+ community with the infamous ballroom scene and their houses as a backdrop. It’s inspired by the documentary Paris is Burning, Janet Mock directs a lot of the episodes, as well as writes and produces them which I am sure is a key factor in ensuring the casting is inclusive and features many trans actors. Pose brings much needed light to issues the LGBTQ+ community faced, and sadly still face today. It’s heart wrenching, but also it will have you laughing and dancing too, an entertaining yet important watch.
Derry Girls
This show makes me howl, like eyes watering, sides hurting, howl. Series 2 came out at the end of last year and I rewatched series one to remind myself what happened, as I have the memory of a fish. I think the second time round it was even funnier, definitely one to cheer you up during these bleak winter months! Set in Derry in the 90s, the show somehow educates and adds dark humour to a really turbulent time in history, as it follows four 16 year old girls, and James. It really takes you back to what it was like to be so consumed by things at that age, like how important wearing a denim jacket was and bending the school uniform rules as much as you could. As well as navigating normal teenage stuff, the group of friends also have to deal with the volatile political situation, with series one opening with a bomb scare at school. Also I need to take a moment to celebrate Erin’s facial expressions, there’s a lot of good things about the show, but they really are a thing of wonder.
Would also like to give a quick mention to AJ and the Queen, Tales of the City and The Crown too. Remember when we just had 4 channels and channel two switched off at night time!? What a time to be alive! What are you watching right now? Let me know in the comments!
