Short Reviews Of All The TV Shows I Binged While I Was Unemployed

Since you’re reading this, I am no longer unemployed! I started my new job officially at the start of January. And that means that I can now share this post that I’d been working on for a while. I love TV shows, and I really jumped into a wide variety of them during my unemployment stint. Obviously, I have thoughts and recommendations, so here we go!

And as a disclaimer, this lengthy post makes it seem like I did nothing with my time but binge TV, but that’s not at all true. I watched almost all of these at double speed, and almost all of these shows have short seasons (8-12 episodes), so each season took me less than a day.

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Schitt’s Creek (seasons 1-5)
It’s a Canadian show about a rich family that loses all their money and has to move to a small, nowhere town called Schitt’s Creek. I binged the first five seasons and then watched its sixth and final season in real-time, and this was the one show I really regretted not starting sooner, but I’m making up for it by telling everyone I know to watch it. It’s so funny and heartfelt, and you really root for this family as you see them grow into better people and make friends with the townspeople. Go watch ASAP.

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina (seasons 1-4)
I was bracing myself for Riverdale garbage, but this was decent. Sabrina is a teenage witch forced to deal with evil witchy business she was born into and a desire to be a normal teenage human. I liked the characters, and Sabrina’s habit of calling out her coven’s questionable rituals and stuff in the first two seasons was relatable to me as someone questioning the Catholic Church. As the show went on, it all got sillier and the writing and development went downhill (though nowhere near Riverdale levels of bad), but despite the eye-rolling aspects of the show, but I didn’t hate it at all.

The Boys (season 1)
Amazon’s big summer hit about superheroes that have been commercialized and corrupted was good and a fresh take on the superhero genre, but I didn’t love it. 8 episodes was doable, but by the end of the first season, not much was resolved. If you can handle gore and want some more superhero content in your life, then give it a go, but it’s not revolutionary. I also watched season 2 when it came out but it was released weekly so I didn’t binge it.

Swamp Thing (season 1)
RIP to this show that was cancelled before it really ever began. It really is a shame because this DC show really wasn’t that bad. Scientist Abby returns to her hometown to deal with some concerning environmental issues that lead to the creation of a swamp monster. I thought the plot was interesting, but it wasn’t as much a superhero show as it was a supervictim show. I found Abby’s desperation to find the dude she talked to for one day kind of weird, and due to the show’s production complications, the ending was sudden and unsatisfying, so I wouldn’t say it was worth a watch, but I don’t regret it.

Carnival Row (season 1)
In a world where humans and fairies and goat-men and a handful of other creatures exist, there’s still racism! If you want to see that, as well as the breasts of almost every female character, then this Amazon show is the one for you! The plot was unique, but the worldbuilding was poor and I just did not care for any of the relationships or characters. It’s cool that there are fantasy shows on the rise and the CGI in this one was good, but I was not impressed with this show.

Barry (seasons 1-2)
This show was getting a lot of praise online, so I gave it a go. I was a bit disappointed, though. It’s about a hitman who heads to LA for a job but ends up falling in love with acting and is torn between these two very different career paths. The plot is unique and I think Bill Hader plays the role well, but I just didn’t find it very funny and I never really liked any of the characters. I’ll have to decide if I want to keep going with season 3 when it’s out.

Red Oaks (seasons 1-3)
This show aired on Amazon from 2014-17 but was really under the radar. So much so that I had never heard of it when it was recommended to me. About a handful of employees/patrons of a summer country club in the 80’s, this is a feel-good light show. It wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but it was fun to see the characters come together at the club.

Succession (seasons 1-2)
I caught up with this show halfway through season 2. It’s an HBO show about a family who owns a Disney-like company and the adult children vying to take it over from their aging father. The drama is interesting in a Kardashian kind of way where you kind of dislike every character because they’re so unrelatable and desperate, but it’s still wild and entertaining to watch. Not a favourite show of mine, but it’s well made and I’ll keep up with it.

Dickinson (season 1)
This was one of Apple TV’s headlining shows. It’s about Emily Dickinson as a young woman trying to become a poet and not marry a man. It’s set in the 1800’s when Dickinson was alive, so there’s old-timey dresses and standards, but it has modern dialogue and music, and I found the contrast very fun. Hailee Steinfeld was a good lead. I’d recommend this show. Season 2 started this month and is being released weekly.

Modern Love (season 1)
I didn’t technically binge this show because I watched it with my mom over two weeks, but still. Each of the 8 episodes told a story of a different relationship in New York City, so it was easy to watch and fresh. There were happy stories, sad stories, awkward stories…every episode was different, and I can see this show lasting several seasons. Plus it’s led by John Carney, so need I say more?

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (season 1)
Some friends recommended this to me and mentioned it was a little weird, but it was too weird and silly for me, so I stopped after forcing my way through season 1. It’s about a seemingly normal guy named Todd who gets roped into joining a quirky guy named Dirk as they investigate Todd’s connection to the CIA. Gonna be honest, the plot was kind of messy and I was just not into it. I regret wasting a day on this. I do not recommend.

The Politician (season 1 and 2)
I watched this show for the cast. Ben Platt, Gwenyth Paltrow, Zoey Deutch, Laura Dreyfuss, Lucy Boynton…like, yeah, okay, sold. In S1, Ben’s character Payton is a high school senior determined to win class president, but he and the other students involved act like they’re running for the real American presidency, which was both interesting and annoying because it was wild to see them talk about undecided voter stats in a hallway with complete seriousness but their dialogue was just so…unrealistic for teenagers. In S2, he runs for governor of NYC with the same passion. It’s a decent show and it has legs for a couple seasons, even if it is Ryan Murphy quirky.

Queer Eye (Season 5 and We’re In Japan)
Like all the Queer Eye seasons, this was full of heart and style and happiness, which was great to watch. No complaints. As for the Japan version, because of the language and cultural differences, the Fab Five had to change up how they did things a bit/get extra help, and it kind of took away from the format, so I didn’t love this season as much as regular ones, but it was still great.

Runaways (season 3)
Marvel dropped the last season of this show all at once, so I binged it. Overall, this season was pretty good and closed up the show pretty well. I didn’t love Morgan LeFay, but it was interesting to see the little alliances formed between the kids and the parents as they deal with it all. Also, I liked the crossover with Cloak & Dagger. I’m not surprised the show got cancelled, but I’m glad the final episode was satisfying no matter what. If you haven’t watched Runaways, I recommend it.

The Morning Show (season 1)
I also watched this one with my mother. I was worried it’d be too political and preachy, but it wasn’t at all. I think the show did a good job of showing all sorts of sides in a sexual assault/harassment/misconduct case and how things can be misconstrued. I think it was at points, especially towards the end, a bit too dramatic, but overall, it was interesting, and I’m looking forward to the second season.

Spinning Out (season 1)
Netflix basically said, “Hey, are you secretly a little sad that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir aren’t actually getting married to each other? Well here’s a figure skating show featuring actors who look a little too much like them!” and a friend and I said, “yes, thank you.” Only there was hardly any skating at all in this show! Just a bunch of annoying drama from a bunch of really annoying characters. I do not want to watch the main character’s bipolar mom cause family drama when off her meds. I do not want to watch a bartender who has nothing to do with skating overcome racism. I want to watch two people learn to skate nicely with each other and also fall in love. Major disappointment.

Upload (season 1)
The trailer for this show was giving knock-off The Good Place vibes, but the show really was a lot more than it seemed. It was a fun, techy take on the afterlife with a mystery subplot to boot. I can’t say I loved the characters and it wasn’t as funny as I expected, but at only ten 30-minute imaginative episodes, it’s worth a watch.

The Bletchley Circle (Season 1 [San Fransisco] and Season 1-2 [UK version])
In early Coronavirus time, I found myself in my curling club’s unofficial book club, and The Secret Lives Of Code Breakers is the book they chose to read. I did not read it and instead I watched all three seasons of the show. While it wasn’t bad, I would not recommend them as they were kind of boring and I found the code-breaking parts rather weak.

Departure (season 1)
It’s like Manifest but shorter and without a sci-fi element. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t anything special. Manifest is better.

Dash And Lily (season 1)
This was a cute concept but it was just obnoxiously YA through and through. These teenagers were too unrealistic. Lily was a sigh-inducing mix of Manic Pixie Dreamgirl and Not Like Other Girls. But the show was short so if you’re bored and looking for something mindless for an evening, it’s fine.

I also watched three episodes of Pennyworth and Merry Happy Whatever before getting bored and quitting.

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Aaaaand that’s it! Have you seen any of these shows? Is there another show, based on what I did like here, that you think I’d enjoy?

That’s all for now!

 

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Streaming Services At The Emmys

In recent years, there’s been some discussion about if streaming service movies should be allowed in contention for Oscar wins. It’s a large debate with even some big-name directors jumping in with their thoughts.

But no one batted an eye when streaming service shows made their way into the Emmys.

It’s no secret to anyone reading this blog that as much as I love TV and do use streaming services (and do enjoy many original shows and movies from them), I’m not thrilled with the general direction that TV is going. I’ve spoken before about how Netflix is on thin ice and how I feel that expectations are not met from streaming services, but today I really wanted to look at the Emmys in particular. I know this year’s Emmys were a month ago, so the nominees and results are not at the top of your mind, but I’d like to bring it back into focus a little.

In a normal non-pandemic year, I watch a lot of TV, but I won’t pretend I have superior taste and everything I watch deserves awards. I will also not pretend I know everything about how a show/actor gets nominated or voted for. But what I do know is that streaming shows are completely overtaking the awards, creating almost an elitist environment amongst the viewers, and I’d imagine between the actors and networks too.

I have only a little shame in admitting that I’ve seen Apple+ shows and HBO shows and Hulu shows despite not paying for those platforms (not that I could pay for Hulu anyway given how Canadian I am). I understand cable is expensive and people are moving away from that traditional means of TV, but I just simply don’t think it’s fair or reasonable that if people want to watch Emmy winning or even nominated shows, they likely have to subscribe to not just one or two but around six streaming services. Even if you do the math and say that all the services combined are still cheaper than cable (which I believe, again, given how Canadian I am), it’s still an inconvenience and I don’t like how that’s supposed to be an option. Broadcast channels are mostly free if you have an antenna or something, are they not?

But that’s my opinion (shoutout to anyone who heard the Vine in their head) so I also wanted to show some numbers to get this point across. Here are screenshots of Emmy winners from 2006-2010 and 2016-2020 that I colour coded by platform. These are only the biggest awards, but I can assume that similar ratios are found if you looked at all the winners.

I count HBO as a streaming service—even though it wasn’t considered one a decade ago—because it was a premium add-on that you were paying extra for specifically. So, as you can see, in the span of a decade, streaming services really have taken over, going from 6% of the winners to 72%. Even if you combine broadcast and cable, it still doesn’t compete.

And before you say, “well, so streaming services won, but surely other broadcast/cable shows were nominated“…here are the 2020 nominees for the same seven categories.

Streaming takes up 58% of the nominees, which isn’t that bad, but still. Especially considering that it’s not like broadcast has been putting out less content since. There are still full lineups of shows, some of which I believe to be quality, that aren’t getting any recognition.

I will say, because I’m not a completely negative person, that it does seem that since there is so much more content in competition there are fewer repeat winners, and I do like that the success is spread around.

Perhaps there needs to be a separate award show for streaming content (which would solve the Oscar issue too) or separate categories for that kind of content.

Or maybe no one else but me cares about this.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, though, even if you don’t watch the Emmys.

Related but unrelated: what are your thoughts on ‘movie’ actors starring in a limited series or shorter streaming shows and winning over the people whose whole careers have been mostly in TV?

That’s all for now!

 

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Forgotten Canadian Kids TV

I am Canadian, which means my brother and I grew up absorbing both Canadian and American entertainment. Of course, we didn’t really know it. TV was just TV. I think we just kind of assumed most of the shows were American, but we didn’t care.

Except recently, I was thinking about some old show we would watch after school and it led me to a wild 3am rabbit hole of TV shows I had completely forgotten about.

See, in Canada, kids/teens had a few options for TV channels. There was Treehouse and TVO and morning CBC for really young kids. After a while, you become a kid and a tween and teen and move to Family, YTV, and Teletoon. All these channels were Canadian but they played both Canadian and American shows. The American shows were the ones that still live on in infamy. Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, iCarly, Hannah Montana, Ben10…we all remember them and you’ll still sometimes see references online to these popular shows even though they don’t air anymore.

All the shows I rediscovered at 3am that night were Canadian and had fallen right off the face of the planet. No one remembers them. No one talks about them. The live-action ones starred Canadian actors who didn’t go on to bigger and better things, sadly. And it’s so weird that that’s what shaped my childhood in a way.

So here’s to Canadian kids/tween shows. The shows that won’t get rewatched on Disney+. The shows that future generations of children will probably never see. The shows that I may never again think about. I’ve made a collage of them just because, so take a look.

This took me a long time to put together, but it was a fun time as I got to relive this little bit of my childhood. And there are probably still more out there that I really do not remember. Also, there’s a chance that some of these shows did make it to America or other countries (like everyone’s favourite bald kid Caillou), but I can confirm that they’re all Canadian. If you’re looking at this collage and not recognizing a thing, let me tell you that you missed out on some quality programming and I’m sad for you.

I know I’ve complained before that Canadian-made media isn’t as good as American media overall, but children’s content is the exception. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed American/other countries’ shows growing up too, but some of these shows shown here were so good and made such a mark on me that I’m not afraid to say that they’re better.

To any Canadians in and around my age reading this, I hope you got a huge kick out this post and I hope good memories came flooding back.

That’s all for now!

 

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5 Single Season Cancelled Shows I Still Think About

It’s sad when shows get cancelled, but especially for shows that get cancelled after only one season. Those are the ones that often never reached full potential and are more likely to fade away from memory. Granted, some are garbage and deserve to be canned and forgotten, but I’m not here to talk about those. I’m here to talk about the good ones, and, more specifically, the ones that I still think about, despite the fact that it’s been a while since they last graced my TV.

You, Me, And The Apocalypse

This was a British show that aired midseason on NBC in 2016, though I actually watched it later that summer because a local station aired it as reruns. This show was so cool. It had a great cast including Rob Lowe and Jenna Fischer, and it had a fairly unique plot: an upcoming asteroid hitting earth and a search for a second messiah to save them all. The show followed several groups who seemingly have no connection, but we see them all come together at the end of season. Despite the dramatics, there was a lot of humor and even some sadness as there was a death that I will never get over. The show ended on a cliffhanger, so I am mad that I’ll never see resolution from that, but also that such a good show with a neat plot and group of characters didn’t get a chance to thrive.

LA To Vegas

This show aired on Fox in 2018, and it was great and light. It was about the shenanigans on a discount airline that did weekend flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The airplane/airport setting was very fresh for TV, so nothing compared to it in that sense. The combo of regular fliers, the airline staff, and even one-time guests was great for keeping things funny, interesting, and realistic. I was genuinely laughing every episode. Fox’s comedies in the past few years have been pretty bad, so for this to get cancelled after one solid season really disappointed and surprised me.

Mixology

This ABC show from 2014 had 13 episodes but they all covered one 24 hour period. Each episode focused on different people at a bar one night, and it was fun to get a fresh story every week while sometimes getting small crossovers from a previous episode. It was funny and unique, and while it maybe wasn’t the best ever show, I thought it had legs, even if they probably would have had to bring in a whole new cast for another season.

Deception

Also in 2018, this midseason ABC show was a typical FBI-looks-to-someone-for-consultation kind of deal, except the person they looked to was a magician (in the real sleight of hand way, not the Harry Potter way). So all the little weekly mysteries were solved with cool magic tricks and deception. As someone who knows very little about magic tricks but likes knowing how they’re done, this show satisfied me. It wasn’t a perfect show by any means, but it was really just getting started when it got cancelled. It was a unique idea. There was still so much magic to do.

The Village

This is the most recent show, with it airing on NBC in the spring of 2019. It was a This Is Us-type show where it was emotional and people-driven as it was about the tenants in a NYC building called the Village. We had the single mom and teenage daughter, the lady going through chemo, the young lawyer looking after his grandfather, the army vet, the immigrant, and so on. My mom and I enjoyed watching it, even though it was at points predictable and silly. I am surprised that it only lasted a season given how sweet it was.

These are the shows that when I am reminded of them, I am overcome with sadness and disappointment. I miss them so much, and they got cancelled because people slept on them. Stop sleeping on good shows, y’all. If you can find these shows online, I suggest watching, even if they aren’t complete. They’re still good enough.

Now one thing I noticed when writing this post was that all five shows I listed here happened to be midseason shows. Does this mean that midseason shows are more likely to get cancelled? No. TVLine did the math last year and declared that there’s no clear pattern and shows in the fall have just about the same chance of getting cancelled. So it’s just a weird coincidence for me here.

What are single-season shows you still think about fondly? Are they worth watching still or do their lack of closure make them unsatisfying?

That’s all for now!

 

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Am I Wrong To Hold Streaming Services To A Higher Standard?

I’ve always kind of held Netflix to a high standard when it comes to TV show/movie quality. Of course, it’s not just Netflix. I hold other streaming services like Amazon Prime and Crave to the same standard. The problem is that I feel like my standards are not being met in general. This post is going to mention Netflix the most because a) I use it, b) it’s the most popular, and c) it was one of the first mainstream streaming services so it largely paved the way. I also want to disclaim that this is about the original content produced only.

Recently, a friend and I both watched a Netflix show, and I disliked it so much that I ranted a bit about how disappointed I was in Netflix, which prompted this question from my friend: why do I have these standards? I’ve touched on this topic before, but I wanted to expand on it and see what y’all think. I’m so serious about this topic, I’m about to use subheaders. I rarely use subheaders in posts.

No advertisers

In my mind, since streaming services don’t have to appeal and cater to advertisers the way networks heavily do, they should be able to be more creative and bold with their content. I’m not saying I want edgier jokes or more gratuitous sex, I just want them to be able to really hone in on what the viewers want without worrying as much (or even at all?) about money and reputation and politics and content ratings.

Their own timeline

And since streaming services don’t need to follow the typical yearly setup of fall premieres in September and midseason finales in December and summer shows in May, they should have the time to ensure their content is as good as it can be. And yet, I’m just not finding that it is. Forced acting beyond pilots, bad jokes, weak plots…the only thing I haven’t noticed as being too bad have been special effects.

Specific stats

Furthermore, these platforms have their own active viewing stats. They are able to see what people actively like, what genres are actively being consumed, and then should cater more to that. Are people watching period pieces? Great. Make some really good period pieces, then. Impress the people who have a taste for that and are actively watching that on your platform. See, network TV has to use Nielsen ratings, and it’s not a perfect system, because they only use a sample population to represent the whole country and can’t accurately account for things like online streaming or viewing from an app. Though Nielsen has been able to track some Netflix shows and shows on other platforms, they don’t have access to it all. But that’s not the point; the point is that these platforms have more access to stats and viewing habits than networks seem to, yet they don’t necessarily act like it except when they want to make funny tweets.

Concerning cancellations

I also expect them to treat customers better. These are literal paying customers paying specifically for your content, and yet I find that Netflix especially cancels shows that are fan favourites. There’s apparently a slew of legal and financial reasons behind some of the decisions, and I do understand that Netflix is a business, but when so many shows are left without closure and can’t be picked up by other networks/platforms, it’s rude and weird. If they want to keep shows under four seasons because it’s cheaper for them, then that’s fine. Make that clear to the showrunners and viewers. Force them to wrap up their stories. Fans want that. Fans don’t want to keep watching unfinished business.

The non-original content

As I said, everything above was about the original content, but it’s relevant to consider the non-original stuff too in the larger discussion. These streaming services started as a place to house old, off the air shows/movies for fans to binge without buying DVDs. Only now network shows are being split up between a bunch of different services, and even then, it’s not a worldwide thing. I’d love to know if Netflix and the like are taking money they could have used to get streaming rights and instead using it to create original content. Are streaming services destined to end up looking like Apple’s where it’s only original content? It’s something to consider as I’m sure there a lot of people who use streaming services primarily to watch network content and theatrical movies.

I realize that perhaps I’m being too unfair to these services. It’s impossible for everything they make to be perfect. I realize that there’s a chance that I’m too quick to speak on negatives, and it’s likely because I’m a little annoyed at the streaming-centric world that we’re now living in and the fact that these streaming shows clean up at the Emmys now. There is almost definitely a degree of pettiness at play here, but also, everything I’ve outlined here isn’t incorrect.

So tell me, am I wrong to have these standards? Or am I right but just shouldn’t say it? I’ve watched and enjoyed a lot of streaming shows on a variety of platforms, so I know there is good stuff out there and I look forward to watching more, but this is just about the general quality. Personally, I think the regular network shows I watch on cable are better in a lot of ways to streaming service shows. But who knows; maybe they have triple the budgets.

I’d love to know what you think.

That’s all for now!

 

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