It’s been a year. My god we’ve watched a lot of television. Here are some short reviews in no particular order. My taste barely makes sense to me, so your mileage may vary. Carrie won’t watch cringe comedy, so we have missed out on some stuff that other people really like.
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Superman & Lois: It’s hard to maintain work-life balance when you’re a superhero and a star reporter with two teenagers.
Yellowstone: It’s hard to maintain control of an obscenely large ranch and the land on which it sits, especially as a white settler.
The Reagans: Absolutely amazing documentary. Convinced me that no matter how much I hate Trump, Reagan actually did more damage to the U.S. and the world, and he did it while smiling. Ron Jr. is the star, though.
Star Trek Discovery: now outside the canon storyline. Still awesome.
The Expanse Season 6: Probably the best new sci fi right now.
The Vow: extremely disturbing but also gripping. Cults are bad. Also somewhere in here there’s a parable about mediocre white manhood and corporate jargon.
Blown Away: blown glass is extremely telegenic. Standard reality TV gamedoc.
It’s a Sin: a little over the top, but a show about the AIDS pandemic is very apropos right now. Also a good reminder of the cost of being queer before the present moment.
Resident Alien: fish out of water comedy about an alien crashing to earth. The first few episodes are occasionally hilarious, as the main character–played by a voice actor–tries and fails to be human. Then it settles into pretty standard ensemble drama and is less funny.
Nashville: It’s hard being a successful — or unsuccessful — country singer. Delectable soap opera. The music for the first season was also great, but it took a dive after T Bone Burnett left the show and they started trying to hawk hits.
Party Down: stands up well to a rewatch
The 2020 NFL Season: Meh. It’s better with friends.
The Circus: I mentioned this in an earlier entry. It’s been really good.
Brockmire: A comedy about baseball and addiction. It is very dark, very obscene, and the last season is brilliant and surreal (apparently fans of the show didn’t like it).
Wandavision: Did I mention that I am sick of superhero narratives? This one I loved because of what they did with genre. Last episode was kind of meh, though.
The Mandalorian: Baby. Yoda. Carrie liked all the Star Wars stuff but I was basically in it for the puppet and the frog.
Flak: another comedy about addiction, but this time in the PR business. Carrie says “supposed to be funny but it wasn’t.” We watched it all anyway.
The Bureau: French intelligence workplace drama. Everything goes to shit right away.
The Capture: British surveillance drama.
Treadstone: Jason Bourne goes to television.
Jack Ryan: Carrie says “it was terrible but I had to watch it.”
Comrade Detective: set in Romania, “a gritty buddy cop show” that’s a wonderful and occasionally hilarious mirror on American detective TV bullshit.
Hannah Season 2: Not as good as season one but good enough.
Good Girls: It’s hard being a suburban housewife who also deal drugs in Detroit.
Never Have I Ever: Hilarious teen high school drama.
There are many more, but this will do for now.