So many shows, so little time. Sorry Shogun and The Penguin and Da Bear. I’m very movie focused in my day-to-day media consumption so unless a show has an insane premise or more buzz than the beehive that killed Macaulay Culkin in My Girl, it’s gonna end up in the “To Do” pile.
I want to note that I did start The Penguin and The Sympathizer but I don’t have that binge me in anymore. Purge? Yes. Binge? No. Here are all the shows that escaped the purge.
Honorable Mention
Chimp Crazy
House of the Dragon
Inside No. 9
Based on Scottish comedian Richard Gadd’s one-man show, Baby Reindeer is the story of working comedian Donny Dunn (Gadd) and his one very special fan, Martha (Jessica Gunning). Yeah, this is a stalker story and you better believe it’s uncomfortable.
I heard a lot of chatter about Baby Reindeer before queuing it up on the ‘ol flix (what I call Netflix) and I can see why. There are certain details and nuances that feel real because this did all actually happen. Richard Gadd was stalked by a woman who was in love with him, an infatuation that turned toxic with thousands of lurid emails and texts, threats to his family and friends and partners.
This is one of those kinds of stories that starts funny and turns to horror as Donny struggles to find a way to break free. Though none of this would work if not for the inspired casting of Jessica Gunning, who’s been sweeping award ceremonies, with her portrayal of the most chipper/most bitter and unpleasant woman you’ll ever meet. It’s not an easy watch but an essential watch in the age of social media sociopaths.
Documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim chronicled the power struggle over the Texas Renaissance Festival for THREE YEARS to make his three-part docu-mini series Ren Faire for HBO. In the documentary, we meet the tyrannical “King” George Coulam, now in his 80s, unsure of who to pass on his long running fair that’s been so successful, he turned the strip mining site that the fair was built on into a town. Who’s the mayor of that town? George Coulam, of course.
Among those thirsty for the crown are Louie Migliaccio, a business-savvy vendor in charge of the fair’s kettle corn, Darla Smith, the fair’s dedicated event coordinator, and the big-hearted Jeff Baldwin, a former fair actor turned general manager.
But it’s the eccentricities of George Coulam that make Oppenheim’s documentary worth the watch. From his tacky gold mansion to his weekly “dates” at Olive Garden with women he meets on sugar daddy sites, Coulam is the kind of crackpot you love to hate. The kind of figure that would feel too over-the-top for a regular show, but this isn’t a regular show, this is Ren Faire.
In 2021, Little Marvin created the show Them about a black family in the 1950s who move from rural North Carolina to the LA suburbs only to be met by a neighborhood of psycho racist white people and a house filled with evil spirits.
Despite standout performances and impressive visuals and atmosphere, Them was criticized for exploiting black trauma and just kind of being well, a mess. I liked it but I agree the show felt aimless the further along it went. Them: The Scare couldn’t be more different.
Following a different group of characters–though the lead of Them, Deborah Ayorinde, returns as a different lead character-The Scare is set around the time of the LA riots in the 90s. This time we follow a police detective, Dawn Reeve (Ayroinde), trying to solve a series of grisly supernatural murders. We also follow a timid actor, Luke James (Edmund Gaines) who becomes obsessed with becoming a horror baddie in movies.
The show is scary, topical, and features a mystifying performance from Gaines. In a perfect world, he’d be sweeping up awards left and right and starring in whatever bullshit Marvel’s cooking up in the lab. It’s hard to talk about this show without spoilers but I will say one thing. You’ll never look at a Raggedy Ann doll the same way ever again.
Smiling Friends is hitting its stride in season 2 with wackier plots and experimental animation that includes stop motion, rotoscoping, and a guy who looks like he’s ripped straight from a PS1 game.
The highlight of season 2 is without a doubt “A Allan Adventure” where secondary character Allan goes on a mundane job to buy paper clips only to end up in a helicopter chase, in bigfoot’s lair, and squaring off against skeleton pirates. He also plays Burnout Revenge for the PS2.
There are seemingly no rules on Smiling Friends and every frame is bursting with liveliness and creativity. It’s simultaneously the dumbest, most artistic, and funniest show on TV right now.
Fallout is the best video game adaptation I’ve ever seen. A lot of people said that last year about Last of Us but I could never get past the fact that it was just the game minus the part where I get to play. I loved that Nick Offerman episode, but that’s because it was another story set in the Last of Us world. This is why I prefer Fallout.
All of Fallout is, “What if we took these cool elements from the game and told our own story.” The show feels like an expansion of the property rather than a remake and that’s what I want NEW SHIT.
I love the contrast of the peppy retro world of the vault dwellers against the apocalyptic wasteland that surrounds them. The cast is great but Walton Goggins steals the show as “The Ghoul” a former actor turned zombified bounty hunter.
If this show came out ten years ago it would be the biggest show on TV, but alas we live in this digital hellscape of blink and you’ll miss it content and who knows if it’ll ever get better. Maybe we’d all be better off living in the apocalypse?