West Villages Improvement District: TV shows to BINGE ON

https://venice.floridaweekly.com/articles/tv-shows-to-binge-on/
| March 26, 2020

BY NANCY STETSON

(now that you’re home)

Maybe you’re self-quarantining, erring on the side of caution, doing your part to minimize social contact and flatten that coronavirus curve.

You can’t go out to the movies or to see a concert or a play. You can’t go out dancing and hang out in a club.

Tired of looking at the four walls already?

There are plenty of exciting things to look at instead.

Here’s a totally eclectic, non-comprehensive list of quality shows you can stream or binge-watch.

“The Good Place” Seasons 1- 4

Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) dies unexpectedly and winds up in The Good Place (which is run by Ted Danson.) But, it’s a mix-up; she was a self-centered, self-serving, foul-mouthed woman who drank to excess and didn’t care about the rules or how she affected others.

This delightful comedy series follows four mismatched people who have arrived in the afterlife. It not only deals with ethical, moral and spiritual issues but is also tremendously clever and equally funny.

And who could resist Maya Rudolph playing God?

“The Good Place” is full of the unexpected, with plot twists galore. (In fact, if you watch this, watch the episodes in order; you don’t want to ruin the surprises.)

Where else can you find a show that’s so thought-provoking yet humorous? And OK, it’s a little goofy too, at times.

If you’ve always intended to watch it, now might be a good time to get hooked.

(Plus, it might just earn you some points in heaven, if they’re still using that system.)

“ZeroZeroZero” Amazon Prime

“ZeroZeroZero” has been described as a show for those who miss “Narcos.” Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Italian journalist Robert Saviano (who also wrote “Gomorrah”), this show follows a shipment of drugs: Those who want it, and those who want to stop it. (“ZeroZeroZero” is what the drug traffickers call the purist cocaine.)

I’m hard-pressed to think of another show that includes the Mafia, the Mexican drug cartel and Middle-eastern terrorists. It’s full of action and plot twists. Gorgeous scenes from around the world, including the U.S., Italy, Mexico, and Casablanca are juxtaposed against the ugliness of the ruthless and violent characters in them.

“Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” Netflix

Madam C.J. Walker, the daughter of slaves, became a millionaire with her hair products for women of color. Good hair makes you self-confident, and “Wonderful hair leads to wonderful opportunities,” as she says.

Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer plays Madame Walker in this Netflix series that began streaming on March 20. It’s the story of a woman who started out making $1.50 washing clothes and who became an entrepreneur and an astute businesswoman as well as the nation’s first female self-made millionaire. She saw a need for hair products for people of color and filled it. Not only that, she helped empower other women as well, so they could also become self-sufficient.

“Ozark” Seasons 1- 3 Netflix

“Ozark” is about a financial planner (Jason Bateman), his wife (Laura Linney) and their two teens forced to escape from Chicago and hide out in the Ozarks in Missouri when a money-laundering scheme goes south. But they wind up having to launder even larger amounts of money for a Mexican cartel, and life keeps throwing more and more obstacles in their path. It’s a compelling and unpredictable watch.

Look for the O in the creative opening credits.

It’s quartered internally, with four images foreshadowing what’s to come in that episode (and also in the shape of the remaining four letters that spell out “Ozark”).

Season 3 is slated to start streaming on Netflix on March 27.

“Westworld” Seasons 1- 3 HBO

Season 3 of “Westworld” has recently begun streaming on HBO at 9 p.m. Sundays. Fascinating, at times confusing and mystifying, the series is an update of a 1973 movie of the same name, about an amusement park for adults where humans interact with robots. They can fight them, kill them, even have sex with them. The robots’ memories are wiped clean, and they are returned to interact with a new batch of rich tourists.

This series takes the original premise further and has the benefit of 21st-century special effects.

Some of the robots become self-aware; that’s the problem when humans start messing with Artificial Intelligence and try to play God.

In Season 3, the robots step outside of Westworld and enter into the real world. Even if the story doesn’t make perfect sense and you suspect the writers are just making it up as they’re going along, it’s great to see futuristic architecture, cars, clothing and other design.

“Succession” Seasons 1- 2 HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime

Here’s a series about a global media titan (Brian Cox) and his narcissistic, self-serving children who all want to curry his favor and grab as big of a slice of the pie as they can. Some are not above planning a takeover of their father’s international media conglomerate.

Look up the words “greedy” and “backstabbing,” and you’ll find a portrait of the Roy family.

“Succession” is a show about wealth, but also about power, power plays and familial and corporate maneuverings. Allegedly, it was inspired by Murdoch, the Trumps and the Sulzbergers.

Just listen to the theme music. It’s majestic, classical with some hip-hop, and discordant —just like the family itself. And check out the crazy dialogue. There are lines that make you laugh with their surrealism, and lines that make you cry because they’re as empty as a politician’s promises.

It’s been called “bitingly savage.” I call it amusing and terrifying and addictive.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Seasons 1- 3 Amazon Prime

Set in the late 1950s and early ’60s, this series follows a married woman, Midge Maisel, who wants to be a standup comic. And she’s funny. Really funny. Her riffs and rants are humorous and authentic.

The only problem is, she’s a woman. She doesn’t do what the few women comics of that time did; she doesn’t tell self-denigrating jokes or put on a strange persona. And that makes a career in stand-up even more difficult for her.

This Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning comedy is great fun, and gets the look of mid-century New York City just right. Sure, it’s a little too pretty, but just think of it as a Technicolor recreation of the times.

It was created by Amy Sherman-Paladino, who also created “Gilmore Girls.”

Watch it and see why everyone else has been raving about this series.

“The Plot Against America” HBO limited series

An adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, here’s a six-part series (Mondays at 9 p.m.) that imagines an alternate history, one in which xenophobic and anti-Semitic aviator Charles Lindbergh becomes president and turns our country in an ugly direction. Claiming “America First,” the populist, isolationist president stirs hatred, refuses to enter World War II (because he agrees with Hitler) and turns the United States into a dangerous place for Jews and anyone who doesn’t agree with him.

“Good Girls” Seasons 1- 2 Netflix Season 1, Hulu

Times are tough. Money is tight. Two sisters (one a suburban housewife and mom, the other a single mother) and their best friend (who happens to be the wife of a policeman) decide to knock off a supermarket.

But the money becomes addictive. They’re also trapped, because the money they stole belongs to a big drug dealer. And so they find themselves having to find ways to launder money for him.

The sisters are played by Christina Hendricks (formerly of “Mad Men”) and Mae Whitman; their friend is portrayed by Retta (formerly of “Parks and Recreation.”)

It’s more cleverly written than you’d expect a network show to be, and the relationship among the three women rings true.

"Los Espookys” Season 1 HBO

This off-beat, off-kilter comedy series revolves around Renaldo, a horror-and gore enthusiast, who forms a business with a group of friends: They provide horror experiences for clients, such as an exorcism or trapping someone in a cursed mirror. Created by Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Jose Torres, the episodes are in Spanish with English subtitles.

Like nothing else on your screen.

Finally, on the off chance that you’ve actually seen all of the above, here are five more totally binge-able, multiple seasons, high-quality shows you absolutely must watch (or watch again):

“Boardwalk Empire”

“The Wire”

“The Sopranos”

“Mad Men”

“Downton Abbey”

Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate