Shows I'm Watching Right Now

Or I have watched recently

This post covers all the shows I’ve been watching lately or am excited about watching.

When I set out to write this week’s post, I intended to provide an in-depth review of a recent show that left a lasting impression. However, reviewing a series based on the real-life murder of a 14-year-old proved challenging as a parent of a child the same age. While I could endure watching Under the Bridge and extensively analyzing it, writing about it proved too emotionally taxing. But then something magical happened and my brain landed on the idea of highlighting a few notable shows I’ve been watching recently, of which this is just one in a list of good ones.

Source: Hulu / Under the Bridge with Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone

Let’s Discuss

What shows are you watching and/or excited about?

Do you ever experience mental and emotional fatigue with a show? Any categories of shows you can’t watch based on this?

Shows I’m Watching:

😂 Emotionally-Charged Dramedy

Source: Vulture / Kayla and Jimmy are a comedic powerhouse in “Hacks”

Hacks, Season 3 [Trailer] is the show’s best season ever. Back in 2021, in the show’s first season, I wrote in praise of the show:

I didn’t coin the term “Jeanaissance” to refer to the second career coming of Jean Smart, but damn, I wish I had. Jean Smart is having the career of her life at the moment.

In Massachusetts, famous funny people are like a dime a dozen and why you should watch Hacks

Smart has proved that my “at the moment” comment was shortsighted. Since then, she has gone on to win awards such as the Golden Globes, SAG, and an Emmy, to name a few, for her role as the inimitable Deborah Vance, an older, uninspired comedian with a Las Vegas show, who is coasting and appears to be on her way out. That is until she is paired with an awkward, Gen Z comedy writer, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) brought in to breathe new life into her work and give her the necessary push to get back to being funny again. The chemistry these two share is palpable. Additionally, there is no dead weight in the ensemble. The show’s charming, relatable, equally funny actors, like Paul Downs (also a writer) and Megan Stalter, balance out some of the more fraught drama inherent in the mother-child connection between Deborah and Ava.

I’ve currently watched episodes 1-6.

Standout episode: Episode 4 “Join The Club” - There’s pickleball and Helen Hunt involved.

👮🏽‍♀️Emotionally-Charged Crime Drama

Under the Bridge [Trailer] is a single-season crime drama based on the Rebecca Godfrey book of the same name. Its subject matter is dark - a 14-year-old Indian girl goes missing in a small town in British Columbia in 1997, only for it to be later revealed that she was brutally beaten and murdered by her peers. The beatings alone, the coroner mentions, were enough to kill her. The girl’s name is Reena Virk and if this sounds familiar, it’s because Godfrey’s book is based on the real-life disappearance and murder of Virk.

The series stars Lily Gladstone as a local police officer and Riley Keough as Godfrey, investigating the case through their respective lenses. The show provides a chilling look into the hidden world of the young perpetrators - a group of kids who aspire to be in a gang emulate “thug” culture and glorify gangster life. One of the girls considers John Gotti aka “The Dapper Don,” a well-known criminal convicted of multiple murders, racketeering, illegal gambling, extortion, obstruction of justice, etc. to be her role model. They lack any adult supervision or care and it all feels a bit too “Lord of the Flies.” Although their horrific acts may prompt condemnation of the attackers/murderers as irredeemable, particularly in one case, the show presents a contrasting perspective that explores the complexities and duality of their circumstances. It begs us to examine the role of choice in demonstrating mercy and finding redemption after so much inexplicable loss.

😂 A Not-So-Easily Forgotten Gem of an Emotionally-Charged Comedy

Am I Being Unreasonable? [Trailer] is a much-watch series that packs a punch. Fans of Dead to Me and plots involving gal pal misadventures in adulting with serious consequences will enjoy this one.

Per my initial review:

The opening scene shows Nic (Daisy May Cooper) and a fun-loving, if not rather immature man-child, who may be a friend, but he may also be more than a friend, waiting for a train out in the snow together. We later find out that this man’s name is Alex and they are having an affair.

The rapport at the train stop is light and easy. Nic and Alex exchange quick-witted, playful jabs and engage in some silliness that feels a tad immature for middle-aged adults, but I can suspend disbelief here as it’s unclear if this relationship is in its Honeymoon phase or what their deal is. What I can say without a doubt is that only someone in love with Alex or incredibly inebriated could find it funny when Alex urinates outside in public, drawing an X with his pee and then proudly explains in painstaking detail to Nic, who listens attentively, how he was able to arrive at the fait accompli. Regardless, the two are laughing and enjoying one another’s company. Within a minute, things get much darker.

🎭 True Crime-Esque Comedy Thriller

Bodkin, Season 1 [Trailer] boldly goes where no show about a true crime podcast has gone before. Ireland. To, West Cork, to be specific. This show is not as entertaining as Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) or Based on a True Story (Peacock), but Netflix’s horse in the race, Bodkin, an Obamas-produced true crime podcast dramedy, is not too shabby either, especially given the gorgeous locale and that Irish brogue.

SNL and The Last Man on Earth alum Will Forte stars as one leg of the three-legged journo table trekking to the town of Bodkin, to crack the case on what happened to three civilians who disappeared over 20 years ago during the Samhain (pronunciation: Sow-un) festival. Overall, the story is convoluted, bumpy, and utterly ridiculous at times, but borderline entertaining enough to make it worth it. For those with an aversion to hearing the word “f*ck” (and that’s me as I can’t even write it out here), this show might be hard to deal with. The word “f*ck” is mentioned as often as I say, “um” which is a lot. Nonetheless, it was an easy binge for me. For Station Eleven fans [I am one], the actor that played the memorable Clark, David Wilmot is in this. He’s fantastic.

📚 A Documentary About a Show that Made Bibliophiles out of Kids

Butterfly in the Sky [Trailer] I don’t watch a ton of documentaries which is why you rarely see me write about them. However, Butterfly in the Sky is the exception.

As a child of the 80s, Reading Rainbow had a profound impact on my interest in stories. Not reading books, mind you, that came later, but hearing the voices of actors of the day read in loud, theatrical voices (James Earl Jones comes to mind) children’s stories that made me feel proud to be a kid. If big, important adults (and actors, at that) could spare their time to read to kids for public broadcasting and with such gusto then that meant we were a kinda big deal.

Levar Burton served as our trusted guide on our reading adventures, taking us into exotic places (e.g. a jungle, space) chasing after that elusive butterfly in the sky, and its catchy theme song. The 2022 documentary was recently released on Netflix and is a beautiful tribute to the show with interviews from former child readers and the show’s production staff, as well as a BTS on how a show like this ever got made and lasted almost 30 years.

Let’s Discuss

• What shows are you watching?

• Have you seen any of these shows - If so, which ones?

• Butterfly in the Sky is the ultimate earworm. As such, I’m including it here. I dare you not to click on it.

The Community of Beth Watchers (/Incredible Reviewers) Weighs In:

• Rob Thomas
  has been on my case about watching Shogun, a modern adaptation of the James Clavell historical drama classic about military rulers in Japan set in the 1600s. I watched the first episode and had to look up the history of Japan in the context of the Portuguese and when English settlers arrived there so it’s already teaching me something.

  • Rob writes on movies and films and should not be mistaken with the lead singer from Matchbox 20 (also Rob Thomas) who is responsible for the buzzkill song, Push, which was the Kens’ anthem in the Barbie movie last year but was originally a song from 1997.

• James Lees
  mentioned the beautifully scripted, heartwarming show, Trying on Apple TV+ (which he’s watching with his wife) about a couple trying to conceive and decide to adopt. His quote, “The funniest, most life-affirming show. It’s truly wonderful and criminally overlooked.” James writes on sports movies. You should check him out.

In Case You Missed It & Other Shows Worth Mentioning