Virus Isolation Report: TV Edition (part 1)

I had the brilliant idea of trying to figure out all the television I’d watched during this first year of the pandemic and then figure out how many hours that was and maybe write a short paragraph on each one.  I vastly underesimated the amount of effort (and content) this would be.  I’ve decided to break it into two halves, and it still ends up being two posts which are significantly longer than most of the ones I do here.  And, the really scary part is: this isn’t even all of it.  In order to put some kind of cap on it, I’ve decided to include only episodic shows where I watched one or more entire seasons (or series, for the British shows) during the pandemic.  This automatically eliminates:

• Shows that I started before the pandemic but completed during it, including a few where there was only a single episode I watched prior to the lockdown.¹
• Shows that I started during the pandemic but I haven’t finished watching them yet, including a few where I have only one more episode to go.²
• Shows that don’t slot neatly into seasons, such The Daily Show or The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
• Movies.  I’ve watched a lot of movies this year as well.
• Random YouTube videos, most of which don’t really fit the guideline of “episodic.” (On the other hand, where a series of YouTube vidoes did seem to fit that criterion, I threw ’em in.)
• Critical Role.  Divided into campaigns rather than seasons, a CR campaign is years long, so it naturally can’t be contained in something like this.  Still, that’s anywhere from 3 – 5 hours a week for the majority of the pandemic, so it accounts for a healthy chunk of viewing time.

And, still, this is a lot of hours ... I won’t come up with a grand total until next week, but I can already announce that it’s way more than I probably ought to be admitting to.  But there’s some great stuff in here—we live in a golden age of television, I think, after a lot of years (decades, really) of complete crap.  And also a bit of not-so-great stuff: hey, it was the pandemic.  There was a lot of time to fill.

I’ve also provided a simple rating system, from one to five stars.  But I have to warn you: this group skews mostly toward the upper end of that scale.  There are two big reasons for that:

• I’m not a harsh critic.  As long as I’m entertained, I’ll throw a show at least a 3, which for me means “a perfectly lovely way to kill a few hours.”
• This is a list of TV shows that I finished watching; if something was really bad, I never bothered to finish it.  There are literally zero 1-star reviews here (which I would characterize as “unwatchable”) and not that many 2-star reviews.  A 2 means either I only suffered through it because I felt I had some investment I needed to pay off, or maybe that it started out well but took an unexpected turn for the worse.

I should also warn you that, even before the pandemic, I was already starting a trend towards eschewing any show that felt too “real”; in the list below, you’ll find barely anything at all that doesn’t contain some sort of element of fantasy or sci-fi or horror, and absolutely no reality TV (nope, I didn’t watch Tiger King along with the rest of you).  But especially in the midst of a year-long virus isolation experiment, “reality” didn’t hold much appeal.  I need my entertainment to take me pretty far away at this point.

I’ve also included which season(s) I watched, where you can find it if you’re so inclined, and, as I mentioned, a brief paragraph on it.  These are almost entirely spoiler-free; I’m less interested in a synopsis than in extolling actors I like, talking about formats that worked well (or didn’t), or maybe touching on the cultural significance.  For the most part, I’m assuming you either already know the basic premise, or can look it up yourself.

Well, that’s more than enough intro.  Here’s the first half.

Inside the Episodes S1 [behind-the-scenes for The Witcher S1] (Amazon Prime, ~1 hour) ★★★

See my review of The Witcher next week.  This is almost required viewing, just so you can figure out what the fuck is going on.  It’s not super in-depth though.

Dicktown S1 rewatch (Hulu, ~2 hours) ★★★★

I love Judge John Hodgman, and I loved Going Deep with David Rees.  So why would I not want to watch an animated series where the two of them play thinly disguised versions of themselves who are teen detectives, except grown up, except still working for teenagers, in their hometown of Richardsville, North Carolina (hence the series name).  With some amazing voice acting (not just Hodgman and Rees, but Jean Grae, Kristen Schaal, Janet Varney, Paul F. Tompkins, etc etc), good animation, and interesting and funny plots, this little show turned out to be a real gem.  After watching it in its original form embedded in Cake (see below), my middle child and I watched it again separately.  Lots of fun.

Zomboat! S1 (Hulu, ~3 hours) ★★★★

Horror comedy is tricky to get right.  Too far in the one direction and you get a non-funny gory mess; too far in the other direction, and you get a goofy jumble that’s not even remotely scary.  There are a few movies that do a good job with it, but doing it in episodic form is even tougher.  Zomboat!, an ITV show starring Crazyhead’s Cara Theobold, hits all the right notes, and is a worthy successor to movies like Shaun of the Dead.

Two Weeks to Live S1 (HBO, ~3 hours) ★★★★

If you want to see a kick-ass battle scene between Game of Thrones’s Ayra Stark and Gotham’s Alfred Pennyworth, this is your show.  With a premise that might have easily devolved into goofiness, this show turns into something that is simultaneously funny, heartwarming, and action-packed.  Glad I stumbled on it.

Red Dwarf S5 re-rewatch (DVD, ~3 hours) ★★★★

As my #5 favorite Britcom, Red Dwarf is one of those shows I’ve watched again and again.  When my eldest was a teen, I sat down and went through the DVD box set with them, and now my middle child has reached the same age, and we’re slowly (ever so slowly) working our way through the set again.  As many times as I’ve seen it, it never gets old.  Like Monty Python, the Young Ones, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and Blackadder, it only grows better with age.

Castlevania S3 (Netflix, ~3½ hours) ★★★

Once upon a time, comics were for everyone, then, for a long time, they were just for kids.  Gradually, reactionary comics for adults started sneaking in, until eventually they took over.  A very similar situation exists for anime: in the old days, we had Akira and Vampire Hunter D; then it was all Pokémon and Voltron and Dragon Ball Z, with the occasional stand-out like Ninja Scroll.  But lately, anime has been getting more and more adult.  Castlevania is sort of the pinnacle of that: not only does it feature some pretty serious UK voice acting from the likes of Richard Armitage (of Spooks), Jaime Murray (of Hustle, Dexter, Warehouse 13, et al), Graham McTavish (of Preacher), and Bill Nighy (of Love Actually, two Pirates of the Caribbean movies, three Underworld movies, and about a million other things), it has explicit sex and ultraviolence up the wazoo.  It’s fairly fun, but not for the faint of heart.

Absurd! Planet S1 (Netflix, ~4 hours) ★★

I never would have made it through to the end of this bit of silliness if my youngest weren’t totally enamored with it.  As much as I love nature shows, this show has some serious tonal issues: it wants to be goofy enough to intrigue small kids, but for some reason it’s peppered with adult humor.  As a result, the adult watching vacillates between groaning and uncomfortable silence.  I did learn a few things, so I won’t call it a complete waste, but certainly not my favorite.

Woke S1 (Hulu, ~4 hours) ★★★

I almost gave this show a pass, as the subject matter was all too real this past year.  But I loved Lamorne Morris in New Girl, so I gave it a shot.  It’s a good show.  I’m glad I watched it.  But be forewarned: even with all the magic realism, light entertainment it ain’t.

Camp Cretaceous S1 (Netflix, ~4 hours) ★★★

This was a perfectly fine thing to watch with my kids.  Set in the same time period as the events of Jurassic World, this tells the story of 6 kids who get the opportunity to attend a special summer camp on Isla Nublar for various reasons—one wins a contest, one is the son of a wealthy donor to the park, one is the daughter of a major vendor, and so forth.  It’s a diverse group of kids in all senses, including their personalities, so it makes for an interesting storyline.  And, being animated, they can do quite a lot of dramatic dinosaur action.  You’ll spend a little bit of time yelling at the screen for them to stop doing dumb things, but overall it’s not bad.

The Hollow S2 (Netflix, ~4 hours) ★★★★

The first season of this show was fantastic: surreal, intriguing, impossible, and yet it all came together and made perfect sense in the end.  I don’t think this second season succeeds quite as well, but it’s close.  I think it’s really hard to do a follow-up for a movie or series that has a big reveal at the end, because, once you know the big reveal, there’s no mystery left.  But this does about as well as it could.  (Although I couldn’t help but feel like they rewrote some character history for convenience.)

Truth Seekers S1 (Amazon Prime, ~4 hours) ★★★★

One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that, no matter how dumb something looks, if Nick Frost is significantly involved in it, it’s going to be awesome.  Truth Seekers is no exception.  And, hey: we get to also throw in Susan Wokoma (from Crazyhead), Julian Barratt (from The Mighty Boosh), and Malcolm McDowell (from ... well, everything), plus of course Simon Pegg shows up every now and again.  The premise is completely stupid, and yet it works amazingly well, shows surprising depth, and ends up with a plot that’s complex in all the best ways.  Definitely check it out.

Inside the Boys S1 [behind-the-scenes for The Boys S2] (Amazon Prime, ~4½ hours) ★★★★

Assuming you liked The Boys (and that’s a big assumption; see my review for that below), you’ll probably dig this aftershow in the style of Talking Dead.  I’ve tried to watch a few of these, but few can hold up to Chris Hardwick.  However, Aisha Tyler is one of the few.  She’s articulate, trenchant, and exactly as irreverant as you need to be to discuss a show that gets off on gross-outs and blatant sexual references (and isn’t afraid to mix the two).  And the guests (most of whom are cast members or crew of the show) offer great insights.

History of Horror S2 (AMC+, ~4½ hours) ★★★

Mainly I watch this to see if there are any good horror movies that I’ve somehow missed, and often I find one or two in each episode.  I don’t know that I enjoyed this season as much as the first, but it’s perfectly fine for what it is.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine S7 (Hulu, ~4½ hours) ★★★★

This is another of those brainless sitcoms that I thought I was watching just to kill time and ended up getting completely hooked on.  While Andy Samberg should be the big draw, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Chelsea Peretti, and Andre Braugher are just as good, if not better.  S7 continues the joyous run, albeit without Peretti, and on a new network.  B99 is one of those few shows that got cancelled and yet is still on the air, proving just how good it is.  So far the quality hasn’t dipped; we’ll see if they can keep it up.

Sherlock S4 (Netflix, ~4½ hours) ★★★★

I’ve loved this modern take on Sherlock Holmes, not only for Benedict Cumberbatch’s nigh-autistic take on Sherlock, but possibly even more so for Martin Freeman’s excellent Dr. Watson.  I didn’t love this last season as much as the previous ones, but that still leaves it ahead of a lot of other options out there.  Highly intelligent, fast-moving, keeps you guessing.  Not much else you can ask for in a mystery series.

Space Force S1 (Netflix, ~5 hours) ★★★★

Yet another show that I was convinced would be dumb beyond belief, but I gave it a chance because of the stellar cast and ended up being pleasantly surprised.  Steve Carell is always dependable, of course, though he can stray into embarassment humor territory (as in The Office).  Malkovich, on the other hand, one doesn’t think of as a comedic genius, but he’s geniuinely funny here, and the relationship between Carell’s stiff military man and Malkovich’s disdainful scientist intellectual is the primary driving dynamic.  Ben Schwartz does what Ben Schwartz does, playing the oily PR guy, Jimmy O. Yang turns in a great turn as a slightly nerdier scientist, and Lisa Kudrow turns up every now and again to do that quirky, unexpected performance thing that she does so well.  The premise is, sadly, not nearly as outlandish as it ought to be, but the timeliness enhances it; not sure it’ll be this funny if you wait too long to catch it.

Schitt’s Creek S6 (Netflix, ~5 hours) ★★★★

After I discovered Monty Python but before I discovered Kids in the Hall, I stumbled onto SCTV.  It was definitely one of my formative comedy experiences, so I’m always attracted to projects that feature two or more SCTV alumni.  That was my primary reason for originally checking out Schitt’s Creek (and Chris Elliott was just a bonus), but Dan Levy and Emily Hampshire turned out to be the real finds here.  Somehow this show manages to walk a fine line between throwing the characters into embarrassing situations so we can laugh at their mishaps (which I geneerally find to be cringeworthy instead of funny) and just trading on the acerbic wit and cluelessness of these tragically fish-out-of-water characters.  Layer onto that a solid and genuinely deep emotional core, and it’s hard not to love this show.  S6 was its finale, and I think they wrapped it up perfectly.

McMillion$ S1 (HBO, ~6 hours) ★★★

I don’t do documentaries.  But this one was so intriguing to me—that the McDonald’s Monopoly game, which I had grown up with like millions of other Americans, had been fundamentally rigged for decades without anyone (including the McDonald’s corporate folks!) knowing, and that the story never received much national attention because it broke right before 9/11.  That such a thing was even possible was fascinating to me, but I also wondered how the hell it could require 6 hours to tell that story.  Well, I’m still not sure all the hours were required, but they were at least entertaining, and it provided a great cross-section of the people involved, some of whom were shady as hell, some of whom were just dumb and clueless, and many of whom were somewhere in between.  Especially if you dig real-life drama, this is a particularly good one of those.

Ghosts S1 – S2 (HBO, ~6 hours) ★★★★

If you know of this group of British comedians, it’s probably from Horrible Histories, and you’re likely a homeschooling family like us (or perhaps you’re just British).  The Horrible Histories books and later the series are excellent for homeschool families, because they teach a great deal of history, and do it from a perspective that really engages young kids (primarily by grossing them out, which they seem to enjoy immensely).  The troupe of actors assembled for the show by the CBBC (which is basically the British version of PBS Kids) got along so well that they started doing other projects together, and Ghosts is the latest.  The ghosts in question live in a fine old British manor house, and the group thoughtfully includes at least one character from every historical period, all the way back to caveman Robin.  Each has an entertaining death story, most of which come out over the course of the first two series, but what anchors it and really sells it are the two non-ghost characters, a couple who inherit the mansion and at first believe it’s a dream come true, only to find out that it’s a bit of a crumbling mess, and having a bunch of ghosts always underfoot can be somewhat annoying.  It’s a great show, in classic Britcom style, but also really unique, and the cast gets to reuse a lot of their makeup and costumes from Horrible Histories, which is nice.

Broadchurch S1 (Netflix, ~6 hours) ★★★★

While I’m not a huge fan of realistic TV, I’ve always had a soft spot for police procedurals.  I watch a lot fewer of them these days (and even fewer after the Black Lives Matter movement raised awareness of how a lot of these shows are contributing to the problem by idolizing the police and even glorifying police violence), but I still check them out occasionally, and, if you’re gonna do police procedurals, the Brits do them best.  I originally heard of Broadchurch because of its magnificent score, which is some amazing ambient work by Ólafur Arnalds.³  But the always amazing David Tennant (see also Good Omens and S1 of Jessica Jones) was also a draw, and, what with the pandemic on, I figured, what the hell.  S1 is pretty magnificent, with Tennant’s stereotypical tortured detective turning out to be a bit less stereotypical than you thought going in.  I also loved David Bradley’s performance, but then after Harry Potter and Game of Thrones and The Strain, that wasn’t all that surprising.  The story has a heartbreaking component to it, which can make it difficult to watch, and it bogs down in S2 a bit, I thought,⁴ but S1 is nearly perfect, and provides a perfectly reasonable stopping point if you don’t wish to continue.  (In fact, I honestly wondered what the hell S2 could even be about after the S1 conclusion, but think of it like an episode of Law & Order: S1 is the law part, and S2 is the order part.  Although there’s apparently an S3, so who knows what that will be about.)

Night on Earth S1 (Netflix, ~6 hours) ★★★★

As I said, I don’t care for documentaries ... except for nature shows.  Anything involving animals is a no-brainer for me, and the kids will usually watch with me, allowing me the excuse that I’m engaging in homeschooling.  This new Netflix series has some amazing wildlife footage, and a valuable message about how humans are impacting the millions of other species on the planet.  Excellent show.

The Letter for the King S1 (Netflix, ~6 hours) ★★★★

As fantasy tales go, this is a pretty good one, although really it’s a weak 4 (or perhaps a strong 3).  But the characters are pretty interesting, led primarily by Amir Wilson (who also appears in His Dark Materials), and the world is pretty engaging.  I also enjoyed how the horse was one of the smartest characters in the bunch.  Moderately generic fantasy, but I enjoyed it.

Grace and Frankie S6 (Netflix, ~6½ hours) ★★★★

This Netflix show has a premise (two couples just entering retirement age are radically shaken up when the two husbands run off with each other, leaving the two wives to band together despite significant issues of rubbing each other the wrong way) which might have descended into the contrived or the cliché.  But, thanks to an amazing cast—Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston—and sharp writing, this half-hour comedy, at first seeming to have little substance, has turned into a show that consistently makes me laugh out loud at least once per episode, and many times more often than that.  With an interesting set of kids (including Baron Vaughn and June Diane Raphael) and suitors (including Ernie Hudson, Peter Gallagher, and Sam Elliott), it’s kept me entertained for six seasons and counting.

Carmen Sandiego S3 – S4 (Netflix, ~6½ hours) ★★★★

With a great voice cast, exciting plots, and a very understated educational bent, Netflix’s version of the geographically-inclined thief in the bright red coat is surprisingly good for both parents and kids.  This “thief” is more of a Robin Hood, except that instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, she’s stealing from the museums to keep away from the real criminals ... and then returning to the museums.  It’s a lot of fun, and these last two seasons wrap up the overarching plot in a satisfying and emotional way (despite the truncated S3, which was presumably due to the pandemic).  Recommended.

Spectrøs S1 (Netflix, ~7 hours) ★★★

You have to be okay with dubbing: not comically bad dubbing, but not really profesionally done either.  If you can get past that, this cultural mishmash of Brazilian history and Japanese ghost stories is actually pretty engaging, with mostly-interesting characters and a plot that will at least keep you entertained, though perhaps not provide too much mental challenge.  I watched it with the smallies; they also seemed to dig it.

American Horror Story 1984 (Hulu, ~7 hours) ★★★

As seasons of AHS go, this one is pretty good.  Not primo, like Murder House or Coven, but neither crap like Asylum or Roanoke.  A bit like Roanoke, it starts off in cliché territory (swapping cheesy paranormal docudrama for cheesy 80s slasher fest), then makes a series of left turns into unexpected territories.  I think 1984 succeeds where Roanoke fails, however, both in that the final destinations are more interesting, and also it doesn’t make us suffer through the uninteresting parts as long before it starts saying “gotcha!” So, you know ... better, but perhaps still not great.

The Good Fight S4 (CBS All Access, ~7 hours) ★★★

The Good Fight is not just a step above the show from which it was spun off; it’s a major improvement.  While I was watching it, I thought I liked Julianna Margulies just fine; now, however, I think I’m realizing that the worst part about The Good Wife was the good wife herself.  Stripped of that character, what remains—with almost entirely women in the major roles—is much more compelling.  Never afraid to address questions of politics, race, gender imbalance, family loyalty, cutthroat business, or deficiencies in our legal system, the first several seasons of The Good Fight are pretty amazing.  It’s losing a bit of steam lately, I’d say, but still holding my interest.  We’ll have to see where it goes from here.

Alice in Borderland S1 (Netflix, ~7 hours) ★★★

A good, solid 3, edging towards a 4, this Japanese show is decently dubbed and interestingly shot, with a weird premise that gives nothing away.  It’s enough like a standard dystopian, compete-for-your-life plot (à la Running Man or Hunger Games) that it’s familiar, but dissimilar enough that it still feels fresh.  The connection to Alice in Wonderland is mostly in the Japanese names (Alice becomes Arisu, the Cheshire Cat becomes Chishiya, and one character is named Usagi, which is apparently Japanese for “rabbit”), but, once that suggestion is planted firmly in your mind, you begin to see personality traits in common as well.  There are also some interesting gender role explorations.  It can get a little heavy-handed on the morality plays, though, which is the principal reason I don’t rate it higher.  Still, pretty entertaining.

Another Life S1 (Netflix, ~7½ hours) ★★★

Another entry in the proud tradition of claustrophobic sci-fi pioneered by Alien, this show was ... decent.  I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but I must confess it didn’t really stick with me all that much.  Not a waste of time, by any stretch, but nothing to write home about either.

American Horror Story Apocalypse (Netflix, ~7½ hours) ★★★★

As I mentioned above, the two best seasons of AHS are Murder House (the first one) and Coven (the third).  Apocalypse may well be its third best, as it not only takes a hard left into not-what-you-thought-it-was-going-to-be, but also wraps back around to both of those earlier, great seasons.  In fact, Apocalypse has such a great sense of closure that I’d almost rate it higher than at least one of the other two, except that the brilliance of those is what enables this in the first place.  If you’re a fan of fear (and blood), I strongly advise that you check this out, but only after you’ve watched Murder House and Coven first.

Dispatches from Elsewhere S1 (AMC+, ~7½ hours) ★★★★★

If you enjoy shows where you’re never completely sure what the fuck is going on—and even more so shows where the protatgonists themselves don’t know what the fuck is going on—then you’ll adore this one.  (And, contrariwise, if you don’t like such things, you’ll hate this.)  With an amazing cast that includes Jason Segel, Sally Field, André 3000, and an amazing trans actor named Eve Lindley, who I had not heard of before but was completely enchanted by, this show baffled me, thrilled me, blew my mind, made me think, made me laugh out loud, and even made me cry a few times.  And all with a layer of magic realism that sets it apart from the standard fare.  (By the way, when that layer is peeled back, don’t worry: there are more layers beneath.)

Next time, the conclusion of this exciting TV roundup.

__________

1 Like the final season of The Librarians.

2 Like the first season of Call Me Kat, the final episode of which has yet to air.

3 I was hunting tracks for Shadowfall Equinox, natch.

4 Which is why I haven’t finished it yet.