This is a blog feature I have wanted to do for a long time, but it just didn’t fit with KidFriendly DC. I’ll occasionally mention a show here and there on KFDC, but I’ve never dedicated a post to them. I love TV and have since I was a kid. I have no qualms whatsoever about expressing my unabashed enthusiasm for television. Good TV is so entertaining and satisfying and such a huge part of modern culture!
Anyway, I’m kicking off this feature with three shows to watch right now. They aren’t all new shows; in fact, a couple are quite popular, but who does’t enjoy some TV talk? Down the road, this series may take other forms, perhaps shows to look forward to or look back on some gems from the past. We’ll see! But for now, I thought it would be fun to discuss a few very current series. And by discuss, I mean feel free to add any thoughts in the comments!
wellmania (Netflix)
How I loved this show! So much that I binged it in just a couple of nights. It’s like an Australian version of Fleabag, centered around a woman, Liv, who lives a chaotic existence, but endearingly so. An Australian living in New York, she flies back to Sydney to surprise her best friend for her 40th birthday and gets stuck there when she loses her green card. In attempting to replace it, she suffers a health scare and fails her medical test, so she can’t get a new green card to return to NYC, where a huge career opportunity awaits. The show follows her journey to get healthy and back to her life — along with all of the drama of being home with her family and friends. Liv is hilarious and real, but also frustratingly self-absorbed. However, you can’t help but adore and root for her. (I couldn’t, anyway). And while all of this sounds like a comedy — and it is so clever and funny — the show’s undertones are much more complex as they touch on mental health and family/friend relationships. It brings out all the emotions in the best way.
Succession Season 4 (HBO Max)
Whoa, completely unexpected third episode twist! But to back up a bit, I first want to state that I think Succession is one of the best series on TV right now. If you haven’t watched it, the show about the billionaire Roy family, owners of an entertainment and media conglomerate, is thoroughly gripping while we wait to see who will take over the company as Logan Roy, the founder of the company and patriarch of the family, steps down. The acting on the show is impeccable — many cast members have won awards for it — and while I appreciate every character as their character, I’m not sure I like them so much as people. Nevertheless, I cannot stop watching them. The dialogue is perfect, even funny sometimes (Roman has the best one-liners), and just when you think you have someone figured out, they surprise you. Oh, and the eye-candy! Getting a glimpse into the lives of the richest of the rich and the behind-the-scenes of their business — the locations, the deals, the parties, the understatedly lavish lifestyle — is part of the draw, too. So much to savor. Okay, back to episode three… and if you haven’t seen it, then stop reading now to avoid a big spoiler! The plot twist, while sad and surprising, was brilliant. Just as shocking to the characters as it was to us viewers, Logan’s death playing out in real time added an emotional, human layer that I didn’t know the show needed until now. This was where we saw that despite everything — the friction, the manipulation, the emotional abuse — the Roy children loved their father. Seeing how this will affect everything and how the line of succession will play out, is sure to make the rest of this final season more compelling than ever.
Ted Lasso Season 3 (Apple TV)
It almost pains me to say it, but this latest season of Ted Lasso just isn’t doing it for me the way the first two did. And I had such high expectations after the last few episodes of season two, which I thought made for some of the best television last year. The storylines so far have been uninspired and cliche, but also somewhat random (Keeley and Roy? Zava?). There are still some sweet, funny moments, but they don’t carry the whole show. All this said, I BELIEVE that it will come together…one of the best shows on TV can’t just go blah that quickly. Nate has become an interesting character, and I’m curious to see what happens there. The psychic’s predictions about Rebecca are intriguing. And, of course, we have to see how Ted and Richmond fare. If this is the final season, I’m guessing things will wrap up nicely, but hope they do so in the clever, creative, heartwarming way that made the show such a delight before.
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