Some shows the wife & I have watched recently (in between hockey, of course!)
Them. (Hulu). Metacritic score = 59.
Interesting (fictional) show about racism from an all-white neighborhood towards the 2nd black residents to move into 1950s all-white Compton (!!!).
It's a pretty good story... goes off the rails, comes back, goes off the rails again.
It felt like "Lost" watching it. We were really into it all along, but by the final 10%... it was a little bit of a WTF... and at the end we said "Meh".
But if you like the ride of the TV show... This is pretty good.
3/5 stars.
Cruel Summer. (Freeform). Metacritic score = 74. (User score = 4.7, 7 ratings... ???)
We had to download the Freeform channel for Roku (US)... but its free.
For people that LOVED the first season of 13 Reasons Why (we did)... this is a great show.
The concept of story-telling is something I haven't seen. The characters are solid in a 13-Reasons Why/Stranger Things kind of way.
Overall - we are digging it... but only 3 of 6-8 episodes are available to this point.
4.25/5 stars.
Sasquatch. (Hulu). Metacritic Score = 76.
This is an interesting show. I'll try to explain why.
After episode #1, write down on a piece of paper "I thought I was watching a show about ____. But really, maybe I am watching a show about _____."
Then, do this after episode #2.
And do this after episode #3.
It's a little bit of a mind-fugg like that.
I mean... it's either intentionally brilliant... or accidentally brilliant... but if you *see it*... I think... it's brilliant.
4.5/5 stars.
Calls. (Apple TV). Metacritic score = 65.
This show is purely audio. Yeah... like an old-school Radio story.
I know... weird. They have one of those Microsoft music streaming visual wispy line effects to fill the screen.
But... essentially, I'd put this on only if you are doing something on your phone and want a "background show".
If you put it on simply as an audible space-filler while you play games or text on your phone...
Well... if you do that, it can be a pretty interesting go. (Don't watch the screen though... it feels really dumb if you do that. My advice.)
3.5/5 stars.
The One (Netflix). Metacritic score = 49.
Ugh. This was one of those shows that a Facebook friend said "I loved" - so we gave it a try.
The premise is interesting and it ends there. The acting is shit. The storyline is shit. The supposed hooks are shit.
Waste of time.
1.5/5 stars.
Beartown. (HBO). Metacritic = 82. (The User Score = 5.9... but I have to think this is dumb-ass Americans who don't know hockey...)
I mean... I read the book. And the TV show is close, Swedish, and... awesome.
I thought it was great. I am reading the second book now and hope they do a follow-up TV show.
For me, as a hockey guy...
5/5 stars. (And the on-ice hockey actually looks really good.)
It's a Sin. (HBO). Metacritic = 91.
This.was.great. I mean, many of us remembers AIDS and treatment towards the gay population during the 1980s.
This shows this really well via a fictional story of 4-5 men trying to live their gay-world in England.
The actors, the storyline, the general feeling that eminates... great, really great.
TV shows often are period pieces to revisit past difficult times, like war or pandemics or racism...
But this might be the best "let's revisit when..." TV shows, as a fictional story, that I've ever seen.
Both the wife and I really enjoyed this.
And to have a Neil Patrick Harris star-inclusion for the first episode or two really framed the whole show incredibly.
5/5 stars.