📺 Everything used to be so much fun
Hi. Hope you’re ready to sit by the TV for 4 hours this weekend, because that’s how long it’ll take you to watch the final 2 episodes of the new season of Stranger Things, which will be released tomorrow on Netflix.
In today’s edition:
The Bear
Tuca & Bertie
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Black Bird
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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Where we each choose a recent-ish show to review and feature.
If you want a quick but intense watch, try… The Bear
Keywords: dark comedy, chaotic, Chicago, chefs
Watch if you like: any cooking reality show, Uncut Gems, Shameless
Jess’s Rating: B+
You could describe almost every cooking show on TV as chaotic (The Great British Baking Show being the sole exception). There is a lot of shouting and plenty of scurrying and occasionally people injuring themselves with knives. That’s why a restaurant is the perfect setting for this new scripted series that, at times, is a rather stressful watching experience.
The Bear follows a young, world-renowned chef who goes back home to Chicago to run the grungy family sandwich shop after his brother tragically dies. Beside him is a motley crew of born-and-bred Chicagoans who’ve worked at the shop for many years and are resistant to the changes that he brings in from his fine dining experience.
This series is being marketed as a dark comedy, and it has the 30-min runtime to back it up, but I wouldn’t describe it as funny. There are moments of levity, however, that keep it from Uncut Gems levels of anxiety. Rather than being plot-driven, this show is more of a character study, with its subjects learning to cope after death and managing in a dysfunctional work environment. There’s more to these restaurant workers than meets the eye, and their stories unfold in a way that feels really authentic and never devolves into cliché.
Length: ~30-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
If you’re looking for something whimsical and deeply relatable, try… Tuca & Bertie
Keywords: adult swim, animated sitcom, surreal
Watch if you like: BoJack Horseman, Broad City, Rick and Morty
Jenni’s Rating: A
Time for our classic sitcom disclaimer: this is a show you may need to commit to a few episodes of before you feel invested in the characters and get used to the joke mechanisms. From the mind of the artist behind BoJack Horseman, Adult Swim’s Tuca & Bertie follows two best friends in their late 20s/early 30s that just happen to be anthropomorphized birds. Tuca (voiced by Tiffany Haddish) is an impulsive and care-free toucan, while Bertie (voiced by Ali Wong) is an anxious and passionate Songthrush.
I know how bizarre it sounds, but this show is a gem. Its cartoon format allows for some really creative depictions of all the weird, surreal, awful, funny things that happen in life and the writers handle serious and complex themes with humor and self-awareness.
Season 3 begins on July 10th, so you still have time to catch up on Bertie and Tuca’s light-hearted friend antics (mixed with a bit of real trauma coping) before the new episodes drop.
Length: 25-min runtime, 2 seasons / 20 episodes
Watch on: Adult Swim, Netflix (S1) HBO Max (S2/3)
We reviewed a show in its early days on air. Now that we’ve watched more of it, would we change our initial rating?
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Keywords: romance, sci-fi, drama
Watch if you like: Outlander, Age of Adelaide, Doctor Who
Jenni’s New Rating: B-
In my previous review about this series, I wrote that I was finding the latest adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife extremely mediocre. But, after telling myself I’d at least watch one more episode to give it a fighting chance, I got sucked in and watched the rest of the season in a single weekend.
It’s still not the greatest show I’ve ever seen, but it’s far more charming and gripping than I thought upon first viewing. The “talking head” shots still annoy me, but they fit a little better into the plot at this point, so I’ll let them slide. Additionally, as all the characters developed over the season, that tonal mix of witty, whimsical, earnest, and dark I mentioned in my first review settled into a much more palatable balance. I’m officially invested in seeing how showrunner Steven Moffat finishes up the story in Season 2 next year (if HBO greenlights another season, that is).
— Jenni
Length: 50-min runtime, 1 season / 6 episodes
Watch on: HBO Max
Where we highlight a show that’s premiering soon that we think looks like it will be worth a watch.
Black Bird
Keywords: psychological thriller, serial killer, crime drama
Watch if you like: Mindhunter, Criminal Minds, The Silence of the Lambs
Release Date: 2 episodes premiere on July 8, the following 4 episodes will be released once per week on Fridays
Watch on: Apple TV+
To my fellow psychological thriller lovers, there is a show coming out next Friday that you should be excited about. It’s called Black Bird, and it’s a limited series starring Taron Egerton (Rocketman, Kingsman).
Described as gritty and suspenseful, the series tells the story of a high school football star turned convicted drug dealer (Egerton) who is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison with no chance of parole. He is given the opportunity to be released early if he enters a maximum security prison to befriend a suspected serial killer and get a confession from him.
Apple TV+ has really stepped up their game this year, and this looks like it’ll be another winner. Fingers crossed it lives up to my expectations.
— Jess
Your shows, returned:
Stranger Things, Season 4 Part 2: Released July 1 on Netflix
We Hunt Together, Season 2: Premieres July 1 on Showtime
Good Trouble, Season 4: Returns from hiatus July 7 on Freeform
Upcoming new releases:
The Terminal List: Released July 1 on Amazon Prime
Maggie: Released July 6 on Hulu
Moonhaven: Premieres July 7 on AMC+