📺 The waffles smell like deception
Hi. This week has been a scorcher and we, for two, think it’s the perfect time to sit in an air conditioned room and catch up on some of our favorite TV shows. Maybe with a glass of iced coffee or a cocktail. Or just a bowl of ice.
In today’s edition:
Ghosts
Never Have I Ever
Midnight Mass
Chuck
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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Where we each choose a recent-ish show to review and feature.
If you still have the ability to watch network TV, try… Ghosts
Keywords: ensemble comedy, paranormal, network TV
Watch if you like: Upload, Pushing Daisies, The Good Place
Jess’s Rating: B+
Another ensemble comedy recommendation? What can I say, I like what I like. Ghosts is an adaptation of a British comedy of the same name, and it was one of the most popular new network shows of 2021. I had initially written it off, not expecting much from a network series, but I kept seeing overwhelmingly positive reviews of it on TikTok and I’m easily influenced! Anyway, everyone was right, it was surprisingly great.
Ghosts is about a young married couple, Sam (Rose McIver of iZombie) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who move upstate from Manhattan upon learning that they’ve inherited a large family estate. After Sam gets into an accident and technically dies for a minute, she discovers that she can now see and talk to a horde of ghosts that inhabit their new home.
This, for me, is the epitome of what an ensemble comedy should be. Since the majority of the characters are literally deceased, the stories we get to see are highly diverse. We’ve got a centuries-old Viking, a 1920s jazz singer, a wolf-of-wall-street type from the 90s, and so on. The type of humor in Ghosts is straightforward, lighthearted, and easy to laugh at, and the premise — that Sam can interact with the ghosts but her husband can’t — is the set up for endless amusement.
If you’re one of the few people out there with the easy ability to watch this show (I know it being a network show that’s only streaming on Paramount+ makes it unlikely), then I strongly suggest that you give it a try.
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 18 episodes
Watch on: Paramount+ / CBS
If you love classics with a new spin, try… Never Have I Ever
Keywords: high school, comedy, coming of age
Watch if you like: Sex Education, Freaks and Geeks, Derry Girls
Jenni’s Rating: A-
Mindy Kaling’s first teen comedy, Never Have I Ever, gives a familiar and beloved concept (the high school coming-of-age story) a totally unique execution. Our protagonist, Devi, is a star student with a core of nerdy friends who just wants to make this year better than the last. Which shouldn’t be hard, considering her freshman year included the loss of her father and a resulting psychosomatic paralysis that left her in a wheelchair. Yeah. Anyway, now she’s focused on getting her long time crush, Paxton to notice her and keeping her academic rival, Ben on his toes — all while navigating high school, grief, and her mom’s traditional Indian values.
When I started this series I was afraid that some of the over the top gimmicks and tropes might get old quickly, but instead I just found myself sucked deeper into Devi’s world with every episode and new predicament. This show’s got everything you could want in a teen comedy plus some quirky narration and a fresh point of view. Season 3 premieres on August 12; you have plenty of time to get caught up so you can watch when the first episode drops!
Length: 30-min runtime, 2 seasons / 20 episodes
Watch on: Hulu
Where we highlight shows that have long-since ended or been canceled, that are well-worth digging back up.
Midnight Mass (2021)
Keywords: suspense, gore, supernatural
Watch if you like: The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Witch, The Lodge
Jess’s Rating: B-
Midnight Mass is set in a tiny village, only accessible by boat, with a predominantly Catholic population of ~100 people. After a pilgrimage, their elderly pastor fails to return and a stranger arrives in town to take his place. Soon, the town deals with odd occurrences ranging from creepy to miraculous, and a few townspeople start to suspect that there might be something amiss with this new clergyman.
This series could be described as a “slow burn” — the first two episodes lack any tension whatsoever — but once it becomes clear where the show is heading, things pick up steam. From there, the show is a fairly standard horror story fixated on religious faith, with some supernatural elements mixed in. Although not my favorite sub-genre of horror (maybe due to my lack of a churchly upbringing), I can appreciate that this is a well-made miniseries. The tension builds slowly but satisfyingly, and the production expertly uses music and biblical chanting to underscore eerie moments. I think there are one too many monologues, but I can appreciate that the actors all brought their A game.
I decided to give this show a chance after seeing a bunch of people on Twitter say that it was snubbed by the Emmys. I’m sure that was because the horror genre doesn’t get much love at awards shows, but I do feel like this would have been a better choice than Inventing Anna in the best miniseries category.
— Jess
Length: 1-hr runtime, limited series / 7 episodes
Watch on: Netflix
Chuck (2007-2012)
Keywords: workplace comedy, spy-drama, cheesy
Watch if you like: Castle, Alias, Psych
Jenni’s Rating: A-
Chuck is something between an action-comedy and spy-drama. Our title character, played by Zachary Levi, is an intelligent but unmotivated computer whiz working at an electronics chain store in Burbank, California. One day, Chuck receives an encoded email that embeds the only copy of a software program with the USA's greatest spy secrets into his brain. Until they can find a way to “extract” the files from him, the CIA and NSA assign him handlers and use his new skill set for top-secret missions.
It’s an outstanding show, somewhat unexpectedly so given the slightly corny and “out there” conceit. As long as you go into the series knowing it’ll be a little cheesy at times, you can’t help but be charmed by the cast’s chemistry and hooked by the plot’s well-placed twists and turns.
— Jenni
Length: 45-min runtime, 5 seasons / 91 episodes
Watch on: HBO Max
Your shows, returned:
American Horror Stories, Season 2: Premieres July 21 on Hulu
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Season 5: Released July 21 on Netflix
Blown Away, Season 3: Released July 22 on Netflix
Trying, Season 3: Premieres July 22 on Apple TV+
High School Musical: The Series, Season 3: Premieres July 27 on Disney+
Upcoming new releases:
Keep Breathing: Released July 28 on Netflix
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Premieres July 28 on HBO Max
The Resort: Premieres July 28 on Peacock