What are the critics saying about a different sort of war

Catch-22, nominated for two Emmys this year and currently #75 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the Best TV Shows of 2019 So Far, is now streaming on Showmax.

The six-part mini-series tells the story of John “Yo-Yo” Yossarian, a young bombardier off the coast of Italy in World War II, whose frantic obsession every time he goes up on a mission is to come down alive.

His odds of success at such a simple aim keep getting worse, because Colonel Cathcart keeps raising the number of missions the men have to fly.

The pinnacle of this is Catch-22, a military by-law which states that if you willingly fly your missions, you’re crazy, and don’t have to fly them; all you have to do is ask. But if you ask, that proves you’re sane, and so you have to fly them. Here are three reasons why critics love the show:

“True to the essence of the book.” The series is based on the wonderfully sharp, maddening 1961 Joseph Heller anti-war classic, Catch-22. At once comic and tragic, it’s a dark farce about the absurdity of war as well as the institutionalised idiocy and bureaucratic lunacy that fuels it.

“Every actor is bringing their A-game”.

“Catch-22 is an almost perfect series,” says Forbes magazine. “Every actor is bringing their A-game to the table...”

It’s “indisputably well-made”. It’s no wonder considering the team driving the project. Oscar-winning actor George Clooney and director Grant Heslov share the exec-producer credit as well as the directing, the latter along with producer Ellen Kuras, who’s directed on Umbrella Academy, Legion and Ozark. – Citizen reporter