Don’t ‘4’ get hidden TV gems over the holiday
The Fourth of July is a time for fireworks, but let’s face it: Been there, done that.
You’ve seen plenty of pyrotechnics, but what you may not have seen are some of the under-the-radar series that get overlooked in a time of peak TV.
The July 4 long weekend gives you an extra day to sneak in a summer binge. Here are six shows that you didn’t watch but should have.
’Reservation Dogs,’ FX/Hulu
Last year saw two shows about Native American communities (a bleak yet remarkable record): Ed Helms’ sitcom “Rutherford Falls,” about a white man coming to terms with his ancestors’ role in taking over a First Nation town, and “Reservation Dogs,” the darkly comedic coming-of-age story of a group of Indigenous teens in Oklahoma.
The first was cute and fun, the latter was at once a painfully honest portrayal of youth, a fascinating look into a tight-knit community and a heartwarming story of loyalty. There’s a bite to the comedy, the sharp wit of a teenager who’s a little sad and not hiding it as well as he thinks, and yet a warmth of four friends who have gone through it all together.
The first season of “Reservation Dogs” is on Hulu and the second premieres on Aug. 3.
’Irma Vep,’ HBO
Olivier Assayas’ remake of his own 1996 film, about an actress who escapes into her role in a remake of the French silent crime movie “Les Vampires,” is both too meta and too pretentious but that’s also why it works. Alicia Vikander, who stars as the disillusioned movie star fresh off a breakup and sick of her cookie-cutter superhero press tour, has an air of disapproval for everyone around her while also being fascinated by her strange new world, full of druggie actors and chaotic directors.
“Irma Vep” manages to satirize the entertainment industry, from the people to the “content,” while still existing as a good show in and of itself.
The eight-episode limited series airs on HBO on Mondays and is set to wrap on July 25.
’The Umbrella Academy,’ Netflix
Now three seasons in, it’s not entirely clear if “The Umbrella Academy” is actually good or just addictively weird, but the positive thing is that a show that may just be addictively weird gets to exist.
Based on the comic series by My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, the show follows a family of superhero adopted siblings in their quest to stop the apocalypse every season. No seriously, there’s a new apocalypse every season. Redundant, sure, but they manage to make it fun. And weird.
There are musical breaks and time travel, a robot mom and a talking chimpanzee. And in between the second and third seasons, when Elliot Page came out as trans, the show wrote that in as well, one of the best, kindest representations of transition we’ve seen on TV yet.
All three seasons of “The Umbrella Academy” are now on Netflix.
’Starstruck,’ HBO Max
Thanks to movies like “Marry Me” and “Fire Island,” romcoms are finally getting their much deserved comeback, but “Starstruck” got there first.
What happens when a 20-something woman getting by on a bunch of odd jobs spends the night with a movie star? Exactly what you want to happen: it gets messy. Creator Rose Matafeo, who stars as Jessie, is straight out of a screwball comedy without coming off as a caricature, a chaotic character getting by on good luck and an undeniable charm.
The first two seasons of “Starstruck” are on HBO Max and it was just renewed for a third season.
’American Auto,’ NBC/Peacock
“Abbott Elementary” got all the attention during the fall, and for good reason, but the networks may be on their best run of sitcoms in the better part of a decade.
Among them was “American Auto,” a workplace comedy set in the c-suite of a Detroit car manufacturer filled with employees so incompetent that the only surprise is that it takes them until the seventh episode to face a recall.
The surrounding cast, including the neurotic head of PR (Harriet Dyer), the failson (Jon Barinholtz) and the guy from the factory floor brought in to serve as the voice of the common man (Tye White), are great, but it’s Ana Gasteyer’s Katherine Hastings, the newly hired CEO, who stands out the most, providing a stunning takedown of the #GirlBoss narrative rivaled only by Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout.”
“American Auto” will return to NBC midseason, so there’s plenty of time to catch up on Peacock.
”The Bear,” FX
Despite the overwhelming popularity of food-centric reality shows, it’s actually been a while since we had a good scripted restaurant show. Not a bar, a good old fashioned restaurant where people are screaming and oil is spraying and meals are getting cold.
Welcome to “The Bear,” which FX has been passing off as a comedy, but is instead the most stressful show you’ve ever seen (yes, including “Yellowjackets”).
We meet rising star Carmen (Jeremy Allen White of “Shameless”) weeks after he’s given up his Michelin dreams and goes home to Chicago to run the family hut, The Original Beef of Chicagoland, after his brother’s death and is immediately thrown into the kitchen where anything that can go wrong does go wrong. The staff is disrespectful. The financials are a disaster. But the place is home and “The Bear” makes it easy to see why you always go back.
All eight episodes are on Hulu.