WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
The Entire First Season.” God, they were so whiny!
You would think that Post-Gazette journalists would stay away from screens after spending most of their work hours confronting one. Yet most of us stay glued to laptops, televisions, tablets and such long after our work is done.
So when we asked our staff members to fill in some blanks about “What We Are Watching,” they jumped to the task with the fervor of Monday-morning quarterbacks.
Some went rogue, not adhering to categories or single submissions. One — PG TV writer Rob Owen — asked to deviate because he is self-quarantining while homeschooling two rambunctious grade schoolers (both currently obsessed with “America’s Funniest Home Videos” reruns on Disney+). Kid care leaves little time beyond the premieres he watches for his Tuned In column, including a new favorite comedy, “Upload,” on Amazon Prime Video.
Here’s what some of the rest of us are watching. Head to www.post-gazette.com for a more expansive and ever-growing list, includng the bonus category “guilty pleasures.” And watch for part 2 next week.
Joyce Gannon
Quarantine discovery (and easy
binge): “Schitt’s Creek” (Netflix). Laughout-loud hilarious. Superb writing about well-to-do family reduced to living in a small-town motel. Spot-on casting including Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.
Must see: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s news briefings (cable news). This is leadership. A friend in NYC calls it therapy. And I discovered my cousin taught him high school English in Queens.
Comfort watch: “Call the Midwife” (PBS). Nuns and midwives care for low-income residents in London’s East End in the 1950s and 1960s. Goes way beyond birthing babies.
Alexis Johnson
Quarantine discovery: “Little Fires Everywhere” (Hulu), starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Miniseries based on a book by Celeste Ng; eight episodes of drama set in a suburban town in the late ’90s, touching on classism, race, motherhood, adoption, white privilege, immigration, women’s rights and more.
Easy binge: “Tiger King” (Netflix). Docuseries about a gay polyamourous drugaddicted criminal big cat zoo owner and why he is in jail for allegedly putting a hit out on an animal rights advocate … yeah.
Long-term binge: Just found out “The Wire” is on Hulu, and I am trying to decide if I am committed to starting this binge.
Must see: “Insecure” (HBO) and “The Last Dance” (ESPN).
Comfort rewatch: “America’s Next Top Model” (Hulu). The iconic reality show hosted by Tyra Banks — I have already rewatched 16 cycles, although I started a few months before quarantine.
Maria Sciullo
Quarantine discovery: “Schitt’s Creek” (Netflix). Had been meaning to watch this forever, and it is indeed living up to its rep. Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Catherine O’Hara are touchingly nuts.
Must see: “My Brilliant Friend” (HBO). Brilliant is the word. This Italian adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s literary phenomenon has a lifelong friendship that starts when Lila and Elena are children in Naples, bad relationships, worse marriages, hopes dashed, dreams built and actors who look like they’ve come straight out of a ’60s arthouse film. Don’t be afraid of subtitles.
Easy binge: “Fleabag” (Amazon Prime Video). Love the Brit model: six episodes a season, two seasons. Phoebe Waller Bridge is a genius, and there’s pre-Oscar Olivia Colman as the wicked stepmother.
Long-term binge: “Succession” (HBO, Hulu). There’s no one in the Roy family to root for (except perhaps cousin Greg), and the knives are out in this well-written cutthroat saga of a family willing to eat its own young if there’s a buck to be made.
Comfort rewatch: “Survivor” (CBS). Out of curiosity after not seeing it for maybe 15 years, I started watching this, the 40th(!) version, which features past winners of the $1 million prize. Somehow, so soothing and familiar. And Jeff Probst, the man does not age.
Steve Twedt
Comfort rewatch: “Mr. Selfridge” (PBS). With a brief detour to catch “The Talented Mr. Ripley” movie before it left Netflix.
Gretchen McKay
Quarantine discovery: “Little Fires Everywhere.” The book was better. And finally, FINALLY, “Luther,” season 5 (BBC America). That coat. I’ve spent hours looking for it online for my husband. Also, finished “The Stranger” (Netflix) in two sittings.
Easy binge: “Tiger King” (Netflix). Don’t you just love crazy people? Long-term binge: “The Sopranos,” “The Office,” “House.” I am old school. Must see: Any British detective series — especially “Broadchurch,” “Happy Valley,” “River,” “The Missing.” Comfort rewatch: “Thirty Something:
Sam Underwood
Must see: “The Midnight Gospel” (Netflix). Cartoon from the creators of “Adventure Time” but for adults. Explore mindfulness, religion, magi and other mind-bending discussions while crazy trippy stuff is happening.
Easy binge: “Over the Garden Wall” (Hulu). Cartoon with voices of Elijah Wood and Doc from “Back to the Future.” 10 episodes, 11 minutes each; amazing music, fantastic story. Also: creepy.
Long-term binge: “Star Treks.” You never run out of those.
Comfort rewatch: “Letterkenny” (Hulu). The problems of small-town Canadian hicks, skids and hockey players.
Don Hopey
Quarantine discovery: “The Plot
Against America” (HBO).
Must see: Afternoon Trump COVID-19 press conference — I’m buying Lysol stock.
Long-term binge: “Game of Thrones” (HBO). Didn’t catch this the first time around and am getting sucked in.
Comfort rewatch: “The West Wing” (Netflix). Wishing Jeb for Prez was reality TV.
Erin Hebert
Quarantine discovery: “Mrs. America” (FX on Hulu). I would watch anything with Cate Blanchett, even if she’s playing Phyllis Schlafly, the nightmare of feminists everywhere. Episodes focus on a different figure in the struggle to pass (and oppose, in Schlafly’s case) the Equal Rights Amendment. The nine-episode miniseries concludes May 27.
Must see: “The Americans” (Amazon Prime Video). The FX series is equal parts spy show, family drama and political thriller. Real-life partners Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are incredible as two KGB agents who live publicly as a normal D.C. couple in the early 1980s.
Easy binge: “Firefly” (Hulu). Joss Whedon’s cult classic space Western is a quick watch — 14 episodes — thanks to its premature cancellation by Fox in 2003. And don’t forget the movie sequel, “Serenity.”
Long-term binge: “Call the Midwife” (Netflix, PBS). I thought I was getting a runof-the-mill British period drama. Instead, I got a fascinating look at class politics, health care policy and social justice reforms — plus, a crash course in what it might be like to go through childbirth.
Comfort rewatch: “Community” (Netflix, Hulu). It’s sweet, it’s hilarious, it’s chock-full of pop culture references … what more could you want? (Six seasons and a movie!)
Josh Axelrod
Quarantine discovery: “Run” (HBO). Merritt Weaver and Domhnall Gleason star as two people who blow up their lives for a cross-country trek. It’s weird, funny and, most importantly, it’s a half-hour show that airs weekly.
Must see: “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (NBC). This delightful musical dramedy is what you get if you cross the musical episode of “Scrubs” with “Glee,” and it somehow works so much better than that description would indicate. Easy binge: “Little Fires Everywhere” (Hulu). Eight-episode miniseries about two women who clash over the very idea of what it means to be a mother.
Long-term binge: “Better Call Saul” (AMC). Season 5 just ended, and it’s officially better than “Breaking Bad.”
Comfort rewatch: “Community” (Netflix). All six seasons (still no movie, though) dropped on Netflix a few weeks ago. The first three (and parts of season 5) are pure, high-minded comedy gold.
Zack Tanner
Quarantine discovery: “Schitt’s Creek” (Netflix). Was always highly recommended, never had time to start it.
Must see: “Better Call Saul” (AMC). Most of season 5 just happened to land during isolation.
Easy binge: “High Maintenance” (HBO). A lovely no-stakes comedy with a wonderful soundtrack.
Long-term binge: “Justified” (FX/ Hulu). I never caught this series when it originally aired and was made an outcast for not watching it.
Comfort rewatch: “Community” (NBC/Netflix). An all-time comedy, simple as that.
Nathan Boley
Quarantine discovery: “Chernobyl” (HBO). I had somehow never watched this acclaimed HBO miniseries even though I have a fascination with Eastern European history. It’s a bit dark and heavy at times, but the political and societal implications are oddly prescient during these uncertain days.
Must see: “The Tiger King” (Netflix). There are a lot of issues with this ridiculous docuseries, but it’s wildly entertaining.
Easy binge: “Parks and Recreation” (Netflix). An endlessly entertaining comedy with a lovable cast of characters. The entire Pawnee gang held a reunion last week on NBC.
Long-term binge: “Mad Men” is incredibly scripted and fabulously crafted, with all of the 1960s fashion and furniture one could ever want.
Comfort rewatch: “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (Neflix) is great for laughs and stories from (and about) comedians.
Michael M. Santiago
Quarantine discovery: “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX on Hulu). It’s a mockumentary about vampires and filmed in the fashion of “The Office.”
Must see: “Snowfall,” “Ozark,” Paid in Full,” “Cadillac Records,” “Mudbound.”
Easy binge: “Bojack Horseman” (Netflix). Adult animated dark comedy series about an LA in which humans and anthromorphs coexist.
Long-term binge: “The Wire” (Amazon Prime Video, HBO Go) Comfort rewatch: “Cowboy Bebop” (Netflix, Hulu). I’m an anime guy, and this will always be a go-to for me.