USA TODAY International Edition
The Life team recommends ...
Overwhelmed by all the options for streaming, moviegoing and reading? We feel you. In honor of a summer of boundless quality content, here are the Life section’s summer staff picks:
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ (Amazon)
It’s not just the perfect Rachel Brosnahan as an Upper West side housewife who discovers she has a downtown gift for stand-up comedy that makes “Mrs. Maisel” soar. It’s the entire supporting cast floating in Midge’s orbit that pushes this Amazon Prime series out of this world, from Alex Borstein (as the notso-hardened manager Susie) to Midge Maisel’s eccentric parents (Marin Hinkle and Tony Shalhoub). The thrilling camera shots and divine 1950s period outfits are added, heavenly boosters. – Bryan Alexander
‘Double Dare’ (Nickelodeon)
Nickelodeon’s reboot has been a welcome addition to our summer viewing schedule. Instead of hours of the same cartoons, I’ve actually enjoyed watching the new version of this Nick classic, with its updated slimy physical challenges and gross obstacle courses.
Marc Summers now serves as a sidekick on the show, leaving hosting duties to newcomer Liza Koshy, who deftly handles the kid contestants.
Sure, it makes me feel a little old and nostalgic, but it’s fun to watch with kids who love seeing this quiz show for the first time. – Jenny Cohen
‘Cobra Kai’ (YouTube Red)
Hilarious, dramatic and gloriously addictive, the YouTube Red series is a bingeworthy sequel revisiting the teenage rivalry of “The Karate Kid” 30 years later but is also a strong coming-of-age story about bullied kids finding their inner strength. – Brian Truitt
Crime page-turners
It rained for so many days straight in Washington that it began to feel more like a proper English summer than the political swamp. So I’ve been plowing through British crime series and devoured the Cormoran Strike series from Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling. I recommend starting with the books (they’re quick reads), then going to the Cinemax series, a pretty loyal portrayal.
I’m also a big audiobook fan, particularly for slow, rainy commutes, and dived into Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History.” Set in New England rather than Oxford or Cambridge, the tone is nonetheless similar to British classics, examining class structure (deliciously) through rich kids at a WASP-y liberal arts school. Oh, and there’s a murder. Make that two. – Cara Kelly
‘The Affair’ (Showtime)
Oh, Helen and Noah and Cole and Alison, what are we going to do with you? “The Affair” still has me hooked in Season 4 as the intertwined lives of its main characters (played by Maura Tierney, Dominic West, Joshua Jackson and Ruth Wilson) continue to captivate and infuriate. Love-hating it for an hour, I can’t turn away as the dramas and traumas of this sophisticated soap churn and churn, now mainly in golden California, shadowed in the show’s signature gloom.
Any doubts about why I tune in are brushed aside by the excellent cast; watch Wilson’s face register, in an instant, a cascade of emotion as the tragic Alison, and you’ll see why. – Jocelyn McClurg
ABBA’s greatest hits
I’ll say it: I still haven’t seen “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.” As obsessed as I am with the first “Mamma Mia!” movie, I’m just too afraid that the sequel won’t live up to the campy magic of the original.
Instead, I’ve been rotting my brain with binges of ABBA greatest-hits compilations to satisfy my urge for sugarysweet ’70s pop bangers. And they truly are bangers, the kind of songs that make you wonder when the 21st century’s preeminent pop stars forgot how to make real hits.
As vacuous as songs like “Waterloo” and “SOS” and the aforementioned “Mamma Mia” may seem, their eternal hooks are a helpful antidote to the tedium of hearing the same 15 or so “songs of the summer” playing on an endless loop. – Maeve McDermott
The ‘new’ season of ‘The Great British Baking Show’ (PBS)
Because of legal and licensing restrictions, PBS has been airing seasons of the U.K.’s baking wonder out of order, so the episodes now running on Friday nights were first seen across the pond in 2012. But the fact that the winner is totally Google-able and the references to that year’s Summer Olympics are woefully out of date doesn’t make this literally and figuratively sweet show any less delightful.
Come for the impressive creations, stay for the absolute disdain with which the judges and bakers describe American-style pies. – Kelly Lawler
‘Bo Burnham: what.’ (Netflix)
Are you as obsessed as we are with “Eighth Grade,” the cringey yet heartwarming movie that gets middle school right? Then check out this stand-up special from its loose-limbed young writer/ director, which recently returned to Netflix.
Taped during Burnham’s 2013 comedy tour, the madcap one-hour show blends theatrical songs with raunchy musings on God, nerds, anxiety and masturbation. – Patrick Ryan
‘Three Identical Strangers’ (in select theaters)
Tim Wardle’s documentary about a set of identical triplets separated at birth and planted in three New York-area homes is a story with unexpected twists and a compelling mystery that provokes outrage. It’s funny, sad and touching, but the less you know before watching, the better. – Gary Levin
‘Easy’ (Netflix)
Netflix offers so much original content, it’s easy to overlook Joe Swanberg’s poignant “Easy,” a Chicago-based anthology series about modern-day relationships. Don’t! The show may sound generic, but it tells nuanced stories about love with its recognizable cast.
In one episode, Marc Maron’s graphic novelist and Emily Ratajkowski’s “selfie” photographer combine love and art. In another, couple Orlando Bloom and Malin Akerman nervously consider a threesome. Zazie Beetz, Dave Franco, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jake Johnson also star in the series about love, technology and gender norms. – Carly Mallenbaum
‘Killing Eve’ (BBC America)
Every friend and family member of mine has been subjected to the same treatment this summer: I arrive at their front door, work “Killing Eve” into the conversation, and if they haven’t seen it, I source their remote and press “play” on Episode 1.
I can’t help wanting to share it: The assassin drama is a nuanced, witty and gripping display of Peak TV. Tune in and see why Emmy voters showered love on Sandra Oh, who is nominated for playing an Interpol operative chasing down a female Russian assassin (the revelatory Jodie Comer) all over Europe. Fun fact: The series is created by Phoebe WallerBridge (“Fleabag”), who played Donald Glover’s dry droid co-pilot in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” – Andrea Mandell