OK, guys: summer’s here. You know what that means! Time to spend some nice time in the great indoors catching up on the television you’ve missed over the year! Without further ado, here’s a list of some potentially off-the- radar shows I deem most worthy of your viewing.
“Veep”
HBO’s brutal, profanity-laden political satire features America’s first female Vice President (played by the astonishing Julia Louis-Dreyfus) as she deals with all of the mundane trials and tribulations brought on by her seemingly meaningless gig as second-in-command. Dreyfus has won three Emmy awards for her role as the eternally frustrated (but not necessarily incompetent) Selina Meyer, who can never seem to accomplish anything with her dignity intact.
Choice Line: “I can’t identify as a woman! People can’t know that!”- Selina, after being told to add the phrase, “as a woman,” to her speech on birth control.
Available On: HBOGO
“Rectify”
This series, from the Sundance Channel, may seem like quite a downer from afar. Daniel Holden (Aden Young), a man on death row for the rape and murder of his girlfriend twenty years prior, is released from prison after new DNA evidence offers doubt to his guilt. Quite astonishingly, the series has become one of the most beautiful mediations on religion and spirituality I’ve ever seen. Young is great in the lead, as is Abigail Spencer as the devoted sister fighting for her brother’s release. Adelaide Clemens, as Daniel’ sister-in-law, especially shines; her character adds intersesting shades to the typical “Good Christian Woman” stereotype when her faith begins to waver. The show never answers the question of Daniel’s guilt, preferring to focus most of its time on his reintroduction back to a world he believed to have left behind.
Choice Line: “Does it matter if I’m guilty or not?”- Daniel
Available On: Netflix
“Mom”
This CBS sitcom hails from Chuck Lorre, the producer of such shows as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men.” While not the ratings juggernaut of those two shows, “Mom” is playing a much different game: Christy Plunkett (Anna Faris) is recently sober, working at a restaurant to support her two children. When her vulgar, estranged mother Bonnie (Allison Janney, who won an Emmy for the role last year) comes back into her life to make amends, she must let go of her anger. Unlike most sitcoms of its type, the show consistently balances humor with drama, as the family deals with addiction, grief and abandonment. Faris and Janney make magnificent screen partners, especially as the show begins to resemble a two-woman play in its second season.
Choice Line: “It’s not easy to say this, but I lied to you guys. A lot. Even about stuff I din’t have to. And I’m not proud about that. I mean, I’m proud of how well- crafted the lies were. Because, y’know, doing anythingwell is its own reward.”- Bonnie’s attempt at an apology.
Available On: CBS.com
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
With this series–which is basically a darker version of “30 Rock”- creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock have delivered something unique: a show as socially relevant as it is weird. After being held captive in an underground doomsday cult for 15 years, Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) decides to start her life over in New York City. The show finds its strength in its refusal to allow Kimmy’s victimization to define her. With her gay roommate, Titus,(Tituss Burgess), shallow boss (“30 Rock”s Jane Krakowksi, playing what initially seems to be the same character here) and free-spirited landlord (Carol Kane), Kimmy strives to find a life for herself beyond her past. Stick around for Tina Fey’s hilarious guest appearance as a clueless lawyer clearly based on Marcia Clark, the prosecutor who botched the O.J. Simpson trial.
Choice Line: “I’ve decided to live as a werewolf.”- Titus, on discovering that he gets treated substantially better when dressed in a werewolf costume than as an African-American man.
Available On: Netflix
Abrams is a member of the class of 2018.
