Woman of Letters

Recommend to me some good new shows to watch.

I feel like the high point of my TV show discovery has passed. The last new show I really got into was The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Other than that, I’ve mostly watched shows that’ve been around for a few years. Last year, a number of my shows ended: Parks and Recreation and Community, most notably. This year, I’ve kind of gotten tired of a few of the shows I had been following (Modern Family and The Mindy Project, most notably).

Which means that basically the only regular-season TV shows I now follow are The Good Wife (in its last season) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which will almost certainly be cancelled this year).

I don’t know what happened. I used to discover new shows with a certain regularity. Now, though, I bounce off of things. I tried to watch Transparent and found it to be kind of blah–too slow and melancholy to work as a comedy, for me, I just have no idea. I don’t trust anyone’s opinion, really, not since Daredevil got so many rave reviews. I tried watching it and was like, “What does anybody see in this show?”

But anyway, I guess I need to start finding new things, so here is my appeal: recommend me some new shows to watch.

Comments (

8

)

  1. Dustin Katz

    Okay I promise not to comment on all your blog posts like a weirdo, but I’ve been feeling evangelical about the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend since I started watching it ANYWAY. It’s on the CW (and their website, and Hulu), and it’s the brainchild of Rachel Bloom, who made funny music videos on YouTube before landing a TV deal. Her first YouTube hit was an, erm, let’s call it an “open letter” to Ray Bradbury: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM. The show is a musical–the best I’ve ever seen on TV–and has a little in common tone-wise with “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” in that there’s a darkness lurking behind its cheerful, sweet exterior. There have been four episodes so far. Give it a shot!

    1. R. H. Kanakia

      First of all, you should comment on them all! I don’t get nearly enough comments. Secondly, that’s a great suggestion! The best one I’ve had so far!

  2. disperser

    Blindspot has been pretty good. Some of the usual stretching of credulity, but less than one might imagine.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4474344/

    1. R. H. Kanakia

      Awesome. I’ll look into it.

  3. Sam Julian (@myopiad)

    Do you generally stick to comedies?

    Rick and Morty is fantastic, it’s great comedy and even better science fiction.
    Fargo Season 1 is great, and the second season’s been decent so far.

    1. R. H. Kanakia

      Yes, nowadays I generally have been sticking to comedies for some reason. Fargo is a good one. I’ll check that out (check out both of them, but I’d also heard of Fargo before).

  4. mattllavin

    Hey dude. I have some recommendations!! I don’t watch too much funny stuff, although you mentioned two of my recent faves (especially Community, which is beyond amazing). So, you’re going to get some drama recs.

    Lately I’ve really enjoyed……

    Hannibal: This is an amazing and weird show! What if you reimagined Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham as star-crossed lovers that are obsessed with the artistry of picturesque murder tableaus? Well then you’d have this TV show. It’s so beautiful to look at. It’s surprisingly feminist, too, especially given the source material (if you’re familiar, you’ll see what I mean)

    Mr. Robot: This is a really great 90’s-style technological/political intrigue/thriller show. It bites hard on its influences — which is all I’ll say about that, in case you watch it — but it’s a very self aware show. The performances are amazing and the show never quite goes in the direction you’d expect. It’s a nuanced and incredibly subversive show, but it doesn’t pretend that its radicalism is an easy solution. I was really blown away by this show

    Gilmore Girls: Already recommended to you, but I’ll say it again. Do you want to sink backward into a warm bath of early ’00’s nostalgia and gentle emotional manipulation, buoyed by the rhythmic chopping of fast-paced dialogue? Gilmore Girls: white wine for the soul

    Sens8: My wife and I just watched this. Maybe it’s because we have a newborn, but this show made me highly emotional. It’s an incredibly earnest sci-fi show about 8 people from all over the world who develop a bond that allows them to experience each others’ senses. It’s AMAZING looking, and I believe all of it was filmed on location (not sure?). It has some pretty negative traits, too, but if you watch the first episode and you’re intrigued, I would stick with it

    1. R. H. Kanakia

      Nice. Thanks for the recs! I’ll check these out, esp Hannibal, which I’ve now heard sooooooo much about.

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