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SUPERSTORE (2015-2021)

November 22, 2020

(fubo/Hulu/peacock/VOD) SUPERSTORE has always flown under the rader. Often marketed as a big-box retail version of THE OFFICE (US) because it’s comprised of eccentrics and weirdos all trying to get by in their humdrum work environment, it has more in common with the warmness of PARKS & RECREATION, in that the characters are often trying to help one another through each day. It’s also a show that subverts how we imagine work-based sitcoms, how the audience is supposed to suspend disbelief that every employee is treated equal, that each one of them goes home at night to live in a place they can easily afford, and none of them ever have to worry about how they’re going to pay for an unexpected car repair.

While the show would be entertaining enough if these characters were placed in their own universe and the writers blissfully ignored everything happening in the real world, SUPERSTORE often tackles heavier topics, such as unionizing, immigration, and natural disasters. Few sitcoms are able to manage the delicate balance of real-world problems and humor — usually coming across as either overly glib, or as a Very Special Episode — but SUPERSTORE not only manages it, it excels at it.

The season six opener, which aired a handful of weeks ago, deals quite frankly with COVID and we watch as the show barrels through months of COVID prep and paranoia in the expert way only a five-year-old show could juggle. They don’t rely on title cards to relay the day or month, they let you figure it out through visual indicators and character dialogue because they realize you’ll pick up on the major touchstones. Sure, it won’t play the same to viewers in 10 years, but few shows do.

In the second episode of season six, the novelty of safety precautions have faded into the background but still linger as a threatening presence, and the show depicts several characters struggling with their fear and stress. Despite that, they still make it funny without defusing the importance of these characters’ struggles.

I know folks are pretty reluctant to invest in old-school 22-ep season shows — I get it! — but this one is worth it. It’s the full package: heart, humor, and hope. Feel free to skip over the first season, as it’s a bit rocky! If you don’t want to deal with COVID in your TV shows, steer clear of season six! (I know I get a bit squicked out when the show has characters talking close-up and unmasked, just for the sake of trying to wring the most out of a scene.) I don’t know what the future holds for SUPERSTORE — perhaps one more season, at best — but if that’s the case? It’s been a good run.

Season 1 trailer:

Season 4 mid-season trailer:

(The actual tone is really an odd mixture of the two: not as much spectacle as S1 promises, not as preachy as S4 appears.)

HAPPY ENDINGS (2011-2013)

November 15, 2020

(HBO MAX/Hulu/Netflix/VOD) Yes, I know the title is terrible, and it’s exactly why I didn’t watch this show until several years ago. Sure, it’s supposed to reflect how you can still be friends with your ex, despite her leaving you at the altar, but 1) that’s not what anyone thinks of when they hear that term and 2) that’s hardly what this show is about. It’s a hangout show that’s best described as a filthy Z-grade FRIENDS. (Okay, so maybe the title is slightly representative of the show.)

The worst part of the title is its poor use of phrasing, because this show -loved- twisting phrases. If you love the Marx Bros., you will love this show. Take, for instance, the rom-com-con cold open. (Yes, I’m skipping over the racist parrot bit because no one needs that.)

Or the following what-if joke regarding Mary Tyler Moore:

However, wordplay won’t get you very far if you lack a cast that can convincingly deliver quips, and HAPPY ENDINGS had one of the great ensembles; they wrangled a melange of brilliant comedic and improv actors (Adam Pally, Eliza Coupe, Damon Wayans Jr., Casey Wilson) and straight-laced performers (Elisha Cuthbert, Zachary Knighton), all of whom brilliantly handle their ‘so smart it’s dumb/so dumb it’s smart’ banter.

Not all of the humor has aged well, like uh, the racist parrot, the ‘Dave is 1/16th Navajo’ bit, and all of the fat jokes made at Max’s (Adam Pally) expense, but it holds up better than, oh say, 30 ROCK. Also, as a resident of Chicago, I’d be remiss to note that it severely misrepresents the city layout, almost to a hilarious degree, where many of the streets and addresses simply don’t exist. (One address cited would land them in the squarely in the middle of Lake Michigan.)

Those qualifiers aside, HAPPY ENDINGS is perhaps better than any other modern sitcom at what the show calls ‘pile-ons’. Taken out of context, none of the jokes are rarely amazing, but when unfurled over a scene they build on each other, and while the first or second gag maybe elicited a slight chuckle from you, by the time the scene has ended you’re doubled-over gasping for breath and have to rewind because you couldn’t hear the final quips over the sound of your own laughter.

CHILDRENS HOSPITAL (2008-2016)

November 11, 2020

(Hulu/VOD)? One of the first adult swim live-action shows, this is a wall-to-wall neo-vaudevillian gag machine riffing on the daily soap opera genre that just about no one watching adult swim have actually consumed.

Despite the fact that it ran for eight years, it never quite received the recognition it deserved, being wedged in-between SQUIDBILLIES and adult swim’s anime block, but it was clearly a labor of love from all involved, and holy crap there were a ton of brilliant people involved: David Wain, Henry Winkler, Megan Mullany (clearly having the time of her life), Ken Marino, Lake Bell, Jordan Peele, Jon Hamm, and several Robs and Corddrys.

It also featured brilliantly cyclical jokes like the following exchange, delivered by the under-appreciated Erinn Hayes to Rob Heubel:

“I’m breaking up with you.”

“What? Why?”

“I uh, have a brain tumor.”

“Oh, bleep How long have you known?”

“…how long have I known? Ugh, I can’t lie! I don’t have a brain tumor. I just couldn’t think of a reason to break up with you.”

“Break up? Not with you sick like this! I’m going to take care of you!”

“No, no, no. I said I -don’t- have a brain tumor.”

“That’s just the brain tumor talking!”

While there isn’t a bad episode in the bunch, Megan Amram (who contributed the best storefront puns in THE GOOD PLACE and is the mastermind behind AN EMMY FOR MEGAN) penned one of my absolute favorite episodes of TV ever by taking CHILDRENS HOSPITAL pitch-perfectly into the past with -The Show You Watch-. (Unfortunately, the episode labeled as -The Show You Watch- on YouTube is actually the episode -Through the Eyes of a Falcon- and definitely not a great episode to start with.)

TERRIERS (2010)

November 8, 2020

(Hulu/VOD) TERRIERS deserves a mention simply for having one of the catchiest theme songs, and one of the least-helpful titles, in recent memory:

The 30-second version:

The full song:

Setting aside the theme song (which cites a sally forth punk! I love it so much!), it’s a gorgeously sun-soaked California private dick neo-noir. The core of the show is the camaraderie between the two private detectives, in-recovery Hank (Donal Logue) and the overly earnest fuck-up Britt (Michael Raymond-James). TERRIERS was a collective effort from THE SHIELD show runner Shawn Ryan and screenwriter Ted Griffin (OCEAN’S ELEVEN, WOLF OF WALL STREET), and I remember the exact moment that the show grabbed me: thirty seconds before the credits roll in the third episode, there’s a background motion that explains everything set up in the prior episodes, and I laughed for a minute straight at how perfectly executed the script and shot was. To say more would rob you of the delight of your own realization.

While I wish TERRIERS had managed to have a long, long life, the single season we received is a perfect single season of TV. If you’re a fan of THE ROCKFORD FILES, noir in general, or heartfelt platonic relationships, this is a show for you.

GOOD BEHAVIOR (2016-2017)

November 7, 2020

(Hulu/hoopla/TNT) The closest thing to misfit neo-noir TV has seen in years. While the show is loosely based on Blake Crouch’s* Letty Raines series of heist novellas, it improves on it in every way: the show sees Letty (played with gusto and a wavering American accent by DOWNTON ABBEY’s Michelle Dockery) as a conflicted, stubborn addict slowly trying to improve herself and her life, but keeps making terrible life decisions, including falling for a hitman (handsomely played Juan Diego Botto).

It’s a surprisingly emotionally grounded show that balances conflicted romance with pulpy plotting. Also, the chemistry between Dockery & Botto is off the goddamn charts.

The second season becomes a tad too convoluted and ends on a a major cliffhanger, and then the show was canceled so, if you’re the type easily frustrated by open endings, this probably isn’t the series for you. There’s been talk of a TV movie to give closure but, given the world nowadays, that’s unlikely to happen.

S1 trailer:

S2 trailer:

“Can I give you a bit of relationship advice? The only thing you can change about a man is his hair.” “…I like his hair.”

  • Blake Crouch is also responsible for the WAYWARD PINES trilogy. Similarly, the show improved on the source material.

BUNHEADS (2012-2013)

November 6, 2020

(fubo/Hulu/tubi/VOD) Yes, everyone’s celebrating Amy Sherman-Palladino and THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL now, but everyone outside of my wife and maybe a few friends, had largely forgotten her once GILMORE GIRLS went off the air in 2006.

Enter 2012: I vividly remember walking with some folks through a mall to catch a Bollywood film in the Chicago suburbs, and there was a BUNHEADS poster front-and-center between us and the theater, and one dude I was attending the screening with lambasted the poster; ridiculed it. I was a coward, half-heartedly chuckling at his jokes, but inwardly very angry.

It hadn’t aired yet and yes, GILMORE GIRLS has -a lot- of issues, I won’t deny that (especially the Netflix mini — yikes) but Amy Sherman-Palladino has done far more good than harm. And this dude was mocking a poster because it dared to promote a TV show about girls & dance, -while- we were heading to see a frickin’ Bollywood film.

Setting that aside: BUNHEADS is the story of failed ballerina/current Vegas showgirl Michelle Simms (Broadway star Sutton Foster who you may know her better as the lead in YOUNGER, and I really had hoped I’d be watching her on-stage with Hugh Jackman in THE MUSIC MAN right now, but so it goes) who drunkenly latches onto Alan Ruck one night, marries him, moves to a sleepy California town, and then Ruck dies. Simms then falls into teaching at Ruck’s mother-in-law’s (played by GILMORE GIRLS’ Kelly Bishop) dance studio.

While Michelle has a fair amount of drama, the show is far more concerned with the stakes regarding the girls she’s mentoring, and really, it’s about their stories and experiences, and how Michelle helps to guide them through life, despite being a bit of a fuck-up.

It’s quintessential Sherman-Palladino work: sweet, smart, overly verbose, and extremely well-produced (albeit, yes, extremely white). The following numbers below should sell you on the show alone. Why yes, I’ll take a musical dance number inspired by Tom Waits’ Mule Variations!

If you’re a sound nerd, I love how they mic the floors (see Dance Routines Part 2, ~1:30), so you hear every landing, every hit, every slap. I’m hard-pressed to think of a show that was as aurally tactile as this.

If you’re a cinematography nerd, goddamn, the cheats they employed to ensure that the mirrors were always seen, but never the cameras? Blows my mind. And the China Balls!

BUNHEADS had a little something for everyone, and it’s a crime how ABC Family buried it. I’m hoping Amy Sherman-Palladino will revisit it in the future although, granted they did film a farewell dance as a way to give closure, I’d still love to see a reunion special.

POOKA LIVES! (2020)

October 16, 2020

(Hulu) Again, kind of a cheat, as technically Hulu’s INTO THE DARK is a TV series where every episode is a feature-length film. Like MASTERS OF HORROR, there are more prestigious entries in the series (I’M JUST FUCKING WITH OUT, PURE, MY VALENTINE) but, this is the only ‘sequel’ so far in the series. The original POOKA was a decent ‘cursed item’ film (especially in reflecting our new gig economy hellscape), but with POOKA LIVES!, director Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES, COLOSSAL) really maximizes the satirical potential, without minimizing the emotional bits.

Oh, and I may have buried the lede in that it’s a murderer’s row of nerdy actors: Malcolm Barrett! Lyndie Greenwood! Rachael Bloom! Felicia Day! Jonah Ray!

I’m not sure if INTO THE DARK will get a third season, but I do hope they continue with POOKA’s adventures. It’s been a while since we’ve had an original franchise that’s made it to three ‘films’.

POOKA trailer:

POOKA LIVES! trailer:

GRETEL & HANSEL (2020)

October 4, 2020

(epix/Hulu/Paramount+/VOD) One of the last films I managed to catch in an actual theater before lockdown. Lushly shot — often explicitly evoking Jodorowsky’s THE HOLY MOUNTAIN — and exquisitely paced, with striking production design — as you’d expect from Oz Perkins — but mostly, it’s another triumph for actress Sophia Lillis.

The characters are a bit more fleshed out, the circumstances are broadened a bit for a modern horror audience, but it’s still the Hansel & Gretel you know. It’s not trying to be IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984, see yesterday).

(As a film nerd, I was unreasonably delighted to see the ORION PICTURES card on the big screen for a new film. Dumb, yes, I know, but I have many weaknesses.)

TRAGEDY GIRLS (2017)

October 1, 2020

(hoopla/kanopy/Hulu/VOD) The story of two teen murderesses and the trials of their friendship. Riffs on all of the great teen horror films — probably the most quotable teen horror film I’ve seen in years (it’s been endlessly compared to HEATHERS (1989)) — but still manages to be something completely different, while also being emotionally satisfying.

I’ve said this before but, while there’s a trailer? Best not to watch it, as it gives away all of the best moments & lines. That said, it’s an endlessly re-watchable trailer.

“You’re just hitting bone, dude.” “I’m trying!”

(I know we’re all loving A24 and ANNAPURNA right now, but GUNPOWDER & SKY doesn’t get enough credit, as they’ve shipped some amazing works out into the world within the past several years. Hell, they don’t even have a proper Wikipedia page!)

ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK (1989)

August 29, 2020

(AMC+/hoopla/Hulu/Prime/Shudder/tubi) Combining Elvira’s vaudeville MC schtick with a John Waters-type of cultural/sexual norms disruption was goddamn inspired. Yes, the male gaze interrupts the film’s flow every two minutes, but the self-aware winks and Elvira’s personal agency (mostly) subverts it. (I wish there was a better trailer for the film than this one.)

Also highly recommended: THE ELVIRA SHOW, which never made it further than the pilot.

Feels like THE GARRY SHANDLING SHOW but with Elvira. What more could you want?