2020 HOLIDAY WATCH LIST
Welp. We’re here. It’s the 2020 holiday season. The pandemic we hoped would subside through “magic rays” of sunshine has in fact spread like apple butter on a hot roll and we’re all ready to stress-eat the hell out of some salted meats and cheeses and crash on the couch until “this” is finally over.
As the Resident Couch Potato, it is my civic duty to share a Holiday Watch List with the TMYK Nation, and I promise to carve you up something that will keep your attention while you habitually search for promo codes on your phone. No cooking shows on this 2020 list though since we’ve all evolved into GrubHub and UberEats. Cooking is a dead art anyway, like teaching or playing live music.
Let’s face it: There’s no hope of doing anything but parking your giblets on the sectional for the next several weeks. So go ahead, relax, and make yourself comfortable. But don’t get as cozy as Rudy Gulianni after an interview.... Your Grandma still may pop in at some point with questions about how she’s supposed to use her Kohl’s Cash online.
1. Fargo
FX/Hulu (Season 4) 79% on Rotten Tomatoes
The new episodes of this season’s Fargo are truly absorbing television. Noah Hawley is the showrunner, writer, and director for this series (and also the brains behind Legion on FX), whose talents are on full display as he artfully and exquisitely weaves the show back and forth from a black comedy to a gangster crime drama. Chris Rock, the main lead, slyly plays Loy Cannon, a small time midwestern mob boss. The rival Italian and Black gangs have held onto a tentative peace throughout the years by exchanging sons to live in each other’s homes. The idea is that if you cross the line, you put your son’s life in jeopardy. I like this wrinkle in the story because all too often writers try to squeeze in family ties to these crime dramas and they don’t always seem to fit. I don’t mean to blaspheme the Keifer Sutherland masterpiece, 24, but it bothered me that everyone on the show was either related or romantically involved, which ultimately lacked veritability in the way it attempted to connect the characters. But Hawley’s story allows for this son-swapping ritual to seem sensible. Jason Schwartzman plays the hapless Italian mob boss with a bit of a drug problem. He is the quintessential know-nothing, know-it-all trope. He’s a man with a plan that never seems to work, and he plays it with a quirkiness and charm that somehow makes him an affable murderer to the audience. In true Fargo fashion, there is a litany of characters who play much bigger roles in the overall plot than what their screen time leads on. There’s a poisoning nurse, a dirty detective who is hilariously twitchy with his obsessive-compulsiveness, a Sardinian hitman with an incredible accent, and a razor sharp teen who seems like the only person who knows what the hell is going on. I am still one episode away from finishing the series, and I’m unsure about how it’s all going to play out. Surest sign of a compelling story!
RCP Rating: 5 out of 5
2. His Dark Materials
HBO Max (Season 2) 80% on Rotten Tomatoes
If you are an Anglophile who loves mystical storytelling, His Dark Materials will definitely baste your turkey. This series, based on the Phillip Pullman trilogy, is firing up its second season following a compelling cliffhanger from its initial run. A grittier take than the 2007 Golden Compass film based on the same novels, there aren’t many moments of levity in the show. When the light hearted scenes do appear, the humor is typical dry British punnage, but the thrilling adventures and tragic pitfalls that befall the main characters have a spellbinding effect. Another part of its charm are the clear sets of good guys and bad guys in the series. The great acting, directing, creative costumes, and elaborate set designs are high budget and reflective of an HBO Monday 9 p.m. time slot. The child actors also have good chemistry and timing. It works on a lot of levels, and is set to be a show that picks up steam with a most certain greenlight for Season 3.
RCP Rating: 4 out of 5
3. The Queen’s Gambit
Netflix (Season 1) 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
Netflix has been on a good run with its original programming, and once again they've captured something big with this miniseries. Last week it was announced that Queen’s Gambit has become Netflix’s most streamed limited series. In it, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess phenom during the male dominant 1950s and 60s. The young cast and stylish mid-century sets have created a large buzz online. The chess competition scenes are gripping, but the true drama of the show emotes from the scenes involving Harmon’s struggle with addiction. It’s shot very well, and with it being a miniseries, viewers are guaranteed a complete beginning, middle, and end. Don’t miss out on the greatness of this show.
RCP Rating: 5 out of 5
4. Woke
Hulu (Season 1) 76% on Rotten Tomatoes
If biting off an hour long drama is too much for you to digest, try Hulu’s new 30-minute comedy, Woke. This series stars Lamorne Morris better known as Winston from The New Girl. In this show he plays Keef, a Bay Area cartoonist based on the real-life cartoonist and Woke co-creator, Keith Knight. Keef is a cartoonist who stays away from social justice issues, and his light hearted comic strip called Toast & Butter is on the verge of being picked up nationally. However, after Keef is profiled and wrongfully assaulted by the police, the formally cheerful artist suddenly finds himself “woke” to all the social injustices he faces as a young Black man in America. Despite highlighting the heavy topic of systemic racism, I found myself laughing out loud every episode. The cast is really good and shows deep chemistry in their dialog. Viewers might recognize one of Keef’s roommates, Gunther, played by Workaholics’ frizzy-haired Blake Anderson. SNL alum Sasheer Zamata is also recognizable in her role as Ayana, a local magazine editor/reporter. Ayana helps Keef recognize the full potential of his “wokeness” all the while slowly becoming part of his circle of friends. This show doesn’t downplay the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, but instead uses its platform to underscore aspects of our culture that are in desperate need of change; using humor as a means to build empathy and perspective. Love it. Recommend it.
RCP Rating: 4.5 out of 5
5. The Crown
Netflix (Season 4) 91% on Rotten Tomatoes
It’s been 23 years since Lady Diana tragically lost her life, but her ability to captivate the masses is still evident in The Crown’s inclusion of her storyline in Season 4. The juicy gossip that is the House of Windsor is cunningly portrayed in this award-winning show, and the ensemble cast is a who’s who of British actors. With the storyline following Queen Elizabeth’s long reign, the show does cycle through its cast every season or two introducing new historical figures along the way. While not claiming to be completely historically accurate, it does offer a realistic view behind the royal curtain.
RCP Rating: 4 out of 5
BONUS: THE DESSERT TABLE
From the moment the guests arrive, the dessert table starts to peak my interest. I know it’s there; I know I’m supposed to wait. Admittedly, I know I won’t have any room for it after the main course, but I also know that when I do get down to it, I’m going to do work. So here’s my Dessert Table of shows I still have yet to catch, but can’t wait to consume.
Ted Lasso
Apple+ (Season 1) 89% on Rotten Tomatoes
Jason Sudeikis stars in this half-hour comedy about a small-time college football coach from Kansas who finds himself coaching a soccer club in England. The owner of the soccer club is trying to tank the team, ala Major League or the Jets, and Sudeikis is pulling out all the stops to turn his team into winners. It looks funny, has great reviews, and from what I’ve read the show is surprisingly heartfelt and uplifting.
The Right Stuff
Disney+/Nat Geo (Season 1) 53% on Rotten Tomatoes
Disney has ramped up its nostalgia content since launching its new streaming platform. The Right Stuff is a National Geographic show about the start of the NASA program in the late 1950s. I loved the original 1983 film, back when the Man in Black himself, Ed Harris, could still pull off a flat top. That movie had star power with Dennis Quaid, Sam Shepard, Barbara Hearshey, and Jeff Goldblum - all part of a great ensemble cast. This new series drama does lack a big name in it’s cast; possibly the reason it hasn’t been promoted as heavily since it premiered last month.I love the mid-century cars, clothes, and decor so I’m sure I’ll be into the series. I just hope that the writing and directing isn’t Disney campy like a Jerry Bruckheimer film.
The Undoing
HBO Max (Limited Series) 75% on Rotten Tomatoes
Admittingly, I have watched the first episode of this 6-episode limited series, so I have in fact dipped my finger in its frosting. This show stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant as a married couple engrossed as suspects in a high profile murder investigation. I was initially turned off by Hugh Grant as a part of the cast (he’s just been “that guy” for me ever since he cheated on Elizabeth Hurley). But the show’s creator, writer, and A-list producer, David E. Kelly has never really missed, which is why it’s a show I will most certainly come back to, but will push to the side for now, kinda like that last piece of pecan pie.