Binge-worthy nights
One of the few delights resulting from the pandemic and general lockdown has been binge-watching our way through Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple tv. Pre-COVID, we were a non-TV-focused family. The ubiquitous large flat-screen TV is conspicuously missing in our home. But since we entered the Upside Down (credit: Stranger Things) in the spring of 2020, we started watching all of the shows that our friends had talked about, but we never saw. Yes, Bitches, we managed all six seasons of Lost!
At last count, we’d watched every season of over 40 shows. I didn’t include any movies, only episodic shows. Patterns emerged as the weeks went by - at first, the goal was to escape reality, so we immersed ourselves in the pomp and splendor of British historical drama. We then went down the rabbit hole of British genre in general, resulting in many crime and detective dramas. We tried to stay away from blood and gore but watched Squid Game with the rest of the world.
Our ritual started less than two years ago, but our couch shows the wear and tear of the equivalent of five years of regular use. We appreciate good writing and acting more now and learned how one show was influenced by another that appeared decades earlier. We realized how hard it is to tell a simple story well and how much easier it is to start a show than end it satisfyingly. All in all, though, it’s been fun.
The List
In no particular order:
The Crown - Drama chronicling the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern time
Bridgerton - Romantic fiction set in Regency era England, where eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempt to find love
Upstart Crow - Comedy series celebrating the life of William Shakespeare
Detectorists - Comedy series about two metal detecting enthusiasts who share a common dream: finding a priceless collection of items that would cement their place in detecting history
The Durrells - Romantic comedy about an English family in the 1930s that moves to Corfu, Greece
Father Brown - Detective period series set in post-war England about a local priest that solves all of the town‘s biggest crimes
The Wire - Crime drama of Baltimore’s drug scene told though the eyes of the drug dealers and law enforcement
Mare of Easttown - Crime drama about a police investigator in a small Pennsylvania town, battling crime and her own demons
Only Murders in the Building - Modern day mystery-comedy bringing together three strangers in an Upper West Side apartment building
Reservation Dogs - Coming of age story of four indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma dreaming of a move to California
Happy Holidays to you and yours. Thank you for being a part of my Bitchin’ community, I’m so glad you’re here.
Awesome list!
I will add “The Sopranos”, “Fauda” and “Ozark”. Happy holidays!