Rec. #899/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #57: Tig Notaro - Drawn

Stream what: Typically for Tig Notaro, her latest stand-up special could easily have been called "Memorable Disasters in My Life: Real and Imagined." Untypically, it's fully animated -- in several different styles, no less. Fanastic results.

Stream why: It really is about time someone picked up where Dr. Katz left off*.

Stream where: HBO Max

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more Tig, see Streaming Suggestion of the Week #29: One Mississippi, and related nuggets (Rec. #420, Rec. #489).

*NB: If you are a critic who somehow did not make a connection between Dr. Katz and this special, you should probably give me your job now, please and thank you.

Rec. #897/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #56: The Dog House UK

 

Stream what: Watch as people as people are matched with their best-fit rescue dog. 

Stream why: This series honestly could have coasted just on all the emotional buttons of cute, like some sort of extended compilation of YouTube animal videos -- but instead, we get layers from both the people (what are you telling yourself about your life?) and the dogs (how much does connection cost?).

Also, there's this great out-of-the-blue bit where receptionist Elisha asks a vicar (and prospective dog owner) about his beliefs: "So do you believe in astrology? What about ghosts?" 

Stream where: Two seasons are now up on HBO Max.

And the rescue center is a real place! Check it out: https://support.woodgreen.org.uk/

Rec. #895/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #55: Celebrity Best Home Cook

Stream what: You know how The Great British Bake Off does little celebrity sprint versions? This is a celebrity version of Britain's Best Home Cook (where Mary Berry went post-Bake Off) --- but it's a *full season*.

Stream why: Claudia Winkleman remains the most charming host on the planet! The round that determines who goes home is judged blind! Everyone is nice to one another! Mary Berry uses opera glasses to peer at the cooks from a pandemic-safe distance!

Stream where: Hulu

Connections to previous Wreckage: I previously recommended the original, civilian version of Britain's Best Home Cook as Rec. #802 (season 1) and SSoW #35 (season 2).

Rec. #893/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #54: Baroness Von Sketch Show

 

Stream what: Baroness Von Sketch Show is a Canadian tv sketch comedy series. Those tend to have a pretty good record! This one is with Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne, and Jennifer Whalen.

Stream why: It's a natural successor to Kids in the Hall.

Representative bit:

"Diane, we are living in television's golden age of empowered women."

"Absolutely! I mean, it used to be you'd only see pretty girls getting raped and murdered on tv. But now, you get to see a powerful woman investigating pretty girls getting raped and murdered on tv."

"We've come a long way."

Stream where: Here in the U.S., the show airs on IFC and the first season is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #53: Flo & Joan - Alive on Stage

 

Stream what: Flo & Joan are a musical comedy duo (à la Flight of the Conchords or Garfunkel & Oates) and this is a fully produced version of one of their fantastic shows.

Stream why: I was lucky enough to see Alive on Stage, er, live in Edinburgh. It was one of my 2018 highlights. (Rec. #709: Best Musical Comedy Duo.)

Stream where: Amazon Prime

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #52: Colossal

 

Stream what: It's a monster movie! Kinda. Sort of.

Stream why: It is so smart. Anne Hathaway is truly great. Also, I know everyone's all over Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso right now, but honestly he was born to play entitled brats masquerading as "nice guys," like he does here. 

Stream where: Hulu

Connection to previous Wreckage: Colossal was Rec. #448.

Rec. #890/ Streaming Suggestion of the Week #51: Feel Good

Stream what: Creator Mae Martin also stars in this dark comedy/drama-with-funny-bits about a comedian recovering from addiction and starting a new relationship ... and also starting to depend on that as a new addiction.

Stream why: Excellent writing (see quotes below) and a stellar cast, including Charlotte Ritchie, Lisa Kudrow, Sophie Thompson (yes, Emma's sister), and Sindhu Vee. It also features actors from my beloved W1A and my also-beloved Green Wing.

If your little '90s brain ever wanted to see Phoebe from Friends and Wickham from the 1995 Pride and Prejudice as a couple, this is your chance!

Representative dialogue:

"Sometimes I think I just love George, but I actually also love grapes." | "Yeah, George is not your entire personality, darling. You gotta remember that. Addicts fixate. You gotta mix it up."

[Meanwhile, from George] "I think that love should sit beside your life, like a lamp."

Stream where: Netflix

Connections to previous Wreckage: Green Wing was Rec. #110. W1A was Streaming Suggestion of the Week #33.

Rec. #887/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #50: Murder, She Wrote

 

Stream what: Ah, Murder, She Wrote. Angela Lansbury in small-town Maine is as close as the U.S. has come to delivering the Golden Age-style murder mystery coziness usually seen in English villages.

Stream why: Did you realize that, especially in season 1, every single male character vaguely over the age of 45 spends the episode thirsting after our heroine? This is exactly as it should be.

Stream where: Peacock

Image source: https://mythirdparent.tumblr.com/post/173527130987/only-a-few-left-of-this-incredible-murder-she

Rec. #886/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #49: Never Have I Ever

 

Stream what: Never Have I Ever is about Devi, a high school girl determined to come back swinging after a couple of truly awful years. 

Stream why: It's exactly the sort of coming-of-age story we've been missing. These characters (wildly interesting nerd girls!) actually remind me of real-life teenagers I knew from my real-life teenage life.

Representative quotes: 

"We are smart. And idiots are banging all the time. We can learn how to do it, too."

"I'm a goddamn delight! I should punch you in the Adam's apple for saying that."

"No cocaine for me, thanks. I'm good."

Stream where: Netflix

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #48: Away We Go

 

Stream what: Soon-to-be new parents Verona (Maya Rudolph) and Burt (John Krasinski) embark on a road trip, looking for somewhere to settle.

Stream why: The cast is bonkers. Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Paul Schneider, etc. etc.

The performances from Rudolph and Lynskey are particularly jaw-dropping standouts.

Stream where: Peacock (another one, I know -- but it's free)

Connection to previous Wreckage: Away We Go was Rec. #83.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #47: This Way Up

 

Stream what: Aisling Bea, Sharon Hogan, and Aasif Mandvi are all skilled comedic actors who can also go achingly, soul-deep dark. They need that full scope in This Way Up.

Bea herself created This Way Up, a story of Áine after a breakdown, and provides generously for others in Áine's orbit as well. 

Stream why: Season one, with its superlative acting and writing, deserved way more attention than it got. I'm absolutely thrilled it's been renewed for a second season.

Stream where: Hulu

Connection to previous Wreckage: This Way Up was Rec. #831. Even more connections there, if you follow the trail ...

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #46: Russian Doll

 

Stream what: In a world where time is a flat circle and yesterdaytodaytomorrow is a labyrinthine hall of mirrors where death is ... everywhere, Nadia tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Timely.

Stream why: Creators Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland successfully make existential dread funny. It's so good. So, so, so good. 

Stream where: Netflix

See also: Russian Doll was Rec. #775 and was the reason for the glories of Rec. #812. It also made it to the Best of 2019 as the "Best Worst Day."

Rec. #885/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #45: Pretend It's a City

Stream what: With this docuseries, Martin Scorsese tricks the notoriously writer's-blocked wit Fran Lebowitz into writing more essays. Just ... verbally.

Stream why: I am always, always interested in what Fran Lebowitz has to say, even on those occasions when I don't agree with her completely. (Oddly, I think I am less reverent about Great Artists -- capital "g," capital "a" -- than she is.)

(That said, I think she is 100% right about a lot of things. Like telling Spike Lee he's wrong about sports.)

Representative quotes:

"I'm now too old to die young."

"I have two main activities in life: smoking and plotting revenge."

"She wants to know if there's a suffocating political correctness, and my answer is I'm breathing fine."

Stream where: Netflix

Connections to previous Wreckage: I've covered her books (Rec. #188: Metropolitan Life, Quote for These Times #5, Rec. #347: Social Studies) and her previous Scorsese doc, Public Speaking (List #61: Unpretty Women and Their Cities).

And also: I said this on Twitter already, but I stand by it: "Ideally, Pretend It's a City should have included an episode where Fran Lebowitz and @nlyonne chat while browsing through racks of coats."

Rec. #884/Streaming Suggestion of the Week #44: What the Constitution Means to Me

 

Stream what: I was supposed to see a performance of What the Constitution Means to Me in Chicago on March 14 last year. That didn't happen.

I am therefore even more grateful that this live filmed production of Heidi Schreck's play exists. I knew it would be good, but I didn't quite expect it to be this amazing, riled up, live-wire tour de force.

Stream why: Schreck has been performing the show for 10 years. It just keeps being essential viewing as it asks a crucial question --- "Is it all broken?"

Stream where: Amazon Prime

Fun fact: This filmed production was directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood). Can't wait to see what she does next.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #43: Lady Bird

Stream what: Writer-director Greta Gerwig shows us a year in the life of one high schooler in the early 2000s.

Stream why: Lady Bird manages to be fresh and relatable and authentic and funny and sad all at the same time.

Stream where: Amazon Prime and Kanopy.

Connection to previous Wreckage: Lady Bird was Rec. #673.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #42: Green Wing

Stream what: This lightly surreal British comedy takes place in a hospital, but absolutely no attention whatsoever is paid to patients. The humor is all about the characters' personal lives, not their jobs.

Stream why: It's hilarious and it's bizarre and sometimes that's just what you need.

Stream where: Amazon Prime

Connections to previous Wreckage: Green Wing was Rec. #110. Also, Olivia Colman is in it (Rec. #759)! (John Oliver also has a tiny, tiny role in the first episode.)

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #41: Take Me to the World

Stream what: This 90th-birthday celebration for living legend Stephen Sondheim is two-and-a-half hours of taped-ahead-streamed-live theater magnificence.

(And unlike the actual live stream from April 26, this video doesn't start with one hour of technical problems.)

Stream why: Remember real, identifiable emotions that weren't "nameless dread"?? Feel them all here!

There is so much good, amazing stuff. The highest highlights for me personally are Katrina Lenk's "Johanna"; Alexander Gemignani's "Buddy's Blues"; Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh, and Thom Sesma's "Someone in a Tree"; and, of course, Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep, and Audra McDonald's "The Ladies Who Lunch."

Stream where: YouTube. And donate to ASTEP if you can.



Connections from previous Wreckage: For more Sondheim, see also Rec. #99: Company, Rec. #215: The Last of Sheila, Rec. #511: The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, and Rec. #557: Sondheim Lyrics on Twitter.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #40: Heathers

Stream what: In the cult classic black comedy Heathers, main character Veronica Sawyer notes that "my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count," which is a fairly accurate summary of the whole film.

Stream why: The dialogue is endlessly quotable, and the themes and plot remain relevant in new and horrifying ways.

Stream where: Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Heathers was Rec. #160.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #39: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Stream what: Like many other late-night hosts, Samantha Bee has found a way to continue with her show.

Unlike the men, however, Bee is not sitting in her living room or office. Oh no! She has taken her blazers to the woods and has been presenting produced segments from outside a woodshed.

Stream why: Samantha Bee is great. She should get more press for being great. She's great.

Stream where: It's all on YouTube!


See also: List #63, Rec. #664, Rec. #739, etc.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #38: The Big Sick

Stream what: The Big Sick is a based-on-real-life story written by the people who lived it, Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. It's funny and sad and well written and well acted. Plus, Holly Hunter!

Stream why: Did you not see when I said "Holly Hunter!"? Also, the character Emily gets a great, underrated scene where she says, "I love it when men test me on my taste."

Stream where: Amazon Prime