Your Guide To: Netflix Originals

Ah Netflix - making us binge both TV and food, and become the living embodiment of a couch potato. Now as anyone  with access to wifi (#blessed) knows, Netflix is coming out with some big original hits. The TV version of 'Chunes' or 'Bangers'. But where to begin I hear none of you ask? Well let me help you enjoy your Easter and ruin your revision!


Here are 6 original Netflix shows I've loved and perhaps they'll tickle your fancy too. Three comedies, and three dramas, how convenient!

Comedies:

1. Bojack Horseman

Undoubtedly one of their first quirky shows to take off. This animated cartoon, set in a world with people, and anthropomorphic animals (I did say quirky) is a surprise winner. It revolves around ex-TV star Bojack Horseman (a Horse..duh) and his life outside the limelight, attempting to make things work. Comedically cynical, hilariously narcissistic and endearingly negative, for some reason you find yourself rooting for him as he finds himself in the strangest of situations. With a stellar cast of Will Arnett (Arrested Development, 30 Rock), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad/Science Bitch) and Brie Larson (Community) it sets itself up nicely, with wonderfully touching moments, and major dysfunction. The guest stars are endless and it's humour is very broad that anybody will find some of it funny. 

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Once again, a fairly original idea. A group of women who were locked underground for years when a religious cult leader thought the world was going to end are found and released into the wild (world*). This show follows one of these women (Kimmy duh) as she decides to brave New York. She quickly meets her roommate/buddy, an extremely camp black man named Titus, played by Titus Burgess very well, and Jane Krakowski who plays a billionaires vain/insecure wife (charmingly, and with comedic finesse). We join Kimmy on many a caper and see the world through her eyes, as someone not used to the 21st century. The characters are much larger than life, an area that Producer/Writer Tina Fey is not unfamiliar with (30 Rock is another show i'm a big fan, see previous blogs). At first I was a little skeptical, I'm not a fan of OTT characters, especially not unrealistically flamboyant ones like Titus, but I took a liking very quickly. Ellie Kemper is great as the ever-optimistic absolutely pure Kimmy and her energy is matched by Krakowski and Burgess. 

This is definitely the most main-stream sitcom in style and whilst occasionally suffers from the Netflix Curse of waning storylines, and unnecessarily long episodes. It is a true hoot. Also, if anything watch it for the music video 'Peeno Noir: An Ode to Black Penis', you won't regret it.

3. Master of None

I'm not going to lie to you, this one may not appeal to everyone. Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford, Parks and Rec) is an aspiring actor in New York. That's essentially it. What it lacks in originality in concept and storyline, it makes up for in issues addressed. I like this show because it's interesting. Topics I'd love to cover in my writing are covered; Race, Gender, Generational differences, Marriage, Mortality, Infidelity and Happiness are a number of topics covered. Eric Wareheim and Noel Wells are great as his best friend and girlfriend respectively. Underdog champion is Azis's real life father playing his onscreen father. This show isn't your typical sitcom, with set-up, punchline etc. However, it does have literal laugh-out-loud moments, and very amiable characters. As is the case with many Netflix Originals , it is shot masterfully and I wonder if every building in New York is open-brick, and how a low-key actor affords the apartment the protagonist lives in, but what do I know. With Aziz Ansari's charisma, smarter writing than most sitcoms and each episode being largely self-contained story-lines, this is definitely worth a watch.

Dramas

1. Daredevil

This post comes hot on the heels of me finishing Season 2 of 'Marvel's Daredevil' so I can move onto revision distraction free (who am I kidding...). Right everybody, this show is kick-ass, literally. The extremely charming Charlie Cox, plays the blind lawyer with heightened senses who patrols the streets of hells kitchen at night. Not a mainstream Marvel hero, but an interesting one with a rich backstory. The fight scenes are the best you'll see in any show, and arguably most movies. Both seasons have delivered compelling story lines, and incredible imagery. Vincent D'Onofrio (Law & Order, Men in Black) as the Kingpin,  Elodie Yung (B13) as Elektra  and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) as the Punisher are all fascinating characters that you hate/love in equal measure. Bringing themes of morality, death and love into an increasingly fascinating show. Season 1 brought in flashbacks and backstory for both the villain and the hero whereas season 2 simply toyed with the idea of what is a 'villain'. I'd get on this, and if you like it there's Jessica Jones, and the upcoming Luke Cage, Iron First and The Defenders (The Avengers of Hell's Kitchen, thats all the aforementioned heroes in one).

(This whole scene was shot in one take.)

2. Narcos

If I can't find a job after I graduate I'm moving to Colombia and becoming a drug dealer (for any police reading this thats a 'joke'). Narcos follows the life of Colombian Kingpin Pablo Escobar and his rise and demise. Sounds short, but when you consider it shows how he moved into drugs, the various political tensions, and politicians, his enemies, his friends, his worries, his options, his rise to fame, prominence and power and subsequently how he was beaten it easily covers an entire season. With Netflix's massive budgets, the views, cinematography and atmosphere is all exceptional. Moreover, the acting is once again incredible, as well as much of the show being in the various native languages. It starts slow, but once you know every character you're with the show till the bitter end. This too suffers from the Netflix Curse as I found myself having to power through a few episodes in the middle, which moved the story line along, but not as much as it could have with the time it took.

3. Sense-8

Last but not least, this is the underground drama. The Master of None of the Dramas. Sense-8 is directed and written by the Wachowski Siblings (The Matrix people). The concept is what hooked me, 8 people all born at the same moment in time are psychically linked. This leads to all sorts of neat ideas, such as their new-found ways of empathising , they communicate as mobile consciences and they can harness knowledge & skills off each other. While this is going on, your classic psycho bad guy is trying to steal their powers (blah blah blah). Whilst that part of the story line is relatively simple and an antagonist is necessary, it's the strength of the characters, the cinematography and philosophies it covers that I stayed for. Firstly all 8 people are scattered across the world. This means the show takes us (semi-genuinely) to Seoul, Chicago, Mumbai, Mexico City, London, Rejkavic, Nigeria, Berlin and San Francisco. I was awe-struck, with sweeping shots of these cities, great shots of actual festivals/monuments/areas of these cities, as well as seeing characters from one country appear in another was eye-opening. For them, and us. There is an especially poignant moment where all eight of them start singing 'What's Up?' by 4 non blondes, each by themselves across the world which sounds tacky but hit me in the feels real hard. They constantly offer fresh perspectives to each other, questions such as Why do you live like this? Why do you feel that way? Why don't you do this? 

Lastly, I'm a sucker for shows/movies where everyone shows up at the end to help. So with this, there were multiple moments, where one of them needed the skills of the other, whether that be driving, shooting, acting, fighting, surgery, lock-picking etc. The final episode has a 'heist' of sorts where all the characters are finally understanding their powers and help the police officer from Chicago (without actually being physically present). I hope there is a Season 2 of this, as I type this out it excites me to see. 

P.S. I just saw Kung Fu Panda 3 and it was absolutely incredible. Visuals, storytelling, humour and message was on fleek, definitely recommend. 

What Ish Is Watching, The Under-Rated Comedies Edition:

I'm a comedy fiend, I eat comedy like I eat shitty take-away after a night out (quickly, with complete disregard about what it'll do to my mind/body). Recently however I've strayed into more off-beat comedy, nothing too wacky and out there but still quite different.

My staple phrase of 'do you watch SNL' has changed (to everybody's delight) to 'do you watch Rick and Morty?' which is largely met with uncomfortable silence. HOWEVER, like that guy who works at the casino always says to me, 'eventually you'll strike big'. When you do meet a Rick and Morty fan, you know you've met a Rick and Morty fan. Catchphrases of Rick (a spoof of Doc Brown from 'Back To The Future') such as 'WUBBA LUBBA DUBDUB' or 'Lick lick lick my balls' (he always says that (you'd understand that joke if you watch Rick and Morty)) echo through the room, and quickly favourite episodes are discussed. The premise is simple, the rest of it not so much. A scientific genius and his dumbass grandson go on adventures across universes and galaxies, ignoring all scientific theory, but  spending the time on ensuring hilarity, randomness and improvisation.
                                  
Rick and Morty works for a number of reasons, but they're also reasons some people may not take to it. Firstly, it's a sci-fi premise, which for most, and often myself, is a turn off (pun intended, bitches). The episodes that work best are the ones where they take a basic scientific theory/idea and then play around with it. Certain episodes perfectly encapsulate this theory. The inception-inspired spoof (which has gratuitous use of the word 'bitch' but works so well), the multiple time-line episode, the universes within universes episode THE LIST GOES ON.  If the wacky comedy that can come from those descriptions does not entice you this show probably isn't for you.

Another reason this show works so well is that it's completely made up, the beautiful brainchild of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. It's amazing to think that everything from mini universes, to 'bird-people' to creating a version of Ice-T where he is literally a block of ice in the shape of a letter T, has all come from their magnificent imagination. (This show is real weird and I love it for it)

An episode I would recommend and is a personal favourite is 'Interdimensional Cable Part 2'. The setting: Jerry (the father) is in an Alien Hospital and is being asked to donate his penis in order to save a Universally treasured Freedom Fighter (as one does, I hate it when I'm being asked to sacrifice my penis for such reasons). As this is going on, Morty Rick, Summer and Beth (the rest of the family) are watching TV channels from across the universe. This is used as an excuse for Harmon and Roiland to improvise (you can hear the pauses in their improvisation in the final sketches) and pen the weirdest set of sketches, with literally no rules. Also theres a lot of fourth wall breaking which I have a real affinity for.

I could bang on about Rick and Morty forever but really I'd just go for it and open your mind up to the wackiest, strangest, funniest take on Sci-Fi. (also there are only 20 episodes altogether so far so binge away!)

Number Duo,
The Grinder:

This is a strange one, it's pretty mainstream in terms of humour, but not garnered great success over here in the UK (yet). The premise is simple, the protagonist of a famous law-drama (imagine a spoof of Suits/any-show-with-over-the-top-depictions-of-law) moves back home to Idaho to live with his brother (a real lawyer) and help him with his cases. Rob Lowe and Fred Savage play the actor and brother respectively, and their chemistry is wonderful. Lots of humour comes from the show within a show aspect as you see lots of Rob Lowe's fictional show 'The Grinder' on the actual show, aptly named 'The Grinder'.  Along the way theres plenty of other great characters, shout out to Timothy Olyphant playing a fictional, more/less douchey Timothy Olyphant, and also Mary Elizabeth Ellis, who many will recognise and now wonder why she doesn't get better roles. The shows been rated the best new comedy of the latest season so thats something?

Why should you watch it? Because I said so, thats why. Also, the acting, chemistry and smart (and sometimes subtle) humour. Having an actor (Rob Lowe) acting like an actor, acting like a character from a show, in this show(take a moment to digest that) creates many fun moments that this show nails.

Return of the Tres,
You're The Worst:

In a way this is the one I sometimes feel everybody should watch, for so many reasons. In a nutshell, two self-destructive people meet and fall in love. But Stephen Falk's comedy is so much more than that. A negative, harsh and slightly up himself British writer meets an equally bitter, rude and messy LA PR gal who represents a famous rapper and his entourage. Quick word here, the rapper and his entourage are actually some of the funniest things about the show, they're the opposite of what you'd expect rappers to be like. They have a 'street' image, but discuss furniture, true love etc.

This show excels in constantly changing, the first season was smart, rude, obscene, genuine and had many themes running throughout it that worked well for it. Without going stale in the second season it in fact moved into an overarching story-line of dealing with depression. Surprisingly, it worked. I think for a sitcom to achieve that is never easy, the characters are challenged, the characters grow, yet the characters maintain the charm that makes you laugh. It goes against the status quo of sitcoms, an entire episode pretty much revolves around an entirely different couple we've never seen, until the second half where we see it's a depiction of a possible future the two main characters could have, and it's very real and very honest. It's neither happy nor sad (but the episode itself is funny) The episode is entitled 'LCD Soundsystem' in case you want to give it a go. Start with the first season though (there are only two so it's easy to binge!)

Quatrocinco

These two are very obscure shows that even I don't watch religiously but have seen a few episodes and enjoyed what I've watched. They're called  Review, and Nathan For You. The first is about a man (played by Andrew Daly) who will 'Review' any 'life scenario' a viewer sends in on his fictitious show 'The Review' (another show within a show whaaa). The best thing about this is the absurdity of the scenarios coupled with the sincerity with which he carries them out. An episode I watched he has to review what getting shot is like, then after that reviews blackmail (where he blackmails his nurse/now girlfriend who nursed him to health after his gunshot wound) and glory-holes. Thats one show. He's a pretty lame middle aged guy with a joyful way of speaking and it works well how seriously he takes the scenarios.

Nathan For You is an odd show. But it's great. Awkward comedian Nathan Fielder decides to help SME's around the US and comes up with the strangest solutions. Nathan's persona, improvisation and business plans really make this show and you spend the 20 minutes, cringing and creasing in equal proportions.

P.S. I'm not including a show called Happy Endings which ranks on my top 5 favourite sitcoms and is all around great, I could talk about it forever. Get on it, heres a clip of the gang.