Weekend Watchlist: All the time in the world
March 6, 2020
A few weeks ago we shared our favorite “quick binges” with you — our one season sketch comedy shows, our “Queer Eye” specials — for you to sit down and relax with between study sessions. But spring break is here, and we’re ready to visit some of our longer favorites. Settle in with your loved ones and one of these streaming gems, each at least three seasons long.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix) // Brian Gentry
It’s no “Cats” (2019), but at least there’s a semi-humanoid feline in this new adaptation of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” The original, which aired from 1996 to 2003, is your standard high school show, while the more recent version, whose first season premiered on Netflix in 2018, is dramatic, filled with all the glorious CGI that new technology has introduced. The show tracks teenage witch Sabrina Spellman, a student at Baxter High School, as she nears her 16th birthday, a milestone in witchhood that requires Spellman to renounce her human ways and commit herself to Satan for the rest of her life. She protests, wanting to stay with her high school friends, much to the dismay of her live-in aunts. Subsequent seasons introduce new witches, new challenges and new — well, really, the same old — high school drama. Netflix has three seasons up, each with about 10 hours of episodes, making this the perfect show to unwind with over spring break.
The Wire (Hulu) // Sinead McDevitt, Staff Writer
If you’re like me, this was what your parents watched when you were too young to watch HBO, and they didn’t stop talking about it until “Game of Thrones” started airing. Created by former police reporter David Simon, “The Wire” ran for five seasons on HBO from 2002 to 2008. The first season focuses on the narcotics scene in Baltimore from the perspectives of the Baltimore police and drug dealers. As the seasons progress, the show branches out, covering other areas of local importance and their relationship to law enforcement like schools, politics and the press, to the point that at the end of 60 episodes you have a really good drama that’s also a masterclass on systemic racism and institutional failure. It’s definitely a show where it helps to watch it all at once (or at the very least spread out over a week) to keep track of all the characters and plotlines, which means it’s perfect for when you’re trying to do nothing.
Parks and Recreation (Netflix) // Diana Velasquez, Senior Staff Writer
I’m going to say it, and my inbox will probably be full to bursting with hate mail in the morning, but “Parks and Recreation” is better than “The Office.” “Parks and Recreation” is a masterpiece of a comedy show about the Parks and Recreation department in the raccoon-ridden town of Pawnee, Indiana. The department is headed by a bubbly and quite loveably crazy Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) who spends her days trying to spread the love of public parks and government jobs. The show is carried by a powerhouse of a cast, from the chubby loveable doofus that is Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt pre-Marvel and Jurassic World) to the absolutely psychotic set of twins Jean-Ralphio and Mona Lisa Saperstein. The show is my go-to when I need something to laugh at, when rock bottom’s looking pretty close and I need to be reminded of just how great people are. “Parks and Rec” is hilarious, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s also about friendship, getting through all that life throws at you and coming out on the other side with a smile on your face. There’s seven seasons of it to brighten up your day, so as Leslie Knope would do, grab some waffles, a fluffy blanket and get down to bingeing.
Lovesick (Netflix) // Nadiya Greaser, Staff Writer
I like things that are like other things I like — that’s a mouthful, but you know what I mean. “Lovesick” is like “Four Weddings and a Funeral” plus “High Fidelity” plus “How I Met Your Mother” — minus Ted Mosbey from “How I Met Your Mother.” In the first season it was called “Scrotal Recall,” a title that suggests ’80s sci-fi porn, but “Lovesick” is a more honest name for a show about heartbreak, friendship and becoming a proper grown-up as all your friends get married around you. Set in London, the show centers around a group of four friends, who at various times and in various configurations occupy the same flat. The plot centers around Dylan, who recently discovered he has chlamydia, and who visits the ghosts of girlfriends past to tell them to get tested, but also for closure, and sometimes growth. His best friends round out the show — Evie, an unrequited lover, Luke, an endearing womanizer, and Angus, a sweet bit of comic relief. Their dry humor and friendly ribbing feels more authentic than other similar comedies about friends who live together, and British accents are endlessly watchable. The stylized set, combined with an excellently curated soundtrack and rom-comesque hijinks make for three satisfying seasons.