Byte Size: Idiot Box – Part IV
A scattershot selection of newish TV programming.
Ah, yes. Another year, another crop of easily digestible EM-wave distractions. I spent most of the recent Xmas/New Year period taking time off work in a vain attempt to catch up on my ever-growing list of wanton media consumption.
Some items weren’t worth mentioning (I’m looking at you, Mayfair Witches), while others came so far out of the left field that I’m still having trouble processing the ramifications for my already tenuous grip on reality (more on that in a second). Alas, I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Byte Size and that you find something that piques your interest.
Poker Face (Peacock)
Synopsis: “Charlie has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can't help but investigate and solve.”
Remember that one cool chick from the American Pie franchise? The one with the deep voice and the wry sense of humour? Perhaps you’ve seen her lately in Netflix’s Russian Doll? Or when she was in Orange Is The New Black back in the day? Well, that’s Natasha Lyonne, and she’s in a new murder mystery crime drama called Poker Face, created by Rian Johnson. You know, he’s the guy who the Internet says “destroyed” Star Wars, who then promptly pivoted into doing big-budget versions of Cluedo with a glut of celebrity cameos (aka the Knives Out films).
Anyway, the series is great so far, and Lyonne feels perfectly cast as a dejected millennial drifter with a quasi-supernatural gift riffing on a Murder She Wrote meets Columbo monster-of-the-week format that we don’t get enough of in today’s attention economy binge culture.
Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount+)
Synopsis: “The McLusky family are power brokers tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry.”
If anyone has been given the keys to the television kingdom in the 2020s, it’s Taylor Sheridan. After his early acting stint in Sons of Anarchy and a slew of writing/directing credits on features, Sheridan’s fortunes rose considerably with the release of Yellowstone, aka the biggest show in the U.S. for several years now.
Extending his cinematic touch to a wide-ranging expanded universe, Mayor of Kingstown transposes Sheridan’s gritty realism and complex morality tales into the grim urban labyrinth of the prison-industrial complex. Jeremy Renner is a capable leading man, and the show’s interwoven factions will feel immediately familiar to fans of classic shows like Oz and The Wire.
The Last of Us (HBO)
Synopsis: “After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity's last hope.”
Daddy Pascal (don’t ask) is back at it again, this time sans helmet obstruction, metafictional wish casting, and trite historical allegory. He’s now playing the role of Joel in HBO’s much-anticipated adaptation of the video game success story The Last of Us, helmed by original creator director Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl showrunner Craig Mazin. For those in need of a quick primer:
“TLOU is set in a post-apocalyptic United States where the world has been ravaged by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus, which turns its hapless human victims into various types of cannibalistic zombie-like creatures. The [game] centres around a small-time smuggler with a troubled past, Joel, who is tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across the continental U.S. for one of the remnant human factions fighting for control and power over the fallen wasteland.”
If you enjoy dystopic fiction, but the diminishing returns of the Walking Dead franchise eventually wore down your give-a-fuck meter, then TLOU is for you.
Wednesday (Netflix)
Synopsis: “Follows Wednesday Addams' years as a student, when she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a killing spree, and solve the mystery that embroiled her parents.”
Despite that one dance scene delivering way too much algorithmic TikTok fuel, I really enjoyed Wednesday, Netflix’s contemporary YA retread of Addams Family lore. I have fond memories of watching re-runs of the original 60s sitcom on TV, along with the inferior yet stylistically adjacent Munsters (no shade to Rob Zombie) and Barry Sonnenfeld’s iconic 90s film adaptations.
While Jenna Ortega isn’t as captivating as Christina Ricci, she does a great job of dead-panning her way through a gothic Nancy Drew fable of mysterious accidents, secret societies, and mystical creatures. Sure, it’s incredibly corny at times, but if you’ve ever sat through a season of Riverdale or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina just to take the piss out of its steamy-eyed characters and their glaring eccentricities, then this will hit your comfort watch sweet spot.
The White Lotus (HBO)
Synopsis: “The exploits of various guests and employees of a tropical resort over the span of a week.”
There’s something blissfully mirthful about watching pretty rich people do dumb things and have their perfectly manufactured lives continually blow up in their faces. It’s late capitalist schadenfreude, and right now, no one does it better than Mike White (aka the real Ned Schneebly from School of Rock).
Season two moves from the tropics of Hawaii to the Mediterranean hills of Italy and brings in a whole host of new guests and one familiar face. As I said in my Exclaim! review for season one: “Through affably eccentric characters, crackling dialogue and an escalating whodunit premise, White’s biting satire gradually peels back the romantic filter of sticky swimsuits, glamorous day spas and sleepy buffet breakfasts to reveal a dark meditation on racism, class, privilege, consent and the potency of human desire.”
The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO)
Synopsis: “Four 18-year-old freshman roommates at Essex College in Vermont. A bundle of contradictions and hormones, these sexually active college girls are equal parts lovable and infuriating.”
I mean, what else is there to really say about this one? It’s essentially what it says on the tin. From the minds of Mindy Kaling (The Office) and Justin Noble comes a light-hearted, contemporary and, at times, compelling spin on the romantic sitcom format.
There are breakups, hookups, glow-ups and many other types of ups, but it’s all very fun and entertaining. In particular, the strong performances from Pauline Chalamet (Kimberley) and Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (Lila) really help to ground the show’s perky brand of humour. Think Friends, Girls, Broad City, Sex in the City, etc. It’s a show about college girls who also like to have sex. Get it?
Tulsa King (Paramount+)
Synopsis: “Following his release from prison, Mafia capo Dwight "The General" Manfredi is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he builds a new criminal empire with a group of unlikely characters.”
There’s a scene in Tulsa King, another project slate in the Taylor Sheridan expanded universe, where longtime Invernizzi mafia capo and recently released prison inmate Dwight “The General” Manfredi—played with grizzled gravitas by marble-mouth septuagenarian Sylvester Stallone—takes a bunch of edibles and begins to trip balls in the company of his reluctant marijuana dispensary business partner and former Uber driver-turned-Manfredi syndicate member, launching into a red-eyed diatribe about smartphones, TikTok, and how the Kids These Days don’t understand what it was like back in his day.
It’s a mindblowing scene of Silent Generation porn, and the closest thing I’ve seen to someone taking the Grandpa Simpson “old man yells at cloud” gag and turning it into a live-action bit. Incredible stuff. No notes.
MILF Manor (TLC)
Synopsis: “From cities all across the country, eight confident and strong-minded women leave home for the chance to find love at a paradise destination.”
Remember back when ISIS/ISIL (the Islamic caliphate terrorist organisation, that is, not the exceptional post-metal outfit—don’t get it twisted) was in the headlines? When the Internet was awash in gruesome beheading videos that shocked and horrified the modern sensibilities of First World types? And how their propaganda always seemed to imply that Western imperial overreach goes hand-in-hand with an excess of decadence, depravity, and moral hypocrisy? This cursed thing is what they were talking about.
Believe me, that pithy little synopsis above cannot possibly prepare you for how deeply disturbing, fucked up, and batshit insane this show is. Burn it all down and leave nothing behind.
