A bunch of folks are feeling, to put it mildly, off balance, in need of distraction, or recentering. I’ve been asked by a few people this week about shows I like, so here’s a quick list of shows I am attached to, in alphabetical order:

  • Babylon 5: Peak space politics and anti-facism. Some of the best character arcs on TV. Slooow start tho.
  • Being Erica: Cute show about finding self acceptance by having a therapist who sends you back in time to relive “regrets” and learn some thing’s you had spent a lot of time regretting maybe weren’t so bad and shaped you and you’re not so bad.
  • Birds of Prey: Corny early 2000s DC hero show but kinda a fun vibe.
  • Bojack Horseman: It’s a good show about depression and how we deal with men who are bad, prolly not really recommending for anyone right now, but I do like it.
  • Black Sails: Amazing pirate show (cw: there is a SA plot in s1) that has a lot to say about rage and society and in group politics and the costs of those. Also pleasantly queer.
  • Breaking Bad: As with Bojack, show about an “everyman”’s decent into villainy. Not the right vibe for right now probably.
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 90s camp. Slightly guilty pleasure given geastures the show runner
  • Chihayafuru: Anime about being way to into and competitive into an incredibly niche Japanese poetry card game. It really is an experience. Very earnest and passionate. Also love triangle with clueless girl at the center who just wants to be better at the game.
  • Counterpart: Excellent Spy show and cold war vibes except set contemporarily with a scifi conceit. Also big philosophical dives into identity.
  • Cowboy Bebop: “Cowboys in space”. Follow our motley crew of bounty hunters bumming around the solar system always trying to make enough money to stay afloat and usually struggling. Good show but not one that’s overly mood boosting.
  • Dark Angel: Season 1 really. I enjoy the dynamic of the idealist (rich as well) hacker boy Logan, and the pragmatic, on the run, amped up main character Max. Set in the alternate dystopia of 2019 (show is from 2001), it’s a good time on folks building community and getting by in a light dystopia.
  • Elementary: The better Sherlock Holmes show, as an episodic procedural, so it is a cop show, but Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Lu have fun chemistry in the early seasons.
  • Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Top tier cyberpunk from the 90s/early 2000s, examines a ton of issues in an episodic nature around the intersection of philosphy, psycholgy, what it is to be human, and evolving technology that is bluring the line. They are essentially cops tho.
  • Hannibal: Incredible heavy atmosphere. Watch Hannibal and Will Graham chase down murders and each other.
  • Imposters: Fun fairly light hearted heist show with a love square of sorts.
  • Killjoys: Scifi bounty hunters. kind of fun vibes and some interesting starts of world building but a little weak other times. Good chemistry between the characters.
  • Leverage: Peak best heist show. Take a crew of solo criminals (theif, grifter, hacker, hitter) and pair them with each other and someone who used to chase them as the “mastermind” to lead them as now they play “black king / white knight” and are essentially “Robin Hoods” going after generally rich companies and individuals who have screwed over normal folks who the system has let down.
  • Noragami: Gods are real but live and die with people’s belief in them waxing and waning. Join Yato, a down on his luck god doing odd jobs to try and remain relevant, when of course, he gets paired with a highschool girl, and the ghost of a teen boy as his newest weapon (it’s a whole thing). A fun rock style permeates the show, haven’t seen anything else quite like it.
  • Orphan Black: Really good contemporary scifi mystery thriller as our main characters are always trying to unravel layers of a corporate and governmental conspiracy concerning their own lives. Tatiana Maslay gives a career defining performance as the lead.
  • Person of Interest: Procedural show about a hacker and ex CIA guy trying to save people each week. Starts off slow but grows into a full on singularity war scifi. They do work along side some cops, but not quite a cop show, and systemic crooked cops are more often the enemies.
  • Red Dwarf: British sitcom in space. Some dated humour (of course) but also surprisingly good tour of scifi concept of the week like the scifi shows it is also satirizing.
  • ReGenesis: Team of north america doctors battling slightly scifi outbreaks. If you likes teams of smart people working problems, this might work for you.
  • Russian Doll: Groundhog day style show. Natasa Lyons mostly sells it. Grungy vibes.
  • Severane: Split your memories so one of you has the work memories and one of you has the rest of life memories. Surprising no one, it’s actually a nightmare for half of you. Season 2 finally coming next year.
  • Serial Experiments Lain: Kinda psychedelic cyberpunk anime. A classic of the 90s.
  • Stargate(s): “Your gods aren’t real, and we’re here to kill them and free you”. A team of experts in their fields (military, science, anthropology and history) working together.
  • Star Trek: Lower Decks: The best new star trek, the most utopic and optimistic, and a great laugh to boot. What more could you want?
  • Station Eleven: A mellow trek following a travelling Shakespeare troupe through an apocalypse. An interesting meditation on the importance of stories. My kinda thing but arguably meta.
  • Steven Universe: Feel good show with really good plotting, revelations and character development (falters a bit when the end is rushed for fear of being canceled, but totally worth it).
  • Task Master: Distilled pure fun. If you need a laugh just go watch. It’s all free on youtube.
  • Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles: A moody deeper dive into the Terminator universe and mythology. It is apocalypse assuming and somewhat antitech as a result, but it also spends more time starting to delve into the issue of humanity.
  • The Good Place: Pretty fun comedy and tour of philosophic topics
  • UnReal: Drama about the team behind a reality TV show. One of the show runners actually worked in reality TV so it acts a bit as a dramaticized confession. Provides new perspectives on the creation of reality TV. The two leads of the show are at the peak of their performances with their characters, they are something to watch, even when they are not doing well.
  • Yellow Jackets: Dual timeline about a 90s highschool soccer team that crashed in the wilderness and wasn’t found for 18 months and the present day drama of the remaining survivors. Ongoing.