Don't worry, I won’t mention "Game of Thrones"
You should be watching "Dead to Me" and "What/If" this week.
Hello,
Hope you have recovered from Eurovision (I know I haven’t.)
Here’s some shows to keep an eye on this week:
Dead to Me (Netflix) - I absolutely adore this dark comedy drama. At first you think the show will be dealing in themes similar to Gervais’ After Life, sensitively dealing with issues surrounding grief following the death of a loved one. But no, the plot takes it into a completely different territory: it twists into a dark comedic thriller, where every time you think you have it *click* worked out, it flips into something different.
It’s also wickedly funny. I am all here for the way Jen (Christina Applegate) says “no”, right down to the way she meditates. An icon.
Also, watch the first episode of the series twice after you work out the first twist. You’ll end up seeing the opener in a completely different light.
What/If (Netflix out on Friday) - A rather ludicrous and silly yet enjoyable Netflix drama about what it would be like to sacrifice your relationships and your family so you can get ahead in business and claim power. It is a guilty pleasure. Watching it is like watching Dragon’s Den from hell, shot in that American soapy and glossy as f*ck lens that you only see in these sort of ridiculous dramas. At first you’ll be confused by all of the purposefully complicated business language, stick with it. You’ll soon fall in love with Anne Montgomery (Renée Zellweger); her character is so diabolical and terrible to absolutely everyone, and you can absolutely tell that Zellweger is having the time of her life playing her.
Travel Man (All 4) - This Richard Ayoade going on a nice holiday series has been going on for quite a long time, but have you seen the episode with Bob Mortimer in Hamburg from earlier this month? It’s an absolute corker from start to finish. They click so well, they both take the mick out of where they are so much, at some points it verges into a parody of the whole format.
I used to think that the show was dependent on the location for how good each episode. Now I’ve realised it’s entirely down to the guest and Ayoade’s chemistry.
As we are nearly halfway through the year, here’s the shows I have absolutely loved so far this year… Race Across The World (BBC), Tuca and Bertie (Netflix), Pose (BBC), After Life (for how it deals with grief - Netflix) and Chernobyl (Sky Atlantic). Make sure you take some time for that last one; it's the most terrifying show of the year so far. Let me know about yours.
And a recommendation from Andrew Smyth (that’s right, Bake Off Andrew) - “A documentary I would definitely recommend for Worth Watching is Evelyn, just up on BBC iPlayer. I found it compelling and pretty devastating looking at the wider impacts of suicide on a family who haven’t really talked about it for over a decade since their brother’s death.” If you have a recommendation for this email, or have any feedback for it, just respond to this email.
And a final note on Eurovision - Australia was utterly robbed. Their song “Zero Gravity,” - that song featuring three people swirling around in circles at a top of a pole, you know the one you watched just after your second bottle of wine - was one of the most visually stunning performances I have ever seen at Eurovision. Australia absolutely deserved better than ninth position.
And yeah, Madonna’s performance and voice was completely flat, wasn't it? I’ve watched back the iPlayer feed and somehow it’s worse second time round, yet on YouTube it somehow sounds utterly fine. I’ve done two Eurovision things this year: I’ve rounded up Graham Norton’s sassiest moments into this Twitter video, plus there’s little Twitter highlights thing for The Telegraph.
On Must Watch this week… we talk a lot about [that massive show redacted], including an entire spoiler-fuelled section on the final episode towards the end in case you have caught it yet. Listen on BBC Sounds.
Have a blast. See you next week.
Scotty x