Do you guys know what I love watching more than anything else?
If you guessed hot, sweaty men playing soccer, you’d be right on the money. However, I doubt very many of you would be interested in reading a post about the four soccer players I think are hottest, so instead I will give you a post containing four documentaries based on children that I think will be worth your while to watch. Continue reading
Netflix has basically won the internet by garnering almost 30 percent of peak internet traffic per day which is up from 20 percent almost six months ago.
Late to the party as usual, cable companies are now searching for ways to tame the beast. They have decided to put a cap on the amount of data a customer can use each month in hopes that they will keep their cable services in lieu of watching shows online. They could have gone the Hollywood route and tried to work with Netflix, but no they want viewers all to themselves. They want world domination AND a happy ending. Little do they know, this will do nothing to curtail the impending thousand year rule of Netflix.
Welcome back to another edition of Netflix Sunday. I was originally planning on sharing about more British shows, but then I remembered American TV has some awesome stuff. America! F*CK YEAH!
So this week’s Netflix contender is 1994’s My So Called Life.
My So Called life was a short-running show with all of 19 episodes, but one of my favorites that pretty successfully encapsulated the teenage experience in the 1990’s.
The story centered on a young Claire Danes as Angela Chase, a girl growing up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, who, like most of us, was growing older and emotionally ambivalent towards her parents, while discovering new friends and life experiences.
Her two best friends were Rayanne Graff, a free spirit (whose wardrobe I always idolized) with an alcoholic, mostly absent mother and a drug problem, and Rickie, the eyeliner-wearing boy who lived with his abusive uncle. Rayanne was the bad influence, but her affection for Angela was apparent, as was her hidden vulnerability, distrust of people, and her desire for her friends to act as her family, because her family had failed her, causing you to both love and hate Rayanne.
The show was rather topical and took on some intense issues in its short run – child abuse, sex, drug use and had an openly gay teenager. This was before Ellen Degeneres came out publicly in 2002 1997 or ’98, which was a HUGE deal, so for a show to portray a gay teenager in the mid-1990’s in a sympathetic way; in such a central role to the show was a fairly influential to a lot of people my age.
The show also starred a young Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano-the dreamy object of Angela’s affections, an eye-opener to those of us who had raging crushes on the brooding, guitar-playing hottie that pretty much all teenage crushes suck.
While show portrayed several difficult social issues, it managed to not be overly preachy. It’s honest look at teenage life and angst wasn’t necessary sympathetic or critical – Angela makes a lot of decisions she’s not sure if she should be proud of, but shows that time for what it is – a difficult time of self-discovery as teenagers realize their potential to become independent adults, while dealing with learning some of the harder lessons alone. Also, the soundtrack is classic 1990’s. Can’t beat that!
We all have them. The TV shows we missed out on when they originally aired because we didn’t know about them until ages later, or hadn’t heard of them because they’re on the real BBC, but BBC America won’t air them because they want to show the non-BBC Star Trek, TNG at the same freaking time as Syfy. But I digress.
Your solution is Netflix. We all know Netflix and we should all have Netflix, because, well, it’s eight damn dollars a month for streaming only, and if you can’t shell that out for some awesome entertainment you missed out on the first time around, there’s nothing I can do for you here.
*ahem*
Speaking of the BBC, my first suggestion is no surprise to anyone who knows me or has asked for TV suggestions on or off the internet: Doctor Who.
If you’re not familiar, Doctor Who is about a humanoid alien who travels through all of space and time, having adventures and saving the day (or all of eternity). Not bad for a lonely Time Lord.
Doctor Who is a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and a little bit of British wit and is always fascinating, exciting, and never boring. The show provides a fantastic mix of serious, heart-wrenching episodes as well as those with the perfect balance of suspense and humor. Each incarnation of The Doctor has his own personality and sense of style, and creates his own reality that seamlessly ties who he once was to who he is now.
The show also tells multiple stories as the series goes on. Some are complete after a few episodes, and others continue through seasons and between incarnations of the Doctor. There’s plot development with most episodes, even if it’s in a minute amount. There are some that are great episodes seemingly independently of the rest of the series, but then the theme or character turns up unexpectedly in another storyline and another time. It’s not as complex as Lost* was in that you don’t have to keep a database updated with every line of every episode, but it does require some attention to detail – and the end in the stories of the Whoniverse actually make sense!
Doctor Who, as it exists now, is going into Season 6 this spring. However, it’s technically season 32, which requires an explanation that I’ll give…. now. The show originated in 1963 via the good people at the BBC. An older gentleman by the name of William Hartnell played the role of the Doctor, and the show became so popular that by the time he wanted to retire, the producers decided to give the Doctor the ability to regenerate. Per the show, when the doctor is so sick or injured he cannot recover, he has can regenerate into a completely new person. He gets a new look, personality and fashion sense because the Doctor is never a jeans and t-shirt type, the man’s got style, dammit.
In any case, the show premiered in 1963, went off the air in the 80s, and was re-launched as an American version in 1996 which failed miserably. In fact, that might be the origin of “epic fail”, but then was finally relaunched by the BBC, as it should be, in 2005 with the introduction of the 9th Doctor.
The Doctor gets lonely, so he usually has at least one companion with him on his adventures to add a human element, give him company, and most conveniently for the sake of exposition. Typically the companions are young and female. It seems the 900 year old Doctor is probably secretly a dirty old man, but we don’t get to see that on camera. Only his genius, charm, and distinctive sense of style are visible to us, the lowly human audience.
Season 1 of the relaunch, (or season 27 if you prefer), stars Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, and Billie Piper plays his companion, Rose. You might be familiar with Piper from Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and Christopher Eccleston because he’s awesome, and also because he sort of recently played the invisible guy on Heroes. I mean, when he wasn’t invisible at least.
Seasons 2-4 brings about the 10th Doctor – one Mr. David Tennant of Barty Crouch Jr (and some of those Shakespeare guy’s performances) fame. At a young age, Mr. Tennant decided to be an actor and would tell people that one day he would grow up to play Doctor Who on TV. Now, my childhood plan of living at Disney World never panned out, but I’m happy for him anyway.
The newer series has plenty of nods to the original, so there’s still the Doctor Who familiarity for those who have seen the older ones but not this new set. There is a variety of original series villains, such as the classic Daleks, Cybermen, and the living plastic Autons. New villains and characters are introduced, such as Lady Cassandra O’Brien Dot Delta Seventeen, the Face of Boe, the (farting) Slitheens, and my personal favorite the Weeping Angels.
Since the BBC employs approximately 37 working actors, there are some familiar faces through the series such as Billie Piper of Secret Diary of a Call Girl as the Doctor’s first companion, Rose, Simon Pegg in a delightfully creepy role, Freema Agyeman, now of Law & Order, UK, and Catherine Tate, of the hilarious Catherine Tate show (which you should also watch). You’ll also be able to pick out a variety of Harry Potter actors; Rita Skeeter, Barty Crouch Sr, Moaning Myrtle, and freaking DUMBLEDORE (not as Dumbledore). Also, Carey Mulligan, some actors from the British Being Human, and some kick-ass Shakespearian actors.
Seasons 1-4, plus all the applicable specials are on Netflix streaming. Unfortunately, though season 5 is out on DVD, it has not yet been added to the streaming queue. BBC America will likely have a season 5 marathon someday soon before season 6 premieres though, so you’ll be able to catch up then if you so desire.
Still not sure? Maybe this will help:
In the meantime, happy Netflixing!
*that show will never end up in this series