Hidden Gems

ICYMI CHALLENGE

What's nice is when you're looking for a new show to watch and a list featured on Buzzfeed or something a friend recommends surprisingly turns out to be a pleasant investment. What’s not so nice is when those same sources recommend shows that are overrated or to put it bluntly, not good. Just because many have watched it does not automatically mean it is worth watching. In the hopes of saving others hours of pointless scrolling the somehow lead back to yet another re-watch of The Office, I have done my best to scour the platforms and personally spent hours of my life to discuss the shows that made it into the top three when it comes to underrated gems I think you should see. There’s some drama, some fire, and some laughs. I watched them just for you, you’re welcome.

1. The Morning Show

Picture that title bold, italicized, and with a period after each word, because this ten-episode-series on Apple TV+ is the epitome of intensity. We get to walk through what happens after a Me Too scandal hits one half of the popular man and woman duo that is responsible for bringing Americans their daily news bright and early on The Morning Show. Co-host Alex Levy, played by Jennifer Aniston is the best we have seen her since her iconic role as Rachel Green on Friends. She is magnetic, sharp, and cunning. She is the woman you want on your side. We follow Alex as she tries to right the ship after her long-time ‘work husband’ and co-host Mitch Kessler, played by Steve Carell is plagued with sexual assault allegations. Alex is the one who keeps the show going but the network executives have other plans. Reporter Bradley Jackson played by Reese Witherspoon is abruptly flown to New York to replace the once adored now perverse Mitch Kessler. Both women shine on camera but off there is more tension than the chemistry between them. Jackson brings a flair to the show that Levy is not used to after years of working seamlessly alongside Kessler. As each episode reveals more about the interworkings of a network and the circus of people it takes to launch a successful show, one that evolved from entertainment to a beloved daily ritual for millions, we are left to wonder if Mitch Kessler is as guilty as the network swiftly made him out to be. Did others have a hand in this sexual scandal? Did Alex Levy know the dark side of her desirable cohost? What about the bystanders, the employees who were not at the top of the food chain, those who stayed silent and of course, the victims.

If not for the poignant scripts written by Jay Carson, Kerry Ehrin, and others combined with magnificent acting, The Morning Show would have been a weak portrayal of current issues but with talents like Aniston, Witherspoon, and Carell, what came to be was nothing short of incredible. The plot is encapsulating. The characters, good and evil are hypnotizing. The viewer learns about the industry of entertainment while understanding on a deeper level just how flawed famous faces are. It is a provocative narrative that could not have come at a better time.

By the end of the season, we are left with inevitable questions. What would we do if there were a Weinstein figure in our workplace? What about our family? What determines innocence and who is guilty? What would we act on and what would our motive be? The Morning Show is our world through a screen.

2. Little Fires Everywhere

Based on the bestselling novel by Celeste Ng's, ”Little Fires Everywhere" follows the picturesque Richardson family through their upper-middle-class midwestern lives as they intersect with their enigmatic new neighbors.

The eight-episode miniseries is now streaming on Hulu. The story builds slowly to what eventually results in a volcanic eruption of everything we do not say, as a society, to others, and to ourselves. We learn not only about the adults in these two families, the Richardsons and the Warrens but we also get an in-depth look into each of their children’s lives. We learn where they came from, what they think, and why they are the way that they are.

Reese Witherspoon plays the dedicated working mother of four, Elena Richardson, married to Bill Richardson (Joshua Jackson) who is a lawyer. Elena is a reporter at a local newspaper in Ohio who naturally inserts herself into situations whether she is welcome or not. This is how the Richardsons become involve with the Warrens, a traveling mother-daughter duo who seemingly arrive in the wealthy town of Shaker from nowhere. Mia Warren played by Kerry Washington, is an artist and mother of teenage daughter Pearl and they are looking for a place to rent. Elena is the one who insists on renting property to them. Once the Warrens settle in, things begin to heat up as young Pearl mingles with the neighborhood Richardson kids who are close in age.

Washington’s performance as the withholding, abrupt, mixed-media artist is one that is jarring yet impossible to look away from. As is Elena digging herself deeper and deeper into messes of her own creation all in the name of being a ‘good person.’ There are flashbacks and flash-forwards but for the most part, we see the children growing up in the late 90s, which brings up things we have not seen since then. One example is the reveal in TIME Magazine regarding the sexuality of comedian, Ellen Degeneres. The cover is pasted in the locker of one of the Richardson children who is struggling with their own sexuality.

Little Fires Everywhere brings up questions that feel as though they might burn our tongues if we say them out loud and yet these characters, Elena, Mia, and the people they injure for their own gain say them anyway. Little Fires Everywhere is an American story. It’s the story of our past and our present. It is a story about values, class, and most intensely, motherhood.

3. The Iliza Shlesinger

How does one accurately describe a series that is so delightfully odd it will leave you laughing so hard that you could not explain it even if you were able to catch your breath? Perhaps there is no explanation just experience. This Netflix show is not presented in the traditional episodic format but instead features clips of different scenarios with different characters that make up an entire episode, compilations of skits or sketches, hence the title. The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show comes straight from the mind of the comedian herself who has five comedy specials on Netflix and counting. In 2017 she released her book Girl Logic which is available on Amazon and Audible.

The sketch show Iliza created came at a time when the nation arguably needed comedic relief more than anything else during the pandemic which resulted in stay-at-home orders, giving us more than enough time to binge-watch. Thankfully, Iliza was there for us. The scenes roll out quickly and above all else, hilariously. Shlesinger dreamed up many eccentric characters for us to enjoy such as unhinged pilot Cashew Albacore, fitness guru Ellen Plebbles, and hardcore stuntwoman Kip Wozzle, all of whom are played by Iliza herself.

The shows first season has received positive attention but it remains an overlooked gem on Netflix. It is a comedic genius that meets witty social commentary. Six episodes, six twenty-minute doses of natural anti-depressants. Side effects include but are not limited to; involuntary repetition of phrases introduced by these bizarre characters i.e. “look at that” and “something is wrong with me.” If the involuntary repeating of phrases persists, see your doctor or binge-watch again. The sixth and final episode of the first season remains un-watched on my list as I am saving it to lift me out of a bad day.

Go ahead, “slip into your house shoes” watch these shows and tell me what you think! Once you do you will be dying to talk about them too. Let's unearth these hidden gems and launch them into the mainstream. Watch The Morning Show on Apple TV+, Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu, and The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show on Netflix.