You’ve Got the Time, We’ve Got the List
Our list of movies¹ wasn’t enough to keep you sufficiently diverted? Need something to binge while you’re ‘working’ from home? We get it. For that reason, we offer our definitive list of brilliant television programs. Unlike the movies we suggested last week, those below are filled with mayhem, manipulation, backstabbing, criminal behavior, dysfunction, and destruction. You, know, like what goes on daily in our nation’s capital. But, sorry, no studio game shows or soaps. You’re on your own there.
Speaking of television, the president has said repeatedly during the daily briefings that he won’t wear a mask. What’s not being said is that everyone who is to come in contact with him is tested for the virus before they meet. So while he tells the country he won’t cover his nose or mouth — like we’re all being directed to do — he’s being sheltered, rendering a mask unnecessary. This is appropriate, but why not tell us? Without full disclosure, it looks for all the world that the president is unwilling to comply with the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations, and that those recommendations are optional, which is what some no doubt believe. This is yet another point of confusion, among many, that is fueling the nation’s inability to embrace a unified approach to temper the spread of this incredibly infectious and deadly virus. At this rate, with thanks to the Federal government, we will have plenty of time to watch every movie we offered last week and the television programs listed below. Maybe twice.
All the more reason to hope you find these programs entertaining, engrossing and, of course, enriching. May they give you peace and strength.
Laugh Hard
30 Rock
All in the Family
Arrested Development
Beavis and Butt-Head
Broad City
Chappelle’s Show
Cheers
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
Derry Girls
Documentary Now (Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Helen Mirren)
Everybody Loves Raymond
Extras (The episodes with Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are not to be missed.)
Family Guy
Fawlty Towers
Frasier
Friends
Happy Days
In Living Color
Get Smart (A Mel Brooks/Buck Henry creation; the infamous Cone of Silence is shown above.)
Gilmore Girls
Mad About You
M*A*S*H
Modern Family
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
On My Block
Parks and Recreation
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Soap
South Park
Spin City
Taxi
The Big Bang Theory
The Bob Newhart Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Golden Girls
The Inbetweeners
The IT Crowd
The Kominsky Method
The Larry Sanders Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Odd Couple
The Office (British and U.S. versions)
The Simpsons
Veep
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Your Show of Shows
Fall in Love with Great Characters
A French Village
AJ and the Queen (With the incomparable RuPaul.)
Ally McBeal
Catastrophe
Call the Midwife
Dallas (As close to a daytime soap as we’ll get.)
Desperate Housewives
Downton Abbey
Entourage
ER
Fleabag
Friday Night Lights
Girls
Grey’s Anatomy
Hill Street Blues
LA Law
Mad Men
Madame Secretary
Miami Vice
My Brilliant Friend
Orange Is the New Black
NYPD Blue
Parenthood
Rectify
Sex and the City
Shtisel
Six Feet Under
Sports Night (created by Aaron Sorkin)
St. Elsewhere
The Avengers (original series)
The Crown
The Durrells in Corfu (an extraordinary real-life family)
The Good Fight
The Good Wife
The Knick (Steven Soderbergh directs)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The West Wing
Thirtysomething
This Is Us
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Unorthodox
When Only the Truth Will Do
30 for 30
60 Minutes
Dirty Jobs
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Bernie Sanders and Larry David are related!)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Lost Girls
MythBusters
Nova
Planet Earth 1 and 2 (British version)
Real Time with Bill Maher
The Daily Show with John Stewart or Trevor Noah
Unabomber — In His Own Words
Let Your Imagination Roam
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Creature Features
Doctor Who
Game of Thrones (A candidate for our All Time Top 5.)
Lost (What does happen at the end?)
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Russian Doll
The Leftovers
The Twilight Zone (original series)
The X-Files
Cook/Eat Like You Really Mean It
A Chef’s Life
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
Emeril Live!
Chopped
Iron Chef
Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain
Salt Fat Acid Heat
The French Chef (Thank you for everything, Julia Child.)
The Great British Baking Show
The Mind of a Chef
Top Chef
Talk, Talk, Talk
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Late Late Show with James Corden
Live with Andy Cohen
The Best of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
The View
Who Dunnit?
Broadchurch
Columbo
Fargo (all seasons)
House M.D. (Medicine’s Sherlock Holmes, literally.)
Law and Order
Monk
Perry Mason
Sherlock
Spiral
The Killing
The Sinner
The Tunnel
True Detective (seasons 1 and 3)
Unbelievable
On the (Very) Serious Side
Barry
Better Call Saul (A terrific prequel to Breaking Bad.)
Big Love
Bloodline
Breaking Bad (In our All Time Top 5.)
Deadwood
Dexter
House of Cards
Justified (Elmore Leonard done well.)
Oz
Ozark (A very dark Justified. Caution advised.)
Succession
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Shield
The Sopranos (In our All Time Top 5.)
The Wire (Also in our All Time Top 5. Don’t be intimidated; it’s brilliant.)
Twin Peaks
Weeds (especially seasons 1–4)
Westworld
For the Kid in You
Mork & Mindy (We miss you very much, Robin.)
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
Sesame Street
The Muppet Show
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
The Wonder Years
Learn How
American Chopper
How It’s Made
The Joy of Painting (With the incomparable Bob Ross.)
The New Yankee Workshop
No, I Just Work in Outer Space
Battlestar Galactica
Star Trek (the original series)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Discovery (on CBS All Access)
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Voyager
Wild Rides
24 (the first season)
Fauda (A brilliant Israeli series.)
Homeland
Hostages (An Israeli series; basis for Homeland.)
Luther
The Americans
The Fugitive (original series)
When Heroes Fly
Truly Special
The Tony Awards, any opening number (yes, YouTube)
The Kennedy Center Honors (any year)
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (any year)
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (any year; skip the speeches)
Reality, If You Must
Project Runway
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
Say Yes to the Dress
Survivor (or so they say)
What Not to Wear
Short and (Not So) Sweet
11.12.63
Band of Brothers
Chernobyl
El Camino (Only after watching Breaking Bad.)
Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry’s terrific book done well.)
McMillions
Roots
The Blue Planet (awe-inspiring beauty)
The Plot Against America
The Thorn Birds
When They See Us
A Category All Its Own
Shark Week (Discovery Channel; 2019 season on Amazon Prime)
Sharknado (Never seen one? You’re missing one of the truly great concepts of all time.)
Enjoy! And, of course, continue to wash your hands, cover your mouth and nose, and stay far from everyone. If you live in a shelter-in-place or a stay-at-home state, please respect the virus by staying home as much as possible. If you choose to go out, whether it be to walk, bike or go to the store, maintain physical distance. Fresh air will break up the day, elevate your mood, and refresh your soul.
If you live in one of the nine states² that, incomprehensibly, has not yet directed you to shelter in place (as of April 6), you need new leadership. At your very first opportunity. Your governor is endangering you, your loved ones, and, potentially, everyone. She or he is also delaying the nation’s return to health. Be smart and responsible, unlike your foolhardy, science-denying governor, by doing everything possible to help us get through this and return us to a life outside the home. Hopefully before we run out of movies and TV programs to watch.
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¹ https://medium.com/@alanschnur/our-definitive-list-of-uplifting-movies-3838dc851ade
² States with no stay-at-home directive: Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. States with partial stay-at-home directives: Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming. All have Republican governors. All claim to be taking their cue from the White House.