I Mercilessly Judged The 9 Shows Everybody In the Office Is Watching Right Now
We canvassed the office recently to catch what everyone is watching at the moment. The results were then promptly dumped into my inbox and given to me to present in an engaging and appealing manner. Everyone wanted their names associated with their picks, presumably assuming that their choices wouldn’t be considered one step away from being libelous. Let’s find out.
Gemini Man (Netflix)
Tim, my boss, recommended Gemini Man, mentioning it was #1 in New Zealand at the moment and simply stating it was “very good”. He’s just as economical with his use of words as he is with his supply of forks in the kitchen. Lunchtimes in the office is a bloodsport trying to be the first to get the one and only fork. Gemini Man is a Will Smith flick that mercifully doesn’t include his son scoring free IMDB credits off his dad. Instead Will Smith stars twice, the doppelgänger being his younger self hunting him down. It scored a 26% on IMDB and a 38% on Metacritic. Now I don’t make a habit of hanging my hat on those scores, but I won’t blame you if you did in this instance.
If you like, you can watch the entire movie now via this handy 2 minute trailer.
Succession (SkyGo)
Bobby is cranking through the first two seasons of Succession. He reckons it’s “pretty great, basically if Game of Thrones took place in the boardroom of a gazillion dollar media company. Pretty funny if you don’t mind that every character is a total s**thead (maybe don’t use that word in the article)”. I can’t believe he used that word in this article. This is a family website.
New Amsterdam (Netflix & Neon)
Madi picked New Amsterdam stating that she’s “cried a few times and it’s super heartwarming”.
The show is about a doctor running the USA’s oldest public hospital and slowly reforming the institute neglected and outdated facilities to better serve its patients. The show itself is based on the memoir Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital by Dr. Eric Manheimer. Madi also mentioned that it’s “Similar to Grey’s Anatomy, but better in my opinion”, which isn’t a very difficult bar to clear.
Mare of Easttown (Netflix & Neon)
Young Neil has been blasting through Mare of Easttown, which features Kate Winslet as the Executive Producer and lead actor.
“It’s a drama about small town American, the fragility of relationships and the effects of drugs in blue collar America.”
Drugs, relationships, blue collar workers, a dash of murder and Kate swanning about being very serious. Smells like Oscar bait to me. In fact actress Julianne Nicholson’s acting in the show is putting her in a rumored spot for a supporting actress award from the Emmys.
Homeland (Netflix)
Erin is currently binge-watching the solid classic Homeland. “I know, I’m late to the party on this one but there is now 8 seasons available and I love not having to wait for the next episode to come out after a huge cliffhanger… which trust me there are plenty of. This C.I.A based thriller is explosive (literally), but also intrinsically political with a main character who is highly unpredictable and sometimes fully out the gate with a fair few ‘WTF’ moments.”
Erin managed to find more to say about this show than I ever could.
Educators (TVNZ)
Amy is supporting local by digging into Educators, a show I’ve also got on my watchlist. “Unscripted Kiwi genius that follows a group of hopelessly incompetent secondary school teachers and features the likes of Jackie Van Beek, Kura Forrester and Tom Sainsbury. It had me cringing and laugh crying the whole way through. Not new, but a must watch.”
Fleabag (Amazon)
Allie is going for an oldie but a goodie as well as she watches through two seasons of Fleabag. In her words she says it’s about “a young woman trying to cope with life in London whilst coming to terms with a recent tragedy. Breaking the fourth wall was for me one of the most intriguing things about the show, together with the anti-hero portrayed by the writer herself and her way of dealing with her problems. It’s hilarious, heartbreaking, dark and witty”.
The Midnight Gospel (Netflix)
Jennifer has been watching the fever dream show The Midnight Gospel.
“It’s basically a podcast that is turned into a very colourful and out there animation series. In the last episode, the show creator interviews his own Mother who is terminally ill and they discuss life and death together and how they are both coping with this situation that many can relate to. Very insightful and can make you see life in a different light.”
The ending is indeed life changing if you can get to it, however 95% of the show is an unrelated visualiser for stoners to look at while hippies drone on about their alternative religion they’ve invented for themselves. This show has erected a wall around itself made of weed brownie which I could never bring myself to scale.
Creamerie (TVNZ)
I’ve been watching Sweet Tooth recently but I’d rather plug Creamerie for the millionth time. It’s yet another viral apocolypse show with the twist being a virus that wipes out the world’s men. Set in rural New Zealand, society has been replaced by a feminist dystopia which controls the regions’ remaining sperm banks. A disenfranchised dairy farmer finds what may be the world’s last man and a mystery unravels. Creamerie is without a doubt one of the best shows to come out of New Zealand in a long time, full of our unique blend of low key humour and plenty of shout outs to action movie classics. The only real downside to this show is that there’s currently only one season.
You will be screaming at your TV for more at its conclusion.
