There are a lot of shows I haven't watched during their original runs that I've subsequently avoided because they aired too many episodes and I felt intimidated by the prospect of catching up. Then, the pandemic happened, which meant I had a lot of time to catch up on things. This past year, in between all my regular movie and TV watching, I got caught up on two VERY different but VERY entertaining shows. One's a sweeping British period drama, the other's a modern American workplace sitcom. So as we head back indoors for the fall and debate if we should get our boosters, why not delve into these shows and re-acquaint yourself with your couch and your TV?
Even if you don’t watch the whole show, I must exhort you to try out that first season because it defied every expectation I’ve ever had about period dramas. I was expecting a slow pace and a very slow-burning romance as Ross tries to move on from his first love, Elizabeth (Heida Reed). Instead, what I got was an insanely twisty plot, and by the end of the third episode, I had furiously texted my friends in disbelief. The show basically hit the equivalent of ten season finales in the course of those first few episodes, delivering epic and sweeping storylines that would have taken any other show at least a few seasons to deliver. For someone who was feeling bored and stultified in isolation, it was such a joy to take this wild ride with Ross and his family.
Naturally, the subsequent seasons couldn’t quite keep up the pace and the plots became tangled in a lot of politics and history. But the love triangle between Ross, Demelza (the stunning and excellent Eleanor Tomlinson), and Elizabeth, was always full of surprises and unique tangents. And as much as I was compelled to watch this show for its storylines, I stayed for the aesthetics. Set in Cornwall, you will be treated to wild and heartbreaking scenery, with crashing waves on the beaches, and clouds scudding past dramatic cliffs. The costume design is also excellent, demarcating the wardrobe of the haves and have nots, with the production design similarly indicating to us how the rich live while the poor of this region scrape by.
Poldark is a riveting and superbly crafted show. Every hour feels like a brand new adventure, and given its penchant for cliffhangers, you won’t be able to stop yourself from bingeing periodically, even as you try and savor the show in more manageable chunks. Every time I heard the beautiful sweeping score play over the opening credits I would feel a frisson of excitement, and I was so sad when I heard the theme tune play for the last time over the finale's closing credits. So treat yourself to a nice little bout of escapism and indulge in some British romance and high adventure.
The show is set in St. Louis and follows the employees of a big-box store called Cloud9. I could start listing out all the characters in this show, but if we did that, this would turn into an encyclopedia of every single employee, their insane quirks, and why I love them so. There really isn't a dud in the bunch. Over the course of 113 episodes, there are a number of supporting characters who gain increasing prominence, and they are all such a wacky and incredible group of lovable weirdos. The joy of watching a long-running show is seeing how these characters grow and evolve. Or sometimes, just stay exactly the same, while everyone else barely tolerates them (yeah, I'm talking about you, Justine).
Created by Justin Spitzer, who worked as a writer on The Office for seven years, you can see that show's DNA all over Superstore. There's a very Jim-and-Pam romance that has a slow and satisfying burn over the seasons and made my heart very glad. There is Glenn Sturgis (Mark McKinney doing a high-pitched voice that I'm amazed he maintained for six seasons), the relentlessly positive store manager, who can be problematic because of his religiosity but is also insanely kind and a pushover about absolutely everything. There's the Dwight-esque Dina (the incredible Lauren Ash), the assistant manager who is obsessed with store security, suffers no fools, and is all about abiding by the Cloud9 guidelines. But she too has a gooey center that you get to see emerge slowly over the years.
The setting also means this is a show with a very diverse cast that can address a number of interesting issues with a deft comic touch. There's a series-long plotline about Mateo (the wonderful Nico Santos) and his immigration troubles, which are contrasted to the Syrian refugee, Sayid (Amir M. Korangy), who had the most brilliant line when the store switched to using paper straws to be more eco-friendly: "These things have no structural identity. Why did I even leave Syria?" This is also emphatically a show about the working class. These employees are mostly minimum-wage workers, who don't get great benefits (their attempts at unionizing drive many storylines over multiple seasons), and their struggles and joys all reflect that reality. There are discussions about family leave, salary negotiations, and healthcare that all reflect the very terrible reality of this job. The final season was a particular revelation because it was filmed during the pandemic, and the writers did a remarkable job of capturing the insanity of how we all praised "essential workers" in these stores but then didn't give them any PPE and generally treated them like garbage. The show handles these storylines with incredible comic finesse that mines tragedy for its hilarity, and throughout all six seasons, I was never bored of the pitch-perfect writing.
Superstore is a real treat. If you need more laugh-out-loud moments in your life, whip-smart dialogue and non-stop jokes, and characters who are weird, warm, and wonderful and make you both giggle and beam with delight when things go well for them, this show is everything you want and more. It also boasts an incredibly nostalgic soundtrack, comprised mostly of the songs from the 90s and 2000s that now serve as Muzak in these kinds of stores. And there are so many throwaway bits and one-liners, whether it's the in-store announcements, silly signage, or the interstitial cuts that are like silent films where you get to watch customers do something outrageous in one of the store aisles before we move on to the main plot. You simply can't tear your eyes away from the screen for a second because you will definitely miss something good. So plant your eyeballs on Superstore. It's a gift that keeps on giving.
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