Girlfriend Intervention is a new makeover show airing on Lifetime, and it’s been the source of some controversy since it started airing this summer. Flavorwire called Girlfriend Intervention “a racist mess” and “Queer Eye but with black women.” The four hosts of Girlfriend Intervention are Tracy, Nikki, Tiffiny, and Tanisha, who specialize in beauty, home, style and fashion, and soul. They play up archetypal (bordering on stereotypical) versions of the “sassy black girlfriend” often seen in romantic comedies or television series that feature a white female lead.

The experts generalize along racial and cultural lines when they speak directly to the camera (“My white girlfriends, if they’re anything other than a size 2, they are nervous and scared… As a black woman, we definitely embrace our size for what it is”), but that was also true of Queer Eye. On the one hand, it’s nice to see a show with a multitude of African-American women in lead roles. It happens on occasion (see: the excellent Girlfriends; the, err, very popular The Real Housewives of Atlanta), but not often enough.

Archetypes that border on stereotypes aren’t Girlfriend Intervention’s biggest problem. It’s the fact that, as a makeover show, it’s pushing a brand instead of treating participants like individuals.

TLC’s What Not To Wear, hosted by Stacy London and Clinton Kelly presented very specific fashion rules, and then applied them to individuals. Girlfriend Intervention and Queer Eye have a brand, look, and show philosophy, and they fit individuals into that branding. WNTW, which aired from 2003-2013, has passed on to the great reality TV playground in the sky, but I still think about it all the time. And that’s mostly because of the great shift that took place when the show switched up its hairdressers in the seventh season. Originally, WNTW’s hairdresser was Nick Arrojo, a kind of sarcastic, resting-meh-face dude who gave the same, pixie/mom haircut to any and all of the show’s contributors that sat in his chair. And then came Ted Gibson.

“How was your week?” Ted would so often begin. And then, in the face of frightened contributors who are way out of their comfort zone, “That’s a really heavy sigh. What’s up with that?” Ted talked to them about what they wanted and what they were scared of, not just with regard to their week in New York choosing a new wardrobe, but in their real lives back home. “How long have you had your hair like this?” might seem like it’s about, you know, how long have you had your hair like this?, but with Ted kneeling down and looking just past the contributor’s shoulder, both of them talking into the mirror, it winds up being about the contributor’s life, her self-esteem, her sense of self worth.

What Not To Wear did not live up to its title, which implies judgment and critique and correction. What Not To Wear asked questions, listened, and searched for a contributor’s truth. Okay, that’s a little touchy-feely, but it still captures the overall feeling of WNTW. Just the fact that participants on the show were called “contributors” is worth noting. They were there to add something to the show.

Compare that point of view to Girlfriend Intervention’s intro, which explains that, “Trapped inside of every white girl is a strong black woman waiting to bust out. Every week, we take a BW — a basic woman — and turn her from a red-hot mess into a bootylicious babe.”

In Girlfriend Intervention’s fourth episode, beauty pro Tracy Balan stands in front of the mirror with participant Cortney. Tracy is kind; she’s stern, but caring. She asks Cortney questions to get to the heart of why Cortney feels the way she does. But then, Tracy says, “I’m going to take over. Welcome to beauty bootcamp.” It’s about fitting Cortney into a mold, instead of teaching Cortney how to find her own beauty.

In another episode, the girlfriends tell Sam, a newlywed who loves fantasy role-playing, that they are “going to take you away from the dungeon and the dragons and stuff like that, and help you get comfortable, help you feel good in your own skin.”

Look, Stacy and Clinton would make jokes at their contributors’ expense. One of that show’s recurring bits involved literally throwing a contributor’s old wardrobe into a garbage can. But one of the show’s fashion rules was that, “You can show off your personality without looking crazy.” They would have tried to teach Sam that she could love what she loved without dressing like a teenager.

Girlfriend Intervention’s Tracy, Nikki, Tiffiny, and Tanisha offer a one-size-fits-all approach that is the equivalent of passing someone on the street and telling them to “smile more.” Stacy and Clinton might make fun of your mom jeans (okay, they will definitely make fun of your mom jeans), but then they’ll pour you a cocktail, take you out to dinner, and ask you about your childhood.

Stacy and Clinton (along with makeup artist Carmindy and angel-among-men Ted) guided the makeover process, but they didn’t control it. That was down to the contributor, and that’s why their where-are-they-now updates were full of hugs, tears, and continued style success stories. These are results I think we can all get behind.

Also? It’s the only makeover show that featured a Law & Order parody.

By Kimra McPherson The Bay Area’s strong food scene has always been a great feeder for Bravo’s cooking competition show Top Chef, and now a wave of contestants have returned to feed us. Three new projects from Top Chef competitors have opened within the past two months, joining an existing crop of alumni-led restaurants on both sides of the Bay. The “Top Chef veteran” tag can nab any project a bit of instant attention, but it also makes it easy to lose track of whether those chefs were actually any good on the show. Did they sail through Quickfire Challenges, narrowly escape elimination, or consistently draw the ire of Padma Lakshmi? Here’s how six of the Top Chefs currently cooking in the Bay Area fared in front of Bravo’s rolling cameras and where you can get a taste of what they’re cooking up now:

Casey Thompson The Project: Aveline, Union Square Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: None The Top Chef Result: Runner-up, season 3 (Miami); Fan Favorite, season 3; eliminated in the 5^th episode of Season 8 (All-Stars) Reality TV Stereotype: The Hot One Best Known For: Chopping onions really slowly during a Quickfire challenge relay in Miami; later butchering a lamb really quickly during All-Stars, possibly as redemption for the onion thing; “The Casey Curse,” in which her friends and cooking partners consistently lost challenges or got eliminated, while she moved on in the competition — including in Season 5, when she served as sous chef to eventual runner-up Carla Hall.

Jamie Lauren The Project: Hecho to Upper Market Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: Absinthe Brasserie & Bar The Top Chef Result: Eliminated in the 11^th episode of season 5 (New York); eliminated in the 6^th episode of Season 8 (All-Stars) Reality TV Stereotype: The Foul-Mouthed One Best Known For: Making scallops often enough that fellow contestant Fabio Viviani lamented, “It’s Top Chef, not Top Scallops!”; being the longest-surviving member of  LGBT gang “Team Rainbow”; being hopelessly crushed upon by Finnish contestant Stefan Richter.

Jen Biesty The Project: Shakewell , Oakland (with Top Chef: Just Desserts’ Tim Nugent) Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: COCO500 (later at The Sir Francis Drake/Scala’s Bistro) The Top Chef Result: Eliminated in the 7^th episode of Season 4 (Chicago) Reality TV Stereotype: The Sent-Home-Too-Soon One Best Known For: Competing alongside/against her then-girlfriend, Zoi Antonitsas; being the last of four San Francisco-based chefs left standing in her season; rocking a sweet faux-hawk.

Yigit Pura The Project: Tout Sweet Patisserie, Union Square Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: Taste Catering The Top Chef Result: Winner and Fan Favorite, Top Chef: Just Desserts Season 1 Reality TV Stereotype: The Cute One Best Known For: Not being the “red hots are for my mommy” guy; getting filmed shirtless a lot; once barely escaping elimination after a disastrous dessert tribute to Madonna.

Ryan Scott The Project: Market & Rye, Potrero Hill and West Portal Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: Myth, Myth Café (later at Mission Beach Café and the pop-up Brunch Drunk Love) The Top Chef Result: Eliminated in the 6^th episode of season 4 (Chicago) Reality TV Stereotype Fulfilled: The Self-Proclaimed Metrosexual One Best Known For: Making a multi-course meal including poached pears for a Chicago Bears tailgate challenge; generally seeming to not really know what a tailgate is.

Preeti Mistry The Project: Juhu Beach Club, Oakland Pre-Top Chef Bay Area Gig: Cooking at Google The Top Chef Result: Eliminated in the 3^rd episode of Season 6 (Las Vegas) Reality TV Stereotype Fulfilled: The Unknown One Best Known For: Attempting to shuck clams for the first time ever during a relay race and finishing dead last; not much else, unfortunately.

By Kayti Burt

Society likes to causally link television and depression, but that hasn’t always been my experience. Yes, when used as a way to neglect relationships and responsibilities, TV can be a correlative anchor for depression, but it doesn’t have to be — or, at least, that’s not all it might be.

In addition to acting as a lifeline for the depressed, TV has the power to change the way we think about mental illness — both in ourselves and in others. In many ways, it is the most intimate of mediums, coming into our homes week after week and becoming part of the sustained cultural conversation we have with our friends and family.

Serialized television in particular allows for a more complex, nuanced exploration of character and theme. When that narrative magnifying glass is turned toward stigmatized subjects like mental illness, minds are opened and altered. Here are three shows that have helped me to better understand mental illness — and that have been a narrative lifeline when I was depressed.

In the Flesh

If you’re looking for a genre show about depression…

British import In the Flesh is one part domestic drama, one part zombie dystopia. It follows Kieren Walker, a teenaged zombie who is now medicated and therefore deemed ready to return to his hometown in rural England. Unfortunately, the fictional village of Roarton is not ready for him. The Human Volunteer Force still patrols the woods for zombies, shooting first and asking questions later. This town wears its prejudice against Partial Death Syndrome (PDS) sufferers as a badge of honor.

In the Flesh is interesting because it explores mental illness not only through the eyes of a main character who is depressed, but uses zombie-ism as a metaphor to explore the stigma against mental illness (amongst other prejudices). Kieren’s zombie-ism is part of his identity, but so is his depression. He may have risen from the dead, but the first season is about learning to choose the life he once purposefully ended. It’s about learning to live again, despite everything that’s been lost.

Slings and Arrows

If you like your TV heavy on the Shakespearean themes…

Slings and Arrows proves that you don’t have to be a serious drama to explore mental illness well. This wacky, wonderful Canadian show about a struggling theater festival in fictional New Burbage follows the production of a different Shakespearean tragedy every season, using the play’s themes to shape the show’s behind-the-scenes action.

The first season uses Hamlet for inspiration, exploring its central theme of madness through the emotional journey of protagonist Geoffrey Tennant. Seven years after suffering a nervous breakdown on stage while playing Hamlet, Geoffrey is back at the New Burbage Festival as creative director. With the help of his estranged mentor (who happens to be a ghost) and ex-fiance, Geoffrey attempts to get the festival back on track, without losing the semblance of sanity he’s managed to reclaim over the years.

In Slings and Arrows, Geoffrey’s mental illness isn’t treated as unusual or as something he should be ashamed of. That’s not to say that other characters don’t try to shame him or that it is never an obstacle to his relationships and work, but Geoffrey is a compelling, competent, and caring character in addition to his mental illness — not in spite of it.

Like In the Flesh, Slings and Arrows has at its heart this question of whether existence itself is worth it when life is filled with sadness and pain. Unlike the former, it never seems to stray too far from the answer that life is wonderful, confusing madness, and it is worth every performance we make.

Friday Night Lights

If you’re looking for cathartic comfort…

If you are one of the people who has dismissed Friday Night Lights as a viable viewing option because it’s “just a show about high school football,” think again. This community-based drama is a critical, yet optimistic look at what it is to live in contemporary small town America and is akin in quality to the best “prestige” dramas of the last decade.

Set in the fictional Dillon, Texas, it uses the family of Coach Eric Taylor as its focal point, but it is an ensemble drama involving a diverse cast of characters. Though mental health is not a major theme in the series, watching this show is truly a cathartic experience. If you’re in the mood to cry — happy tears and sad, and about something other than your life — then this is the show for you. In the process, you will be taken through nuanced, intimate, and compelling explorations of complex topics like classism, racism, sexism, and ableism that rarely feel heavy-handed.

Friday Night Lights does make a notable exploration of mental illness in Season 1 with the character of Waverly Grady. The clever, independent, and opinionated daughter of a local reverend, Waverly is a love interest for one of the central characters and also happens to be bipolar. Though Waverly was only a minor character and sadly didn’t return in the second season, the show won a Prism Award — given out for “the accurate depiction of substance abuse and mental illness” — for her storyline. Waverly was never a caricature or defined by her condition, and is one of many memorably complex characters on the Friday Night Lights journey.

Has TV ever altered your views on mental illness, or even helped you get through mental health struggles of your own? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments below.

By Erika Schmidt

Empathy is hard to teach. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch tells his daughter that “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” She discovers it for herself when she stands on the Radley front porch, seeing the world — her world — through Boo’s eyes. She imagines what his life must be like, and thus her life is changed.

Empathy requires imagination, vulnerability, courage, and dedication. It’s a quality that’s too often missing in our public discourse and our political leaders. It’s a muscle we too often neglect, so when we find a tool that can help us acknowledge our shared humanity, we should grab it and run with it.

Enter Degrassi, just a little Canadian sensation you may have heard of, (the 14th season of the Next Generation reboot premieres tonight!). For those who don’t know: back in the ’80s, a student at Degrassi Junior High got pregnant and kept the baby. That baby grew up to be seventh grader Emma Nelson, who ushered in the next generation of Degrassi students back in 2001. Degrassi: The Next Generation grew into a bona fide hit, got picked up by Teen Nick, and continues to churn out the drama to this day. As the years pass, old favorites graduate, new “niners” come in, and the beat goes on.

Let’s be clear: Degrassi isn’t a masterpiece. You can spot most storylines a mile away, the acting is wildly varied, the dialogue hovers between clunky and unintentionally hilarious, and there is rarely any subtext. But, if you’re looking for hijinks and scandal, you won’t be disappointed (two words: throat gonorrhea). The number of disasters, both tragic and ridiculous, that have befallen the students of Degrassi defies all logic.

But beneath the drama and beyond the camp is Degrassi’s enduring commitment to portraying its teenage characters as multifaceted individuals. They have histories, flaws, challenges, and tendencies that compel us to see them as people rather than examples. Before we know it, we’re putting ourselves in their shoes as they make decisions, mistakes, and progress.

When hot-button “issues” do come up (sexuality, gender identity, teen pregnancy, self-mutilation, bipolar disorder, rape, and death are all topics that have been addressed more than once), they affect characters in which we’re already invested, who have more going on than just this one storyline, and are thus defined by more than this one issue. At Degrassi, no one is safe, but no one is limited to being a token, either.

When Emma Nelson — who we’ve known from the time she was a 12-year-old environmentalist and outspoken honor student — copes with the trauma of witnessing a school shooting by flirting with dangerous sexual behavior and developing an eating disorder, it’s not a cliché. It’s a kid we know taking a disturbing turn as she grasps for answers. Emma survives, but she comes out a different person from the one we imagined she’d become back at the beginning. It’s an exercise in watching a character change and accepting the new version of her.

Or take Adam Torres. We’re first introduced to Adam when he hitches a ride to a concert with class president Sav Bhandari (who, incidentally, is struggling with differentiating from his strict parents and good-kid image). Adam, along with his older brother Drew (a cocky football player with a nasty streak), is new to Degrassi. He becomes friends with Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards (who are circling a romance). The three hang out and work on school projects together. Adam is mischievous, spontaneous verging on irresponsible, and smart. He has an offbeat sense of humor and a knack for calling out his friends on their BS.

It isn’t until Adam’s fifth episode that we’re introduced to his home life, and we learn that he is a transgender boy. By the time this part of his story — still a secret to everyone at Degrassi — is revealed to us, it’s one element in the context of a larger whole. We’ve already characterized Adam, based on several unrelated storylines.

This can be a powerful experience — having something society might deem a person’s defining trait revealed only after we’ve already formed our opinions based on the content of that person’s character. In Adam’s case, the reveal to the audience is a gentle one, and his storyline progresses from there much the way any other kid’s would, its universal problems, thrills, and heartbreaks made new by the particulars of the character. Adam gets himself into trouble, experiences misunderstanding, and feels the pain of first love  just like everyone else.

Simultaneously, Degrassi doesn’t back away from delving into the specific conflicts Adam faces as a transgender teen. His identity is revealed at school by an ignorant bully. He faces harassment and violence, as well as more subtle forms of bigotry. He handles these challenges with the blend of preternatural grace and impulsive explosiveness that is unique to him — and, importantly, we see him do it and hear what he has to say. When, in “My Body Is A Cage,” his mother asks him to dress up as “Gracie” to make his grandmother feel more comfortable, we feel the hit right along with him. Because we know Adam. And Adam isn’t Gracie.

While Adam’s story might be the first one of its kind on the show, in many other cases, Degrassi normalizes a wide range of human experiences by recycling them, keeping the plots fresh by focusing on the distinct characters involved. We see stories, not politics; characters, not avatars. Manny Santos’ unplanned pregnancy is unique from Liberty’s, from Mia’s, from Jenna’s. Marco del Rossi’s experience of grappling with his sexuality is different from Paige’s, from Alex’s, from Riley’s, from Tristan’s.

Coming out is never simple. Bigotry is never simple. A woman’s choice is never simple. All because no one’s life is ever simple, and no one makes it through without some help. It’s a reality we would all do well to remember, and watching a slightly ridiculous, noble-hearted teen drama isn’t the worst way to do it. So watch it with your kids, and talk about it. Or watch it with your partner, like I do, and practice withholding fear-based judgment, preparing for that inevitable day when you are a parent and your teen comes to you and says, “Mom, I think I have throat gonorrhea.”

By Maria Judnick

Before Netflix and all those other streaming video options, I was obsessed with TV shows on DVD. As soon as I’d hear that my favorite show had added another season to DVD, off I’d search, ready to plunk down any amount of money for a chance to spend another few hours engrossed in my favorite worlds. From M*A*S*H to West Wing to Psych, I owned them all.

More and more beloved TV shows like Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, and now Friends (the latter debuts in January) have made the jump to Netflix, but there are still so many greats – both famous and obscure – that deserve a second chance to be watched and loved. Here are 10 suggestions:

Ed

Sure, the premise is a bit weird (a New York lawyer Ed Stevens –played by Tom Cavanaugh — buys a bowling alley in his hometown of Stuckeyville, Ohio and tries to woo the woman of his high school dreams), but the show embraced its quirkiness, quickly amassing a legion of fans obsessed with the weekly $10 bets and random “Godfrey” characters. While the show featured such talent as Michael Ian Black, Julie Bowen, and Justin Long (and was co-produced by David Letterman), NBC pulled the plug in 2004 after just four seasons. Problems with music rights have delayed DVD production, so most fans (including myself) have had to watch their fuzzy VCR copies until they tore in the machine.

Three’s Company 

Almost immediately after the show’s debut in 1977, Three’s Company proved to be wildly popular. Starring John Ritter, Joyce De Witt, and Suzanne Summers as the original three platonic roommates involved in crazy hijinks centered around a Santa Monica apartment, these eight seasons have only continued to find fans through reruns, inspiring hope that Netflix will “come and knock” on their door.

Home Improvement

If you were a girl in the 1990s, it was assumed you were in love with J.T.T. (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), who played the middle son on the show Home Improvement. But J.T.T couldn’t have been the only appeal of the show; it was one of the highest ranked sitcoms for all eight seasons. Loosely based on Tim Allen’s stand-up routine, the story of a local tool-show host and his family and friends (including the partially-hidden neighbor Wilson) is arguably still one of the funniest shows on TV.

Full House 

There was so much to love in this show: Uncle Jesse’s good looks, Uncle Joey’s funny voices, little Michelle’s adorable catchphrases, Stephanie’s killer dance moves, everything Kimmy Gibbler said or did, and on and on. With the often hinted news that there’s a potential reboot in the works, it doesn’t hurt to start watching the show all over again!

Northern Exposure 

From 1990 to 1995, the story of Joel Fleishman (played by Rob Morrow), a Jewish New York City physician sent to the eccentric small town of Cicely, Alaska as remuneration for his student loans was nominated for more 57 awards and won 27 of them. But it’s not the awards that matter to fans – it’s the monologues of ex-con-turned-radio-deejay Chris Stevens (John Corbett), the grand schemes from former astronaut Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin), the off-hand comments from local wannabe film director Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows) and the stories at the local bar, the Brick, that keep people watching their DVDs and traveling to show reunions.

Community 

“Six seasons and a movie” has been the slogan of fans devoted to the friendships between Greendale Community College students. While the show has endured multiple casting / production changes, cancellation, and a recent move to Yahoo Screen for the sixth season, fans still haven’t given up on this ensemble comedy. Rewatching it all over again on Netflix would remind us why.

Will & Grace

With Friends being added to Netflix, it seems like a no-brainer to add some of the other insanely popular shows from the “Must-See TV” NBC lineup. Will & Grace’s eight seasons starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, and Sean Hayes were more than just great TV though; even Vice President Joe Biden has acknowledged that the show helped improve the American public opinion of the LGBT community.

The Simpsons 

It’s a simple question: Why shouldn’t America’s longest-running sitcom, longest-running animated program, and longest-running scripted primetime television show be on Netflix? For a show that has inspired countless others and even warranted entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, there’s just never enough Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie to go around. While FXX recently aired a 12 day marathon of all 552 previously broadcast episodes (and film) in chronological order, many fans argue there’s still a need to re-watch the antics of the town of Springfield on one’s own timetable.

The Golden Girls

In 1985, The Golden Girls debuted and, by the end of the show’s run in 1992, the show was truly “golden” having earned 11 Emmy awards (including one for each cast member) and the love of millions of fans worldwide. 30 years later, viewers still can’t get enough of the warm friendship of these four unusual roommates – Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia. Borrowing a favorite phrase from Sophia, “Picture This: Netflix, 2015” has a particularly good ring to it.

Seinfeld

All I really need to say is this: everyone loves this show. The rest, as George’s girlfriend Marcy would say, is just “yada-yada.”

Which shows do you wish you could watch on Netflix?

By Kayti Burt

We live in a golden age of television, and it’s not just happening in America. Thanks to the availability of international TV the Internet and an expansive list of speciality channels has made available, you don’t have to travel to Scandinavia to watch the much-talked-about Danish series The Killing or The Bridge, on which the American adaptations were based. You can watch them from the comfort of your own home.

Here are five European television dramas that are on par with the best of what American television has to offer.

Real Humans (Sweden)

I love character-based science fiction, and the genre has enjoyed a renaissance on American television in recent years. But my favorite sci-fi series may be a Swedish one. Äkta människor, translated to Real Humans for English-speaking viewers, is the story of a near-future in which androids (called hubots) have been integrated into most peoples’ everyday lives, often in the most intimate of ways. That isn’t just a subtle reference to sex-bots, which do exist in this world, but to the way in which humans have become attached to the artificially-intelligent beings living in their homes and, in many cases, as parts of their families.

In its two seasons (20 episodes), Real Humans follows two families and their respective members’ relationships to the hubots in their lives, as well as a ragtag band of liberated hubots, who have gained free will and have managed temporary escape from their lives of service. They work to gain their freedom, but are opposed by an ever-growing anti-hubot movement that calls itself “Real Humans.” Like the best science fiction, Real Humans is nuanced, thought-provoking, and poses prescient questions about the consequences humanity risks when allowing technology to serve so many functions in our lives.

The Returned (France)

In a mountain town in rural France, five dead members of the community come back to life in The Returned, a French drama with one eight-episode season under its belt and another in production. The Returned isn’t a tale of brain-dead zombies feasting on the living. These returned people don’t remember having died. They are not out to wreak havoc or eat brains. Their motivations are as myriad as their living counterparts, which is to say governed by a desire to be loved and accepted by the people they love and accept.

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because it has been told in many incarnations in the last decade — including ABC’s Resurrection and a forthcoming The Returned adaptation from A&E — but it is hard to imagine anything topping this atmospheric slow burn of a series. The Returned is beautifully directed with stunning visuals of the French countryside. It yields powerful performances from its ensemble cast, and is thematically underscored by a haunting soundtrack from Scottish post-rock band Mogwai.

Borgen (Denmark)

If you miss The West Wing or are still lamenting the cancellation of short-lived British drama Party Animals, then Borgen is the show for you. Focused on the unexpected rise of the first (fictional) female prime minister of Denmark, this political drama masterfully straddles the line between realistic and idealistic, while also exploring the sometimes impossible balance between professional and private spheres.

Though Borgen’s story is led by Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg, it is a true ensemble show. Its cast of well-drawn characters expands the world of political machinations to its many corrupt and complicated parts, from the various Danish political parties to the TV newsroom. With three seasons (30 episodes) already produced, the world of Borgen has so much to offer and will have you caring about Danish politics more than you ever thought possible.

Black Mirror (U.K.)

Garnering comparisons to classic TV anthology series The Twilight Zone, Britain’s Black Mirror has already made serious waves in the U.S. Its episodes explore the dark potentialities of our technology culture, a.k.a. the “black mirror” of our many screens. Each installment features an entirely different setting, premise, and cast. This non-traditional format may stretch the definition of what it means to be a TV series, but it’s too good not to include on this list.

Black Mirror is at its best when it examines large questions through an intimate lens, such as in “Fifteen Million Merits,” one of the series’ best episodes, which tackles the topic of entertainment shows like American Idol and the culture of distraction of which they are a part. “Bing” Madsen is our gateway character for the episode, a 20-something bored by his everyday existence: generating power by cycling on an exercise bike for hours on end, perpetually bombarded by distraction in the form of ubiquitous screens. When he meets Abi, a beautiful girl he hears singing in the bathroom, Bing uses most of his merits to give her a chance to audition for TV talent show Hot Shots. What happens next is a comment on the dangers of accepting distraction without question, and the range of choices we are given and make in a world where even anger can be commoditized.

In the Flesh (U.K.)

Many contemporary TV shows and movies use apocalypse as a theme, but British drama In the Flesh is concerned with what happens after the zombie apocalypse, expertly applying a supernatural filter to the real life horrors of social intolerance and discrimination. The show is set in post-zombie Britain, where scientists have found a way to “cure” the undead with medication. In the pilot, protagonist Kieren Walker, a partially-deceased syndrome (PDS) sufferer, returns to his family and rural community for the first time following his death and “rising.” The show follows Kieren’s struggle with his own guilt over the people he ate in his “untreated” state, as well as his efforts to reacclimate both to a family still dealing with his death and a town stuck in survival mode.

In the Flesh has run for two seasons, with the fate of its third yet to be announced by Britain’s BBC Three. It would be a shame to lose a TV series about the complexities of how we deal with trauma at the individual and societal level. But, even if it isn’t renewed, In the Flesh is still well worth a watch.

Do you watch any foreign TV shows? What European shows would you suggest to others looking to expand their media horizons? Sound off in the comments below.

Recent months have been really kind to Gilmore Girls fans, as the 8,372 thinkpieces on the show’s arrival to Netflix can attest. But we’re a greedy bunch and marathoning the entire series only made us crave a proper reunion even more.

Whether due to our psychic powers or because the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, the reunion of our dreams is finally happening! Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and creator Amy Sherman Palladino will all attend the ATX Television Festival in June 2015 to talk (very fast) about how hot Jess is, how lame Logan is, how a thousand yellow daisies are cute but won’t make you actually want to marry someone, how Rory really could have been a better friend to Lane, how they all wish they were more like Emily Gilmore…and how they’ve already filmed a movie?

“Gilmore was the highlight of my ridiculous life. I can’t wait to sit with these unbelievable broads and relive a time where sleep did not exist where stress and coffee were mama’s little helpers and where we all dove into the deep end together to make something weird and very, very cool,” Amy Sherman Palladino said. Ditto, Amy, ditto!

Buy your tickets now! Oh, and Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson and a bunch of the writers responsible for the careers of Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes will also be there! See you in June!

Ivy League law schools aren’t the only places you can find a future president, as one Redditor found when stumbling upon this forgotten 2001 appearance by then Illinois state senator, Barack Obama, on PBS’ Check, Please!  3 years before the rousing DNC speech that shot him to national fame, Obama talks diplomatically about cornbread and peach cobbler. He even manages to work in a talking point about small business owners! Some things never change.

By Kayti Burt

Even if you’re not a fan of The Hunger Games, you can probably list several items off of star Jennifer Lawrence’s filmography. But what about the franchise’s other Lawrence? We’re referring to director Francis Lawrence, who took over direction of The Hunger Games film franchise from Gary Ross following the first installment. Lawrence’s visual flair and talent for building cinematic worlds similar to our own made him an ideal choice for the job. Though Lawrence demonstrated these skills in I Am Legend and Constantine, it was his dual role as director and producer for the TV series Kings that really showed his potential to take on the final three The Hunger Games films.

Haven’t heard of Kings? You’re not alone. The television drama was a mid-season premiere for NBC back in 2009, and it didn’t last long, despite its compelling plot, stunning visuals, and solid ensemble cast. Loosely based on the story of King David from the Bible, Kings is set in an alternate modern day world in the kingdom of Gilboa (New York City stands in for the capital city Shiloh). The story begins when our young protagonist, David (Christopher Egan), a Gilboan soldier serving in the war against the Republic of Gath, takes out a Goliath-class tank to save some of his fellow soldiers — one of whom happens to be the son of King Silas (Ian McShane). David is whisked off to the capital for a celebration in his honor and is able to witness first-hand the machinations of the monarchy, a system into which he is reluctantly pulled.

Kings is the perfect companion to The Hunger Games franchise. It’s The Hunger Games if it took place almost entirely in the Capitol with President Snow as one of many main characters.  In addition to sharing a director  — Lawrence directed three episodes of the show’s 13-episode — Kings shares a number of defining aspects with the YA franchise…

The reluctant hero trope: Katniss and David are very similar heroes. Both hail from humble backgrounds and are thrust into the spotlight via reluctant acts of heroism. Unlike many in their respective worlds, they don’t vie for celebrity or power; these things are unwanted side effects of their desire to protect the people they love. Both have lost their fathers to the demands of the nation — Katniss’ father died in a mining accident, David’s father in the Unification War — and both are torn between the simpler lives they left behind and the demands of the cause that has ensnared and changed them.

Worlds similar to our own: Both Kings and The Hunger Games franchise do a wonderful job of building an alternate reality that somehow manages to feel both eerily similar to our own and distinctly different, allowing the storytellers to make unique comments on our own contemporary reality. In a video interview Lawrence did with TVWeb at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, he described the power of this alternate reality effect in Kings:

“Whenever you have a story, whatever it is, you always want it to be somewhat relatable to today and, the great thing is [the King David story] almost just transplanted over, and so it fit everything that’s sort of going on in the world right now. And then, when we were building our version of the monarchy, and sort of getting rid of the real royalty of it — the sashes and the medals and the pomp and circumstance and all that — and you start to make it feel a little corporate and presidential, it starts to sort of line up to the way things are working right now in America, which is pretty interesting. It’s working out to be kind of a nice allegory.”

The same could be said of Panem, a vision of a dystopian future that has more in common with our current reality than many viewers would like to admit.

Strong ensemble casts: I don’t need to tell you about the acting heavyweights represented in The Hunger Games series, but Kings boasts a similarly impressive cast. Led by the inimitable Ian McShane in a role fresh off of his turn in Deadwood, other familiar faces include, Arrow’s Susanna Thomas, The Winter Soldier’s Sebastian Stan, and Terra Nova’s Allison Miller — and that’s just the royal family. Macaulay Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Dylan Baker, and Wes Studi all fill either regular or recurring roles in the series.

Effective visual propaganda: One of the most striking visual parallels — besides Lawrence’s talent in blending the gritty with the beautiful — is the iconic visual language of the stories’ respective political movements. In Kings, the butterfly is a ubiquitous motif, a tool Silas uses to represent the narrative of his rise to power. In The Hunger Games, its equivalent is the mockingjay, for which the third and fourth film installments are named. Though this similarity may seem minor, Lawrence imbues both examples of visual propaganda with a weight lesser directors often fail to achieve. The butterfly and the mockingjay aren’t just symbols for the characters; they are an ever-shifting measure for the audience on who is winning, who is losing, and who doesn’t even bother to play the game.

Kings is available to watch in its entirety on Hulu.

Are there other on-screen stories that remind you of The Hunger Games? Sound off in the comments below.

By Maria Judnick

Years ago, Thanksgiving dinner meant getting dressing up in your Sunday best, going to Grandmama’s house and eating a meal fit for the pages of Gourmet served on her best china. While the caloric intake of Thanksgiving feasts has remained the same (or perhaps even increased!), the celebration looks a little different today. Great Uncle Bob might have his favorite pair of sweatpants on at the celebration since he’s too old to care about appearances, the kid’s table might consist of unhappy hipster youth staring dourly at their phones while communicating with other unhappy hipster youth similarly trapped at holiday meals states away, and the entire gluten-free (with vegan options) feast might have been lovingly planned and prepared by the good folks over at Whole Foods/Paycheck.

But, once the food’s been eaten, the political controversies have been sorted out, and you’ve once again confirmed that, no, your mother’s not getting any grandbabies this year, the traditions stay the same. You might have watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade earlier that day and, now that the turkey’s tryptophan has worked its way into your system, it’s time for some television in the den. But after the last football game has sent the men in their recliners into a deep snore and Charlie Brown has headed over to his grandma’s, what else is there to watch?

Here are some ideas to help everyone – both young and old – enjoy a good old fashioned night in front of the TV:

For the classic TV Fans:

The Brady Bunch – “The Un-Underground Movie”

Your grandma might not know how to work YouTube, but she sure can remember how much she loved watching The Brady Bunch with her kids, a.k.a. your parents. This episode, in which Greg directs a film about the pilgrims while learning valuable lessons, is sure to inspire plenty of nostalgia.

For the Baby Boomers:

Cheers – “Thanksgiving Orphans”

Everyone at this feast sure knows each other’s names. This episode, in which the Cheers staff and regulars gather at a potluck celebration, ends in this epic food fight that would make Animal House’s John Belushi proud.

For the Family Historians:

The Wonder Years – “The Ties that Bind”

With money tight at the Arnold household, Jack asks for a raise – and gets it, along with a promotion – but he also has to travel on Thanksgiving. Luckily, while traditions get upended that year, all things work out in the end, thus making your Aunt Mildred very happy.

For the Generation Xers and early Millennials:

Seinfeld – “The Mom and Pop Store”

This classic episode is Bryan Cranston’s first appearance on the show as Jerry’s dentist Tim Whatley. While plenty of hilarious Seinfeld hijinks ensue, this episode features Elaine accidentally rejecting the dentist’s advances since she can’t hear him over the loud music of his Thanksgiving party. Jon Voigt also makes an appearance.

For those Crazy, Comical Relatives You Can’t Help But Love:

Home Improvement – “A Frozen Moment”

If you feel like your family holiday has been a disaster, all you have to do is tune in to the Taylor’s Thanksgiving to remind yourself that it could be much, much worse…and also much, much funnier. In this episode, Tim “the Tool-Man” Taylor builds a Christmas Village in hopes of taking the perfect Christmas card photo. Of course, things never go quite according to plan.

For the Intellectuals and Politically Aware:

West Wing - “Indians in the Lobby”

It’s hard to pick between the two fabulous West Wing Thanksgiving episodes – “Shibboleth” and “Indians in the Lobby.” But, as much as I enjoy C.J. Cregg’s attempts to pardon two turkeys in “Shibboleth,” the classic funny moment belongs to President Bartlet as he speaks to the Butterball Hotline in “Indians in the Lobby.” Fair warning: both episodes may also inspire Round Two of Thanksgiving political discussion.

For Your Later “Framily” Get-togethers:

Friends ­– “The One With All the Thanksgivings”

Sure, there are definitive ranking systems available online for all the fabulous Friends Thanksgiving episodes. And while I’m sure some channel will be offering a mini-marathon of all of those episodes, I always go back to the Season 5 one because I’m such a sucker for the Monica / Chandler storyline.

For the Netflix Enthusiasts:

Gilmore Girls - “A Deep-Friend Korean Thanksgiving”

We wish we were as popular as the Gilmores, who manage to cram in four Thanksgiving celebrations in one day – The Kims, Sookie and Jackson, Luke, and Grandma and Grandpa Gilmore. However, we’re pretty content to just watch the massive amounts of food consumed.

For the Cartoon Enthusiasts:

The Simpsons – “Bart vs. Thanksgiving”

It’s an early season of The Simpsons and also a great episode. After Bart accidentally ruins Lisa’s centerpiece, he runs away to a soup kitchen only to return to apologize and enjoy a dinner of leftovers. Don’t have a cow, man – it all works out in the end!

Grumpy Cat, the angriest kitty you’ve ever loved, makes her acting debut this Saturday in Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever. (But why bother telling you? You’ve either had the date circled on your calendar for weeks or are learning about its existence right now.) With this Lifetime movie, Grumpy Cat joins an impressive list of animals that have been featured in Christmas-based entertainment over the years.

In honor of her big premiere, we’ve ranked the best of the holiday animals on a lovability scale from Ebenezer Scrooge at the beginning of A Christmas Carol to Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol. (In keeping with the theme of the list, Ebenezer Scrooge is portrayed by Donald Duck.)

 Bad Scrooge

Stripe, Gremlins (which totally counts as a Christmas movie)

Stripe is basically pure evil in scaly bipedal form. He tied up the family dog with Christmas lights! Oh, and he murdered a lot of people and traumatized a whole generation of children who were far too young for the movie and to this day cringe a little when “Do You Hear What I Hear?” starts to play.

The Abominable Snow Monster, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Sure, he plans to devour Rudolph’s entire family, but Abominable Snow Monsters gotta eat, you know? In the end, he loses his teeth and presumably embarks on a life of vegetarianism, which is kind of a downer for a mythical carnivorous ice beast.

That jerk reindeer, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

How dare he? Grandma was a saint! In addition, the reported number of incriminating hoof prints discovered at the scene might lead you to believe that this was something more than a “tragic accident.”

The Bumpus’ dogs from A Christmas Story

In their defense, what hound dogs aren’t going to seek out that sweet, sweet turkey without sparing a single thought for the loss of turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey gravy and even turkey hash?

Snoopy, A Charlie Brown Christmas

Yep, Snoopy’s closer to the bad Scrooge than the good Scrooge on this list, but there’s a valid reason for that: He’s kind of the villain in this beloved holiday special. Whose tacky doghouse wins first prize in the decorating contest? And whose overall decorating scheme comes to represent everything his owner hates about the hollow commercialism of the season? Man’s best friend, indeed. Thankfully, Snoopy gets a redemption arc when he helps turn Charlie Brown’s sad tree into something beautiful using decorations pilfered from his own display.

Rudolph, Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer

Rudolph seems like a decent-enough reindeer, and he can’t help the color and luminosity of his nose. It’s nice to see him prevail at the end of the song/movie, saving the day and triumphantly leading Santa’s team. But isn’t there a small part of you that hears this story and thinks back to your own early teenage days when you were either the bully or the bullied? Rudolph, despite his moxie and eventual happy ending, brings back some unpleasant junior high memories.  Sorry, Rudy.

The squirrel, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Never has mass hysteria been more accurately depicted on screen than the Griswold clan’s flight from the squirrel living in their Christmas tree. It starts with a funny squeaky sound and ends with people fainting, mothers getting knocked to the ground, Julia Louis-Dreyfus surviving a mauling, and an important warning about the high cholesterol in squirrels. Let this be a reminder to always buy your Christmas tree from an approved vendor.

Paws, The Search for Santa Paw

Paws is a fine canine who’s good to orphans, loyal to his owner, and exemplary in every way. In fact, he’d be closer to good Scrooge if the movie’s casting director, who clearly hates children, hadn’t picked a Santa who looks like he enjoys a healthy glug of Wild Turkey in his morning eggnog, if you know what I mean.

Mice wearing tiny antlers, Scrooged

They’re mice. Wearing tiny antlers. Mice wearing tiny antlers!

Zeus, The Dog Who Saved Christmas

Where would Christmas movies be without orphaned children and animals at the pound? Not only must Zeus overcome losing his bark and protecting his home from burglars, Culkin-style, but he does so while being voiced by Mario Lopez and out-acting co-star Dean Cain.

Zero, The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington’s ghostly pal is part Rudolph, part childhood nightmare, and all loyal companion. With those credentials, he’s obviously the best choice to lead Jack’s team of skeleton reindeer as they fly his coffin-sleigh in his semi-hostile takeover of Christmas.

Emmet Otter, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas

The star of Jim Henson’s 1977 Gift of the Magi-esque Christmas special, Emmet is a dirt-poor resident of Frogtown Hollow who hopes to win money in a talent show so he can buy his mother a Christmas gift. Emmet is the quintessential downtrodden yet plucky holiday hero who’s a charming mix of optimism and naïveté. (And a puppeteering marvel, too.) Plus, he plays a mean washtub.

Max, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

No Christmas animal is more sweet-natured or ill-treated than the Grinch’s poor dog. There’s Max, frantically working the foot pedal of the ancient sewing machine. Max, slumping under the weight of the antler tied to his head. Max, straining to haul that overloaded sled as the Grinch loots Whoville. Max does what his master asks of him and is finally, finally rewarded with love, praise and a slice of roast beast. May we all have such happy endings.

 Happy Scrooge

The question, then, is where Grumpy Cat will fit into this list of Christmas creatures. The plot outline on IMDB fits several of the circumstances outlined above:

• unadopted in a mall pet store
• meets a precocious child
• talks to said child
• rescues said child
• learns meaning of Christmas
• voiced by Aubrey Plaza (which, OK, is not in any of the descriptions above — but it should be)

Will the movie be good? Who knows! Will it be entertaining in some fashion? Most certainly! After you watch it, hit the comments to weigh in on whether you think Grumpy Cat belongs on the old Scrooge or the new Scrooge side of the list.

Last week’s live TV musical production proved once again that Peter Pan will never grow old for audiences, at least not where ratings are concerned. Thanks to Christopher Walken prancing around in a pirate costume and a pink parasol as Captain Hook, Allison Williams as Peter Pan surprising viewers with a smooth singing voice (and a mostly passable British accent), and Nana (Bowdie, a rescue dog from Utah) stealing every scene she was in, the network was able to help people mostly forget the kitschy, B-movie quality of last year’s NBC musical revival The Sound of Music with the stiff Carrie Underwood. Although Peter Pan did well in the ratings (although far below The Sound of Music’s historic numbers), the reviews were still relatively mixed, demonstrating that, when it comes to live musicals, everybody’s a critic.

NBC’s announcement of next year’s live musical, The Music Man, based off the classic 1957 Meredith Wilson songbook – already has some reviewers wondering how they’ll manage to pull off this complex show. Who can possibly play Harold Hill better than Robert Preston from the 1962 film? What about filling Shirley Jones’ shoes as Marian the librarian? Can they fit all seventy-six trombones on a single soundstage?

Of course, The Music Man is a relatively safe choice for NBC to make. They don’t have to worry as much about audiences expecting a new actor to overcome a true legend in their role or any politically incorrect situations or language. And while they don’t have to compete against any upcoming films or theatre debuts, NBC needs to hope viewers don’t remember the flat and uninspired remake ABC attempted in 2003 with Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Broderick.

Still, if I had anything to do with the casting decisions, there wouldn’t be trouble, not right here, not in this new River City. Here’s some of my more inspired ideas:

• Stephen T. Colbert as Harold Hill: Okay, I get it, it’s a bit unorthodox to cast a quirky comedian in the title role when there are legitimate Broadway stars like Hugh Jackman to consider. But, after Broderick’s version of this character, I believe it’s important to think outside the box. We already know Colbert can sing (his Christmas sing-alongs are quite good) and his Colbert Nation  fanatics would rally viewers behind him. Best of all, thanks to The Colbert Report, viewers already know that he’s good at playing characters who aren’t exactly always telling the truth, a strong plus for his ability to play the conniving Harold Hill.

• Kristen Bell as Marian Paroo: Thanks to her time on Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell fans have realized she’s great at witty one-liners, a must for Marian Paroo. And, of course, her vocals on that endlessly-popular little film called Frozen have proved she just might have the pipes to pull off a new arrangement of the complicated “Goodnight, My Someone.”

• Bernadette Peters as Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn: Broadway fans will be thrilled by this selection and NBC can rest easy knowing that someone in the ensemble has a strong background in live theatre. Besides, have I mentioned already that she’s the Bernadette Peters? After not being cast in the new Into the Woods film (Meryl Streep was given the role of The Witch, which Peters originated), it also might be a small moment of redemption for the incomparable actress.

• August Maturo as Winthrop Paroo: Unfortunately, Ron Howard has outgrown his part as Marian’s lisping little brother in The Music Man film. However, seven-year-old curly-haired Maturo has stolen many scenes on the show Girls Meets World, and surely would be able to do a convincing scene as the Wells Fargo Wagon comes to town.

• Jimmy Fallon’s Ragtime Gals (with Justin Timberlake) as the Mayor’s Barbershop Quartet: There’s nothing quite like seeing the mayor’s entourage break out into beautiful a capella melodies. While it might be hard to think about how to cast these roles, Jimmy Fallon has made the job easy. The other members of the quartet, Tom Shillue (a comedian) or A.D. Miles (one of Fallon’s head writers) could easily play the mayor if Fallon and Timberlake are too busy.

• Dulé Hill as Marcellus Washburn: Sure, Buddy Hackett is always fun to watch as Harold Hill’s only friend in River City, Iowa, and the only person who knows the new band leader’s real scheme in the town. However, Dulé Hill has strong credentials as a tap dancer and, thanks to his years on Psych, proves well-suited for a straight-laced “buddy” role. If the Psych musical and his stint with Broadway’s After Midnight taught viewers anything, it’s that Hill is a triple threat; his songs were the hit of both shows.

Of course, The Music Man isn’t the only iconic show that NBC executives could pick to prepare for 2015. I’ve got plenty more suggestions for the network from James Marsden as Conrad Birdie in Bye, Bye Birdie to Patton Oswalt as Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Danny Zuko in Grease so no viewer ever has to suffer through a bad remake again. Hollywood, I await your call.

It’s Thursday, which means you’ve either just listened to this week’s Serial episode or are taking a break to savor it. Those of the second persuasion have a good strategy going because there’s only one more Serial episode left (everybody, freak out!). You’re going to need something to fill the serialized crime documentary shaped hole in your heart and I’ve got just the thing.

The Staircase is a Peabody Award-winning French miniseries (8 whole episodes of WTF) by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. The documentary crew is on the scene almost immediately after novelist Michael Peterson’s wife is found dead at the bottom of a set of stairs in their home. Was it an accident or a murder? With each episode, there is another twist, another bombshell, and your beliefs about what actually happened and who is accountable morph one way and then the other.

You’ll hear from Peterson’s children who believe him and the one who doesn’t. You’ll see how both sides of the case go about building a case from scratch for trial. And you’ll bear witness to tense cross-examinations and all the high drama of the courtroom. Just like Serial, the series unravels a gripping mystery, step by step, and highlights the slippery, elusive nature of the truth.

Watch The Staircase in its entirety on YouTube:

American television is rife with British characters, so much so that it’s reasonable to assume that at least one of your favorite shows includes a main character with a funny accent (probably of the posh English variety). But is the reverse true? Do the British have an equal representation of American characters on their telly? Not even close.

Our culture’s Anglophilia may tip the scales, but that doesn’t mean the occasional Yank doesn’t pop up on British television. How do we Americans fare in our representation? It varies, of course, but — as is often the case with many British characters on American TV — American characters on British TV come with their fair share of stereotyping. Looking past the monolithic trope that is The American Idiot, here are the five kinds of Americans portrayed on British television.

The Valley Girl

Ask a real-life British person to do an American accent and they will frequently attempt a Valley Girl. Heavy on the “like”s and “OMG”s and often unfortunately light on the substance, The Valley Girl trope pops up in both British and American pop culture. One of our favorite examples comes from The Catherine Tate Show (the comedian is also known as Doctor Who’s Donna Noble). Tate may be conflating an entire diverse demographic into one identity,  but she manages to do it with some serious charm. Perhaps it’s my status as an American who has been known to drop a “like” or “OMG” into a conversation, but I would be friends with The Valley Girl from this sketch.

Less likable yet much more extensively featured than Catherine Tate’s Valley Girl, Classic Doctor Who companion Peri also falls into The Valley Girl category. Originally from California, her character often falls into the ditzy behavior and emphasis on appearance associated with this trope. Nicola Bryant, the actress behind the role, was actually British and infamous for her terrible American accent made more noticeable than the British slang used in the script.

The Cowboy

I rarely see cowboys in real life, but they show up all the time as Americans on British television, especially several decades ago. In a 1978 episode of Britain’s long-running comedy Are You Being Served?, Mrs Slocombe’s American uncle from New York comes to her wedding wearing an actual Stetson and reinforces the idiot American stereotype like it’s going out of style.

Other times, The Cowboy trope is less in the aesthetics and more in the attitude. The Classic Who episode “The Tomb of the Cybermen” (1967) features a gaggle of American soldiers, including Captain Hopper, an uncharacteristically competent representation of a Yank. The manly Captain Hopper spends much of the episode off-screen fixing his ship, but still manages to find some time for heroic feats.

This wasn’t the first time cowboys made an appearance on Doctor Who. The first U.S.-set episode — “The Gunfighters” (1966) — saw The First Doctor hanging with Wyatt Earp and Johnny Ringo.  Cowboys were big in early Who, and a go-to representation of an American in British television of yesteryear.

The New Money

The British are known for their period dramas, and none has been more popular in recent years (both domestically and internationally) than Downton Abbey. Unlike many British shows, Downton Abbey has a main character who is American: Cora Crawley (played by American Elizabeth McGovern). Though Lady Cora’s Americanness is often counted as a black mark on her character in English society, her family’s money allows for her foreign birthplace to be overlooked. This is a common trope when it comes to Americans popping up in British drama: The New Money.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m an American. Have gun, will travel!” — Cora

In British drama, The New Money American is a symbol of change in a dying imperial world.  They are usually seen as less culturally refined than their Old Money counterparts, but the manner in which they are treated as characters varies greatly. For Cora, though she is often teased for her more outgoing, casual (read: American) way, she is a resilient, well-developed character who is more than just her Americanness.

The Playboy/Playgirl

Americans on British television tend to be much more promiscuous than the British characters who surround them. Sometimes, it’s played as a character flaw, as is the case with Cora’s playboy brother Harold (played by American Paul Giamatti) in recent episodes of Downton Abbey. Other times, it’s played as part of an American’s charm, as is the case with Doctor Who/Torchwood‘s enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness (played by American/Brit John Barrowman).

Other examples include Peep Show’s Nancy (played by Canadian Rachel Blanchard), who manages to shoehorn the American stereotypes of being uber religious and a New Age hippie with her identity as a sexually adventurous lady.

The Operative

Often American characters appear on British television as operatives. They may not be the main villain, but they are players in the game, if not as members of the actual C.I.A., then as covert corporate players. The American Operative is often threatening, but not always frightening — more of a nuisance than anything. They are hardly ever the brains behind the operation, but that doesn’t stop them from shows of snarky confidence.

Jekyll’s Benjamin (Brit Paterson Joseph), a psychopathic employee of Klein & Utterson hired to control Tom (a.k.a. Jekyll) and Hyde, is a particularly effective variety of The American Goon, while the C.I.A. agents in Sherlock’s “A Scandal in Belgravia” prove worse at their jobs.

Do you have any more examples of American characters/stereotypes on British television? Share them in the comments below!

Friends! Welcome back to the wonderful world of Downton Abbey recaps! How have you been? How is your pig farm? Your missing/dead spouse? Your murdered valet? Your orphan child? Are you ready to get back into the mud? Get dirty and not talk too much about our feelings? Because here we go!

The music is starting and the dog is walking toward the house and the bell rings for someone. Maybe it’s you! Want to get caught up before we get started on Season 5? Here’s the recap from last year’s finale. As before so it will be again: SPOILER ALERT. Now, to the Abbey.

We begin with Edith on a bicycle! Such a modern woman! Where could she be going, a woman on her own, unescorted?? Well, to spy on her baby of course! Michael, her almost-husband, is obviously still missing and yes, we have a new baby on the block, but this baby is so low class she plays with laundry! Outside! Oh, Edith, please rescue this baby!

In the drawing room, it is 1924. Rose is still living at Downton. As they are wont to do whenever youngs and olds mix in the drawing room, things get political and nonsensical, and Robert makes sure his first line of the season is problematic, saying: “I couldn’t care less if he [the prime minister?] was the son of Fu Manchu.” Class warfare starts early this season.

Tom Branson jumps in with some comment about how he wants to “support the school more” (with romance because he loves the teacher!).

For whimsical and cuteness reasons, we get all the babies and Isis, the dog, in a single scene. They are all getting so big! Maybe it’s time for a spin-off series?

In the kitchen, Daisy and Patmore are back in action! Things are getting really descriptive—Hughes gets in a bunch of explanatory stuff about the general situation of service people in Great Britain and then Daisy does her adorable baby impression, talking fancifully about the distant future of 1958. By my calculation, Daisy is like 86 at this point in Downton Time. Why is she still talking like a baby?

Back at the Baby Watcher’s Farm, Edith’s baby appears distressingly to be about the same age as Baby Sibby and Baby Whatever Boy Name, unless maybe she’s just a huge baby and a future basketball legend? Sobbing as she leaves, Edith is clearly not 100% cool with her farmed-out baby situation. Don’t cry though, Edith! Your baby is named Marigold!! Best name on the show yet. I’m naming all my babies Marigold! No one take that!

The old ladies go for a walk and talk about boys boys boys. This would not pass the Bechdel test. The Dowager Countess starts the season strong by telling Mrs. Crawley that her new suitor just “wants what all men want.” So funny because sex! And old people! Ewwwwww!

Back at Downton, Thomas and the cute footman Jimmy are flirting in the dark corners. Carson catches them and is not cool with the obvious sex talk. Hey, Carson, everyone’s doing it, bro. Stop being such a prude!

In the drawing room, Rose is clearly taking Sybil’s place. Doesn’t anyone remember Sybil?! Her of the original rebelliousness and the actual style? R.I.P. Sybil. I’ll never forget you and your slender ankles.

Downstairs, the Bateses do some more explicating and backstory-ing and Thomas does his Thomas-y thing and sneaks up behind the current target of his maliciousness, Baxter, and tries to pump her for information. Is this Thomas’ season? Will he finally take down Downton, causing the sun to go dark and the water to dry up, and rule the grounds and the village like Scar did in Simba’s absence?

Things get political before dinner downstairs. They also get political upstairs in bed.

Very Important Plot Point Alert: The Village War Memorial. Where will it go?! Carson, it turns out, is “a considerable figure in the village” and some ladies want him to chair some committee that will oversee this Very Important Plot Point.

As usual, a second crucial plot point comes through the mail: James is getting a ton of love letters from Old Boss the Cougar.

At the Dowager House, Robert chats with his mom about how sad he is that the village wants Carson to head a committee and not him. Mommy is like “Your dad wouldn’t have stood for that.”

At Downton, more mysterious mail arrives! This time, it’s for Daisy! Drama! Suspense!

Carson is still deciding whether or not to chair this stupid committee and it is going to tear this family apart! The very fabric of society is threatened. Whatever choice he makes will change history, I’m sure of it! (Look, I’m trying to pep up this incredibly dull memorial/Robert’s ego based plot line until we can get back to Edith’s illegitimate baby.)

Robert tells Cora she doesn’t need to know the details about Tom’s School Teacher. Ladies don’t need to busy their tiny heads with details, Cora. You should know that by now!

Mary, the cold, feelingless monster, is super stoked that the village likes Carson more than her dad. She just likes to see her family feel bad, for whatever reason.

At the school, Tom’s School Teacher love interest is so modern! She’s not even wearing a hat!

At the Dowager House, Violet interrogates one of Mrs. Crawley’s many suitors, the doctor. Is Violet trying to set up some sort of geriatric love triangle? How bored is she?

In front of a fire, Robert pretends he so doesn’t care that the village likes Carson more than him. Mary, in a strange moment of “kindness”, says to her dad: “I want you.” Not super appropriate, Mary. This is 1924, not, I don’t know, some time when incest was popular or social acceptable.

On the stairs, Thomas threatens Baxter. As usual. Again.

Upstairs, Edith romantically touches a book. Could this book please be a clue to the whereabouts of Marigold’s father?

In the kitchen, Daisy reveals that her mail was about a course she’s taking because, as she says: “I want to be grown up!” Hey, girl, you’re in, at the very least, your late 20s at this point. You’re a grown-up. Or…does she have some sort of disease that keeps her young forever?? Oh no, she’s just dyslexic. Is this dyslexia the reason Thomas has been able to trick her so many times? I didn’t realize being susceptible to villains was a side effect of dyslexia. Maybe it’s just an unrelated condition she also has. Guys, Daisy’s dyslexia will be a plot point. Mark my words

In a bathroom somewhere, Molesley dyes his hair black.

In an office somewhere, Rose the Little Upstart tries to convince Tom to bring the School Teacher to the house. Oh, Rose! First you consorted with an African-American jazz singer and now you encourage your cousin-in-law to see a school teacher?! When will it stop?! My heart can’t take this sort of scandal-induced stress!

In the library, the Granthams lie about how happy they are that the village wants Carson on a committee.

In an alley, Edith talks with Baby Watcher about Marigold, Best Baby Yet. The farmer tells Edith he knows she is Marigold’s mom. Really? What gave it away? The shirt she always wears when she’s visiting that says “World’s Best Mom of a Marigold!”? Or was it the tears?

Downstairs, Carson delivers to Hughes the one-line summary of this episode: “But he was sad, not at me but maybe because things are changing.”

The Bateses flirt mercilessly over cards in the downstairs dining room. We get it. You’re in love.

Jimmy and Thomas flirt mercilessly over cigarettes. We get it. You’re in love.

Violet continues on whatever scheme she’s on that seems like maybe it actually doesn’t involve setting Isobel up? She makes a Pride and Prejudice joke, which allows us to forget about our confusion momentarily.

In the hall, Molesley counsels Baxter on how to deal with Thomas of Dark Corners. How is he the voice of reason here? How is he the only one who realizes that, in all situations, Thomas is the villain, forever, always, until he dies?

In the drawing room, the music swells as the Grantham girls eye Branson and start scheming away some sort of plan for the parents’ anniversary.

Downstairs, the Help Cartel (Carson/Hughes/Patmore) discuss Daisy’s seditious desire to learn basic math.

Upstairs, Mary and Mrs. Bates finally have a few minutes alone for Mary to say rude things and make oblique references to sex followed by comments about how gross it is to talk about sex. Hey, Mary, remember that time you basically had sex with a dead guy?! That seems pretty gross to me, but I guess I’m a total prude. Guess who’s not though, suddenly? Mary! Who tells Anna that she totally believes in checking out the equipment pre-maritally! Bow chicka wowow.

Downstairs, Carson sets up Bates to be the valet for Lord Gillingham—oh, my favorite of Mary’s suitors, the Pirate!—whose previous valet was, oh you know, just Anna’s rapist who was murdered by Bates!!

Rose ambushes the Hatless Political School Teacher at the school to convince her to come to the anniversary party. Uh oh. Lord Grantham is gonna be so piiiiisssssssssed. Good old Rose.

Somewhere, Violet’s Torture Isobel Tea gets underway. The love triangle appears to be taking on more complex shapes. Violet should potentially take up knitting. She’s clearly bored out of her skull and is playing around with Isobel’s life for a laugh.

Tony the Pirate shows up in the library. He and Mary flirt about guns.

At tea, more flirting: this time, the doctor with Isobel. Isobel gets jealous over the other, fancy man suitor who seems to be overly enjoying Mrs. Shackleton (so many characters—I’m going to need to check the fan wiki to see if we’ve met her before).

Thomas steals a pair of shoes and corners Baxter in a shoe shining room and threatens to tell her story to her ladyship. What is her story?! It’s probably worse than she once invited a school teacher over, at least, that’s what her terrified crying is saying to me…

The Pirate, Mary and Tom walk in the foggy woods with guns. Who will die today? Mary tells the Pirate she’s a Buddhist. Or maybe a sociopath. She says: “Tony, I do love you, you know, in my cold and unfeeling way.”

A familiar looking stranger sweeps into Downton, her car apparently having broken down. Suddenly, the third-tier Jimmy plot is becoming clear. This is the old lady who’s in love with him. I mean, she’s not that old…

Out of nowhere, Lord Grantham gets inappropriate again: “Molesley, you look very Latin all of a sudden. Do you have Italian blood?”

Maybe the hair dye did contain a transfusion of Italian blood, if Italian blood makes you into a wise, good person, because once again, Molesley is the only voice of reason in the whole house, telling Baxter to just tell Lady Grantham whatever her terrible story is (she knows a school teacher, she is a quarter Italian, she put the soap on the floor that caused the Lady to slip and lose her baby).

Upstairs, Baxter tells Lady Grantham her big secret. She’s a super duper thief who did prison time for stealing jewels. Now, if there is one thing I know, it is that whatever Baxter’s motive for her crime, which she will not yet reveal as a British person who values her dignity and the slow pacing of a good plot over everything else, whatever her motive, it will completely exonerate her from everything. Like, probably the people she stole the jewels from were Nazis and she gave them back to the Jews the Nazis originally stole them from. Or something.

Upstairs, Murderer Bates menacingly brushes the Pirate’s coat, fishing for info on the person he murdered.

Downstairs, Baxter and Molesley talk about trust. So romantic. This is clearly the romance of the season.

In the hall, the Old Boss Cougar sexually harasses Jimmy hard.

In the drawing room, all the plots converge as the School Teacher enters and Lord Grantham looks on aghast.

The older ladies are also here, clearly a bit miffed with each other about the earlier tea party. Violet works hard to remind Edith about the Downton caste system. Oh, Violet, did you not hear Carson announce the theme of the episode?

In the dining room, Lord Grantham objectifies Lady Grantham by calling her “a bumper prize.” Way to rub in the fact that she’s alive to the many, many people in the room with dead spouses.

The Old Boss Cougar continues to openly fondle Jimmy at the dinner table.

The School Teacher gets political about the war memorial. She apparently hates stones. And wars, but mainly stones. Which of course makes Robert super pissed. Hey, guys, aren’t there rules about talking politics with old people at dinner? Or was that instituted in the Reagan years?

Oh no! The School Teacher calls out Robert’s saddest thing: the fact that the village hates him and doesn’t want him on their committee. Things get wild, by which I mean everyone goes silent and tries to avoid eye contact. Carson, as usual, rescues the whole thing by concocting some lie about how the village totally actually really does like Lord Grantham. The old ladies get their dander up a bit. Isobel defends the School Teacher for standing up for her anti-stone principles and Violet says: “Principles are like prayers—noble, of course, but awkward at a party.” Put it on a shirt!

Carson continues to keeps his eyes on all developing situations and demands that Jimmy show him a note the Old Boss Cougar passed him at dinner. Thomas comes to his aid. Oh, definitely, Thomas is someone you want coming to your aid, Jimmy. Totally. Great idea.

In the drawing room, the School Teacher announces she wants to meet the staff downstairs. Okay. We get it. Political. Branson sure has a type.

Edith sighs deeply in a corner of the drawing room so Mary comes over to torment her in a not sweet or sisterly way.

Prediction: The School Teacher has to go downstairs so she can meet Daisy, offer to teach her math, diagnose her learning disability and then save the day by teaching her strategies to deal with it!

At the bottom of the stairs, Thomas tries to tell Cora about Baxter the Thief’s horrible shameful past and it backfires! Cora sort of calls him out. Thomas is probably going to murder Baxter.

In the library, Branson and Robert exchange heated words, which quickly become unheated. Mainly, they say the word “lover” in a sort of uncomfortable way.

In Cora’s bedroom, Honorable Baxter refuses to reveal her criminal motivations. But Cora never fires a lady’s maid, even when they kill her unborn baby, so Baxter gets a reprieve. For now!

Downstairs, Carson tells Molesley that his sad dye job is dumb.

In her room, Edith throws the old Michael clue book at the fire and starts crying. And then it catches on fire. Is Downton about to burn down?

In the hall, Tony the Pirate sneaks into Mary’s room like a good pirate and Thomas and Jimmy, who are about to engage in some illicit behavior of their own, see him. Great. More ammo for Thomas. Can we please fire him, like, yesterday?

In Mary’s room, Tony has clearly overheard Mary’s talk with Anna and he says: “I want us to be lovers, Mary.” Lovers: the word of the episode!

Unfortunately, as the fire breaks out, Thomas gets to be a hero. Sand is thrown, hoses unfurled, babies rescued, and Jimmy is caught in a compromising position with Old Boss Cougar. Firefighters dressed as knights show up and everything is okay enough for Mary to tell the Bateses: “Lady Edith chose to set fire to her room, but we’re all fine.”

Robert fires Jimmy for his naked wrestling and conveniently one of the firefighters is the Baby Watcher and Hughes, of course, knows something is up when she sees Edith consorting with him, but Hughes probably already knows everything anyway because she’s Hughes!

And credits.

Character Ranking:

5. Tony the Pirate: The Pirate is hot and I am so glad Mary chose him over the much-less-pirate-y Pig Farmer. He hasn’t done much yet, but I believe in him.

4. Marigold: The newest baby also hasn’t done much yet, but come on, she’s named Marigold! Plus, her dad is in a camp somewhere starving to death and her mom is setting houses on fire due to sadness and she’s being forced to play with laundry, while her cousins are probably swimming in pools of gold pieces and eating chocolate.

3. Violet: She had some misses this episode, but her prayers-at-parties line was solid. I hope the fact that she left the party early doesn’t mean she’s dying!

2. Molesley: He’s really coming into his own now that he’s 52! His pathetic guise may make him the perfect person to take down Thomas. Fingers crossed!

1. Mary: I used to hate Mary, but somehow, her consistent nastiness is growing on me. She’s a horrible, horrible person and she knows it. I can’t wait to see what kind of emotional damage she inflicts this season!

See you guys next week!

We just finished an incredible year of television drama, and 2015 promises to be just as good. New projects from beloved creators, risky genre mashups, and further expansion in what constitutes television promise to make this year another groundbreaker. Here are 11 exciting television projects to look forward to.

Galavant

Galavant isn’t breaking the TV mold so much as betting on the fact that audiences are missing the more family-friendly fare that once had a regular place on network TV (something Jane the Virgin and Flash have recently proven). A musical fairy tale comedy about a down-on-his-luck knight, I’m getting some serious Spamalot vibes from the promo. If it’s half as good as the Monty Python musical and manages to sustain creative momentum in both storytelling and soundtrack, Galavant could be something special. Of course, it could just as easily be a spectacular failure, but we applaud its kooky ambition and its diverse cast, and the immense fun they seem to be having. Early guest stars include John Stamos, Weird Al, and Ricky Gervais.

Premiere date: Sunday, January 4th at 8pm on ABC.

Agent Carter

Another network mid-season filler, Agent Carter is the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and the first MCU property to be led by women both in front of and behind the camera (Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas will serve as showrunners). The eight-part miniseries will pick up shortly after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger in 1946 as Peggy Carter deals with a post-war America. Working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve by day and going on missions with S.H.I.E.L.D. founder (and Iron Man’s dad) Howard Stark at night, Agent Carter seems like the perfect mix of Alias’ spy drama and The Hour‘s mid-century office period piece.

This promising set-up is bolstered by an excellent returning cast from the Captain America films (namely, the talented and charismatic Hayley Atwell in the lead role, but also notably Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark). The first installment was penned by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely,  writers of both Captain America films, with the second written by Eric Pearson, who was responsible for writing the superb Agent Carter short film that inspired the television series.

Premiere date: Tuesday, January 6th at 9pm on ABC.

Sense8

We’re not sold on the name of the upcoming Netflix drama, Sense8, but that may be the only reservation we have for the newest project coming from the Wachowski siblings (a.k.a. the directors of The Matrix, Cloud Atlas, and the upcoming Jupiter Ascending), created in collaboration with J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5). Given that the Wachowskis are known for their visual flair and philosophical storytelling, while Straczynski is considered one of the first TV creators to bring long-form serialized storytelling to television, it’s hard not to get excited about this project based on its creators’ pedigrees alone, but the show is also incredibly ambitious in its scope and refreshing in its casting.

Set and filmed in locations around the world — including Nairobi, Reykjavik, Chicago, London, Mexico City, and Mumbai — Sense8 tells the story of eight strangers who become emotionally and mentally linked following a tragic death. Familiar faces include Naveen Andrews (Lost’s Sayid), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who’s Martha), Bae Doona (Cloud Atlas, The Host), and Daryl Hannah, along with a diverse cast of actors from Spain, India, and Germany, as well as a transgender actress.

Premiere date: T.B.D. on Netflix

Bloodline

So far, Netflix has kept many of the details concerning its new drama Bloodline shrouded in secrecy, but I’m putting anything starring Kyle Chandler on my must-see list based on Friday Night Lights withdrawal symptoms alone. This drama about four adult siblings whose  dark pasts are brought to the surface upon the return of their black sheep brother to the Florida Keys is brought to you by the men behind Damages, which probably means edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

The moody teaser trailer has a similarly dark and mysterious aura about it, but will it capture the same narrative energy as the FX drama?  Given that all 13 episodes will be simultaneously released in March, we don’t have to wait long to find out. This project is a collaboration between Netflix and Sony Entertainment, the first of its kind between a major movie studio and a streaming service, making it interesting on a production level as well as a narrative one.

Premiere date: March 2015 on Netflix

Shannara

MTV is throwing its hat in the high fantasy drama ring with an adaptation of Terry Brooks’ classic series Shannara, a swashbuckling epic set several millennia in our future after a global apocalypse has simultaneously wiped out life as we know it and brought back magic. The 10 episode order will draw material from the second book in the series, The Elfstones of Shannara, and has Arrow‘s Manu Bennett and The Carrie Diaries’ Austin Butler signed on to star. This is an exciting and surprising move for MTV, another bold step away from its reality past to a schedule featuring more original drama content.

Premiere date: T.B.D. on MTV

Westworld

Who isn’t looking forward to Westworld? Husband-and-wife team Jonathan Nolan (co-screenwriter for The Dark Knight, Interstellar, etc.) and Lisa Joy (writer for Burn Notice, Pushing Daisies) are spearheading the HBO re-imagining of the 1973 Yul Brynner cult hit, bringing some thematically diverse backgrounds to what is already an awesome concept. The Westworld film, written and directed by Michael Crichton, tells the story of two tourists at an adult-themed amusement park of the future who are hunted by a Western gunslinger robot. Presumably, the television series will follow a similar narrative. With an all-star cast for the pilot, including Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Miranda Otto, and Ed Harris, this TV show has a lot of promise.

Fortitude

Described by The Guardian as “Twin Peaks in the arctic,” this British drama series is not the most watchable on this list, but that isn’t a critique. Fortitude tells the story of a murder in a small Scandinavian town and, from the looks of the trailer, it will be just as brutal and dark as you’d imagine life in the Arctic to be. The series has brought on some amazing talent, such as Michael Gambon, Stanley Tucci, Sofie Gråbøl, and Christopher Ecclestone. Add a unique setting and an expansive budget to this great cast, and there’s no good reason to not make room for Fortitude on your TV schedule.

Premiere date: Thursday January 29th at 10 p.m. on Pivot

iZombie

The CW has been on fire this season with its new shows, and we’re hoping the network will continue its streak of excellence with its midseason premieres, especially comic adaptation iZombie. A series about a zombie morgue assistant who eats murder victims’ brains and uses the memories she absorbs to solve their murders is a little high-concept, but the show is helmed by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas. We’d watch iZombie based on that fact alone, but we have to admit its odd premise and comic book origins have us seriously intrigued.

Premiere date: T.B.D. on The CW

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Adapted from the bestselling tome of the same name, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a seven-part British fantasy series set in an alternate version of early 19th century England, where magic is possible, but no longer practiced. The source material is nothing short of magical (forgive me), and the adaptation has secured screenwriter Peter Harness (Doctor Who‘s “Kill the Moon”) and director Toby Haynes (Sherlock‘s “The Reichenbach Fall,” one of the best episodes of television in the last few years) to bring it to the screen.

Premiere date: T.B.D. on BBC America

Cucumber/Banana/Tofu

If the title confuses you, it’s because it actually refers to three separate shows being broadcast across three different British channels. The shows share the same subject matter, queer life,  and exist in the same narrative universe, interweaving across station and series borders. Here’s hoping there’s as much storytelling as shock factor. With TV veteran Russell T. Davies at the helm and In the Flesh‘s Luke Newberry as one part of a great ensemble cast, we have high hopes for the emotional resonance of this quirky drama.

Premiere date: Cucumber and Banana will air on Logo TV in early 2015, but — so far — there are no plans to broadcast Tofu in America.

Killjoys

Bounty hunters. In space. Are you convinced yet? That is the premise for SyFy’s upcoming Killjoys, a drama from Michelle Lovretta (creator of the excellent Lost Girl) and the studio that brings us Orphan Black. We’re hoping this show has the same fast-paced storytelling and female-centric narrative that have made both Lost Girl and Orphan Black so refreshing and watchable. Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke MacFarlane play three interplanetary bounty hunters chasing targets through a planetary system on the brink of class war. There aren’t enough space dramas on TV. Could Killjoys be the drama that fills the Firefly-shaped hole still in many of our television-loving hearts?

Premiere date: T.B.D. on Syfy

What TV shows are you most looking forward to in 2015? Sound off in the comments below.

In case you missed our season premiere recap and/or have been living under a rock that doesn’t have TV or internet access, Downton Abbey is back! Every year at this time, a few of the actors hop over the pond to grace America’s awkward talk show circuit, where the main remark is always “Wow, you all look so different in regular clothes!” Thankfully, Entertainment Weekly changed it up and asked Lady Edith, Mrs. Patmore, and Mrs. Hughes to play Cards Against Humanity. And you thought you’d never hear these ladies discuss bitch slaps, balls, and farting and walking away.

Friends! The ash has settled and we’ve arrived at the second episode of Downton Abbey Season 5! (Missed the first? Read all about it.) I can hardly wait! Is Downton still standing? How does Lord Grantham feel about how the village feels about him?! As usual: Spoiler Alert. Here we go!

The servants begin cleaning Edith’s charred remains of a room (echoing the charred remains of her life perhaps?) and Anna finds a picture  of Marigold and shows it to Mrs. Hughes. So much for that secret.

The committee and Carson walk with their new obnoxious patron, Donk. By the way, something I missed last episode was that Baby Sibby is now calling Lord Grantham “Donk” after the donkey in Pin the Tail on the Donkey. In memory of Baby Sibby’s perfect mother, I will henceforth refer to Robert Grantham as Donk. Anyway, the village and Carson want the memorial on the cricket field and Donk wants cricket on the cricket field. Classic Donk: putting sports over human lives.

Thomas and Jimmy have a strange parting, in which Jimmy starts by saying he can’t believe he’s friends with a real life homosexual and then adds, “I’m sad to see the back of you, I am.” Really, writing team? That’s an interesting choice. The music swells.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Patmore loads a huge tray for Molesley, which is a perfect time for Molesley to ask for a promotion to first footman (he’s definitely going to drop that tray).

In the dining room, everyone talks about Baby George (stop talking about your kids and go hang out with them!) and Mary calls Edith an idiot, which everyone pretty much ignores. Mary then lies to her family and tells them she is going on a “sketching vacation” with her friend “Annabell.” It’s a sex vacation, Mary. That’s what it’s called.

Tensions build between Carson and Donk over the location of the war memorial. Sigh. So this plot really is sticking around for another episode…

Rose thinks about asking for a radio and Donk nearly has a heart attack.

At the Baby Watcher’s Farm, the Baby Watcher (Hot Firefighter) sets Edith up to “take a greater interest” in Marigold. His wife is not super cool with that because Marigold is so cute and perfect and her name is Marigold, but the Baby Watcher pushes on.

At a tea for the old people, Violet totally calls Isobel out about her Fancy Lord Suitor in front of her Doctor Suitor. Daaaang, Violet is cold! Players have to play, Violet. Let Isobel play!

On the stairs, Thomas channels his sadness over Jimmy leaving by harassing Baxter and Gallant Mr. Molesley. Talk to a therapist, dude! That’s what the rest of us do!

Downstairs, Patmore and Rose conspire to get Daisy educated by the Hatless School Teacher.

Upstairs, Anna is in on the sex vacation. Anna points out that Mary, for the first time in her life, will be undertaking the arduous task of taking her own clothing on and off by herself. Oh no! But how will she manage her hats?! After the uncomfortable clothing discussion, the talk turns to birth control and Mary takes the opportunity to guilt Anna into buying her a diaphragm by reminding Anna of the fact that her husband is a murderer and also that Mary’s own husband is dead, saying, “…you’re married, with a living husband!”

Downstairs, Thomas smokes menacingly and tries to convince the Noble Molesley that Baxter’s past as a jewel thief makes her the bad guy. Speak his name and he shall appear: the real criminal, Bates, waltzes in to tell Thomas to shut his yapper. Snitches in ditches, amiright?

The bored writing staff has Donk make a joke about Downton being a hotel for the second time in as many episodes (product placement?). Cora, playing the part of the audience, says: “You’ve already made that joke.”

In the library, Edith tells her parents the suspicious story of how she’s taken an interest in the Farmer Firefighter’s Unwanted Adoptee.

Rose continues to angle for a wireless. Doesn’t she have parents of her own she can beg for new advanced technology toys?

Downstairs, Ross and Rachel (Hughes and Carson) disagree over the war memorial’s placement. It’s ripping the whole house apart!

In town, Anna attempts to buy a prophylactic. Bet you thought you’d never see that sentence in a Downton recap.

Downstairs, the School Teacher and Daisy get set up for tutoring (see my previous predictions). Also, Julian Fellowes, if you’d like to hire me for your writing team, I am potentially available, though I’m not sure you can afford me.

Upstairs, Cora joins the team lobbying for a wireless. Donk, the Molesley of upstairs, says: “[The wireless] is a fad! It won’t last.” Poor guy is never going to be on the right side of history.

In the shoe shine room, Molesley confronts Baxter the Thief about the thievery. Molesley, like us, wants to know the real reason Baxter turned to crime. Baxter, the Angel from Heaven, will not tell. This, of course, is how we know she is an angel from heaven.

At the tea with the Fancy Lord Suitor, Violet openly taunts Isobel about the burgeoning romance. Can you imagine a third grade Violet finding out someone had a crush on someone else? Uuugh, Violet, stop!!

In Mary’s room, the Feminist Society (Anna and Mary) meet to discuss Anna’s judgment at the hands of the pharmacist and a women’s right to birth control, but they do it in such a fun, flirty way it almost doesn’t make you hate feminism!

On the stairs, a new cast member ogles a painting.

In the drawing room, Meddlesome Thomas tells Meddlesome Rose that the School Teacher is downstairs.

Mary’s Less Attractive Suitor From Last Season acts grumpy about the fact that he wasn’t “the lucky winner” of Mary’s cold, barely beating heart.

Downstairs, the School Teacher doesn’t want to go to dinner, but she does want to inspire Tom to shake the gilded bonds of the Abbey. Too bad she’s not even remotely as fun and cool and cute as Sybil, because I kind of like her attitude.

At dinner, the New Cast Member flirts with Cora and Donk tries to fight with the School Teacher in absentia. Unfortunately, her “once more unto the breach, dear friends” speech inspired Tom and he comes to the defense of the Russian Revolution.

In the hall, Imperialist Donk seems to finally be swayed towards the wireless when he hears that the King is going to be on it. Carson uses this as an opportunity to get in a metaphorical point about Donk’s attitude about the placement of the war memorial saying: “…even kings must bow to pressure sometimes.” Touché, Carson. Compare Donk to a king to stoke his ego and then tell him to sit the F down. Well played. Oh wait, maybe he’s actually just talking about the wireless.

Outside, Molesley looks sad and Baxter the Angelic Thief continues to refuse to tell anyone why she stole the jewels. This is getting tiresome, Baxter. Why don’t you just kiss Molesley so we can move on?

In the room with all the paintings, maybe the New Cast Member isn’t so new? He appears to have a past with Cora.

Downstairs, there is discord in the Hughes/Carson Harmony Machine because Carson is from the ’70s and Hughes is a ’90s…chick.

In Cora’s room, Cora still can’t decide whether or not to sack Baxter. Spoiler: I really doubt she will.

In the library, Mary and the Less Attractive Suitor get into a heated debate about the difference between sex and love, a debate which actually involves the use of the word “sex.” Have they ever used this smutty, graphic term before? Is it even legal to say on televison?

In the bedroom, Donk nearly has an aneurism when it occurs to him that Tom might leave Downton and take Baby Sibby with him. He basically gets in a yelling fight with himself. Dear Donk, I’m suggesting for you what I suggested earlier for Thomas: get some therapy, please. Then, in an especially cute maneuver, he tells Cora to tell the New Cast Member to stop flirting with Isis. Oh, Isis is who he’s flirting with?? He says: “There is nothing more ill-bred than trying to steal the affections of someone else’s dog!” and then slams his head down on his pillow. Hey, Donk, I’m no aristocrat, but I have this feeling that it is super “ill-bred” to pay more attention to your dog than your wife.

In Mary’s room, the Feminist Society has a bit of schism when Anna slut shames Mary.

In the village, Carson and Donk meet a war widow, who inspires them to silently agree on putting the memorial in the center of town. Can we be done with this plot line now?

In the a hall, as the wireless is installed, Daisy says: “Why is it called a wireless when there’s so many wires?” Classic Seinfeld Daisy.

At the Baby Watcher’s House, the Baby Watcher’s Wife doesn’t believe that Edith is really going to care at all about Marigold long term. It seems reasonable to let the wife in on the secret of Marigold’s parentage because what’s going to happen when Michael comes back? I mean, he has to come back, right?

In the hall, upstairs and downstairs folks and even the babies gather around the wireless. Everyone stands when the King speaks because they don’t seem to realize he can’t see or hear them. Welcome to the future, you innocent babies! Next stop: Google Glass.

Also in the future, Mary arrives in Liverpool for her Sex Vacation.

Downstairs, Thomas sullenly smokes and tells Anna sadly that nobody likes him. I mean, why do you think that’s the case, Thomas? Could it be your weekly plot against whomever you see first on your way to breakfast?

Mary and Tony arrive in Liverpool for their Sex Vacation and they have adjoining rooms, which is going to be helpful because Tony has plans for them to “make love all night long.” Geez Louise! What is this? A Boyz II Men video?? 

Downstairs, Hughes and Carson are back in agreement over the memorial’s placement and, just at the moment they are about to make out, Thomas the Scaremonger brings in a policeman. Turns out the policeman is at Downton because there are some new questions about the untimely death of Anna’s Rapist. Hughes, who a moment before was finally about to kiss the man of her dreams, goes white. As usual, she knows too much.

Credits.

Character Ranking:

5. Mary’s Less Attractive Suitor From Last Season: I’m putting him in the ranking because he broke the glass ceiling of the Abbey. He said the word “sex” in the library and no one died. Kudos, sir!

4. Tony: His old rival may have said sex, but Tony meant it. The adjoining rooms and the slow jam references speak for themselves.

3. Cora: Cora seems to be growing tired of Donk’s hot air lifestyle and she’s flirting hard with the New Cast Member. Get it, Cora. 

2. Mary: I’m proud of Mary for going on her Sex Vacation and for procuring birth control, even if she did shamelessly use Anna to do it. She’s a modern woman, checking into hotels and perfecting her already excellent lying game.

1. Hughes: Hughes may not be in every scene or be the most compelling, but as usual she is aware of every plot and has a hand in most of them. Will she save Bates from another stint in the Big House?

Tune in next week!

Previous Season 5 recaps:

‘Downton Abbey’ Season 5 Premiere Recap: We Didn’t Start the Fire

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a gif must be worth at least a million (math!). With the advent of this bite-sized animated wonder, award shows have become less about who won what and more about who made what face. Whether you cheated the system and only watched the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler parts of last night’s Golden Globes or totally boycotted the whole thing, here are the gifs that will be finding their way into your texts and gchats soon.

Before the show even starts, Amal Alamuddin Clooney and her date are forced to watch E! correspondent Giuliana Rancic take a shot by herself, while Taylor Schilling from Orange is the New Black yawns in the background. The pity is palpable.

Jennifer Aniston stars in “The One Where Rachel Gropes Goldie Hawn’s Daughter.”

Emma Stone shows everyone how to be graceful when comedians are making fun of your bug eyes.

Jessica Chastain reacts to a Bill Cosby joke in a Taylor-Swift-just-won-another-award-and-is-super-duper-surprised kind of way. Check out her previous OMG-I’m-so-adorably-scandalized work.

Benedict Cumberbatch photobombs Meryl Streep. Apparently, this is his “thing”; he also photobombed famed iTunes hacker Bono at last year’s Oscars.

Chrissy Teigen comes out of nowhere and nabs the crown from Claire Danes and Kim Kardashian for most memorable cry face.

Prince ducklips his way onto the stage…

…and Viola Davis and Allison Janney correctly freak the F out. They are just like us!

Amal’s date breaks a nation of women’s hearts, while Amal serves Princess Diana grace and unbeatable eyebrow game.

Uzo Aduba gets a little Crazy Eyes over Kevin Spacey dropping an F bomb.

And Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader become the frontrunners for hosting next year. Please, Santa!

That was fun, but it’s time to turn the page on this awards ceremony.

See y’all at the Oscars!

Gina Rodriguez won a Golden Globe on Sunday for her work on The CW’s Jane the Virgin, the first Golden Globe in the network’s eight year history. This came hours after The CW announced it would be renewing its entire fall schedule, an unprecedented move that demonstrates the degree of confidence the network has in its current programming and direction.

You can’t dispute The CW is enjoying a great year. Not only are its viewing ratings up across the board—something harder to do at a time with so many channel and platform options—but it has some of the best shows on television. Traditionally stigmatized as a youth-geared network, it is becoming more socially acceptable to admit that you watch The CW as a grown adult. (Unfortunately, that confession often comes with the loathsome qualifier “guilty pleasure.”) But I say embrace The CW love! Here’s why:

Beautiful shows with character-driven narratives.

If you haven’t checked out the CW lineup recently, then do yourself a favor and try out some of its shows. There is a wide variety, from superhero fare (Arrow or The Flash) to smart, brutal science fiction (The 100) to visually-luscious, historical romance (Reign). The production values are on par with or better than other broadcast networks despite the comparatively small budgets. The 100 was nominated for an Emmy for its visual effects last year, and HuffPost TV‘s Maureen Ryan makes the argument that Arrow consistently employs some of the best and financially-efficient directors on TV.

And it isn’t just the visuals that make The CW’s programming so effective. Unlike some of the more procedural dramas on other networks, The CW’s shows all make character-driven storytelling a priority. Even on the most formulaic of its shows—i.e. The Flash, which employs both a police procedural and supervillain-of-the-week structure—character rules.

The CW has a reputation for and history of romance drama, and perhaps this is directly related to its prioritization of character over action. Last week, NPR’s Linda Holmes lamented the dearth of family drama on television today. She dug out Ken Tucker’s decades-old assessment of TV drama for Entertainment Weekly as divided into two categories: the drama of action and the drama of emotions. Most of The CW’s programming employs both kinds of TV drama in fun and compelling ways, but—when it comes down to it—these shows care about emotion first, and that’s what makes them great. And, until recently, unfairly stigmatized.

Catering to a younger, often female audience.

The CW manages to stay on television despite relatively low ratings because of its success in the coveted 18-49 demographic. And though the network has increased the number of men watching with the introduction of Arrow and The Flash, a majority of those viewers are still women. Perhaps this is why The CW is full of female characters and that shows with female leads don’t become That Show With the Female Lead.

On this network, central female characters are a given. Better than that, they talk to other women—and often times not about men (hi, Alison Bechdel!). The 100 regularly features scenes in which female leaders sit around discussing decisions that will influence the future of humanity. The same goes for Reign, in which arguably the two most compelling and powerful characters on the show are Queen Mary and Queen Catherine. These characters are not only allowed to lead unapologetically and (usually) without comment, but they are allowed to make mistakes, be villainous, and put themselves first without punishment.

Writing to and for young women isn’t a secondary feature of The CW like it is on many other networks, and this is reinforced by the number of female showrunners active behind-the-scenes. Julie Plec and Caroline Dries run the ever-popular The Vampire Diaries. Laurie McCarthy runs Reign. Jennie Urman runs Jane the Virgin. And, even on the shows that have men in the lead writing position, the writers’ rooms have a gender balance that is all too rare on TV.

Filling the feel-good gap.

TV has recently been characterized as The Era of Gritty Anti-Hero Television so much so that the balance between feel-good television and dark, gritty drama has been lost, with the latter becoming synonymous with “good” television and the former dismissed as vapid fare. But two CW freshman dramas—Jane the Virgin and The Flash—fall firmly into the feel-good drama department (especially Jane), and are also recognized as two of the best new shows of 2014. In a television industry that is trying to copy the Breaking Bad grittiness, The CW is trying something different with these shows, and it is paying off.

It’s also worth noting that Jane the Virgin is one of the few shows on TV with a main character who not only speaks solely in Spanish, but is an undocumented immigrant, which not only increases this network’s diversity in important ways, but makes me feel good about the show on a meta level, in addition to feeling good about the delightful narratives it delivers week after week.

Launching successful spin-offs. 

Though The CW has fewer primetime shows than its “Big Five” counterparts, it still has an incredible amount of diversity. Though it may have some of the best feel-good dramas on TV, it also has one of the most brutal in The 100. And, while the network may be launching new and exciting shows, it is also doubling down on proven favorites.

It isn’t easy to launch a successful spin-off, but The CW has done it twice in the past two seasons—in 2013 with The Vampire Diaries’ spinoff The Originals and in 2014 with Arrow spin-off The Flash. Both are successful enough to warrant renewals for fall 2015, with the latter boasting the most-watched premiere in network history.

Flash and Arrow are not only solid programs in their own right, but they have also seemingly figured out the secret to crossover success, sharing a two-hour event this season. The episodes were a success in the ratings, but also creatively, expanding the fictional universe in a way that other spin-off ventures have either failed at or not even attempted. In the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Arrow and The Flash have done for TV what The Avengers has done for film (when it comes to pushing the boundaries of the fictional universe), and is a model for what other television franchises could accomplish.

A shift in critical weight. 

The truth is: The CW—and, before it, The WB—has always had some great television. Gilmore Girls. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Veronica Mars (originally on UPN before the merge). Dawon’s Creek. Felicity. These have all become classics, and many of them changed what television was doing in interesting and progressive ways, while still telling  compelling narratives (with, might I mention, some of the best female TV characters ever).

Though the network is enjoying a particularly excellent period in its history, I would argue that it’s not that The CW has gotten so much better, but that mainstream criticism has accepted that youth-geared media is worthy of attention and, in some cases, acclaim. There has been a lot of attention paid in the last year to the rise in popularity of young adult entertainment for adults, and much of it has been negative. Critics worry that adults are consuming more “dumbed-down” television and books meant for their children, but many of these youth-geared entertainment properties are complex, ground-breaking stories in their own right with only the age of their protagonist separating them from their more “mature” counterparts. The CW, and The WB before it, has always known this. The bulk of mainstream television criticism is just catching on now.

Are you a fan of The CW? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below.