24 newyork| march30–april12, 2020
1.CHEERS ❑
Streamingon Netflix, Hulu,
and CBS All Access
Ashowthatalmost exclusivelytakesplaceina
smallbasementbarmightnotbeeveryone’sidea
oftheidealbingewhiletrappedat home,but
whatI needrightnowisn’t dragons,vastlands,or
trying totrickmyselfwithTVescapism.It’sjust
reallysolidjokes.I startedbinge-watchingCheers
inearlyFebruary,andit’s turned outtobethe
perfect way topassthetimenowthat I’mhome
evenmore thanbefore.(I’mcurrentlyabouthalf-
way throughseasonseven.No spoilers!)Sure, not
every episodeis perfect,butit’s deliciouslycasual
viewingthat hitsmuchmore thanit misses.Plus,
a lotofpeoplehavealreadywatchedCheers,soif
youwanttoargueaboutwhetherDianegotthe
shaftinseasonfiveorwhy thehellthebarsud-
denlygoesmatteinseasonseven,there’sa world
offansreadyto guide you throughyourbinge.But
backtothemostimportantthing:It’sreally,really
funny, andit’llmake yousmilea lot.What else
couldyouaskforduringa pandemic?I can’t rec-
ommendit enough.Norm! meghwright8 Fill Up o TV Comfort- The
Wonder Years ❑
Streaming on Hulu
Set startinginthe’60s
andoriginallyairedin
the’80s,thisseriesabout
growingupina typical
stretchofmiddle-class
suburbiatakesyouback
intimeontwofronts.
GivenitsfocusonKevin
Arnold’s strugglewith
adolescence,it’ s somethingyoucanwatchwith
kidswhoarestuckat home.Personally,I relish
theopportunity tospenda few minutesworrying
solelyaboutwhetherWinnieCooperlikes-likes
KevinArnoldorjust likeshim. jenchaney - The OA ❑
Streaming on Netflix
Itwasalreadya balmfor
whatailsmodernsociety
(capitalistgreed,reckless
individualism,toxicmas-
culinity,etc.),butitsmes-
sage of socialunity, vulner-
ability,community,and
absolutebonkersnessis
especiallyresonantnow.
It ’s alsoa deeplyfelt,propulsive,singularstorythat
willshuttleyououtsideyourownpanic-polluted
brain.HowdidBritMarlingan manglij
predict that we’d needtoberemi hemost
literalof ways,that thecentral purposeof beingalive
is to takecare of eachother?Theyprobablyhadhelp
fromtheirpsychicoctopus. rachelhandler
- The Mary
Tyler Moore Show
andThe Bob
Ne whartShow ❑
Streaming on Huluand YouTube TV
There’sa reasonCBSpairedtheseuponSatur-
daynightsbackintheday:Bothfeaturesomeof
thesharpestcomedywritersoftheera (Mary
TylerMoorewasco-createdbythelegendary
JamesL. Brooks),twocomedyiconsasleads,
andamazingensemblecasts.Andforstudents
ofpop-culture history,bothshowsnowserveas
perfect timecapsulesfortheMe Decade,show-
casingthefashionandhomedesignsoftheyears
justbeforedisco. josefadalian- Terrace House ❑
Streamingon Netflix
IfFriendsisyourgo-to
relaxationshow, let mebe
thefirst towelcomeyou
to2020.Here, wehavea
littlerealityshowcalled
TerraceHouse, where six
youngJapaneseprofes-
sionalsmoveintogether
and,youknow,hangout
andstuff. Sameconcept.Unlikeotherreality
shows,dramais instigatedwithomelets insteadof
drink-throwing,everythingis styledlike a Muji,
andreadingthesubtitlesratherthangettingdis-
tractedbytweetsgivesmy anxiousbrainsome-
thingelsetofocuson. zoëhaylock - Fr asier ❑
Streamingon Hulu
and CBS All Access
EventhoughI wasalivefortheentiretyofFra-
sier’s11-seasonrun,I completelymissedit.
Sure,itwasonmy family’s TVoccasionally
whenI wasa kid,butI wasn’t interested.But
now,asanadult,I cantellyouthis:Frasieris
good,guys!It’sgoteverything.Broadslapstick!
Witty,highbrowreferences!Thedog!Mean-
while,theextremetheatricalitythat Kelsey
GrammerandDavidHydePiercebringtoevery
scenecomfortsmeat thistimewhenallthe
actualtheatersare closed.Withtimeslowingto
a crawl,I appreciatefallingintotheCranefam-
ily’s wormhole.My onlyregretis nothavingany
top-shelfsherryonhand. tollywright- Peep Show ❑
Streamingon Hulu
and AmazonPrime
Thisshowbringsyoudirectlyinsidetheheadsof
twomaleroommateslivinginLondon:Mark,the
fastidioushistorynerd whohasterribleluckin
love,andJeremy(or“Jez”),thelargelyunemployed
musicianwho...alsohasterribleluckinlove.
Beingabletoheartheirinteriormonologues
meansit takesnotimeat alltofeelfullydrawninto
theirworldofschemes,squabbles,andhumilia-
tions.Nottomentionit’s shotentirelyfromthe
POVofthecharacters,soit canfeelasthough
you’re walkingaroundLondon,too!Butwhat
reallyputsit overthetopis OliviaColman.If you
thoughtheron-commandtearinTheCrownwas
impressive,waittillyouseeherdrunkina ballpit.
annevictoriaclark
8. Pretty Little Liars ❑
Buy on Amazon,iTunes, YouTube
Overthecourseofits
sevenseasonsand 160
episodes,theplottwists
became labyrinthine,
characterswere intro-
duced,discarded,and
thenbroughtbackyears
later, yet itsself-aware
senseofhumorandthe
perfect chemistrybetweenitskeyfourcharacters
remainedcharming.What’stheshowabout?Oh,
yeah:A groupofhigh-schoolfriendsina small,
poshPennsylvaniatownset outtosolvethemur-
deroftheirformerbestfriendandintheprocess
landona vast criminalconspiracy.(AndI do
meanvast.) jordancrucchiola
PHOTOGRAPHS: PAUL DRINKWATER/NBCU PHOTO BANK (CHEERS); JOSEPH DEL VALLE/NBCU PHOTO BANK (GOLDEN GIRLS); COURTESY OF NETFLIX (OA, TERRACE HOUSE); COURTESY OF ABC (PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, PUSHING DAISIES, THE WONDER YEARS); COURTESY OF NBC (SNL); COURTESY OF HBO (THE SOPRANOS); JACK ROWAND/THE CW (SUPERNATURAL)