Saved By The Bell
I was never much of a TV watcher until two things happened.
First, my son gave us a Roku, and put in passwords for Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime.
Second, the pandemic.
I was never much of a TV watcher until two things happened. First, my son gave us a Roku. Second, the pandemic.
So here’s what I have “binged.”
Shakespeare & Hathaway
Van der Valk
Gilmore Girls – all 7 seasons
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek – tried it but hated it!
Never Have I Ever – my son’s wonderful show
Saved by the Bell – another wonderful show from my son, unfortunately on Peacock (NBC’s new streaming service), but he gave us that password too
The Mindy Project
The Queen’s Gambit
The above was going to be my 100-word flash, but after writing it, I realized I had a lot to say about all of these shows. So here’s the fleshed-out version.
As indicated by the title of my story (thanks, Elvis Costello), we have watched some detective shows during the pandemic, most memorably Shakespeare & Hathaway and Van der Valk. However, I don’t consider it bingeing, because we see them on PBS at the time they are broadcast, rather than streaming them. Van der Valk had only three episodes, so it was over way too soon. Shakespeare & Hathaway has 3 seasons with 10 episodes each, and since we just watch whatever is broadcast, I have no idea how many we have seen or from which season(s). My husband will happily watch any detective show, so unlike some of the other shows on this list, we always watch them together.
Gilmore Girls wasn’t a binge either, although I did watch it streaming on Netflix many years after the broadcast show ended (but still pre-pandemic). My husband wasn’t interested, so I would mostly watch it on Thursday evenings when he was away at his orchestra rehearsal. With 7 seasons and 153 episodes, it took me a couple of years to see the whole thing. If you haven’t seen it and are looking for something to watch (or binge), check it out.
I loved Crazy Ex-Girlfriend more for the musical numbers than the storyline, although the story was entertaining too. Knowing someone who grew up in West Covina was an extra attraction. There are 4 seasons and 62 episodes, so it took me several months to see them all.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was so good, I watched the first two seasons twice. The first time, pre-pandemic, I watched with Molly and didn’t try to get my husband to watch, because I didn’t think he would like it. I was waiting to watch the third season until Molly came home again, which, once the pandemic started, she never did. Then Ed decided he wanted to see it after all. So I watched the entire first two seasons again with him, not as a binge, but over the course of a few months. Then I arranged with Molly that we would watch each episode of the third season at the same time, and discuss it afterwards, so it almost felt like we were watching together.
Schitt’s Creek was a show that my husband and I really wanted to like, because we knew so many other people who loved it, but after about four episodes we had to stop because we couldn’t stand it. Later, we decided to give it a second chance, so we skipped ahead to season 6 and tried watching again. We still hated it. Too bad.
Never Have I Ever – Devi and her 2 BFFs
Never Have I Ever was the show that assured my son’s career as a comedy writer. It was his third show, and the first to be both a critical and popular success. (His first two were Champions on NBC, and Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet on Apple, and you’ve probably never heard of either one.) After its premiere on April 27, 2020, it was the number one show on Netflix for several weeks. We watched the ten episodes on ten consecutive nights, which is the closest we have ever come to binge-watching anything. Postscript: He was called back to write a second season last summer and fall, which they are now shooting, and I’m looking forward to dropping everything to watch it when it comes out!
Saved by the Bell was my son’s fourth show. It has gotten good critical reception, but whether it is a success will depend on how many people sign up for Peacock. With so many streaming services already around before NBC started Peacock, I think they have an uphill battle. But there should be a built-in fan base made up of the people who watched the original Saved by the Bell back in 1989-93. Four of the actors who played the students in the original show are back as parents and teachers in the new show, with a new cast of talented and ethnically diverse actors playing the 21st century students. My featured image is a screen shot of the credits for episode 5, which Ben and his writing partner wrote. Note that the picture is of a girl football player talking to the coach – she tried out for quarterback of the high school team, was clearly the best and got the position, even though the coach had doubts about whether a girl could do it.
In my spare time I started watching The Mindy Project. Not bingeing, only one episode at a time (okay, maybe two sometimes), and long stretches in between. There are 6 seasons and 117 episodes, and I still haven’t finished season 1. I wanted to watch it because Mindy Kaling was the creator of both Champions and Never Have I Ever, so she has played a big part in Ben’s career. I’m enjoying it a lot, she is very funny! But it’s going to take me quite a while to get through all 6 seasons.
Finally, The Queen’s Gambit. This was hyped so much when it came out that my instinct was not to watch it. But then I started hearing and reading good things about it. My husband played a lot of chess in high school, and it interested him, so it was something we could watch together. However, of the seven episodes, we have only seen the first two, because then we got distracted by the arrival of Saved by the Bell. We will get back to it eventually, but our approach is the very opposite of bingeing.
Suzy
We LOVED the first season of Mrs. Maisel. It was hard to top that, but we watched all immediately after they dropped. Glad to hear that Never Have I Ever is coming back for another season. We enjoyed the first. We watched the first episode of Schitt’s Creek over at friends on our last night out before the lockdown. We didn’t get it at all, but (like you), heard such great things about it that we gave it another try and the more we watched, the more we got into the show, to the point where the characters grew and grew on us. We DID see change and development. They would always be those selfish, quirky people, but they bonded with their town and grew as humans. That was nice to see.
Since I love musical theatre, I dropped in on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but with Dan NOT watching it with me, it was difficult for me to find time to watch, I only saw a few episodes and finally gave up. I liked her a lot, but found the plot too contrived, so just moved on.
Thanks for expanding on your list. I appreciated your comments.
Thanks, Betsy. I enjoyed Mrs. Maisel even more the second time, which surprised me. I do think you would like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend if you could ever watch without Dan around – or who knows, maybe he would like it.
Thanks for the recommendation. If I’m ever home alone again, I’ll give “Crazy” another try.
If readers have not seen your son’s show, Never Have I Ever, they should binge it now. We enjoyed it, as did our kids and older grandkids.
Thanks for the endorsement for NHIE, Laurie. I think you and your kids and grandkids would also enjoy Saved by the Bell.
Thanks for this list, Suzy, as well as your thoughtful observations. A lot of overlap with my own list, so that speaks to your brilliant judgment. And will definitely watch the new “Saved By the Bell,” and have told my daughters about it, as they grew up with the original (Screech, right?).
Yes, Screech was on the original, but is not back for the reboot. Apparently a sex tape, a tell-all book, and/or a prison stint has made the actor who played Screech persona non grata. The rest of the old gang is back though.
I like your fleshed-out explanation, Suzy, of all the shows. I tend to watch stuff the way you do, with more emphasis on the PBS detective shows and mysteries. I love Midsommer Murders and am now catching up on Vera, which I hadn’t watched much before the pandemic.
We have enjoyed Midsomer Murders, although after a while the stories all seemed kind of the same. I don’t know anything about Vera, so will have to check it out.
Suzy, I’m so surprised by the lack of overlap in our lists! Which means, of course, that I have a slew of new shows to check out. Congratulations on your son’s success…he’s really hit it big!
I’ll have to check out your list, Barb. Thanks for the congrats, it took a while, but he now has two great shows, and we’re hoping they both keep going for years!
Thanx for the tips Suzy, we have finally gotten Netflix!
As the only ones on the planet who haven’t seen The Crown, we thought we’ll start with that and then watch Ben’s show!
Pass the popcorn!
Dana, my husband and I have not seen The Crown, nor have my kids or lots of other people I know.
I recommend skipping that (it has 4 seasons and 40 episodes, you’ll be there forever!) and heading directly for Ben’s show!
Spoken like a proud mama Suzy, we will watch Ben’s show!
Thanks for your comment about Schitt’s Creek. I couldn’t make it past two episodes and now I feel I’m not quite as alone! That gives me greater confidence that I would like many of the ones you do, although I don’t have an interest in watching very many anyway (grinch grinch). Thanks for all the guidance for the future.
We could form a Schitt’s Creek haters club! I’m sure we could find more people to join (although maybe not any other Retrospect writers). If you were looking for two really great shows that didn’t involve a huge time commitment, I would recommend Never Have I Ever (10 episodes) and The Queen’s Gambit (7 episodes). I feel pretty confident that you would love both of those.