If the World Is Not Ending, Then What Is on T.V.?

March 20, 2021

L.K. Rolan

L.K. Rolan, winner of 4th place in the girls division for the 300 meter dash in 1994 (out of four competitors) knows one thing. If there isn't one thing she loves to do more than write, it's procrastinate by streaming something spectacular on the 'ole boob tube.

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine," or at least R.E.M. told us in 1990-something. Anyway, it is now 2021, most of us have survived the last year of pandemic by avoiding public spaces and opting instead to stay indoors. I can find very little more fulfilling than being in bed snuggled up next to my husband with unlimited viewing and snacks at my disposal.

Who am I kidding though, look at you, reading my article, lying on your side, perched on one elbow (that inevitably will go numb in about ten minutes). You know what's up and now you're waiting for it, wondering just how long this little introductory narrative will carry on for. Well here you go you filthy animals, here is the list. Three stellar viewing options for people who have been streaming entertainment, practically non stop for nearly a year straight.

Netflix: PEAKY BLINDERS

• Category: Television Series
• 5 Seasons, 30 Episodes

If you love intense plots with suspense so thick it will leave your palms sweatier than obsessively checking your mobile banking app to see if your paycheck deposits before the rent is taken out, then you will love the Netflix original series Peaky Blinders.

Seriously, have you ever considered what would happen if the series Breaking Bad had a love child with post World War I England and that baby walked around to a sound track worthy of a Scorcese film? Well, ladies and gentlemen hold onto your lederhosen because the Peaky Blinders is at your service.

Created by Steven Knight, and performed masterfully by an impeccably talented cast of screen veterans and new comers alike. The Peaky Blinders will welcome you into their crime family like you are one of their own. Packed with plot twists, and quality character development, this show is truly one of a kind.

Still not convinced? Cillian Murphy and Annabelle Wallis smoulder, with chemistry so intense it will make you question the strength of hydrogen bonds.

Tubi Winner: Mermaids

• Category: Film
• Run time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

If you love nostalgic, romantic comedies with a splash of drama then you will love 1990's classic coming of age film, Mermaids. Sure I could have chosen any number of newly released films or series but one of my past times is sharing forgotten but not gone classics with the people I love.

What's so great about Mermaids?

I mean baby Yoda is cute and all but have you seen baby Christina Ricci, playing Winona Rider's little sister before Bill Clinton was ever elected president? She is impossibly cute and hilarious not to mention incredibly talented. Just seeing a child that age pull their weight around heavy hitters like Cher, Lou Sandusky, and yes even a young Winona Ryder makes this movie worth a watch.

But beyond all the layers of cute and nostalgia, Mermaids is a delicious bowl of comforting chicken noodles soup for the soul that I will never tire of. It celebrates forgiveness, the strange state of limbo that is adolescence, and being a fiercely wild and independent woman even in the 1960's. (Altgough I have to laugh at the movie's description, calling Cher"s character 'wildly promiscuous,' methinks this wasn't written in 2021.)

Lastly, the films feature song will answer one of life's biggest questions, 'does he love me I wanna know?"

Hint: It's not in his eyes.

Answer: It's in His Kiss by Cher

This song will inevitably get stuck in your head for at least one week after watching this 1990 classic, and I refuse to apologize for it.

Disney Plus Winner: The Great Mouse Detective

• Category: Film
• Runtime 1 hour 17 minutes

If you like your children's animated films spiked with some adult themes, well here's a little underrated nod to Sherlock Holmes you might enjoy. As th name suggests, the title character and lead supporting roles are in fact mice. But this isn't M-I-C-K-E-Y time, these rodents are hot on the trail of murder and corruption.

I don't know if you will love the 1986 classic (made the same year I was born) as much as I did or do, but something about the booze drinking, cigar smoking, and seedy burlesque performances really speak to me. These are prolific characters with real world vices and pitfalls. These are mice that would have inspired Hemmingway or Salinger to write the great American mouse novel perhaps!

What's funny to me is that as a parent today we really have some limitations on monitoring the content our kids watch, but in my youth everything we watched was on the family TV. Usually films were rented or purchased as a VHS. Our moms and dads sat down with our artificially flavored cheese doodles and Crystal Pepsi and said,'hey watch these alcoholic mice solve homicides for a bit.' No wonder my generation seems pretty well equipped to handle the disaster the 2000's have been so far.

Anyway I digress, the film is rated pg even with all the booze drinking and cartoon mice sultry jazz singing. I guarantee it's more cerebral than the steady diet of kid shows that teach tots how everything can be done with three simple steps. Just wait till your kids are adults and make their first Ikea purchase, the resentment train is sure to roll through by then.