#pushing daisies is criminally underrated

[cutemothman]

comedy peaked with that scene in pushing daisies where that clown car crashes and it shows an endless procession of dead clowns being carried away on stretchers

[pookie-mulder]

What are your top 5 television shows of all time?

Thanks for tagging me @calimanc! It’s super hard to choose, but here are some of my top shows (in no particular order):

1. The X-Files: big surprise there haha

2. Psych: ultimate comfort show!

3. Chuck: criminally underrated. go watch it rn you won’t regret it

4. Stranger Things: the vibes are impeccable. so fun to theorize

5. Either Parks and Rec or Brooklyn 99. I can’t choose!!

Honorable mentions go to The West Wing, The Good Place, 911, New Girl, Boy Meets World, Loki, Pushing Daisies, This Is Us

Tagging @skelavender, @bakedbakermom, and anyone else who wants to participate!

[blackskiesbeautifultimes]

Pushing Daisies is criminally underrated. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[fratboykate]

What are your favorite tv shows atm?

If you’re going to binge 5 shows during this quarantine have it be these five. They’re not necessarily my five favorite shows “at the moment” or even “of all time” but I think they’re fucking incredible and criminally underrated. I also tried to keep them as “light” as possible so people actually watch them. The only one two that couldn’t be considered a “comedy” in someway are Euphoria and Succession but they are still required viewing.

-Dickinson

-Euphoria

-Succession

-Pushing Daisies (DISCLAIMER: do NOTTTTT let this trailer fool you. This is not a CW show. I have no idea why it’s streaming on CW Seed when it was an ABC show but it’s wonderful and perfect and everyone needs to see it)

-Chuck

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

2019 in Retrospect

2019 has been fairly quiet, so I decided to start off this year by looking back on it. I’ll be dividing it by main fandoms/characters/ships because this year there were actually some new ones. That hasn’t been the case since, like, 2013. 

Sonic the Hedgehog

It was an...alright year for Sonic. TSR was fine but too light on content, Mario and Sonic Tokyo felt like a step down from Mario and Sonic Rio but was still alright, and I have not played SEGA Heroes (and haven’t bothered with the Chao in Space short). Lowest spot for me was the IDW comic; the Zombot arc has had one interesting story so far, but the rest has had either bad writing (primarily aimed at Shadow’s turn) or it’s just been wallowing in its bleakness in a way even Shadow the Game didn’t. Then again, I find zombie stories uninteresting to begin with, so no duh I’m not interested in a Sonic take on it. 

Chaotix kind of mirror that. Vector’s managed to get a good showing in, batting 3 for 3 on the game front, and having a key role in two of them. And like I said before, the Chaotix have genuinely had the most interesting stories within the Zombot arc, although with Vector and Charmy turned this may become more limited. Speaking of though, Espio and Charmy have had weaker presences. Espio managed to get into all three games in some form but to a lesser extent (one just by name), and Charmy was really left behind. 

As for Vecpio, it’s been pretty bare for canon material stuff. Espio got mentioned in TSR as contributing the report that reveals Dodon Pa’s true role (with him and Vector being the key to making everyone shut up about him being suspicious, proving they’re best as a team). And Mario and Sonic Tokyo has something if you headcanon some stuff; when Vector talks about the medals, Espio is the first person you’re directed to. Nothing is said by Vector about Espio in text, but you can implicate that Espio was chosen first because of his strong link to Vector, being the first one Vector would trust to compete at a gold level. Other than that? Dry. And with no announcements for Sonic games in 2020, this may just continue. 

Crash Bandicoot

On the reverse side, we have Crash Bandicoot having a really strong year. CTR:NF came out (which is a remake of my favourite Crash game) and has been doing gangbusters. On top of this, it has been going out of its way to revive pretty much every dead character in the franchise, to the point that we have RIlla Roo back in the fold (something I genuinely didn’t think would happen 19 years beforehand). 

Skipping straight to the shipping for this, I wouldn’t have imagined it for Crash ever, but there’s actually some in-game material for me to latch onto for DingodileXKomodo Joe! Dingodile has been pushed into a more jovial character since N-Sane Trilogy, being even more doubled down on in CTR:NF. However, for the past 20 years Komodo Joe has managed to avoid being given traits closer to Espio. This game finally catches up to him, and does it hard. Seriously, his character took a hard turn for the stoic badass Espio did after Heroes, and when did Joe ever use Martial Arts magic ever? Aside from making that dynamic naturally more matching, Slide Coliseum joins in the fun with the visual upgrade. It has holographic projections of a trophy girl repping a couple of racers dancing each, and guess who the devs felt could be paired up for how they go together rhythmically? That’s right, my reptile boys. Man. 

Super Mario Bros

What a weak year for Mario for me. What Mario got for new games this year were Luigi’s Mansion 3 (which I’ve not played), Mario Maker 2 (which isn’t new story content and doesn’t interest me in the slightest), Yoshi’s Crafted World (which I forgot was a thing) and Mario Kart Tour/Dr Mario World (which...um). 

Because of this set-up, Bowser hardly got anything to do so he’s really been on the backburner. Considering how he’s been pushed in the rest of the decade that’s saying something. In fact, the most character stuff he got was in Mario and Sonic Tokyo, and even that was mostly just alright (I think Bowser Jr got the best deal out of that).

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro was alright, but this one’s more understandable. With 2018 being the big year for Spyro’s return, 2019 was a rest for the little guy. That being said it wasn’t completely quiet; Spyro Reignited Trilogy finally got its port on the Switch, and to tie in with that Spyro got an appearance in CTR:NF. 

Because of the latter point, Gnasty Gnorc got a surprisingly strong year. Not only having more people learn about his glow-up in SRT, but bringing over that petty and angry character to CTR:NF. Seriously, his bit in the grand prix intro video is great, and he has more lines in his racing quips than any other game. 

OK KO

I don’t think I made a post about OK KO on Tumblr (or maybe I did one, I can’t remember). But I did manage to get into this just before it got cancelled so there’s that. 

I maintain that the Sonic crossover (aka the first thing I really knew about OK KO) didn’t give me a good impression of the show.It just seemed like “here’s the Sonic and Eggman dynamic but with more cartoon shenanigans*” and it spent more time making endless Sonic references. While some were deeper cuts which actually were impressive, most were references I could see in pretty much any Sonic-referencing material. It wasn’t until I decided to look up more info on Lord Boxman sometime after because I wanted to check if N.Gin was an influence that I found out the plot of the actual show (crossover notwithstanding) was pretty nuts and way more up my alley. 

Speaking of, there’s Voxman. Whereas other ships on here I have to dig through material to construct nuggets from them, this was literally in the text. And why not, they have a good dynamic and are usually the most fun to watch bounce off each other. And I still like the fact that if KO and Lord Boxman were the Sonic and Eggman parallel, the story ends with Eggman becoming Sonic’s stepfather. Let’s see IDW tell a story like that, it’d be better than the Zombot stuff. 

*I think that was the point but still. 

LEGO

Man I wouldn’t have thought they would have remade LEGO Racers but the one they made this year was gre--

Okay no, this year basically reignited another flame that I thought was snuffed out like 16 years ago. For a brief history of me and LEGO, when I was six I had a freestyle box which I used to make an elemental superhero persona. I played with this until I was 11. Before then, my sister got some LEGO Harry Potter sets (which we still have in the loft), I played LEGO Racers a lot (and wasn’t very good at it), and I owned two random other LEGO sets (the trike from Life on Mars and Lava from RoboRIders). 

After that, I only dabbled in LEGO when there was a Sonic set done for LEGO Dimensions. I did try to play more into it, but it was really prone to crashing in certain worlds so I eventually got frustrated enough to stop playing it. Sometime in the interim though my sister started enjoying LEGO films without me knowing, so when February came around I was dragged to see LEGO Movie 2 when all I wanted to see in 2019 was Toy Story 4. Dad insisted on it since we rarely have family outings. In retrospect; 

LEGO Movie 2 hit me in a way a piece of media hasn’t for years, or even decades. It’s shot up to be my third-favourite film of all time. And it’s revealed to me that LEGO is shockingly good at making endearing characters. So much so that breaking it down (pun not intended) has to be done by theme.

LEGO Movie: Part of the reason why I didn’t get into LEGO earlier was because I did see LEGO Movie back in 2014 when my sister was given it on DVD (she wasn’t into LEGO then) and I wasn’t impressed with it. In retrospect, I can appreciate what it did more, and I bring it up because it’s what makes Unikitty, Benny and Metalbeard so endearing when combined with what happened in TLM2. Lucy’s okay (moreso in the sequel), Emmet’s cute, President Business is fun but the MVP is definitely Rex Dangervest, who’s this feral monster but with Emmet buried away deep inside ready to flesh him out. When I make LEGO stories, I just have Rex change his mind on rescuing himself after getting the dinosaurs, and instead wreaking havoc in the present. This kills Emmet off in any story I do but it’s a worthy sacrifice. 

LEGO City Undercover: As a video game person I’m kicking myself for not getting into this before. Frank Honey is the best; he’s adorable and weird yet still feeling very much human and basically the Emmet of his city. Rex Fury has grown on me lots since my initial assessment of him,it’s infectious how much fun he has with being a criminal (while Vinnie is more fun when not doing criminal stuff and Chan seems to be more focused on doing criminal stuff as a job. I also think his calmer side is criminally (no pun intended again) overlooked). Also Ellie is underrated, she is the best straight man you could ask for. 

LEGO City Adventures: As I’ve said before, pretty much everyone in LCA is adorable, especially Duke and Harl. Still hoping for more Daisy time in the second season, she could be a riot if played properly and not just a Fendrich stooge. 

Ninjago: Coming in with the hot take here; I prefer the movie version of Ninjago to the series. I think the problem with the series is that it has so much baggage from before the series started to iron out some of its issues and cliches that it’s kinda hard to get into as a new person, whereas movie Ninjago is a lot more approachable and written better off the bat (although I do see why it wouldn’t go down well with existing Ninjago fans). This all just makes me think of that moment in series 11 where Nya sees her worst fear of being normal in an artefact and it shows her movie self, almost as a take that. It just makes me think the show writers are salty about movie Nya kicking show Nya’s ass in being a better character. Also shout outs to Kai, Cole, Zane and Lloyd for being great characters as well (Jay is cute in the movie, his show self can be punted off a cliff for all I care). And I am with the movement to have Cole come out as gay (or at least bi if they want to keep Tournament of Elements I guess). 

Nexo Knights: This show is regarded as another Ninjago wannabe, but it feels very different to Ninjago to me. So much so, there’s not a single one of the heroes I don’t like and they all need to be cherished. Macy gets props for being the best female character to me, Aaron is probably my favourite now and this is a house of Clance for future reference. 

So, with all that being said, what do I think of the prospects for 2020? I think it’s going to be quieter than 2019 to be honest, since there’s a lot winding down, and on the game side there’s been zero announcements. Crash and Spyro having a rest is understandable, Sonic’s going to have to get past the movie before gearing up for 2021 probably (for the record I have no interest in the movie) and Mario just needs to try harder. And with OK KO dead, only LCA is holding the fort for guaranteed new content I want to engage in right now. 

You know what would be fun though? Series 20 of the minifigures theme is due at the end of this year. Wouldn’t it be awesome to use the occasion to give some phsical minifigures to characters who never got them before? LIke, Rex Fury somehow still has enough demand to be a persistent feature in the customs market, give him an official figure (especially since he’s the only character from LCU that’s not Chase that’s even appeared in merch outside the game). Or let Sky Lane get her LEGO Universe look in physical form to go with her LIXS look. Or heck, finally give Rocket Racer his original look, that’s how I discovered the minifigure world in the first place!

[ariadnie]

hi jude! do u have any recs on a good show to devote oneself to in these trying times?

hell yes so many!!! idk what you have seen and i kinda blog about all of these but sporadically so i’ll just list some of my favorites :) a lot of these are popular so im sorry lmao, im gonna try and include some lesser-known ones!!!

- psych: SO funny and criminally underrated. about a fake psychic detective and his best friend working with the police department to solve crimes!

- the x-files: 90s sci-fi staple about two FBI agents, a believer (Mulder) and skeptic (Scully) working on unexplained cases, often involving aliens and supernatural creatures!

- brooklyn 99: such a great comedy show about cops in brooklyn! stan jake and amy

- the good place: another michael schur show, but so wonderful and funny. makes me feel better about the human race and life in general

- bon appetite test kitchen (on youtube): not a ~show~ show, but ive been watching them a lot recently!!! great cooking content, fun personalities

- the witcher: a recent watch of mine, but so good! less light-hearted than the other suggestions, but good if you liked game of thrones and fantasy stuff! love the powerful women in this :^)

- schitts creek: literally so good. recently ended but BOY everyone on this show is an icon

- umbrella academy: only one season out, a quick watch, but so weird and interesting. genuinely like nothing ive ever seen before. stan klaus.

- glee: a controversial opinion to even put this on my list, but my friends and i have been watching episodes over facetime and honestly it has brought us so much joy. this show is WACKED out but entertaining

- i am not okay with this: new show!!! super quick watch, its like 7 ~20 minute episodes. a girl finds out she has weird telekinetic powers! cool!

- end of the f***ing world: murder ! kids on the run ! love ? sorta ! a super interesting watch

- the circle: reality show on netflix, really fucking stupid but endlessly entertaining. i loved it so much

- you: super interesting psychological show, its insane & crazy to get inside joe’s head but honestly a good show with lots of twists & turns

- russian doll: also a quick watch, natasha lyonne lives the same day over and over and i love her

- pushing daisies: ~quirky~ but really Soft show about a pie maker and his ~special power~ ;)

- icarly: honestly just rewatch icarly

[aion-rsa]

Upcoming Movies in March 2021: Streaming, VOD, and Theaters

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

2021 continues to be a rollercoaster for movie lovers everywhere, with a once promising Spring 2021 going much the same way as 2020 with delays, release date shifts, and growing apprehension. Still, even if the first few months of 2021 will look much like the last 12, there are reasons to smile. For starters, a new Walt Disney Animation Studios project, Raya and the Last Dragon, is about to premiere on Disney+; Eddie Murphy is finally reprising the role of Prince Akeem in Coming 2 America; and there is the chance to at last watch something called… the Snyder Cut?

Here’s what’s coming.

Moxie

March 3

Netflix kicks March off with Amy Poehler’s second feature film as director. Turning her camera lens to the anarchic battlefield of high school life, Poehler adapts Jennifer Mathieu’s novel of the same name about a young woman named Vivian (Hadley Robinson), who is fed up with the toxic masculinity and sexism at her school. So taking a page from her mother’s (Poehler) former hellraiser youth, Vivian starts an anonymous pamphlet-magazine with a punk rock aesthetic. She periodically distributes her musings around the school, mocking the double standards and perhaps calling out potential predators in their midst.

Clearly this is going to turn some heads.

Raya and the Last Dragon

March 5

Get ready for a “Disney princess movie” unlike any other. Raya and the Last Dragon is the latest effort from the fabled Walt Disney Animation Studios, and the first ever animated epic produced almost exclusively from home. The film follows Raya (Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Tran), the first Southeast Asian Disney Princess. But rest assured she’s also a unique heroine within the Disney canon. Lost without her family or home, this martial arts-trained daughter of a ninja chieftain travels through a fantasy wasteland until she meets Sisu (The Farewell’s Awkwafina), a chatty water dragon of legend.

Together they seek to save the desolated and polarized land of Kumandra. They also offer an old-fashioned adventure movie for all ages that lacks a single musical number–yet retains a familiar and welcome amount of heart.

Coming 2 America

March 5

It’s been more than 30 years since Coming to America, the amusing and very ‘80s Eddie Murphy comedy about an African prince out to find his princess in Queens, New York. In Coming 2 America, Murphy’s Akeem Joffer returns to Queens while still a prince, albeit finally with the crown in sight. With his father (James Earl Jones) on his deathbed, Akeem is commanded to seek out his long lost son Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), who lives in New York City with no idea he’s descended from royalty.

Hence Akeem and trusted advisor Semmi (Arsenio Hall) return to their old stomping grounds to meet and retrieve Lavelle. But, really, it’s just an excuse to have Akeem back in modern NYC and to let Murphy and Hall run wild. Watch out for Wesley Snipes who appears as General Izzi, a warlord that seeks to take over Akeem’s beautiful land of Zamunda.

Chaos Walking

March 5

It’s actually happening: Doug Liman’s Chaos Walking is coming to theaters. Whether you want to go will be another matter though. The movie, which stars Spider-Man’s Tom Holland and Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley, originally finished production in 2017 with the aim to release in March 2019. But after poor test previews, the film was delayed until 2020 to make room for reshoots… and all of that was before COVID happened.

Now the film is finally walking its chaos to a theatrical release in the U.S., UK, and other markets. The film stars Ridley as the last girl in the world, literally. And she’s just been awakened to a bizarre dystopia where only boys like Holland’s Todd are left, and all their internal thoughts are verbalized by a visible force field around their heads. It’s going to be a long journey to salvation. 

The film is based on a YA novel and feels like a young adult adventure from the early 2010s. But the cast, which also includes Mads Mikkelsen, is winsome, and Liman has helmed good movies in the past with troubled productions, including The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith…

Pixie

March 5 (Available in the UK Now)

As a film that by early UK reports is a whole lot of fun, Pixie is a throwback to gangster comedies of yore with a few welcome twists: The hero of the film is Pixie Hardy (Thorughbreds’ Olivia Cooke), a young criminal mastermind who attempts the ultimate heist as revenge for her mother’s death, and who then gets an armada of gun-wielding priests and nuns chasing her for the effort.

Now forced to rely on two outsiders (Ben Hardy and Daryl McCormack) in her small English village, Pixie is going to shoot her way to freedom, assuming the lethal, opera-loving Father Hector McGrath (Alec Baldwin) doesn’t put a bullet in her head first. Yeah, this could be a wild, fun ride.

Boss Level

March 5 (U.S. Only)

It’s often been remarked upon by many critics, including our own, that the time loop setup made famous by Groundhog Day has yet to produce a bad movie. Edge of Tomorrow, Happy Death Day, Source Code, The Endless, and last year’s Palm Springs (to name but a few) have all been at least pretty good. So director Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces) appears ready to push that observation to its breaking point with an action movie that positions itself as loopy fun.

Premiering on Hulu, Boss Level follows Frank Grillo as Roy Pulver, a mercenary in a time loop that begins with an assassination attempt on his life every morning and ends with a citywide explosion. In between he fights bad guys and tries to figure out how to break the loop and save his son. It’s a well-worn formula at this point, and judging by the trailer, Carnahan is leaning into the absurdity of it, along with relying on a talented cast which includes the underrated Grillo, Naomi Watts, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Jeong, and the ever controversial Mel Gibson. Will it work, or just be one day too many with this concept?

Cherry

March 12

Finally coming to streaming via Apple TV+, the Russo Brothers’ first post-Avengers movie seeks to be a Jesse James fantasy for our modern age. In the film, the Russos’ handpicked Spidey, Tom Holland, stars as Cherry, an Iraq War veteran with an addiction to opioids and a penchant for robbing banks. Highly stylized and the rare type of film we see these days—something original—hopefully Cherry is as sweet as its title.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

March 18

It actually exists. Now. When thousands upon thousands of fans were peacefully flooding comic book convention centers, and not so peacefully taking to social media to let their frustrations be heard regarding “#TheSnyderCut,” no actual finished version of Justice League from director Zack Snyder existed; instead there was just a four-hour rough cut that was in black and white, and which existed without special effects, music, or most of that post-production sheen. But fan demand has willed this abandoned version of Justice League to emerge from the ether and take glorious form on HBO Max.

So this month, the version of Justice League that Snyder intended to make will at last drop at a gargantuan four-hour length. Will it really be the stuff fanboy dreams are made of? Or will it be a longer, more brooding variation on the film that disappointed millions more than three years ago? Whether you’re a disciple or skeptic of “the Snyder Cut” phenomenon, we suspect you’re curious about finally laying eyes on this sucker.

Godzilla vs. Kong

March 31 (March 26 in the UK)

If you’re a little fatigued on superheroes, might we suggest a giant monster smackdown? Just over a week after Batman and Superman have their rematch, Adam Wingard’s hotly anticipated Godzilla vs. Kong will also premiere on HBO Max, as well as in U.S. and UK cinemas. And in the Legendary Pictures event, the two most iconic giant monsters in movie history will have their first heavyweight bout since Toho’s more modest 1962 effort. Gone are the men in suits; in their place is the dazzling CGI that Legendary’s MonsterVerse has already deployed via Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Kong: Skull Island (2016).

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In the new film, Rebecca Hall plays a researcher who feels compelled to get the godlike King Kong off Skull Island for reasons that are not entirely clear. With similarly murky logic, Godzilla is provoked by this decision, and the traditionally benevolent kaiju is soon attacking Kong without warning. Clearly the big guys have beef. The film also stars Alexander Skarsgard, Eiza González, and a returning Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler. But come on, we’re here to “let them fight.”

The post Upcoming Movies in March 2021: Streaming, VOD, and Theaters appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3uO0H2S

[deboracabral]

Have you ever seen Pushing Daisies?? I feel like it’s a show you’d really enjoy! It’s quirky, funny, emotional in all the right ways, and first and foremost it’s criminally underrated

(Pushing Daisies anon again - also forgot to mention it features the magic that is Lee Pace and his beautiful caterpillar eyebrows)

I did watch pushing daisies, though a long time ago! The narrator was my favorite. I love Lee Pace and his magic eyebrows, I almost died when he got cast as Thranduil :’)

[hamsolo]

What are some tv shows you highly recommend?

I don’t watch a whole of tv admittedly but there are some shows I definitely, 10/10 would recommend…

Pushing Daisies; criminally underrated, it’s got Lee Pace and the supernatural…what more do you need??

Vikings: actioned-packed and dramatic

Young Justice; well written, you really fall for the characters/ relationships and where the heck is season 3 already??

(Also Project Runway, Kitchen Nightmares, Bar Rescue; because I’m a sucker for drama, outbursts, emotional moments and the like…brought on by cheesy reality shows)

Thanks for asking Nor!!

[tomorrowedblog]

Jasmine Henry’s top 7 TV shows of 2017

Time to talk TV. Here’s Jasmine Henry’s top 7 TV shows of 2017!

2017 was a veritable smorgasbord for television content. Both traditional networks and streaming services worked their socks off to give us something good to watch. And watch I did.

This year brought me TV shows that led to awkward questions and awkward conversations, shows that brought me a little bit closer with my family, and shows that just felt real good to watch. Here’s my list of the best television I watched during the year.

Wynonna Earp

Starring Melanie Scrofano as an ass-kicking demon hunter and descendant of Wyatt Earp, Wynonna Earp is perhaps one of the most criminally underrated shows on TV right now.

Season one laid the groundwork for this campy, supernatural show about sending demons back to where they came. But in season two the show built something special out of it. It exposed tensions between Wynonna, Doc, Dolls, Waverly, Haught, and Jeremy as the gang confronted some personal demons as well as some literal ones.

Some of my personal highlights from the season include Haught giving the neighborhood creep what for, Dolls meeting the hero who inspired him, and a pregnant Wynonna doing a backflip. It’s good, easy watching that gets a thumbs up from me.

American Vandal

Who knew a TV show about drawing dicks could be so engrossing? If you’ve watched the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer then American Vandal’s mockumentary take on it will be right up your street.

It follows a teenage filmmaker as he aims to get to the bottom of a ‘dick drawing conspiracy’ in which a pupil may have been wrongly punished for vandalizing school property. It’s properly ridiculous (the episode about ball hairs and mushroom heads is a particular standout), but it’s genuinely funny and captivating too.

Master of None

The second Netflix show on this list is Master of None. While this season was especially good, the standout episode is the Thanksgiving episode, of course. It follows a series of Thanksgiving dinners at Denise’s house and addresses how she came out to her family.

While my own coming out was met with a little less (outright) disapproval than Denise’s, the Thanksgiving episode struck a nerve for me. The purposeful obliviousness as your family refuses to believe their daughter might be gay, the hesitant mother, and the more liberal aunt who makes light of the situation feels pretty familiar to me. And it was nice to see this represented with a black family like mine.

The Good Place

2016 ended with everyone banging on about The Good Place, so if only to shut everyone up, I finally got into the half hour comedy in 2017. I was not disappointed and I’ll cede that you were all in the right for banging on about it.

The Good Place is an absolutely hilarious show about the afterlife and what it means to be a good (or bad) person. I haven’t loved a show like this since Pushing Daisies, which coincidentally, is also a comedy show about death.

For a show that will make you laugh and question everything you know about… everything… I highly recommend The Good Place.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a show that gets swept under the rug a bit and overlooked in the conversation about The Office, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreation. But it’s good, really good, and season five is another example of why.

The series so far has had a lot of hits; it somehow made being wrongly imprisoned and ending up with a cannibal cellmate something to chortle about. One standout episode, though, is the episode in which Detective Rosa Diaz comes out as bisexual.

It’s so rare that you hear a character say the world ‘bisexual’ on television, it’s also rare that the bisexual character will be a woman of color, and it’s even rarer that her coming out story will be handled with such nuance. Few coming out storylines on TV are perfect, but Rosa’s is a damn near 10 out of 10.

One Day at a Time

Another show with a coming out story that I enjoyed in 2017 was One Day at a Time, the Netflix exclusive that debuted last January. It stars three generations of a Cuban-American family living in the same apartment.

Although it’s a comedy (and a very funny one, I must say), One Day at a Time isn’t afraid to tackle the tough issues. That includes the coming out story of Elena, who realizes she’s gay and comes out to her family.

Elena’s coming out story is a little different compared to most in that she doesn’t have a girlfriend waiting in the wings and her mother isn’t totally on-board with it at first, either. As I mentioned, my own mother accepted me after some hesitation and so watching this season of the show with my mother (who loved the show and Elena’s storyline as much as I did) felt like something special.

Greenleaf

Greenleaf is a show about a black family that runs a church. It is not the show I expected it to be, nor is it a show that I expected to enjoy, but I very much do.

The biggest storyline in Greenleaf is about a sex scandal in the church and it does not shy away from the very grim realities of abuse, or how abusers escape the law and why so many people overlook it.

While that isn’t the only thing going on in this dark church drama, it certainly is the biggest storyline. But it also tackles things like cheating, gay conversion therapy, and domestic abuse in it’s second season. At times this show is frustrating, but only because its characters are designed as humans with (occasionally disagreeable) responses to things that mirror responses that you see in real life.

Greenleaf is not a happy show by any means, but it is one that very much deserves to be watched.

Find Jasmine Henry on Twitter at @jasminetwts