What to Watch: Best Oddball Series

April 28, 2020

As audiovisual professionals, our team not only creates videos, but we love to watch them, too. At a time when we all are seeking content to consume, each of the GK Team is offering our top streaming picks.

Our co-owner, Doug, worked from home even before the current crisis, and often spend his lunches watching some kind of TV or streaming series. He loves a good show that takes his mind off of things for a while and finds that can be very cathartic.

Here are his top must-watch shows:

Patriot

Don’t expect this show to go where you think it’s going. It’s odd, dark, comedic, deep, dramatic, random, and entertaining. At its base, it’s a show about a spy and the missions he must complete, but that’s the loose structure that holds all these great moments.

It touches on family issues, morality, and the depths of human personality. It goes from drama to sadness to comedy in seconds.

The lead actor, Michael Dorman, does an incredible job emoting with the smallest of looks or gestures. The rest of the cast of characters are amazing as well. Really good writing, directing, acting, and camera work.

Stream it on Amazon Prime.

Undone

This show uses a really cool animation style called rotoscoping that allows it to easily slip from reality to fantasy. It’s about a woman whose father was killed years ago, but after she has a car accident, she starts seeing and talking with him.

It’s part thriller, murder mystery, comedy, drama, and sci-fi. This one definitely leans in on the sadness at times and can hit you in the “feels.”

It has beautiful visuals, a great use of audio, and a wonderful exploration of human emotions

Stream it on Amazon Prime.

Fleabag

I heard a lot about this show but always avoided it because I didn’t think is was for me. I’ll tell you this, if you like to laugh — watch it.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the creator, writer, and star of the series and employs some of the best use of breaking the fourth wall (addressing the camera). It’s got great quick, dry-witted humor that makes you love even the worst of characters.

Stream in on Amazon Prime.

The End of the F***ing World

I am a fan of dark comedy, and this one is very, very dark at times.

It’s about a boy who thinks he’s a psychopath and the girl he starts to have a relationship with. The narrative jumps from both of the lead characters, which sometimes have completely different takes on situations.

The whole thing has a retro, dark Wes Anderson vibe and a great use of soundtrack.

Find it on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Derry Girls

A hilarious cast of characters who are navigating teen life during a tough time in Northern Ireland.

I’ll admit I had to turn on the subtitles for this at the start because of their accents, but you actually start to tune in after a bit. It’s worth putting them on because there are lots of quick bits you might miss otherwise.

It’s got some great emotional beats mixed with slapstick and cringe-worthiness. The writing and acting are great with all the quick ribbing back and forth between characters.