Top 10 Quarantine Shows

We've all spent a crapload of time inside over the past two months. Some of us sick, some of well, some of us going crazy, no, all of us I guess. And when we haven't been Zooming we've been watching stuff. Here is a list of some of that stuff. Yes I do not have the energy to write a better intro. I've been stuck inside for 8 weeks!

#10. Extraction (Netflix)
In different times I would probably talk about how the antagonist of the story has a much more fleshed out story than Chris Hemsworth's lead character. Or about why when things go south, he risks everything to try to save a boy we know very little about and he knows even less. But when you're in quarantine and a pretty big budget action film written by one of the Russo Brothers of Avengers fame and starring Thor himself comes on your screen, you focus on the positives - the well-choreographed and seemingly nonstop action scenes, the 10-minute "one-cut" sequence, the winning persona of Hemsworth and the surprise appearance of David Harbour from Stranger Things which not to spoil it but results in a pretty awesome fight sequence between him and Thor and... well just check it out. It's not a great film but it's good enough for quarantine.

 #9. Spenser Confidential (Netflix) 
Mark Wahlberg plays a cop who spends time in jail because of corrupt cops and then gets out and fights the corrupt cops. I think. I watched this just as the quarantine started and everything is running together at this point but it was fine. Not great, just fine. And really that's all we're going to get for entertainment right now.

#8. Locke & Key (Netflix)
This is a 10 episode series, I think based on a book or something and the cast is largely unknown, led by three teens (or 2 teens and 1 pre-teen) and the acting is a bit sketch, the mystery is not that gripping, and the scare factor (it's ostensibly a horror story) is very PG-13 if not PG but I have to say it was very engaging and I breezed though the whole thing. In fact, my boyfriend breezed through it on his own ahead of me and I wasn't going to keep watching but did. So that's something. What's it about? Umm... 3 kids whose father dies move back to his family home with their mother and they discover magical keys that hold magical secrets and some lady in a well is trying to kill them. But it's kind of fun.

#7. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Netflix)
This is literally my favorite movie of all time and I heard it was on Netflix and the only reason it's only #7 is because I've seen it 800 times but yeah, at a time like this it's okay to wallow in the classics that make you happy. 

#6. Upload (Amazon Prime)
This is a 10 episode series from Greg Daniels (creator of The Office! and Parks & Rec!) that is not what you would expect given those two programs but it's basically a futuristic story about a guy whose conscience is uploaded into an "afterlife" after he is nearly killed in a self-driving car accident. It's funny, it's sweet, but mostly it's a romance, between the lead character and his "angel" (tech support) and it's kind of beautiful. There's also a mystery about whether or not his accident was actually a murder and there's a host of good supporting characters. It's a quick sit despite the episode length (I think most episodes are sitcom-length) and this is the first one on the list that I really liked.

​#5. A Parks & Recreation Special (NBC)
Yeah so one of my favorite shows of all time came back with a mini reunion for the quarantine and I was all in for it. Love this show so much. Love when shows like this were made. Wish they still made shows this good (he says as at least two entrants on the chart above are 1/2 hour comedies). And if Leslie Knope can't cheer you up for a brief moment in a quarantine, no one can. Also you can stream on Hulu right now!

#4. AJJ (Instagram Live)
Every night since the quarantine started (so for 8 straight weeks!), AJJ leader Sean Bonnette has hosted a solo show in his house with about 30 minutes of tunes. As with most of the band's music, some of it is better than others and he's thrown in a shit-ton of covers, most of which I didn't know. But when he played "Big Bird" last Thursday night I almost cried (it's at around 19 minutes in the clip below). There's something special about a musician just trying to help, in any way he can, every night at 10:30. It is literally the only thing I'm looking forward to at the end of my day. God I miss concerts.

​#3. #blackAF (Netflix)
Kenya Barris is a writer who created numerous TV shows (according to Wikipedia) including black-ish and its multiple spinoffs, and he wrote the hilarious Tiffany Haddish breakout Girls Trip. Despite being in a 7-year relationship with a black man, I had never heard the name Kenya Barris, had only infrequently seen black-ish (and was unaware there were spinoffs) and despite my love for Girls Trip, didn't think I'd much care for this "behind the scenes" look at the family life of the successful writer/producer. I was, let's just say, wrong. The show is ostensibly a film school project for his 2nd oldest daughter, who is documenting the behind the scenes of her "famous" family, with Barris as the dad and Parks & Rec's Rashida Jones as the mom. The series, which I think was only 8 episodes (of varying length) is INSANELY hilarious. It's so mean-spirited, it's so funny, it's so well-acted. Honestly, I don't know why this isn't talked about more, although I am not on Black Twitter so maybe it is.  Highly highly recommend.

​#2. The Half of It (Netflix)
Coming of age young adult story + gay = right up my alley. This sweet movie is written and directed by Alice Wu and is somewhat based on her experiences coming out (to herself) as a lesbian. The movie follows Ellie Chu (played by Leah Lewis), a super smart overachiever who takes care of her beaten-down father and crushes on a fellow female student, after she takes an underachieving jock's $50 to write a love letter to said female crush, and hilarity ensues. Well not so much hilarity, but just a bittersweet, heartfelt, truthful rendering of high school life and the surprising friendship between the jock (played by Daniel Diemer) and Ellie, which forms the heart and soul of the movie. Yes, a lot of it is borrowed liberally from Cyrano and a lot of it is well tread high school dramedy stuff but damn if this cast doesn't pull it off. Another highly recommend. ​

​#1. Schitt's Creek (Pop)
The sixth and final season of by far the best comedy of the past few years premiered this spring and was just the balm to save a sad heart. It was always going to be impossible to say goodbye to this amazingly hilarious cast and since my boyfriend and I came late to the party (probably discovering them on Netflix when they were in Season 3), we haven't had quite as long to spend with the first family of Canadian comedy. But the things that show runner Daniel Levy and his main cast (the legendary Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara plus the superb Annie Murphy) were able to do as they grew as a family were simply amazing. Not only a laugh-out-loud comedy (and final season) but also full of emotion and I have to say I cried at least a little saying goodbye.

That's it for the list for now. If this quarantine lasts another two months, I'll probably add more. God help us all.