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The Bisexual
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In The Bisexual, creator and star Desiree Akhavan expands on themes from her debut feature film Appropriate Behavior, once again starring as a character loosely based on herself. Akhavan’s Leila starts to explore bisexuality after the end of her long-term lesbian relationship in a reversal of the typical journey in LGBTQ narratives. That unexpected shift provides Akhavan plenty of opportunities for comedy, along with exploring deeper ideas about identity and community.
Catch-22
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Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel Catch-22 is dense and fragmented, the kind of book that resists attempts to adapt it to the screen. But the six-episode Catch-22 miniseries captures Heller’s dark comedy about World War II remarkably well. Produced by George Clooney (who also plays a small part), Catch-22 stars Christopher Abbott as a U.S. Air Force bombardier who tries desperately to finish his service overseas but is caught up in the titular bureaucratic paradox.
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Devs
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Sci-fi filmmaker Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) brings his sophisticated visual style and storytelling to Devs, an eight-episode miniseries produced under the FX on Hulu brand. Nick Offerman stars as the deceptively affable head of a global tech company, which is developing a mysterious new technology that may change and/or end the world. Sonoya Mizuno plays a company employee who unravels the mystery while simultaneously unraveling her own life.
The Handmaid’s Tale
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Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale might have seemed too esoteric and philosophical to turn into a gripping TV series. But creator Bruce Miller takes Atwood’s concept about a repressive future society where women’s reproductive abilities are a precious commodity and builds it into an intense sci-fi epic. Elisabeth Moss is mesmerizing as the main character who becomes an unlikely freedom fighter.
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Love, Victor
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Love, Victor is a spin-off of the teen romantic comedy Love, Simon, which takes place at the same high school with a new set of characters. Like Simon in the feature film, teenage Victor (Michael Cimino) struggles to accept his identity as a gay man, even as he’s surrounded by supportive friends in an inclusive environment. Victor’s working-class Catholic Latinx family is a contrast to Simon’s affluent white upbringing, adding an extra dimension to the coming-of-age story.
Only Murders in the Building
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Starring and co-created by Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building is a clever take on the current boom in true-crime podcasts. Martin and his longtime collaborator Martin Short play residents of an upscale New York City apartment building who team up with a younger neighbor (Selena Gomez) to podcast about a murder in their building. The main trio eventually get caught up in multiple murders, while the show explores the range of amusingly quirky characters that populate the building.
Reservation Dogs
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Four aimless young people get into various misadventures while trying to figure out their futures beyond the town where they grew up. It’s a familiar premise, but Reservation Dogs takes a refreshing approach with its setting on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma. Creators Taika Waititi and Sterling Harjo freely mix Native American spirituality with modern working-class struggles, treating both as straightforward elements of the main characters’ lives.
Runaways
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An underrated production of the now-defunct Marvel TV, Runaways spotlights one of Marvel Comics’ lesser-known superhero teams. The title characters are the teenage kids of a secret group of villains, and they strike out on their own when they discover their parents’ nefarious true intentions. It’s a mix of sci-fi action and coming-of-age drama, as the Runaways work to defeat evil while also navigating the perils of adolescence.
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Veronica Mars
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In 2014, Veronica Mars became one of the earliest examples of a TV series brought back thanks to fan demand when the show’s creators crowd-funded a feature film. In 2019, Veronica Mars returned, this time for a belated fourth season on Hulu, bringing Kristen Bell back as the title character. Former teen detective Veronica is all grown up, but she’s still investigating murder and corruption in her hometown of Neptune, California. The revival captures the sardonic tone of the original series while updating it for the streaming era.
Woke
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Cartoonist Keith Knight adapted his own long-running comic strips to co-create Woke. Lamorne Morris plays Keith, a Black San Francisco cartoonist who gets a rude awakening about race relations in America and attempts to respond via his art. It’s a funny, playful take on important issues (sometimes via talking inanimate objects). It’s also a personal story about a young artist trying to find his voice and place in the world, alongside his equally aimless friends.
