Joel's List: The five best shows to watch in quarantine

Most of these are not going to be a surprise to anyone, but I’m making this list for the LUTD students who may not be as aware of these shows since most of them are not on the air anymore or need a little extra push to watch them. To be fair, they all reflect my personal taste and are mostly in a ‘true crime’ kind of category, but not without humor, and with certain violence, mostly lacking in any kind of indulgent violence. 

  1. Justified (FX/Hulu, for purchase on Amazon)Justified

While admittedly this show may be a little too fueled with testosterone for some, and may not reach the
artistic heights other shows on this list do, it is not to be skipped. Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins are tremendous as the constantly at odds Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder. The show is fast moving, packed with humor, tension and great character acting from a list too long to include all, but highlighted by Damon Herriman, Nick Searcy, Rebecca Creskoff and Jere Burns. 

  1. Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul (AMC/Netflix, for purchase on Amazon)Breaking Bad

If for some reason you haven’t seen Breaking Bad yet, what’s wrong with you? It’s as good as advertised, featuring a ton of actor overlap from Justified of the best character actors in Hollywood. It is as good as it was when it came out and got over-hyped. AMC’s tagline is ‘characters welcome’ and Vince Gilligan is the master of great characters; nearly everyone in this show is memorable, right down to a brief cameo by Houston actor and Lamar guest artist Ruddy Cravens. The show is darker than Justified, whereas Better Call Saul– a prequel that never should have worked but does – is more the tone of Justified; humor mixed in with conflict and violence. Saul also has a host of memorable characters who don’t appear in Breaking Bad, and you don’t need to have seen one to understand the other. Also on display here is the strikingly beautiful, stark New Mexico landscape 

  1. True Detective (HBO, HBO GO, HBO NOW on Amazon)True Detective

Unlike the rest of this list, True Detective is a serial, and has three seasons that are not really connected (outside of one small reference). If I were only talking about season 1 it might be at the top of this list; a revelation in true crime starring Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Glenn Fleshler (who appeared at the Alley Theater in Death of a Salesman), as well as the eerie Louisiana countryside, an important scene set in Beaumont (don’t be fooled; the whole thing was filmed around New Orleans) and a few nice cameos from Houston area actors. It’s just a masterpiece. However, season 2 is a disaster despite some great acting and beautiful California landscapes, and season 3 lands somewhere in the middle with uneven acting and a very predictable structure taken from the first two seasons (a shout out to my old pal Michael Greyeyes). 1 for sure, 3 maybe, and season 2 if you get desperate.

  1. The Americans (FX/HULU, For purchase on Amazon)The Americans

In general,The Americans kept a lower profile than the rest of this list, and it definitely went through some very slow phases in its middle seasons. The lead actors in this series – Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Holly Taylor and Richard Thomas especially – are just incredible in their performances. Moreover, this show ranks this high for me because a) it ended perfectly and saved its best gut punch to the audience for the end and b) it features a host of scenes that are like nothing I have ever seen before that have stuck with me a long, long time. 

  1. The Wire (HBO, HBO GO, HBO NOW on Amazon) The Wire

The Wire still tops the list, and if you’ve never watched it now is the perfect time because every episode is so packed with information, it’s better not to wait too long to watch the next one. The show has not aged as well as Breaking Bad, but it’s also not intended to be as pretty or glamorous. I don’t re-watch it often because it is full of too many moments that are tough to handle, and I do feel it peaked before it was over, but the writing and acting are as good as anything that has ever been put on television.