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At a party when I was much younger, one of my friends brought up a conversation starter to the group: What is the best invention of all time? (Let’s just say that no one has ever used the word “cool” in relation to my group of friends.)
The expectation was that people would answer “fire” or “the wheel.” Instead, the very first person to answer was my best friend, and she blurted out her response almost like an involuntary reflex. It was compelled out of her, she was so passionate about it: “Air conditioning!”
There’s a reason why we’re friends.
It is my favorite time of the year, when it is absolutely unbearable to be outside and therefore you have the perfect excuse to hunker down inside, fuse your body with your couch cushions, and binge watch television while the A/C blasts. There is nothing more comforting than pressing “play next episode” for the ninth time while a jetstream of frigid air blows at you.
To celebrate this glorious time of the year, I thought I’d give you a guide to what I think are the best shows to catch up on right now, all of which have full seasons for you to watch while taking advantage of the indisputable best invention in the history of the world.
The Studio
The finale of this comedy just aired a few weeks ago, so you can binge the whole season now. The Seth Rogen series is a satire of the filmmaking industry, less a love letter than a savage exposé that does to Hollywood what Veep did to Washington politics. Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz give two of my favorite comedy performances of the year.
Adults
I’m unexpectedly charmed by this comedy about twentysomethings flailing while coming of age—or, in this case, coming of adult—in New York City, though the beauty of that age is that you don’t know you’re flailing while it’s happening. Calling it a Broad City or Girls for Gen Z is an apt comparison. Despite my jealousy of youths for their…youthfulness, the humor in this show is irresistible.
Jason Ritter, Kathy Bates, and Skye P. Marshall
Sonja Flemming/CBS
Matlock
If I didn’t get the hint from Adults that I am not young anymore, my obsession with Matlock really drives the “wow, you’re old now, Kev” point home. Whatever. If being in love with Kathy Bates as an undercover lawyer hellbent on taking down the pharmaceutical injury while zany clients and colleagues orbit around her means I officially have old-people taste, then sign me up for AARP and let’s grab a 4:30 pm dinner rez.
Top Chef
I do not cook. That I have “pots” and “pans” in my apartment is a farce. My oven exists to mock me. And yet, I am obsessed with cooking shows, of which Top Chef is the gold standard. The most recent season, which just wrapped, was filmed in Canada, the timing of which is hilarious. It was also one of the best seasons of the show yet. The entire cast of chefs are so wildly likable, and new host Kristen Kish, now in her second year, brings both a mischievous sense of humor and unabashed emotion to the gig that is really appealing.
The Handmaid’s Tale
I have come full circle on my journey with The Handmaid’s Tale, from “this is the kind of harrowing exposure therapy we need to get through this time in our country,” to “you couldn’t pay me to watch this TV show that is dramatizing what we’re basically living through,” and back to “wait, it’s really powerful to be watching this right now.” The middle seasons of Handmaid’s were incredibly frustrating, but the final season, which just aired, is a return to excellence. The last stretch of episodes are really good.
Running Point
This is my “the show isn’t, like, good, but I had a really fun time watching it and finished it on one Sunday afternoon while eating a pizza” pick. That is a specific genre of show, and this Kate Hudson-led comedy is the ideal example of it: breezy, humorous enough, and has a gay guy for me to have a crush on.
The Four Seasons
While promoting this Netflix show, in which she stars with Steve Carell and Will Forte, Tina Fey kept stressing that the comedy series isn’t really that funny. It was a strange way to convince people to watch, but it set up proper expectations. The Four Seasons isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s a delightful and sneakily profound look at how friendship and love changes as we age. Plus, the cast is just so damn likable.
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