Sometimes it is the small things in life that can get us through hard times. Film and television are great escapes into worlds and lives different from ours, but we often find ourselves scrolling through hundreds of recommended titles.
Plus, often when you do find something good it is easy to binge an entire series over a weekend. Here’s a collection of hundreds upon hundreds of hours of escapism for many different tastes.
“Cutthroat Kitchen” and “The Great British Bake Off”
While both of these shows are cooking competitions, they are two vastly different experiences. “Cutthroat Kitchen” involves extreme sabotages, eccentric personalities and the sadistic charm of the host Alton Brown. Meanwhile, “The Great British Bake Off” is like a cup of warm chamomile tea. The contestants are sweet to each other and the desserts are even sweeter.
“Cutthroat Kitchen” is on Hulu and “The Great British Bake Off” is on Netflix.
“Lost” and “The Sopranos”
While, unfortunately, we are existing during a global pandemic, consequences of climate change and the current circus of politics, we are also existing at the same time as “The Golden Age of Television.”
This age has been going strong for many years, and two of the most noteworthy shows from this era are “Lost” and “The Sopranos.” One, castaways trapped on a mysterious island, the other, a mobster, who in order to handle two different kinds of “families,” sees a therapist. Both shows had controversial finales, but draw your own opinions.
“Lost” is on Hulu and “The Sopranos” is on HBO.
“Story of Yanxi Palace” and “Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace”
These two historical dramas cover the same period in Chinese history during Emperor Qianlong’s reign, but from contrasting perspectives. “Story of Yanxi Palace” follows Wei Yinglou as she works to solve her sister’s death by climbing up the hierarchy in the Forbidden Palace.
“Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace” is from the perspective of the Ulanara Ruyi, who begins the show with an already close relationship with the Emperor Qianlong. The women in the palace are always in precarious positions and meet adversaries at every turn.
“Story of Yanxi Palace” is on VIKI and “Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace” is on Amazon Prime.
“Unsolved Mysteries” and “Psych”
These two shows have very little to do with each other besides the shared focus on crime, murder and mystery. If you want to watch something of that nature, “Unsolved Mysteries” is great for the real mystery and tragedy of life. “Psych” is the pick-me-up for when the world is bleak enough.
“Unsolved Mysteries” covers things from the supernatural to murder. This show invites the viewer to even help solve these crimes, and in the long history of the show, it has worked.
“Psych” has the unorthodox detective team of Shawn, a fake psychic, and Gus, his childhood best friend. The light-hearted, quotable comedy still makes time to bring a bit of realism to the characters.
The original series of “Unsolved Mysteries” is on Hulu and the reboot is on Netflix, and “Psych” is on Amazon Prime.
