The Good Place. PHOTO COURTESY NBC UNIVERSAL
The most ambitious network sitcom I’ve ever seen, NBC’s “The Good Place” follows the struggles of four recently deceased human schmucks (Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto) struggling through the afterlife and figuring out what it means to be a good person. Smart, funny, endlessly imaginative, and with one of television’s best ensembles (which also includes Ted Danson and D’Arcy Carden), the series might just be showrunner Michael Schur’s (“Parks and Recreation,” “Brooklyn 99”) crowning achievement. Three seasons, 39 episodes, Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix, with the current third season on Hulu. Premiering in the summer of 2016, “BrainDead” was tragically cut down before it had a chance to really find an audience, but this one-and-done series is near and dear to my heart. The sci-fi political satire imagines what happens when there’s an outbreak of alien brain bugs in Washington, DC. Burrowing into people’s brains, the tiny critters cause their hosts to grow increasingly more combative and extreme in their beliefs, which is as good an explanation as any for the state of our political discourse these days.
Killing Eve. PHOTO COURTESY BBC AMERICA
Sadly, this was always going to be far too weird to survive on network television. One season, 13 episodes, Amazon Prime. A stylish conspiracy thriller from “Mr. Robot” mastermind Sam Esmail, “Homecoming” stars Julia Roberts as Heidi, a caseworker at a facility meant to help returning US soldiers prepare for their transition back into civilian life. In a separate storyline set four years later, Heidi’s working as a waitress, with no memory of ever
BrainDead. PHOTO COURTESY CBS
having worked on the program. It’s up to a determined investigator (Shea Whigham) to figure out exactly that the hell happened in between. Influenced by paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, “Homeland” zips by with fantastic performances from its cast, which also includes Bobby Cannavale, and Stephan James (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) as a soldier who Heidi of the past takes a particular interest in. One season, 10 episodes, Amazon Prime.
Premiering in April of last year, the first season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s deliciously entertaining “Killing Eve” pits M15 pencil pusher Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) against ruthless assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) in an increasingly twisted game of cat and mouse. This dangerously playful dark comedy is a show I can’t stop recommending to people. Catch up before the new season premieres on BBC America April 7 at 8 p.m. One season, eight episodes, Hulu. A modern-day reboot of Norman Lear’s ’70s sitcom, “One Day at a Time” centers around three generations of a close-knit CubanAmerican family living together under one roof. Justina Machado and the great Rita Moreno anchor the heartfelt show, which brings a gratifyingly light touch to its tackling of hot-button issues from immigration and depression to sexism and LGBTQ rights. It’s a feel-good comedy that genuinely leaves you feeling good — even if it does take some adjustment to hearing a laugh track again. Two seasons, 26 episodes (with a new 13-episode season due February 8), Netflix.
WINTER GUIDE 2019 CITY 27