Recbox for Hannah

[beyondthealgorithm_mod]

Username: Hannah

Preferred Genres: Drama, Comedy, Scifi

DNW Genres: Horror

Preferred Media Types: Movies, TV shows, novels

DNW Media Types: Podcasts

General Likes: Competence, enjoyment of each other's company, enjoyment of one's work, strong narrative thrust, belief in the hope and capacity of human kindness and potential, anger focused outward to a sharp point to leverage against the injustices of the world, Jews, bad rats

General DNWs: Deliberate miscommunication, cruelty, nihilism, dishonest storytelling, lack of commitment to the narrative being told, a major outstanding time commitment, dogs, laugh tracks, lack of character development

Fandom Preferences: Genfic, vids

Requests for Content Warnings: Violence, dogs, earworms

Examples of Media Enjoyed: Six Feet Under, Deep Space Nine, Deadwood, Scrubs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Good Place, Discworld, The Mandalorian, The Golem and the Jinni

Examples of Media to Avoid: Critical Role, animation in the uncanny valley, The Walking Dead

Streaming Services I Can Access: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime

Languages I'm Comfortable With: English

Comments

Rec: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

[nowrunalong]

Hiya Hannah!

The show I’m going to recommend to you is, full disclaimer, one I haven’t watched very much of yet. It was recommended to me by a couple different friends this year, and I’ve only *just* started, but I’m very much enjoying it already. I’ve noticed that our media likes seem to overlap (I've also loved Buffy, the Mandalorian, Scrubs, The Good Place, and what I’ve seen so far of DS9 - that’s 5 of the 9 things you mentioned! :D) so I’m gonna go out on a limb and pass this rec on to you!

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a period comedy-drama about a Jewish housewife in the 1950s whose picture-perfect life takes a sudden turn when her husband leaves her and - and!! - she discovers that she has a talent for stand-up comedy. A couple episodes in and I’m already enjoying Midge Maisel, the titular character, very much. She basically epitomizes competence and successfully going after what you want - which is why it’s so interesting, for me, to watch her lose the things she’d set her sights on and be forced to figure out a new path.

In front of her family, Midge comes across as unflappable in the face of anything, but in front of the little crowds in NYC's nightclubs, she lets loose her emotions.

There are only 26 episodes (3 seasons) of this Amazon Prime original series so far, and a fourth season is planned but not yet in production. It’s rated TV-MA for profanity and some nudity.

Due to lack of extensive canon knowledge I can’t specifically guarantee it doesn’t contain any of your media DNWs, but the show's premise is largely about what a woman can do without a man (her family: “what will you do without a husband?!??!”), and being character-driven, comedic, and of a feminist nature, I am doubtful it will take a nihilist turn on me, at least!

I will say that Midge - and the rest of the cast - aren't necessarily “nice” people. Midge is talented! She’s intelligent! She’s capable! She’s witty! (As a Buffy fan, I love me some witty banter!) But she can also be petty and judgmental and generally a little flawed in a way that I love (because the show is about three-dimensional characters going on a journey!). Her husband Joel is also compelling in that he is flawed in an obvious way (he leaves Midge for his secretary in episode 1, amongst other things), but he is not made to be one-sidedly unsympathetic - while the storytelling feels to be more so from Midge’s POV so far, it does also touch on Joel’s own feelings and unhappiness… I think even he doesn’t fully know what he wants, which is a story that I’m excited to delve into!

I’m really looking forward to watching more of this show in the coming year. If it sounds up your alley too, well - I hope we’ll both adore it! :D