I’ve blogged before about how my spouse and I are having trouble enjoying film and TV these days — we’ve just seen too many stories, or something. But once in a while, something makes it past the analytical parts of our minds and hits us right in the feels, as they say. Right in the uncritical part of our hearts that is still 10 years old. (My inner 10-year-old loves a story about girls coming into their power, like Moana and Encanto. His loves an action story about girls who kick butt.)
So it’s not surprising that our shared viewing right now is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the reboot series developed by ND Stevenson (Nimona, Lumberjanes).
It hits many of the same things we liked about Trollhunters (him) and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (me). The writing is sharp, the dialogue on point. When any new trope is introduced, it’s not belaboured, because the show knows its viewers are genre-savvy, so the story can move on quickly — making it feel fresh. The characters and their struggles are relatable, at least one is neurodivergent (I love Entrapta so much), AND THEY’RE ALL QUEER. The worldbuilding is kinda thin if you look at too hard, but that’s not what the story focuses on, so it’s fairly easy to ignore. We’re about halfway through and looking forward to the rest.
I also like a very specific type of comedy — whatever it is that The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek were doing. (Yes, I did eventually finish Schitt’s Creek (oh, my heart…) and tried to start watching it over again, but here in Canada it has now moved to CBC Gem, which insists on showing ONLY the same two Audi commercials four times in a row, several times per half-hour episode.)
My most recent find in this vein is Grace and Frankie.
Many older actors, and in particular, actresses are just so good — they bring so much depth to their performances. Here, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are no exception, playing the classic “odd couple” of the uptight one and their polar opposite (#ineffablehusbands, ahem) thrown together when their respective husbands divorce them for each other. Their performances alone were enough to hook me into the show despite the lamentable lack of science fiction or fantasy. (Though I would love a show that had both older protagonists and SFF. We did try Night Sky with Sissy Spacek but couldn’t get into it.) There’s also incisive writing and a very solid secondary cast, including Martin Sheen as Fonda’s gay ex-husband (!).
She-Ra and Grace and Frankie make a pretty eclectic combination, so…who knows what’s next?! Any recommendations in the same vein as either of those?