Just a bite: 14 succinct TV shows to stream this Thanksgiving
The A.V. Club serves up a cornucopia of TV recommendations you can consume in six hours or less
TV Features Thanksgiving
Clockwise: Anna Paquin in Flack (Photo: Amazon Studios), Cassandra Ciangherotti and Julio Torres in Los Espookys (Photo: Jennifer Clasen/HBO), Faith Omole in We Are Lady Parts (Photo: Saima Khalid/Peacock), and Maya And The Three (Photo: Netflix) Graphic: Libby McGuire
Now that in-person interactions are back on the menu for Thanksgiving, The A.V. Club understands that we’re all a little less glued to our TVs. So, rather than recommend shows that will take up the entire holiday weekend, we’ve put together a list of 14 series, scripted and otherwise, that can be enjoyed in under six hours. (The time limit is mostly arbitrary, but it’s also roughly how long it takes us to decompress from family gatherings.) In this edition of our annual Thanksgiving streaming guide, you’ll find stories of demons and angels, teen punk rockers and warriors, scammers and faux-Ghostbusters—all of which you can watch in their entirety and squeeze in a nap before the next bout of revelry or grievances.
29 Comments
My first exposure to Matt Berry was through “Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place” and what a great way to be introduced to the man known as the velour fog…
Now you can go experience him on The IT Crowd (although I think he isn’t on until the second series), before enjoying him fully on What We Do In The Shadows.
Why do you have Anna Paquin in the header when she’s(and whatever the hell flack is ) never mentioned anywhere else?
I thought that looked like a still from Yellowjackets and was surprised not to see it listed.
As far as I know, Yellowjackets isn’t really bingeable since only 2 episodes are available. But those 2 episodes are excellent!
Good point! I’m looking forward to watching it.
Excuse me! Flack has been on for 2 seasons and there is a 3rd in the works. It’s a great show.
Ah sorry , as a non American , if it doesn’t get exported to intl Netflix or Amazon , and if it isn’t covered here then the odds I’ll have heard of it are zero .
Don’t know about internationally, but in the US, it’s an Amazon Original.
It’s a British show, it was originally on the channel W.
Wow , I’d honestly never heard of it,
I don’t know if this was an error that’s since been corrected, but Flack is presently slide 8. I’ve heard elsewhere that it’s really good too, it seems to be one of those shows that got buried in the onslaught of original streaming shows in the past few years.
Yep they pulled a sneaky and just added it in now.:)
The Swedish/ British show Fallet (“The Case”) is on Netflix and is 8 half-hour episodes. It is both a parody of mystery series, and an engrossing one, with a tough female Swedish detective teaming up with an older, nerdy British detective to solve a case with roots in both countries.
One Mississippi! Cute and funny despite some subject material that should be really depressing.
I remember liking that show, despite the fact that it had Louis CK’s sticky fingerprints on it behind the scenes. Tig Notaro continues to be a good one.
helps that they addressed his whole deal in-show.
If anyone wants a quick horror binge check out the vampire (though the v-word is never used) thriller Ultraviolet, a late nineties UKTV series that starred Idris Elba, Jack Davenport, and Stephen Moyer. It only runs six episodes and is free with commercials on Tubi (and probably Pluto, Plex, etc.).[edit] horror-related Tubi also has The Fades and Charlie Higson’s Jekyll and Hyde (though ymmv with J&H).
“It’s Tennant and Sheen, and the chemistry between them, that makes Good Omens an indispensably breezy watch.”I loved every scene with the two of them in it, and to a lesser extent the scenes with one or the other. After the first couple of episodes I was sorely tempted to fast forward through the rest just looking for them, so if I ever watch it again it will probably only take half as long. Perhaps not surprisingly, I also enjoyed “Staged.” Two seasons, but only a few hours total and season one has a natural endpoint if you want to stop there. Yes, it’s one of the many pandemic-era Zoom-based productions, but the Tennant-Sheen chemistry elevates it above the format. (They play a couple of outrageously over-the-top British actors named David Tennant and Michael Sheen.) Some of the guest stars are pretty fun too.
Just saying but Flight Attendant is pretty. Really fun and totally binge-worthy
“ Two 17-year-olds who communicate mostly through a notebook they find at New York City’s Strand Bookstore. The two haven’t met yet, but help each other out of their comfort zones through letters and dares as they prepare to meet in person”Jesus , I doubt I could make it through five minutes of that before sticking my head in an oven. I found myself gnawing at my wrists just reading the description . Twee insufferable , ridiculously photogenic New Yorker 25 , sorry I mean 17 year olds meeting cute for four hours? Oh god no, that sounds like something that screens to damned souls in hell 24/7. Unless they end up stalked by a blood soaked maniac dressed as Will Ferrell’s character in Elf , and one of them ends up impaled on a candy cane and the other one defeats the killer using a molotov cocktail with the pages from the tattered notebook as the fuse , I doubt I could stomach it.
Geez, dude, I know you’re doing the whole “hyperbole for comedic effect” thing, but overreact much? Talking about killing yourself just because you see a couple of teenagers interacting in a, let’s say, “cute” way onscreen is, uh, a bit much. It’s not for you, I get it. It doesn’t sound like it’s for me either. Maybe try not to sound so utterly joyless and “South Park fan” about it, though?
Hey! Obviously I’m massively exagerating, and obviously the movie isnt intended for cynics lije me but dammit! The only joy I can get from a bland cookiecutter romance movie that is LITERALLY the defination of ‘first world problems’ is making shitty ‘ south park’ level joke posts!. If you want to take that away from me , fine ! I’m going to cry into my coffee , which like me is bitter!
On Cinema at the Cinema is a really weird choice for this feature. You might as well say “The Simpsons” but just watch a few seasons. The rest of the entries fit the theme.
Agreed. I love it (I’m a subscriber), but trying to shoe-horn it into a list of good-and-succinct shows doesn’t make sense.
It’s best watched with the help of an edible (if it’s legal in your area).Fuck that legal stuff. Even if it’s not, have one anyway. Be a rebel.
I’ll add Girls5eva, which was pretty entertaining.
It’s an excellent use of Paula Pell.
Hell yes to We Are Lady Parts and Los Espookys! Very different but equally delightful.