Social distancing is more fun when you've got something to binge.
As we enter into week, uh, something, of social distancing and self-quarantine, keeping ourselves entertained has become more important than ever. It's not that we're all clawing at the proverbial walls, but we're kind of clawing at the proverbial walls. Thankfully, this is the internet and there is absolutely no shortage of content to consume. From YouTube series to classic TV re-watches, the GameSpot crew is all over the map in terms of how we're spending our free time.
How has self-quarantine been treating you? Let us know what you've been watching in the comments below!
And speaking of things you should be watching, consider listening to GameSpot's weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.
Community -- Chris Pereira, Engagement Editor
I often save shows or movies until what feels like the right time to watch them. Community is one such case. While I wasn't sure if I would love it, enough people had recommended it to me that I felt confident I would enjoy it whenever I got to it. Having wrapped up Veep, I wanted another half-hour comedy show to speed through.
Sure enough, I love it, and in retrospect, that NBC block of The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, and Community is just an embarrassment of riches. Community is particularly fun to binge, in part because of how it likes to mess with its own format, throwing in episodes like the stop motion animation or branching timelines ones. I also get inordinately excited to hit moments that I only know from memes and gifs, like that timelines episode that features Donald Glover walking into a catastrophe with a stack of pizza boxes.
The cast is great, and it's been particularly fun watching Glover. Knowing how his career has panned out may unavoidably impact my perception of him as I make my way through the series, but it's hard not to pick up on his charisma and magnetism--he just sticks out as someone primed to be a star. That Chevy Chase guy seems like he could have a future, too.
Twitter | @TheSmokingManX
Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts -- Jordan Ramée, Associate Editor
Netflix has this hidden treasure trove of all-ages animated TV series that are just so, so good. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts happens to be the latest one I've stumbled across and binging through all 10 episodes of the series' first season proved to be the highlight of my week--but that's probably because I'm a sucker for storylines with the creative wit to appeal to both children and adults.
Adapted from Radford Sechrist's 2015 webcomic Kipo, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts has a ton of phenomenal talent behind it. It's produced by DreamWorks, animated by Studio Mir (Legend of Korra, The Boondocks, Young Justice: Outsiders), and features Karen Fukuhara (Suicide Squad's Katana and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power's Glimmer) as the voice for the titular heroine.
The show follows Kipo Oak, a 13-year-old girl who's life underground is interrupted when she becomes trapped on the Earth's surface--one that's become a post-apocalyptic wasteland mostly inhabited by sentient animals. Befriending a young girl raised by wolves, a carefree scavenger, an adorable pig, and a wise-cracking bug, Kipo sets out to find a way to return home, a journey that's full of wonderful original musical numbers and hilarious misadventures.
I'm so annoyed that the first season ends on as huge and intriguing of a cliffhanger as it does, because there's no indication as to when we can expect a Season 2 and I desperately need to know what happens next.
Twitter | @JMRamee
YouTube Rabbit Hole -- Eddie Makuch, Associate Editor
Instead of spending my days trying to expand my mind and learn new things, I've spent a good portion of my time in lockdown watching stupid old YouTube videos that I had forgotten about. First, and most importantly, there's the machine that destroys everything. Synced up to a wonderful '80s synth soundtrack, it's oddly entertaining and satisfying to watch tennis balls and tables and eggs get destroyed by a machine. And who could forget one of SNL's greatest modern digital shorts, The Beygency, featuring Keifer Sutherland and Andrew Garfield. I also enjoyed returning to some classic College Humor videos, including the Tetris God that still makes me laugh with its simple idea executed wonderfully. I've also found myself watching every single Between Two Ferns episode, and the one with Steve Carell gets me every time. Everyone has different tastes, so these videos may not resonate with you. But I'm confident you can think of a long list of classic YouTube videos from years ago that are worth returning to.
Twitter | @EddieMakuch
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel -- Mat Elfring, News Editor of Entertainment
Once upon a time, primarily before working here, I was a stand-up comedian in the bustling Chicagoland comedy scene. While that chapter in my life is closed, it was a decade of fun and pain all at the same time. Luckily, I get to relive some of my favorite and least favorite moments on the Amazon Prime Video series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Sure, the series takes place in a post-World War II America--a culture far different from the one we're in now--but it somehow hits all the same beats of grinding in a comedy scene in order to try and make a name for yourself.
Whether it's 1950s New York City or 2000s Chicago, comedy--as an artform--hasn't changed much. There are still rough nights of bombing on stage, shady producers who stiff you on your pay, venues that have no business hosting comedy shows, and personal relationships being affected by your choice to talk about said relationships on stage. Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the perfect encapsulation of what it means to be a comedian and the numerous balancing acts you have to go through while trying to yell jokes into a microphone.
Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel is really the key to this show's success. She's quick, witty, and extremely charismatic. Sure, she's the type of comedian that never really "turns it off," but that's honestly what makes for the most compelling television, as her choice of words tends to get her in quite a bit of trouble. Also, the show is very funny, so that's probably something I should mention.
Twitter | @ImMatElfring
The Chris Gethard Show -- Chris E. Hayner, Entertainment Editor
While you may know comedian Chris Gethard from his stand-up comedy or appearances on shows like The Office, Broad City, and Parks and Recreation, you're missing out on his best work. I've been taking comfort in rewatching The Chris Gethard Show, the talk show for weirdos, that Gethard hosted between 2011 and 2018. The series, which is largely available to watch for free on YouTube, is my comfort zone. It's a mostly-improvised comedy show that caters to anyone and everyone who considers themselves outside of the norm. It also shows just how overproduced and unoriginal most talk shows are. Where most shows strive for some manner of perfection, the Gethard Show strives to be flawed, show its imperfections to the audience, and watch them be reflected back. Oh, and it also happens to be one of the funniest and most engaging things I've ever watched, making something as ludicrous as guessing what's inside a dumpster into a riveting hour of television. No, seriously, it did that.
Chris and his band of misfits made the show TV could use more of right now. It's a show that speaks to a generation of people who don't know how to feel about most things, other than hoping to find a connection with like minded folks. Given the current state of the world, with everything staying home, that's something that feels more valuable now than ever.
Twitter | @ChrisHayner
I can’t stop watching Jeff Golblum movies -- Kurt Indovina, Host/writer
Like all things relative to this quarantine, the circumstances that led myself and my girlfriend down a path of 80s Jeff Goldblum films is fragmented and blurry. It all started with Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), and again, for reasons I’m not entirely sure. The film opens with Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans in furry alien prosthetics pervertedly gawking over a holographic furry alien woman while Jeff Goldlbum is in some sort of unexplained hibernation. The movie unravels in what feels like a series of self-contained music videos featuring a scantily clad Geena Davis, and Jeff Goldblum plays the piano at one point. The whole experience made me uncomfortable.
The fuzzy dream of reality continued when we watched Transylvania 6-5000 (1985). Another one of many 80s Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum soirees. Again, another under-dressed Geena Davis plays a vampire, while Jeff is working for a tabloid newspaper on the hunt for the real Frankenstein. This movie actually got some good chuckles out of me, and features the classic fast talking methodical Jeff Goldblum we know so well.
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. Into the Night (1985), a crime romance by John Landis (Blues Brothers, American Werewolf in London), was up next. This time with the absence of Geena Davis, but instead Michelle Pfeiffer. This one was alright, and seemed really conflicted between being a violent crime film and a comedy. It’s also loaded with unsuspecting cameos like David Cronenberg and David Bowie.
(I swear I’m almost done.) While we were on the Goldblum escapade, I couldn’t help but revisit The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984). It’s a film that I wish one day to be my biopic. That’s all I’ll say. Oh and that Jeff Goldblum is a neurosurgeon dressed as a cowboy. Okay, I think that’s it? No, wait — there’s that movie Beyond Therapy (1987), but it was making this twisted reality of quarantine more confusing so I shut it off. Okay, it’s clear I’ve overstayed my welcome. Bye.
Twitter | @KURT_INDOVINA
Stranger Things -- Kallie Plagge, Reviews Editor
I'm staying with my parents for the time being, and my dad got it into his head that there was a new season of Stranger Things available. When he discovered that there was, in fact, no new season yet, he decided that we needed to watch it all from the beginning (me for the first time). It's been less than a week and we're already in Season 2, so... that's what indefinite isolation will do to you, I guess. But I'm actually fully obsessed with it and I have no idea why I'm so late to this party.
I genuinely really like the show on its own merits, but one of the best things has been hearing my parents' commentary about the '80s as we watch--my mom insists that people in California did not think mullets were cool even then. My dad was a teenager in the midwest in 1983, so it's cool to see what his teenage years would have been like if there were also horrible monsters and (more) government secrets. Also, I really miss arcades.
Twitter | @inkydojikko
Run BTS -- Meg Downey, Associate Entertainment Editor
Quarantine is the perfect time to start trying new things, and in my case, that means getting super, super invested in a brand new fandom. I'm like a hyperfixating shark, if I stop obsessing over something for even a second, I'll die.
I'd been listening to K-pop mega-hit boy band BTS passively (mostly thanks to Spotify algorithms and recommended playlists) for a while but in the last month and a half, something changed. I went from "oh fun, a catchy song" to hours and hours spent learning the ins and outs of the band's seven members, consuming their entire discography, and blitzing through all of their music videos. So you can imagine my absolute delight upon finding out that along with all their music, they've also starred in over a 100 episodes of their own online unscripted TV show.
Run BTS is silly, kind-hearted, and occasionally deeply arcane (even as a veteran subtitle reader it gets hard to keep up with seven people all talking over one another sometimes). The members of BTS are made to do game show style challenges, taught how to do arts and crafts, let loose in shopping malls or followed on vacation, all accompanied by slapstick editing and sound effects. It's one part fever dream, one part wholesome good time, and exactly the sort of content I need right now.
Twitter | @rustypolished
Succession, finally -- Mike Rougeau, Managing Editor, Entertainment
When Succession Season 2 was airing in 2019, everyone told me to watch it--"It's a Shakespearean tale of betrayal and backstabbing among the members of a Murdoch-like family of media moguls," they said. Well, that sounded terrible to me, and so I abstained. Naturally, the current situation means much more binge time than usual. So here we are. I still hate every single character, but with Season 1 in the rearview and Season 2 partially consumed, I've come to understand that that's the point. I guess I'm invested now.
Twitter | @roguecheddar
Giant Bomb's Persona 4 Endurance Run -- Tony Wilson, Video Producer
I've decided to rewind 11 years and start up Giant Bomb's Persona 4 Endurance Run. Since playing and absolutely loving Persona 5 in 2017, I've wanted to go back through the series and see what I missed. Thing is, I have no (legal) way to play Persona 4 myself right now, so a Let's Play is the next best thing.
Early Giant Bomb has me covered, with a 155-episode series that runs through Persona 4's original PS2 release. The guys break whenever they reach a good stopping point, which means episode lengths vary wildly, from just 8 minutes to an hour twenty. That makes it easy to whittle away an evening watching Charlie and the gang save people from being dragged into an alternate dimension inside the real world's television sets.
So far, the party has gathered a few party members and completed a few dungeons, ranging from a regal castle to a steamy bathhouse. I love the series' creative dungeon design, based on the psyche of the character being held inside. I'm excited to see where the adventure goes as the team grows and the plot around these missing people thickens.
Twitter | @chaingunpope
Shirobako -- Michael Higham, Associate Editor
I love a good high school slice-of-life anime like any ol' weeb out there, but I often wish for more stories about young adult life as they're of course more relatable at this point. And boy did I strike gold when discovering Shirobako. Not only does it revolve around the struggles of being a budding young professional, but also covers the unique challenges of working in a passion-driven industry.
Shirobako follows the different routes in which a group of friends (who ran their high school anime production club) break into the anime industry in their early 20s. It's an anime about making anime. Beyond the meta novelty, Shirobako offers a genuine look at office and social dynamics when dealing with the quirks and habits of others along the production line. Key animators, producers, directors, writers, artists, voice actors, contract workers, everyone has specific roles which are touched on from episode to episode. You see how working in what you love can lead to moments of unrivaled fulfillment, but not without showing the risks of increased stress and long hours.
I started Shirobako a while back, but never got around to finishing it. But having been holed up in my small apartment, I really miss my own office dynamics and remembered just how Shirobako encapsulated that to near-perfection.
Twitter | @michaelphigham
Ozark -- Steven Petite, Associate Editor, Commerce
I originally started watching Ozark on Netflix when Season 1 dropped in 2017, but I never finished it. I remember finding the premise--risk-averse middle class man foolishly launders money for the cartel--compelling and reminiscent of Breaking Bad. It should've hooked me, but for some reason I stopped watching. Perhaps it was partly because I mostly only watch TV with my wife, and she wasn't a fan at all. Anyway, I've always wanted to revisit it, and wow, am I glad I gave it a second chance.
For the past week or so, I've watched an episode or two each night. I'm almost done with Season 2, and let me just say: this show is a high-quality trainwreck that I cannot look away from. Jason Bateman is great as Marty Byrde, but at this point in the show, Laura Linney's Wendy Byrde steals just about every scene she's in.
Much like Breaking Bad, the writing constantly forces the main cast into a corner, and each time I have no idea how they are going to get out of it. The threats to the Byrde family are multiplying with each episode, which makes it a stressful yet riveting watch. I'm also unsure if I'm rooting for these characters. Is Marty Byrde an anti-hero I should cheer for under my breath or a villain I should despise? This moral dilemma is made even harder to decipher thanks to the top-notch performances and masterful writing that has made me both admire and loathe a character in the span of a single scene.
As of now, Ozark has a pretty good chance of becoming my favorite show I've ever watched on Netflix. It's simply phenomenal.
Twitter | @steven_petite
Mubi -- Dan Auty, Writer
If nothing else, lockdown has proven to be a great time to make use of the (too) many streaming services I subscribe to, as well as trying out some new ones. One of my favourites is Mubi, which stands apart from the most other services by only ever featuring 30 movies at any one time.
The concept is simple--one film is added each day and it stays there for 30 days, before leaving again. In this age of the seemingly endless, often daunting choice offered by the likes of Netflix and Amazon, there’s something weirdly liberating about a limited choice, especially when the film selection is such a superbly curated mix of new international films and classic movies (admittedly the constantly ticking clock to get films watched before they leave adds a different kind of streaming-stress). This month’s first time watches included last year's weird and very violent Brazilian thriller Bacurau (think a drugged-up desert-set Battle Royale) and Jean-Pierre Melville’s gripping 1969 French Resistance drama Army of Shadows. I also revisited some older favorites, such as the time travel mind-f*** Primer and the Nick Cave-written Australian western The Proposition.
Twitter | @mondodan
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