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Hit me baby, one more time

Tanveer Bookwala gives you the lowdown on seven of his favourite American TV shows, which give him a ‘high’ and have him hooked

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Confession. I’ve never ever done drugs. Not of any kind. I haven’t even smoked a cigarette in my life. But I have always been curious of what it must be like. I’ve heard addicts and fans wax eloquent about the decorated high from the hallucinogens. They speak animatedly about the starburst of colours, the vivid visuals and the melancholy of the brain and heart working in unison. And I wonder what it’s like. But I don’t wonder for too long. It is hard to understand addiction unless you have experienced it.

This is my story

Amongst the shadows of my bedroom, I take a hit. American Television. Sigh. The writing with its alluring lure, the production with its addictive thrill, the performances, the direction, the production value, the score. I sit and scoff at the rest. They don’t know that the greatest drug of them all, is right here. And it will take you places and won’t kill you along the way. All you have to do, is turn it on. Here are seven of my most favourite show. Why seven? Because I love odd numbers. Because these shows, they are the oddities. Not all of them are mainstream masala. But I guarantee, you take one hit of these and we WILL continue the conversation at an anonymous meeting. Here goes, in no particular order at all.

Nobodies 

Nobodies is the inside-Hollywood, squirm-comedy version of Entourage, except the big star here is Melissa McCarthy (also Executive Producer) and it doesn’t have any of the Entourage glitz.  Instead, this is a struggling version, with three frustrated writers (They write a show called Fartlemans, for Nickelodeon, not Fox – a running gag in the show) pitching a big movie idea, Mr First Lady, to everyone that is willing to listen. They also “happen” to mention that Melissa is starring. Now, if only Melissa knew. Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson, and Larry Dorf, all co-executive-producing and playing characters based slightly on themselves — are anxious and socially inept. Nobodies gets the balance of slapstick and pathos just right. It’s funny. It’s got heart. And farts.

Baskets 


Baskets is the new FX series starring Zach Galifianakis and was co-created by the actor as well as Louis CK and Jonathan Krisel. The best comedy, comes from tragedy and Baskets really picks up on this vibe. It is an unusually sad premise. Chip Baskets (Galifianakis) is a clown, (or Klune as they refer to him in the Academie de Clown Français in Pari) learning the theory and craft of being side-splitting and silly. But a few financial difficulties and academic setbacks later, his pretentious French teacher dismisses him as a “Ronald McDonald” — and he finds himself back in America with his new wife, Penelope (Sabina Sciubba), a stunning model like woman, who married him only for his green card. He eventually lands a job at $4 an hour as bull bait in a rodeo and we meet a bunch of pathetic and unhappy characters that populate his life. This is sad, depressing comedy at its best.

Casual  


Created by a relative newcomer, Zander Lehmann, and produced by Jason Reitman (Juno), who also directs the first two episodes. This is a lonely show. With messy and damaged characters who live their idiosyncrasies like it were simply, normal. And this show is anything but. Here’s the premise. Valerie (Michaela Watkins), a therapist going through a nasty divorce, moves in with her single brother, Alex (Tommy Dewey, a variant on the Hank Moody prototype), who opens his house, heart and hedonism to. Alex is the creator of Snooger.com — a Tinder like dating up and he cheats its algorithm to hook himself up with dates. Adding to this emotional muddle is Alex’s 16-year-old niece who has been on the pill, since she was 12 and occasionally has sex in the hot tub while her uncle watches — and worries, for his hot tub. But superficially and silly as it may sound, the show is so much deeper. The writing is whip-smart and funny and if you let it, will warm the cockles of your heart. If bittersweet is your flavour, this one will leave a good taste for you.

Brockmire 


The talented Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet co-star in Brockmire that centres on the fall of Jim Brockmire, a one time famed major league baseball announcer who fades into embarrassing oblivion after a rather disturbing on-air meltdown caused by his wife’s serial infidelity. The show begins when Brockmire, older and hopefully less wounded by his passionate wife, attempts to reclaim his career, reputation and love life by returning behind the mic, in a sleepy little town that is home of the minor league’s Morristown Frackers. He also meets the unassailable never-say-die hard-drinking bar owner, Julia James who sets up a complicated relationship with Brockmire and the town that she loves. Baseball fans will love this tragicomedy. An acquired taste.

The Affair (Season 3) 


Gritty, layered, depressing, dark and full of selfish characters that seem hell bent on complicating each others lives collide in this. In one of the most interesting narrative styles, The Affair presents three sides to every story — his, hers, and the truth. Noah Solloway (Dominic West) is a happily married school teacher and novelist living in Brooklyn with his wife (Maura Tierney) and four children. Noah, who resents being dependent on his wealthy father-in-law, is trying to complete a second novel when he visits the town of Montauk on Long Island with his family. There, he meets Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson), a pretty waitress who is trying to piece her life and marriage back together following a devastating tragedy. The two embark on a passionate affair that leads them through the most intense, uncomfortable and emotional drain. For fans of pain, longing and misery, this one, will top your list.

I’m Dying Up Here 

Jim Carrey debuts as HBO producer and delivers a show set in the early 1970s where stand up comics flocked to Los Angeles, trailing the move of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from New York to the West coast. The show takes us through the tragedy and darkness behind the funny business. Each episode unfolds like a day in the life of and we meet inspired struggling versions of people like Louie CK, Ari Graynor, Andy Kaufman, Richard Pryor, Jim Carrey and a lone female comic, with almost all of them channelling depression, angst and a general sense of imminent darkness — until you root for them all and that one epic punchline.

Blood Drive  

Episode one is titled The F-Cking Cop. That should give you a sense of what you are about to get into. In the dystopian future of 1999, Arthur Bailey is the last good cop among a horde of corrupt officials, living in desolate downtown Los Angeles. He’s about to get caught up in a race where the cars run on human blood and the last participant to arrive at each checkpoint has their heads explode. A gory heritor to the likes of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, Blood Drive is perverse and permissive Grindhouse that celebrates blood splatter, debauchery, and fatuous fun. Not for the weak of heart, obviously.

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