Hey all,
Sadly, it’s true. I am death to any show that I really like.
Sense8 was just cancelled, and yes, it is totally my fault.
I am not your typical American TV consumer. I go for shows that are quirky, odd, eccentric and decidedly offbeat. And so I guess it should be no great surprise when those shows go off the air after a season or two.
Every now and then, I get lucky, and one lasts for three or maybe four seasons.
If you’re reading this post, odds are that you’re odd like me. So in the spirit of Sense 8 and sharing and spreading the weird, here is a short list of some of my favorite odd but wonderful TV favorites, and where you can find them.
Dead Like Me
This one’s a classic. A gen x slacker gets hit by a toilet seat falling from the space station and is instantly killed, and that’s just the set-up. George joins a crew of grim reapers in NYC, and every day is given a post-it note with a last name, location and time. Half the fun of this show is figuring out who’s gonna get it, and how, but DLM has real heart, too. And there’s a movie as well, made a few years after the end of the series, that brings a lot of the cast back together.
Streaming: Hulu
Pushing Daisies
Bu the creator of Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies also goes into the underworld of death – this time from the perspective of Ned the Pie Man (played by Lee Pace – see Wonderfalls below) who falls for a girl who has died, and can’t touch anyone without bad consequences. This unlikely pair teams up with a detective to solve cases in one of the quirkiest little shows I’ve ever watched and loved. It’s also in beautiful technicolor – you’ll totally want to live in Ned’s world. Plus Ned is fucking adorable.
Streaming: CW Seed
Wonderfalls
What if Joan of Arc lived today, but the voices in her head came from fake animals – stuffed animals, Billy Bass talking fish, and defective plastic injection mold lions? That’s the oddball premise of another show staring a 20-something slacker. This one is set in Niagara Falls, and follows Jaye Tyler as she tries to figure out what these talking inanimate creatures want from her. Featuring Lee Pace from Pushing daisies above, but the real male stand-out is the handsome, sweet Eric (Tyron Leitso). The series only managed to air four episodes in its initial run before being cancelled, but all 13 episodes were later aired on Logo, and are available for streaming. They tell a complete arc – watch this one and you will be satisfied by the end, though you will still want more.
Streaming: I found it on YouTube Here
Eli Stone
This quirky series, about a lawyer who suddenly starts seeing George Michael singing in his living room, is set in San Francisco, so bonus points for that. It tells the story of a formerly bloodthirsty lawyer who undergoes a change when it’s discovered he has an aneurism in his brain that causes him to see, well, George Michael. This is an amazing fucking series. It had me in tears at times, as Eli navigates his new world and tries to work out what Fate wants him to do. Two years worth of episodes. Watch it. You wpn’t be sorry.
Streaming: Hulu
I may do more of these for a future column, but give these a try and let me know what you think!