From left, Violet (Sue Ann Pien), Jack (Rick Glassman) and Harrison (Albert Rutecki) in As We See It.Ali Goldstein/Amazon Studios
January was a splendid start to the year on TV. From finales to new arrivals, from comedy to thrilling drama, to documentaries, it was a cornucopia. Here’s a list of the best.
As We See It (streams Amazon Prime Video) – an absolute peach of a show. Based on an Israeli series, it’s best called a “dramedy” about three twentysomething roommates who are on the autism spectrum. The three actors identify as being on the spectrum and all three are deft at both the humour and the emotionally wrenching circumstances of their fictional lives here. Sosie Bacon is excellent as their support worker, Mandy. Uproarious, poignant and pointed.
Isla Fisher as Mary in Wolf Like Me.Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video / Peacock
Wolf Like Me (streams Amazon Prime Video) – a huge hit with many readers, its unexpected emotional richness is a delight. Set in Australia, widower and dad Gary (Josh Gad) meets Mary (Isla Fisher), who is both kooky and mysterious. She runs away a lot, especially at sunset. But her bond with both Gary and his daughter Emma is very real. It’s a six-episode love story you won’t believe you have fallen for.
Catch up on the best streaming TV of 2021 with our holiday guide
The fifth and final season of Search Party is streaming on Crave.HBO / Crave
Search Party (streams Crave) – the fifth and final season will seem disjointed if you don’t watch from the first season. It marches to its own rhythms and the four central characters are dumb but their frivolous preoccupations become a series of existential crises. The writing is exceptional, the humour sometimes grimly surreal.
Yellowjackets tells two stories, in the past and in the present, and injects livid humour into a dark tale of brutality, survival and, maybe, derangement.Kailey Schwerman/Showtime / Crave
Yellowjackets (streams Crave) – sensationally good, fearless, utterly compelling and unique. The virtuosity required to pull it off is itself extraordinary. It tells two stories, in the past and in the present, and injects livid humour into a dark tale of brutality, survival and, maybe, derangement. In 1996, a plane carrying a high-school women’s soccer team crashes in a far-north wilderness and brutal things happen then, and to survivors in the present.
Comedian Mark Critch (second from left) brings his semi-autobiographical novel to life in the CBC series Son of a Critch.CBC via The Canadian Press
Son of a Critch (CBC Gem) – CBC’s first big comedy hit in some time, based on Mark Critch’s memoir about growing up in Newfoundland and Labrador. The 22 Minutes guy plays his dad, Mike, a radio reporter, and little Mark (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is, as the slogan says, “11 going on 70.” Wacky, with heart and a charmingly bizarre turn by Malcolm McDowell as the grandad.
Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian is a 30-minute comedy special streaming on Netflix.Marcus Russell Price/Netflix
Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian (streams Netflix) – 30 minutes of flinty humour that touches on the mess we are all in. Few belly laughs but instructive about how hard it is to be funny right now.
Margarita Levieva as Jenny and Alexandra Prokhorova as Gaia in In from the Cold.SAMANTHA LÓPEZ/NETFLIX/Courtesy of Netflix
In from the Cold (streams Netflix) – a bonkers but enjoyable espionage-thriller series, eight episodes, and broadly done. Seemingly ordinary mom Jenny (Margarita Levieva) happens to have a past as a lethal Russian spy.
Ben Schwartz and Sam Richardson in The Afterparty.Aaron Epstein/Courtesy of Apple TV+
The Afterparty (streams AppleTV+) – a murder mystery, but a comedy series, and a very funny one. In the three episodes so far (more coming weekly), a fine ensemble of comic actors splendidly brings the sheer weirdness alive with gusto.
Bridget Everett as Sam in Somebody Somewhere.HBO / Crave
Somebody Somewhere (streams Crave) – quiet, powerful, a muted observational series about someone who finds herself an outsider. It might easily be off your radar, but shouldn’t be. Fortysomething Sam (Bridget Everett) returned to her hometown to take care of her sister. Now her sister has died and Sam is drifting, aimless and more than a little lonely. Not a lot happens but how she survives and grows is the point. Gentle, dry humour, little dramatic plot and it’s impressively affecting. Three episodes of seven available.
Fanny: The Right to Rock is the story of Fanny, the all-women hard rock group, a cult favourite in the 1970s.Courtesy of Hot Docs
Fanny: The Right to Rock (streams Crave) – a terrific, eye-opening doc and an amendment to misconceptions about the history of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s the story of Fanny, the all-women hard rock group, a cult favourite in the 1970s. Adored by David Bowie and other legends, they seemed to disappear from history. Bobbi Jo Hart’s film provides a treasure trove of detail on the band’s strange story, their lives, loves and triumphs.
The Gig is Up uncovers the real costs of the platform economy through the lives of people working for companies around the world, including Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo.CBC
The Gig Is Up (streams CBC Gem) – a riveting, disturbing look at the gig economy here and on three other continents. While these gig jobs are a lifeline for some, they are a perilous development. As one observer says in it, for many workers, soon, “the Middle Ages will look like paradise.” A don’t-miss doc.
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