This Week in TV - New Series DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE Knocks It Out of the Park, While BREEDERS Misses the Mark
This week, we got a couple of new series that I was really excited about checking out. Dispatches From Elsewhere on AMC and Breeders on FX. Dispatches From Elsewhere was created by Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and is based on Games of Nonchalance, an alternate reality game in San Francisco which ran from 2008 to 2011. Here’s the synopsis:
Four ordinary people feel there's something missing in their lives, but can't quite put their finger on what it is, are brought together by chance - or perhaps it's by design - when they stumble onto a puzzle hiding just behind the veil of everyday life. As they begin to accept the mysterious "Dispatches from Elsewhere" challenges, they come to find that the mystery winds deeper than they imagined, and their eyes are opened to a world of possibility and magic.
This series is so captivating. We’ve gotten to see the first two episodes this week, and I’ve compared it in my mind to the movie The Game, as well as a kind of escape room that takes place out in the streets of Philadelphia. It’s such an interesting premise, and it’s so hard to know what is real and who to trust. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this series unfolds. Segal stars along with Eve Lindley (Mr. Robot), Sally Field (Steel Magnolias), Andre Benjamin (Four Brothers), and Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). One other aspect of the series I appreciate is the very matter of fact manner they handle the main character’s crush on the trans woman character. It’s just nice that it’s not made into a political statement. It’s there, and it’s lovely, and I appreciate it. Do yourself a favor, and catch up on the first two episodes on AMC. Episode 3 airs next Monday, March 9th.
Next up, we watched the series Breeders on FX. This show is a frank, comedic series about the hardships of parenthood. It was co-created by Martin Freeman (Sherlock, The Hobbit), Simon Blackwell, and Chris Addison, with Addison directing alongside Ben Palmer. Freeman stars as the father in the series, with Daisy Haggard playing his wife.
I was really excited for this series, as I love Martin Freeman, and I am a parent who is in the thick of raising small children. I like a real and irreverent look at parenting as much as the next guy, but I felt this series just wallowed in the worst of it, and did nothing to give the viewer any hope. For a series billed as a comedy, my husband and I watched the first episode not laughing, but mostly cringing about the heaviness we felt from the characters and their misery. Parenting is HARD. I totally agree. But it’s not 100% hard, 100% of the time. I wish the series had let up a bit, and had shown the sparks of joy that can be felt as a parent that make the whole thing worth it.