“The First” (Hulu, 2018)īeau Willimon’s drama about the pursuit of a voyage to Mars is ambitious in the ways that help reframe our understanding of what that mission truly is. It’s revelatory in its simplicity and yet a woefully rare sight on TV.
And while the show lacks any political message, the optics of this series are powerful: An American woman of color descended from Iranian immigrants shows the ultimate respect in her travels as she follows age-old traditions, speaks the local tongue, or both in her pursuit of getting back to basics. She shops with locals and prepares meals with them, learning from home cooks and butchers in their element as she breaks down concepts in the field. Instead, its most important asset is Nosrat herself, who is a connector of ideas and people. Yes, this series boasts gorgeous photography, visits foreign lands, and outlines recipes step-by-step, but it lacks the labored construction of a typical travel or cooking show. In each episode, Nosrat focuses on one element that, once mastered, will help anyone make flavorful fare.
“Salt Fat Acid Heat” (Netflix, 2018)ĭirected by Caroline Suh, this four-part food documentary loosely based on Samin Nosrat’s book of the same name reinvents the food show in elegant and effortless ways that make cooking actually feel accessible. Some of the ways they explore those possibilities, in fact, create haunting moments and make “One Day at a Time” one of Netflix’s most stealthily surprising series, with no shortage of heart.
Plus, the writers prove incredibly savvy about how making a multi-camera sitcom for a streaming platform means they can embrace serialization in a way that would have been impossible on TV 30 years ago. Isabella Gomez and Marcel Ruiz as her swiftly aging adolescent children are some of the steadiest young actors working today, and Rita Moreno gets the material a legend like her deserves. Justine Machado brings incredible energy to the multi-camera format.
Thus, Norman Lear’s classic sitcom about a lower-class family trying to balance a complicated life becomes relevant on a whole new level when recast as a modern-day Cuban-American family dealing with life in an America increasingly less friendly to immigrants. The best reboots are always the ones which take the core of what made the original show great and find their own spin on it. The 41 Best Animated Movies of the 21st Century, RankedĪll the Scripted Broadcast TV Shows Cancelled, Renewed, or on the Bubble (So Far) The 150 Greatest Horror Movies of All Time