Shōgun

Network or Service: FX and Hulu

Episodes: 10

Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada (Lord Yoshii Toranaga), Cosmo Jarvis (John Blackthorne/”Anjin”), Anna Sawai (Toda Mariko), Tadanobu Asano (Kashigi Yabushige), and Takehiro Hira (Ishido Kazunari)

Wikipedia Summary: The collision of two ambitious men from different worlds, John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, and Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals, will spark a battle for the very future of the country. Lady Mariko, a woman with vitally important skills but dishonorable family ties, must prove her value and allegiance to Toranaga and translate for Blackthorne.

What I Found: Some of the best TV in ages, it feels like, a TV show filmed, written, and acted like the best period epics on the silver screen. After being such a memorable side character in so many projects, Hiroyuki Sanada gets his chance at being the lead character in a story for once, and that story is all the better for it. Even when he doesn’t appear once in a given episode, Lord Toranaga’s presence is felt in every scene of Shogun. Those who are loyal to him, those who aren’t, and Blackthorne himself are all enthralled just as the audience is. And even though the show has been greenlit for more seasons, I honestly would’ve left this story be because it’s such a standout, standalone tale of one man’s quest to save the country he loves and shape its future.

Shoresy

Network or Service: Crave and Hulu

Episodes: 15

Starring: Jared Keeso (“Shoresy” Shore), Tasya Teles (Nat), Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat (Sanguinet), Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby (Dolo), Terry Ryan (Ted Hitchcock), and Ryan McDonell (Mark Michaels)

Wikipedia Synopsis: After losing 20 straight games and running dead last in the four-team, Triple A-level Northern Ontario Senior Hockey Organization (NOSHO), the Sudbury Bulldogs are faced with being completely shut down. In an attempt to save the team, veteran player Shore makes a bet with the general manager, Nat, that the team will never lose again if he’s given a chance to take control. With the help of new coach Sanguinet, a roster of new players, and the dissolution of the team on the line, Shoresy sets out to prove that the Bulldogs can play as a team, get bums in seats, and make a name for themselves. It’s not enough to love to win; they have to hate to lose.

What I Found: A spinoff that’s possibly better than its original property, Letterkenny, focusing on a guy who was once a joke character and keeping him lewd and crude, but making him a fun and actually sincere character in the process. You only have to like hockey enough to watch a bunch of scoring goals and fights breaking out on the ice, although anyone who likes sports in general can relate to an underdog story. The players might lose teeth, but they don’t lack the heart to play for each other and a team that they love being a part of and that’s such a big part of their community.

The Bear

Network or Service: FX and Hulu

Episodes: 18

Starring: Jeremy Allen White (Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Richard “Richie” Jerimovich), Ayo Edebiri (Sydney Adamu), Lionel Boyce (Marcus Brooks), Liza Colón-Zayas (Tina Marrero), and Abby Elliott (Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto)

Wikipedia Synopsis: A young chef, Carmy, inherits his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop after the death of his older brother, Michael. He comes home to Chicago to run it, leaving behind his world of working in Michelin-starred restaurants. He is left to deal with the aftermath of Michael’s passing, the shop’s unresolved debts, a rundown kitchen, and an unruly staff, while dealing with his own pain and family trauma. But Carmy wants to pull everyone together and realize the dream of rebranding the shop as a world-class culinary destination.

What I Found: Boy, one of the most stressful, anxiety-inducing shows possibly ever, yet in a show about running a restaurant, I can’t say I’m too surprised. These characters are all flawed, they all have their baggage, and they are all taking it out on each other constantly. But it’s such a reflection of how people in real life deal with tragedy in their lives and how it affects those surrounding them. Nevermind that they’re all trying to work together! Everyone is trying to be better as they bring a radically new idea to life, and it’s both inspiring and sad to watch at the same time. To me, so far, The Bear is such an interesting new take on one’s work family or found family as opposed to their actual family and all of the drama that entails.

Letterkenny

Network or Service: Crave and Hulu

Episodes: 81

Starring: Jared Keeso (Wayne and Shoresy), Nathan Dales (Daryl), Michelle Mylett (Katy), K. Trevor Wilson (Squirrelly Dan), Dylan Playfair (Reilly), and Andrew Herr (Jonesy)

Wikipedia Synopsis: There are 5,000 people in Letterkenny. These are their problems. Siblings Wayne and Katy run a small farm and produce stand with help from Wayne’s friends, Daryl and Squirrely Dan. Small-town life revolves around different types of folk: the farmers (“Hicks”), gym goers and out-of-towners who play for the local ice hockey team (“Jocks”), the town’s obviously closeted Christian minister, the drug addicts (“Skids”), members of the nearby First Nation reservation (“Natives”), the neighboring Mennonites, and the Québécois.

What I Found: A writer’s fever dream, with how many jokes, strings of wordplay, and references are coming out of these characters’ mouths at such a breakneck speed. However, Letterkenny is a very episodic show without much of an overarching story that you can pick it up and put it down at your leisure and not miss much. It’s a day-in-the-life sort of show with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and cringe humor. But there are great characters who make for fun friends, and they’re all just here to get through the day and have a good time doing it.