My Top Three This Week
Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. I hope you missed me. I was taking a sabbatical to regroup, refresh and renew. But I haven't forgotten about you and I have some new content that I think you will like. The focus is on Comedy this time because we all need a laugh.
1) Maggie a streaming Hulu Original series is a great comedy that has a heart warming wrap around story. Maggie (Rebecca Rittenhouse) is a twenty something psychic who volunteers free readings for local events. She only reads strangers to keep her friends from being freaked out by her observations. She luckily has never seen her own future until a young man appears at her booth and she takes his hand and immediately sees a future together with him included. That young man Ben (David Del Rio) Beauty and the Baker and Maggie begin a hot and heavy relationship until she gets a vision of him and another woman and breaks it off. She is struggling with letting her visions of her friends and herself ruin her life and started dating again. But then Ben comes back into her life in an unexpected way but with a fiancée this time. Rittenhouse and Del Rio definitely have chemistry and the entire cast is an amazing group of actors- Chris Elliott, Kerri Kennedy and the hilarious Nichole Sanders (Superstore) and Angelique Cabral ( Friends with Benefits). A special shout out to my favorite snarky Ray Ford as her psychic mentor ( Don't Trust the B***h in Apartment 23). He rips up any scene he is in.
2) Gordita Chronicles a streaming series on HBO Max that captures the life of a Dominican Castelli family leaving their home in the DR and moving to Miami in the 80's. This fish out of water story has a twist. It is told through the eyes of young Gordita also known as Cucu ( Olivia Goncalves ) as she and her family try to compete for the American Dream and failing miserably. Full of heart and some great actors. Diana Maria Riva a great comedic actress who has been in everything is mom Adela and Juan Javier Cardenas as dad Victor and Savana Nicole Ruiz (Gentrified) as the sister Emelia. A fun binge watch.
3) Loot a streaming series on Apple TV+ Original is a sweet comedy, that has a familiar Superstore, The Office vibe in the best possible way. Starring Maya Rudolph as Molly Novak a mega wealthy divorcée who received $87 Million dollars from her very public divorce from mogul John Novak (Adam Scott). She finds out that she has a foundation named after her that she never knows existed and decides to do good with her money and also get back at her jerk of an ex. she meets the people who work tirelessly on the charities and ways to support new ones. Her problem is - she has not lived in the real world and her public image needs a makeover if she wants to raise the money needed. A great comedic cast including Ron Funches, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon and Micaela Jaé Rodriguez (Pose) as the uptight head of the foundation. Lots of heart and laughs and Rudolph is at the top of her game.
Bonus: I usually don't do these much any more but I love That For You a Showtime Original series is hilarious and has some of the best female comedians in the business and some SNL alumnis. A young Joanna Gold (Vanessa Bayer) survives childhood leukemia by watching a home shopping network show featuring the beloved Jackie (Molly Shannon) the star of SVN. Once she recovers she applies for a job with the amazing Jenifer Lewis who is the CEO of SVN. She bombs the interview and lies about her cancer returning to land the job to work with her idol Jackie. The lie builds her into a huge success and she becomes the new "Jackie" while retaining the new friendship. Based loosely on Bayer's own life story , this darkly funny series is a great vehicle for these actresses.
