This time is filled with waiting. What shows do Holy Spirit employees love to watch?
Friday Night Lights—Recommended by Danielle Dadashi & Marjorie Buchanan
When I recommend this show, I always speak quickly. “It’s about a football team…but don’t worry I hate football and I still love it. It’s set in high school…but don’t worry it’s smartly written for adults. And it’s starring a bunch of complete unknowns, some of whom have never acted before…but don’t worry they are amazing!” This show is about the small moments in life. It takes seriously the concerns of regular people, and tackles tough issues without ever veering into the saccharine or trite. Aside from some serious missteps in season 2, it is one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, raw, and moving shows on television. I watch it on Amazon Prime.
Black-ish—Recommended by Pastor Katy
The Johnsons are my favorite TV family. Dad, Dre Johnson, is an ad executive; Mom, Bow Johnson, is an anesthesiologist. Their four kids – Zoey, Junior, Jack, and Diane – and Dre’s parents, Earl and Ruby, live with them in the suburbs (Diane and Ruby are my very favorites). The show is partly about a family dealing with busy schedules, growing kids, aging parents, and marriage – in much more hilarious ways than most of us. It’s also about the realities of living as a black family in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood. This show makes me laugh harder than anything else I watch, and also challenges me to think differently. And Jenifer Lewis (who plays Ruby, the grandma) is the funniest person on TV. Hands down. Watch OnDemand, or on Hulu
Chernobyl—Recommended by John Sparkman
When i was a kid, there was a nuclear power plant near the beach we usually visited. It was finished in 1975, so recent enough to still feel new when i was first discovering science in the early 80s. I remember being slightly obsessed with understanding how it worked, why the water in its long cooling channel was all weird and frothy, and why the fish liked what my dad called “the hot hole,” the spot where the waste water drainage pipe from the plant emptied just a little out into the Atlantic, where he often pulled me along to fish until that just couldn’t be abided anymore. About the same time, the Chernobyl accident happened. I remember hearing about it on the news and reading about it — i think in National Geographic or maybe Scientific American. It fascinated me as well and stirred up quite a bit of anxiety around the Brunswick plant near where i lived. I’m curious how your thoughts around nuclear power might have shifted when you learned of the accident too.
Back story aside, HBO’s Chernobyl, a historical fiction mini-series takes a detailed, if dramatized, look at the accident, its aftermath, all while exploring the Soviet system of silencing whistleblowers who speak up by stripping them of their livelihoods, distancing them from family and friends, or even having some killed. Still, even in the face of such a broken system, many ordinary citizens stepped up to help. Well written and engaging, while it’s grim through most of the five episodes, the series ends with the hope that bravery and tenacity in the face of even overwhelming injustice is not without its positive outcomes, even if those who show the most courage are at the most risk. Watch on HBOGo
The Crown—Recommended by Becky Cole
The story telling of a current royal family is engaging and captivating. It begins with Queen Elizabeth first finding out she was queen moving forward through time. There are lots of things about this part of history I have learned through watching the show. Watch on Netflix
I am Jazz—Recommended by Tammie Zarfos
This is about a young girl who knew from a very young age that she was assigned the incorrect gender at birth. The show is the story of her life and her struggles as she goes through all of the changes to her body and becomes the girl she always knew she was. Watch on TLC
Schitt’s Creek—Recommended by Danielle Dadashi
When I need a good laugh I watch Schitt’s Creek on Netflix. The show follows a rich family who lose all their money and are forced to live in a roadside motel in a small town they purchased long ago because the name made them laugh (Schitt’s Creek). It’s hilarious, irreverent, and at times sweet.
Grace and Frankie — Recommended by John Sparkman
Though (and also because) there are hilarious situations and what some might think is a smidge of crude humor along the way, i love Grace and Frankie. First, just look at Jane Fonda and enough said. Jealousies aside, looking deeper, i love how the storyline shows the arc of a grand journey from Good Friday to Easter for a number of the relationships in the show. In the pilot, we see a simultaneous Easter—as two men decide to live in the open about their love for one another—while the women they’ve been married to for multiple decades and thrown into a tomb that will last well longer than three days. However, as Grace and Frankie slowly and cautiously chip around the rock enclosing them, on the other side develops an unexpected, hilarious, deep, and touching friendship. Grace and Frankie is available on Netflix. Watch on Netflix
This is Us—Recommended by Marjorie Buchanan and Becky Cole
I love how this show winds and turns and brings amazing writing forward and backward in time. Watch from the beginning! Watch on NBC and Hulu
Project Runway—Recommended by Marjorie Buchanan
It’s fun to watch people create and design in this competition. I grew up sewing a ton—clothes, home décor, bags and cannot believe how creative they are. Some seasons are a bit silly with the people-drama. But great escapism viewing. Watch on Bravo and Netflix
Father Brown — Recommended by Pastor Mary-Alyce
Friday night is “Father Brown” night at my house. It is a zany British detective drama, featuring a slightly crumpled, shambling, and mild mannered Catholic Priest in the village of Kembleford in the Cotswolds, who much to the dismay of the local police manages to solve mysteries (more than you would think a village might have). His vocation as a priest often gives him insight to the truth, so that justice (but sometimes not the letter of the law) may be served. It is set in the mid-50’s with with a variety of stereotype characters such as the Bishop whom Father Brown drives to distraction for his unorthodox behavior and the bumbling police detective . I enjoy the British humor and its setting in a typical English village that reminds me of places I have been. Channel 9 at 8:00 p.m. on Fridays
Durrells in Corfu — Recommended by Pastor Rita
A widow moves her large family of young children to Corfu after her husband died in England. It’s on PBS and is based on a true story. The youngest son has a love for all creatures and is very scientific as he goes about exploring, collecting and learning about them. There are many themes in series: love of family, the struggles of growing up and coming to age as well as finding meaning and purpose in life after great loss. Enjoy! Watch on PBS
Call the Midwife—Recommended by Pastor Katy
The series began with midwives in East London, in the years following WWII. Midwives provide care for women and families before, during, and after giving birth – but they also encounter the realities of poverty and struggle in the poorer neighborhoods of London. The show doesn’t shy away from big topics: health care, reproductive rights, sexuality, racism, domestic violence. It’s also heartwarming and lovely, with just enough quirky British humor to make me laugh on a Sunday night. Watch on Netflix
My Big Fat Fabulous Life—Recommended by Tammie Zarfos
This is the story of a young adult named Whitney who struggles with her weight due to PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). She is very gifted at dancing and has developed and teaches dance classes for others who struggle with their weight. Whitney is a huge proponent of the body positivity movement and works hard to let people know that fat people can do great things too. Watch on TLC