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There are roughly 47,000—oh, wait, a new Netflix Original just dropped; make that 47,001—TV shows and movies coming out each week. At Obsessed, we consider it our social duty to help you see the best and skip the rest.
We’ve already got a variety of in-depth, exclusive coverage on all of your streaming favorites and new releases, but sometimes what you’re looking for is a simple Do or Don’t. That’s why we created See/Skip, to tell you exactly what our writers think you should See and what you can Skip from the past week’s crowded entertainment landscape.
See: Only Murders in the Building Season 3
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 might cover the same narrative territory as the delightful comedy’s first two seasons, but with intriguing twists, great performances from its core cast—including a never-better Selena Gomez—and fun new additions (Meryl Streep!), the mystery of why this show is so loved isn’t hard to solve.
Here’s Nick Schager’s take:
“Few shows bring a smile to one’s face as consistently as Only Murders in the Building, and Steve Martin and John Hoffman’s half-hour murder-mystery comedy continues to succeed in that regard with its third season, which premieres on Aug. 8. Adding Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd to its cast, the Hulu hit once again weaves a tangled web of homicidal intrigue, and its characters and routine are now so well established that it can assuredly indulge in whatever whimsical flights it fancies. Nonetheless, if it remains one of television’s most amusing delights, familiarity is slowly creeping in, suggesting that, at the end of this whodunit, its heroes might want to hang it up while they’re still at the top of their sleuthing game.
Only Murders in the Building concluded last year’s run with a flash-forward to the opening night of Oliver Putnam’s (Martin Short) new Broadway play, Death Rattle, which was interrupted by the murder of its leading man, Ben Glenroy (Rudd). That’s where the show’s latest go-round picks up, albeit only after first introducing its other primary character, Loretta Durkin (Streep), whose passion for the stage was ignited at an early age and whose entire life has been devoted to making it on the Great White Way.”
See: Red, White & Royal Blue
Red, White & Royal Blue isn’t particularly well-acted, nor is it well-written. In fact, it’s hard to find much merit in this by-the-numbers gay rom-com. In some twisted way, that’s actually why it works. Let the gays strive for nothing more than inanity!
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“Queer films always have to make some sort of grand statement about their existence. Love, Simon was the first gay studio rom-com for teens; Weekend was all about the singularity of the queer dating and hookup culture; Bros was eager to be the first straightforward rom-com where characters just happened to be gay (despite the movie’s promotional cycle reiterating that importance endlessly). Even gay holiday movies are desperate to be lauded for their willingness to let two people of the same gender kiss in front of a fake tree from Lowe’s. Don’t get me wrong, those things are significant and I devour them with glee. But sometimes, I wish I could watch a gay movie that is unconcerned with its own manufactured notability, a movie satisfied with its central queer characters having no substance at all.
I’m ecstatic to report that the day has finally come: Red, White & Royal Blue is a movie content with being absolutely nothing. With this film—which premieres on Prime Video Aug. 11 and was adapted from Casey McQuiston’s bestselling 2019 novel—queer cinema may finally be level with its heteronormative counterparts. At last, we gay people are allowed to be boring, have absolutely no chemistry with our romantic co-leads, and exist as walking archetypes. Red, White & Royal Blue throws the desire to be special or come first out the window. Now, gays can just be cockamamie and utterly vacuous. Equality is here!”
See: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 3
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ bonkers title managed to attract enough public attention to make Olivia Rodrigo a household name. While its final season won’t generate any new stars (sorry, Disney machine), it remains a silly, nonsensical charmer.
Here’s Fletcher Peters’ take:
“It’s time for High School Musical to graduate. Both the original Disney Channel movie series and the Disney+ spinoff, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, have run their course. We’re going to need at least another decade before we can bring back the East High Wildcats for more kitschy dances and high school romances.
High School Musical: TM: TS has come a long way since it premiered in 2019, one of the very first original series to debut on Disney+. Original leading lady Olivia Rodrigo, who broke out on the series before becoming one of the world’s biggest pop stars, slowly inched her way off the show, going from leading lady to recurring guest star to completely absent in this final season. Other actors appear to have slightly outgrown the show, too, (or have been written off) like Larry Saperstein (Big Red) and Joe Serafini (Sebastian). The series has been whittled down to just a handful of original stars, who are now paired in scenes with less lovable newbies. Thank goodness the show is ending before Joshua Bassett is the only one left.”
See: Down for Love
Down for Love could be Netflix’s best—or, at least, most genuine—dating show yet. It might primarily document the dating lives of Aussies with Down syndrome, but it’s also a beautiful reminder that the desire to love and be loved is a universal phenomenon.
Here’s Laura Bradley’s take:
“Netflix might crank out some of TV’s most diabolical social experiments (looking at you, The Ultimatum and Love Is Blind!) but with its new reality show Down for Love, the streaming giant proves it contains multitudes.
Unlike most modern dating shows, which revel in making their participants as uncomfortable as possible for our entertainment, Down for Love is a gentler, more organic form of exploration. Based in gorgeous New Zealand, the series follows several young daters with Down syndrome as they search for love. The five-episode series first aired last year in New Zealand and made its debut on Netflix Aug. 11.”
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