Netflix to the Rescue!

I don’t think I’m the only one who binge watched many shows during quarantine, am I? Frankly, Netflix was one of the brightest spots in my life. You know, besides my husband and kids. So, I feel the need to pay some respect to the shows that saw me through those long hard days of nothingness. My quarantine was also sponsored by Wine and Ice Cream.

That last paragraph read really pitifully, but I refuse to make apologies.

Cheer: My brother recommended this to me at the very beginning of quarantine. As if we needed more proof that he knows me really really well- I loved it! I watched it every day on the treadmill and got in amazing shape (just kidding. But I was SUPER excited to run every day!) Then my whole family watched it and I received great texts like, “Dad legit just flipped down the hall and into his office.” Cheer brought us Jerry, whose bright smile and mat talk dragged my bored, stagnant body through quarantine.

I couldn’t think of any cheerleading themed art off-hand, but I knew just who to Google. And guess what? Norman Rockwell did not disappoint. Here are two great illustrations he made of cheerleaders. Honestly, I think both exemplify our nation’s emotional state during the pandemic pretty well. Amiright?

I can feel all these emotions in a ten-minute time frame on a normal day.

But quarantine had me like....

Tiger King: “Hey all you cool cats and kittens!” Tiger King holds a special place in my heart because Jim and I watched it together, and there aren’t many things we agree on Netflix-wise. But this bizarre docuseries had it all: ridiculous haircuts for Jim to enjoy and sexy men for me to enjoy. Haha. It gave us something to talk about when we normally would have discussed what the other did that day, or the kids’ activities, or whatever boring facts we thought were interesting before Joe Exotic entered our tigerless lives. Even now that there are finally things to talk about, we might casually mention Carol Baskin, just to spice things up a little.

In honor of the tigers, who undoubtedly got the short end of the stick in that Netflix original, here is Henri Rousseau’s, “Tiger in a Tropical Storm” or “Surprised!”

Covid was a Big Cat-astrophe.

Incidentally, if Rousseau and his friend Matisse were to star in a docuseries, I would totally watch.

Schitt’s Creek: At our very last hockey game before the world shut down, I asked my friend (a prolific Netflixer) what I should be watching. She mentioned a few things that were so-so, then said, “You’ve watched Schitt’s Creek, right?” When I said she hadn’t, she exploded. “WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY.” So I did. Over and over and over. Because it is the best thing on television, if you ask me. And, as it turns out, “fold in the cheese” is an appropriate catchphrase for all situations in the world.

Painters know a thing or two about living in destitution. We would be here all day if we listed all the artists who lost everything in Rose family fashion. Instead, I’d like to pay homage to the beloved motel into which the Rose family is outcast.

Western Motel by Edward Hopper. Notice the lack of poison oak on the nightstand.

Can’t you just see Alexis and David fighting in this room over whose turn it is to get murdered first? Or Moira sitting on the bed saying, "Oh, I'd kill for a good coma right now."

There you go- three shows I loved so much that I would have watched even without a pandemic lockdown! Thanks Netflix!