Dream Stream: The Simpsons, Never Have I Ever, and Bones
Digging around for TV gold? Sample this week's carefully cultivated selection of streamable delights.
The Simpsons
Seasons 1-31 – Disney+
The original and still the best...
Created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company, The Simpsons is and always will be the definitive animated sitcom.
The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomised by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with show producer James L. Brooks. Groening had wanted to create a comically dysfunctional family and boy did he succeed! In a funny twist, the characters were named after his own family members, with his own rather obvious character being named Bart rather than after himself.
The Simpsons is the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime TV series, both in terms of seasons and number of episodes.
Much more importantly, it is timelessly hilarious, retaining the same appeal it had when it first reached our screens all those many moons ago.
If you’re looking for a light spot of easy comfort viewing, look no further.
Never Have I Ever
Seasons 1-4 – Netflix
Growing up is never easy, particularly for girls at American high schools...
Never Have I Ever is a US coming of age comedy-drama series starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher.
The series is about an Indian American high school student dealing with the death of her father, and is partially based on Kaling’s real childhood story, growing up in the Boston area.
The story centres around Devi Vishwakumar (Ramakrishnan), a 15-year-old girl from Sherman Oaks, California.
After a horrible freshman year, Devi wants to change her social status, but friends, family, and feelings do not make it easy for her.
After Devi’s father, Mohan (Sendhil Ramamurthy) passes away, Devi loses the use of her legs for three months.
The following year, she tries to deal with her grief, Indian identity and school life, also struggling with her relationships with her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), her beautiful cousin, Kamala (Richa Moorjani), her two best friends, Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez), her high school crush, Paxton (Darren Barnet), and her nemesis, Ben (Jaren Lewison).
With an outstanding performance from Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever is a diamond in the rough of many similar comedy efforts chronicling high school life in The States.
With an extra treat in the form of narrator John McEnroe, the series stands out as a funny yet poignant offering that can easily be digested. With the fourth and final season having just dropped, rewind to the start and enjoy a feel-good binge all the way to the end.
Bones
Seasons 1-12 – Disney+
David Boreanaz is here, and this time he’s no angel.
Created by Hart Hanson, Bones is an American crime drama series that first hit our screens back in 2005. The series is very loosely based on the life and novels of Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist, who also served as one of the show’s producers. The premise of Bones is an alliance between forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz).
Brennan is the central character and team leader of the fictional Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab, a federal institution that collaborates with the FBI. Set in Washington DC, the show revolves around solving Federal legal cases by examining the human remains of possible murder victims.
Dr Brennan and her team provide scientific expertise and Booth provides FBI criminal investigation technique. In addition to the prospective murder cases featured in each episode, the series explores the backgrounds and relationships of its characters, particularly the romantic tension between Brennan and Booth.
An important ongoing dynamic between Brennan and Booth is their disagreement about science and faith. Brennan argues for science, evidence, and atheism. Booth argues for intuition, faith, and God.
The series is known for its dark comedic undertones, featuring human bodies in advanced state of decay, which serve to lighten the gravity of the show’s intense subject matter.
Engaging throughout, Bones is a great treat for those who love a detective drama, and fans of CSI are sure to find delight in every minute.
