ChemoWorthy Television

I learned to speak English from watching television.  Literally.  My parents are holocaust refugees, and my mother had just come to this country when I was born.  The language of our house was Yiddish, and so I learned English from TV, especially newscasts.  It's why I sound more like Roger Grimsby than like the kids down the block.  Later, I would even get my first taste of Shakespeare from television.  

            When I started cancer treatment in 2006, my husband Rob and I indulged our television habit as never before -- if there was ever a time for distraction and entertainment, that was it.  

            My attachment to our television became even clearer to me when I visited my oncologist just before my first chemotherapy infusion.  He asked if I was nervous. To my surprise, I realized that not only was I not nervous, I was itching to get started already. Rob and I had brought our portable dvd player, and were waiting to watch the next episode of The Shield; I had to find out if that bastard Shane was finally going to get what was coming to him.  The only problem I had with that first infusion, in fact, was that it ended before our episode did!  The nurse was kind enough to keep pumping fluids into my IV, so that we could stay in the room until we finished it.  

            And so, the idea of chemo-worthy television was born.  Here is a brief list of television so good I could have enjoyed it even during chemo.  Of course, the list is completely subjective.  I'll add more over time.  If you have more suggestions or comments, let me know!

            Enjoy.

 

Comedy

Arrested Development (original series, seasons 1-3)

Blackadder Series (especially 2 and 3)
Detectorists

Upstart Crow

Catastrophe

Extras

Miranda 

The IT Crowd

Fisk

Mum
Veep

Derry Girls

Ghosts (British version)

Freaks and Geeks 

Episodes

Hashoter Hatov

Schitt's Creek

The Kominsky Method

Father Ted

Brooklyn Nine Nine 

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Silicon Valley 

The Office (both British and American versions)

Nurse Jackie

30 Rock 
Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog

Seinfeld

Coupling (British version)

The Larry Sanders Show

 

 

  

Darker Comedy

Fleabag

Veronica Mars

You, Me, and the Apocalypse

The End of the F**cking World

Russian Doll   

Back to Life

After Life

 

Jewish Triptych

Shtisel           (Ultra Orthodox Jewish life)

Srugim           (Modern Orthodox Jewish singles life; think Jane Austen but full of Israeli Jews)

Russian Doll    (unaffiliated but well-informed; co-creator Natasha Lyonne was reportedly kicked out of Yeshiva

for selling pot)

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Drama 

The Wire

Bron/Broen

Happy Valley

The Bear

Spiral

The Americans

Le Bureau

Sneaky Pete

Better Call Saul

This is Going to Hurt

The Last of Us

Shtisel

Godless

Travelers

Alias Grace

Giri/Haji (Duty/Shame)

Counterpart

Treme

Last Tango in Halifax

Justified 

Deadwood
The Shield

Black Spot

Humans

Homeland

Srugim

La Mante

Occupied (Norwegian) 

Un Village Francais

Orphan Black 

Unreal

Enlightened

The Top of the Lake
Life on Mars (British version)

The Returned (French version)

Borgen 

Downton Abbey

Battlestar Galactica (reimagined version 2004-2009)

The Sopranos (especially the first season)
Firefly  (story concludes in the movie Serenity)

Six Feet Under (note: about a family of undertakers; lots of mortality exploration)

Prime Suspect 1 - 7 

Homicide: Life on the Streets

Law and Order 

Friday Night Lights 

​

Brit Crime

Happy Valley

Foyle's War

George Gently

Scott and Bailey

No Offense

Unforgotten

Annika

Broadchurch

Endeavor

Shetland

Line of Duty

Bodyguard

Slow Horses

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