5 shows for twenty-something year olds to watch during the workday
Just shake your mouse from time to time on Google Teams, so your boss thinks you're active.
I’m happy to announce that the COVID-19 pandemic is over! It “ended” sometime in late 2021, I think, when leaves changed from green to yellow and we all got bored of discussing antibodies and quarantine restrictions because we realized that another summer of our lives had been idled within the dressed-up confines of our homes and apartments – which, over the course of the year-long shutdown, had also served as makeshift offices, daycares, movie theaters, and bunker shelters. It’s true that surgical masks are no longer required in public; theaters have reopened; and fellow grocery store patrons bump into your basket with such lack of restraint that you could (almost) forget a six-foot distancing rule was ever imposed.
What has stuck since the pandemic ended is the amount of people still working from home. Gallup reported in their 2023 Work and Education Poll that about half of U.S. workers (49 percent) say they have worked remotely, “a percentage that has been stable for three years.” On average, U.S. workers telecommute four days a month.
Working without direct managerial oversight lends more flexibility to the workday. Some people listen to music. Others opt for self-inflicted punishment and skip lunch. Those who are truly gifted in multitasking – or completely uninterested in their job – watch television. For the purposes of this list, a “good” show is one that offers the most entertainment for least concentration value. You can pay attention sparingly, grab a call from your boss, heat up another Hot Pocket – the plots of these shows write themselves. But that’s not to disparage their appeal (in fact, it’s part of it). Here are five sitcoms to watch when working from home:
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000-Present)
For more than twenty years, Larry David has bore the excruciating task of playing himself. Curb Your Enthusiasm follows his day-to-day life, which is naturally peppered with misfortune, a disdain for social conventions, and cynicism. That is to say, an episode of Curb feels like watching a James Joyce novel that was edited by Fran Lebowitz. The series finale will air this year on HBO, and fans can only imagine what topics David will tackle – including the recent pandemic, which show-runner Jeff Schaffer (very) vaguely teased. Over eleven seasons, Curb has addressed a variety of issues through its characteristically warped lens: the Israel Palestine conflict via a fictional chicken restaurant in Los Angeles in season 8; too many dating faux pas to count; and MAGA (“No one ever wears those hats backwards. If you’re gonna get your ass kicked, you wanna see it coming.”) I would have to guess that Larry David liked social distancing, but tune in to the newest season to see if I’m correct.
Where to stream: Max
Arrested Development (Fox, 2003-2019)
Arrested Development stands out from other sitcoms on this list because of its level of absurdism – which is, no doubt, a testament to its stacked cast of comedians. (Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter, to name a few.) The five-season series follows the Bluths, a dysfunctional family whose bout with white-collar crime has drained them of their George Bush-era fortune. Jason Bateman stars as Michael Bluth, the “straight-edge” guy who tries to keep his family together despite their debacles. But David Cross, as brother-in-law Tobias Funke, might have given his magnum opus performance in season two, when he goes to a Blue Man concert thinking it’s a depression support group. Kudos to him for making a line like, “I just blue myself,” actually funny.
Where to stream: Netflix
Sex and the City (HBO, 1998-2004)
At the turn of the millennium, Sex and the City reached a romantically- and sexually-frustrated audience through the lives of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. It’s impossible not to relate to (at least) one of the women, who have become emblematic of differing worldviews on friendship, marriage, and sex. Carrie Bradshaw is attracted to commitment-phobes, so she instead commits to Manolo Blaniks and John Galliano dresses. Miranda Hobbes believes in commitment in all aspects of life – from her friends and partners, who often fail to meet those expectations, to her own career ambitions. Charlotte York wants to find a husband, and Samantha Jones is the opposite – “The right guy is an illusion. Start living your lives.” As far as I’m concerned, Sex and the City made mainstream a genre that had been long ignored in television, but is now about as commonplace as superhero adaptations. Shows about girls, girls who are bad friends, girls who have sex, girls who impulsively shop – SATC started it all.
Where to stream: Max
Girls (HBO, 2012-2017)
Speaking of, Lena Dunham wrote and starred in Girls – which I would describe as the unedited version of Sex and the City. The thirty-minute episodes follow the lives of four girls in New York City (sound familiar?) who are friends … sometimes. Unlike Darren Star’s loving quartet, the girls in Girls are messier and cattier, like co-conspirators in a twisted game of Life. Dunham exacerbates the deep flaws that are smoothed over in SATC’s episodic formula – making blatant the narcissism of each main character. Dunham (as Hannah Horvath) is a 24-year old writer with an unpaid internship, which she promptly quits when her parents cut off financial support. She lives with Marnie, who describes her affectionate long-term boyfriend’s touch as “that of a weird uncle.” Their roommate from college, Jessa, arrives back in the city from an excursion in Paris to live with her college-aged cousin Shoshanna, whose top priority is to have sex for the first time. And in the pilot, Hannah tells her parents (after a generous helping of opium tea): “I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation,” Yes, girl, you are the digital age-Carrie Bradshaw.
Where to stream: Max
Abbott Elementary (ABC, 2021-Present)
Created by Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary pushes the bounds of mockumentary sitcoms, which shows like The Office and Park and Recreation popularized. A form (that was dismissed by critics as overused and unintentional) has been received as prestigious again. Brunson, playing an inner-city elementary teacher Janine Teagues, picked up an Emmy this year for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. It’s her writing, though, that might strike a match with a blasé audience. Brunson worked at Buzzfeed at the height of its popularity in the 2010s but has far exceeded the media site’s reputation. Her ability to weave comedy – and meaning – within the space of 30 minutes makes Abbott Elementary not just another misappropriation of the talking-to-the-camera trope, but an entertaining exploration into larger themes like educational discrimination in public school funding.
Where to stream: Hulu