Hi, this is Real Quick! The newsletter within a newsletter where I share mini-reviews—I’m talking 500-words or less, but probably way less—of all of the books I'm reading, movies I'm watching, and TV shows that are on in the background while I'm playing Stardew Valley Palia.
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How to Die Alone ⭐️
Created by Natasha Rothwell
Remember when comedies were comedies? When they made you laugh? Like, actually laugh—I mean, cackling in front of the laptop propped up by pillows on your bed, kind of laugh? From delight or perhaps something even deeper?
I thought about this—the memory of watching something and feeling the specific kind of joy that you can get from a good joke—while watching the first episode of How to Die Alone. Not because it made me laugh. On the contrary! It’s because the show made me so fucking bummed out.
Now to be fair, I am not an expert on How to Die Alone. I mean, I’m an expert in how to die alone in my personal life, but not the show. And the reason I’m not an expert, the reason I don’t know anything about this show, is because the entire time I was watching it, I was wondering when and why the “industry” decided to call any 30-minute long show a comedy, whether it was actually funny or not. Just because a show has actors on it who are somewhat comedic or are known for being funny doesn’t make the show funny. Throwing in some awkward physical comedy in between dramatic, depressive beats does not make a show funny.
And, by the way, I want Natasha Rothwell to be able to play something beyond a woman who is down on her luck and has a tenuous connection to Hawaii. I want more for her. I want more for me. I hated this show. I hated it so much I left it playing in the background while playing Palia to work on my “tuning out background noise” skills. I’m getting very good at it.
I also burned my boob with hot soup right before I pressed play, so honestly it’s my fault for not taking that as an omen and just turning the TV off.
Would not recommend! And apparently neither would Hulu since they cancelled it.