Returning Shows You Should be Watching
Sarah flirts with a guy on “Orphan Black.” Photo courtesy BBC America.
May 3, 2015
It’s easy to miss shows while navigating the flood of new shows during spring. Sometimes, the best shows (RIP original Arrested Development and The Mindy Project) get swept away in everyone’s rush to watch The Mysteries of Laura or Stalker. Two returning shows, Orphan Black and Inside Amy Schumer, demand your attention this year. Come on, America, let’s put down The Big Bang Theory and enjoy good TV.
Stay with me through these first few sentences. Orphan Black is about a woman named Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) who, when a woman who looks exactly like her (Tatiana Maslany) commits suicide in front of her, discovers that she is a clone produced by a shady organization called the Dyad Institute. Fellow clones include soccer mom Alison (Tatiana Maslany), scientist Cosima (Tatiana Maslany) and loveable Ukrainian lunatic Helena (Tatiana Maslany), as well as a host of already-dead clones (Tatiana Maslany).
The show sounds bad, but the pacing and plot are too interesting to ignore. Somehow, the writers fit in a surprisingly believable global conspiracy with suburban mom drama and a murder mystery. You’ll have a favorite clone within a few episodes. If you can’t enjoy the incredibly rapid plot (trust me, the show is the fastest thing you’ve ever seen), everyone can at least marvel at the technical skills of the Orphan Black crew, who manage to make physical confrontations between the same actress look seamless. Honestly, everything about the show is astonishing. Orphan Black airs every Saturday at 9:00 p.m. on BBC America.
Inside Amy Schumer might be the exact tonal opposite of Orphan Black, but it packs the same punch. Amy Schumer’s sketch comedy is razor sharp and hilarious, populated only with the worst people and the most bizarre situations. The show unflinchingly confronted military sexism last season followed by a spot-on parody of Friday Night Lights with much the same agenda in this season’s premiere. Schumer’s comedy is pure genius wrapped in irreverent situations. In one sketch, Schumer, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patricia Arquette casually skewer aging out of Hollywood with grace and tact. Schumer even got Amber Rose to collaborate on “Milk Milk Lemonade,” a satire of popular club songs. Don’t take the show too seriously, though. Schumer is just as likely to do a sketch about perms or relationships as one about something profound. Inside Amy Schumer is the perfect mix of satire, irreverent comedy and pure genius. The show airs Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
