It’s the End of the World as We Know It, And I’m Streaming Fine Rounds 1-2

Things aren’t looking good right now. Coronavirus is all around. The economy will probably collapse. There’s no toilet paper available anywhere. And worst of all, we’re all stuck inside with our families.

Luckily, there’s a ton of great TV to help get us through this difficult time. If you’re looking for something to watch, Fancy Boys Club is here to help. Over the next few days, we’ll be breaking down our favorite coronavirus quarantine streaming options in the only way we know how: a draft.

Today, we’re dropping rounds 1 and 2. Who got the best picks? Let us know in the comments.

Round 1

1. Fargo | Matt Drufke

I’ve previously mentioned in this blog that the second season of Noah Hawley’s brilliant Fargo is the best season of television which has ever existed. And I mean that. I don’t need to say that again. 

Only I feel like I do.

Want to know why Fargo is the overall number one pick? Because the second season is the best season in the history of the fucking medium.

This isn’t to knock the other seasons, each of which have amazing performances, brilliantly dark humor, tension to keep you on the edge of your seat for days, and the spirit of the Coen Brothers’ brilliant 1996 film. Each season has a man who is the embodiment of evil chaos (Billy Bob Thorton, Bokeem Woodbine, and David Thewlis), each of whom brings down hell upon the northern midwest.

What’s amazing about this show is that there are so few good people. I mean, there are some. Most of the police in this small town all seem to have a true heart and a clear conscience. It’s everyone else- the people who probably think of themselves as good people but let one horrible choice send them down an absolute hill of shit, hitting every bump on the way down. 

Catch all three seasons before the fourth comes out next month. It’s funny. It’s breathtaking. It’s captivating. It’s amazing. It’s the one show you’re going to regret missing all this time.

Available On: Hulu

2. The Deuce | Rick Copper

While I am not in disagreement with my Streaming colleague Brandon about the ‘shock’ of The Office being picked last in this round I can certainly tell you, from my perspective, why: no blood, no boobs. Not only does The Deuce have a tremendous amount of both, it’s also coupled with a solid story woven from a tremendous historical perspective. You’ve got a single bad seed of a NYC neighborhood – The Deuce – wrapped into, at first, just prostitution and the mob. Then, throughout the years, it escalates to the birth of the porn industry, the money shot rise of said industry via VHS and sex rooms, right up to the HIV crisis. Greed, guts and no glory holes, The Deuce is a banging show with a whole lot of banging via bullets from all forms of guns. Plus, it has Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Franco, the stunning Margarita Levieva and Emily Meade who played the same exact role here as she did in Boardwalk Empire. Season 2 teaser:

And The Office should’ve been cancelled after season two BTW.

Available On: HBO Go, HBO Now

3. The Simpsons | Jack Baker

Me drafting a show other than The Simpsons? That’s unpossible. The Simpsons is the greatest television show of all time. Matt took Fargo number one overall because it had one “perfect” season. Well The Simpsons had five.

It peaked higher and for longer than any other show. Seasons 3-8 are perfect television. Seasons 9-11 are not quite perfect–damn you Armen Tanzarian!–but still contain more great episodes than most shows will ever have. At its peak, The Simpsons was a non-stop joke machine that also told stories with lots of heart. The clip below might be the most brilliant, funniest two minute segment in the history of television.

The Simpsons influence on pop culture and our society is impossible to fully get your head around. From the creation of perfectly cromulent words like D’oh, craptacular, and embiggen, to its surreal ability to predict the future, The Simpsons has created a pop culture language that has informed the collective understanding of an entire generation of people. The Simpsons made television smrter and for that, we should all be eternally grateful.

Yeah, it’s gone on for too long, the new episodes aren’t as good as they used to be … or are they? I haven’t seen a new episode live since I was in high school and don’t know anyone else who actually has either. A quarantine seems like the perfect time to finally catch up on the 15 seasons we’ve all missed.

Available On: Disney+

4. The Office | Brandon Andreasen

The fact that this show made it to the bottom of the first round is stunning. I don’t think i’m shocking anyone by saying that this is probably the most binge watched show in the history of television. I was watching it yesterday morning in bed on Netflix. In Rainn Wilson’s biography, he talked about how the cast thought the show was about to be cancelled in season two, but before they could be cancelled, the head of the network’s son was telling his dad about how all of his friends loved the show and how everyone was talking about it at school.

If it wasn’t for a teenager telling his dad that the younger generation was watching this show and NBC tapping into that market, instead of cancelling the show, we may never have gotten the Binge G.O.A.T.

Available On: Netflix

Round 2

5. Westworld | Brandon Andreasen

Why is this such a binge worthy show? Because it absolutely needs to be watched more than once to understand what is going on. As we are drafting this, season three will be debuting tonight, but it’s a show that if you are willing to watch it from episode one and really invest yourself, you will find the show creators came up with an immersive world and enough easter eggs to make you feel like you have to go back and rewatch until you get it right. It doesn’t hurt that it has one of the deepest rosters of great acting talent on television today.

Available On: HBO Go, HBO Now

6. Futurama | Jack Baker

If you want a great sci-fi show with a timeline that isn’t completely convoluted for no other reason than the creators want to seem like they’re smarter than everyone else, go with Futurama. While Westworld uses non-linear storytelling to distract the audience from the fact that the characters aren’t all that interesting, Futurama is full of amazing characters and was able to build a complicated non-linear, time-travel storyline in its own right, without sacrificing any character development or heart.

While not as beloved as The Simpsons or King of the Hill (for a reason that I will never understand), it’s time to give Futurama another look. The adventures of Fry, Leela, Bender, Zoidberg, and co. are a wonderful skewering of sci-fi, American society and everything else. The future environment creates an endless supply of jokes and great stories. Futurama had not one, but two of the greatest series finales of all time, one of the all-time greatest episodes in TV history in Roswell That Ends Well, and one of the single most gut wrenching sequences in the history of television. 

Available On: Hulu

7. Sharp Objects | Rick Copper

Quite often, I find myself thinking about shows I wouldn’t mind seeing again. I am a creature of NOT REPEATING shows. Generally I hate that. Cartoons I get. That’s ‘shut-off-your-brain’ stuff. However, any show with real actors in it, I generally cannot get my head around to see it again when I know what’s coming. I love Westworld, that’s a great choice for this Round and frankly, was on my list. However, that goddamn intro music is Game Of Thrones light and frankly, pissed me off (although I did save like 4 minutes an episode fast-forwarding).

Sharp Objects has the gritty gore I appreciate and a story with such a mindblowing shocker I can see it again. Plus, it has Amy Adams who plays the title role as a down-and-out alcoholic cutter reporter sent back to her hometown to report on a series of grisly murders and ewho has to deal with the mother (Patricia Clarkson) and her much younger sister (Eliza Scanlen).

Available on HBO Go, HBO Now

8. King of the Hill | Matt Drufke

All right, what are these idiots doing? I’ll give Jack The Simpsons, because taste is whatever. But, for my money, there is no better animated series than King Of The Hill. Futurama, Jack? Really? Get that nonsense the fuck out of here right now.

Mike Judge has never been better, and for a man who has also brought us Beavis & Butthead and Silicon Valley, that’s kind of saying a whole lot. I think what’s perfect here is that while the Hill family certainly has all of their quirks and redneck sensibilities, Judge loves these characters. They mean something to him. And, because of that, we can laugh at them and also know that we’re going to get a chance to have them pull on our heartstrings. Hank Hill represents a very certain type of America, and it’s not one that I always agree with. But the show has a warmth and heart to it’s humor, and that is always what kept me coming back.

Oh, and because it’s a cartoon, it can also do this:

Available On: Hulu

Check back tomorrow for rounds 3 – 4!