Show recommendations for my parents (pt 2)
I am once again asking for your show recommendations for my parents! Please check the original thread for the requirements and for what has already been recommended.
Most of the previous recommendations have been watched by them, rejected by me, rejected by them or (likely) impossible due to not having portuguese subtitles or not meeting other requirements. Yellowstone is an example of a successful rec coming out of that thread while some rejections were:
- Succession: Too depressing, because everyone hates each other and there are no redeeming factors (paraphrased).
- Black books: Too goofy in a dated way (I liked it myself though).
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: No idea. Maybe they found it ideologically threatening? I still think it's a hell of a good show.
Sorry this is so difficult! I appreciate any help.
A mistake some people seem to have made last year was misreading "conservative-leaning" as "super conservative" based on the recommendations. We're not americans so the craziness level may be a little lower than expected despite some weird hang ups about specific things.
My biggest difficulty is still balancing finding stuff that involves varied locations and good cinematography, of the kind you might find in certain european moviemaking industries like french or italian (but also some original english language shows), and stuff that actually has portuguese subtitles. The lack of portuguese subtitles tends to exclude a lot of otherwise great recommendations. Sorry about that.
I've been thinking of throwing in some Taskmaster or something like that since they do like game shows but what we get here in Portugal is... mediocre at best.
Do you check OpenSubtitles.org and the like for subs to shows they're interested in? You could probably convert the text files to Portugese using an LLM and viola, many more shows available.
Clarkson's Farm was already recommended before but curious if they enjoyed it.
We're watching back seasons of BBC's Father Brown - it's set in 1950s small town England, but the values are liberal friendly and anachronistically updated. Example, Fr Brown treats "sinners" like divorcees and the mentally ill with humanity and dignity and respect, even if not all the characters do. The subject of the show is old timey murder mysteries, but the tone is more a look back at the "good old days" without the rose tinted glasses. There was a heartbreaking episode about one of those awful "home for girls in precarious positions" that is unmistakably critical of its evil. Another common theme is sharp critique of the hypocritical economic, scocial and religious elite. If your parents enjoy the old timey packaging, it could be a good sugar coat delivery system of more modern values....
Father Brown at a glance sounds like a great suggestion, I'll definitely look into it, thanks.
Looking through your last post I have a few suggestions that may fit the bill and I'll list the caveats for each.
The Bear - A young, Michelin star chef returns home to Chicago and starts revamping his deceased brothers restaurant. Great character building, engaging story, unique episodes, all in all a good watch. Should fit the bill for packaging modern values into a more conservative feel.
Rita - A Danish series about a teacher navigating her teaching relationships (students/other teachers), home life, and romantic life. Her sense of humor and the way they navigate serious topics and humor is fantastic. She is blunt, no bullshit, but very compassionate. Again, an interesting perspective of exploring more modern values and taboo subjects - life after divorce, bullying, extramarital affairs.
Caveat It gets a bit raunchy. There are quite a few sex scenes, though ones made for mixed family audiences so not much is actually seen, but you know they are having sex.
Queen's Gambit - The story of an orphan who learns to play chess and joins the world circuit. I binged the hell out of it when it came out and so did most folks I know. It has a really engaging story and - outside of Thomas Brodie-Sangster (who cast him for that role!?!?!) - a phenomenal cast.
Caveat It follows her life from being a child to young adulthood so it may strike out for the "kids stuff" issue, though those sections are quite heavy.
Yellowjackets - Honestly I don't want to give too much away but I will give the strong caveat that there are some horror like elements - it deals with cannibalism - and there is some mysticism. That said it's my favorite show of the last 5 years but may not fit the bill for your parents. Still wanted to shine a light on it.
They watched and enjoyed Queen's Gambit. They seem interested in The Bear!
I love The Bear, but it is probably worth warning that it is quite a tense and stressful show, it definitely isn't for everyone.
Ah, that is true, some of those episodes are pretty frenetic.
Glad to hear it! I forgot one more:
A Very Secret Service - A genuinely hilarious french series about the french secret service and their international exploits. I finished it in about 3 days and wished I had drawn it out more I enjoyed it so much!
I have a show to suggest that has a few sexual episodes but many they would like. Are they open to advice about which episodes to Skip?
It's called Midnight Diner about a Tokyo cook and his restaurant and his customers. The cinematography is beautiful. The tone of the episodes are serious mostly. It's about people living their lives and this restaurant they return to. I'm watching it for the second time
@Protected, Corner Gas is a Canadian show I can recommend whole heartedly to any conservative. A woman takes over a restaurant in a very small town and gets to know all the local people. It's funny but respectful of people
Edit @protected the British show Doc Martin might be good. It's a comedy about a doctor who moves to a small town.
Edit @Protected, All Creatures Great and Small is one I can whole heartedly suggest
Here are two that they might like (both have Portuguese subtitles on Netflix):
Lupin - a cheeky "heart of gold" thief who takes his cues from a series of novels about a famous thief.
The Diplomat - a mostly tense and serious political series starring Keri Russel. It's extremely well done, and another season is planned.