Do you like to binge watch your TV shows? I suppose it depends on how good they are. And maybe how young you are.
I know a few millennials who have made a night of a series by burning through 10 episodes at one sitting. I may be old fashioned, but that seems excessive. There is no way to absorb all the nuance and subtlety of a well-done series with such immersion.
The most I've been able to take at one time is three episodes. And with something exceedingly brilliant, such as Netflix's The Crown, I'll deliberately only watch one episode at a time just to savor the experience.
TBS is trying something different with its new dark comedy Search Party. The series will debut at 10 p.m. Monday and TBS will air double episodes for five nights in a row. In other words, all 10 episodes of Season 1 will have aired this week.
In addition, the network released the series premiere early on YouTube where all the young viewers hang out. TBS is trying its best to keep up with changing times.
Airing 10 episodes over five nights seems to be a nice compromise between the old way of rolling out one episode per week, and the new way of dumping them all at once as the streaming services do.
I've only seen the pilot, but Search Party left me eagerly wanting to watch more. The series instantly struck me as something worthwhile and different. It has the intriguing look and feel of one of those hip indie films and there's a reason.
The series was created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers and Michael Showalter. Bliss wrote the pilot and Rogers directed. Showalter was the show runner.
Their credits include the 2014 SXSW Film Festival Grand Jury Award-winning comedy Fort Tilden and the cult-favorite Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, a parody of teen sex romps.
Search Party will not be for everyone. There's a reason why it's airing so late at night. The series is rated TV-MA for sexual situations and strong language. Don't be taken by surprise.
The simple synopsis is that Search Party is about five self-absorbed 20-somethings in New York who become involved in the mystery when a former college acquaintance disappears.
The series stars Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) as Dory, our rudderless soul and Chantal-obsessed protagonist in search of not only the missing Chantal, but of herself.
Dory has lacked confidence all her life and is now stuck in a thankless job as a personal assistant to a wealthy housewife and in an increasingly stale relationship with her egocentric boyfriend.
When Chantal disappears, Dory suddenly seems to find a purpose and makes it her mission to enlist her friends and find her.
The rest of the ensemble are relative unknowns. Here's the cast.
John Early plays the flamboyantly gay ultra hip Elliott, a proud narcissist who gets enthusiastically on board with the mystery of Chantal.
Meredith Hagner is the ditsy, but lovable, actress Portia. She gets swept up in the thrill of the Chantal mystery and proves adept at chatting up suspects.
John Reynolds portrays Drew, Dory's dippy, sheltered boyfriend. Drew will need to man up if he's going to help solve the mystery and salvage his relationship.
Brandon Micheal Hall plays Julian, Dory's journalist ex-boyfriend. He's brutally honest, which is what killed their relationship in the first place.
• Tucker Carlson. Some of us old-timers at the paper recall 1993 when a 23-year-old Tucker Carlson was hired on to write editorials. He didn't stay here long, because he was destined for greater things, including an ill-advised stint on Dancing With the Stars.
Carlson joined CNN as its youngest anchor ever, had a weekly show on PBS, bounced over to MSNBC, and finally found his natural conservative home on Fox News Channel in 2009.
As of Nov. 14, Carlson, who's 47 now, has his own show on Fox News. Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 6 in the slot temporarily held by On the Record With Brit Hume, and before that by longtime host Greta Van Susteren, who abruptly bailed out Sept. 16.
The hour will offer an in-depth look at the day's political news, along with guest commentary, opinion and social media interaction with viewers.
One segment, "Campus Craziness," will challenge political correctness, and another, "Tucker's TwitterStorm," will tackle media bias and outrage.
One guest I'd love to see is Jon Stewart. I think Tucker is finally healed and he may be ready for a rematch.
Tucker Trivia: Carlson's great-uncle was Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright. Fulbright's sister, Roberta, married Gilbert C. Swanson, the head of the Swanson frozen-foods conglomerate, and was Carlson's maternal grandmother.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 11/20/2016