Television series
National Anthem
A darkly comic musical drama about a Midwestern family's economic free-fall, where songs erupt from the chaos of their everyday struggle. It's achingly human and surreal in equal measure—a show that treats financial desperation and pop-culture fantasy as equally real. For anyone who loves character work, willing experimentation, and stories that refuse neat categories.
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Schitt's Creek2015
A wealthy family loses everything and must rebuild in a small town. Brilliantly balances genuine pathos with comedy, mining humor from dignity and survival rather than mockery. Character arcs that actually matter.
But Takes several episodes to warm to the characters. The early seasons occasionally mistake broad comedy for depth, though it gets sharper as it settles.
Ozark2017
A middle-class family's descent into criminal desperation, with the everyday pressures—marriage, parenting, money—driving the plot as much as the crime. Dark, tense, and grounded in human consequence.
But Relentlessly bleak and stressful. By season three it sometimes confuses exhaustion with profundity. The wife becomes frustrating in ways the show doesn't always intend.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend2015
A musical comedy-drama where songs express what dialogue can't. Sharp writing, real emotional stakes, and numbers that integrate story rather than interrupt it. Genuinely inventive about blending genres.
But The protagonist's behavior can be grating; the show knows this but some viewers never get on board. Starts silly, becomes increasingly serious—a tonal shift not everyone wants.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
tick, tick... BOOM!2021
Both use songs as a language for financial and existential crisis rather than escape from it. Music emerges from desperation, not joy.
A struggling artist's economic anxiety and creative desperation, told almost entirely in song. Jonathan Larson's memoir-musical captures what it feels like to be young, broke, and terrified you're running out of time. Raw and musically inventive.
But Heavy on rehearsal-room sequences and anxiety spirals—if you need plot momentum, this will feel circular. Andrew Garfield's Broadway affectation may grate.
More like this (7)
Freaks and Geeks1999
Achingly specific portrait of early-1980s working-class teenagers in Michigan. Treats young people with absolute seriousness and compassion. Every episode feels true, every character matters.
But Only one season, cancelled mid-arc. And it's thoroughly of its era—the pacing and humor feel deliberately slow by modern standards.
Halt and Catch Fire2014
The economic and emotional struggle of entrepreneurs chasing the American dream in recession. Gorgeously shot, character-focused, with that specific Midwestern determination and reserve woven through everything.
But First season is slow and unfocused. Takes genuine commitment before the show finds its rhythm and you're invested in these people.
Heartbeat1992
Blue-collar lives in rural America treated with dignity and humor. Observational about small-town economics and family structures, grounded and warm without sentimentality.
But Genuinely dated in its production values and some of its humor. Harder to find than it should be. The pace won't work for everyone.
The Plot Against America2020
Alternative history that's actually about the texture of ordinary American life under pressure. Family dynamics and period detail matter more than spectacle. Unsettling and deeply considered.
But The pacing is deliberately slow and the ending is deliberately not reassuring. Some find it frustrating rather than provocative.
Rectify2013
Deep South character study about a man released from death row and his family's struggle to rebuild. Poetic, patient, profoundly about grief and grace. Unfolds like a novel.
But Requires patience and attention—nothing is explained or rushed. Quiet in a way that can feel glacial. The slowness is intentional but it's not for everyone.
Northern Exposure1990
Quirky small-town ensemble where economic precarity and class difference are genuinely present beneath the eccentricity. Funny and touching without winking at its own sincerity.
But The quirkiness can feel forced in retrospect; some episodes date badly. The network meddling in later seasons shows.
Winter Light1963
Both center the specific weight of economic slide on family and faith structures. Both refuse to soften the reality through sentiment.
Bergman's bleak portrait of spiritual and economic exhaustion in small-town Sweden. Uncompromising look at what happens when systems fail ordinary people. Difficult and genuine.
But Black and white, slow, glacially paced, and offers no comfort whatsoever. One of Bergman's darkest works. Not for anyone seeking uplift.
People
Writing
- Scott Z. BurnsCreator
Production
- Mark JohnsonExecutive Producer