Fresh off the Boat
Making its debut in 2015, Fresh off the Boat is the perfect ethnic comedy to unwind with. For one thing, the show’s premise is distinct: it’s a half-hour comedy show about a Chinese family finding its way through America, in the nineties. The fact that the show is set in the nineties gives it a slight edge over all other comedy shows.
The Huang family moves from Washington D.C. to Florida where 12-year-old Eddie, also the narrator of the show, struggles to fit in and suffers from a fair doze culture shock. His younger siblings, meanwhile, add more colour to the show. With a soft-spot for hip-hop and a desire to fit in, Eddie’s character is at the heart of the show. His cool as cucumber father – played superbly by Randall Park – owns a restaurant and is all about embracing the American dream while his mother, Jessica, is a firm believer in the philosophy of tough love. It’s a decent show that brings issues of heritage, culture as well as adolescence front and center.
The Last Ship
In 2014, Eric Dane returned to television with a role that is a polar opposite of his infamous onscreen alter-ego, Mark "McSteamy" Sloan from Grey’s Anatomy. The Last Ship features the hunky actor as Commander Tom Chandler, the captain on the USS Nathan James, responsible for saving mankind. Or something like it. The show is about finding a vaccine for a deadly virus that has already killed more than half of the world.
Joining him on the show is Rhona Mitra, Boston Legal alumnus, who plays the role of Dr. Rachel Scott, lead researcher and scientist tasked with the duty of finding a cure. In the meanwhile, on their trail are the Russians who will go to any length to acquire the vaccine, even if it means resorting to kidnapping.
The show, which has just wrapped its second season on TNT, has generated positive reviews and is led by Eric Dane in terrific fashion.
Limitless
Limitless, the show, a television adaption of the 2011 film, also called Limitless, is a fairly decent show if you can keep up with procedurals cases involving the FBI and one Senator Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper). At the heart of the show is Brian Finch, who takes NZT, a pill that enables him to access his brain’s full capabilities. But there’s a catch because those who take NZT almost always end up dead. Brian is able to sustain himself on one pill per day and as a result, lands a gig with the FBI. What no one knows, not even the Feds, is that Brian is able to take the pill and not suffer any side effects because of another drug that counters the side effects of NZT and is provided to him by Senator Morra.
It is a catch-22 situation for Brian who can neither tell anyone about the Morra connection nor can he walk away because his family can and will come under threat.
Whether the show turns into a generic detective mystery or takes off in a different direction remains to be seen but with Bradley Cooper serving as executive producer and making recurring appearances on the show, it is, for now, the perfect binge-worthy show.