Sometimes life can be so strange it seems like it was created in a writer’s room. If you’re one of those people who enjoy watching entertainment that keeps one foot on the ground, here’s a line-up that’s sure to grab you – streaming on Showmax.
The Rehearsal
The Rehearsal delves into the lengths to which one man will go to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life. Nathan Fielder (2022 Emmy nominee How To With John Wilson) uses a construction crew, a legion of actors, and seemingly limitless resources to help ordinary people prepare for life’s most important moments by “rehearsing” them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design. Why leave your life to chance when a single misstep can shatter your entire world?
The Rehearsal has received positive reviews from both fans and critics, with an 8.7/10 rating on IMDB and a 94% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Daily Beast hailed Fielder as “the undisputed king of cringe comedy,” calling The Rehearsal a “masterpiece of awkward chaos,” while IndieWire lauded the show as “a grand HBO experiment” that achieves “next-level entertainment” and Vanity Fair called it “as enthralling and bizarre as life itself.”
We’re Here
We’re Here, which won Emmys for Costumes and Makeup in 2022, follows Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and Shangela on their journey to spread love and connection through the art of drag.
The queens recruit locals from all over small-town America to perform in one-night-only drag shows, inspiring their “drag daughters” to be their true selves in front of their families, friends, and communities.
The show was praised by Decider as “nothing short of a miracle,” “bigger, bolder, peak excellence,” and “unlike anything else on TV,” while A.V. Club called it “show stopping” and “a glammed up, emotional road trip.”
The unscripted reality series has already been renewed for a third season by HBO.
George Carlin’s American Dream
We’re Here, which received Emmy nominations for Costumes and Makeup in 2022, follows Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and Shangela on their quest to spread love and connection through the art of drag.
Locals from all over small-town America are recruited by the queens to perform in one-night-only drag shows, inspiring their “drag daughters” to be their true selves in front of their families, friends, and communities.
Decider called the show “nothing short of a miracle,” “bigger, bolder, peak excellence,” and “unlike anything else on TV,” while A.V. Club described it as “show stopping” and “a glammed up, emotional road trip.”
HBO has already renewed the unscripted reality series for a third season.
100 Foot Wave
100 Foot Wave, winner of the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography, follows the decade-long journey of big-wave surfing pioneer Garrett McNamara, who helped push the sport beyond the realm of imagination after visiting a small fishing village in Portugal.
The six-part HBO documentary series was also nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series and has a perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics.
According to LA Weekly, the series is “a wild ride… both maddening and captivating to watch.”
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, winner of the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary Emmy for 2022, examines the birth of the most influential children’s television series in history, which has won a record 214 Emmys, 11 Grammys, three Peabodys, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for the iconic Muppet Big Bird, and legendary puppeteer Jim Henson).
The iconic furry characters and songs that multiple generations have come to know and love are included in Street Gang, as well as never-before-seen archive footage and interviews with the original gang of visionary creators who set out to change the world. Look for Muhammad Ali, James Earl Jones, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and others to make an appearance.
Street Gang has a 95% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus calls it “as enlightening as it is purely entertaining.” US Weekly calls it “a warm hug of a documentary.”