2 Best Releases Like Russian Doll on Netflix

Selling a home is, at best, a time of sanitized chaos. As they say about ducks, above the surface, like during open house, everything is serene to the point of sterile. But beneath the surface, behind the scenes, it is a whirling dervish of activity and emotions. So it only makes sense No Good Deed, a series that revolves around a home for sale, would be an absolute mess. For better and worse. Ironically, the house part of the story is the easiest to grok. Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul (Ray Romano) Morgan are selling what was once their dream house. The reasons are unclear, but there are hints. Their two kids no longer live at home. Paul, a contractor, was responsible for the repairs and upgrades. Despite that, though, it still cost them a pretty penny. Lydia, a former concert pianist forced into early retirement when she developed a tremor, undoubtedly made those costs feel more dire. Regardless of the why, Paul’s anxious to unload as fast as possible. Lydia, on the other hand, feels a ton of ambivalence and will only accept the perfect new owners. Perhaps not even then. Denis Leary's energy has always screamed "friendly greeter." (Netflix) Nearly all the characters that matter show up at the Open House, the series’ first big set piece. Highly energized real estate agent Greg (Matt Rogers) oversees the whole thing, laying on the “a beautiful place to raise a family” hard. Then there’s former soap actor JD (Luke Wilson), a neighbor who covets the classic style of the Morgans’ home. The social climbing Margo (Linda Cardellini) makes an appearance, unaware that Lydia would rather burn the place down than let Margo take up her former home. Dennis (O-T Fagbenle) and Carla (Teyonah Parris) are recently married and with child. They’ve brought along Dennis’s mom, Denise (Anna Maria Horsford), for the tour, a choice the couple may not be on the same page about. Sarah (Poppy Liu) and Leslie (Abbi Jacobson), on the other hand, have given up on children and filtered that money and effort into finding a new home. Continue Reading →

Netflix’s action-comedy is deadly short on both. There’s something undeniably attractive about the premise of Obliterated. A highly skilled team of soldiers, spies, bomb experts, and tech geniuses stop on nuclear bomb detonation in the heart of Las Vegas and fully celebrate their victory. And by fully celebrate, we mean FULLY. Drugs, alcohol, exotic animals, hundreds of guests, plenty of sex toys, and so on. Then they wake in the morning to find their mission wasn’t as successful as they thought, and now they have no choice but to try and save the day in various stages of loaded and hungover. Sadly, miles exist between premise and execution. Think the difference between visiting the Bellagio in Vegas and the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Then double it. Maybe triple it. Put it another way, Obliterated is bad. Very bad. Continue Reading →