Not-exactly-recent media

[liv]

Still trying to find TV series that have a reasonable number of short episodes that I can share with jack. So far our best success has been rysmiel's recommendation of Over the garden wall. It's one season of 10 episodes that form a complete story arc, and it's really not like anything much else.

Over the garden wall is horror-adjacent, which I normally don't like, but most of the episodes are actually not very horrifying. The setting is that two children wander into a mysterious forest full of monsters which they must escape, and the aesthetic is very black and orange. But actually most of the monsters can be defeated through finding out what it is they need and generally being kind to them. The animation is good but not mindblowingly so; what really makes it is the background music which is reminiscent of early silent films and is really atmospheric.

I also liked the characterization, the two children have an absolutely pitch-perfect sibling relationship. Elijah Wood, of all people, plays the older boy who I think is the audience stand-in, very almost-adolescent. The younger kid Gregory is one of the better portrayals of young children I've seen, comparable with Rugrats I'd say. He isn't overly cute, he isn't a one-note kid brother is annoying joke, he clearly has his own interiority but also doesn't always make sense to adults.

I didn't very much love the bridging scenes back in the children's ordinary life; that seemed to fall into cliches of American shows about middle school a bit much. But the finale is genuinely moving.

We did end up watching all the way through She-ra and the princesses of power, 5 x 10 episodes. I probably don't have anything new to say about it as it's hugely popular with just about everybody, but basically I really enjoyed the first and final seasons, the ones in the middle felt a bit too childish, which is not really a fair complaint given that it is in fact a children's show. Also, I do love that everybody gets some kind of redemption, and that lots of Queer characters get their happy-ever-after, but it was a bit much when every villain was redeemed by the power of friendship and every character ended up romantically paired.

This kind of underlines the big problem that we've been having, that we're struggling to find anything actually aimed at adults, which isn't full of more graphic violence than I can cope with. I probably am more than usually squeamish, but even so, I wish more stuff was PG without assuming the level of narrative sophistication of under 12s.

Apart from the utterly amazing We are Lady Parts, the closest we've come has been Ted Lasso. Thank you ceb for finally convincing me to try it, because yes, everybody recommended it but it really didn't seem the kind of thing I'm interested in. We jumped straight in with Season 2 as jack had already seen Season 1. We're most of the way through and I'll talk about it properly once we've watched the whole season. Basically it's like a sitcom, but actually good, because although the characters are somewhat one-dimensional and there are endless jokes about people finding themselves in situations where they don't fit in, the show just really really cares about them. There are lots of gags that, if I described them, would seem to rely on cringe humour, but really I never once had to suffer second-hand embarrassment for more than a second.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

We Are Lady Parts is so, so good and there's going to be a second season!!!

[lavendersparkle]

Adult show with short episodes and no violence: have you tried Schitts Creek?

[rysmiel]

Oh, I am glad Over the Garden Wall worked well for you; I have been tending to rewatch it every couple of years when the weather feels appropriately autumnal. I really like some of the things it does with the animation, myself, particularly homages like Greg's adventures in the clouds and the very Richard Scarry classroom sequence; and a couple of weeks ago in a different context I came across someone mentioning that each of the episodes maps onto a specific sequence in Dante's Inferno, which was not a connection I had made at that level of detail and is something I will be keeping an eye out for next time.

I'm not sure what all else I have watched recently or am watching would fit with your tonal preferences here; I've heard good things about Infinity Train and will probably watch some of that soon. Also, I should look through recentish conversations with rushthatspeaks because I have a feeling that some of them have mentioned gentle slice-of-life anime that might be worth your consideration, will get back to you on that.

[superborb]

I also felt the same way about Over the Garden Wall and She-Ra! The recs I got for that category of "PG but not targeting kids" were Infinity Train (same liminal space vibe as OtGW, but maybe some weird ethics?) and Gravity Falls (more of a kid-targeting vibe and maybe more violence?)-- but I haven't watched either fully so I can't personally rec. I think there's also a lot of anime or generally Eastern cartoons in that category, but I couldn't tell if you were looking for something in English?

[rysmiel]

I am extremely fond of Gravity Falls but it does have some distinctly dark elements, for the most part implicit but the finale puts them front and centre to an extent that disinclines me to recommend them in this context.

[andrewducker]

I recommend Hilda.

Which is also for kids, but incredibly well done.

[silveradept]

Over the Garden Wall is excellent animation and storytelling and pretty chilling for the network it was originally aired on.

I liked She-Ra for what it does, including a lot of the redemption arcs for characters.

I can certainly agree that finding something that's teen and young adult without the accompanying violence is difficult. I'm trying to think of things, but nothing springs to mind.

[quizcustodiet]

Shreena and I really enjoyed Bedtime, a series written by Andy Hamilton which unfolds in a handful of thirty minute episodes.

It's definitely adult and involves people being people good and bad but I don't think there's any on-screen violence at all and I don't think there's much referred to (but it has been many years since I watched so memory vague.)

As it's by Andy Hamilton, it's also very funny

[lavendersparkle]

I'm not sure what sorts of things you like, but another half hour show I've been enjoying is What We Do in the Shadows on iPlayer. There is some violence in it, but it's ridiculous and silly violence, like someone's head gets chopped off and flung across a garden, but generally the whole thing is just very silly and fun.

[andrewducker]

I too would like something as fun as She-Ra, but aimed at adults, but without being full of horrible things.

[damerell]

Is it possible you have no choice but to revolutionise the world?