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WATCH / There’s no place like home
Somebody Somewhere is loosely based on the life of comedian Bridget Everett, who plays Sam (above), who reconnects with her high-school friend Joel (Jeff Hiller).
I get too attached to characters on TV shows. When the French comedy Call My Agent! ended, I bawled because I didn’t want to stop hanging out with my favourite Parisian talent managers. Same goes for Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. As far as I’m concerned, Jerry, Elaine and Larry just haven’t called me for a while. I’m preparing for a similar bereavement when the brilliant Somebody Somewhere ends after its third season. The HBO comedy drama is loosely based on the life of Bridget Everett, a New York comedian and cabaret star. She plays Sam, who returns to her hometown in Kansas after the death of her sister. There, she reconnects with her high-school friend Joel (Jeff Hiller), and rediscovers her voice. If that sounds cheesy, it’s not. Sam isn’t an easy person but, between her and Joel, you’ll wish you lived around the corner from them. On Binge, from Monday. Louise Rugendyke
READ / Olive and company
Tell Me Everything is a novel of interlocking stories.
“Tell me everything” must be three of the most comforting words in the English language. In Pulitzer-Prize-winning American novelist Elizabeth Strout’s 10th book, Tell Me Everything (Viking; $35), two characters from her previous novels, 60-something writer Lucy Barton and lovable curmudgeon Olive Kitteridge, now 91, meet and derive mutual comfort from their developing friendship. The two exchange moving stories about people they know – ordinary people who live “unrecorded lives” that are marked with pathos and tragedy. Lucy gains similar comfort from intimate conversations with her friend, Bob Burgess. Thus, each feels a little less alone. A
powerful homage to the art of attentive listening. Nicole Abadee
LISTEN / Knocks us off our feet
Each episode of The Wonder of Stevie dives into a different Stevie Wonder album.
If you can listen to Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life and still be transported by it 48 years after its release, new podcast The Wonder of Stevie (Audible) might just be for you. Over six hours, charismatic host Wesley Morris chronicles Wonder’s “classic era”, from 1972 to 1976, in which the singer-songwriter released an acclaimed album every year for five years, a streak that’s never been matched. Morris devotes an episode to each album, starting with Music of My Mind and ending with Songs In The Key Of Life, inviting a number of celebrity guests along for the ride. One of them, Barack Obama, credits his love of Wonder for helping him seal the deal with his new girlfriend, Michelle, an even bigger fan. By the time he starts singing the opening lines of Tuesday Heartbreak, you’re as swept away by this podcast as the former first lady was by her beau. Delightful. Sharon Bradley
PLAY / Opportunity knocks
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