It’s been a long time since we have made the recommendations posts, especially the TV shows related ones. But that doesn’t mean we stayed off TV shows, that’s impossible. We have seen quite a few, which is why we have decided to make a comeback on the Recommendations posts.This time, we are back with some really good shows. At least, TV shows WE think are good enough to be recommended to others.

We have seen a lot of TV shows and the ones that have impressed us the most are Inside Edge, Big Little Lies, Chewing Gum and El Chapo. Two of these shows have big stars carrying the story and plotline. They are all different types of shows from different places on earth. Big Little Lies is from the U.S., El Chapo is based from a huge breaking news story in Mexico, Inside Edge is from India and Chewing Gum is from the United Kingdom.

El Chapo and Chewing Gum are available on Netflix. Inside Edge is available on Amazon Video and Big Little Lies was shown on HBO. Now, as you can see, all of these shows are on TV networks that don’t censor much or don’t even censor at all like Netflix. We are mentioning this because if you expect these TV shows to be all sweet and innocent, you are dead wrong.

These are all fully adult shows with mature and adult content. So, only please watch if you are over 18 or 21 depending on where you come from, or where your parents are at (Just Joking!). Now that we have made this clear, let’s start with describing the shows one by one. By the way, we will not reveal the storyline. We are just going to share what we thought of the whole series or show, characters and storyline. So, no spoiler alert is needed.

 

Recommended TV Shows

 

INSIDE EDGE

 

Cast:

Richa Chadha as Zarina Malik – loosely inspired by Preity Zinta

Vivek Anand Oberoi as Vikrant Dhawan – loosely inspired by Ness Wadia/Lalit Modi

Tanuj Virwani as Vayu Raghavan – loosely inspired by Virat Kohli

Angad Bedi as Arvind Vashishth – loosely inspired by M.S. Dhoni/Saurav Ganguly

Sayani Gupta as Rohini Raghavan

Sanjay Suri as Niranjan Suri

Siddhant Chaturvedi as Prashant Kanaujia

Sarah-Jane Dias as Meera Nagpal

Amit Sial as Devender Mishra – loosely inspired by Ajit Chandila

Manuj Sharma as KR Raghunath – loosely inspired by Sreesanth

 

Inside Edge is India’s first web series that is available on Amazon Prime. Produced by Excel Entertainment, which is Farhan Akhtar’s and Ritesh Sidhwani’s movie production company, Inside Edge promised to be different and edgy, as the title suggests.

The production of this show did a good job by bringing actors from all corners of the industry. We have actors who have been out of work, actors who have done good work, actors who can’t seem to get a break and actors who can’t secure good film roles for themselves.

Undoubtedly, Richa Chadha is the name you recognised the most. When you see of Vivek Oberoi’s name, you think, “It’s been a long time since I have seen him onscreen” and you are not wrong in thinking that if you don’t watch the millions of Ram Gopal Varma films he has been in. Also, he goes by the name of Vivek Anand Oberoi now since his old name was associated with Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan.

The rest of the cast will appear familiar to you. Most of them, actually, including Sanjay Suri, Sayani Gupta, Sarah Jane Dias, Angad Bedi and Tanuj Virwani, who’s the son of yesterdayyear actress, Rati Agnihotri.

 

Inside Edge – Inside Out

When you think of Indian TV shows, you think of the typical ‘Saas-Bahu’ show or the shows with bad background sounds to make you realise what every scene is about. This is why Inside Edge works: it makes you pleasantly surprise at the quality of TV show that India can actually produce. It literally bowls you over.

The content is fresh, new and original as advertised by Amazon. It’s very true because not once during the show you get bored because every episode manages to keep you glued and it does so wonderfully. It’s hard to guess what happens because no similar TV shows have ever aired before.

The tricky thing about making this type of web series is that there’s no guarantee on whether the audience will like it and appreciate the hard work put into it. The reason we are saying this is because Excel Entertainment left no stone unturned while making this show. You see it in its production value, there’s nothing that looks fake or cheap.

Every show or movie depends deeply on the performance of the actors. Inside Edge too works because of its actors. The actors are the characters and you don’t see any other character they have played in their career when you see them on this show.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfvRGkzhyBs

 

Well, everyone except Vivek. We are big fans of Vivek and are happy to see him back. But still, when he’s onscreen, there’s this feeling that he’s trying to be something he’s not. As in, he’s faking it and it’s obvious. Most likely in his head, he wants to emulate the biggest and baddest character and what comes onscreen from him is an obvious attempt to be bad. Perhaps, it’s the language because he converses in English on this show and to do that plus get his emotions in check must have been difficult. Unless, his character is based on someone just like that, then it’s forgivable. You can see he’s trying and we are saying this because he’s the same guy, who said people praised his act in ‘Krrish 3’ just like they praised Heath Ledger’s role in ‘Batman’.

We are not crazy cricket fans, so this show was definitely an eye-opener on many things. It made us feel more like voyeurs than the audience. Still, that doesn’t make us want to sit down and watch a match. We did try to figure who the characters are based on, it’s not that easy to figure out. The only closest thing we came up with was Richa Chadha’s character might be similar to Preity Zinta, as she’s the first famous actress to have her own cricket team.

Aside from that, it’s really annoying to see these young boys have all the money and freedom to do what they want just because of their talent on the cricket field. It’s annoying because they make so much money and yet, they don’t think of how they can reach out to the less fortunate to help them.

The success of Inside Edge has definitely opened more doors to other directors and producers in India, who want all the creative freedom to make their content. We look forward to more creative shows from India. Let’s see what they’ve got!

 

 

BIG LITTLE LIES

 

Cast:

Reese Witherspoon as Madeline Martha Mackenzie
Nicole Kidman as Celeste Wright
Shailene Woodley as Jane Chapman
Alexander Skarsgård as Perry Wright, Celeste’s husband
Adam Scott as Ed Mackenzie, Madeline’s husband
Zoë Kravitz as Bonnie Carlson, Nathan’s second wife
James Tupper as Nathan Carlson, Madeline’s ex-husband
Jeffrey Nordling as Gordon Klein, Renata’s husband
Laura Dern as Renata Klein

 

We have to admit that the story of Big Little Lies seemed like something we have seen before. What worked in its favour was the cast of this mini series. HBO has been known to make shows that are very open, so the content of this show is not a surprise at all. Before HBO managed to secure its rights to air Big Little Lies, Netflix was fighting for it too.

Know why? Because it had some of the biggest names in Hollywood and this show was their entry into the world of television. Who doesn’t know Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon? Both are executive producers of this show as well.

It’s a show filled with senior actors with the exception of Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz. It’s nice that they found something they can do that doesn’t include them playing mothers to 20-something actors onscreen. They all go all out for their characters, especially Nicole.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oiM_sDhkiY

The only problem we have with this show is that it’s slow. The way it runs is different from other shows. As you probably noticed, things happen fast in TV shows. But for this one, they gave it time to build up into something that is significant and life-changing and that only happens in the end of the show. For some reason, there’s no regret watching every episode to see a conclusion we somehow already knew. It was satisfying.

Still, that doesn’t mean that it’s boring. In fact, it’s not and that is thanks to the actors in it, who manage to keep your interest in this mini series week after week. Everyone was wonderful in their roles and those who thought of Alexander Skarsgård as the hot vampire from True Blood will be in for a surprise as his character is just a complete opposite of how people think of him.

Everyone is interested to get into television these days and this helps big projects get greenlit by network producers. As for Big Little Lies, rumour has it the cast want another season. We don’t see it happening unless something else occurs or unless it’s a different story altogether.

 

 

FEUD

 

Cast:

Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford
Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis
Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper
Jackie Hoffman as Mamacita, Crawford’s housekeeper
Alfred Molina as director/producer Robert Aldrich
Stanley Tucci as Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner
Alison Wright as Pauline Jameson, Aldrich’s assistant

 

According to Wikipedia, Feud is an American anthology television series presented as the dramatization of actual events. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Though, we are not from that time, a lot of things mentioned on this TV show can be checked up online.

We were well-aware that this is a true story and somehow throughout the show, we kept thinking, “This really did happen?”. What makes this show interesting is that we can relate to its storyline.

Not that we have done it ourselves, but it’s very much common in a world that enjoys pitting women against women. Feud has some of the best actors in it, including Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange.

Feud is created by the same people responsible for American Horror Story, so it’s no surprise to see their favourite actress, Jessica Lange, in this story as well. What can we say about Jessica Lange? Well, she is American Horror Story for us. Without her, that show feels empty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fktRmhqP2gc

In Feud, Jessica and Susan play yesterdayyear actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Most of the episodes centre around the time these ladies were shooting for their last film together, ‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’.

Both are perfect in Feud and while watching the show, you will realise that it’s like you have gone back in the past and are witnessing what actually happened. You will feel their emotions as it’s happening onscreen. This show also reiriterates the fact that no one sane should join the entertainment industry, especially if you are a young and beautiful woman. It’s already a crazy world out there and Hollywood is just crazier.

The next season of Feud will be based on the relationship of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales. That will be very interesting to watch. In the meantime, do check out Feud when you have a chance.

 

 

CHEWING GUM

 

Cast:

Michaela Coel as Tracey Gordon
John MacMillan as Ronald
Robert Lonsdale as Connor Jones
Tanya Franks as Mandy
Danielle Isaie as Candice
Kadiff Kirwan as Aaron
Susan Wokoma as Cynthia
Shola Adewusi as Joy
Maggie Steed as Esther
Vera Chok as Penelope
Olisa Odele as Ola

 

As we are writing this, we realise that Chewing Gum might not be for everyone. Not eating chewing gum, but the British TV series, Chewing Gum. We were recommended to watch it and when we did, we were pleasantly surprised.

We are no strangers to British television. These guys have some of the best shows. Chewing Gum is created by its lead star, Michaela Coel. It’s how she sees the world and the things that happen in her world.

You might or might not relate to her, but most importantly, the only way you can get through this show is if you understand the way British people speak, as in their accent. If you do, then you are fine.

 

 

Everything is different about this show, so in a way it’s refreshing to see content like this. For that, Michaela Coel deserves a round of applause for being a black woman in the UK, who never gave up on her dreams. Speaking of dreams, there’s a scene in the show where she tells a crowd that she looks like Beyonce and when the crowd makes a disapproving noise, she goes, “Only from certain angles”.

Try giving Chewing Gum a chance and we have to say that it grows on you as you watch every episode. It’s not an instant like, it’s a hard-earned like.

 

 

EL CHAPO

 

Cast:

Marco de la O as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán
Humberto Busto as Conrado Higuera Sol “Don Sol”
Alejandro Aguilar as Toño
Rodrigo Abed as Amado Carrillo Fuentes (alias “El Señor de los Cielos”)
Luis Fernando Peña as Armando “Rayo” López
Juan Carlos Oliva as Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (alias “El Güero Palma”)
Rolf Petersen as Ramón Avendaño
Carlos Hernán Romo as Benjamín Avendaño
Héctor Holten as President Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Diego Vásquez as Ismael Zambada García (alias “El Mayo” and/or “Don Ismael”)
Teté Espinoza as Chío
Luis Rábago as General Blanco
Dolores Heredia as Gabriela Saavedra

 

Like us, you must have heard of this billionaire druglord in Mexico who managed to escape from the maximum-security prison he was at through a 1.5km tunnel he had built from his cell’s shower area to a construction site.

This is what El Chapo, the TV series, is about. Based on the life of Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (El Chapo), this TV series takes you behind the scenes and give you an up close and personal look at the life of El Chapo.

It’s a little unfair as this guy is a criminal, but when you watch this show, you find yourself rooting for him. It’s not right and this is usually a problem when criminals get their biopics made into films or TV series.

Still, that doesn’t take away the willpower that this guy has. It’s just amazing how he thinks things through. That tunnel was his idea and he had his men find the best engineers to make this tunnel a reality.

This is from a guy, who only went to school until third grade. He is smart and wants to be on top in the world of drugs in Mexico. In this show, we get to see his life from when he was young and when he was arrested and put in jail.

When he is in jail, he’s just like anyone else. They treat him so bad that you end up wishing they don’t. Before he got in jail, he managed to lure any police officer who arrested him with money. He offered them big money and they let him go.

 

It was easy until the government put a price on his head and the officers got greedier. Season 1 ends with his time in prison and Season 2 will feature his big escape and more of what happened afterwards.

This show is filmed in Spanish with English subtitles for every scene. Despite that, not understanding the language doesn’t make a difference when it comes to understanding the story. The actors in El Chapo are just marvellous. We are not aware of their work before this show, so their talent comes as a pleasant surprise. The actor, who plays El Chapo, looks a lot like him.

We didn’t know who El Chapo was or who was this big drugpin that escaped from prison, but after watching this series, we now know who he was and is. Currently, the real El Chapo is in the U.S. waiting for his trial to start in 2018.

We just remembered that El Chapo is the same guy that Hollywood actor Sean Penn met. Apparently, El Chapo was still in hiding when he got to meet Sean Penn. Sean went there to interview him and we remember how late night hosts made fun of that fact because soon after that meeting, El Chapo was captured and brought back to jail. It was almost like Sean was the mole. It’s hard to believe that the whole of Mexico was looking for El Chapo and then it’s discovered that Hollywood actor actually met him and had a conversation with for hours! How embarrassing it must have been for the Mexican government. They should have asked Sean Penn for the purpose of his visit at the airport.