These TV shows are off the air but on our radar
“Sons of Anarchy”
My ultimate Netflix summer obsession. In this show, which ended on FX in December, an outlaw motorcycle club in California’s Central Valley tries to gain control of the town, Charming.
Dreamy Charlie Hunnam (the guy who was supposed to play Christian Grey) stars as Jax, who has a “Hamlet” complex. Everyone’s favorite TV mom, Katey Sagal, plays his badass mother. While this show has sex, drugs and violence, it also has a lot of heart.
You’ll instantly become invested in the complexity of the characters and their struggle to do what’s best for their family and their club. You’ll also become obsessed with Hunnam’s back. Google it. Watch on Netflix and HuluPlus.
| Meredith Newman, mnewman@kcstar.com
“Bored to Death”
It always surprises me when people say they never saw this offbeat HBO comedy series that ran from 2009 to 2011.
It’s worth watching every episode to see Ted Danson in the role he was born to play. Not dumb jock Sam Malone on “Cheers” or the gruff but soft-hearted physician in “Becker,” both one-dimensional characters.
As George Christopher, editor of the fictitious society magazine Edition, Danson can soar. George is maddeningly self-centered, yet he retains a child-like enthusiasm for life.
In his 60s, George is clear-eyed about the toll his libertine lifestyle takes on relationships: “You’re like me, Jonathan,” he tells Jason Schwartzman’s character. “We enthrall and then we disappoint. It used to take me several years, now it’s a couple of weeks. If I’m with a woman longer than that, then there’s something wrong with her.”
I watched the show on DVDs from the library. It’s also available on HBO Go.
| Cindy Hoedel, choedel@kcstar.com
“Frasier”
I only started watching this NBC show toward the last of its 11 seasons, and then caught more episodes on syndicated reruns. So I had a haphazard following of the sitcom, which I love for its perfectly timed zingers and haughty observations.
But thanks to Netflix, I’m watching it from the beginning. Starting with the first episode, without commercial interruptions, gives me a new appreciation for its wit. And I get to see how the characters develop with one another. Each 22-minute episode is a nice way to end a long day with laughs.
| Kathy Lu, klu@kcstar.com
This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 11:50 AM with the headline "These TV shows are off the air but on our radar."