The third most popular Google search this year is, what should I watch on TV tonight? So many possibilities are available on streaming sites, it’s difficult for a woman to make up her mind. When my brain is tired, I like to watch cheesy reality TV about hot young people looking for love on islands. I call it my brain candy. Sometimes I skip TV and read a book. When I do commit to an evening of TV, I’m fond of prestige comedies. I like programming that makes me laugh and think, or think first and laugh later. Prestige comedies have teeth; they tend to macabre or obscene humor, lean on social commentary, and celebrate satire, not a modest task in our absurd, failing world.

If prestige comedy sounds like your genre, I’m recommending a few shows, one episode each from four series that I think are worth watching. If you’re short on time and just want to dip into streaming, one episode might be enough. If you aren’t certain a series is up your alley, one episode might make up your mind. Here are my recommendations:  

The Bear (Hulu): Season 2, Ep. 7, “Forks”

If you want to experience the workings of a Michelin three-star restaurant vicariously, “Forks” is the episode of The Bear to watch. It follows a week in the life of Richie, a middle-aged screw up who undergoes an unpaid internship, or stage (stodge), in Ever Restaurant in Chicago.

The time and timing required to create a transcendent dining experience for each guest is represented in close-ups that clip along, hands chopping, plating, saucing, searing, pouring water into goblets in synchronized motion, an assembly line of hands and call-and-response that elevate what could be tedious into crisp, visual pleasure. Richie’s place in the rotation is drying forks, which he considers a crappy job. What epiphanies can arise from the collision of time and pleasure? No spoilers here.  

Upload (Prime): Season 3, Ep. 2, “Strawberry”

Speaking of food, I advise against watching the “Strawberry” episode of Upload while munching on snacks because the visuals are nauseating. The satire is sharp when Nathan and Nora, our protagonists, visit a farm of the future where bioengineering has run amok. The grossness factor is explosive, like the large curd cottage cheese that shoots from a few of Frankencow’s thick, penile-like udders when Nathan and Nora have a food fight. The previous owners of the farm, Cheyenne and Bill, who now manage it, espouse traditional, conservative values and believe the media propaganda that claims organic farmers are villains and terrorists. The holidays are coming, and lots of customers will want to print a ham. Did you know you can grow a pork slab faster with cancer cells? If ever a futuristic series could turn a viewer into a vegetarian, this is it.

Reservation Dogs (Hulu): Season 1, Ep. 8, “Hunting”

An eerie experience in the woods begins the action of “Hunting,” a first-season episode of Reservation Dogs, produced and co-created by showrunner Sterlin Harjo (no relation to Joy Harjo, though the poet makes a guest appearance in Season 2).

After the woods scene, the action jumps to a year later, and focuses on the relationship between a father and daughter. Willie Jack, a senior in high school, wakes her father, Leon, at the crack of dawn to go hunting on opening day of deer season. The father-daughter relationship unfolds in beats: his practical advice, her future dreams, his precautions, her uncertainty. Deer hunting involves a lot of waiting, but don’t worry, there’s action in the woods. The surprises don’t stop coming, and the episode arrives full circle before a poignant denouement. If you like what you see in “Hunting,” Reservation Dogs has three seasons.

The Power (Prime): Season 1, Ep. 4, “The Day of the Girls”

I’m not going to lie; the entire season of The Power blew my mind. The series is based on a novel by Naomi Alderman, and the central question is: what happens when one of the least powerful demographics WORLDWIDE—adolescent girls—suddenly evolve to become radically powerful?

Multiple storylines follow characters around the globe. If you want to sample an episode, I suggest, “The Day of the Girls.” It provides an explanation of the evolution, and dramatically represents how the shift of power plays out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as experienced and chronicled by Tunde Ole, a young journalist from Nigeria who sees the evolution as a step forward toward human equality. Evolution brings revolution, and not only in Riyadh.

“The Day of the Girls” also follows Eve, a black former foster-child whose evolution is accompanied by a divine voice, and Roxy Monke, the illegitimate daughter of a British crime boss.

My favorite character, Tatiana, does not appear in “The Day of the Girls.” Tatiana is a former gymnast married to a fat, old despot named Viktor Moskalev, the dictator who rules Carpathia, a fictional Balkan nation. Tatiana, played by Zrinka Cvitešić, is a model of repressed rage and shame dressed up and forced to play the role of first lady. The tension she expresses is visceral. Her storyline reminds me of Putin and his “love” affair with the former gymnast, Alina Kabaeva, who is more than thirty years his junior.

In the end, I love love The Power, the series. Overthrow the status quo! “Justice for Amal!”

These are just a few of my favorite TV shows for late 2023. Feel free to share your personal favorite episode or series in the comments. I’m always open to recommendations. There’s a lot of content streaming out there, and in an age of information, sorting through it is a primary human activity. Who knows? Maybe next time we’ll talk about movies.