This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I want a comedy.
‘Chad’
When to watch: Now, on the Roku Channel.
Nasim Pedrad created and stars in this nervy, endearing comedy that aired on TBS in 2021. It was renewed for a second season but then axed after that season was already in the can; now Season 1 is on the Roku Channel and Season 2 will arrive there in 2024. Pedrad stars as Chad, a 14-year-old boy who wants desperately to fit in in high school — “fitting in rocks,” he pleads — but constantly gets in his own overly-intense way. “Chad” is ha-ha funny, and it also has those heart-string moments like “Freaks and Geeks.” If you miss “PEN15” or “Never Have I Ever,” watch this.
… an hour, and I want to cry.
‘Little Bird’
When to watch: Thursday at 9 p.m., on PBS, or on the PBS website. (Check local listings.)
Brace yourself for a profoundly sad and infuriating ride with this Canadian drama about the “Sixties Scoop,” a practice in which the Canadian government ripped Indigenous children from their families and placed them for adoption. “Little Bird” follows Esther Rosenblum (Darla Contois), a Jewish woman celebrating her engagement party in 1986 who feels a real unease around her vague memories about the circumstances of her adoption; the show bounces back to 1968, when she was still Bezhig Little Bird and living on the Long Pine Reserve with her birth parents who loved her, wanted her and devotedly cared for her.
… a few hours, and I want something luxurious.
‘Nada’
When to watch: Now, on Hulu.
This Argentine dramedy (in Spanish, Guaraní and English, with subtitles) follows a curmudgeonly food critic (Luis Brandoni) in Buenos Aires who is behind on his promised book, increasingly alienated from his pals and daffily helpless when his doting housekeeper dies. “Nada” hits a lot of familiar beats — would you believe younger, energetic women give him a new zest for life? — but it does so with an easy charm and alluring appetite. The show is full of sumptuous, textured images; every costume has multiple layers, each blob of mustard shows its craters and curves, even the seats in a car are a warm, worn leather. The framing device of De Niro’s awkward narration is a weak spot, but otherwise the show is a five-episode treat.
