Happy Sunday, Streamers.
It’s Fourth of July weekend, so hopefully you’re not spending too much time on the couch watching TV. Still, when you’re back from slamming hot dogs, spending some time on the water, or just pondering whether or not America deserves a birthday party this year, we have a piping hot show for you to enjoy as you nurse that hangover on July 5th. Read on to learn more and remember, The Sunday Stream is free and open to everyone. Be sure to share with your friend who never has anything to talk about at the water cooler (do those still exist?).
Now let’s get to it.
What It’s About: This dramedy follows a young chef from the fine-dining world who comes home to Chicago to run his family’s sandwich shop after the sudden death of his brother.
Why You Should Watch: For Midwestern working-class familial drama, manic performances, and food porn.
The Bear is hands down one of the standouts of this summer, if not the best new series to come out of it. It’s gorgeous, raw, abrasive, and addictively stressful. There’s a lot that’s impressive about it, primarily that no show has managed to stick the landing (or… perfect the dish?) when fusing a dramatic narrative into a realistic restaurant setting as well as this one does. There are no cliched moments of chefs resentfully spitting in food in The Bear - just line cooks and sous chefs bobbing and weaving around each other’s preferred working styles and interpersonal drama in a compact kitchen. The Bear drops you into the greasy madness immediately, and the tension doesn’t let up well, ever (if the episodes were any longer than 30 minutes the show wouldn’t work because you would need a breather to wipe the sweat from your brow).
Outside of the consistently unexpected (but welcome) decisions this show makes from a plot POV, the best part about it is the cast. Every actor in The Bear consistently throws 90 mph fastballs without distracting from the overall show. Jeremy Allen White continues to serve his unique brand of simmering misery that first won him Chi-town bonafides on Shameless, and newcomer Ayo Edebiri holds her own as a protege sous chef learning how to earn respect in a working kitchen. The real winner here, though, is Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie. He, along with Jon Bernthal’s Wayne Jenkins in We Own This City (and maybe Jeremy Renner’s James Coughlin in The Town), joins an elite group of abrasive, charm-machine, kind-of-scummy-working-class-local-dude characters you hate to love and love to hate. Richie is funny, awful, and heartfelt at the same time - the kind of guy you would simultaneously be thrilled and a little scared to knock a couple back with at the bar. Together, they make The Bear a feast worth scarfing up all at once (sorry).
Who’s In It, and Where You Probably Know Them From:
Jeremy Allen White - This is his first notable series since Shameless, which makes sense since he was on that show for an entire decade.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach - This guy has been bopping around TV for years, but you probably recognize him from Girls.
Ayo Edebiri - An up-and-coming comedian who has appeared on Dickinson, she most recently took over for Jenny Slate as Missy on Big Mouth when they realized a white woman playing a black girl was, you know, racist.
Abby Elliot - You probably recognize her from her run on Saturday Night Live for four years (fun fact - she is the first-ever second-generation SNL cast member after her dad, Chris Elliot, was also on the show). She also was in No Strings Attached for the rom-com lovers out there.
Matty Matheson - Actual chef Matty Matheson is most known for his regular appearances on Vice’s Munchies.
Joel McHale - You probably know him from Community, Ted, or The Soup on E!.
Oliver Platt - Where to begin? He’s been in A Time To Kill, Doctor Doolittle, Fargo, The Good Wife, The Three Musketeers, and all three (!!) Chicago network TV procedurals with Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Justice. For me, though, he’ll always be Oliver Babish, who had one of the best character introductions/cold opens of all time on The West Wing:
Who Made It, and What Else Have They Done:
Christopher Storer is the writer, producer, and creator. He’s previously directed Ramy and produced Eighth Grade (he’s a frequent Bo Burnham collaborator).
Where You Can Watch: Hulu