What I Watched in January & February 2022
As an avid TV watcher, I’m always looking for new things to watch. I thought I’d better document the things I watch this year so that 1. I can look back on it later and 2. Anyone out there looking for a new show to watch can get some recommendations.
JANUARY
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary (HBO Max) | Undoubtedly, I’m sure that a good percentage of the population spent their first day of 2022 watching this (myself included). I watch the HP movies at least once a year (if not more) and I binged these at the end of 2021 in preparation of the anniversary. I’m around the same age as many of the actors and really felt like I grew up with the books, the movies, and the cast. It was nice to see all the behind the scenes and see where everyone was at now. All the feels.
Also as an attempt to try and cut down on screen time this year, TV/phone/iPad, I plan to reread all 7 books! I honestly think I haven’t read them since the 7th book came out. I would reread all of the books in anticipation for the new launch but around book 6/7 it definitely felt a lot longer lol. But it’s been a while and now my memory of the series is the movie version, and I want to remember all the book details I’ve since forgotten.
Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO Max) | I appreciate Mindy Kaling so when I heard she created this show, I knew it would be good. I finished this in 2 days and can’t wait for Season 2 to come out! I think for almost anyone that has attended college, went to a Greek party, made friends, this will be a feel-good show.
Euphoria (Specials + Season 2) | In anticipation of Season 2, I saw that Rue and Jules each had an episode special so I decided to catch up on those. I really enjoyed Season 1 so I can’t wait for the next season to finally go live. Season 2 is now live and we’ve gotten a few episodes. It’s just as thrilling and addictive as Season 1 and I’m hooked.
And Just Like That | Ah, the SATC reboot. I think we should all just accept that reboots are not it. I watched SATC in college (as I was a bit on the younger side to watch it when it first aired), and was close to rewatching it sometime during the last 2 years. I don’t know what I expected, but let me just say that this wasn’t it. I have pretty low standards for shows and for the nostalgic curiosity in me, I like to know where characters I grew up watching “would be” in current day. I’ll keep watching, but so far it’s not doing so great. Kim Cattrall can laugh and be glad she isn’t part of this train wreck of a mess.
Hawk-Eye | Ok admittedly I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of this but I really liked it! We finished this rather quickly and I found myself wanting more. We had watched the Black Widow movie back in December so it was nice to tie in a character from that into this series. It’ll be interesting to see this next generation of Marvel characters/actors but at least the story line did not disappoint. (I cannot say the same about Eternals tho 😬.)
How I Met Your Father | I was a huge How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) fan and this kept me occupied most of my freshman year in college while I killed time at the library studying. The finale of HIMYM was so disappointing I haven’t been able to rewatch it since. I’ve been a huge Hilary Duff fan since the Lizzie McGuire days and quickly fell obsessed with Younger. When I heard she’d be the lead in HIMYF, I knew I had to give it a chance. We’re a few episodes in but I’m already hooked. There are small odes to the original and I’m here for it, but I’m glad they’re making it their own and so far no cringey references.
Dynasty | I’ve been watching this for a while but am trying to finish watching this. I’m on Season 4 and while things slowed down a bit in Season 3, it’s starting to pick up again. I love a good soap opera type show + a bit of music!
Station 11 | T and I started watching this together as one of those shows when we’re eating a meal. Tbh I’m actually a little bit confused about what’s going on but we kept watching it. I think we still have a few episodes left but we’ll get back to that another day lol.
FEBRUARY
This Is Us | The final season is back!!! There are so many questions and I hope that they actually address a lot of them. For anyone that’s been holding back on watching this over the last however many years, just wait until it’s done so that you can binge it straight through.
Sweet Magnolias | I feel like it’s been so long since season 1 that I almost forgot what was going on. The beginning was a little bit slow to start but it picked up around episode 3/4 - just to leave us on the edge of our seats again. I felt like this season focused a lot more on religion (specifically religion in the South), so if that is not your cup of tea maybe you should skip this one. Also with all of the Britney Spears drama, I was actually curious if they were going to cut any of Jamie Lynn’s scenes last minute but they did keep them in lol.
Inventing Anna | I think this may have been one of the best things I’ve watched in a while. I was fully captivated and binged my way through in one weekend. I know this one came out around the same time as the Tinder Swindler but I haven’t gotten around to watching that yet lol. This one is like a drama so obviously it sucked me in very fast. If you’re looking for a quick mini series to binge, I highly recommend this one!
Pam & Tommy | I know this one got a lot of flack since Pamela Anderson did not want this show made. I honestly did not know about the scandal of their adult tape my whole life until this show so I kind of get it, you’re bringing it up when it may have finally just gotten buried (aka introducing it to a few new generations). I thought that Lily and Sebastian had great chemistry and they definitely put a more sympathetic spin on it favoring the two of them. What happened to them was so awful, and it was crazy how it was at the peak of the Internet and that just threw it into a bigger audience. This was a mini series and would be a quick watch now that all of the episodes have been released.
Dollface | Similar to Sweet Magnolias, it had been so long since this last aired that I also forgot what happened here. I thought this season was a little harder to get into but in the end it grew on me. I appreciate shows that do address a post-pandemic life without skipping over it as though it did not happen. Especially as the world starts to open back up in a post-pandemic world, it’ll be interesting to see how everyone navigates.
Jungle Cruise | I saw this movie was released and love Emily Blunt so I knew I wanted to watch this. The Rock is in everything these days lol and I thought the two of them together would be odd but it was quite fun. I really enjoyed it although Jungle Cruise is not my favorite ride at Disneyland. If you want a quick watch for date night or with friends, this would be a nice one!
What have you watched lately? Have you seen any of the above shows / movie that I mentioned?