20 Things to Watch Instead of the Final Presidential Debate

A few weeks ago, we offered up suggestions for what you could (should?) watch instead of the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. And though some commenters took us to task for promoting political apathy, given the, er, mixed reaction the much-anticipated face-off received, we think we made the right call.

Not watching the debates isn’t about embracing political apathy. It’s about protecting your own mental health. New moderating rules or not, unless you are one of those mythical undecided voters (if so, what’s up with that? Email us and let us know), there is literally no reason to subject yourself to 90 stressful minutes of two guys shouting at one another (or, more likely, one guy shouting at the other guy). You know how you’re going to vote. (Maybe you’ve voted already.) Give your anxiety the night off and watch something else. We have a few ideas.

Have you watched the last season of Schitt’s Creek on Netflix? Wait, have you watched Schitt’s Creek at all?! Now is the perfect time to start, babies. Let the antics of the Rose family wash over you. There, there. - A.B.

Speaking of fucked up families, Succession’s two seasons, on HBO now, explore the toxic relationships between the members of a very rich dynasty fighting for control of the family business and legacy. It’s fascinating because it is literally the only example we have of the fact that many wealthy clans are filled with very bad people. - J.C.

Every season of Adventure Time is now available on HBO Max, which means you can spend countless exploring its weird, unsettling, brightly-hued apocalyptic wasteland. Even if the world is ending, we can look forward to the prospect of a candy-filled future. - J.C.

Remember a time when this was the most absurd thing that could ever occur—a movie about snakes on a plane?! Now, of course, real live snakes invading an actual plane probably wouldn’t be more than a blip in Google News. It’s on Hulu. - A.B.

Also on HBO Max, 23 seasons of South Park deliver over-the-top political satire that is dated only in the fact that everything in real America is now so much worse. - J.C.

If you want to get even more riled up than the debate would make you, check out Totally Under Control on Hulu. In it, award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney takes a long hard look at Trump’s total mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. (You’re going to want to vote so hard afterward.) - A.B.

There’s a convincing case to be made that social media is to blame for much of the hell we find ourselves in today. The Social Dilemma, a new documentary on Netflix exploring the way Facebook, Twitter, et al have changed the way we interact, does a pretty good job of it. - J.C.

Shirley, starring Elisabeth Moss, is one of those movies I would have been eager to see once it made its way to streaming, because in normal life I am far too lazy to make it to a movie theater. But now it’s Pandemic Times and no one has to wait! Shirley features a fictionalized version of the author Shirley Jackson, who, along with her husband Hyman, invites Hyman’s new teaching assistant and his wife over for a weekend. It looks unsettling and creepy and like a breath of fresh air compared to everything we’re dealing with. - A.B.

In 2002's John Q, streaming on HBO and DirecTV, Denzel Washington plays a father who takes an entire hospital hostage, demanding his son be given the life-saving treatment he can’t afford to pay for. Good thing we’ve totally fixed our healthcare problem in the nearly two decades since, right? - J.C.

Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix is a surprisingly good reboot of the series, and the “Berkshires UFO” episode is especially engrossing. Even the most die-hard skeptic will have a hard time explaining away how so many people on one night in 1969 witnessed, well... you just need to watch. - A.B.

In Vampires vs. the Bronx, also on Netflix, a group of teenagers defends their borough when it comes under attack by blood-sucking fiends who are definitely not a metaphorical stand-in for the evils of gentrification. If you’re looking for a movie that will inspire you to fight back against seemingly all-powerful, insidious forces undermining your way of life, this is it. Plus, it’s perfect for spooky season.

Let’s forget about the States for a bit and hop on over the pond for some British scandal, what? Hugh Grant stars in A Very English Scandal, a darkly funny series based on a true story. Sex! Politics! A bungling hit man! Oh, but the British are charming, even when they’re plotting to have you killed. On Amazon Prime. - A.B.

Here’s a recommendation based on personal experience: During and after the stress of the 2016 election, all I could manage to read was sports manga. This year, I don’t even know that I’ll have the fortitude to read, but luckily multiple seasons of volleyball anime Haikyu!! are available on Hulu. Every episode is mercifully the same, and that’s incredibly soothing. - J.C.

If you want to be horrified in a different way, check out PEN15 on Hulu. Two grown women are shockingly convincing as teenagers dealing with all the humiliations of adolescence you can imagine. The real-life teenagers who round out the cast are just as good as the leads. It’s a spot-on recreation of 7th grade, which is to say, equally hilarious and mortifying. - A.B.

Have you caught up on HBO’s Lovecraft Country yet? You can now binge the whole first season of the period horror drama, which mixes Lovecraftian terror with a fearless examination of America’s troubled history of racism and biased policing against its Black citizens. - J.C.

Everything’s ridiculous. Is there a better time to watch (or, more likely, rewatch) Monty Python and the Holy Grail? The Knights Who Say “Ni,” who you can find on Netflix, make more sense than much of what comes out of our president’s face-hole. - A.B.

If you want to believe in humanity again (and you do!) watch Lenox Hill, a documentary series on Netflix. It follows four doctors at Lenox Hill Hospital, and the dedication they show to their livelihoods while they deal with their own struggles and heartbreak is something else. - A.B.

In 1979's The Warriors, streaming on DirecTV and available for rent digitally, the vest-clad members of the titular New York City street gang have to survive a harrowing trip from the Bronx back to their home base in Coney Island, facing off against other fashionably outfitted ruffians along the way. If New York is going to hell again, as a certain president has suggested, at least we’ll look good doing it. - J.C.

Set amid the fallout from the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s, Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, is a movie about the ways political protest can change the world. Don’t know why that seems relevant in 2020. -J.C.

Speaking of Aaron Sorkin, every season of his liberal media fantasy The Newsroom is available on HBO. Watch the first episode, which includes that famous scene where Jeff Daniels, playing a veteran reporter, participates in a Q&A session with the public; when asked a softball question about why America is the greatest country in the world, he lays down some flowery rhetoric about how America was never great, actually—but it could be. Turn it off halfway through his speech and watch something else on this slideshow. I agree with the sentiment, but I hate that scene. -J.C.

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