Make your food last SO much longer, cut down on your utility and clothing bills, *and* replace a bunch of disposable plastic.

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“The bins are out tonight….jealous isn’t even the word, hope they all enjoy their night anyways”.

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Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has told international students to “return to their home countries” but for many people on student visas it isn’t that easy.

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HBO’s Run begins with a text to an ex and somersaults from there, landing somewhere between gleefully questionable judgment-land and a truly wild caper. Officially, the series is a romantic comedy thriller, but it’s also a reteaming of a creative-dynamic duo, Vicky Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, after their Fleabag and Killing Eve successes. They co-executive produce (along with Kate Dennis), and the show pairs Domhnall Gleeson and Merritt Wever as two college exes (Billy and Ruby), who previously made a pact that it was alright to send a feeler text, and if the other responded, they’d drop their lives and meet at Grand Central Station and barrel across the U.S. together.

Sounds messy and complicated, right? Oh yes, very much so. Fortunately, Gleeson and Wever’s characters are complex creations as written by Jones, who has shown us on multiple occasions (including her work on Fleabag) that she adores crafting flawed characters. And speaking of women who enjoy embodying such flaws, Waller-Bridge features as a type of character that you’ve never seen her play before now. We spoke with Jones about this re-pairing of the minds, so to speak, along with the rambunctious ride taken by Billy and Ruby on their journey to unknown relationship frontiers.

A lot of people are going to start thinking about this show with this basic question: “Is it a good idea to text your ex?” So…. is it?

Oh, I mean…. [laughs]. It’s so interesting that the show goes back in time and explores revisiting people we remember and who knew each other well. I think there are questions to think about, like, “What if we’ve ended up with this person or that person, and where would I be now?” Or “are you more yourself with one person than another or a happier version of yourself?” And “can you revisit that?” And whether people are perfect for each other in an innate sense. We change over time, and who we found is context-in-time specific. So I don’t know, I’m interested in the question very much of, “Should we ever go back and knock on past doors, or should you just leave it and live in the moment?” Probably the last one.

This is no typical ex-texting, though. They kinda agreed to this, back in the day.

There’s a pact, yeah.

Do you know, in your mind, whose idea the pact was?

Ooh. I don’t know for sure, but future seasons might explore that. I suspected that it was the one who insisted upon breaking up. So it feels to me like it was something of a conciliatory gesture. Like, “Don’t worry, we just can’t be together now.” I feel like it was Ruby. She was the stronger one back then. She was the one who was doing so well, and flying in her studies, and so on. I think she felt like she didn’t need to be held down by a relationship, and I think that she lived to regret that very much. It probably came from her that they should separate with that pact, and for her heart and for her sanity, and that she needed to believe that.

Ruby has a great line: “Who does this?” I think a lot of people would want to do it but wouldn’t do it. Do you think people will have strong reactions to her actions?

Yeah, especially because of her home context, right? But I think that’s right. I think most people wouldn’t do that, and I feel like we do think about it, and we might feel guilty for thinking about it. That’s what drama’s for, to explore what happens to someone who does it. I don’t think she’s the sort of person who would do this either. She would never do this, and yet, she has, and I really wanted to investigate that. What happens to the people who would never do the extreme thing, and one day do, and what emotions does that create? And how does that affect their behavior, and how real can we make that feel? It’s kind-of a virtual reality, it’s an experiential watching experience.

We don’t want to spoil Ruby or Billy’s lives because you painstakingly unfold that as things go along. How difficult was it for you to put together those pieces? Like with Billy’s profession and how that factors into his decisions.

It took a really long time because we really wanted this to be complex, and the minute that you make a decision about them, there’s a judgment that comes with that. Before we find out that Billy’s being a life guru, he’s an idiot, and I really don’t want him to be [an idiot] at all. I think he isn’t in terms of the character that we’ve created, and Domhnall’s created, so beautiful. He’s an eloquent, thoughtful, emotional individual. He’s actually very good at talking to people about their lives, and he’s thought quite carefully, and he’s not mindless, but the act of him telling people how to think and how to be certainly can spiral. In finding the complexity in the character of Ruby, she has a life that is very domestic and good from the outside, but she’s incredibly unhappy and frustrated and has a huge inner life. It’s in finding the complexities as a woman, how she can love her home and yet walk away from it. And a man who can be very gregarious and be quite confident in his acts and other ways.

Mad Men‘s Rich Sommer does a bang-up job as Ruby’s husband, after playing a different type of husband on GLOW. How did he end up on this show?

Oh, we were so lucky. We couldn’t think of anyone else, and he wanted to do it, and it was one of those lovely parts of the casting project. Rich is just perfect, he’s so lovable at the same time that you can see that he might have an edge. You can see those connections as well. He’s wonderful, and we wanted it to be like, “Ruby, what you doing?” And at the same time, we didn’t want him to be an asshole because that would have made the whole thing more simple to judge and watch.

You can tell that he’s conflicted in so many layered ways, it’s unreal. Now when it comes to Phoebe’s character, god, that was funny. How did you decide what type of character she would play?

I think we both wanted her to play something that she actually hadn’t played before.

Well, you nailed that goal.

And this sort-of mysterious loner-in-the-woods character came about. This woman who has a very unexpected career but who’s also very grounded in other ways. You don’t really know what she wants at first. She’s quite interesting to watch because you’re not quite sure, and that unfolds in different ways, and Phoebe’s always open to collaborating.

With Fleabag, people talked about how it brought difficult or unlikable women to the forefront and dispensed with that issue. Do you feel like Run fits into that same theme with your writing?

Absolutely. I hope to explore that sense of writing characters who are flawed, and that’s more interesting to watch and understandable. I’ve talked a little bit before about writing about men and women in these situations, and how that blows up any biases you have and attitudes of misogyny and judgments about how a woman should and shouldn’t behave and what she should and shouldn’t say. And it’s very important to be conscious of that and to challenge that and have a female character who is incredibly flawed not only in actions but her behavior as well. You want the opportunity to create someone who is wild and complicated funny and flawed in all the best ways. And very human.

HBO’s ‘Run’ premieres on Sunday, April 12 at 10:30pm EST.

It’s not easy to interview Zach Braff and Donald Faison. It’s not their fault. They’re both very personable and funny and nice. The problem is that the two of them have been friends since Scrubs premiered in 2001 and they have the ability to play off of each other that only a 20-year friendship can create. I’m not entirely sure I needed to be on the call, which I say in the best and nicest way possible. Just hit record and let them run free.

It’s one of the many reasons their new Scrubs rewatch podcast — Fake Doctors, Real Friends, produced by iHeartRadio — is such a blast to listen to, even in its very early stages. There’s no forced chemistry. It’s just two good buds with a lot of history telling stories about a very good television show they made together. You could do much worse in a listening experience. Below, please find a lightly edited and condensed version of our conversation, which touches on everything from watching episodes they haven’t seen in over a decade, to recording in a bedroom closet, to Turk’s legendary performance of “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe. This was a fun one. Enjoy.

I just got done listening to the second episode and at the risk of asking you guys to give away primo podcast content in an interview, I was wondering if we could start with a quick summary of the time Donald gave Jeff Zucker a noogie.

Donald: Let’s get into it. What do you want to know?

Zach: Well, they have to tune into the podcast to get the full story. We’ll give you an abridged version.

Exactly. This is a teaser.

Donald: Let’s just say we were at the upfronts, which is where they hold a conference for all of the new television shows coming to certain networks. They usually hold it in New York and, this was not my first time around executives, but it was my first time meeting these executives. I had no knowledge because sometimes I don’t pay attention as much as I should to who the boss is. I thought Jeff Zucker [then the head of NBC, now the head of CNN] just so happened to be an assistant to a head executive who was just really nice to us. We were at a party, late-night, drinks had been had. Let’s just say I might have … I definitely noogied Jeff Zucker.

Zach: Yes. He gave noogies to the head of the network so hard and so uncomfortably that the head of the network could be heard saying, “Please, Donald, no.”

This has immediately become one of my favorite stories.

Zach: Ever since that noogie, his career took off. Maybe that noogie was good luck.

Donald: I was his Buddha. It was like a reverse Buddha.

Zach: Maybe those noogies we’ve been making fun of are actually magic.

Donald: They are magical.

Magic noogies.

Zach: I’m glad we’re making you laugh. We’re having so much fun doing it. To be honest, I never thought it would be so much fun. When the idea was presented to us, I thought, “Oh, that could be fun just reliving some of these things,” because we haven’t seen those episodes in 20 years. Just talking to Donald, we get on the phone together and hit record. Just telling some of those stories, reliving those memories has really been a lot of fun for us.

That’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed about the podcast. There’s a mix of actual episode analysis with these fun behind-the-scene stories that even the most die-hard fans of the show could never know. Do you guys go into each episode planning to balance it 50/50 or do you just hit record, roll with it, and see where it takes you?

Zach: So far as in the few we’ve done, we just hit record and we talk. When I’ve done DVD commentaries before, the movie’s playing at the same time. You can go on tangents a little bit, but then you’re really trying to go, okay, wait, we’re getting behind the movie. Whereas we don’t watch this live. We watch it beforehand and make notes on stuff we want to talk about. We don’t discuss it beforehand. It’s more of a surprise. Then, we just ramble, but use getting through the episode as a structure.

How has it been so far looking back at the episodes? I know you said you haven’t seen some in 20 years. It’s got to be fun but also really weird, right?

Donald: Well, yes. You don’t remember most of them. I remember the gist of the first episode because that was the jumping-off point. The second episode and then the third episode, I didn’t remember them that well. We made a mistake at one point and we thought that we were going to be doing a different episode because in our memory, our order went a different way. We got to episode three and it wasn’t the episode that we thought it was going to be. It was a wake-up call, like we don’t really know. I know we were in the show, but we don’t really know the show as much as we did back then.

Zach: For years, everyone, including Bill Lawrence, the creator of the show, we’ve all referenced 103 as a pivotal episode that set the tone for what Scrubs was going to be. We learned a few days ago that now that it’s 104 that we’re talking about.

Small detail.

Zach: I think it’s great in that way actually because we haven’t seen them and then we’re looking at them with new eyes. I mean, there are fans that reach out to us on social media that say, “Oh my God guys, I love the show, I’m on my sixth rewatch” or whatever. I’ve only seen those episodes once in my whole life. You know, I remember back in the day, we just watched them when they aired.

Donald: Listen, we made 180 of them. I probably remember maybe five. You know what I mean?

Of the episodes you remember or moments you remember, is there any specific thing from the show that you’re really excited about getting to, or nervous about getting to, or even dreading?

Donald: I remember the first Christmas episode we did. That’s when you discovered that Chris Turk is a very religious person. I’m looking forward to that one because I remember I did a preacher in a church with the choir behind me.

Zach: That was hilarious.

Donald: I’m really excited to see that because I vaguely remember what surrounded it. I remember that being a highlight because I always was a huge fan of Arsenio Hall in Coming to America where he played the reverend and Eddie Murphy played the singer. I had a great time doing that. I can’t wait to see that again.

Zach: We might remember a handful of classic jokes that stood out to us. I’m watching the episodes and I’m watching it like a new viewer. I was 25 years old or something. I’m looking at this young version of myself and then something funny happens, whether it’s related to me or somebody else. I just genuinely laugh. That’s what’s cool about it is looking back and going like, Oh my God, this, this still holds up. This is pretty funny.

It’s going to put you guys in a weird situation if you’re out with friends like, “You know what’s a really good show I’ve been watching lately? Scrubs.”

Zach: Everyone’s talking about what they’re binging and Donald and I have to embarrassingly say we’re binging our own show.

The timing of it is actually kind of perfect in a strange and morbid way because we have a pandemic going on and it’s really shining a light on hospitals and healthcare workers. I know Scrubs was a silly and fun show, but it wasn’t ever afraid to get a little heavy in places. When you guys get to those episodes, are you going to try to lean into that or are you going to try to just keep it lighter?

Donald: Oh, that’s interesting …

Zach: We’re about to find out because we’re going to record the first super dramatic one tomorrow. We have Sarah Chalke coming on for the episode we’re talking about, 104 (“My Old Lady,” the first time the doctors lose a patient), which was the first real dramatic episode. I think we will go there. I mean, we were planning on doing this before this pandemic. In fact, when the pandemic happened we thought, “Oh, how do we still do it?” Everyone was still trying to figure out. Donald and I were planning on going into a studio. We didn’t know that we could do it from home. Then, iHeartRadio sent us recording devices, microphones, and we were able to do it from our house. It’s actually working out because we can’t do anything, we can’t go anywhere, so at least we can be productive and hopefully make some people laugh by cranking out as many of these as we can.

What’s the recording situation look like at home? I mean, I work from home all the time and I know that can be chaotic as hell with the doorbell ringing and people making noise. Have you guys run into any problems with that so far?

Zach: Donald has the most amazing recording studio ever. Donald, tell him.

Donald: I hide in my closet.

What?

Donald: From my children and my wife. I found that for some reason no one wants to hang out in the closet, so I’ve been hiding in the closet for the past four weeks away from my kids, recording and doing interviews. That’s where I am right now. That’s how I keep the chaos out. The kids don’t come up to the closet for some reason. Maybe it’s spooky. I don’t know what it is, but I find myself getting away. Whenever I need to get away, I go to the closet.

Zach: Donald, admitted the other day that he sometimes tells his wife and kids that he has to do an interview or a podcast in the closet when he’s just in there having some quiet time.

Here’s a professional journalistic follow-up. What kind of closet are we talking here? Are we talking like a big, walk-in bedroom closet or are we talking like a little hallway pantry closet?

Donald: No, it’s not a hallway pantry closet. You can walk into it, but I’m not like Mike Lowery from Bad Boys where the closet has watches and a bunch of stuff like that. My wife and I share this bad boy, so most of it is her clothes.

You’re not in a recliner in your closet with a mini-fridge next to you?

Donald: No, it ain’t like Cher Horowitz’s closet. Dude, I wish I had that. I wish I could say my closet turns into a man den. No, it does not. It’s really good for sound and also the kids don’t come up here.

You said Sarah Chalke is going to be on an episode coming up. Are you planning on bringing in more guests throughout the run of the podcast?

Zach: Yes, that’s our idea. Our idea is to have cast members, crew members, and maybe some super fans. We take a caller every week and …

Donald: It would be nice to get fans of the show who are also in the industry come on. That would be cool. I have no problem running up to people and saying, “I really love your show, I’d love to do something with you guys.” I wish that was the case for everyone because it would be great to have other actors and actresses who aren’t necessarily in Scrubs come on in, just to talk about their experiences and how it works.

What if you find out, like, Vin Diesel is a Scrubs super fan?

Donald: That would be so dope. It would be an honor to have Vin.

Zach: I think we’ll have people that were guest stars on the show. Hopefully, they’ll say yes to coming on. Brendan Fraser, I’m hoping he will come on. Scott Foley and people that did guest spots, I think that would be fun.

Okay, this is the part of the interview where I’m going to ask questions about the scene where Turk dances to “Poison.”

Zach: It’s been such a hit, that dance.

First question: Was this a “Donald is very good at dancing, let’s give him a dancing showcase” thing? Or was this a “they wrote this without any knowledge and then said ‘holy shit, Donald can really dance’” thing?

Donald: The way I remember it is it was supposed to be a lip-sync battle. You guys have never seen the uncut version. Rob [Maschio, who played The Todd] does like a one-minute version of “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend” and they cut it for time. It wasn’t necessarily the dancing that was important. It was the lip-syncing that was important. I was late that day and I remember they were like, “All right, Donald, let’s go,” and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

Zach: He was supposed to have prepared a dance. It was in the script, but he never got around to that.

Donald: Right.

Zach: What you see, what’s become so famous, and what is a Fortnite celebration dance, is something Donald just improvised on the spot.

Did you even know the song was going to be “Poison” at that point?

Donald: Yes. That’s probably why I didn’t prepare because I was like, “That’s ‘Poison,’ Bell Biv Devoe. I’ve been dancing to this song since I was 18 years old, since ’92 when it came out. I’m sure I could figure something out.” That’s what you saw.

If you were at a wedding and the DJ played “Poison” and everyone looked at you, do you still think you could do that dance beat-for-beat like you did in the episode?

Donald: No, I wouldn’t do that dance again, ever.

Zach: No, but he’s asking. Could you remember beat-for-beat what you did?

Donald: No, not at all. My kids asked me the other night for TikTok. I even tried to do it.

Zach: That’s such a good idea. You should do that.

Donald: I don’t remember how I did it, dude.

Zach: I’m sure you can learn it, come on. The people need to see it.

Donald: I was very athletic back then.

Okay, last question: Zach… same question, I guess. Do you think you could do that dance at a wedding if the song came on?

Zach: I can’t dance like that. I wish I could. I literally have been watching a couple that dances on Instagram. They’re so adorable together and it makes me just wish that someone had taught me how to dance. I can do sort of the white man’s overbite at a wedding kind of dancing, but I can’t do a fraction of what Donald can do and I’m jealous.

I think everyone is.

Donald: No.

Zach: But, yes.

You can subscribe to Zach and Donald’s ‘Scrubs’ podcast via Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms.

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The Chicago Bulls decided to use the NBA’s hiatus to make some major organizational changes, finally choosing to move on from the long time combo of Gar Forman and John Paxson as the franchise’s top decision makers.

There were various names that popped up in their interview process, including the likes of Danny Ferry and Bryan Colangelo, but Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas was considered the front runner for much of this week after his first interview. Karnisovas reportedly interviewed again with Michael and Jerry Reinsdorf on Wednesday, and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the Bulls are moving forward with making his hire into their executive vice president of basketball operations role.

Karnisovas has been with the Nuggets since 2013 when he was made their assistant GM before being elevated to general manager in 2017, but still answering to president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. He has long been regarded as one of the league’s top rising executives, formerly being a candidate for GM jobs in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, and now gets the chance to run a basketball operations unit himself. As Woj notes, his first task will be hiring a new general manager and then, one figures, they will have a decision to make regarding the future of coach Jim Boylen.

He joins the Bulls at an interesting time as they are early in a rebuild, but have some core pieces already in place (at least in theory) with Zach LaVine as their top star. There will be plenty of roster decisions to make going forward, including whether he believes in LaVine as a franchise cornerstone. The hiatus will allow him additional time to familiarize himself with the roster and dive deep into film to begin assessing where he feels the roster stands, but until facilities re-open, it will have to be a remote task of getting to know his new team.

There’s an art to striking the right balance between the gory, gruesome horror and laugh-out-loud humor that goes into a supernatural comedy.

The best films make it look easy, delivering ghost-hunting escapades and zombie-filled cross-country road trips that thrill and terrify and leave us in tears — the good kind. They’re able to find the funny in the frightening which means even if you’re not a fan of scary movies, you can still enjoy them. And if you are, you might discover you like a few laughs with your screamfest.

Either way, the supernatural comedies on this list are masterclasses in blending dark subject matter with sharp comebacks and outrageous bits. Have fun watching them all.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Run Time: 105 min | IMDb: 7.8/10

Did the supernatural comedy even exist before this 80s action flick broke Hollywood’s genre-limiting glass ceiling? We’re not sure. We do know that even 36 years after this ghastly riot first premiered, it’s still one of the best horror comedies out there. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis star as the original trio of paranormal-scientists-turned-bumbling-ghost-hunters. Their research leads them on a city-saving mission that involves cult leaders and evil deities and a possessed Sigourney Weaver.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Run Time: 99 min | IMDb: 7.9/10

Edgar Wright’s early aughts horror romp has done as much if not more than most of the films on this list when it comes to defining just what a “supernatural comedy” really is. Simon Pegg – who co-wrote the story – and Nick Frost play a couple of directionless bros named Shaun and Ed who deal with their lackluster lives by knocking back pints at their local pub. When a zombie outbreak threatens their town, they seek refuge in said pub, but first they’ve got to wade through hordes of the undead to get there.

Zombieland (2008)

Run Time: 88 min | IMDb: 7.6/10

Risk-taking. Bold. A trailblazer. Jesse Eisenberg’s character in this adventurous zom-com is none of those things, but this 2009 apocalyptic trip is. Eisenberg plays Columbus, an uptight doomsday prepper who follows a strict set of rules to survive the zombie outbreak that’s ravaged the world. When he meets up with Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee, a gun-toting maniac and Twinkie fanatic, he’s forced to bend those rules a bit. And when his world collides with Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin’s sisterly-duo, Wichita and Little Rock, the rules are basically thrown out the window – just like Bill Murray’s corpse.

Colossal (2017)

Run Time: 109 min | IMDb: 6.2/10

A decidedly unusual twist on the giant monster movie, Nacho Vigolando’s Colossal follows Gloria (Anne Hathaway), an unemployed writer who moves back to her hometown after her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens) breaks up with her. After moving into her childhood home, Gloria’s heavy drinking starts to take a toll on her before she starts to realize that she may have a significant connection with a towering monster that spontaneously appears over Seoul, South Korea.

Army of Darkness (1992)

Run Time: 81 min | IMDb: 7.5/10

Here at Uproxx, there are very strong opinions on which installment in the Evil Dead franchise reigns supreme. Of course, we welcome you to choose your own favorite, but as far as supernatural comedies go, this one feels like a clear “best of” titleholder. Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams is transported to the Middle Ages this time around where he’s forced to battle a legion of Deadites and some scheming royal aristocrats, to get back to the present.

Beetlejuice (1988)

Run Time: 92 min | IMDb: 7.5/10

Say the title of this gory 80s comedy three times and you might conjure up a deranged-looking Michael Keaton spitting the kind of green-gooed nonsense you’d expect from a freelance bio-exorcist ghost. Keaton plays the titular bad boy, an eviction-notice deliverer for the undead. He’s charged by a recently deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) with giving a newly-moved-in, definitely-alive human family (Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, and Jeffrey Jones) the boot but things quickly go sideways and the group’s forced to work together to prevent Beetlejuice from unleashing total chaos on their small town.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Run Time: 104 min | IMDb: 6.6/10

We’re not sure what’s more far-fetched: the plot of this film or the fact that somehow, the producers convinced thee, Meryl Streep, to sign on. Still, as far as supernatural comedies go, this is one of the highlights, mainly thanks to its female leads. Streep plays Madeline, an aging actress looking to regain her youth. Goldie Hawn plays her arch-nemesis Helen, a struggling writer wanting to slim down and win her boyfriend (Bruce Willis) back. The two drink the same immortality potion, accidentally die, and are left trying to cover up the fact that they’re now walking corpses. It’s a real riot.

Lost Boys (1987)

Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 7.3/10

Maybe Lost Boys isn’t strictly comedy – its roots lean more towards horror and mystery than anything else – but the film has only gotten campier with age and much of that is thanks to Kiefer Sutherland’s iconic turn as the leader of a rowdy group of young vampires. Well, that, and the over-the-top gore-porn this film trades in. When two brothers arrive in a seaside California oasis, they stumble into a vampire’s nest. One is turned, but only partially, and to regain his human status, he must kill the head vampire of the clan. Did you know a bathtub full of garlic and holy water caused the undead to disintegrate? Because we didn’t.

Little Monsters (2019)

Run Time: 93 min | IMDb: 6.3/10

Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o stars in this darkly comedic zombie flick, playing a plucky schoolteacher charged with keeping her class safe amidst a surprise zombie outbreak. Josh Gad joins her as Teddy, an obnoxious television personality who hosts the class on the field trip gone wrong and, with the help of a washed-up musician, the three try to fight off the undead — and not kill each other in the process. It’s a nice change of pace to see Nyong’o flexing her comedy muscles and there’s enough gore and thrills to keep horror fans on the edge of their seats.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Run Time: 105 min | IMDb: 7.5/10

We can’t talk about quirky supernatural offerings without mentioning director Tim Burton, who’s arguably done the most to make this genre go mainstream. Some of his best work remains this delightfully weird dark comedy starring Johnny Depp as an unfinished, artificial man named Edward with blades for hands. When Edward ventures into town and falls for the girl-next-door (Winona Ryder) he’s faced with the tough, mishap-filled job of fitting in.

Life After Beth (2014)

Run Time: 89 min | IMDb: 5.6/10

Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan star in this horror-comedy about a guy named Zach mourning the loss of his girlfriend, only to discover she’s come back to life. Plaza stars as Beth, the dead girl revived, who begins exhibiting strange behavior, eventually going into full-blown zombie mode while her devoted boyfriend Zach (DeHaan) tries to manage her mood swings and her pesky craving for human flesh. John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon play Beth’s parents, who hilariously try to cover-up their daughter’s current undead state, and though things go off the rails in the final third, watching Plaza play a moody, angst-ridden walking corpse is one hell of a good time.

Addams Family (1991)

Run Time: 99 min | IMDb: 6.9/10

There’s more to this family-friendly supernatural comedy than just its iconic opening theme song, and though the film’s sequel feels a bit livelier – thanks to Joan Cusack’s serial killing seductress – the original is a must-watch if only to cement your undying love for this clan of weirdos. There’s the mysterious, elegant Anjelica Huston as Morticia, the family’s matriarch. There’s Raul Julia as Gomez, all suave mustachioed masculinity. There’s Christopher Lloyd as the good-natured younger brother whose disappearance fuels much of the plot. And then there are Wednesday (a deliciously dark Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), with their macabre shenanigans that help unearth a plot to swindle the family fortune. Oh, and hairy cousins and sentient hands and two-headed relatives.

Fright Night (2011)

Run Time: 106 min | IMDb: 6.3/10

Sure, this is a remake that might not be as good as the original but it does have one thing that no other supernatural comedy on this list has: Colin Farrell … as a vampire. Anton Yelchin plays Charley, a suburban kid who discovers his next-door neighbor Jerry (Farrell) is actually a bloodsucker. With help from his mom (Toni Collette), his girlfriend (Imogen Poots), and a magician (David Tennant), Charley sets out to destroy Jerry before he can turn anyone else from his block.

Cooties (2014)

Run Time: 88 min | IMDb: 5.7/10

Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson star in this absurd dark comedy that manages to elevate the zombie horror genre. How? By giving us a virus that only turn preadolescents into crazed flesh-eaters. Wood, Wilson, and Alison Pill play teachers at an elementary school in Fort Chicken, Illinois. When a student eats a contaminated chicken nugget containing a mutant strain of a virus that turns her into a mindless cannibal, the teachers are forced to fight their way through swaths of bite-sized biters to survive. It’s ridiculous and full of humor, and yet, there’s something deeply disturbing about child zombies.

Gremlins (1984)

Run Time: 106 min | IMDb: 7.3/10

This 80s horror-comedy from Joe Dante follows the story of a kid named Billy who receives a magical creature named a mogwai as a pet. When the boy breaks the rules while caring for the pet, he inadvertently causes the creature to spawn smaller, evil monsters’ intent on destroying the world. It’s an 80s classic that’s a bit graphic considering the main villains are live-action Furbies and, let’s face it, there’s nothing scarier than kids with weird-a** pets.

A couple of weeks ago, we explored The Office on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, finding ways to appreciate its greatness and the density of its characters. A thing that I fixated on was growth: how Michael softened, how Jim and Dwight reached detente, and the test that Jim and Pam endured in the show’s final season. It’s such an underappreciated blessing for a show to have the longevity, personnel, and courage to resist the urge to play, exclusively, to applause. So rare for a show to expand out while keeping its soul intact, taking characters to unique places that seem to challenge (but which ultimately affirm) an audience’s faith in them. That’s what’s on my mind following the pretty perfect series finale of Schitt’s Creek. That and the idea of what makes certain shows timeless and eminently rewatchable.

I am lazily working through my 5th or 6th rewatch of The Office, eschewing what feels like a professional responsibility to check off myriad other shows and films that I have never had time to absorb. It’s just comfortable and uncomplicated. Familiar. Parks And Rec is another show that fits that description. A lot of people also seem to be refinding Cheers and leaning on its comedic reliability. (What a time for Friends to be out of sight and out of mind.) The common thread is, to me, that penchant for character growth — even when it’s subtle. But there’s something else.

Seinfeld, for all of its titanic genius, doesn’t appeal to me right now even though, historically (and thanks to an overdose of WPIX reruns in the NY metro area in the ‘90s and 2000s), it’s the show I’ve watched most in my life. The same goes for Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm — amazing shows nearly unrivaled in their wit and ability to spark a laugh. And yet, no one really gets closer — either to a better version of themselves or, really, to the people around them. There’s just no heart or care tying characters to each other. There’s nothing usefully aspirational. And aspiration is very in and necessary right now.

Contrast that to Schitt’s Creek. When we first met the Rose family, they were a vapid collection of fallen rich folks slumming it in a roadside motel and drowning on the quirk and commonness of their surroundings. Six seasons later, and they’re still a little vapid, but their hearts have (slowly) opened up thanks to the swell of an extended family that crashed into their orbit, altering attitudes and priorities. Stevie and Roland allowed Johnny to find a way out of his rut, Alexis was forever changed by her relationship with Ted, and David’s eyes were opened to his own potential as someone who could build tangible things — like his business and his relationship with Patrick. And, of course, there are crossovers and several other interactions that have elevated these characters and the show. It all stands as a reminder that good things can and do happen when you let good people into your life.

Moira has been, without a doubt, the character that changed the least, and that’s been a gift. Her theatricality and (mostly benign) snobbishness has been the show’s most enduring hook (right down to her epic headgear at David and Patrick’s wedding in the finale) and Catherine O’Hara has reminded us of her legend status while playing her. With that said, though, the feels have come for Moira as well in season 6 and it’s been a delight seeing her and Alexis bond in a way that has helped Alexis take a huge step in her life.

I cannot stress enough how organic this has all felt. It’s something co-creator and star Dan Levy prioritized and something that filmmaker Cameron Crowe highlighted on the Schitt’s Creek behind the scenes special that followed the finale, saying, “the love that started to come in was really well earned.” It’s even more miraculous that that slow burn was allowed to come to a boil when you consider that the show tinkered along as a cult favorite before a mid-life burst of interest. But through it all, Levy held firm and the show maintains its heart, sense of self, and level of quality from start to finish in a way that is ultra unique. Even The Office and Parks can’t claim that, owing to peaks and valleys that Schitt’s never really endured during its consistent run of excellence.

Schitt’s Creek ending in a place that reaffirms the value of family (by blood or by choice) in our lives, cutting through the frivolity of status and things at a time when that message might land with more oomph is a coincidence, of course, but it’s also a message that can and should endure. Because it’s an unshakeable truth along with the aforementioned idea that, with a little bit of luck, we can grow and get better if we allow that to happen.

I’ve got a friend who is three months into an exercise in futility — keeping himself from watching the final episodes of Hulu’s The Runaways because he loved it so much that he doesn’t want to see it end. There are a lot of holes in his logic, primarily being that endings are part of the process. But with Schitt’s Creek, I kind of see his point. It would be lovely to know that, week after week, we’d continue to get a little dose of the chicken soup that the show brings. But to put a positive spin on things, I’m not looking at this finale as an actual ending, more a reminder of all this show could be and an enticement to go back and watch them do it all over again with a near-immediate binge watch, safe in the knowledge that it’ll offer the kind of warm hug that only the classics can deliver.

Will the word “Quibi” ever not be funny? Netflix and Hulu are also nonsense words, but we’ve learned to accept them to the point of normalcy, like how “Luke Skywalker” is an inherently ridiculous name, but because he’s LUKE SKYWALKER, he’s a perennial Halloween costume. But Quibi was a funny word when it was announced in 2018, and it’s still funny now. If Jeffrey Katzenberg, or whomever, had gone with a different name, I honestly believe that Quibi wouldn’t be the online punching bag it currently is. (Example: “Every Quibi show description is like ‘We gave Kevin Hart 80 million dollars and he filmed himself reviewing granola bars and we’re OK with that,’” with nearly 1,000 likes.)

But dumb name aside, is Quibi worth your time and the financial investment? The app was launched two days ago, but I already have an answer for the latter: it’s free with a three-month trial, so as long as you have unlimited data or access to strong wi-fi, sure, why not? Beyond July, though, a Quibi subscription will set you back $4.99 per month, or $7.99 for an ad-free experience. That’s roughly how much a Big Mac combo costs.

Does a month of Quibi equal one Big Mac combo?

While it’s fun to dunk on Quibi (it’s fun to dunk on anything these days, especially with the shady alleged reason that Quibi largely exists in the first place), there is potential here. I agree with Slate‘s take that “now is not the time for Quibi,” due to [points in every direction at once], but eventually, things will go back to normal(-ish). We’ll return to taking the bus or subway to work, and waiting for hours at the DMV, and having to kill time because your friend is running late, and even though Becky says she’s only “five minutes late,” you know that means she hasn’t even left the house yet. Ugh, classic Becky. Anyway, once society returns to a semblance of normalcy, it’s Quibi time, baby.

I don’t want to watch an episode of BoJack Horseman or The Witcher while my car is getting an oil change, because I actually want to pay attention to those shows, but will I watch six minutes of Tituss from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt blowing “some shit up” in something called Dishmantled? Yes, I will. That, I think, should be Quibi’s path forward.

Of the Quibi shows I’ve seen so far (I’m sorry, I haven’t had time for Murder House Flip yet), my favorites have been the comedies and reality and game shows. Something like Punk’d, with Chance the Rapper replacing Ashton Kutcher (an easy upgrade), and the Will Arnett-hosted Memory Hole work better in easily digestible 10-minute chunks than full-length episodes. Shape of Pasta, about L.A.-based chef Evan Funke traveling to Italy to eat carbs, is comforting; Chrissy’s Court does a decent enough job of translating Chrissy Teigen’s endearing web presence into a Judge Judy-style court show; and Flipped, starring Will Forte and Kaitlin Olson as two wannabe home makeover stars, is funny enough to make you want to continue watching.

The dramas, including The Most Dangerous Game and Survive, I’ve been less impressed with — they both feel like high-concept Lost rip-offs from the late 2000s, and Quibi only released the first four episodes for each, when the entire season should have been available at launch. I understand they want people to stay signed up, but as Forbes accurately summarized, “It would be one thing if the first four episodes played like the first act of a movie, but movies aren’t mean to be watched in bite-sized chunks, and few of the episodes qualify as a full meal.”

As for the app itself, it’s fine. The mobile-only approach is annoying — meaning, you can’t watch it on your computer or television — but the transition from vertical to horizontal is flawless, and when I checked the video quality without using wifi, it was HD quality within seconds. This is, again, a reminder that Quibi should stay in its lane: I don’t want to watch an expensive-looking show with a plane crash on my phone; I want to see Gone Mental with Lior (I’ll watch a celebrity mentalist “enter the mind” of Rob Gronkowski, why not?), or Sam Raimi’s 50 States of Fright, with its standalone episodes.

Earlier, I mentioned the Big Mac, but that’s not the McDonald’s item I should have brought up. A better Quibi comparison (Quibi-parison) is the McNugget. They have no nutritional value and you can mindlessly gorge on a 10-piece order in minutes, just as the majority of Quibi shows have no lasting value, often intentionally so. And that’s fine! Dishmantled is tasty enough, so to speak, to prove sustenance while you’re in the airport security line. Is that worth $5 a month? With some programming tweaks, maybe (a show like The Circle would kill on Quibi). But right now? Well, there’s always the free option.