Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
When you turn 18, you get your superpower. That’s how it is for everyone. The entire human race.
But not for Jen. Now, at age 25, Jen is still wandering around this superhuman-filled world, waiting for things to begin.
She still works at Party Hamlet, a local party supply store. She still relies on her dating app to have casual sex with whatever guy will sleep with her and then jet. And she’s still desperate for a power that could turn her dull life inside out.
Until then, she lives in a dingy London flat with her best friend, Carrie, who has the ability to channel the dead (and does so often to give Jen a laugh, or a hug). And Carrie’s deadbeat boyfriend, Kash, lives there too, passing the hours by pretending to apply for jobs or using his power to turn back time. Oh, and there’s a new black-and-orange cat that sleeps on Jen’s bed. (Too bad the cat is actually a shapeshifting man who has been stuck in cat mode for three years.)
These people—and feline—are the only ones in Jen’s life that really give her any meaning. After all, Jen’s father has died, her 18-year-old stepsister is already more successful than she’ll ever be, and her mother practically worships the ground that her stepsister walks on.
But maybe, just maybe, if Jen can find her power by any means possible, she could rewrite her story and prove that she is more than ordinary.
From Northern Irish writer and comedian Emma Moran, and the producers of Killing Eve, Hulu and Disney+’s Extraordinary offers a new twist on the superhero genre. This TV-MA series has eight episodes in its first season and has already been renewed for a second. So, is it appealing? Well…
The heroine of Extraordinary, Jen, is not heroic at all. Literally. In any sense of the word.
She has no superpowers, And she spends each episode trying to uncover whatever her power may be while living out her life. She’s also desperate, lonely, whiny, selfish and discontent. She can be rude to her insanely kind best friend, Carrie. She has casual sex with just about anyone who wants her. And she, along with many others, use profanity like it’s a second language.
The superhero aspect of the series, along with the witty writing, give it a really interesting vibe. It’s not your traditional superhero show. The point, while it is to uncover Jen’s power, is also to hopefully rid her of her awful traits and fill her with confidence.
But the getting there is the problem. And while some may be OK with the issues like Jen and her friends naming their cat/man friend a sexually suggestive name or the show’s pervasive nudity, sex, profanity, crude language and questionable morality, most families will not. No matter how extraordinary this show claims to be.
Jen interviews for a job but doesn’t get it and is, once again, confronted by her lack of a superpower.
Jen tells an interviewer that she thinks her tampon has come out, that she’s on antidepressants and that she’s lonely, selfish, narcissistic, insecure and may be racist.
Jen’s best friend, Carrie, channels the dead for her job, as well as at home for Jen’s entertainment. She channels Hitler, and Jen and her friends mention Jews and interracial couples to make him angry
Jen lies in bed with a man after sex (we see her bare shoulders and his bare stomach), but he leaves unnoticed right as she walks away. Kash, Carrie’s boyfriend, wears a costume that mistakenly references male anatomy. (Jen comments that she can see Kash’s genitals through his costume.) We hear crass conversations regarding sex and masturbation. A cat shapeshifts into a man who we see completely naked from the side.
One of Jen’s one-night-stands has a sexual superpower, and we hear (and see) a great deal related to that supposed superpower.
An invisible man attempts to rob Kash and Carrie, to no avail. A cab driver tells Jen that she will die in the future by being mauled to death by bears. Carrie reminds Kash that he bought his drug dealer a gift. A few people smoke cigarettes and drink hard liquor and wine.
God and Jesus’ names are misused, paired with “d–n.” The f-word is used over ten times, the s-word is heard three times and other profanity includes words like “b–ch” and someone says “suck a d–k.” Carrie tries to name a cat something incredibly crass.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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