Lost in the Crowd: 18 to Life

Two charming seasons about two 18 year olds who get married. The leads, Michael Seater (of Life with Derek) and Stacey Farber (of Degrassi) are an adorable couple and their relationship is one of the most grounded, realistic portrayals of a teenage relationship on TV. The one gripe about their characterization is that they are far too grounded to actually get married that young, but considering that's the premise of the series, I'll give it a pass. The supporting cast (the character's parents and siblings) were all played by people I hadn't seen before, but they all do a fantastic job providing context and conflict for the newlyweds. The show has a sincerity to it that makes it stand out from most other shows about people that age.

While some of the supporting characters have their personalities taken to extremes, this is mostly played for laughs and doesn't distract from the overall story about the life changing decision these two teenagers have made. After all, although 18 to Life has more heart than most shows of its genre, it is fundamentally a comedy. I found it to be very funny, but it derives most of its comedy from character interaction and situations that logically flow from the characters personalities. It's less overt than most comedies, but it really works in the series. As with all comedies, it might just miss your comedic sensibilities, so be aware that its humor is not for everyone.

18 to Life only ran for 6 episodes in the United States before the CW pulled it. The remaining episodes were broadcast on CBC in Canada. Thanks to Netflix, us Americans can now enjoy the remainder of a really great, albeit short running, series.

Availability: Both seasons available on Watch Instantly.

Running time: 25 episodes at 22 minutes each. About 9 hours for the entire series.

When to Watch: You want a short lighthearted comedy with fun and charming characters.

Ode to Television

Our TV, who art in Comcast,
hallowed be thy broadcasts,
thy high definition come,
thy programing be done,
in my living room as it is in Tivo Central.
Give us this day our daily dramas.
And forgive us our commercial breaks,
as we forgive those who advertise against us.
And lead us not into MTV,
but deliver us from reality television.
Amen

This is a short riff on the Lord's Prayer I wrote about 7 years ago, just after my family got a TiVo. It was a revolutionary moment in my TV watching history. A similarly monumental shift in my viewing occurred in 2010 when we subscribed to Netflix Watch Instantly. We recently got a Roku streamer and have cancelled our cable and gone to internet TV only. It's been an interesting experience, mostly a positive one.

So welcome to Instant Gratification, a general purpose TV blog with a special focus on content available on Netflix Watch Instantly.