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Toronto actor stars in new ‘Star Trek: Picard’ series

By
Erin Neilly
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0
Alison Pill

Toronto’s own Alison Pill has joined the Star Trek franchise in its new series Star Trek: Picard. The series features Sir Patrick Stewart in his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard — which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: Next Generation — in the next chapter of his life.

Pill, who grew up in the Rathnelly neighbourhood just outside Summerhill, plays Dr. Agnes Jurati. Her character is a doctor working for the Daystrom Institute’s division of advanced synthetic research on Okinawa.

The series, which has already been renewed for a second season which will premiere in 2021, had the biggest audience in the history of CTV Sci-Fi channel.

There is plenty of nostalgia as the series brings back several past cast members from the Star Trek franchise including Jonathan Frakes who plays Will Riker, Marina Sirtis who plays Deanna Troi, Jeri Ryan who plays Seven of Nine and Jonathan del Arco who plays Hugh.

Pill’s character, Dr. Jurati, is one of the new characters introduced in the series alongside Raffi played by Michelle Hurd, Chris Rios played by Santiago Cabrera, Narek played by Harry Treadaway, Elnor played by Evan Evagora, and Dahj Asha played by Isa Briones.

Fans of the Star Trek franchise — or Trekkies — have been eagerly awaiting the return of Jean-Luc Picard for almost two decades. The producers stated that they wanted the show to bring back a lot of the familiarity of Star Trek, but also to create something new and fresh.

One of those fresh takes is that much more time is spent on Earth where viewers get to see the condition of Picard’s life and the evolution that takes him back into space.

The season one finale airs on March 26 following an all-day marathon of the previous nine episodes in the series. If, for some reason, you’re not sitting at home with nothing to do, you can also stream the episodes on Crave.

Ontario restaurants can now include liquor in delivery orders

By
Samantha Peksa
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0
Ontario restaurants
The Grand Elvis

Toronto’s restaurant industry is getting a much-needed break from the provincial government. Starting Thursday, licensed restaurants and bars doing takeout and delivery across the province will be able to sell booze with their orders.

The announcement is a welcome one to restaurants struggling to offset their losses during the pandemic. The temporary change to the Liquor License Act will allow licensed establishments to sell beer, wine and spirits as part of a food order for takeout or delivery. It will last until Dec. 30, 2020.

Under previous Liquor Control Board of Ontario regulations, licensed restaurants were only able to sell liquor on-site in their establishments — which presented a significant problem under the current lockdown. The restriction prompted licensed restaurants across Ontario to speak out, arguing that alcohol sales represent a significant part of a restaurant’s income.

According to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO), the new changes will not require any additional applications. Any establishment with a valid liquor license can participate without having to notify the AGCO.

Food and booze deliveries can be carried out every day between the hours of 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. by restaurants and third-party apps.

Individuals who are not yet Smart Serve certified, can begin deliveries immediately, as long as they receive their certification by April 25. However those individuals will still be responsible to ensure the person ordering is over 19 years of age and not intoxicated.

Sarah Harmer plays livestream tonight to celebrate new album

By
lindsaylow
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0

It has been 10 years since Sarah Harmer released her last album, so when word of a new record and a cross-country tour broke, it was pretty exciting. Now, things have changed. We still have a fantastic new album, but the tour will have to wait. In the meantime, the incredible performer will be hosting a livestream event on her Facebook and Instagram at 8 p.m. on March 26.

Harmer’s latest, Are You Gone, hit stores on Feb. 21. The personal and environmentally tinged collection showcases the Kingston singer-songwriter’s breathtaking ability to conjure Canadian landscapes with wisdom and insight gleaned from a lifetime spent in the country and the woods. At the same time, she delicately weaves in a call to action for those who understand the dire nature, ahem, of the situation in which we find ourselves.

When asked why the 10-year gap between her latest and her previous record, she responds in a properly poetic fashion that she has, beyond a series of educational trips to remote outposts in around Canada, “settled into a nice crook of the creek here in northern Kingston.”

Harmer is, of course, a beloved Canadian musician who first rose to prominence in the ’90s with her band Weeping Tile before going on to even greater success as a solo artist. She’s been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize, as well as nine Juno Award nominations and two wins.

In addition to country living, Harmer has been spending plenty of time doing grassroots organizing work for environmental issues, from the mega quarry on the Niagara Escarpment that she spent eight years fighting to endangered species habitat to intervening in the hearings over the Line 9 pipeline that crosses Ontario.

“I spend a lot of time outside, and I have for my whole life,” she says.

“I have developed relationships with the non-human living world. And over the last little while, we’ve obviously been seeing extreme threats to our living systems.”

Inspired by the writings of Toronto native Naomi Klein, Harmer is hoping that, in addition to people appreciating the gorgeous collection of tunes she’s just released, that she might also help light a fire under some people.

“I don’t think I set out to put out any particular message, necessarily,” Harmer explains.

“But I think doing local grassroots organizing in the past decade made me see how it is everybody and anybody who makes a difference in the world. Mostly, I hope people enjoy this record, but I also hope that it fires people up a little.”

Sarah Harmer plays a livestream concert tonight, March 26. 

Toronto’s newest restaurants (that also do delivery)

By
Jessica Huras
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Spaccio
Pasta at Spaccio

This is a strange and challenging month for restaurant openings. Although we don’t know when dining out will return to our lives, we’re giving love to newly opened restaurants you can still try using takeout or delivery. We’re also sharing restaurants slated to open soon, so you can build your must-try list for when we return to restaurant tables.

Black Tulip Restaurant (807 St. Clair Ave.W.) is now offering family-style Hungarian cuisine in Wychwood. Expect classic dishes like schnitzel and goulash, along with a handful of crowd-pleasing eats like burgers and pasta. Black Tulip is currently offering pickup and delivery through Uber Eats.

The Cherry Street Bar-B-Que team brings a throwback sandwich shop to Yonge and Dundas with Elm Street Deli (15 Elm St.). Meats, sauces and footlong-style bread are all made in-house at this tiny deli. A window-facing ledge is typically the only dine-in spot at this primarily take-away joint. For now, Elm Street is sticking to exclusively grab-and-go sandwiches.

 

Elm Street Deli
A sandwich from Elm Street Deli

Terroni has opened a massive commissary in Corktown that serves as a production facility for its mini-empire of restaurants, as well as an eatery and storefront. Spaccio (22 Sackville St.) serves ready-made sandwiches, salads, Roman-style pizzas and rotating daily pasta dishes. A retail section sells pantry items like pasta sauce and olive oil. Although the dine-in area is temporarily closed, customers can still stop in for grocery items as well as prepared foods to take home.

Parkdale’s the Heartbreak Chef (1316 Queen St.W.) has you covered for comfort food. Chef Jerome Robinson has been bringing stacked sandwiches and other indulgent eats to Toronto for years through catering and food festivals, but we can now tuck into his belly-busting cuisine full-time with the opening of his brick and mortar spot. The brief menu features loaded sandwiches like fried chicken and mac and cheese, as well as sides like Cajun fries and crispy brussels sprouts. The Heartbreak Chef usually has a small dine-in area, but for now it’s doing delivery and takeout.

Coming soon

Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality (O&B) will soon open a new downtown restaurant in the old SpeakEasy 21 space at 21 Adelaide St.W. Slated to open this spring or summer, the Rabbit Hole Pub & Dining Room promises to be a relaxed gastropub that pairs British cooking with Canadian hospitality.

Much-loved Montreal salad chain Mandy’s is coming to Yorkville. The cheery health food restaurants are known for their wide selection of creative salads, which include build-your-own options as well as soups and power bowls. Sisters and co-owners Mandy and Rebecca Wolfe announced their Toronto expansion via Instagram, with the opening date and exact location yet to be revealed.

 

Mandy's
A kale spinach salad at Mandy’s in Montreal (@mandysalads)

Cosy Dundas West pub the Commoner is set to open a sister spot called the Commoner Bar Room (614 College St.) in Little Italy. The new location will focus on casual sharing plates and bar snacks, along with cocktails and wine.

Ink Entertainment’s latest venture, Amal (131 Bloor St.W.), will open this spring in Yorkville. The restaurant’s modern Lebanese menu will pay homage to restaurateur Charles Khabouth’s heritage. Executive chef Rony Ghaleb is planning a menu of modern riffs on traditional Lebanese sharing plates. The new restaurant will take over Ink’s old La Société space, with Studio Munge tapped to redesign the interior.

Dzo Viet Eatery will soon open across from the AGO at 308 Dundas St.W. Menu details and an opening date for the contemporary Vietnamese restaurant have yet to be revealed.

Joanne Kates’ love letter to Toronto restaurants

By
Jessica Huras
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0
Flock

I am in love with too many Toronto restaurants to list. For almost 50 years (!!) I’ve been getting paid to go to restaurants and write about them, and I’ll fight anyone who says they have a better restaurant scene than we do. 

Have you eaten Chinese in San Francisco? Ours is more diverse and better. Tried for much other than French in Paris? Other than the fabulous falafel in Le Marais and the occasional pho, one is hard-pressed to find the variety we enjoy. Even in New York, where I love to eat, it’s a little harder to find all the different global eats. They’re there, but you kinda have to know.…

So this is a love song to the Toronto restaurant scene, where we can visit pretty much every region in the world, gastronomically speaking. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be a Torontonian for many reasons. High on the list is how well we eat.

I like cheap ’n’ cheerful for weekday drop-ins. My fallback lately has been pho. Top three are Pho Tien Thanh and Golden Turtle on Ossington and Pho Hung on Spadina.

At the first two I eat chicken pho. Great chicken stock, fragrant, loaded with Thai basil, lime and sawtooth coriander. Pho Hung has a huge menu, and I favour the vinegary special bamboo shoot soup with vermicelli, toasted peanuts and a side of duck coleslaw to dump in the soup. 

On the beloved Asian soup front, I also eat ramen all over town. Both College and Bloor West are rich with ramen. 

 

White sesame shio ramen at Ramen Isshin

I adore the luscious eggs Benny on St. Clair at Emma’s Country Kitchen. Then there is the recent explosion of taquerias. A Sunday stroll through Kensington Market offers oodles of wonderful tacos. Toronto has excellent taquerias all over town, oh great joy. Low risk there, I’ve never had a bad taco in Toronto. Or a bad salsa verde. 

As a lifelong Sinophile, I’ve never been less than overjoyed by Chinese food in Markham and on that glorious foodie avenue, Spadina.

My fav Chinese resto is Taste of China. I eat their addictive Hong Kong giant crab with deep-fried minced pork and scallions and garlic, salt and pepper egg tofu with oyster mushrooms, and snow pea greens with garlic. Raise a Tsingtao beer to salute TO restos.

 

Alo
One of many courses at Partick Kriss’ Alo

But life is not all beer food. As a certified queenly type, I confess to frequenting snazzier spots when the exchequer permits. You’d be hard pressed to find a more fabulous restaurant than Alo — anywhere.

And how about Scaramouche, home of ultra-delicious food and de luxe service? And Edulis, a tiny precious jewel of the tasting menu yummies. And Shoushin for their superb Japanese omakase tasting menu.

In the middle ground between the two extremes of expense, I favour Zucca for their impeccable Italiana; the Scaramouche Pasta Bar is a helluva consolation prize when the main restaurant feels too costly.

I like Flock for their good chicken and healthy tasty salads. I’m happy eating sushi at Sushi on Bloor and Edo-Ko in Forest Hill village. I like FK on St. Clair, and I can’t wait till my beloved Cava reopens downtown.

Speaking of the future of restaurants, for many of our favourites in Toronto, there may not be one. A small business with low-profit margins is not a good thing to own right now unless you sell hand sanitizer. So think about your favourite restaurants.

They’re going to need more than my love song right now. Please consider buying gift certificates from your favourite restaurants, to help them survive these hard times.

Canada Goose to begin producing scrubs and patient gowns

By
Nikki Gill
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0
Canada Goose toronto facilitiy
The Canada Goose manufacturing facility in Toronto

Beginning March 30, Canada Goose will manufacture medical scrubs for healthcare workers on the front lines as well as patient gowns to help increase supplies for local hospitals.

The gear will be donated to local facilities as the company’s way of supporting the fight against COVID-19 in Canada. The production will take place in two of Canada Goose’s manufacturing facilities — one in Toronto and the other in Winnipeg — though additional facilities in other parts of the country may be added as needed.

There will be approximately 50 employees in each facility working to manufacture the medical scrubs and patient gowns. The company’s goal is to provide 10,000 units to local hospitals.

“Across Canada, there are people risking their lives every day on the frontlines of COVID-19 in healthcare facilities, and they need help. Now is the time to put our manufacturing resources and capabilities to work for the greater good,” said Dani Reiss, president and CEO of Canada Goose. “Our employees are ready, willing and able to help, and that’s what we’re doing. It’s the Canadian thing to do.”

 

 

Canada Goose’s regular manufacturing and retail operations are not considered an essential service by the government of Ontario, so those operations are currently on hold. In the meantime, the company is ensuring a safe working environment is provided to the employees who are involved in the production of these items.

A press release from the company stated they are working with federal, provincial and local health authorities and will follow the recommended protocols to ensure a safe work environment for employees. This includes implementing social distance protocols, limiting the number of employees located within specific spaces, and increasing sanitation measures within facilities to ensure the health and safety of all team members.

This is not the company’s first COVID-19 relief initiative. As part of the Canada Goose Response Program, Reiss announced that he will forego his salary for at least three months to create funds for an employee support fund. This initiative was launched on March 17 and is meant to support employees who are impacted by store and manufacturing facility closures, and who are not eligible for government assistance.

Additionally, on Feb. 6, Canada Goose made a donation equivalent to $200,000 Canadian dollars to the Wuhan Charity Federation to help fight the outbreak in the region.

Toronto organization helps keep restaurants open by feeding health care workers

By
Nicole Richie
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0
Feed the Frontlines TO
Feed the Frontlines TO at Mount Sinai Hospital

Feed the Frontlines TO is keeping restaurants from going under while also feeding Toronto’s frontline health care professionals.

The organization has raised more than $10,700 on GoFundMe since it was initiated only a couple of days ago. The plan is to take donations and send money to Toronto restaurants that are then preparing and delivering meals to health care workers.

The organizer, Adair Roberts, was moved to act after seeing many industries, especially restaurants, starting to collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Honestly, it’s an idea that came out of feeling powerless locked up at home. And feeling unable to help because of social distancing,” Roberts says.

After speaking to a close friend and New York City restaurateur, Luca Di Petro, she realized that if she donated to his restaurant she could then organize for him to provide meals to NYC emergency department workers.

“I have no connection to the restaurant industry whatsoever, but I loved the idea of doing the same thing for folks up here,” she says. “So I picked three local restaurants that are close to my home and I know are run by families, or independent business people, restauranteurs, pitched it to them and they were on board right away.”

As a health care professional herself, Roberts arranged to send nutritious meals to emergency department workers and social service workers.

“People in the emergency department at the best of times barely get away to get something to eat,” she says. “The only other option is going to the food court and that’s fantastic, but it’s the same, and it’s fast food.”

Working with partner restaurants Little Sister, 5 Doors North, and Taboule, Roberts is organizing a system to rotate through the restaurants in order to generate enough cash flow to pay bills and keep staff working while fueling frontlines of the crisis.

“This is a cash injection so we can make rent, pay our bills and in turn we’re doing a good deed,” said Jennifer Gittens, co-owner of Toronto’s Little Sister, who is serving their first Feed the Frontlines meal on Thursday at Fred Victor Housing.

Last night, the organization made its first delivery to the  Mount Sinai hospital emergency department consisting of 60 meals from 5 Doors North.

Roberts is also helping feed social service professionals who she calls “Frontlines on the Frontline”.  These people are working in vulnerable positions where they are educating marginalized communities and the homeless about COVID-19.

The organization’s $50,000 goal is only the beginning.

“If we raised $100,000 we would be able to deliver 5,000 meals and see 10 deliveries a week, so we could hit most of the emergency departments in the city,” Roberts says. “We could hit social services organizations at least once a week with a token of our appreciation in the form of a good meal.”

As the momentum picks up, Roberts is excited about the potential of other restaurants and small businesses partnering with the group.

“If other restaurants want to come along and start promoting it we can help facilitate and getting the funding and delivery,” she says. 

Donate to Feed the Frontlines TO on their GoFundMe.

These local breweries are offering beer delivery across Toronto

By
Samantha Peksa
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0
beer delivery toronto
Indie Ale House

Looking to whet your whistle with some local craft beer, but practising social distancing has limited your supply? This public service announcement is for you: breweries across Toronto are delivering.

Of course, there are a more than a couple of ways to get your hands on some quality hops. You can support local breweries by ordering directly online, or there are a few go-to delivery apps that will work, too. Either way, now is the time to stay indoors and enjoy some craft beer from your friendly neighbourhood brewer — delivered right to your door.

So save yourself a trip to the Beer Store and LCBO (both of which currently remain open) and get ordering. Here are some options for beer delivery across Toronto:

 

Breweries

Granite Brewery is delivering their English-style ales straight to your door. Certain Toronto area codes (M4, M5, M6 and M8) can even enjoy free beer delivery for all orders over $50. Ale addicts can get their fix in a can, bottle, growler or keg by placing an order via email or over the phone. The brewery will be making contact-free drop-offs Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Ossington’s brewpub Bellwoods Brewery offers choice hops through their online shop, as well as the Foodora and LCBO delivery apps. Find everything from their Jutsu pale ale to their dry hopped Jelly King sours on offer. These hops handlers are maintaining two metre distances from one another and washing their hands “until dragon scale skin status is achieved.”

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bellwoods Brewery (@bellwoodsbeer) on

 

Leslieville’s favourite dog-friendly brewery, Black Lab Brewing, is also delivering their local craft beer during the crisis. Their bottle shop is stocked with Sticky Paws oatmeal stout and a few other aromatic brews. Plus, if you tag a hardworking health care professional in their recent Instagram post, they may just deliver a six pack to them, free of charge.

For those in the 905, there is Rouge River. The Markham brewery has set up an online store and they’re offering half price shipping ($7.50 for a box of 12) on their popular sours and IPAs.

 

 

The Junction’s Indie Ale House is offering “contactless delivery” for free with the purchase of 12 items. They’ll send a text when they’re en route, drop the order off on your doorstep, and will stand back to confirm. For condos and apartments, they’ll wait downstairs in the lobby. So check out their online shop for plenty of ciders, stouts and IPAs to choose from.

Nearby in the Junction Triangle, Henderson Brewing Co. is offering free same-day or next-day delivery on any order of $50 or more. Orders can be placed in their online bottle shop and the delivery zone reaches from Sherway Gardens to Victoria Park and Eglinton Avenue down to the lake.

 

 

Restaurant workers (dealing with takeout and delivery), and LCBO and beer store workers can get a couple of pints with a side order of hand sanitizer from Mill Street Brewery. The Distillery District brewery is producing their own batches of hand sanitizer to be sold to workers on the frontline of the crisis. Their regular beer delivery is also free for orders over $50.

 

Delivery Apps

Beer Guy prides itself on its two-hour beer delivery service. The website started out as a trusted source for beer delivery, and grew to incorporate wine and liquor as well.

Foodora is perhaps best equipped to handle the onslaught of delivery orders being placed across Toronto right now. The food delivery service not only partners with some of the city’s top restaurants, it’s also working with a wide array of breweries, and the LCBO.

Boozer is another handy app that delivers beer, wine and spirits (take your pick of over 20,000 options) from the LCBO, local breweries and distilleries.

The best pizza delivery in Toronto

By
Jessica Huras
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0

It’s confirmed: Tessa Virtue and Morgan Rielly are a thing

By
Nikki Gill
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0
tessa virtue and morgan rielly
Rielly and Virtue during their Instagram Live appearance

Three weeks after rumours began to swirl that Canadian gold medallist ice dancer Tessa Virtue was dating Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly — confirmation has arrived.

Fans did not have much to go off in the first place seeing as the only “proof” was that Virtue had commented on one of Rielly’s Instagram posts with a heart eyes emoji, but it was Instagram again where the confirmation became clear on March 23.

During a shared Instagram Live session between Virtue and Arkells lead singer Max Kerman — Kerman has been hosting daily Flatten The Curve music classes on Instagram — Rielly appears in the background.

 

 

Kerman asks Virtue what she has been watching recently and also notes that she should start watching the new Netflix docu-series Tiger King. Then Rielly appears in the background to say, “Tiger King is a fantastic show,” and then walks off.

Kerman then asks Rielly, “How’s it going?” and Rielly comes back to the screen to join the conversation. Kerman asks the pair if they are currently in Vancouver together, and they say “Yes.” Rielly is originally from Vancouver.

Virtue then shares some details about how the pair have been trying to motivate each other to work out and that they have been lucky enough to go for long walks and hikes and see the mountains while keeping a safe distance from other people.

“We both did a workout, it took us about a week to not be sore,” Reilly added. “Like we were limping around Vancouver yesterday, we didn’t feel too good about ourselves.”

To which, Virtue added, “It’s either all or nothing.”

Their workouts have included core circuits and even a FaceTime session with Virtue’s sister who is a barre instructor in Toronto. They went on to talk about what books they are reading during their social distancing and then Virtue gave Kerman some dance lessons.

Virtue and Kerman are now creating a dance routine for the Arkells song “Years in the Making” and have teamed up with Food Banks Canada. A $100 donation will go to Food Banks Canada for every submission of someone completing the routine.

How to make chef Nuit Regular’s Thai hot and sour chicken noodle soup

By
Jessica Huras
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0
Thai soup recipe

As many of us find ourselves cooking at home instead of dining out, we’re sharing recipes from some of Toronto’s top chefs and restaurants.

“Noodle soup is one of my comfort favourites dishes that’s easy to cook at home,” says chef Nuit Regular of Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Sukhothai⁠, and Kiin. “I love the spicy, sour, sweet and nutty flavours.”

Note: The chicken thigh in this recipe can be replaced with thin slices of chicken breast, beef, pork, tofu, or peeled whole shrimp.

Thai hot and sour chicken noodle soup

Serves 1 person

Ingredients

  • 500 mL chicken broth
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled, lightly bruised
  • 5 cilantro stems (about 3 inches in length)
  • 1 Tbsp thin soy sauce
  • 1 chicken thigh boneless, skin off, cut to thin slices
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
  • 110 grams rice noodles (about ¼ of a 454gram rice noodle/package)
  • 2 Tbsp cane sugar
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 Tbsp white vinegar
  • ¼-1 tsp chili powder (¼ tsp for mild, ½ tsp for medium, 1 tsp for spicy)
  • ¼ cup coarsely ground roasted peanuts
  • ½ cup bean sprouts
  • 1 green onion, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stalk with leaves, finely sliced (choose the inner piece of celery)
  • 1 cilantro stalk, coarsely chopped
  • 1 sawtooth coriander stalk, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 lime wedge

Method

1. In a small pot, bring chicken broth, black pepper, salt, garlic, cilantro stems, and thin soy sauce to boil over high heat. Once at a rolling boil, add chicken thigh and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and floating, about 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat down to very low heat to keep warm, remove and discard garlic and cilantro stems and set aside.
2. In a small skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat, add minced garlic and constantly stir to cook until the garlic turns light yellow, about 1-2 minutes. You may need to adjust the heat to prevent the garlic from burning. Remove from the heat and set aside. The garlic will continue to cook and turn golden brown.
3. Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Place the cooked noodles in a large bowl. Add garlic and oil and stir to mix well.
4. Add sugar, fish sauce, white vinegar, chili powder, and ground peanuts to the chicken soup pot, and stir to mix well.
5. Use a ladle to transfer the soup and its contents to the noodle bowl. Top with bean sprouts, green onions, celery, cilantro and sawtooth coriander. Squeeze a wedge lime and enjoy. 

Looking for other chef-approved recipes to try at home? Make Pizzeria Libretto’s meatballs, Planta’s plant-based mac and cheese or chef Suzanne Barr’s cauliflower soup.

The best comedies to binge-watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime

By
Marlene Mendonca
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0

As self-quarantine and social distancing become the new norm, Netflix and Amazon Prime have become more popular sources of entertainment and escape than ever before. You can even binge-watch with all your friends thanks to the Netflix Party Chrome extension, which allows multiple people to watch TV shows and movies together with synchronized playback and a group chat box. 

So, if you’re looking to get away from the news cycle for a bit, here are the best comedies to binge-watch right now.

Younger 

This seven-season series, Younger, is a comedy-drama set in New York City that chronicles the life of 40-year old Liza Miller played by Sutton Foster. Miller decides to enter the publishing world as a 26 year old and navigates friendships, life, love, and career as a would-be millenial. This heartfelt and feel-good show has received positive reviews and is worth the binge-watch. 

On My Block

This Netflix original comedy-drama features four inner-city kids who are navigating their way through life and school in a rough South Central L.A. neighbourhood. With slapstick comedy, witty banter, and charismatic characters, this show will keep you entertained and laughing throughout all three seasons. 

Wine Country 

This heartfelt comedy, produced and directed by Amy Poeler, follows a group of old friends who meet up in Napa Valley for a wine-tasting tour. As these old pals reconnect over wine, they begin to question their relationships and life choices. The cast includes Tina Fey, Maya Rudolf, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, and Paula Pell. 

Fleabag 

Created and Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, this British comedy-drama traces the pleasures and perils of Fleabag, the main character, who finds herself navigating the aftermath of a traumatic event. This black comedy breaks the fourth wall as we learn about the complicated world of a modern woman living in London. 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 

Amy Sherman-Palladino’s feel good comedy-drama on Amazon Prime stars Rachel Brosnahan who plays a late-1950s housewife in New York City who pursues a career as a stand-up comedian after her husband leaves her for his secretary. She performs at comedy clubs and bars around NYC and between the set, stylish wardrobe, and the writing, this three-season throwback series will help get your mind far away from 2020. 

Schitt’s Creek 

If you’re not a Schitt’s Creek fan yet, you might be soon. Start from season one and watch the Rose family establish themselves in the small town they once owned. Each of the characters has unique charms, but Catherine O’Hara’s character Moira Rose’s quirky personality occasionally steals the show. The sixth and final season is airing right now on CBC but you can watch the first five seasons on Netflix.

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