Stars: Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, Terry O’Quinn, Debra Winger
Number of seasons included with subscription: 2
For what is, on paper, a spy thriller, Patriot is weird—that’s high praise—as well as laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally sweet, and completely original. Michael Dorman stars as the show’s ever-in-existential-crises covert operator, and he leads a fantastic cast that includes Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Terry O’Quinn, Debra Winger, and Chris Conrad (the brother of show creator Steven Conrad, and maybe the show’s secret weapon). If you’re a music fan who likes the good stuff, you’re in luck: “Train Song” by Vashti Bunyan soundtracks the home-video intro in season one; there’s also a cover of a Bill Fay cut by Jeff Tweedy (like the Conrads, a Chicagoan); and the folky, Bill Callahan-esque originals Dorman’s character plays throughout the show are always amusing. Watch this show.
