This weekend I have … a few hours and a chisel.
‘Good With Wood’
When to watch: Now, on Discovery+.
Let the well of earnest, British skill-based reality contest shows never run dry. Baking, painting, sewing, pottery, flower design — and now woodworking. “Wood,” hosted by Mel Giedroyc, formerly of “The Great British Baking Show,” is just six episodes, and it follows the familiar format: Talented yet humble artisans compete in a series of telegenic challenges in which they are assessed by sage yet snazzy judges, and then we all revel in the spiritual peace of a job well done. If you like “Making It” or can conjure the smell of fresh sawdust with the power of your imagination, watch this.
… a few hours, and there’s beauty in the ordinary.
‘Outnumbered’
When to watch: Now, on the Roku Channel.
This British ensemble comedy has come and gone from streaming platforms over the years, and now all five seasons are available again. The show follows the Brockman family — mom, dad, three young children — and is partially improvised, with an easy naturalism that feels instantly familiar and intimate. “Outnumbered” has a light touch, and it often reminds me of a grown-up version of “Bluey” or a grounded version of “Modern Family,” happy in the comfortable tension between familial bonds and individuality. The real draw here, though, is some of the best comedic kid acting I’ve ever seen, particularly from Ramona Marquez as the impish youngest child.
… a few hours, and I like crime stuff.
‘Clark’
When to watch: Now, on Netflix.
Bill Skarsgard stars in this six-part mini-series (in Swedish, with subtitles or dubbed) as Clark Olofsson, a Swedish gangster credited with inspiring the term Stockholm syndrome and committing a bunch of crimes. So many current docudramas feel as if they’re in the same bland key, with the same inert performances, but “Clark” is audacious, distinctive and energetic. It leans hard into its characters’ “Goodfellas”-inflected braggadocio and also their profound loserdom; there are so many ways in which scuzzy criminality is glamorized on television, but so few shows in which our bank-robber protagonist has a masturbation session thwarted by the curious and judgmental glare of an associate’s ferret.
