where to watch: Netflix
when to watch: When you’re looking for a comedy and you’re prepared for something out of the ordinary.
you should note: Entirely written by Michael Coel—including the theme song!—and featuring a very diverse cast.
tl;dr: A slightly strange but super funny comedy following the confident, wild, but very naive Tracey and her misadventures in love and sex.
Happy New Year everybody! With the holidays and everything, posts have been a little all over the place. I’ve been spending a lot of time watching TV, and less time writing about TV. But that’s a good thing for you guys, because that means I have a lot of exciting stuff coming up!!
My first rec in 2020 is an endearing and extremely wacky British comedy called Chewing Gum.
I first discovered Chewing Gum years ago. It’s only 2 seasons, a total of just 11 episodes. It’s still one of the most unique, funniest comedies I’ve seen, and absolutely worth checking out.
First airing in 2015, Chewing Gum is written by and stars Michaela Coel as Tracey Gordon, a Beyonce-obsessed, naive, childish 24-year-old living on an estate in East London. Upon rewatch, my first thought was, “this is like Fleabag!” It’s an easy comparison. Our main character, Tracey, frequently makes fourth-wall breaks and talks directly to her audience. It can also be raunchy and like Fleabag, doesn’t shy away from sex. And it has an even more off-color, kind of weird sense of humor.
But where Fleabag follows generally affluent white Londoners, Chewing Gum’s setting is an East London estate.
the setting (+ the characters)
One of the most fascinating things to me about Chewing Gum is its depiction of its setting. Most of the show takes place in Tower Hamlets. Michaela Coel grew up on a similar estate, and was very intentional about how she portrayed it in her show. For example, she chose to shoot the entirety of the show in the summer months, so the Estate is always bathed in sunlight. In addition to the sunlight, everything is in bright colors—the brightest of all are Tracey’s costumes.
In my experience, it is really rare to see a show about low-income British people that’s pretty uniformly lighthearted, and that’s something I find very refreshing about Chewing Gum. Coel does an admirable job of really creating the world of the estate, and filling in all the different characters that live there (have I ever recommended a show without good characters?).
The show primarily follows Tracey, the child of very religious immigrants, as she decides she wants to lose her virginity. Of course, Tracey has led a very sheltered life, and much hilarity ensues.
Helping Tracey is her best friend Candice, who is extremely blunt and keeps Tracey real. There’s also Connor, Tracey’s love interest who writes terrible—terrible—poetry, Connor’s mother who has some serious boundary issues, and my personal favorite, Candice’s boyfriend Aaron (just watch the show and you’ll see why).
These are just a few of the ridiculous characters in the show, and I haven’t even gotten to all the absolutely insane things that happen on the show. It’s just so funny, and so likeable.
more than just a show
When I first watched Chewing Gum years ago, I knew I had found something unique and special, but it isn’t until I rewatched it this week that I realized how meaningful it was too. It’s so rare to find shows with diverse casts, let alone ones entirely written by women of color, but Chewing Gum really makes you wonder why. Sadly, Michaela Coel got too busy, and there were only two seasons of this show. But Chewing Gum is easy to love and Michaela Coel is a rockstar! I think it’s really unfortunate how unknown this show is, so go watch it! Support female artists of color so we get more fresh, original content like Chewing Gum!