Act Four: What shows deserve the same sort of attention that 'Game of Thrones' gets

"Game of Thrones" plays an outsized role in the cultural conversation. But it's not the only thing that deserves attention.   Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Rafael (Justin Baldoni) celebrate Mateo’s first birthday on “Jane the Virgin.” (Scott Everett White/The CW) Every Wednesday, I use this installment of the Act Four newsletter to answer a question from the previous Monday’s chat. You can read the transcript of our conversation on Monday here and submit questions for the June 20 chat here. And if you’re curious, I answered more “Game of Thrones”-related questions in my Facebook Live chat, which happens on Mondays after my Washington Post Live chat. This week, a lot of readers seemed to be grappling with the amount of attention that “Game of Thrones” gets in the cultural ecosystem, so I wanted to take this query from a reader: Please share some examples of current pop culture that isn’t getting the amount of writing as Game of Thrones but should be getting more than they are. 1) “You’re The Worst”: Stephen Falk’s alternately spritely and melancholy comedy gets a lot of critical love, especially for its treatment of depression and its joyful sex scenes. It deserves a lot more viewers, and a lot more discussion, though. There’s a tendency to assume that dramas can do more with big themes just because they have more minutes per episode in which to do it. But from its treatment of veterans issues, to the black hipster rap collective one of the main characters works with, “You’re The Worst” has as many ideas and insights per minute as it has jokes. 2) “Jane The Virgin”: A telenovela that’s also a riff on the telenovela genres where one of the characters stars in a telenovela, “Jane The Virgin” can be as meta and strange as an Andy Kaufman experiment. It’s also a great story about multigenerational families, immigration, parenting in an age of unprecedented reproductive technology and changes in family structures and the value of so-called women’s fiction vs. high literature. “Jane The Virgin” is a great example of just how depressing it is that television has to be grim to be taken seriously. 3) “Call The Midwife”: I am tragically behind on this imported gem, but its steely depiction of obstetrics and gynecology in London’s poorest neighborhoods in the years after World War II is as tough as anything on “Game of Thrones.” It’s also the rare great show about deeply religious people. Folks should be at least as nuts for “Call The Midwife” as they were for “Downton Abbey.” ADVERTISEMENT   Angry about Peter Thiel’s pursuit of Gawker? Tort reform is the best solution. If journalists want to prevent more Gawker-style verdicts, they should turn to solutions conservatives and libertarians have been championing for years. By Sonny Bunch  •  Read more »   ‘Homegoing’ raises impossible questions about the legacy of slavery Recovering your history can be a source of pride. But it can also raise difficult questions about past complicity and how to move into the future. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   How O.J. Simpson killed white people’s ideas about America O.J. Simpson validated white Americans' ideas about how to achieve equality. His wife's murder shattered their illusions. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   How Ken Burns built his blistering attack on Donald Trump Speaking at Stanford's commencement, the documentary filmmaker placed the Republican nominee in the tradition of America's ugliest political impulses. It was a moment that was a long time in coming. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 8 Review: ‘No One’ In tonight's "Game of Thrones," the personal is political, and the political is inescapably personal. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Intersect The corner of the Internet and interesting, in your inbox weekly. Sign Up »         Share Act Four:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071