It’s Friday. Looking for something to switch up your weekend, or to give you an excuse to relax a little? That’s what the Weekend Reset is for. Each week we’ll pull together five things to get your weekend started. Could be something to read or watch, something to eat or listen to, or even something to do. Enjoy the weekend fellas.
WATCH: Superman & Lois
Within the first 15 minutes of the pilot of Superman and Lois, Clark Kent’s son declares what we’ve all been thinking: “Superman is boring.” Indeed, this core problem — that Superman is so powerful that Superman stories are never exciting because we know he’ll always win — is one that many filmmakers have struggled with in recent years. Superman and Lois solves this problem gorgeously by focusing as much on Clark Kent’s home life as it does on his superheroics. This is a show influenced as much by Friday Night Lights as it is by comic books, a show about a family struggling with secrets, a show about a father torn between his responsibilities to the world and his responsibilities to his family. Streams free-with-commercials on the CW’s website and app, or catch it on CW Monday nights at 9pm/8 Central.
READ: The Stories of John Cheever
The short stories of John Cheever are absolute classics of the form. Cheever’s stories, frequently dealing with suburban malaise in the 1950s and 60s, have inspired everything from Mad Men to American Beauty. But one of the things that is sometimes lost when people talk about Cheever’s stories is just how damn weird they are. Many of them are as influenced by Southern Gothic and Edgar Allan Poe-style horror as they are by 50s America. This is not a book you need to read from start to finish — this is one to pick up here and there, whenever you’re in the mood for a good story. I recommend starting with “A Reunion,” which is only a few pages long, and then moving on to “Torch Song” and “The Swimmer.”
LISTEN: Open Door Policy by The Hold Steady
I’ve been a fan of The Hold Steady for over fifteen years, ever since the release of their seminal album Boys and Girls in America. Nobody does Kerouac-infused, story-driven bar rock quite like these guys. Open Door Policy, their latest album, is the second they’ve released since the return of their longtime keyboardist Franz Nicolay, and his presence is felt here at every corner. This is yet another Hold Steady album full of instant singalong classics, one that I’ll be listening to for many years to come.