The YWSW Gift Guide for TV Lovers
You can also just buy these things for yourself, we're not the boss of you
It’s that time of year and by “that time of year” we mean when our brains are so fried we simply can’t write an essay so we need to write a gift guide instead. But look at us writing a gift guide in early(ish) December instead of on, say, December 24th.
What qualifies us to write a gift guide, you may ask? We love TV, we love buying things and we love telling you what to do.
We are famously not getting any money for this newsletter, and that includes through affiliate links or anything like that. So these are just our actual recommendations, and perhaps some jokes.
(But also maybe don’t actually buy more stuff and instead do something good for the planet and visit Facebook Marketplace which was made famous by our friend Maria’s newsletter. May we recommend this gorgeous painting of Tony Soprano in a pool with ducks or a “one of a kind” costume of Jack Berger’s Post-It note from Sex and the City season 6?)
For friends who in addition to watching TV also occasionally, say it with us, read:
Ziwe has been making us laugh since long before she got Andrew Yang to say that Times Square was his favorite subway station. But in a very Scrooge (or should we say Megyn Kelly) fashion, Showtime canceled her show this year. Who else is going to have the GUTS to ask Gloria Steinem whether or not she finds the lyrics to Cardi B's "WAP" inspiring? If you have a loved one as sad as we are, we recommend picking them up a copy of Ziwe’s latest collection of essays “black friend.” The comedian dives into everything from Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby’s use of AAVEE and what it was like to interview people like famed internet scammer Caroline Calloway, to performative allyship and grappling with her own identity.
For years, TV lovers around the world have been plagued by the question of what could the team behind The OC possibly have been thinking when they decided to kill off Marisa, one of the show’s core four? Well, now we know — or at least we know what they thought right after, when they saw the fan reaction: “What have we done?” Any OC fan who is as nosy as us will love the new oral history titled “Welcome to O.C.” by the show creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and Rolling Stone's chief TV critic Alan Sepinwall.
Loyal Yes, We’re Still Watching readers will remember our Q&A with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, a New York Times bestselling pop culture historian, journalist and author. Jennifer has written eight books about pop culture history (while we struggle to put out this one newsletter at a semi-regular time) and you’d excite a TV lover with the gift of any of them, but we’re going to call out “Sex and the City and Us: How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love” because we’re feeling extra nostalgic. Though if your giftee is prepping for the new Mean Girls movie — which IS a musical, despite what that trailer may want you to believe — check out her new book “So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls and Why We're Still So Obsessed With It.”
For any true TV scholar, Emily Nussbaum’s I Like to Watch is a required reading. This collection of her New Yorker writing includes essays on shows like 30 Rock and Hannibal, profiles of some of the the biggest names in TV like Kenya Barris and Ryan Murphy, and examinations of the legacies of Norman Lear and Joan Rivers.
For friends with Main Character Energy:
There are any number of novelty TV T-shirts you could buy your friends based on their interests, but we all know they’ll end up at the bottom of some overstuffed drawer. If you really want to do something nice for your TV-loving friends, go a step further and give them the gift of delusion. Every character we love on screen has staple wardrobe items that are sewn into their identity and you know what they say, dress for the job you want! When Rachel is wearing her oversized leather jacket and knee high boots? She’s obviously on her way to slay some vampires and make out with David Boreanaz. When Mallika puts on a blazer, she’s Siobhan Roy ready to close a deal (or perhaps not close it). Here are just a few possibilities for fueling your friends’ main character energy:
Portia from White Lotus’ tacky but kind of chic sleeveless mod girl top is still available on EBay.
The Free People Daisy Jones & the Six clothing line is more or less overrated but you could be a 60s queen in these sunglasses or these embroidered flare jeans.
A Birkin bag! A Birkin bag for Rory. Just kidding, no one who reads this newsletter is buying the most expensive bag in the world for their loved ones (unless… if Logan Huntzberger is reading this pls reach out we have some exciting investment opportunities for you), but if you want a tongue and cheek gift for the die hard Gilmore Girls fans in your life, this adorable going out purse honoring Jane Birkin could be a fun gift to wrap within a bag within another bag.
For the girls who want to look like Beth Harmon of The Queen’s Gambit, this & Other Stories wool beret would be a dreamy addition to any drug addicted champion chess player’s closet.
Amy Adams’ sassy messenger bag from Sharp Objects, you will always be famous. While the 2016 era of skinny jeans and side parts has passed, a Fossil messenger bag never goes out of style, and they’re on mega sale right now.
In the end, we’re all just Chris Moltisanti in a neck brace. This on-sale leather jacket at Macy’s could make the Sopranos lovers in your life feel like a made man, running from a Russian interior decorator.
For the Yes, Chefs
Have an aspiring Michelin star chef in your family? Or someone who watched The Bear and now takes omelets way too seriously? Spoil them with an apron made for the pros. Hedley & Bennett has them in all kinds of colors. And when they put it on, make sure to tell them they look like Stanley Tucci.
Ok so this cookbook might be geared less towards the cooking fanatics and more towards the people who watched Will Ferrell stack all those Pop Tarts on top of spaghetti in Elf and thought “I’d try it tbh.” But the Mermaids reference alone is putting it at the top of Rachel’s list.
If you have a Rufus Humprey-level waffle fanatic, may we suggest a fancy waffle maker? Except unlike Rufus’ children on Gossip Girl, you actually have to eat the waffles someone makes for you.
You also can’t go wrong with a knife set like those nice ones Hannibal Lecter uses on Hannibal. (Sorry if that reference makes a knife set unappealing.)
For the Hoarders/Maximalists (read: Rachel who has more trinkets than any adult human should have):
We both might have to take up smoking to accommodate this absolutely perfect Mary Kate & Ash tray into our living room decor. Or this Carrie Bradshaw single & fabulous one? We mean c’mon!
This Rembrandt-esque painting of Samantha Jones after getting a chemical peel would also make a divine addition to someone’s gallery wall.
We hear the “WHAT ABOUT REALITY TV” comments so here you go: a Real Housewives version of “Guess Who?” for the low price on Etsy of $85 (?).
For the Nostalgia Lovers
The TWA Hotel, which repurposed what used to be a real terminal in New York’s JFK airport, is a mensch when it comes to nostalgia. The all red plush carpeting, the arching stone ceilings, Frank Sinatra playing in the background at all times, it’s a 60s fever dream without the asbestos and nicotine. If you or a loved one were voraciously chewing on the scenery when Midge went to drop off her parents at the TWA in the last season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or loved watching Don pick up Megan from one of her LA stints in Mad Men, consider booking a quick stay, where you can lounge in the heated pool or get drunk in the model airplane bar. If that’s too high a price tag, their hotel shop doesn’t disappoint either, from these TWA highball glasses, to a jigsaw puzzle, to Crocs?? We love a gift shop that has a little something for everyone.
If you have a bestie who for whatever reason can’t stop watching that one scene in Queen’s Gambit where Fever by Peggy Lee is playing and she is convinced that Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley) is actually really hot in it, boy do I have a gift for you. (Mallika don’t click on the link!)