Hi again and welcome back to Lulu's TV picks.

The TV show I’m going to recommend today is very different from many of the TV shows I’ve recommended before on many levels. It is a show that I recently got into and binge watched.

It's one of those shows that if you can get into it, you're gonna absolutely love it. But if you can't, you might find it quite strange.

So the show I'm gonna recommend today is called Derry Girl.

The Chinese name is really misleading. Because for most Chinese when we hear Derry, we think of India, but this show has nothing to do with India.

So where is Derry？Actually, Derry is the second largest city in Northern Ireland.

Derry is also called Londonderry. That's because in history they received funding from the London guilds for its construction. Even nowadays people are fighting over whether it should be called Derry or Londonderry.

Created and written by Northern Irish screenwriter Lisa McGee, this coming of age comedy is set in the Nineties in the city of Derry.

And it is a coming of age comedy. Coming of age means it's a story about teenagers and their journey of becoming adults. Coming of age comedy.

So far it doesn't sound like anything special. But if you know a bit about history, you would know that Northern Ireland in the Nineties was not that simple.

The story of Derry girls is set against the backdrop of what English people call the Troubles. And internationally we call it Northern Ireland conflict.

The conflict began in the late 1960s and lasted three decades.

The conflict, one of the key issues, was about the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.

It was a very complex period of history, but to put it in a simple way, there are two opposing sites.

On one side were the Irish nationalists who are mostly Irish Catholics, and they wanted northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.

The other side were the Unionists. They were mostly Ulster protestants and they wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom.

And the 30 years of conflicts cause the life of over 3500 people and 52% of them are civilians.

The conflict is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

So the show is set in the days right before the peace agreement. And against this backdrop, the story of Derry Girls unfolds.

After hearing all these about serious history, you might think this show is perhaps very political.

Actually, the show merely uses the historical events as a background. And it just focuses on the day to day adventures of these five teenage friends.

You got Erin, who's really into literature. She is really dramatic, ambitious but sometimes full of herself.

And then, there's her cousin, Orla , who always talks like she is from another planet. She is absolutely adorkable. She doesn't care about how other people see her.

Their friends, Clare, who's terrified about breaking any rules.

And then Michelle, who is a typical teenage bad girl, who can't stop cursing, talking about boys, sex and drinking.

And then, there is Michelle's English cousin James. Even though James is a guy, but because he is always hanging out with these girls, they treat him like an ordinary Derry girl. The other group members constantly make fun of James for being English.

They all went to a Catholic high school. And despite the quite dangerous background of the story, these teenagers they are more focused on their own life.

And they talk about the typical teen topics like music, movies, who's been popular, boys and girls, how to deal with parents, teachers, just like any other teenagers.

Derry Girls is very well received. On Rotten Tomatoes, the two series of the show both scored over 95% rating with both critics and audience.

IMDb rated it 8. 4 out of 10, even on the quite critical. . . the show scored 8. 2 for the first season and 9. 1 for the second.

But what's so special about the show? If it is just another teen comedy, why is it so well liked?

Personally, I'm quite surprised that I like the show so much. Considering the fact that I never watch shows of this genre.

Well, first of all, there is the accent. Here is a sample of it.

But the thing is, life isn't fair. You see, injustice is something I have become accostumed to.

I am, after all, a child of the crossfire, surrounded by conflict. But I choose to rise above it. ‘The path to peace is paved with tolerance and understading. Violence is never the answer.

So what do you think?

It is a very singsongy accent and the intonation goes up a lot.

But I warn you for the first-timers if you have never encountered this accent before, it will take you some time to get used to it.

So I guess for a lot of people, this is an interesting cultural journey to learn more about the Northern Irish accent and slang.

For example, Cracker means great or wonderful. For example, you can say that movie was cracker .

And you will notice that they also roll their tongue for the r sound, not just the Americans.

Or things like catch yourself on or wise up, both mean don't be stupid. And the quintessential word Wee , w-e-e, which means small. And they use it a lot.

Apart from the attraction of the accent, the show is just outright ridiculously laugh out loud funny and it’s really quick witted.

I especially like Sister Michael. As the show goes on, I'm sure you're gonna laugh at her eye rolls.

Apart from the comedy side, the show also represents a more relatable kind of teen drama.

Whenever you think about TV shows about teen stories, they're always the extremes. Either it’s about a group of gorgeous teenage girls and teenage boys in a very expensive school, or it's about really messed up teenagers involved in crime, drugs, sex, having lots of psychological issues.

But let's face it, for most of us, our teenage years were neither. Most of us were just average teenagers growing up and Derry Girls are exactly that. They are more the reflection of reality. So in this sense, they are somewhat universally relatable.

On top of that, the show has its own depth in how it shows the historical backgrounds.

In the show you would see scenes with armed soldiers searching their school bus, bomb threat, news reports about violent conflicts.

Before this group of girls who grew up in Derry, they were so used to these. For them, these things are just everyday happenings. They're not even as serious as missing a concert.

So it really offers us a glimpse into the life of an average teenager growing up against that backdrop.

But presenting it this way, the series is trying to show how the young people of Derry at the time became so used to the surrounding violence that they no longer even get nervous about it.

Kind of a sad fact in itself. But it's this balancing the comedy with sincerity that makes the show really stand out.

So why would I recommend the show？

First of all it’s a good laugh with dynamic characters.

It also shows another dialect and accent specimen. If you are a language learner, it's always a good practice if you get to listen to new accent and try to understand them.

And on top of that, like I said before, it is a different type of team drama about more realistic average teenagers that we might find more relatable.

It also provides you a glimpse into that part of history and it offers different perspectives. For example, many people find English accent really charming, but in the show they were all making fun of James for speaking with an English accent. The first time the girls met James, they were actually asking why does he speak funny? So you see, there are always different perspectives.

And one other attraction of the show is that if you love music and if you grew up in the Nineties, you would hear so many classic Nineties tune.

The things to stay cautious about，first of all, obviously the accent is very thick. It could be very difficult for you to understand. And without knowing much about that part of history, you might get a bit confused about certain references they make.

And it also contains a fair amount of swearing and cursing. And very importantly, if you are someone who's into teen drama with gorgeous girls and gorgeous guys, this is not for you.

This is not that kind of teen drama, so you would be really disappointed if that is what you are looking for.

And also some negative reviews would say the acting is a bit too over the top or it's a stereotype about people who live in that region.

But overall, I think it's just the style of the comedy. Because when you watch it, you're not so much as laughing at them, but really getting to like the characters. Either way is a light hearted fun show to watch if you can get into it.

So if you have watched the show already, leave us a comment in a common section and let us know what you think.

So we end today's TV picks with a Nineties classic that you hear a lot in Derry Girls. This is Dreams from the Cranberries. See you next time.

Bye.

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