Edward Scissorhands.
Beetlejuice.
The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

All of these films are classics that millions of filmgoers love all around the world. They all blend comedy, horror and science fiction perfectly. They are also all directed by the acclaimed director Tim Burton. So, when it was announced that Netflix would be ordering an ‘Addams Family’ pilot with Burton as an executive producer and director, my hopes were incredibly high for it. This is definitely the kind of project right up Burton’s alley. The series called “Wednesday” does not disappoint.

The series follows Wednesday (Jenna Ortega), Morticia and Gomez’s daughter, who is expelled from her school for putting live piranhas in the pool for the boys’ swimming team after they were bullying her brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). As a result, she is put in her parents’ alma mater, Nevermore Academy, a school for monstrous outcasts. While attending the school, she reluctantly befriends her roommate Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers). She is completely different from Wednesday. She is the Galinda to Wednesday’s Elphaba. Wednesday also starts falling for a fellow student, Tyler (Hunter Doohan). Because of her psychic abilities, she starts to investigate a string of murders. Gwendolyn Christie stars as Principal Weems and in one of the best casting decisions this year, Christina Ricci (who played Wednesday in “The Addams Family” films) plays a botany teacher.

The performances in this series are top-notch. Ortega plays Wednesday with all of the gloom and doom you would expect but also makes audiences fall completely in love with her. Christie as the Principal truly shines in a role that is a vast contrast from her previous television role in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” This show allows us to really see more of what Christie is made of and she delivers. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia in a guest-starring role, makes you wish she was on the screen more. Her Morticia is 100 percent spot on. If Zeta-Jones does qualify for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmys, I would love to see her nominated and win that category.

This series also shines from fantastic writing. It truly is a binge-worthy show, and this is coming from someone who has only ever binge-watched two other Netflix shows (“Squid Game” and “Bridgerton”). Some shows can suffer from relying so much on a mystery that you do not get to fully care for the characters, but this is not the case here. The writing allows us to see all of the characters and their complexities. We grow to care for them and become very invested in them. This is definitely something that great storytelling and great television should do.

The show definitely satisfies viewers while also leaving us wanting more.

“Wednesday” is currently streaming on Netflix.

In episode five of season one of ABC’s “Alaska Daily,” there’s a short conversation revealing why this show is so important. It’s between publicly disgraced journalist Eileen Fitzgerald, played by the masterful Hilary Swank, and Defense Secretary Raymond Green (James McDaniel) who belittles her seemingly washed-up career thanks to her failed reporting attempt at catching him in a corruption scheme: 

​“It’s all very embarrassing what’s happened to you. Big stories out of your reach now, you’re spinning out in the boonies.” 

“Are you making fun of my current employer?” 

“The Daily Alaskan is a step above a high school yearbook.” 

“Mr. Secretary, few things could make me happier than watching you underestimate the power of a local newspaper. They may not be fancy and it may be far from the halls of power in D.C., but it's sure a hell of a lot closer to the truth. I’ll buy you a subscription when I write my story.” 

That exchange is a synopsis of why I love ABC’s “Alaska Daily.” 

The show is a love letter to local newspapers, and I’ve been waiting for it. For 12 years, I’ve worked professionally as a journalist, but I’ve been an ink-stained wretch since I fell in love with journalism at 13 years old. I’ve worked for various newspapers throughout my career – daily, bi-weekly, weekly, niche and local/statewide. 

It’s been a weird time for me to watch “Alaska Daily,” as it’s the first time I’m not working for a newspaper – diving instead into the world of content writing for a statewide health system. There are moments I’ve watched with mournful nostalgia and other times I’ve smirked in agreement when they’ve revealed the problems that plague journalism these days. 

Journalism-based shows are nothing new. Think “The Newsroom” and “Murphy Brown,” both classics but focused on broadcast journalism. For years, I’ve been saying we need a T.V. show about a print-based newsroom. Sure, several movies highlight the ins and outs of newspaper life, but many of those also tend to focus on national outlets – The Washington Post, The New York Times. 
 
“Alaska Daily” explores the ups and downs of what local newspapers across this country face each day, complete with a talented cast and an all-star in Swank at the top of the masthead.  

And in my greatest Stefon ‘SNL’ impression, I’ll say enthusiastically, “This show has everything!”
 

• Veteran managing editor Stanley Cornik (Jeff Perry) has to balance journalistic integrity with the publisher's wishes, all while trying to stay afloat with waning subscriptions.
• Newbie reporter Yuna Park (Ami Park) faces heartache from reporting the truth and the life-altering consequences that come with it. 
• Roz Friendly (Grace Dove), an Alaskan Native, takes on a beast of a story along with Fitzgerald to expose the cover-ups and mishandling of investigations into the murders of indigenous women. As an indigenous woman herself, it’s personal. 
• Longtime Daily Alaskan reporter Claire Muncy (Meredith Holzman) chases down local stories like the closing of a local diner and unravels the real story about the breakdown of society within its demise. It all happens as she's balancing a low-paying career, marriage and motherhood. 
• The super green reporter Gabriel Tovar (Pablo Castelblanco) finds out there can be a much bigger story hidden behind everything, even the largest vegetable contest at the state fair. 
• Bob Young (Matt Malloy), the traditional news editor is skeptical of Fitzgerald’s intentions while fiercely ready to defend his committed staff. 
• Reporter Austin Teague (Craig Frank) has fallen for fellow reporter Park, while navigating parenthood.
• Rounding it out is the smooth-talking publisher Aaron Pritchard (Shane McRae) with an undoubtedly hidden agenda. 
  
  

What makes this show so fascinating is that as a newspaper reporter, I’ve worked with all of these characters. I’ve covered or watched others cover everything from corruption to breaking news to the local fair. It reveals how newsrooms struggle financially, everything from reporters doubling as photographers when needed, not paying for travel and the cast of reporters' subtle yet poignant and frequent comments on how they essentially don’t do the job for the money. One of my favorite moments in the show is a conversation between Muncy and her husband about how she’s worked so hard to get her facts straight, only to have them used as ammo for each opposing side. She questions why she even does her job if people don’t want to be informed, but just win an argument, to which her husband quickly quips, “The money.” And they both share a good laugh. Journalists are not paid nearly enough for what they do. 

As national media outlets descend into their city as a young white girl falls off a cruise ship spurring a massive search, the staff of the Daily Alaskan keeps the focus on what matters locally. Why are so many resources deployed on this girl, while a young native woman is missing simultaneously? It’s the only news outlet focusing on what matters to their community. 

It even hits on the dangers of being a reporter when Fitzgerald is continually threatened for her work. While at my first job at a statewide daily paper, I remember opening a racist letter with a white powdery substance sprinkled in the envelope after covering a story about a local Black cultural center. It triggered a lockdown in our newsroom while a hazmat team came in to confirm it was, in fact, crushed up Tylenol and not anthrax – and this was about 10 years ago. The threats journalists receive today I’m sure are much worse and more frequent. The ones Fitzgerald endures unfortunately match the tone of today’s society. 

All while diving into this world, it’s doing service to a real-life story – shining a spotlight on the abuses of native women. The show was inspired by The Anchorage Daily News and Pro Publica series “Lawless Sexual Violence in Alaska,” written by Kyle Hopkins, who serves as a show producer. 

“Alaska Daily” is the show society needs right now. 

Against the backdrop of local newspapers folding or being bought up by major conglomerates who outsource the news, subscriptions dwindling and society turning its trust to social media and talking heads on cable news, the show reveals the true dedication of a local staff and the necessity of having a local watchdog. 

I hope people are watching and understand this isn’t just fiction. It’s up to us as a society to support local journalism because once that’s gone, we’ll all sure as hell be farther from the truth. 

“Alaska Daily” returns to ABC on Thursday, Feb. 23. The first six episodes can be seen on Hulu and ABC.com.