There comes a point in the evening when I simply cannot absorb another piece of orange tinged news.

Thankfully, the creative powers that be can provide an alternative.

How about a charming French thief? A disastrous divorce. A woman over fifty who still wants sex. A rabbi with romantic possibilities. Someone willing to take on the tech industry.

I fully recognize that I have been informed. I have been outraged. I have discussed things with the television despite receiving very little evidence that anyone inside it is listening.

Enough.

Fortunately, television has provided options.

Between Lupin, War, Youth, Nobody Wants This and Cupertino, there are plenty of other people’s problems to occupy an evening. Some new shows, some familiar faces. All competing for the hours I apparently once devoted to reading books and going to bed at a reasonable time.

First, Lupin.

Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, whose adventures draw inspiration from the fictional gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin. Intelligence, disguises and considerable charm are his tools of the trade with Paris as the backdrop.

There is something deeply satisfying about a character who has a plan. I can walk into a room and forget why I am there. This man can navigate an elaborate deception while looking as though he has time to stop for lunch. Netflix.

Then there is War, which brings Dominic West and Sienna Miller into a spectacularly contentious divorce between a tech mogul and a movie star, with rival London law firms joining the battle.

The title is admirably efficient.

Why call it a difficult period where we ask you to respect our privacy when War will do?

There is a particular appeal to wealthy people discovering that money cannot protect them from humiliation.

Divorce is miserable. Television divorce comes with casting, lighting and the reassuring knowledge that none of the invoices are addressed to you. HBO Max.

Youth gets considerably closer to home.

Sharon Horgan plays Alex, a fifty-year-old divorcee navigating work, aging parents, a son who still needs parenting, and her own desire for sex and love.

What appeals to me immediately is that her desires are allowed to exist alongside everyone else’s needs. Women reach a certain age and are apparently expected to become an efficient support service with sensible shoes. HBO.

Then Nobody Wants This, which is an unnecessarily pessimistic title for a romantic comedy involving Adam Brody.

Kristen Bell plays Joanne, a podcaster whose relationship with Brody’s Noah, a rabbi, comes with differences in belief, family expectations and all the complications attraction conveniently neglects to mention at the beginning.

Nobody gazes across a room and thinks, Before this goes any further, we should discuss your mother’s expectations and our long-term religious compatibility.

There is comfort in bingeing a romantic comedy. Netflix.

Finally, Cupertino, on CBS and Paramount+, gives us Mike Colter and Rachel Keller as lawyers taking on Silicon Valley’s powerful players after being mistreated by a tech employer themselves.

Looking at these shows together, I see a theme. People want love, independence, justice, a little excitement and some control over their own lives.

So do I.

The world will still be there when the episode ends. The headlines will not have improved because I checked them again.

Enjoy your Fancy Free Friday.

Let the bingeing commence.