The Obamas' TV Shows Look Like Essential Viewing So Here's How To Watch In The UK

With Donald Trump in office — still, unfortunately — I can't help but feel nostalgic for the Obama days. Compared to Trump, Obama seems like a saint, and as should be clear by now, the Obamas are pretty anti-Trump themselves. That stance definitely comes out in the new documentaries that have been produced by the Obamas. They've just announced a full lineup of releases that they've been working on, but how will I be able to watch the Obama's new documentaries in the UK? Because the U.S. can't keep all this televisual goodness to itself.

It's been known for sometime that the Obamas have been cooking something up with Netflix, but no one knew quite what was going on until the release slate just recently came out — and there are seven Obama produced shows and documentaries on their way. I'm assuming that Netflix will distribute these globally, but I've contacted a rep just to make sure that they will definitely land on Netflix UK at the same time and will update you ASAP.

As Metro reports, the seven releases that the Obamas are putting out in conjunction with Netflix will include Bloom, a drama series set in post-World War II New York, which explores the "barriers faced by women and by people of color in an era marked by hurdles but also tremendous progress."

They'll also be putting out a film adaption of David W. Blight’s biography of the American social reformer Frederick Douglass, as well as an adaption of Michael Lewis’ book The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, which'll be turned into a series. Also due to arrive is an anthology series titled Overlooked, which is based on the New York Times series about deaths not reported in the newspaper. "Since 1851, obituaries in The New York Times have been dominated by white men. Now, we’re adding the stories of other remarkable people," the paper writes in the original series.

Documentary film Crip Camp will also be added to your Netflix library, as it'll explore the origins of the disability rights movement — a vital history very seldom taught in schools. Then, the Obamas are throwing a big curveball away from all that heavyweight stuff with a show aimed for kids called Listen To Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents, which'll "‘take young children and their families around the globe on an adventure that tells the story of our food."

Last but not least, Netflix and the Obamas have acquired the rights to the documentary American Factory, which became a hit at 2019's Sundance Festival. Not too dissimilar in tone from the other docs the Obamas are putting out, American Factory follows a Chinese billionaire who opens a factory in Ohio, and discovers just what it's like to raise a business in America.

So, it's all pretty hard-hitting stuff, but I'm glad the Obamas aren't sugar-coating things. They're bringing politics and essential issues to the entertainment industry, and I think it's about time that the two converged in an informative, accessible, and enjoyable way.