Stream-It Saturday: Moone Boy (TV)

In my continuing selfless service to the world (ahem), I'm always looking for the next awesome thing to stream. And, of course, I must share my finds with you fabulous folks. Hence, Stream-It Saturday. 

This week's streaming choice is my beloved Moone Boy, shown in the U.S. exclusively via streaming on Hulu and broadcast in the U.K. on Sky. 

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Here's the deal. Moone Boy is a bit... bonkers.

But in the cutest, most endearing way. I swear!

It's loosely based on Irish cutie-pie Chris O'Dowd's childhood in a small town of Boyle, in Ireland. The main characters are 12-year old Martin Moone and his imaginary friend, played by O'Dowd, Sean Murphy. The two get in all sorts of capers and scrapes while Martin deals with life in his charmingly crazy family.

Moone Boy was one of my favorite new shows last year (along with The Mindy Project and Orange is the New Black) and it's back for another season on Hulu in about a week. If you haven't watched it, you've missed out on something special. 

15 Reasons You Should Stream Moone Boy Immediately

1) Chris O'Dowd is adorable as Martin's imaginary friend. Seriously adorable. 

2) He plays a beautiful banjo, which is also adorable. (These are the things that matter to me--I have banjo envy, all right.)

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3) David Rawle, who plays Martin Moone, has great comedic timing and plays off O'Dowd brilliantly. 

4) Martin's family is awkwardly hilarious, in a way that makes them feel like they could be your family. 

5) It's set in the 80s, but isn't ridiculous nostalgia-based storytelling. The setting and time period makes sense because Ireland in the late-80s was in flux, particularly with the election of Mary Robinson to the presidency. 

6) There's a great episode about the aforementioned election of Mary Robinson and all the ladies of Boyle get "The Mary" haircut.

7) The wise-ass animations that pepper each episode are hilarious. 

8) You can really tell that Moone Boy is a labor of love for O'Dowd and his writing partner, Nick Murphy.

9) Moone Boy is sweet and nice without being saccharine. In fact, the humor can be fairly edgy at times.

10) It does a great job of showing the complicated relationship the Irish have with large institutions, like government and the church.

11) The episode about alter boys as a street gang is phenomenal.

12) They use the theme from The Gay Byrne Show as the theme song for Moone Boy. You will only understand the incredibleness of this is you've spent extended time in Ireland.  

13) And then there's the opening credits. 

14) Moone Boy is not only filmed in O'Dowd's hometown, but in the actual house he grew up in, where his mother still lives. This little thing makes me love this show even more.

15) This:

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Stream It on Hulu