Monday, December 27, 2021

The Reds Best of Streaming 2021

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: We’ve reached the last days of 2021 (touch wood they’ll be quiet and uneventful!) and this week’s theme will be looking back at the past year and looking forward to the next. Today, the Reds are going to give our top streaming programs of 2021. 


My picks are from Apple +, which I didn’t even subscribe to until my friend Chris Holm raved so enthusiastically about FOR ALL MANKIND I had to give it a try. I did the one-week freebie thing, thinking I would slam the whole two seasons, but this show was simply too good to devour in one bite - and admittedly, I can’t start watching at 7pm and stay up until midnight anymore. FOR ALL MANKIND is what author Mary Robinette Kowal calls “punchcard punk;” an alternative history of the space race starting in 1969 when the Soviet Union, not the US, puts the first man on the moon. If you like APOLLO 13, THE MARTIAN, HIDDEN FIGURES or any 1970s film where couples try to negotiate the changing relationships between men and women in that era.


If you’ve already seen and loved FOR ALL MANKIND, I recommend reading Kowal’s “Lady Astronaut” series for a similar-but-different alternate future take.


What are your picks, Reds?


HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve pretty much cherry-picked what’s on Netflix and Amazon Prime. I can watch and re-watch any season of The Great British Baking Show. It’s calming and mesmerizing in equal parts. I also enjoy any of the British documentaries hosted by Lucy Worseley. Maybe this is why I start watching at 7:30 pm and I’m asleep by 8:00. What I wish I could find to stream are all those wonderful episodes with Sister Wendy talking about great works of art - I love art history. I wanted to like but could not: The Chair. 

 

 


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We are GLUED–and I mean GLUED–to Succession. Riveted and mesmerized. Every character is the worst person imaginable. The writing is SO brilliant, it is beyond writing. I cannot tell you how much I love this.  Ah. Fantastic. We cannot even bring ourselves to watch anything else.  (I think it’s on HBO+, but I never know these things.) 

 

 And we are parceling it out, not bingeing.

 

 Next is The Landscapers. Jonathan is watching 1883, but I cannot bear it (I’m sure it is fabulous, and it is shot beautifully, but after 10 minutes I was crying and sad) so I write while he is watching. And I am SO eager to see the new MAGPIE MURDERS on Masterpiece!  We also loved Line of Duty, and that was total immersion TV for me. SO terrific.


DEBORAH CROMBIE: We’ve given in to almost all the streamers now, I think, because people will keep recommending things on services that we don’t have!! So, working backwards, a couple of weeks ago we finished INVASION which was good and really different. Also on Christmas Eve we finished HAWKEYE which is great fun if you’re a Marvel fan, and Christmasy. 


Julia, thanks for reminding me about FOR ALL MANKIND, which we started but got distracted and didn’t finish. TED LASSO and ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING got us through the summer.

 

JULIA: It just keeps building and building, Debs. The second season ending had me dying for Season 3, which, as is typical these days, has a very uncertain premiere date. What else? 


DEBS: LUPIN was fun. I hope they make another series. Then the new season (maybe last?) of LINE OF DUTY, which was so gripping and fabulous. And back in January last year, season 2 of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES. So excited that Season 3 is coming up!


And somewhere in there we watched every single episode of SCHITT’S CREEK, which I think saved our sanity.

 


LUCY BURDETTE: You know I am not up on things, so we are still slowly making our way through Foyle’s War. We are up to 1944, so I think the end is coming! We are also watching season six of Shetland, as we have travel plans to go there next August. Fingers crossed so hard… And the last two nights we watched LOVE ACTUALLY, which is always good, no matter how many times I’ve watched. I am always so sad to see it end. It was brilliantly done with a brilliant cast. Waiting eagerly for the next season of the crown and Borgen. Oh I almost forgot to add Ann Cleeves’ THE LONG CALL. We enjoyed those episodes a lot. If you haven’t seen MARE OF EASTTOWN, best TV this year!


RHYS BOWEN: I’m with Hallie. I’ve binged every Great British Baking Show. So calming. Also Gordon Ramsey on his adventures. I haven’t binged much else since Riverton— apart from old British mysteries and comedies like The Vicar of Dibley.

 

JULIA: It's your turn, dear readers. What was the best streaming show you watched this past year? 

96 comments:

  1. What have we streamed this year? THE MANDALORIAN; the documentary series AMONG THE STARS; THE RIGHT STUFF series . . . .

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    1. Joan, I hadn't heard of THE RIGHT STUFF series, I'll have to check it out!

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  2. Thanks to the recommendation of the Reds and readers earlier this year, I got a Disney+ trial which allows us to watch some HULU originals in Canada.

    So my top streaming pick of 2021 was ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING. So much fun to watch Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and a bunch of guest stars over 10 episodes. And knowing there will be a season 2 next year...

    And as a lifelong STAR TREK fan, I was thrilled that for the first time in my life, there were three NEW Star Trek shows/seasons this year that I could stream on CRAVE (in Canada)
    STAR TREK LOWER DECKS (Season 2), PRODIGY (Season 1) and DISCOVERY (Season 4).

    I plan to watch my first episodes of GBBO and the Canadian version on CBC GEM sometime in winter 2022.

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    1. Also for die-hard Star Trek fans. here is a great documentary currently streaming on the History Channel (in the US) and on Crave TV in Canada

      THE CENTER SEAT: 55 YEARS OF STAR TREK
      https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15766736/

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    2. Grace, I am die-hard Star Trek fan, so I'll see if there's a way to stream the documentary here. I cut cable (except for internet) decades ago, so sometimes I miss out on cable-channel-only stuff.

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    3. JULIA: I knew I was a die-hard Star trek fan but it's scary when I not only recognize every actor in that imdb clip, but also all the producers and writers, too!

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    4. Grace, I'm a Star Trek fan, too, but I'm not sure where those shows are streaming in the U.S. Maybe CBS All Access? Which we don't have...

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    5. DEBS: Yes, the 4 new Star Trek TV shows (Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks and Prodigy), older TV shows and movies are supposedly now exclusively on Paramount+ (previously called CBS All Access) in the US. They removed the Star Trek movies and older TV series from Amazon Prime and/or Netflix earlier this year, trying to consolidate.

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  3. We do not have all the services, but we enjoyed Unforgotten, and are now in the middle of Atypical. I SO want to watch The Long Call and Only Murder in the House.

    Hank, you made me laugh about not knowing which service Succession is on. I can barely turn on the TV if Hugh isn't around!

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    1. Edith, the way we manage it is each member of the household subscribes and pays for one or two services. (Same for newspapers, shhhh!)

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  4. Only Murder in the House - I rarely watch streaming series, but this one was good, especially since I've been in the building the series is set in.

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    1. DRU: That is so cool you have been in the building!

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    2. I have GOT to watch this series - I've heard SO many people rave about it - including a bunch right here!

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    3. Dru, I loved that building! I figured it was based on the Dakota.

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    4. Deb, The Belnord and there are units available.

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  5. Despite not having any streaming options until mid-November, I have watched some stuff over the year when I hung out at my friend Ann's place.

    We watched the last season of Lucifer on Netflix (the last four episodes were seen on Christmas Day, enjoying the irony of that), I also got to see the first five episodes of Season 2 of Bosch on Amazon Prime at Ann's too. Yes, I'm way behind on that.

    I do hope to see the Agatha Raisin Christmas special on Acorn TV, but I'll have to wait until Comcast has a free week special to do that.

    And I signed up for Disney+! I've watched a number of new things and started watching some old stuff that I never saw or never saw all of. The new stuff: Series like Big Shots, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Doogie Kameloha, MD. But the best new stuff I watched was stuff like The Mandalorian, What If...? and Hawkeye (which was all kinds of awesome!).

    Old stuff: Rewatching Gargoyles, started watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars (never saw it).

    It's going to be a lot more TV/streaming screen time for me. Though I'm glad I only have the one service. I imagine if I had more options, I wouldn't be a couch potato, I'd just start looking like the couch itself.

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    1. LOL! Jay, as I said to Edith above, we all subscribe to one or two services so no one gets stuck with a big bill. But honestly, if i was down to Apple+ and Disney+, I wouldn't miss much. It starts to become a bit like one of those massive cable services after a while - 150 channels and nothing on.

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  6. So many "bests" this year:
    Mare of Eastwood
    Murders in the Building
    Schitt's Creek
    Kim's Convenience
    Network TVs 911 and 911 Lone Star
    Too many to count really. Still in the pile are Ted Lasso, yes, I know, but Apple gave me grief when I tried to sign up. Not interested in anything sci fi or star trek related although Station 11 was a great book. So I might change my mind

    Christmas Eve we watched "The Man who Invented Christmas. Worth a rewatch even if you've seen it. And Last night, glowing in the Bills win over the Patriots -- hot damn!!! -- we watched Call the Midwife Christmas Special. Great as always.

    RIP Archbishop Tutu and Sarah Weddington. Thank you both for making our world a better place.

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    1. ANN: I have only seen 1 of your listed "bests", and it was my top pick, too.

      The challenge is figuring out how to watch these shows here. The same streaming service (e,g, Disney+, Apple+, Amazon Prime, Paramount+) often does not have the same programming due to licensing restrictions in Canada. CRAVE TV is the only way I can watch HBO or Showtime or Paramount+ Star Trek shows. Disney+ allowed me to watch HULU originals and Marvel movies for a month.

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    2. I have saved the Call the Midwife special for today!

      And thank you, Finta, for making me go look up who Sarah Weddington was. She was only 26 when she successfully argued Roe v. Wade! Thanks, indeed, to her and Tutu.

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    3. Honestly, we've gone from having to buy the cable package to subscribing to the streaming service, and I predict in ten years we'll be able to subscribe to individual shows!

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    4. JULIA: I also cut cable about a decade ago. But as I said above, our streaming service choices are much more limited. I wish we could subscribe to individual shows...I only watched LONGMIRE on Netflix and finally cancelled when they kept jacking up the monthly prices.

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  7. Having a free year of Apple TV with my new IPad last January, I streamed for the first time.
    I loved Ted Lasso and a documentary on wild life animals called Earth at Night in Colour.
    I’m not sure I watched it enough to pay for the streaming after my free year. I prefer reading to watching.

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    1. Danielle, you'll enjoy Apple TV, but I hear what you say about reading. I'm watching more than I used to because one of y goals for the past year has been better bedtime discipline, and if I'm reading a good book, it's REALLY hard for me to put it down and head for bed. It's a lot easier for me to relax in front of the TV and then just turn it off.

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    2. Julia, I've started listening to Audible books at bedtime. I set the sleep timer on my phone for 30 minutes, and almost always have to backtrack the next day. There is something so comforting about being read to, especially if you really like the narrator's voice.

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    3. I may give that a try, Debs!

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  8. Lupin, Balthazar, all the Ann Cleeves episodes. Babylon Berlin haunts me.

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    1. Margaret, BABYLON BERLIN looks fascinating! This is one of the reasons I love it when we do recommendations - there are so many good shows out there that I would never have heard of if I didn't see it here.

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  9. My attention span is seriously deficient for streaming anything these days. I've rewatched all of the CAdfael mysteries and some of the Miss Marple mysteries, but about the only thing I can sit through currently are nonfiction shows--a few episodes of Antique Roadshow (in England), a 4-part documentary on the British countryside, an Audrey Hepburn biography. I did watch the first episode of Midsomer Murders, but can't help feeling the book it was based on had been made into a tv movie previous to MM. My reading/watching mojo is still seriously disrupted. One of these days I'll get caught up on all the wonderful shows/books out there.

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    1. Flora, in the first months of the pandemic lockdown, my ability to concentrate was so shattered I couldn't follow scripted shows or read anything except newspaper articles. I used to put on those soothing You Tube videos - "Three hours of an aquarium" or "Five hours of snow falling in the woods."

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  10. I'm very new to streaming after getting a new provider only a couple months ago. The first thing I watched was Mare of Easton. Then I recently signed up for a free trial of Britbox so I could watch all of the Ann Cleeves things. I would like to try Netflix but they do not offer a free trial so I would have to sign up and then cancel.

    I don't spend very much time watching anything really, as I much prefer to read, but I have made note of your suggestions and I will try the ones I find on my services. So thank you, Reds!

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  11. So many great things to watch! We loved Hawkeye too and we haven't seen all the Marvel movies.

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    1. Sherry, that's what I was telling one of my friends who hasn't been into superhero movies. HAWKEYE, LOKI and WANDAVISION are just great TV; you don't need to be familiar with the extensive backstory.

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    2. Now that we've given in to Disney, I want to watch LOKI and WANDA VISION. We also watched The Winter Soldier.

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    3. Being able to watch LOKI (and Tom Hiddleston) and Marvel movies is very tempting...but I'm not willing to pay $14/month to keep Disney+!!

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  12. I never developed the watching habit so I tend to binge on and off with streaming services. The past two weeks have been spent watching Hallmark-style Christmassy things. I did binge on Downton Abbey, The Crown, and Longmire this year. I've seen every episode of The Crown in it's release year, but can you believe how long I waited for Abbey and Longmire! Such a slug.

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    1. Kait, this past year, two of my favorites were COUNTERPOINT and THE CITY AND THE CITY, which were from 2017 and 2018 respectively. I feel no compulsion to catch the latest thing, unless it's going to have a limited run and then disappear. (I did watch the new DUNE movie twice because it was streaming for one month only.)

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    2. Curious to know what you thought about Dune, Julia. After we watched it, Rick made me watch some scenes from the original film. OMG, I remembered that it was awful, but not just how awful!!!!

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    3. I did the same thing, Debs, because they were streaming the 1984 version as well as the new one. The Dino DeLaurentis movie was really more like a bunch of two minute You Tube videos strung together, with almost no coherent narrative. And the voiceovers. SO MANY VOICEOVERS.

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  13. I haven't bought any streaming services, but have a few connections.... I piggyback on Netflix courtesy of my partner Norman and his ex (it's all good). As Grace mentioned, we get CBC-GEM in Canada, and, in case I miss it on really TV, PBS finally let Canadians into their streaming service (I've been a member forever). Also we get some pretty good Brit stuff on TVOntario.

    What I'm looking forward to on PBS, in January, is the new Around the World in 80 Days with David Tennant. Plus the 2nd season of All Creatures Great and Small. Not that they needed to remake it, but it's fun.

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    1. LOVE David Tennant! That should be great.

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    2. I've seen the trailer, and it looks superb!

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    3. Can't wait for Around the World, and the new season of All Creatures. Those and A Discovery of Witches 3 should keep me happy for a while!

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    4. SUSAN: Thanks for the tip about PBS streaming being accessible in Canada.

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  14. Ah, so much to watch--thanks for all the suggestions. I'm working my way through The Long Call and Shetland. I've watched all of Vera and loved it. Two days before Christmas, for me there was Acorn's Agatha Raisin "Kissing Christmas Goodbye," which I absolutely loved. And I'm with others as a fan of Only Murders in the Building. And I've been dipping back into past episodes of Midsomer and o the body count can be high! As I've said to my sweetie (who now probably sleeps with one eye open) if you're going to kill someone with a pitchfork, you must really mean it! Favorite Midsomer ever, which I might rewatch tonight, is Blue Herrings. Cheers, all!
    -Melanie

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    1. LOL! Melanie, that makes me want to put a pitchfork murder in my series just so someone can say that.

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    2. My second published mystery, A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die, had a pitchfork murder in the first scene! It's set on a farm, of course...

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    3. I watched the Agatha Raisin too and loved it. Yes, they are silly, but such fun.

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  15. Okay, you all have convinced me. We TRIED to watch Only Murders, and could not even get through one episode. And same for Schitt's Creek. It just didn't grab us. ANd interesting that no one else is watching Succession. Hmm.

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    1. I had tried Schitt's Creek too after hearing so many people say how much they loved it. Nope, I couldn't get into it at all. Although the episode I started watching was not even the first season, so maybe that's why. I doubt I'll try again because there are so many other things out there I want to watch. And great books I want to read!

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    2. Succession looks so good and gets such great reviews, and I adore Brian Cox, who is brilliant in everything. But I just can't watch terrible people doing things that are too close to the real world these days. It's all humor, science fiction and historical for me. Mostly.

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    3. HANK: ONLY MURDERS is just 10 episodes so it's doable to try again.
      Never watched Schitt's Creek despite the accolades for the little Canadian comedy that people seemed to embrace. But with 6 seasons, I would not know where to start...and frankly, I just want to spend more time READING (finally) instead of plunking myself in front of the TV. The only time I tend to watch more TV is in the winter and/or if we're in lockdown mode...

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    4. The nice thing about Schitt's Creek is that the episodes are short, so you can squeeze them in here and there. But they do need to be watched in order. It starts out very snarky and snipe-y with a very unlikeable and dysfunctional family, but the whole arc of the series is about them finding their strength as a family, and in themselves. It's very, very sweet and the entire cast is brilliant.

      I'm with Julia on Succession. I want to get AWAY from nasty people. Same with Yellowstone, which my daughter loved. But she's had a crush on Kevin Costner since she was ten:-)

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    5. We gave Schitt's Creek a good try -- 6 or 8 episodes? -- but it didn't click for us either, Hank.

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    6. SO interesting, Leslie! Maybe it would be a good research paper. xx

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  16. So sorry I missed this! Moving the Hooligans into a new apartment has me all upside down and backwards! What did I stream in 2021? Mandalorian, Succession, The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Only Murders in the Building, and currently, I’m devouring The Witcher. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few but those leap to mind. And Yellowstone is on my radar but that pesky work thing…sigh.

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    1. Jenn, no problems. This is a busy, busy time of year before AND after Christmas Day. And I've been meaning to check out Yellowstone because, I admit, I still have a crush on Kevin Costner after all these years.

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    2. Oh, we started watching Yellowstone! It kinda reminded me too much of my beloved Ozark. For some reason. Like--Dallas meets Ozark. See what you think.

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    3. We haven't tried The Witcher, Jenn, but with season 2 coming out maybe we'll have a look at the first season.

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    4. Hank, actually, Dallas meets Ozark sounds very appealing to me!

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    5. See, Julia? Voila! And yeah, I guess it does, since I loved them both. But maybe..oh, gosh. Watch and let me know. xx

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    6. Like Hank, I couldn't get into Yellowstone as Ozark is one of my favorites and Yellowstone felt like some kind of knock-off. Is the Witcher as gory as its first episode? I really want to know.

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  17. I want to see "Only Murders in the Building," but don't have that service. I tried a few episodes of "Sucession" but in this angry-world I couldn't handle the nasty characters. We gave up on "The British Baking Show" when Mary, Mel and Sue left, because the new hosts took over too much. :-( Really liked "Mare of Easttown," love "Foyle's War," love "Vera" (and hope the rest of S11 airs soon), "Shetland" S6 was very good, "The Tower" (on BritBox) was good and a bit different, and yesterday I started re-watching "Case Histories." We've also been watching the classic Christmas movies and enjoying their more gentle world, even though many are based during WWII. (How can WWII be a more gentle world? How sad.) I'm going to have to start rotating streaming services on/off, but suspect the services will catch on to that and start charging for it...hope not.

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    1. Missy, I'm pretty sure it's entirely possible to get one of the services for a month, and then cancel it - although I suspect it's not anywhere near as easy to unsubscribe as it is to sign up! After all, they're hoping you'll get hooked and won't want to give it up, which is what happened to me with Apple TV's free trial!

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  18. I am so glad to see I am not the only person who feels overwhelmed lwith streaming services. I can't keep track and know i miss things I'd like to see. I need a system...(that's the librariann speaking). I do plan to try Succession this year and find Mare of Eastown. There were two series we enjoyed a lot which I don't think have been mentioned: the French Call My Agent, and The Kominsky Method. Both were crazy funny and yet touching and coincidentally - or maybe not- took place behind the scenes in show business. And I went way old school land rented CDs (yes!) from Netflix and finally saw, I Claudius. Yes, I had never seen it though I'd read the books and knew some of the history too. And it was as great as everyone said it was. Oh and British Baking Show? Loved the original but could never get used to the new cast. Just didn't do it. Tried Yellowstone with high hopes but kind of hated everyone on it. Should I try again? Wishing everyone good viewing for 2022 and good reading of course. (I'm reading Daughters of Yalta - history and very fascinating. Then back to fun mysteries.)

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    1. Triss, honestly, there are SO many shows out there on SO many services, I'm of the philosophy that if you don't like one, move on. And you've got me wanting to see I, CLAUDIUS again! I saw it when it was originally broadcast - I was in high school - and I'm not sure I've ever seen it again, though it was so good I have many vivid memories of it.

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    2. Julia, you'll like it.Pretty evil, but that is the history. Great acting. I looked and looked at one actor with a tiny role (but would be major the next season, because I recognized the character name) and could NOT name him.So I finally gave up and checked the cast. Well,no wonder! His voice sounded familiar but I'd never seen him with hair! (Guesses welcome)

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  19. I'm going to second the recommendation for Hawkeye. It was completely fun and well worth watching.

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    1. Wasn't it wonderful? I've always loved Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, the ordinary, if skilled, guy hanging out with supermen and gods. Renner's chemistry with Hailee Steinfeld is terrific, and I loved the scenes of New York at Christmastime!

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  20. As far as I can understand, “streaming” means pay hundreds for cable, then pay extra for the good stuff. So I can’t get any of the favorites. Bah.

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    1. Rick, we "cut the cord" about five years ago. Now we don't pay for cable or satellite, so paying for the streaming services is still a fraction of what we used to pay.

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    2. Same here, except we cut the cord about twenty years ago. If you've got Amazon Prime for the shipping, Rick, you already have Prime Video, and there are lots of excellent shows on that, including one of my favorites, THE EXPANSE.

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    3. Yes! So excited for the final season of The Expanse.

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    5. I don’t understand. If I dump Comcast, I lose email and internet. Plus, my TV is hooked to my cable box, so no cable box, no TV

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  21. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING was surprisingly good. I'm glad they are doing a second season, but since Hulu + Live TV is raising their rates again, I need to evaluate whether we keep the "live" TV part (which we only keep because The Boy likes to watch football and basketball).

    We really enjoyed THE EXPANSE on Amazon Prime and are working through the final season now (Amazon is only dropping one show per week).

    We watched all the Marvel shows and enjoyed them, the most recent of which was Hawkeye (a much deeper story than we expected).

    I have a few months of free Apple+ TV left because I bought my iPad Pro last March, so I really should try a few things there.

    One thing that really disappointed us (read The Hubby) was Amazon's WHEEL OF TIME. He loved the books (I eventually found them ponderous) and has read them many times, so he was excited to see a show. But it turned out to be one of those "the only thing it has in common with the books is the title and the character names" adaptations, so he was very unhappy.

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    1. Liz, I tried it without ever reading the books, and I found it disappointing because it seemed SO derivative of every other "one of you is the chosen one" fantasies. Plus, and this is nitpicky, but the design seemed off to me. Some characters didn't look as if they belonged in the same world, let alone the same village. Watched two episodes and called it quits.

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    2. Yes, that;s how we felt, too, Julia..derivative and off. And a little overacted. But the author was a FORGE author, so I am/was connected. x

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    3. Interesting. We wondered if our reaction was colored by the fact we knew the books. Maybe not. And yes, the young characters were…not consistent.

      But we did think Rosamund Pike was an excellent Moiraine.

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    4. Oh, Julia - that’s something that’s different from the books. In the books, from the very start, Moiraine knows who the Dragon Reborn is. There’s no “one of you” nonsense at all.

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  22. We too gave up on satellite years ago -- we get the main networks and a few fun oddballs by antennae. Netflix streaming and DVD is our main service, so we haven't been able to see some of the shows the rest of you are raving about. Loved Lupin, Never Have I Ever (only two seasons) so far, and -- hmmm, drawing a blank! In 2020, we subscribed to Disney+ for a couple of months to watch Hamilton several times, and we re-subbed in November to watch the Beatles' Get Back. So interesting! I've watched once, Mr. Right 2+ times, and at least one more watch is on deck before we unsub again -- until their Next Big Thing!

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    1. Firefly Lane -- that's the one I was trying to remember. The lead characters are my age and I too lived in Seattle as a young woman, so that gave it an added level of interest. Plus I'm a sucker for stories about women's friendships over time.

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    2. Leslie, Firefly Lane is based on the book by Kirsten Hannah, isn't it? I like her fiction; I need to check the show out.

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    3. Yes, it is. Embarrassed to say I haven't read any of her books -- on the list!

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  23. Hallie, Look on YouTube for Sister Wendy or here are the dvds

    https://www.amazon.com/Sister-Wendy-The-Complete-Collection/dp/B00006G8FJ

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    1. Judy, I had Sister Wendy books for my kids when they were little! I didn't know she also did a show.

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  24. Great British Baking Show, this season's, was definitely a favorite for me. I think it was my favorite group of people, as they all seemed to become such great friends and got together afterwards. Ted Lasso is also at the top of the list, along with Only Murders in the Building. Schitt's Creek was my 2020 favorite, but I still re-watch an occasional episode. I have a t-shirt that says, "Fold in the cheese," and I wore it to my granddaughter's swim meet, where a woman stopped me and told me she loved it. I said, "Oh, you're a fan of Schitt's Creek, too." My daughter is also a fan of it, and it's fun to share tidbits from it and know the other person gets it. Agatha Raisin is a favorite, and the first show, a Christmas show, in the new season promises that the show is moving forward with an excellent production. Unforgotten with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar was wonderful, but the ending gutted me. Oh, Call the Midwife is an absolute must for me. I watched the Christmas show for this season last night, and I just swooned. Just perfect. Another PBS show I ended up loving and didn't know if I would was All Creatures Great and Small. The accents alone were worth it. One that husband and I watch together is the new Lost in Space. We loved the first season, and the second season has started. We've watched the first show in season two, but it didn't pull me in like season one. I'm hoping that will change. I was watching Vera and need to get back to it. I think I'm on season five.

    I want to watch Mare of Easttown, but it means adding yet another streaming service, and I've got so many now. Maybe I'll wait until it's more widely available. I also want to watch The Unforgivable with Sandra Bullock and Don't Look Up on Netflix.

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    1. Kathy, season 2 of Lost in Space doesn't proceed at quite the same breakneck pace as the first season, but it's very much worth your while. I'm looking forward to season 3 - trying to decide if I want to wait each week to watch, or if I'll hold off until all the episodes have dropped.

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    2. Julia, I was wrong. It's season 3 I've just started watching, and I've only watched the first one and had to watch it without closed captions, so I'm willing to give it more of a chance. I like both seasons one and two.

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  25. I watched Lucifer and The Babysitters' Club on Netflix which comes with my Comcast account. So does Peacock so saw the 3rd Psych movie. Since I subscribed to Disney Plus, I've watched all the Marvel shows, The Mandalorian, and the Beatles Get Back. Boba Fett starts this week. Although I have to admit that I watch network shows like the NCIS's, Grey's Anatomy, etc. Ghosts is funny and a little different. Have a Happy New Year!

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  26. Major Ted Lasso fan! And finished Lucifer, which I adored and didn't think I would. Murder in the Building--so much fun! Major love for Mare of Easttown. I've been binging "City Homicide" an Australian show where the characters are my favorite part in equal measure with the plot. Excellent!

    Right now I'm cruising through "The Great." OMG, I just love the high jinx and craziness of the show even though it's lewd and probably will turn some people off.

    I've just canceled Netflix so I can sign up for HBO and watch "Succession." I think that will be my next great show as I've watched the first episode. I'm just hoping the hubby can get into it. He hates shows about the wealthy and greedy. Oh, and the dysfunctional. That's probably why he sticks to nature shows.

    Thanks for all the great suggestions too. We are not in any want for streaming shows.

    Happy New Year, everyone! ❤️

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