HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: TV, anyone? We just watched DOWN CEMETERY ROAD, every single bit of it, and at one point I said to Jonathan, wow I love this, but, what again? Is the point? I completely don’t understand it. Eventually it was all made clear, ish, kind of, and some loose ends were not tied up, but it was really fun to watch. Rhys, it’s Emma Thompson’s hair you need to see. Go for it.
PLURIBUS, yes yes yes, fabulous. Thought-provoking, fantastic. Would you trade away your individuality if you could be happy and know everything? Ah, I don’t want to describe too much, but it is about (to me, at least) the dangers of AI.
SLOW HORSES continues to be wonderfully entertaining. (Mick Herron wrote Cemetery Road, too.) And we just started watching HIJACK, with Idris Elba.
I know I am leaving something out. How about you, Reds and readers?
HALLIE EPHRON: I’m in RE-watch mode with SHERLOCK. Remembering how fabulous Benedict Cumberbatch was and how smart the writing was. But honestly there’s nary a single clue or red herring that I remember from having seen these before. The solutions are SO complicated, and sometimes I”m not even sure exactly what the crime is. Doesn’t matter… I do love Sherlock and Mary and Watson and Mrs. Hudson.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: We’ve just finished the final episode of STRANGER THINGS. We found this last season a little confusing, especially since it had been so long since the previous one, but we loved the way they wrapped everything up. It was such fun to see all the lovely kids grow up over the course of the series.
Also, we watched the ERAS tour documentary, which was fascinating. The technical side of the productions was just astounding, and the effort and dedication the tour took, not just from Taylor but from all the dancers and singers and musicians and crew, was incredibly moving. I only wish I’d had the experience of seeing it in person.
JENN McKINLAY: We are currently watching THE LOWDOWN, starring Ethan Hawke, and it is excellent - we are only two episodes in, however. Before that, we watched THE CHAIR COMPANY…um…wildly entertaining and yet soooo bizarre. We loved, loved, loved, NOBODY WANTS THIS. We also caught the movie MARTY SUPREME and it was utterly bonkers and very entertaining.
RHYS BOWEN: We haven’t been watching much because we had family around and then John was in hospital. When I’m in de-stress mode I watch the tennis channel and right now there are some good tournaments going on in Australia. It is also nostalgia for me because it reminds me of times in Australia, watching those tournaments with my mum.
But we did start one of the new Agatha Christies the other night. The Pale Horse, which was one of her really good stories. But Agatha writes in a way that is calm and genteel. No gore. No sensationalism. This rendition was horrific and we turned it off after about twenty minutes. And retreated back to old favorites. Recently discovered a Maigret with Rowan Atkinson. They are really good and it’s fun to see him playing a deep and serious character.
LUCY BURDETTE: As you know, I am the world’s fussiest television watcher. By the way, Jenn, we went to see Marty Supreme. I hated it! About 2/3 of the way through, I mentioned to John that this was hard to take. He said he didn’t like it either and let’s leave. And so we did. But then we saw Song Sung Blue, which was sad but so excellent! Now I am looking forward to watching another new one about a stand-up comic who is getting divorced. It’s called Is This Thing On?
On the television front, nix on Cemetery Road. And I haven’t gotten hooked by Slow Horses, though I know I’m in the minority. We did watch the first episode of the new season of Shetland and absolutely loved it. We also watched episode one of the new season of THE PITT. John loves it, I will give it another try. Fussy.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m also in a TV funk. I don’t feel like anything dark, but most comedies aren’t my cup of tea. I watched WAKE UP DEAD MAN when Youngest was home and we both adored it. I’d love for more series or movies in the traditional Agatha Christie vein, but it’s getting hard to find one I haven’t already seen! Happily, a new adaptation of The Seven Dials Mystery was released on Netflix yesterday, so that’s going to be my weekend watch. Now, if PBS will just let us know when MARBLE HALL MURDERS (third in the wonderful Moonflower Murders series) is being released, I’ll call myself good for the month.
HANK: Oh, yes Seven Dials, looking forward! But somehow...I think all those look to campy for me. But hope persists! And anything by Anthony Horowitz, I'm totally in. And oh, the Lincoln Lawyer is coming up. Yay.
How about you all, Reds and Readers? Whatcha watching?
The big thing here was watching the figure skating and seeing who would be selected for the Olympic team . . . .
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to The Lincoln Lawyer . . . .
I’ve been watching THURSDAY MURDER CLUB again on Netflix. No idea why I’m not in the mood to watch new movies nor television shows these days.
ReplyDeleteWhen I’m in the mood, I’m going to look at your screen recommendations.
Lately I’ve been learning British Sign Language and several languages on Duolingo. And now that I’ve recovered from whatever I had, I’m back to the writing process.
The return of "All Creatures Great and Small" on PBS last Sunday evening had me once again happily curled up on the sofa in my jimjams with a cup of hot tea and a White Chocolate/Strawberry Milano cookie. :-) For the next six Sundays all will be right with the world and all troubles and cares packed away. One solid hour of respite from the reality of life and global chaos. And right behind it is a new series called "Bookish". A show about a character named Gabriel Book who owns an antiquarian bookshop called Book's (Books) in post WWII London. The very talented Emmy Award Winner Mark Gatiss plays Gabriel Book whose sideline in addition to collecting rare books is helping the police solve murders. Gatiss also wrote and directed "Bookish". Oh boy, the next six Sunday nights on PBS are going to be fabulous! P.S. Hank ~ Mark Gatiss also was the creator behind the more contemporary (and very clever) "Sherlock" you liked starring Benedict Cumberbatch. With only 3 episodes per season I was left with always wanting more. Of course, the Winter Olympics is also on the agenda ~ the skiing as well as the skating are our favorites.
ReplyDeleteP.S. My mistake and my apology. The "Sherlock" comment was meant for Hallie who mentioned she was once again watching the series. A classic case of not paying attention or proofreading. Perhaps it being 2:00 in the morning is another reason for being so sloppy. And Rhys ~ I LOVED Rowan Atkinson's portrayal of Maigret. I wish he were still doing that series. Okay...Off to bed before I get something else wrong. :-)
DeleteI, too, absolutely loved Rowan Atkinson's Maigret. But unlike comments made another day by many of you, I didn't dislike the new Maigret that was out recently. Not as good as Rowan Atkinson but certainly good enough to watch, I thought. And I was unaware that Mark Gatiss was the creator of "Sherlock"!
DeleteNow that my husband has his reading mojo back, we haven’t been watching much TV, so my TBW note on my phone just gets longer and longer! We did binge a chunk of House Hunters International the other day, which is our go-to when we don’t want to think too much.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve binged on Landman with Billie Bob Thornton, only the finale left to go, and it’s excellent. Deb, take note. It’s set in Midland. What a dump!
ReplyDeleteAnd yesterday we watched KUMIKO, a lovely beautiful poignant bittersweet Japanese film (Netflix) that is tres Coen Bro-esque. Think Fargo
It's one of those films I so often miss, low budget but extremely well done.
(No wood chippers were harmed nor even involved in the making of this movie)
I'm judging books for a publisher competition so my TV watching has slowed down, but I did watch HIS & HERS on Netflix.
ReplyDeleteHis & Hers looks really good, Dru. Thanks for the tip.
DeleteI’m not much of a TV watcher, and other than our regular Verizon cable we only have Netflix. I watch PBS and we can choose from the 2 Boston channels, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire! Lucky us! Sunday started the new season of All Creatures Great and Small which give me an hour of perfect fantasy. And there’s a new Netflix series with Matt Damon (be still my heart) and Ben Affleck. Glad to know The Lincoln Lawyer is coming back!
ReplyDeleteAs the likely TV-aholic amongst the JRW community, I'm watching LOTS of stuff. The networks are all starting back to new episodes after the holiday break so I'm having a lot of those shows pop up again. New seasons of The Rookie and Will Trent have started too.
ReplyDeleteI watched the first episode of the new Miss Scarlett season but as much as I like the series, I thought the episode was a bit weak.
Doing rewatches of a lot of different TV shows including ER, The Last Ship, Married with Children, Babylon 5, Rookie Blue and a host more. Finished a rewatch of the 1 season Bones spinoff show The Finder.
And sometime over these next few days, I'll watch the premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
I could give a full list of everything I'm watching but I'd probably run up against the character limit.
Jay, I found Miss Scarlett without The Duke to be weak sauce, and pretty much abandoned it. Should I have stuck with it?
DeleteWe are on our one mystery a night winter evening schedule. The mystery is surrounded on both sides with educational things – usually from BBC Selects or PBS Docs. Mysteries currently being enjoyed: All Creatures (PBS), Bookish (PBS), reviewing Night Manager in prep for season 2 (Prime), Old Lynsey series – hate the new one, Shetland (Britbox) and St Pierre (CBC). Currently in the middle of The Art of Russia (BBC Select) which has been surprisingly good, interesting and beautiful. Neither of us are really art lovers, but enjoy looking at architecture (lots of it here) art in any format not necessarily paintings and views of the countries. It made me want to go and look for a book with lots of pictures on Faberge art, and did you know there was a Queen Elizabeth in Russia who is the creator of all the gold and bling in decorating the winter palace – now in part the Hermitage – built by Peter but decorated by her.
ReplyDeleteWe have run out of nature programmes, cooking programmes, and 30-minute funny programmes. May have to break down and get Netflix.
All Creatures Great and Small on PBS.
ReplyDeletePeople We Meet On Vacation based on the book by Emily Henry on Netflix.
Also looking forward to Marble Hall Murders and The Lincoln Lawyer.
The people around me are buzzing about 11.22.63 on Netflix which is a time travel story about preventing the JFK assassination, starring James Franco. I haven’t watched it myself.
11-22-63 is based on a Stephen King novel! I had no idea they'd made a movie of it. Thanks, Brenda.
DeleteA couple people mentioned Bookish, which I have been watching via PBS Passport. Smart and funny, with an original set of characters and actors.
ReplyDeleteWe have also been watching New Tricks on Britbox, an older series from the early 2000s. A disgraced female DI is given a group of retired police officers to help her solve older open crimes. It is great fun, because the "old guys" are not only all old pals, but each one is quirkier than the next. Amanda Pullman plays the "guv", who you might recognize from Good Karma Hospital, and the mother of the canon on Acorn's Murder Before Evensong. I don't know if I can stick to it for 12 seasons, though.
And the new season of Shetland is underway, with a terrific storyline. The combination of Ruth and Tosh is golden.
We've largely been in re-watch mode lately. We have gone back through all of The Chelsea Detective and cherry-picked episodes of Brokenwood. And we've started re-watching the most recent season of Professor T. Midsomer Murders recently released four new episodes which we ran through in no time, and we've been waiting for more new episodes of Shetland to land before we start on it. (We're not usually binge watchers, but it is nice to have the option of adding an episode right away if one leaves us particularly curious for what happens next.) We just started watching Bookish, too, and enjoyed what we've seen so far. If anyone hasn't yet watched the new season of Karen Pirie (released last fall) I definitely recommend it!
ReplyDeleteOn our less cultured front, we still watch NCIS and its two spinoffs, NCIS Sidney and NCIS Origins. The original is a mere shadow of its former self but we can't quite bring ourselves to drop it. Sidney is much more light, in an action adventure style. And Origins, once we finally got past the fact that the actor playing the young Gibbs looks physically NOTHING like the actor who played Gibbs for 20+ years, is surprisingly good. The writers do an artful job of expanding on the canon of the original series. But I doubt any of them would appeal to me withough the investment I made in NCIS over all those years.
*without the investment. Sigh.
DeleteThe third season of BLUE LIGHTS and the tenth season of SHETLAND, both on Britbox. BLUE LIGHTS gets better and better, set in Belfast, outstanding acting and screen plays.
ReplyDelete