What We're Watching

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Happy Memorial Day, everyone, and I hope you are all grilling, picnicking, or a combination thereof. We are really splashing out and having hotdogs, which happens maybe once a year, so is an occasion!

Tell us what you put on yours.

Or maybe you are not cooking out, and are stretched out in a hammock with one of the books we suggested yesterday? I can't think of a better way to spend the beginning of summer. 

Our Memorial Day forecast here in north Texas is for sun and 88 degrees, but if inclement weather will keep you indoors, I thought we'd chat about what we're watching these days.

If I was embarrassed to admit I'd never read Tana French, I am really embarrassed to admit that we had never watched ELEMENTARY–especially as it is my daughter's favorite series ever. Well, we are in the process of remedying that, having just finished the first season. Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu were amazing, so incredibly talented, and the plots were so clever. I'd like to have access to the writers' idea bank! I love the brownstone set and the whole New York feel of the series. It is utterly charming and just what I need at the moment.

We watched the first season and part of the second of THE CAPTURE, starring Holliday Grainger as a London cop who uncovers a plot to fake videos in real time. I'm a big fan of Grainger (Robin Ellacott in the Cormoran Strike series) but THE CAPTURE is a bit creepy and unsettling and a little too close to reality for fun watching for me. We've also watched the first episode of LEGENDS, about UK Customs officers going undercover to stop drug smuggling in the early 90s. This is based on a true story and stars Tom Burke (who also plays Cormoran Strike.)

Oh, and on a totally delightful note, we've started the new series of TUCCI IN ITALY.  I adore Stanley Tucci and the series is now produced by NatGeo, so it is gorgeous and so interesting. 

Oh, and we had to pay for a month of BBC Select in order to get it, but I'm watching THE ROYAL CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW, which I find absolutely fascinating. (Rick does not agree...)

How about it, darling REDS, what are you watching?

JENN McKINLAY: We are currently watching the latest season of HACKS (love Jean Smart!), YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS (I’ve loved John Hamm since Madmen), and my latest K-Drama WHEN THE PHONE RINGS (a good suspense story). Nothing groundbreaking but all entertaining.

LUCY BURDETTE: Talk about oldies but goodies, we are watching THE WEST WING. People told us about this for years, and they were right–it’s so good! The President, played by Martin Sheen, is everything we yearn for–someone smart and funny and quirky but never destructive or vindictive. We also plan to watch REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. Maybe this long weekend?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I love  these lists! We are enjoying YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS–I loved Jon Hamm in Mad Men too, but not so much in anything he did after that. Until this! And we are on the same wave length, Debs, watching LEGENDS, too. Also–we are having a controversy (as controversial as it gets in our house, which is not too) about WIDOWS BAY. I absolutely love it, horror–ish as it is, it is also so funny. Kinda Jaws meets Stephen King. Jonathan is not a fan, though. If you missed PARADISE, please go back and watch it! As I have said here in the past, I have loved it from moment one, and the first episode, an instant classic, just won the Edgar for Best TV episode. (I feel so vindicated.)

What am I forgetting?

HALLIE EPHRON: I really enjoyed REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES (on Amazon). Sally FIelds is wonderful, and the octopus (more talking animals!) is divine. The plot twist will seem a bit contrived to seasoned mystery readers, but it’s not the main reason to watch it.

And I loved LOVE SARAH streaming on Netflix. It’s about a group of women who start a bakery, fulfilling one of their mother’s dreams.

Also enjoyed THE LIFE OF BIRDS on public television, a documentary narrated by David Attenborough. Who knew bird song could be so complex and fascinating?!

DEBS: Hallie, I'd been wondering if I wanted to watch REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, so thanks for the rec.

RHYS BOWEN: I haven’t had much time for watching but I’m trying not to binge THE OTHER BENNETT SISTER. Sooo delicious and Caroline Bingley is so easy to hate. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As I mentioned briefly when we shared what we’re reading, I’ve been working my way through the Poirot series - I can’t believe I’ve never seen any of them before. I always thought of the character as annoyingly fussy, but David Suchet plays him with SO much depth.

Just finished the Kdrama TRAIN (2020, if you’re looking for it) a crime fiction/time travel mash up. I almost gave it up halfway through episode 3, but then the pace picked up and I was completely hooked. Before that was THE GLORY, a revenge thriller. The romance subplot was blah, but seeing how the abused-in-high-school heroine gets back at her tormentors is delicious.

Other than that, nothing, so I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else recommends!

DEBS: Julia, I'm envying you watching Poirot for the first time. They were brilliant.

How about it, dear Readers? What are you watching when you can drag yourselves away from a book?

And what's on your hot dog? I'm a mustard, dill relish, sauerkraut person myself