What We're Watching

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Now that we're all up to speed on our reading and our TBR lists/stacks are ever more burgeoning, it's time for a look at what's on the tube for when we can tear ourselves away from our books.

From the reality TV queen here, we are glued to the new season of GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF–oh, sorry, GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW, as we're supposed to call it in the US, although that doesn't have nearly the same ring as GBBO. My non-cooking, non-baking hubby is now hooked and keeps asking me, "When's the baking show on again?" (Some of his enthusiam this season might have to do with one very cute contestant...) He's also gotten hooked on THE VOICE, my other reality TV indulgence, but is not so keen on the little bits I can manage to snag of the UK's STRICTLY COME DANCING on VPNs. (Shhh, don't tell.)

And now back to crime. In the lull between summer programming and new autumn stuff, we pulled up a UK series from 2003 called STATE OF PLAY. We couldn't find it streaming but it is available on DVD and Blu-ray, and I can't recommend it highly enough. The writing! The cast! It was directed by David Yates and featured David Morrisey, John Simm, James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Kelly McDonald, Polly Walker, and more. Even more than twenty years later, it doesn't feel dated, and it's one of the best things I've ever watched on television. They made a movie of it a couple of years later starring Russell Crowe, but that doesn't begin to compare to the original 6 part series. (That's a very unflattering photo of the Scottish actress Kelly McDonald, who I adore, on the DVD cover. Most recently you will have seen her as Carl Mork's therapist on DEPT Q!)

We're watching SLOW HORSES, although the weekly dole-out formula is especially annoying with the complicated storylines in this series. We've also discovered a British (Irish) police series called BLUE LIGHTS that is really good. This is on Britbox and is in the gritty rather than cozy vein. The 3rd season just aired so we're looking forward to having several seasons to follow.

Oh, and we are now recording the late-night shows on our Tablo, so that we can keep up with the voices of sanity, AKA the late-night TV hosts. Who would have thought it?

Take it away, dear REDs. What are you watching?

HALLIE EPHRON: Like you, I’m watching The Great British Baking Show (Season 16) … so many great contestants to root for. This batch seem especially talented. 

My daughter was visiting and she’s never watched “Sherlock” which we could stream on Britbox. I do love Britbox. The plots are SO COMPLICATED I have no trouble being challenged to follow the storylines even though I’ve seen them all. And Benedict Cumberbatch is so deliciously and gleefully sociopathic as Holmes. And Martin Freeman the perfect foil as the very human Watson.

And I confess, sometime during the pandemic lockdowns I got hooked on Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. They’ve become a weeknight ritual.

DEBS: Hallie, I LOVED Sherlock, and would happily watch it again. Also, my parents were religious watchers of WHEEL OF FORTUNE and that brings back fond memories for me.

LUCY BURDETTE: We’ve been on a busy vacation so I’ve not been watching TV except for the occasional Jimmy Kimmel or Steve Colbert clip. However, I am very much looking forward to seeing Jane Goodall’s FAMOUS LAST WORDS, and Jeremy White playing Bruce Springsteen later this month. Debs, John loved BLUE LIGHTS but I only watched one or two episodes–too dark for my soul before bedtime!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I have been on book tour, so hotel TV is all about Chopped, which is always on.

 But in real life, back home, so many good things–Slow Horses is back, hurray. Cannot wait for The Lincoln Lawyer to return.

Also, I just spent the day with Elizabeth George, she is incredible, so I came home from Atlanta and instantly started bingeing the new Lynley, and then will return to the old Lynley. SO fun, now that I know all the backstory.

I am a massive fan of The Morning Show, and crossing fingers  the new season is good. Oh, and Invasion. 

I LOVED State of Play, Debs. And isn’t The Diplomat coming back?

OH, and finally–THE OFFER! (Debs, did you tell me about this?) About the making of The Godfather, and it is fantastic.)

DEBS: Yes, it was me who recommended THE OFFER. I don't know why this series didn't get more press. I think it's worth a temporary subscription to Paramount just to watch it!!!! So glad you liked it, Hank. We watched THE GODFATHER when we finished it, and that was fascinating, too.

And, yes, we are looking forward to THE DIPLOMAT, too.

RHYS BOWEN:  A big fan of the Great British Baking Show here too. They are always such nice, kind people who cheer for each other. How could you not love it! We also watched the Thursday Murder Club.. which deviated quite a lot from the book.

Apart from that we watch a lot of Britbox, all our favorite mystery series, plus I like all the travel shows on Britibox. Martin Clunes and various British islands, others on favorite villages, canal trips etc. I guess I’m nostalgic for a simpler era at the moment.

Finally finished up Clarkson’s Farm which got rather annoying in the end.

How about it, dear readers? What other gems have we missed, and are we all "baking" together? (I keep promising to buy some kind of a treat for Friday nights, because we always feel so deprived when the episode is over!)

TV ADHD--What We're Watching (or Not Watching!)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Skimming through the Emmy's the other night (the second of 2024!) reminded me that while we've talked about what we're reading, it's been awhile since we talked about what we're watching. Or not watching, in my case, as it was a stark reminder that I am TOTALLY OUT OF IT.

I'm embarrassed to admit that we are now almost through season 8 of Grey's Anatomy. That's how many hours?? Nope, not doing the math on that one… We are also watching Great British Bake Off (no, I am not calling it Great British Baking Show. That is so lame. Surely Americans can deal with the British title! ) And yes, I have actually got my hubby watching GBBO! I think I deserve my own award for that! Now if I could just get him to bake...

But as for the ADHD, let's see… We watched all of season 1 of Slow Horses, except for the last episode. Do we go back to that, or just start season 2? Then, one and a half seasons of Emily in Paris. We didn't finish season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. (Meryl Streep's character was so annoying.) Again, do we try to finish that or just start 4? We only made it through 3 episodes of season 3 of The Bear. (Too much yelling and family dysfunction. And I know it's really good, but will somebody please tell me why this series is a comedy??) 

I thought Hacks was about not very good writers. I have only seen a few episodes of The Crown. (Ouch. Do I lose my Anglophile card?) Baby Reindeer sounds entirely too creepy. Fallout, nope, can't do post-apocalyptic these days.

I might tackle Shogun, not sure if Rick would go for it. I would happily watch The Gilded Age, but a definite no from the hubby on that one.

My Britbox and Acorn subscriptions are gathering dust! It's so funny that Rick will watch GBBO or Emily in Paris but will NOT watch a period British mystery. And I, apparently, am just not watching TV except for the nightly hour or so we watch together. Just don't ask me what I'm doing with my time instead because I couldn't tell you!

Reds, what's playing–or not playing–on your screens?

RHYS BOWEN: Having gone through a stressful time, like some other Reds, I have to watch something light, peaceful. I enjoyed the PBS mini series featuring Agatha Christie as a sleuth with her real life drama. I watched the Olympics and then the Para-olympics so I’m all Olympiced out, right now. I also watched much of the US Open tennis. Has a new season of the Great British Baking Show started yet? That’s about my level of excitement at the moment.

DEBS: Rhys,  I think it starts on the 27th. What's the Agatha as sleuth show called?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We happily watched THE PERFECT COUPLE even though it kind of didn’t make sense, but who cares. And I adore SLOW HORSES and a show called THE MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN which is such an unlikely choice for me, because it is very tough and violent, but it’s riveting and compelling – – just look it up.  And we are just beginning to watch MOONFLOWER MURDERS, the fabulous Anthony Horowitz sequel to my favorite show of all time ever, THE MAGPIE MURDERS. 

So exciting! 

DEBS: We started The Mayor of Kingstown. As much as I love Jeremy Renner, I decided it was just a world I didn't want to live in for that many hours.

LUCY BURDETTE: You might remember that I don’t watch much TV–would rather read! However, John likes me to watch from time to time, so I do. We are in the middle of season 3 of The Bear. There was a lot of screaming in the first few episodes, but it’s improved and I know we’ll finish!

Remember, Hank, when we started to watch THE OLD MAN, and I bailed out after about 15 minutes because it was too depressing and I could tell it was going to be brutal? Anyway I went upstairs to read and happened to message the Reds, and Hank told me to go back downstairs and try again because it’s Really Good. So I did, and it was.

Anyway, John told me Saturday that the new season had begun and we agreed to watch it. After about 15 minutes, we both said, “This is very familiar. Is he going to set up those tin cans every season?” Yes, we were watching season 1 episode 1 all over again! So now we’re ready for the next season, which I think starts this weekend!

DEBS: We'll go back to The Bear, on your recommendation, Lucy!

HANK: Oh, thank you for reminding me! We will watch it, too!  

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m definitely the laggard, despite the fierce competition for the title. A few months ago I added BRITBOX to my choices and I’ve been watching old favorites. Joan Hickson as Miss Marple–she’s great but those plots, sorry, they’re byzantine and farfetched and cliched. The old Poirots hold up. David Suchet is sublime. I still love NEW TRICKS, up until they swapped out the cast. Is there a new Great British Baking Show? And I’m looking forward to watching Kathy Bates in the new boot of MATLOCK. Starts next week.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I just recently added a PBS Masterpiece subscription to my Amazon account, because I was craving exactly the same thing Rhys was - old fashioned mysteries. I watched DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLY and am planning on starting the Agatha Christie-as-detective shows soon.

My deep dive into KDrama has left me very spoiled as to series length. They do hour-long shows for 10, 12 or 16 episodes and then it’s done. When I see something that says “4th season” I shy away, no matter how alluring the description. I just cannot commit to 40 or 50 hours of watching something. My one exception? ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING. Loving the 4th season!

My Kdrama rec for those of you brave enough to try it is BEYOND EVIL. You can find it on the free-with-annnoying-ads Raukuten Viki. The show got multiple Baeksang awards, the Korean version of the Emmys. No supernatural elements, just a slow burning serial killer investigation with amazing performances and tension that will have you covering your eyes and shrieking. 

DEBS: Julia, Grey's Anatomy is 26 or 27 episodes a season and is still running, on, I think, season 19. We should have realized what we were getting ourselves into, but now we just can't seem to stop. They're clever that way, those writers.

JENN McKINLAY: Hub and I are watching BAD MONKEY - it’s soooo good! We love SLOW HORSES so that’s up next and then SHOGUN (Hub is trying to finish the book first). We’re also watching SCHITT’S CREEK. We’re late to the party (I’d seen the 1st season ages ago) but waited for the Hub to catch up so here we go. On my own, I am watching A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES (very seasonal!). I adored the first book, struggled with the second and never read the third but I am enjoying the series on Netflix tremendously. 

DEBS: Jenn, I've been listening to whole series again on Audible. Funnily, the second book is my favorite in the series. I adored Elizabethan London, and the science history. Nerdsville here. And now I want to rewatch the series! So well done!!

Oh, and so glad you finally are watching Schitt's Creek! It got us through the worst of the pandemic.

How about you, dear readers? What's on the tube in your house?

 

Sticky words - What Hallie's Writing

HALLIE EPHRON: Once again, it's WHAT WE'RE WRITING WEEK on Jungle Red. I'm not sure that you'd call what keeps me busy right now writing. A whole lot of idea scribbling, blogging, and noodling about in my head.

Kasey Goodwin
Paul's Valley
Noodling Tournament

And because I'm barely writing full sentences, never mind paragraphs or chapters, I'm going to focus on words. Expressions. "Noodling about," for instance. I have no idea where I got that expression (apparently it's also a slang expression referring to the catching of catfish), but these days I'm finding a lot of my words and expressions are creeping in from other media.

My friend and Clever Girl Organizer Kathy Vines uses a word sticky to express the way things like words can, well, stick. 

I've always been susceptible. Years ago, my husband I saw a dubbed-in-Italian SHREK on television in a hotel in Italy, and ever since we've referred to one or the other of our daughters as the Principessa. (Pronounced: Prin-chee-PAY-sa). When I've got too many clothes to pack, I'm likely to say, "We’re going to need a bigger boat." (JAWS) "Sometimes the spaghetti likes to be alone" (BIG NIGHT) has a million uses.

My vocabulary has taken a decidedly British turn when I adopted. "I could use a bit of Wensleydale" from WALLACE AND GROMMIT. "Don't Panic" (said with eyes rolling and arms waving about) from CHICKEN RUN. And the simple "Thanks, Luv" from VERA.


Lately I've been watching THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW (I am not a baker but I find it mesmerizing... even the episodes I've already seen) and I find myself adopting a whole new vocabulary. Who knew biscuits are cookies (I'm sure Debs and Rhys did). That a British pudding isn't gooey and creamy unless it's undercooked. I'm dying to know what royal icing or creme pat or fondant tastes like.More than that, the baking show has larded my language with all sorts of new expressions. I find myself:

• Complaining about having to do detail work with lots of fiddly bits
• Being chuffed for some kind words from a reader
• Finding the chocolates I made for Christmas scrummy
• Encouraging my husband to crack on
• And hoping that a bit of writing I've done ticks all the boxes.

I do have to be careful not to allow all of this run off to flow into my writing, since this is not the way my characters talk. 


What expressions have stuck to you from the TV shows and movies and social media you're imbibing?

What We're Watching

INGRID THOFT
Just as I'm always looking for great book recommendations, I'm equally eager to get movie and TV recommendations.  I'll go first, with the hope that like a chain letter, I'll get many suggestions in return!

Acorn TV has provided the three most recent shows I've been watching.  They're also available on DVD if you don't have Acorn.  The first, SUSPECTS, is a show about a team of detectives in Manchester, England.  The amazing thing about this show is that the dialogue is largely improvised.  This, and the style of the camera work, gives it a documentary-like style.  It's fast paced—I need the subtitles even though it's in English—and the investigative work they do is very compelling.  I'm not sure how they would solve crimes in the U.K. without the help of CCTV!  I hope this show is picked up for another season.

THE DISAPPEARANCE is a french miniseries about the disappearance of a teenage girl in Marseilles, France.  I binged this one and even sent the DVD to my mom since I thought she'd enjoy it, too.  There are many cliffhangers, and the acting is great.  There are a couple of plot twists that are rather implausible (and don't even get me started on the cleavage baring wardrobe of the female cop), but I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries, particularly those set outside of the U.S.

My third pick is very different in tone:  It's lighter and doesn't focus on serious crime.  STRIKING OUT is set in Dublin and follows a young lawyer who has "struck out" on her own after leaving a large corporate firm.  The main characters are charming, and it's interesting to get a bit of insight into the Irish legal system.  I leave the subtitles on for this show, too.  The accents are lovely, but interfere as I try to follow the plot!

How about you, Reds?  What are you watching these days?

JENN McKINLAY: The last TV show I was really hooked on was THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW. Loved, loved, loved it, but they changed the format and the cast so that's over. Sadly, I don't watch much TV. If I find something I like, I will binge watch it, but most of my evenings are spent reading, playing ping pong with the Hooligans, or floating in the pool with the Hub while listening to the Grateful Dead. I am really looking forward to the recommendations here - clearly I need to up my TV game.

HALLIE EPHRON: The two shows I love are VERA (with Brenda Blethyn based on the series by Ann Cleeves) and THE DETECTORISTS.

Up to now, all seven seasons of VERA have been on Acorn, but suddenly, the new season is going to Britbox. BOOO. I really don't want another subscription.

THE DETECTORISTS is not a crime show—it's a quirky British ensemble comedy about a bunch of sweet sad sacks who love to go out with their metal detectors in search of buried treasure. Can't wait for the new season. Also loved, but waiting for new seasons of: GLOW and THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL.

I'm trying to get hooked on CASE STUDIES and BOSCH, but so far not succeeding. And though I loved the first episodes of SHERLOCK, the final ones that are streaming are too bizarre. And wondering about THE AMERICANS. Advice??

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh, I'm no further along on TV than I was the last time we discussed it. We have one more episode of THE CROWN to watch, then will be waiting for the third season. I will have to try VERA, since I'm so hooked on Ann Cleeves's Shetland mysteries. Actually Jenn, I think you are doing exactly the right thing playing pool with the hooligans and floating in the pool with hub. Great priorities!

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  Ingrid, I'm checking out all three of the shows you mentioned. Although how I'll ever manage to watch all of them, I don't know. I'm behind on VERA and just about everything else.

What we have been watching and loving is a sci-fi series on Netflix called TRAVELERS. People from the future send their consciousnesses back to the 21st century to try to affect the future timeline. There are, of course, the usual time travel paradoxes, but it's so well done, and we love all the characters so much that we are totally hooked. Two more episodes to watch in season two, but I just read that season three is in production. Although it's supposed to be set in Seattle, it's actually filmed in Canada, and all the actors are Canadian.
I'm also loving a series running on my local PBS station, but I think it is also on Acorn, called PIE IN THE SKY. It ran for about five years in the mid-nineties in the UK. Richard Griffith's stars as an irascible police officer who is trying to retire and open a restaurant. Absolutely charming, and I adore it.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So here's what happened. We love THE AMERICANS and really look forward to it. If you haven't watched it, the pilot episode is one of the bet ever, and the show kept going beautifully—now it the midst of the last season. All good. About Russian spies embedded as Americans, and it's great.
We also love HOMELAND. More spies. All good.  But now, one  of the actors who plays a spy on THE AMERICANS is now in the cast of HOMELAND, as a spy!  I am hopelessly confused.

Same thing happened with two other shows. We started watching MADAME SECRETARY long ago—you DO watch that, right? SO good, about a female Secretary of State.  Then we started watching DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, about the one cabinet member left alive after bad guys blow up the US Capitol.  So then the next week on MADAME SECRETARY, they walked into the Capitol building, of course, and I said to Jonathan—hey! How did they  rebuild that so fast? Then I realized—it was another show.

Maybe I am simply not cut out for this, and should stick with PROJECT RUNWAY!

I am also ashamed to say we finally started watching BREAKING BAD.  We had started once, and decided it was a no. Then, for some reason, we tried it again.  Readers, it is fabulous. Fabulous! Surprising in every way. Highly highly recommended, but then you probably are all watching it already.

Brenda Blethyn a.k.a Vera Stanhope

RHYS BOWEN:  Another VERA fan here and having just met Brenda Blethyn, I'm even more of a fan because she was so lovely and friendly and just hung out with us at Malice. I was hooked on THE CROWN and VICTORIA, and I gather there will be a season three of both.  I love THE AMAZING RACE because they go to such different parts of the world. Otherwise a lot of PBS documentaries.


JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The Smithie and I have gotten into a wonderful crime fiction/thriller/horror series on Amazon Prime - FORTITUDE. It's a combination of Arnaldur Indriðason, Michael Crichton, and your favorite arctic nature documentary - a genuinely twisty, puzzling mystery set in a fictionalized version of Svalbard, where climate change is threatening the livelihood of scientists, fishermen and the tourism economy. 

It has an amazing cast, comprising Scandanavian and Irish actors I've never seen before with star power like Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon and Dennis Quaid. The breakout is Richard Dormer as the lonely, conflicted sheriff at the center of the story. I can almost always spot the clues and figure our whodunnit well before the end of movie or TV mysteries, but I was well and truly stumped throughout the first series. Two seasons are up already, and the Irish/UK producer, SKY Atlantic, has signed for a third and final series. If you have Prime, check it out, and let me know what you think.

What TV gems can you share with us today, Readers?