And how weird is it that I even have to explain that, when just a few years ago everyone had all the major channels and scheduled their time around broadcasts? (Wren also expects to be able to watch Frozen or Captain Underpants on any TV at any time, whether at her house or ours.)
Whenever we do a "What We're Watching" on Jungle Red, it tends to be all about the streaming shows we're bingeing on, so I thought it would be fun to talk about what's good on the good old Big 3. And since I've been living in an entertainment vacuum for the last few months (that inconvenient deadline thing) I've had some catching up to do. (Of course I'm only catching up due to the magic of Hulu, so I suppose that's cheating a bit...)
I hadn't seen The Rookie, the new Nathan Fillion procedural set in LA. A couple of episodes in, it's likeable--I mean, it's Nathan Fillion! But a gentler, kinder, Nathan Fillion. I'll definitely keep watching, although I'm not sure the premise will hold up long term. It's about a middle-aged guy who has a mid-life crisis and decides to become a cop, but is bullied both because he's the new guy and because he's considered too old. So what happens if he makes the grade?)
I also dipped into New Amsterdam, another hospital drama, this one set in a fictionalized version of New York City's Bellevue Hospital. Confession--I was an ER junkie, so tend to be a little jaded. I'll give this one a few more episodes. (Or maybe I'll go back and start ER from the first season--ALL the seasons are on Hulu.)
Then, a big cheer at our house--The Orville is back! This is a weird one, Seth MacFarlane's valentine to the original Star Trek. It's not really a comedy, although it's sometimes very funny. And it's not really a drama, although it sometimes deals with very believable relationships and big issues. What do you know, a show that doesn't fit into a box!! (Neither did Star Trek.) Critics hate it, viewers LOVE it. We are obviously in camp 2.
(I've decided that you should NEVER EVER read reviews of shows you already like, because reviewers will tell you all the reasons why you shouldn't like them.)
There's more sci-fi--Star Trek Discovery is back! Critics like this better. Hmm. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know, and I don't really care. We love this one, too, although it is definitely on the darker side.
Oh, wait, that was cheating a little, wasn't it? Because Star Trek Discovery is CBS All Access, so not really broadcast.
But having cheated a little, I'm going to cheat some more and go full-on streaming.
My big thrill at the moment is the adaptation of my friend Deb Harkness's A Discovery of Witches. We're a few episodes in and loving it. I went into it with a little trepidation, I have to admit. It can be off-putting to see books you've loved brought to the screen, especially books with such complex world building. But the casting in this adaptation is terrific, the pacing is great, and in the first few episodes the Oxford scenes alone are enough to make an Anglophile like me swoon.
Am I allowed one more cheat, since I set the rules here? Tomorrow is the release of the third installment of the second season of Agatha Raisin. I absolutely adore these (much more than the books, in this case,) and LOVE Ashley Jensen, who stars as Agatha. They are deliciously funny and smart--and they are set in the Cotswolds, which we all know is the murder capital of the world!
REDS and readers, what are you watching? Have you gone all streaming or do you still catch a few shows on the Big 3?
And the really big question--do you read television critics reviews?
