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News Avoidance: What are You Watching?
Since finishing The Last Kingdom and Band of Brothers, I’ve been looking for less intense, more wholesome TV fare. I’ve subscribed to BritBox in order to get the latest season of Fr. Brown Mysteries and also stumbled onto reruns of The Return of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett, and Monty Don’s Gardener’s World (51 seasons, woo hoo!!).
On Trink’s recommendation, I’ve also been watching Tony Robinson Walking Through History in the UK. The Chauvinists have done a little touring of the UK, so it brings back fond memories as well as teaches more about the history of the place. It’s very pleasant and well done, although I do find myself nodding off in the last fifteen minutes or so. Not sure what that’s about, except maybe it’s just so relaxing.
Last night, Mr. C and I watched the first episode of Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets. And, let me tell, you’ve never seen white privilege until you’ve seen this! These people will be the first to the guillotine when the revolution reaches Britain! She starts with a visit to Highclere Castle, home of the Downtown Abbey series. Some “country house!” It’s magnificent and so very civilized. I can’t imagine how she’ll follow it up, but we’re going to find out!
And speaking of civilized and shockingly white, we’re also watching the BBC version of Antiques Roadshow. Always entertaining.
So what are you watching instead of the news? Any recommendations?
Published in General
That show is okay. A little Tony Robinson goes a long way. Less goes further.
He was good in the Blackadder shows, though.
I like the scenery and the history. And, as I say, it’s very relaxing. No masks and plenty of handshakes and backslapping. It so good to see normal again.
The guys actually doing the archaeology are hilarious.
Pretty much just golf, hockey (which just started), and some older BBC-type series (Prime Suspect and the Johnny Worricker trilogy).
Instead of watching much TV, I’ve read 51 books this year.
I’ve been avoiding the news too. Last night I happened to find this new performance of Carousel. I think it is spectacular. It’s hard believe I could see this for free. :-)
I’m following stuff (NHL MLB) online, so politically correct nonsense is at a minimum.
On Acorn TV (another Brit-centric streaming service) we are enjoying “The Yorkshire Vet,” which is a “reality” show that follows the veterinarians who are carrying on the practice of “James Herriott” (All Creatures Great and Small) in North Yorkshire. We thought the show might get repetitive after a few episodes, but there’s such a variety of creatures and circumstances, and the veterinarians and staff are so engaging that we have kept going. Warning – not all the animal patients recover, but the series handles those episodes tastefully. Mrs. Tabby tells me the narrator is the actor who played the James Harriett character in series of “All Creatures Great and Small).
Also on Acorn TV there are some 200 episode of The Murdoch Mysteries, a Canadian detective series set in 1890s Toronto. Totally unrealistic (they have the Murdoch character inventing many tools of modern crime detecting, and interacting with an impossible array of famous people of the era), and some of the dialog is more 21st Century than late 19th Century, but we enjoy the lush sets and the plot lines, even if implausible.
Just finished the 10 episodes of The Last Dance
now out on Netflix. You don’t have to be a basketball fan to appreciate this series. My wife and I were riveted, binge watched several nights.
Blackadder was the best. The Doctor Johnson episode from season 3, in particular, was a thing of beauty. One of Rowan Atkinson’s other shows, Not The Nine O’Clock News, was also fabulous, but I think it wouldn’t be too fun if the viewer weren’t hip to a lot of British late 70s and early 80s politics and culture. There is a Keith Joseph sketch from that show that is killer:
Prime Suspect is great, but I also find it really kind of depressing. Helen Mirren’s character hardly ever seems to get a break.
Thanks for the heads up. I don’t need depressing.
I have also used the results of the various “Ricochet Movie Fight Club” threads to uncover older movies to watch.
Apple TV has a surprisingly large number of them available to rent for $1.99 – $3.99 for 24 or 48 hours. To rent them you need an Apple account for billing purposes, but you do not need to be a subscriber to the AppleTV+ subscription service. We stream them through our Roku device.
To maintain my sanity, I’ve been spending a bit of time watching real estate and ranch property videos on YouTube. Here’s a sampling of a few places that are just drop dead beautiful:
Midsomer Murders.
Watching NASA right now. Bob and Doug are suited up and getting ready to separate.
BritBox wise, I would suggest:
–Waiting for God: Two elderly British pensioners in residence at a nursing home, a caustic female former journalistic photographer and a slightly dotty male vet, spend their waning days tormenting the inattentive staff and getting the most out of the time they have left.
-Inspector Morse: My vote for one of, if not the, best British detective show, it follows Chief Inspector Morse and his loyal DS, Robbie Lewis, combining educated wit and street smarts to solve crimes in Oxford. At turn compelling, funny, sad, and touching.
-A Bit of Fry and Laurie: Sketch show featuring the famous comic duo at their best, with skits and monologues on a wide variety of topics, all well edited into 30 minute episodes.
–Shetland: Dark detective series set on Scotland’s remote Shetland islands, well written and leavened by the warmth and humanity of Jimmy Perez, the lead detective on the main island.
–The Thick of It: Black comedy about the inner workings of modern British politics.
-Yes, Minister: One of Margaret Thatcher’s favorite tv shows (she even wrote an episode for it), it chronicles the (mis)adventures of a change seeking incompetent minister and his very change averse, well educated senior civil servant. The main writers were a Tory and a Labour supporter, so you’re guaranteed a pretty balanced perspective.
–Maigret: Rowan Atkinson masterfully portrays the brooding French detective, struggling to solve crimes in the new world of post-war Paris.
–Cadfael: Medieval Benedictine monk solves mysteries in between his duties with an innocent protegege and his friend the Sheriff.
–The Vicar of Dibley: A progressive female vicar moves to the very strange village of Dibley, and must from an uneasy alliance with the ultra conservative town councilman, the only other inhabitant with a functioning brain cell, in order to navigate the ordeal.
Netflix:
–Midnight Diner: A Japanese tv show, each episode follows a different customer in a Tokyo diner which is open from 6 pm to 5 am, attracting a diverse cast of characters under the shepherdship of the mysterious owner.
-Hasoter Hatov: An Israeli comedy about a cop, his slowly disintegrating life, and his crazy colleagues.
–The Kominsky Method: An aging actor and his agent search for a reason to live after the untimely death of the agent’s wife.
–Longmire: A late middle aged cowboy sheriff, his Native best friend, and a crew of deputies conquer murder, mayhem, and a host of other issues in rural Montana.
Hope you find something you enjoy here!
I hate that show. I tried, I really did, but I just can’t stand it.
They even have a lot to buy that are under $10. I found that out when I was looking for stuff to watch for my flight on Tuesday, and managed to pick up two older war movies and the entirety of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) for under $30 (pounds, really, but it’s close enough).
I like Tom Barnaby and his wife. The only rocky spot has been his second sergeant. Not that there was anything wrong with the portrayal, but the actor is the spitting image of a guy to whom I owe a solid punch in the phiz.
Oh no, I just realized they cut the best part of the sketch off. In the final pan, Atkinson is a skeleton while Joseph continues to prattle on.
I’m on my second reading of https://patents.justia.com/patent/10144532.
The little news I get from video is all on YouTube. These are notable: https://www.youtube.com/user/NTDTV NTD
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNqxhIYa4fm8N1luObicd8w Conservative Resurgence
https://www.youtube.com/user/epochtimesdigital The Epoch Times
Interesting how China-centric those are, yet they have broader US-focused content and a tone that’s tailor-made to catch this American’s interest. There may be a phenomenon happening where anti-CCP voices are providing news coverage we can’t get elsewhere, as a means of spreading their primary message.
Haha, that would certainly make viewing those seasons interesting. I could never manage to get into it, I didn’t find Barnaby all that compelling, ditto with the sergeants, the mysteries didn’t seem stunningly clever, and the later episodes that are constantly played on PBS seem quite rote and by the numbers.
Oh, sorry, you said a-political. Who’s got time for that?
If you’re interested in China centric coverage from knolwdgeble voices that don’t bow to the CCP, Laowhy86 and Serpemtza are great. They are both Westerners that lived in China for 10 plus years, speak the language, enjoy and know a lot about the culture, and have Chinese wives, and produce some fantastic content. This video from Laowhy is a little less newsy/info focused than some of his other stuff, but really fabulous and funny:
Hey, you two! Don’t harsh my news avoidance mellow!
Since the world lost its mind, I have mostly been streaming on my Roku. I have binge-watched many shows, some of which I’d already seen and saw them again. I watched all of these starting with Season 1 and going to the end:
Breaking Bad
The Practice
Boston Legal
Narcos
Narcos Mexico
Sons of Anarchy
Jane the Virgin
Master Chef
Hell’s Kitchen (and I don’t even cook. I regard making toast as cooking)
Ozark
Dexter
Midsomer Murders
Miss Marple
Lucifer
Black Mirror
Justified
Hannibal
Jack Ryan
And much more. I’ve also watched a lot of movies. I cannot stand the news anymore.
Baseball, of course. Why would anyone watch anything else.(-:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9S0jo5qV4
…. I don’t do fabulous and funny.
Ok, I deleted my snarky remark about the coming destruction of the PLAN, the PLAAF, and the CCP. But it was entertaining.
Years ago (when I used to care a lot more than I do now), I had shelves of home decor books. One of them was written by Interior decorator Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, granddaughter of Winston. In one chapter, she gives tips on how to afford to decorate the way you want to. If you can believe, she actually advised me to go up to the attic and find an ancestor’s oil painting portrait and sell it to Sotheby’s! Hahahaha! All righty then! Why didn’t I think of that?
………………………….
Mr. C and I are laughing sooo hard!! “Why didn’t I think of that?” Hahahahaaa!
We noticed not only was everyone white — even the game keepers, chefs, and butlers — they all had blue eyes! Aryan privilege much???