Today I wanted to bring you some more of my favorites, what I'm watching and listening to. Hope you find some new favorites; share with me if they're your favorites, too, or if there are others I should add to my list.
What I'm Watching:
If you follow me on Facebook you know I'm on a major BBC / UK kick. I started with Sherlock and it's been a fun spiral down the rabbit hole ever since.
I Googled to find some recommendations, and Happy Valley came up on nearly every list. You can find it on Netflix and stream two seasons; from my internet sleuthing I read they are filming a third. (Also, it says "Netflix Original" but actually aired on the BBC a few years ago, not sure why Netflix branded it that way.)
Anyhoo....if you like police / procedural / crime shows, this will be your new jam. I binged both seasons over the course of a week and wished there was more. It's the story of Catherine Cawood, a police officer whose personal life and tragedies intermix with her role as an officer, mother, grandmother, etc. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to give away any plot issues but suffice to say - you NEED to watch this one.
Note: if you're at all squeamish about violence, blood, etc - - there are a few episodes (#3 and #4 in Season 1, in particular) that get pretty violent at parts. But that shouldn't deter you from watching. Good news is, you can fast-forward on Netflix if you find that objectionable. But you probably shouldn't watch it with little ones in the vicinity.
Shocker - another UK drama! Who'd have thunk it, huh?!
The Night Manager is a miniseries which aired on BBC, and is now on a run on AMC. I don't currently have cable, but saw the first episode as a free trial on iTunes and then quickly purchased a season pass.
Tom Hiddleston (I mean, I could talk about him ALL DAY LONG) plays a former British soldier who is recruited for an intelligence operation to track arms dealer Roper, played brilliantly by Hugh Laurie.
As this is not streaming and airs one episode at a time (what are we, cavemen?!), I can't binge all at once. Which probably is a blessing, because I have stuff to do and I can't be spending precious hours of my life watching TV until 2 AM. But I digress.
I have high hopes for the rest of the season as it's starting out really strong. The story lines are incredible, dialogue is great and the supporting cast is supreme. I feel like TV drama is really going in a direction now where each episode is like a mini-movie and The Night Manager is no exception. This HAD to cost a mint to create, but it's worth every dime.
What I'm Listening To:
If you're a fan of true crime and appreciate the perspectives of people who work in those fields, I would encourage you to listen to this podcast. The two main hosts are a former prosecutor and criminal profiler and also a woman who works closely with victim services in the UK. They give a really unique perspective to current (and past) cases.
So far they have concentrated on two crimes; the OJ Simpson case and the most recent FX show, The People vs OJ Simpson, and also the Steven Avery case from Making a Murderer.
In particular it was very interesting to hear their take on the OJ Simpson case and how they felt the miniseries glossed over the victims of the case in favor of the larger story of the trial. It was also interesting to hear their thoughts on what they call the "scheme team" (vs the dream team, as OJ's lawyers were called), and how they were really allowed to play dirty in the handling of the criminal case. (For instance, before jurors went into OJ's house, Johnny Cochran had his home redecorated and staged so that a juror would assume he was connected to the African-American community in LA.)
Anna is a fun actress and I really enjoy her on CBS' show "Mom", but I really feel like she found her niche in podcasting. She hosts a podcast with her good friend and they take calls from people all over the world with relationship advice. But, as the title suggests, she feels she is deeply unqualified to give such advice and so thus is the basis for a truly fun podcast.
In addition to Anna, every week the podcast features a celebrity friend of hers who is also lending their two cents to the discussion. Past episodes have included Chris Evans and Jenny Slate, Ellen Page, Rosie O'Donnell and Lisa Kudrow. Her husband, Chris Pratt, also makes an appearance on certain episodes.
There is quite a bit of language (the podcast is labeled explicit) and they also talk about adult issues so it's definitely not one you'd listen to in the car with the kids on the way to preschool. If you're of a more sensitive nature, you might not like it. I feel like Anna got to a bit of a shaky start but really started to hit her stride around episode 5/6.
So the takeaway for today....with the exception of the Anna Faris podcast, clearly I am a dark human being. #crimeshowsforthewin
Let me know your favorites!
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