What TV series are you currently watching?

[Luke]

I have been watching the Inspector Morse series this summer, very late at night, one a night for 6 or 7 weeks. If you don't know them, Morse is a detective working in Oxford in the 1980s/90s. So popular did Inspector Morse prove that after the final episodes were made (there are 33) a sequel was made concentrating on Morse's sergeant, Lewis. And so popular were the 33 episodes of Lewis that a Morse prequel series, Endeavour, was then made, showing the younger Morse in the mid 60s-70s, when he was a sergeant. Slightly more than 33 episodes of that, I think. I've watched them in the order of the story, ie starting with Endeavour; I'm most of the way through Morse and now need to decide if I'm going to watch Lewis.  I'd love to, except that the actor who plays Lewis's own sergeant is a famously vile individual, and I don't want that to ruin it for me.

Anyway, I'm writing all this because Morse as a character is very interesting. Cantankerous and out of sympathy with much of the modern world, he is a lover of fine beer, fine art and fine music, and I think many of us here would relate to him! 😁 I certainly do. In almost all episodes Morse's listening to wonderful music is prominent; in some episodes music is central, e.g. in an episode called Masonic Mysteries which built around The Magic Flute. Last night I watched an episode called Twilight of the Gods, which was originally going to be the last Morse (subsequently they made a few more one offs) and thus has a very end-of-everything conclusion. As you'll guess, the links to Wagner are strong in this one, central in the plot as welm as symbolically - and this is carried through so strongly and so cleverly in the use of music that I couldn't sleep and sat up till 6 a.m. writing down my observations. Seriously clever stuff, so carefully considered and meticulously edited to amazing effect. I was actually astonished by the lengths and depths they had gone to.

[Fëanor]

More travel TV, the first episode of Brian Cox: How the Other Half Lives.  What better conceit could there be than to have Logan Roy investigate income and wealth inequality?  That had to be an easy pitch.  And a bullshit one.  Brian Cox - excuse me, Brian Cox, CBE - claims he's not a rich man, not a multi-millionaire (he actually says it on camera) and proceeds to act the role of investigative journalist, querying the poor and the rich.  He emotes.  He rails against injustice.  He demands equality.  He visits his poor hometown to show he's a regular bloke.  Etc.  Probably the best bit is when he interviews a British billionaire who proceeds to claim he supports a wealth tax - but only if it is global.  That part is so deliciously self-serving and intellectually dishonest that I literally LOL'd.  I think I may have drawn some glances from fellow passengers when I did.  Here's a perfect example of virtue signaling turned into marketable content. 

Oh you mean that Brian Cox, not this other guy, the pop science guy, (nice teeth, terrible hair) ...



I do like the actor guy as a actor -- one of my favs.

[Todd]

Oh you mean that Brian Cox, not this other guy, the pop science guy, (nice teeth, terrible hair) ...

Huh?

[Luke]

The 'other' guy is a popular TV/radio science show presenter in the UK. He's a proper professor of astrophysics with a knack for communication and a tendency towards (easily parodied) expressions of awe and wonder at the universe (fair enough, really). Also the keyboardist in a 90s pop band famously connected (via the song Things Can Only Get Better) to Tony Blair's historic 1997 election victory.

The correspondences between the names of the two is off noted, and led to this interview...

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jul/23/succession-actor-brian-cox-meets-professor-brian-cox

[Todd]

I don't concern myself with Europe-only non-classical music celebrities.  They gotta make it in the market that matters. 

[DavidW]

Oh you mean that Brian Cox, not this other guy, the pop science guy, (nice teeth, terrible hair)

I always make that mistake too!

[Papy Oli]

Spread over the last week: The 3 episodes of The Beatles' Get Back by Peter Jackson, documenting their rehearsals for a TV show, movie, something else, eventually their last live performance on the roof of their Apple office in January 1969.

A fascinating watch, seeing them building up their songs from little fragments to what will become huge hits. Very bittersweet to see both the band really enjoying some of their playing together while seeing the strains and cracks in their relationships, leading later on to the demise of the band.

[VonStupp]

SW: Resistance
Season 1 & 2 (2018-2020)

Who knew there were so many Star Wars TV shows; my daughter and I continue through them unabated.

Finishing Season 1 and beginning Season 2, its last season.
VS

[DavidW]

I finished S5 of Shetland.  Finally the writing is on par with the novels! So far I would rank the seasons as 5 > 1 > 2 > 4 > 3.

[SimonNZ]

[Papy Oli]

Last week : Nolly (3 x 45 min on ITV) with a fantastic Helena Bonham-Carter portraying the TV legend Noele Gordon from the soap "Crossroads", during and after her being dropping from the show. Fun and very touching. Bonham-Carter is gripping. Mark Gatiss appears as Larry Grayson for a very raw one-to-one scene with Nolly. Worth your time, even though I didn't have the background knowledge of "Crossroads". This should add to the enjoyment of British members who do.



This week: 8 episodes down into Series 1 of The Morning Show (Apple) with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steven Carell.  Bingeing this so far in 2 1/2 days so I guess it is good    (sadly the reviews for series 2 are pretty dire). Billy Crudup steals the show as (one of many) TV Exec villain.

[drogulus]

    I'm watching ANZAC Girls about nurses in the Great War stationed in Egypt and Greece who treat casualties from the Turkish front. It's not great art but very interesting. Conflicts arise with the military authorities and the Brit nurses who look down on the colonials. It's on Prime.

[George]

This week: 8 episodes down into Series 1 of The Morning Show (Apple) with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steven Carell.  Bingeing this so far in 2 1/2 days so I guess it is good    (sadly the reviews for series 2 are pretty dire). Billy Crudup steals the show as (one of many) TV Exec villain.

LOVE that show! And yes, Crudup turns in a stellar performance. So glad the show will be back for a third season. 

[SimonNZ]

[Papy Oli]

LOVE that show! And yes, Crudup turns in a stellar performance. So glad the show will be back for a third season. 

3 days later and we ended up bingeing Series 2 as well. Definitely poorer than Series 1. Very sluggish first 3-4 episodes, then it picks up a bit and finishes in an over-indulgent let-down. *Sigh*

I'll add "Chip" as an other great performance throughout the 2 series, besides Crudup. Quite impressed by Steven Carell as well.

It might be my personal bias but in her few moments, Juliana Margulies also wipes the floor with the 2 leading ladies   

[LKB]

As I'm sentimental about certain things, I'm putting together a Twilight Zone marathon, similar to those some local stations would broadcast on Labor Day decades ago.

So far I've enjoyed " One for the Angels " and " I Sing the Body Electric ". Not sure what's next, but candidates include " Time Enough at Last ", " The Howling Man " and " Walking Distance ".

You're travelling through another dimension...

[AnotherSpin]

A perfect way to distract yourself while waiting for the next air raid signal late at night. In addition, great jazz music is tastefully presented.

[vandermolen]

Mrs Wilson - excellent in all respects:

[Karl Henning]

Re-watching I, Claudius.

[San Antone]

Justified: City Primeval



Justified: City Primeval is an American neo-Western crime drama television miniseries developed by showrunners Dave Andron and Michael Dinner. The series continues the story from Justified taking inspiration from the Elmore Leonard novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit and short story "Fire in the Hole". Timothy Olyphant returns to star as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, with Paul Calderón also reprising his role as Detective Raymond Cruz from the 1998 crime comedy film Out of Sight, a film adaptation of Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name.

I really enjoyed the original series Justified, and am giving this one a chance.  Set in Detroit.