THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

Seen any good TV shows lately? Tell us about them.

Staged starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant. Funny, laugh out loud moments, excellent. Starting the 2nd season.

Bill wrote: "Staged starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant. Funny, laugh out loud moments, excellent. Starting the 2nd season."

I watched a few episodes of Staged on Hulu. Very clever and funny. 👍😁🌷

Watchmen - (HBO show; I'm watching on DVD.)

Based on the comic books. The premise is that - in an alternate reality where Robert Redford is U.S. President - a white supremacist group called the 7th Kavalry (similar to the KKK) is staging a terror war against the police, who wear masks to hide their identities. (Sadly it sort of reflects what's going on in the U.S. today.)

So far it's pretty good. FYI: Very violent.

Stars Regina King; Don Johnson; Louis Gossett Jr.; Jean Smart....and more. A-list cast.

I'm continuing with the "Watchmen" series. There's too much going on but the Special Features on the DVDs explain a lot....so that's good.

The series is an alternate history/sci fi plot that features conflict between white supremacists and Black people in Tulsa. It's purposely reminiscent of what's going on in the USA these days.

Ted Lasso is back for its second season! If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to start with episode 1 and binge on it...wonderful show...wacky and silly at times (in a good way--to keep things off balance)...an American football coach is hired to coach an English Premier League soccer team...he knows zero about the sport yet does his best...lots of professional and personal conflict...but heart warming...his innocence and kind heart affect almost everyone around him...lots of English-American differences highlighted...very funny...warning: also lots of F-bombs...

If you like competition shows, season 3 of 'Glow Up' - a competition for the best make-up artist is streaming on Neftlix.

They do lots of interesting things, not Oscars type glamor makeup.

Fosse/Verdon - "An inside look at the romantic and creative partnership between influential choreographer/director, Bob Fosse, and Gwen Verdon, one of the greatest Broadway dancers of all time."

Bob Fosse was a an amazing director who relied a lot on Gwen for advice and support. Fosse was a serial philanderer though, and their relationship couldn't survive. (In fact Gwen stole Bob from his previous wife.)

Stars Sam Rockwell (who's surprisingly lithe) Michelle Williams, and a good cast.

Torchwood "Children of the Earth" - Season 3 of Torchwood is a five-part mini-series about aliens who come to Earth for a nefarious purpose. Very good.

Lots of sad loss in this season 😥

Barbara wrote: "Torchwood "Children of the Earth" - Season 3 of Torchwood is a five-part mini-series about aliens who come to Earth for a nefarious purpose. Very good.

Lots of sad loss in this season 😥"

It was such an excellent series.

"Celebrity Best Home Cook" - In this BBC reality show, ten celebrities (mostly reality stars and comedians) compete for the title of best home cook.

Judges are Mary Berry, Angela Hartnett and Chris Bavin.

Fun cooking competition. On Hulu

"Gone for Good" - mini-series adapted from a Harlan Coben novel. Streaming on Netflix.

Guillame loses his former girlfriend and brother to violence on the same night. Ten years later his NEW girlfriend disappears.....and the incident seems connected to the decade old tragedy.

Entertaining mystery. (Typical fare for Netflix; not great, but okay.)

"Nine Perfect Strangers" - adapted from the book Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. Nine people who are troubled in various ways go to an expensive health spa called Tranquillium. The owner has her own unique approach to 'healing.'

It's on Hulu, and an episode is added every week. I've seen up to episode 3 and (so far) it seems like a more or less faithful rendition of the book.

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Season 4 of Torchwood is a mini-series with the premise that no one on Earth dies anymore. Injured and sick people live on, including a convict who was 'executed.' Naturally this leads to immense problems.

Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper hook up with CIA agents to investigate. Lots of special effects and action.

"Deadwood Fell" - Four part mini-series. In a Scottish village, a family home burns down killing the wife and three children. Hubby (David Tennant) - who outwardly seemed like the perfect spouse - comes under suspicion.

Plenty of suspense.

I'd given up on Manifest in the middle of season 2 but decided to go back and watch it. It's okay but if I never hear the word 'callings' again, it'll be too soon.

I'll probably to go on to season 3 (at least I'll start it) just to see what happens.

Manifest

I've seen five episodes of season 3 now and its just barely okay. The storyline involving 3 meth dealers is WAY drawn out and there's some business about ancient papyrus texts from Egypt that are given to grad students and teenagers to study (rather than scholars). I mean REALLY?

It seems like the writers just didn't have a good plan for continuing the show. This is just my opinion of course. 🙂

"Post-Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes" (Norwegian mini-series streaming on Netflix; you can hear English dubbing)

A woman named Live Hallangen is declared dead but hours later she suddenly wakes up on the autopsy table....but she's not quite the same. Meanwhile, her brother Odd tries to keep the family funeral home from going bankrupt.

This is a horror drama with elements of black comedy. It's pretty good; better than most Netflix fare.

"Baskets" - After failing at a prestigious French clowning college (because he can't understand a word of French), Chip Baskets becomes a rodeo clown.

Very funny TV series, streaming on Hulu.

Stars Zach Galifianakis, Martha Kelly, Louie Anderson and a good cast

"Tabula Rasa" - In this Netflix series a woman who can't form new memories is the key witness in a disappearance, but she can't remember anything about it. Twisty and suspenseful.

Flemish with subtitles

Stars Belgian actors Veerle Baetens, Stijn Van Opstal, Jeroen Perceval and a good cast

"Nine Perfect Strangers" on Hulu

Adapted from Lianne Moriarty's book, it's about nine people who go to a high end health spa to deal with some difficulty in their lives (loss of a loved one, divorce, marital problems, etc.) The spa owner has her own unique ideas about helping them.

The show starts off (sort of) faithful to the book, then goes in a different direction. It leaves out the big twist and I was disappointed. 😕😰

Still, if you haven't read the book you might like it fine.

Stars Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, MIchael Shannon, Luke Evans, and a great cast.

"Atypical" - Sam, an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum, decides it's time to find a girlfriend at the same time his 15-year-old sister acquires a boyfriend. Hands on mom has a big adjustment as dad tries to get more involved.

Funny show with a serious undercurrent. Very good.

Streaming on Netflix

Stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keir Gilchrist, Brigette Lundy-Paine, and Michael Rapaport

It's not current but I've been enjoying a Danish political drama series for the past months, Borgen. Love it.

Bill wrote: "It's not current but I've been enjoying a Danish political drama series for the past months, Borgen. Love it."

Borgen is a great show. I loved it too. 👍

The Chestnut Man - on Netflix

Adapted from the book The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

I haven't read the book but the mini-series is good. 🙂

Season 9 of "The Great British Baking Show" is putting up new episodes week by week. Always fun!

"My Brilliant Friend"- season 1

Based on the first of four novels in the Neapolitan series by Elena Ferrante. The books tell the life story of two exceptional girls, born in Naples in 1944, who try to better themselves within a violent paternalistic culture that didn't let girls get educated beyond elementary school. Where there's a will there's a way though. 🙂

Season one goes from the girls meeting in primary school to their mid-teens.

Excellent show.

"House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths" - on Netflix

This 3-part series is about a bizarre incident in New Delhi, India where 11 family members were found dead from hanging. There's an attempt to explain what happened, which was tragic.

"The Bridge" - Season 3

A Swedish detective (who appears to have Asperger's) and a Danish detective collaborate to solve a bizarre series of crimes that span both countries.

Good series (Like many crime shows, the murders are so elaborately conceived that they're kind of unbelievable; but entertaining TV nevertheless). 😀

Subtitled

I started season 3 of "In the Dark" (on Netflix).

In season 1 it started out as a blind woman trying to discover who murdered her friend. The show morphed quite a lot and the woman is now on the run from drug runners and the cops.

It's a thriller with a lot of humor. Great characters in this show. 😃

Sherlock Holmes (BBC 1964-1965)

I got this on DVD from Netflix. Based on the Conan Doyle stories, including The Red-Headed League, The Copper Beeches, The Speckled Band, etc. (I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan but I've never seen these before.)

13 episodes in this series



Stars Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock

"Snowpiercer"- I'm watching season 1. The premise is that climate manipulation has plunged the Earth into a deep freeze with all outside temps about -120F (-250C). So the remains of the human race are on a 1001 car train that circles the planet continually, with the rich people up front and the 'tailies' (poor schnooks) in the back

The mistreated and deprived tailies are plotting rebellion.

So far it's pretty good. Stars Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs and a good cast.

Based on the books. Snowpiercer: The Escape

"Murder in the First" - TV series. In each season a single murder case is dissected from the committing of the crime through to the investigation, arrest and trial.

I'm watching the first season on Hulu and it's very good so far. It's about a drug dealer who was murdered and the suspects include his multimillionaire biological son. The son is played by Tom Felton who I still think of as Draco Malfoy. Ha ha ha. 😄🙂😁

Stars Taye Diggs, Kathleen Robertson, Ian Anthony Dale, and a good cast.

I tried to watch the mini-series "Patrick Melrose" based on a series of books by Edward St. Aubyn. It's about a British aristocrat who grew up in a dysfunctional abusive situation and struggles with alcohol and drugs as an adult. It toggles between Patrick's childhood and adulthood.

It's too depressing for me (the news is bleak enough) but Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant in the role.

The missus and I are enjoying The Young Philadelphians this afternoon, with the gorgeous Paul Newman and lovely Barbara Rush.

I'm catching season 3 of "Succession" during an HBO promotion.

This is a good series about the machinations of a wealthy (and somewhat rotten) ultra-rich family that runs news networks and the like. The usual shenanigans of the privileged and then some. 😀

Stars Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and a good cast

"The Night Of" - in this HBO mini-series, a Pakistani-American college boy parties with a girl who ends up dead. The boy is arrested and his lawyer tries to find out what really happened. The incident stirs up racial hatred, violence, etc. Good show but harrowing.

Stars John Turturro, Riz Ahmed, Bill Camp and a good cast.

"Blown Away Christmas" - This is the newest season of the glass-blowing competition on Netflix.

It's a fun show, with the contestants given holiday themed tasks. No politics, no violence, no stress. 🙂

"Star Trek Discovery" - Season 3 reminds me strongly of the original Star Trek series.

The crew has traveled to the future, where the Federation is almost completely gone. While the trekkers try to investigate this, they have another adventure every episode or so. The Trills (remember the symbionts from Deep Space NIne? ) even wear the same corny robes seen on 'aliens' in the original show. LOL 😄😄😄)

Not as good as the first 2 seasons in my opinion.

Barbara,

I did not know you were a Star Trek fan! I am a Big one. Have you seen ST: 55 Years Center Seat. It covers all series and the movies, on the History Channel and HistoryVault.com

Gregg

Gregg wrote: "Barbara,

I did not know you were a Star Trek fan! I am a Big one. Have you seen ST: 55 Years Center Seat. It covers all series and the movies, on the History Channel and HistoryVault.com

Gregg"

I'm a long-time Star Trek fan. I've heard of the retrospective on the History Channel but haven't managed to catch it yet. I do plan to see it at some point. I've read a few of Shatner's books about the show and the movies, which I liked. 😃👍

You've seen the History Channel special Gregg?

Yes Barbara, It is very good, although some segments are too short in my humble opinion. It is narrated by Dr. Crusher. HistoryVault.com (online) has extended segments not shown on TV.

Have you ever been to a ST Convention? It is a sight to behold! I've been to a couple. I too have read some of Shatner's book & others. As far as movies I've seen 1-7 nothing beyond that.

Gregg

No I haven't been to a ST convention; I'm sure it's a lot of fun. 🙂

"Capitani" - In a Luxembourg village where everyone is keeping secrets, gruff police inspector Luc Capitani investigates the suspicious death of a 15-year-old girl.

I've seen a few episodes of this mystery series, streaming on Netflix, and it's good so far.

"Schitt's Creek" - The once wealthy Rose family, having lost everything, has to live in a cheap motel room in their only remaining asset, Schitt's Creek.

Very funny comedy. Streaming on Netflix.

"The Detectorists" - The comedy series revolves around two British metal detectorists, who roam the countryside trying to find treasure. It's very funny. 😀

Stars Mackenzie Crook, Toby Jones, and a good cast.

I'm watching Season 9 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"which is hilarious.

Larry is his usual self, causing trouble and getting on people's nerves.

"Katla" - Series streaming on Nettlix

One year after the violent eruption of the subglacial volcano Katla in Iceland, what seems to be copies of dead people start appearing in town.

Mysterious and creepy.

Barbara wrote: ""Katla" - Series streaming on Nettlix

One year after the violent eruption of the subglacial volcano Katla in Iceland, what seems to be copies of dead people start appearing in town.

Mysterious a..."

Just started watching Mayor of Kingstown. Can't decide whether I like it or not. How do post reviews, meaning get Goodreads reviews in the web address?

Gregg