Book Nook Cafe discussion

Here is the thread to chat about your Fall 2025 TV viewing.

Tell us what you are watching !

I never watched Boardwalk Empire before and started it last night.
I really enjoyed it. (HBO)

I just saw an advertisement for this.

Tony Shalhoub is Lozini. #PlayDirtyMovie premieres Oct 1 on Prime Video.

I like Tony Shalhoub in Monk. However, this looks too violent for me.

Play Dirty – Official Trailer | Prime Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6paP2...

Rachel wrote: "I never watched Boardwalk Empire before and started it last night.
I really enjoyed it. (HBO)"

I remember hearing about that but never tried it. Good to know you liked it, Rachel.

Alias Reader wrote: "I like Tony Shalhoub in Monk. However, this looks too violent for me. ..."

There are times when i really like Shalhoub but other times, not. Monk turned me off once the first "assistant" was replaced. As for him in "bad guy" roles, that's tougher to watch.

"Apple Tree Yard" 4-part mini-series (Hulu)

Based on the novel Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (which I haven't read)

A married scientist in the midst of a torrid affair finds herself on trial for murder.

Very good award-winning show.

Stars Emily Watson; Mark Bonnar (who seems to be in every British suspense series. LOL); Ben Chaplin and a good cast.

Rachel wrote: "I never watched Boardwalk Empire before and started it last night.
I really enjoyed it. (HBO)"

Great show. 👍

Barbara wrote: ""Apple Tree Yard" 4-part mini-series (Hulu)

Based on the novel Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (which I haven't read)

A married scientist in the midst of a torrid..."

I hadn't even heard of this one, Barbara. Thank you.

"Top of the Lake" Mini-series (Hulu)

Season One: A 12-year-old pregnant girl disappears from a New Zealand town, and a detective is determined to find the girl, and to find out who the rapist was. Meanwhile, local people have all kinds of secrets.

Stars Elizabeth Moss, David Wenham, Peter Mullan, and a good cast.

Good show. I've seen it before, and I watched it again.

I remember seeing this one, too. Barbara, is there to be another season, or is this just a "regular" rerun? Odd question, when it comes to streaming, but i've noted a tendency.

madrano wrote: "I remember seeing this one, too. Barbara, is there to be another season, or is this just a "regular" rerun? Odd question, when it comes to streaming, but i've noted a tendency."

There's a 'season two' madrano. But it's not recent.

Oh, thanks, Barbara, for the quick reply.

"The Great Canadian Baking Show" (on Roku)

This is just like the Great British Baking Show (the exact same set-up), but it's in Canada. There are quite a few seasons, but I only just discovered it on Roku.

I'll bet there are versions of this program in many countries, but they don't show up on American TV.

These kinds of shows are good when a person isn't in the mood to follow a complicated story in a mini-series. 😊

I thoroughly enjoyed the Great Canadian Pottery" competition (sorry, i forgot the full title), despite the fact i had to watch it all on YouTube. Seth Rogan was a sort of co-host. He is also quite the potter himself.

Like you, Barbara, i'd like to see more of these but i suspect it doesn't pay US-based streamers to translate them. It would be fun to see some from other nations.

If you have Brit Box there is a good series
called Karen Pirie.

I just watch season 1. Season 2 just dropped.

YouTube Trailer
Karen Pirie I BritBox Original I Exclusive Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQwj2...

The first series is based on Val McDermid's first Karen Pirie novel The Distant Echo
The Distant Echo---Val McDermid

Season 2 is based on
A Darker Domain--Val McDermid

@deb,did you read
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime - by Val McDermid ?

I know I read it on someone's recommendation. I thought it might be you.

I read it and gave it a good 3/5 rating.

Yes, i read that nonfiction book, written by McDermid. It was full of interesting information. I've never read one of her novels. Wishing i had Brit Box now, but someday. Thanks for the post and links.

Anyone watching DOC on Fox (a medical show) or High Potential on ABC? Enjoying both, good female leads. Second season for both.

Molly Parker on DOC has been around a long time, but I do not think I ever saw her in anything. She is excellent in this role. as a very intense and smart doctor who lost 8 years of memories due to head trauma.

High Potential stars Kaitlin Olson as a woman with an incredibly high IQ. She never brags about Mensa, although I am sure she is a member, and is also highly emotionally intelligent. She solves a crime for the police while cleaning their offices and is hired on as a consultant. She can see things that others cannot, a savant. Her wardrobe is not to be believed!

Olson is married to Rob McElhenney who created and stars in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". He and Ryan Reynolds bought a soccer team in Wrexham, Wales and this partnership has resulted in the documentary "Welcome to Wrexham" which I love. It is in its 4th season. Very heartwarming.

For anyone who loves "Love on the Spectrum", the 4 part series "Patience" on PBS was just recommended to me. It is a 2025 British crime drama series, "following an autistic woman in the York Criminal Records Office who uses her unique powers of deduction to help solve crimes with a detective. The show is an adaptation of the French series Astrid et Raphaëlle."

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Anyone watching DOC on Fox (a medical show) or High Potential on ABC? Enjoying both, good female leads. Second season for both.

Molly Parker on DOC has been around a long time, but I do not think ..."

I'm not familiar with DOC at all. We watched a few High Potential over the summer, once we learned that our daughter went to college with Olson. When they all lived in NYC, they met as well. So, we felt obliged. This year we are having trouble getting back into sync with tv programs, so have missed two episodes already.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "For anyone who loves "Love on the Spectrum", the 4 part series "Patience" on PBS was just recommended to me. It is a 2025 British crime drama series, "following an autistic woman in the York Crimin..."

Thanks for the info, JoAnn. I haven't seen/heard of it but the topic intrigues.

Alias Reader wrote: "If you have Brit Box there is a good series
called Karen Pirie.

I just watch season 1. Season 2 just dropped.

."

I watched the first episode of Karen Pirie - and it was a teaser. I had to subscribe to BritBox to go on. But I was thinking of subscribing anyway, so it was okay. Still, that was VERY SNEAKY of BritBox. LOL. 😄

Barbara, if you do decide to subscribe to BritBox, do watch
Ludwig.

Ludwig | BritBox Original | Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMzOC...

As i've mentioned previously, any time we get BritBox as part of the streaming service in the condos we rent, we spend much of our time there. Now we wistfully say, "Someday."

Barbara, you mentioned something i've noticed on Prime this go 'round with them that is new. They seem to be promoting other streaming programs more than their own. When i open up viewing options, the first two long rows are almost exclusively purchases offered from other streaming services.

Your Pirie program is a good example. We were ready to watch it, but realized all but one needed to be purchased. Almost all the mystery programs are like that. Also, most of the others services' programs.

From what i'm seeing, Prime just doesn't have many recent offerings. They have more films & tv programs from other countries but little with English as the language. I'm baffled by this because we've seen few new programs this time via Prime.

Interesting about your daughter knowing Kaitlin Olson, Deb. Has she watched the show? I am pretty sure Olson has had extensive plastic surgery, which I find sad for such a young woman.

I think the HIGH POTENTIAL episodes are on some streaming service, maybe HULU, which is not going to be HULU much longer. It is being absorbed into Disney+

Deb, I am annoyed with Prime's offerings that you have to have another streaming service to watch, or Prime shows that you have to buy.

Amazon surely gets a "cut" when you join a streaming service via them.

Guess Jeff Bezos needs the $$$$. Gotta buy the new wife more baubles and revealing dresses. I do not think revealing fake boobs is a wonderful thing!

madrano wrote: "I'm not familiar with DOC at all."

I think it won some awards, and so did PITT. Both are medical shows -- I like DOC but I absolutely LOVE PITT. It won a LOT of awards. There is a video somewhere of the cast watching the nominees being announced while they were filming. It was sweet to watch their reactions.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Interesting about your daughter knowing Kaitlin Olson, Deb. Has she watched the show? I am pretty sure Olson has had extensive plastic surgery, which I find sad for such a young woman.

I think the..."

I'll have to ask my daughter about Olson's cosmetic surgery. I think my kid would have told me, but who knows? I didn't pick up on that, but i don't look carefully. To me, Olson is about my daughter's age & she's never thought about such surgery.

No, she hasn't seen HPotential because she's been either in school or overseas. She saw Sunny in Phil, though.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Deb, I am annoyed with Prime's offerings that you have to have another streaming service to watch, or Prime shows that you have to buy.

Amazon surely gets a "cut" when you join a streaming service..."

I wondered about that, too. I don't really care enough to research how such ads work, but i feel as though it's all a game to them.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "madrano wrote: "I'm not familiar with DOC at all."

I think it won some awards, and so did PITT. Both are medical shows -- I like DOC but I absolutely LOVE PITT. It won a LOT of awards. There is a ..."

I really liked Pitt & am eager to see its return!

Two shows for this week

The Diplomat, Season 3, will "drop" on Thursday night. ere's the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UX4...

Boston Blue, a spinoff of the beloved Blue Bloods, will premiere on Friday night on CBS, starring Donny Wahlberg, who was on Blue Bloods. I lived in Boston a million years ago - looking forward to seeing it as a backdrop for this show.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote:

"Boston Blue, a spinoff of the beloved Blue Bloods, will premiere on Friday night on CBS, starring Donny Wahlberg, who was on Blue Bloods. "

I like Blue Bloods; such a good show.

Barbara wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote:

"Boston Blue, a spinoff of the beloved Blue Bloods, will premiere on Friday night on CBS, starring Donny Wahlberg, who was on Blue Bloods. "

I like Blue Bloods; such a good show..."

Me too. I did not watch the first 7 seasons and once I found it, I had a lot of catching up to do.

I have high hopes for this spinoff.

A Different Loyalty is a 2004 drama film inspired by the story of British traitor Kim Philby's love affair and marriage to Eleanor Brewer in Beirut and his eventual defection to the Soviet Union. The story takes place in the 1960s and stars Sharon Stone and Rupert Everett.

I watched it last night on Amazon. It was quite well done and interesting. Sharon Stone is gorgeous as a brunette here.

Rachel wrote: "A Different Loyalty is a 2004 drama film inspired by the story of British traitor Kim Philby's love affair and marriage to Eleanor Brewer in Beirut and his eventual defection to the Soviet Union. T..."

Sounds good, Rachel

Nice to "see" you! Hope all is well.

Rachel wrote: "A Different Loyalty is a 2004 drama film inspired by the story of British traitor Kim Philby's love affair and marriage to Eleanor Brewer in Beirut and his eventual defection to the Soviet Union. T..."

I remember reading about the Philby affair, as far as spying goes, but didn't recall a love story attached. Thanks for sharing about this, Rachel.

Barbara wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote:

"Boston Blue, a spinoff of the beloved Blue Bloods, will premiere on Friday night on CBS, starring Donny Wahlberg, who was on Blue Bloods. "

I like Blue Bloods; such a goo..."
My husband loved Blue Bloods. I am pretty sure that he will watch the new series!

I finished watching on BritBox the two seasons of Karen Pirie. It's a British crime drama. Karen Pirie is detective who investigates cold cases.

The show is based on the books by Val McDermid

Season one is: The Distant Echo

Season two is: A Darker Domain

I thought the acting and scenery were very good. The actress that plays Karen Pirie is Lauren Lyle. She is very good.


As you can see in the above photo, her characters no nonsense practical style wears vests and has a fanny pack. :) I like that on many of the British shows characters seem like real people who see in daily life. They don't look like glamourous models who you often see on American TV. That said, Lauren Lyle has gorgeous hair. I've always wanted straight blond hair since I had my first Barbie Doll. :)

The show has a lot of twists and turns and I've never figured out the "who done it" before the end.

My one problem was since these are cold cases, then scenes go back and forth with the past and present. So a single character will be played by different actors or the actor who is made up very different. In season two, due to the crime some changed their name when they were running from the police. So it got confusing to say the least.

Perhaps the books are easier to follow.

Anyway, it's a good series and I would recommend it.

Alias Reader wrote: "I finished watching on BritBox the two seasons of Karen Pirie. It's a British crime drama. Karen Pirie is detective who investigates cold cases.

The show is based on the books by [author:Val McDer..."

I would hate this show, with the back and forthing! ugh

Julie, I am looking forward to Boston Blue tonight. hope your husband likes it too.

Is that your orange cat in the photo on your profile? I have one of those "special" (as in naughty) cats too.

Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today."

Good to know. Season 2 certainly ended with a bang. 😊

Alias Reader wrote: "I've always wanted straight blond hair since I had my first Barbie Doll. :)..."

LOL! Funny what that doll inspired, eh?

Thanks for the info on the series.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today."

Thus far, we've only been able to see that first series but liked it. I'm glad it's continuing.

Friday Oct 24: The fall Classic (The World Series)

The best fall tv show every year

Go Dodgers!

Denise wrote: "Friday Oct 24: The fall Classic (The World Series)

The best fall tv show every year

Go Dodgers!"

The Dodger seem to be the favorites to win it all.

Barbara wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today."

Good to know. Seas..."

Barbara, I finished Season 3 last night...and even bigger bang! Let me know when you finish it.

The American Revolution Extended Trailer | Premieres Nov. 16 on PBS | Ken Burns Documentary Series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBToy...

There is a companion book for Ken Burns' documentary.

Title: The American Revolution: An Intimate History

Authors: Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward

Publication Date: November 11, 2025

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Content: The book will feature a collection of artifacts, essays from historians, newly commissioned art, maps, prints, drawings, paintings, texts, and pamphlets from the era

Good timing. One hopes both sides of issues could see where their origins began.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today."

JoAnn, I've finished watching season 3 of "The Diplomat" and I have to say I didn't love this season.

The characters (who I think we're supposed to like) exhibit some horrible behavior. Especially blaming President Rayburn (for you know what) and ruining his reputation/legacy.

Such a bunch of manipulators and liars - especially what was revealed at the end of the final episode. I'm really shocked

And I'm no prude, but Kate's liaisons ....no no no As a woman diplomat, which is hard enough to achieve in a male-dominated world, she should behave better than men.

What did you think of this season JoAnn?

Barbara wrote: "JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Hooked! I watched the first episode of THE DIPLOMAT on Netflix today and am sure I will be binging all weekend.

The entire third season dropped today."

JoAnn, I've finish..."

Barbara, I agree with your assessment entirely.

Kate seems to be awfully loose for a woman in her position. And what was that with her throwing herself at Hal and asking him to take her back??? Totally illogical. Lazy writing. We all know he is a cur and 5 minutes later he was proving this! As one reviewer said "If chaos were a ladder, they’re already climbing to the top." I think Kate has a warped perception of what a healthy relationship is......And I wish she would brush her damn hair.

(Did you notice that Dennison's new wife was the doctor from PITT who is not coming back?)

What they did to President Rayburn was inexcusable. I never liked the new president/Grace as an actress, which colored my view of her, I am sure.

The ending was so shocking that I had to play the last few minutes over again to "get it".

Episode 3 (I think) was Rayburn's funeral, except there was no state funeral. I did not get that at all. There was a horse with the empty boots, but....nothing else. I saw no mention of this in any reviews

I wanted more/deeper plot. Instead there was a lot of waste, like Eidra and Stewart's scenes and the flashbacks to the beginning of Kate and Hal's romance. Filler!

And Callum popping up, out of the blue and suddenly is an expert on deadly Russian weapons??? A real stretch!

Another reviewer said "Season 3 is D-rated: fueled by duplicity, disillusionment, diplomatic disaster, doomed romance, and domestic discontent on every level of society and politics."

And once again, I wish she would brush her damn hair. it is NOT a style!