I haven’t done a media report in a while, so some quick highlights of what I’ve been watching:
PRODIGY: I just caught up on Prodigy — if you’re a Star Trek fan and have missed this, I recommend it. Yes, it’s animated, and aimed at ages 7 & up, and I didn’t always pay full attention while it was on; it was good background TV while I was doing laundry. But it was warm and satisfying and a good storyline. 20 episodes in the first season (available on Paramount Plus; we watched through Amazon Prime).
Episode 19 made me cry, although admittedly, it was because of a “Gondor calls for aid” moment that I am always a sucker for. I’m going to have to write one in a book someday, clearly. If you have kids of the appropriate age, watch with them — get them hooked on Star Trek young, and they’ll always be seeking strange new worlds, boldly going…
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PICARD: Kevin and I are really enjoying Picard, season 3. Well-paced, feels like real Star Trek. (Picard season 2 was self-indulgent, I’m afraid — I liked it okay, but it should have been compressed into fewer episodes; it would have been more effective.)
Yes, the fanservice gets a bit thick sometimes, but I am here for it — if you came to Star Trek with Next Gen in your 20s, this is the season for you. I started with classic Trek re-runs as a kid, and Kirk / Spock will always have my heart, but I appreciate a good Next Gen callback. And it doesn’t hurt that Jack C. (avoiding spoilers) is SUCH a Kirk figure. 
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SHRINKING: We’ve finished Shrinking, season 1 (Apple TV), and enjoyed it a lot — if you’re a Ted Lasso fan, this is from the same writers. The premise is that a psychologist (played by Jason Segal, whom I knew as Marshall in How I Met Your Mother) who lost his wife a year previously, has been sunk in grief, failing to parent his teen. When he starts to come out of that, he starts with some wildly inappropriate conversations with his clients — hijinks ensue, but it’s very heartfelt, and the dialogue is terrific. Harrison Ford plays one of the older psychologists in the practice, dealing with encroaching Parkinson’s, and does a great job with that too.
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TED LASSO: We’re also watching the new season of Ted Lasso, and loving it. Want it to come faster. This one, Kavi joins us for, because she loves it too.
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MYTHIC QUEST: Also on Apple TV, Kev and I are watching Mythic Quest, set in a video game design studio — about 4-5 episodes in, enjoying it reasonably well, not in love yet, but my friends were enthusiastic enough about it that we’ll stick with it, I think.
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ABBOTT ELEMENTARY: On Hulu, we finished watching the season of Abbott Elementary (I think we’d stopped around the holidays, and hadn’t realized a bunch more had dropped, so we got to binge them this past week) — just love this show. In this season, the teachers and administrators of a struggling public school have to fight an attempt to take the school charter. VERY satisfying. Also, I may empathize a bit with protagonist Janine, who is short, round, and full of passionate earnest energy that people often don’t take very seriously. She reminds me of Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec, actually, another public servant I adore.
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GIRLS5EVA: On Peacock, I tried Girls5eva, and the first episode didn’t do much for me, but I might try it again, since so many of my friends were enthusiastic. It often takes a while for shows to hit their stride; we’ll see.
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POKERFACE: Also on Peacock, I’ve watched two episodes of PokerFace so far, and am liking it. Premise: there’s a woman with an uncanny ability to tell if someone’s lying, and she ends up solving crimes — the most unusual part of this is that she’s a working class cocktail waitress when we meet her, and at least so far, the show is sticking to a working class milieu, which is pretty unusual for a detective show.
It reminds me of Lori Rader-Day’s _Little Pretty Things_, actually, in that regard (protagonist is a cleaner at a motel). That really should be a TV series too, IMHO. Although Lori should also write more books in the series. Someone throw a bit fat series deal at her, pretty please.
My only concern with PokerFace is I’m not sure how well the premise will hold up, episode after episode, but the writing is solid enough that I’m willing to go with it for now.
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BEYOND PARADISE: I’ve been enjoying Beyond Paradise (BritBox), which is a spin-off from Death in Paradise, where endearing detective Humphrey has moved back to the U.K. with fiancé Martha — he solves crimes, she’s opening a cafe (with the help of her ex who has a winery — complications ensue). Content note — there’s a heartbreaking pregnancy loss in the first episode, and the couple is struggling with infertility throughout the season so far.
It’s set in Shipton Abbott, near the Devon coast, and periodically, “The Wellerman” plays in the background, which always makes me want to go look up the TikTok videos…
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THE LAW ACCORDING TO LIDIA POET: I tried the first epsiode of The Law According to Lidia Poet (Netflix), a period drama where Lidia Poet investigates murders while struggling against the gendered strictures of her time. I liked it, will likely watch more.
It’s Italian, and I’ll note that the dubbing and the subtitles REALLY don’t match up, which is pretty hilarious. If you’re interested in the problems of translations, it’d be a pretty good case study, comparing them!
It’s apparently based loosely on a real person — “Lidia Poët (26 August 1855 in – 25 February 1949) was the first modern female Italian lawyer. Her disbarring led to a movement to allow women to practice law and hold public office in Italy.” (Wikipedia)
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STAGED: I quickly watched Season 2 of Staged, mostly for the David Tennant / Michael Sheen of it — it was fine, not as compelling as season 1, probably because the pandemic piece isn’t as compelling at this point in time. But they’re still fun to watch, or listen to while folding laundry. Whoopi Goldberg has a major role in this, and I always love her.
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CUNK ON EARTH: Anand and I have watched a few epsiodes of Cunk on Earth (Netflix), a comedy / history show. “Philomena Cunk’s epic landmark mockumentary on civilisation, tracing humanitykind’s journey from prehistory to the present day.”
Anand’s a big history buff, and also adores things that are funny, so at age 13, this is just his speed, though he does tend to talk over it a lot, so if I cared, that would be frustrating. I don’t care though, and it’s been fun having a show to watch with him — Anand’s ADHD means that he doesn’t have a lot of patience for watching TV shows with us.
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GARDEN: And finally, back to my garden shows. I watched the 4 episodes of season 57 of Gardener’s World (lots of older material woven in, wonder if they’re still having trouble filming post-COVID), and I’ve been rewatching Monty Don’s Big Dreams, Small Spaces, as I prepare for this year’s gardening season. I really want to put a pond into my front garden. I don’t think I actually have the energy or budget this year. Boo.
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(I need to remember to get back to Severance — liked the first episode, got distracted. Ditto Reboot. Ditto Westworld, if it’s still available somewhere.)
Arya says: I approve of you lying around and watching TV all the time. You may pet me.
(I was going to talk about what I’ve been reading too, but this has gotten long enough, I’m going to save that for a separate post. I do love that watching TV counts as ‘research’ for me. )
Please avoid spoilers in comments.
Arya made me edit this to add in the link to this Wellerman remix, just in case you somehow missed the sea shanty fabulousness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsurPg9Ckw
