Tuesday, March 3, 2015

WINTER OF OUR CONTENT




 That was made even more glorious by the best Sunday night of TV since Lassie and the Wonderful World of Disney, but like all good things it came to an end this past Sunday. We got a little off schedule with the tepid Oscars interrupting our Sunday watching. Unlike the rest of the world , I do not like watching at odd times - but had to and it took a while to catch up.


THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW
( Great British Bake Off )

The total surprise hit of the season! 
It was laughable how caught up in this Neil and I got, " OH NO! " at someone's cake calling, or tart citron not doing what ever it is that a tart citron is supposed to do. It is also just how wildly different reality tv is over there, or at least this one very popular show is - such normal people just BAKING pies and such . A very good finale , where I would have been happy if any of the three won ( even thought I was pulling for Louie ) 


The winner got a cake plate - A CAKE PLATE.
I will miss Paul.

the finalists.

Mary Berry's recipe for the 


DOWNTON ABBEY



Tied everything up in a rapidly tied Christmas Bow!

The internets are a buzz with season six ( next season ) not being the last of the Crowleys - even thought Damn Maggie Smith has said that it will be her last no matter what. It had some bumps in the road this year for sure, but is still a wonderful show that I very  much enjoy. 

Let's just all hope that the Bates/Anna murder subplot will be forever banished next season. Which will be a season without cutie Allen Leech/ Tom Branson  or Lily James/ Lady Rose ( or any of her new Jewish family ?? ) both characters were sailed off to America to start new lives, meaning they both have good movie deals.

Lord Julian Fellows is firing up his American Downton for 2016 - who knows many they will pop up there ( won't happen , it takes places years before where we are on Downton )


HBO's LOOKING



Union rules that we have to watch this one , and it filled the void so we did not have to watch the awful live post Downton call in show on our local PBS affiliate , but I am not at all sure I am close to the target audience. I just do not understand its method of story telling. Which is there really is no story arch - we are just flys on the wall to these folks lives .

It is a tried and true custom on HBO , started with Sex and the City, but it seems to be taken to the extreme with LOOKING. The few episodes of GIRLS that I have seen are the exact same way - these kids today and their post modern non story story telling and all. Really, its only the cute boys ( right ) that keep me watching... if things dont pick up by the end of this season, I doubt I will be back for #3.

GRANTCHESTER 


Grantchester was by far the best surprise of the Winter, and really the best show.

I just realized sitting here that it is the exact opposite style of story telling than Looking, it is almost nothing but back story and fully realized characters brought to life very quickly by such good writing - with a weekly murder mystery thrown in just to give the good Vicar something to do between Sundays. It has been picked up for a second season - but in Englad those are just SO SHORT! 

Neil has started listening to the books, which are written by the son of a late Archbishop of Canterbury - so it gets its CoE stuff right.  I might as well, just to get to spend a little more time with Sydney - but Id have to have the real books, Im not good with the audio kinds...


and a bonus

Amazon's 
TRANSPARENT


We were way late watching this one, as it was all the rage earlier in the year and did really well at the Golden Globes, so we dove in. Started out as a great , very quirky series - going back and forth in time within this one LA family. Giving us the whys on the events  happening to them in the now, but in the end, with the last three episodes, it sort of fell apart, at least for me. I just ended up not really liking any of the family members who are all powerfully dysfunctional. Good acting , good story - but you need to root for someone to make it work, and in the end, I just didn't.

I am sure it will be picked up and I will give it another shot.

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