A Good Weekend to be a Couch Potato
I’ve noticed over the course of the last few months my wife and I seem to be watching more and more British content on television. Most recently we’ve started binging All Creatures Great and Small and Call The Midwife.
We both have agreed that we’re growing tired of the excessive violence, vulgarity, predictability, and less-than-cerebral content coming out of Hollywood and US Studios. Are we just getting older? This could be part of it but it’s not the only reason.
Most US-based studios seem to be increasingly following the same formulae and it’s become more about making money than good storytelling. Matt Damon has admitted during rounds on the talk show circuit promoting his new film, The Rip that short audience attention spans are influencing how scripts are written. We just watched this film and it was more like a bad 1970’s crime show than a big budget Hollywood film.
Maybe it’s time we cancel Netflix and sign up for Brit Box?
The Winter Storm of a Generation
The massive winter storm brewing in the middle of the US is shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation type of event. Up to 3” of ice, feet of snow, and high winds are set to descend on a large swath of the country in just a matter of hours.
According to most weather models the Upper Midwest will be spared this time. We’re just going to get the extreme cold— with temperatures dipping to -22 on Friday. For those of you south of Ohio, be safe and ready. It’s better to be prepared, even if the forecast is wrong, than for it to happen as predicted and not be prepared.
I remember the Blizzard of 1978 well and how quickly it brought Columbus Ohio to its knees. This will be the one weekend of the year that will be made for a cozy couch, snacks, a warm blanket, and some good television.
All for now. Thanks so much for reading.
(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
Spending a weekend on the couch watching some great shows sounds perfect, particularly with that winter storm coming in.
Definitely! Thank God I have exercise equipment inside. I can't stand to sit down for too long.
I was down in Columbus one year when there was a massive snow storm. I didn't know anything about the emergency system they have down there, so we were out driving around without a clue! My brother in law and I actually came across a ambulance that was stuck in the snow, so we stopped to help push it out. I hope all of this moves out of the way before we head down to North Carolina at the beginning of February. I still watch a lot of TV comparatively, but I am a bit more particular about what I watch. My wife and I really liked Yellowstone, but my mom and dad weren't fans mostly due to the language :)
Wow, that's great you guys were able to help the ambulance get unstuck. These kinds of weather events have a way of bringing out the best in people sometimes. Yellowstone was great! We like anything from Taylor Sheridan. Landman is phenomenal as well.
I'm still trying to figure out if Taylor is really so misogynistic in real life or if he is just writing the characters to a specific type. It's interesting his history and the fact that he is really a professional horse dancer or whatever they call it.
Hmm, I'm not sure about that. Taylor's definitely right-leaning, politically, and that is apparent from the dialogue and plot of Landman. Politics aside, the shows are just so well written and entertaining.
Yeah, we still watch them :) Looking forward to the new Marshals show that is coming out soon too.
The point about short attention spans affecting scripts makes sense. It explains a lot of why recent films feel rushed or shallow.
For sure!
I still and have ever enjoyed violent scenes in movies, like war or battle scenes, not that I cherish the blood and gore, but the adrenaline, dopamine rushes seem worth it.
Though I can't stand real-life blood and gore. Maybe my passion for such moves will wane with age like yours.
Those scenes definitely get the brain chemicals activated! After a while you just become fatigued by it all. Good storytelling doesn't have to rely on that kind of thing to be entertaining. Sometimes it can even be more intense if they leave some of it to the imagination.
What a wild winter so far! Another foot of snow forecasted here…again!
Not only that, our local Winterfest is a scheduled for Saturday which is promising a low of -24 (-11 in freedom units) and a high of only -15 (5 Fahrenheit)!
Oh man, that's a lot of the white stuff! My brother lives in the snow belt (Canfield, OH) and they're due to get 20" this weekend. Will you brave the weather for the Winterfest?
Yah man I have to. I am on the committee and have to be onsite all day to help organize. I might have to ghost for a beer in a warm pub at some point. ;)
It sure does help if you know how to dress for it and I'm sure you do! Coming from the milder climate in Ohio, I had to learn how to layer when I came to Minnesota in '95. A beer in a warm pub sounds great right about now, we woke up to -37 this morning!
Funny thing, we just finished watching a British TV show called Slow Horses 😀
It did seem a bit slow to us at first as if nothing was happening. The first season would fit into a single episode of that kind of a show if it was made in United States. We did adjust eventually and really appreciated their character development.
Slow Horses ended up being good but, I agree, the plot developed at a snail's pace. Gary Oldman did such a good job with his character, he really came off as disgusting when it comes to hygiene!
We still have Netflix. Four people in the household so there’s always something that one of us wants.
Yeah, the short attention span thing is real, at least for some of what I’ve seen. Seems like Apple shows haven’t succumbed to that yet.
Friday’s upcoming brutal weather will be a good excuse to stay home. And the planned general strike will mean that a bunch of places will be closed anyway. Saw a list online of about two dozen businesses that plan on being closed. Probably more doing so with less publicity. Last I saw, Saturday’s weather won’t be beach party conducive either.
There's still a fair amount of good shows on there but we don't like Netflix as much as we used to. Apple is good and I find myself watching PBS a lot more. If you donate $5 a month you get access to the entire content library of the PBS app. Network television is the absolute worst. I can't even bring myself to watch more than a few minutes of it. It reminds me of the "this is your brain on drugs" campaign of the 80's. I can feel the brain cells sizzling.
This weekend is definitely going to be brutal. We're heading out to get more pellets for the wood stove today so we're prepared. It's not looking great for the next ten days. More and more businesses are joining the protest! Some have publicly said they stand in solidarity but can't afford to close.
I can’t remember the last time I watched “broadcast” TV.
It's mind-numbing!
Highly recommend, if you liked those, Poldark. The newer one. Shetland is meant to be good but I haven't seen it.
I also highly recommend Fleabag - quirky, and written by Phoebe Waller Bridge who plays the main character who's a bit of a legend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Waller-Bridge
THere's also a gorgeous sweet show called The Detectorists. If you want an antidote to US shows, this is absolutely it. When Jamie suggested it I was like - what, a show about metal detectorists? And it is one of the best shows I've seen ever - I laughed, and cried. Fuck I love this show soooo much. I often just play the theme tune, a song by Johnny Flynn, and plan playing it at Jamie's funeral, not that he's dying any time soon. He absolutely approves.
I mean, read some of the comments to the theme song alone
There's also some fantastic cop shows - Happy Valley, Line of Duty.
Don't worry, UK does violence and gangs too - Top Boy is fantastic London gang stuff, loved it - you may need the subtitles to interpret the patois though.
Anything else you want to know about British shows, let me know :P
Oh, lots of good recommendations here, thank you! I'll definitely be adding these to our playlist. The UK does do violence but, for me, even those shows seem to have more complex storylines and characters. Mobland has been phenomenal and I was a huge fan of Peaky Blinders. Have you seen Landman? That's one American series that hits the mark.
I keep going past Landman. There's some great US shows to be fair. Succession was absolutely incredible! Sopranos of course was epic and next to the Detectorists, my favourite ending of all time. Fargo. Breaking Bad. Oh God back in 2000 I binge watched the entire season of Rain Peaks on VHS from the video shop ON MY OWN. Firefly. Carnivale. But you know this.
BUT YEAH IF ITS British, I'm all in. I could list soooooo many good British comedy too we loved haa. My husband is one after all, and his sense of humor is very British too. He makes me laugh after 23 years together. Good going.
Do watch the Detectorists as a matter of urgency, particularly if you are feeling blue. It's a treasure of a show. I can't wait for you to report back on it.
Landman is pretty phenomenal, as was Succession and Breaking Bad. We liked Mad Men and the original Suits series too. Have you watched Still Game? It's Scottish comedy but right in the same ballpark, my God is it funny. I had to turn the closed captioning on at first to understand what they were saying but don't have to do that anymore. : ) That is so important to have a partner in life that makes you laugh! The world can get far too serious sometimes. We will definitely be adding the Detectorists to our rotation. Call The Midwife is getting pretty tedious going into the third season and there are fourteen!
https://x.com/i/status/2014371813329932532
#hive #posh
I get what you mean about British shows—they often have better stories than Hollywood these days. Perfect timing too with the winter storm, staying cozy and watching good TV sounds great.
I also saw Matt Damon's interview and Netflix's demands. I think good cinema will go down in history and what we will see, depending on our tastes, will be short videos that don't require our full attention. I was talking to a friend about how, since the pandemic, people have moved cinema into their homes: people have stopped going out to see movies, and there are more and more very short or very long movies, perfect for watching on the couch. The good thing is that we have the power in our remote controls. Stay warm and take care of yourself. Have a great weekend, my friend. Hugs.
It's so expensive to go to the movie theater now in the US. You can could on $30-$50 per person if you want to eat or drink anything. They've priced themselves into oblivion here in America. Thanks and I hope you have a great weekend as well!