This is what TV I've been watching so far this year:
Staged: Season Two – as it takes the concept of 'lockdown TV' made entirely via Zoom and is a show about a TV series be remade in America, it isn't as charming or funny as the first series, feeling more like a show which is a reflection of itself and very much a piece of meta filmmaking. Michael Sheen and David Tennant are a brilliant double act and this season has an all-star cast of actors in consideration for the main roles for the American version.
Breaking Bad commentaries – since watching this (again), I've had the box set near my Blu-ray player intending to watch it with the commentaries. I did this quite quickly and enjoyed the variety of contributors and what they spoke about during the commentaries. Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston are mainstays, appearing in most of them, though there is a large number of contributors throughout the five seasons from actors including Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, and writers, editors, directors, and producers such as Moira Walley-Beckett, Melissa Bernstein, Skip MacDonald, Michelle McLaren, David Slade, Rian Johnson, Gennifer Hutchison, Kelley Dixon, and Peter Gould.
Disenchantment: Season Three – halfway through the first episode, I began to regret watching this without re-watching the first two seasons because there wasn't much of a 'catch up' and it picked up immediately where season two finished. I decided to stick with it and remembered most things so I was able to enjoy the character relationships, the quality voice acting, imaginative world building, and inventive animation. At some point in the next month or so I want to go back to the beginning and watch all three seasons in order from the first episode of the first season.
Bridgerton – this was a bit of a slow burner because the first couple of episodes didn't 'wow' me and make me consider it compelling viewing. If I didn't hate having half watched TV series so much, I probably would have left it and moved on to something else. I'm glad I stuck with it because my enjoyment increased as the series went on and, when it finished, I was both eagerly anticipating a second season and considering re-watching this first one.
Space Force – although this comedy about a new fictional branch of the US Armed Forces and the US embarking on another 'space race' could barely be less similar to
Bridgerton, it had (if you pardon the pun) a similar trajectory: the first couple of episodes didn't put this in 'binge watch' territory, just something easy to watch when winding down at night. After a while, I was emotionally invested in the relationship between Steve Carrell's Mark Naird, a newly promoted four-star general tasked by the president with putting 'boots on the moon' by 2024. This is ostensibly a workplace comedy, a little like The Office in a military location. You have the various relationships between employees, principally between Mark and Dr Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich), the chief scientist, and then Mark's relationship with his teenage daughter, Erin (Diana Silvers) and wife, Maggie (Lisa Kudrow), who is a in prison for reasons unknown. I enjoyed this more than I expected and will watch the second season whenever it appears on Netflix.
The Trump Show – a four-part miniseries broadcast on BBC, this charts the Donald Trump presidency from its launch and the 2016 presidential election to the mob storming Capitol Hill and Joe Biden's election win. The range of interview subjects, including Steve Bannon, John Bolton, Michael Wolff, Sean Spicer, Anthony Scaramucci, Rudy Giuliani, Stormy Daniels, and Jon Sopel, is impressive and leads to a wide range of views from inside the White House during one of the most remarkable and unusual presidencies in the United States' 244 year history. It's available on iPlayer here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...the-trump-show The Alienist – a Netflix show I stumbled on because it was trailed after Bridgerton so I added it to my list and quickly watched both seasons. The second season, Angel of Darkness, is easily my favourite as the first is a bit too slow and mysterious and the second is a darker thriller. The main difference between the two is the killer's identity is unknown in the first season whereas the second season includes the murderer as one of the main characters. Daniel Brühl, a German-Spanish actor, is perhaps an unusual choice to play the British alienist (a little like a 19th century Cracker), but his accent is perfect and his relationship with Dakota Fanning's young detective makes him even more interesting. I was impressed by the way it integrated fiction and fact, including real people, most prominently Theodore Roosevelt in season one and William Randolph Hearst in The Alienist: Angel of Darkness. Luke Evans, Brian Geraghty, Douglas Smith, Matthew Shear, Matt Letscher, and Rosy McEwan impressive. Dakota Fanning is probably the pick of the actors and the second season is much better for featuring her character, Sara, much more than the first.
Taskmaster – since my brother practically made me watch the first episode on Christmas Day last year, I have been meaning to watch this and I only began to resume the first season earlier this month. I'm halfway through the fourth series and loving each episode, each challenge, and all the banter between the contestants, Greg Davies, and Alex Horne. It's so good to have it on All 4 (
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/taskmaster) with only a few adverts during each episode, and I generally watch three or four episodes every evening. I don't think it'll be too long before I have watched all of them and be up-to-date and ready for the 11th series.