Oh, happy day

Friday morning I had just decided I was staying home for the day, with just a tinge of a sore throat, when I found Season 25 of Law and Order. 

That is 18 episodes neatly stacked on my Peacock streaming service, a very happy find. 

I had just finished two seasons of The Traitors, which I love:

- The Traitors UK with Claudia Winkleman, Season 4.

- The Traitors with Alan Cumming, Season 4. 

And then discovered Claudia has a UK celebrity version too. I actually was familiar with one of the people! I just started in this season. 

The Voice season has finished and is ready to watch next. 

And Top Chef (and Last Chance Kitchen) is running now. I will wait, until the season finishes, to watch it. 

I haven’t even really looked to see if there is anything new/undiscovered. 

Rotating thru the streaming services

It took me just a minute to think of the term - streaming services - I think that’s right to describe HULU, Peacock, BritBox, etc. 

I pick those up, one at a time, for just a month, and catch up on some of my favorite shows. I subscribe to them about 6 mos apart. I love to let whole seasons build up, so I make the most of my $. 

Right now it is HULU, loving the latest seasons of Traitors (UK and US). And I think Top Chef is running now. I will wait to start it until the season is at the very end. 

I am also watching Padma’s Culinary Cup on CBS, not really a fan. 

Black Friday Fun Purchase

Some streaming platform services offer Black Friday deals. 

This is my annual opportunity to catch up with BritBox and have something extra over the holidays when the networks are showing reruns.

In 2024 I purchased two months of Discovery+ and BritBox for $2 each per month. These deals were commercial free thru Amazon Prime.

This week I was watching and grabbed two months of BritBox as soon as I saw the $2.99 ad. 

This year/2025, I purchased thru my Roku because it is easier to turn off the automatic renewal. 

I am watching for a second deal. 

This is a great gift idea!

Paramount / CBS Subscription Service

I think they finally got their act together. 

The other streaming systems, with network programming, have made shows available on the service the morning they are broadcast. 

Previously Paramount/CBS did not make their available until the next day. This drove me nuts. The people paying had to wait.

With the CBS fall premiers, evidently the system has been upgraded. I can now watch a show that is scheduled for the evening, during the day on the subscription service. 

Very glad. And it is about time. 

Tony and Ziva

 Tony and Zeva (CBS) aired early September. I believe there are ten episodes running September - October. This is available on the Paramount streaming service.

It is okay, I wasn’t hugely disappointed, but not a huge fan either. 

I think there were too many flash backs for me. The flashbacks were used to fill in the missing years between the start of this show and Ziva’s departure on NCIS.  

I have seen all the NCIS seasons/episodes on all the various franchises. 

• JAG (1995-2005): The predecessor to the NCIS franchise, featuring a backdoor pilot for the first NCIS series. 
• NCIS (2003-present): The original series about the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which began with a backdoor pilot in JAG. It is the longest-running show in the franchise. 
• NCIS: Los Angeles (2009-2023):A spinoff focusing on undercover agents. 
• NCIS: New Orleans (2014-2021):Another popular spinoff set in New Orleans. 
• NCIS: Hawaiʻi (2021-2024): The first female-led series in the franchise, set in Hawaii. 
• NCIS: Sydney (2023-present):The franchise's first international installment, set in Australia. 
• NCIS: Origins (2024-present): A prequel series that follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs. 
• NCIS: Tony & Ziva: The latest addition, focusing on the former NCIS agents Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. 

Unforgotten on BBC/PBS

 There are 6 seasons of Unforgotten on PBS available with a passport subscription. I love this series. 

Unforgotten started with the fabulous Nicola Walker.

At some point there were cast changes, I like it just as much. 

Lioness

There are two seasons on Paramount Plus/CBS streaming platform. 

Third season rumored to be available sometime in 2025.

I did not expect to like this show, but I did. 

Very well cast. Complex, unique story line. 

Sometimes I prefer the TV version, rather than read

 James Patterson TV -

James Patterson has a very long list of books. I have not read any of his books. 

I recently watched his Alex Cross TV series (Amazon Prime). Well cast, well directed, good series IMO. But be forewarned, it is dark on two levels. 

First, something about the lighting during filming made many scenes very dark. I adjusted my TV for as bright a screen as possible, still dark. 

Second, content was dark.

Michael Connelly Television -

Michael Connolly is a prolific author. There is information on his books at the bottom of this post. 

Sometimes I make a conscious decision to watch the TV series instead of reading a series of books. 

I loved the original Bosch TV series (Amazon), a couple years ago. I think it is well cast, well written, well shot/directed. It continues with Bosch: Legacy (FreeVee). I did not read the books.

I recently watched the Lincoln Lawyer, also Michael Connelly, TV series on Netflix. 

Yes, it was a movie first. I watched the original movie. I did not read the books. 

I watched three seasons of the Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. I think it is well written and well cast. Again, I have no idea how it relates to the books, I did not read them. I watched this series around the election. It kept me happily occupied. 

Michael Connolly Books - 

This is an author where I enjoy the TV adaptations (Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer, above). I probably will never read the Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer books. 

There are too many to list -

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/michael-connelly/

But I am making a note here, that Connelly has a nice list of other books that I plan to read, when I have a lull -

TV - Claim to Fame

Spring 2024, I watched Traitors. Really enjoyed several variations/seasons - US, British, NZ, Australia.

I found another game series that I really enjoyed - three seasons. 

The review (below) mentions that it does not translate for a younger viewer. This is true, middle at age 30 did not know most of the famous relatives. She watched the latest season (3) with me over Labor Day weekend. 

I must be in the perfect age demographic, because I knew almost all the famous relatives. 

We thought the games clever, the clues creative, the filming location beautiful. 

Apples

 

First, thank you to casting for being diverse. I could tell all the players apart easily. Sometimes I really struggle with this. 

We recognized Annette Benning and Sam Neill immediately. That was the hook for starting this seven episode limited series. 

I like that length. It is much more time than a movie would provide, but it is limited. Win. Win. 

We liked the writing, directing, acting. We enjoyed this series. 

I did not know one thing about the story line before I started. We did not know where it was going. And I am not spoiling it. 

I would encourage you not to look up anything, there are spoilers out there. 

I will say, one has to watch the screen. “Then” and “now” are used to define time jumps. As someone who usually plays Wordle or Candy Crush when I watch TV, I had to watch more closely than my usual. 

I subscribed to Peacock in order to watch the current season of The Voice and Law and Order. Any additional items I find/found to watch are/were a great bonus. 

WILTY

I am back to regular once a week posting starting today. My intention is to post photos of flowers blooming in my yard this year. So there might be a different schedule then. 

 

 

I had forgotten all about this show. I watched many of the early seasons, years ago. 

Oldest and I watched, Would I Lie To You, in 2016. At that time, we watched it (separately) on YouTube. So I think I watched all the early seasons, but nothing after 2016.

Luckily I stumbled upon Season 16 on BritBox, just before my short term subscription expired. 

My husband and I watched season 16 which broadcast 2023. Season 17 is running now (2024), but I am not sure it is available in the USA yet.

So, unless the count got altered around Covid, probably I have not seen seasons 10-16. I think there are 12 shows per season.

We started back with the earliest season available on BritBox, season 8, which I probably saw before, but do not remember. And we are watching all of them available on the system. 

To us, they are very funny. 

I am not sure the British humor translates to everyone, but it does me. I find the show laugh out loud funny, which is unusual for me. 

There are four guests per show. Usually I do not recognize any of the guests. So yes, I am missing some level of the references, but it does not matter. I find the show fabulous. 

Jane Austen

First, here is a nice biography -

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Austen/Austens-novels-an-overview

Fall 2023, youngest and I were discussing book clubs covering one book a year as a means of reading all the works by a given author over time.

My old classics group did this with Charles Dickens. We added one Dickens to our list, methodically, every year. An assigned Dickens we would read; on our own, it just never got done. We had other categories we targeted for our list each year also. 

Youngest’s book group was attempting to do this with Austen, but then no one remembered to put an Austen book on the list for next year. . .

If by chance you have never read Austen, she is a great idea. I think it is easier to listen to her books in audio format than read the printed page. 

I think this is true of Dickens and Twain also, audio is better.

The kids and I love Austen. And we all agree, there is something about getting one’s ear in the groove of listening to the language, one’s ears/brain adapt. 

 I would not suggest reading Dickens or Twain, one right after the other, one a year is a good pace for those authors, but Austen I might (foreshadowing). 

If you look up Austen books, this (below) is the list that usually appears. I have read all the titles on this list several times each, both for pleasure and for classes and book groups, over the decades.

Sense and Sensibility (1811)

Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Mansfield Park (1814)

Emma (1815)

Persuasion (posthumously, 1817)

Northanger Abbey (posthumously, 1817)

Late September 2023, loading past read books into the app, I saw this collection (below) listed on Goodreads, new to me.  I found it for free on Audible.  

These are three partial Austen works. The Audible collection is these three incomplete works combined into one recording. 

When I finished William Kent Kruger, I rolled right into The Firm and The Exchange. And then I listed to the incomplete Austin collection (above), and it was a shock to my ears. 

It has been years since I listened to something classic where my ears/brain have to adjust. When I started, the incomplete collection, early November 2023, I was not sure I still had the ability to adjust, but I did. 

I finished the trio of incomplete Austin works (above) over two days, finishing a quilt top (last week’s post).

I had nothing pressing on my reading list. 

I decided while my ears were adjusted, relistening to the whole Austen list, in publication order, was a great idea. 

I think this is first for me. 

I think this is the first time I have read the whole collection, one right after the other, in chronological order. But since my ears/brain were in early 1800’s mode, it made sense. 

I listed to the first three, in very rapid order, one right after the other working on the donut blocks for youngest’s quilt (future post), before Thanksgiving. I didn’t just listen while I sewed. I listened every available second. As in - go away, don’t talk to me, I am listening to my book(s).

So I had to take a forced pause over Thanksgiving to be social, all our kids were home for over a week. I could not listen to any Austen while everyone was home.

I will go back to working my way through finishing the last three novels, in chronological order, soon. I am in the midst of something else right now (future post).

The versions I used, so far, are below. I will add the last three as I finish them. 

They are really lovely. 

Note - I skipped the first section which was a one hour + summary. That is why it reads “Jane Austen & 1 more.” There is a scholarly section in the beginning.  I started with the actual novel.

This (below) would be another great winter project, there are excellent TV and movie options -

Sanditon was finished by screen writers and made into a recent series on PBS. All three seasons have aired. I watched the first part of this series, without realizing it was Austen. I am starting at the beginning and rewatching, soon.

https://www.audible.com/blog/article-best-jane-austen-adaptations#

Note, the movie version of Mansfield Park (below), is adapted from the book. It adds personalities/focuses that are not in the book, for dramatic effect.