What I’m Watching - Summer 2024
As summer slowly gives way to cooler weather in New England, Here are a few shows I’ve been watching:
The Acolyte - Disney+
I know. The Acolyte wasn’t without some issues, but I enjoyed it. Watching it excited me for the second season of Andor, due in 2025. I thought season one was the best original Star Wars content released on Disney+.
Better Call Saul - Netflix
It took me a while to return to Better Call Saul, and I’m so glad I did. As many did, I watched Breaking Bad live or via the cable box on demand on AMC back when it debuted in 2008 because that’s what we did then.
Better Call Saul debuted in 2015. I watched the first few seasons on cable and enjoyed the show, but then life happened. I came back to it more recently, checking in with the series over the last few years and finally finishing it this summer.
The series is excellent, and I was pleased with how the story played out and the finale. I may like it better than Breaking Bad, but that could be recency bias more than anything else.
The Great American Recipe - PBS
This has been around for a few years, but I’ve just recently discovered it. I’m a big fan of The Great British Baking Show (AKA Bake Off), which has a similar vibe. Kind people make good food and share their stories with each other. The judges are all chefs who want to see everyone succeed, and I’m here for all of it.
Deadline Reports that Ted Lasso May Be Coming Back
Deadline reports that Ted Lasso may be returning for a season 4. From the article:
While the outreach to the cast is underway, early preparations are also being made to open a writers room. If all elements come together, we hear production on a fourth season is eyeing an early 2025 start. Reps for WBTV and Apple TV+ declined comment.
Starting the process for a Season 4 greenlight indicates that the main Ted Lasso driving force on and off-screen, Sudeikis, is on board for a new installment as the studio would not have proceeded without his consent.
I was a big fan of this show, particularly the first season, which dropped during a particularly weird time in recent history. I have mixed feelings about the potential for a return. I’m excited about checking in with the characters and setting, but I also know that sometimes things are better left as is. Still, if it’s coming, I’ll absolutely check it out.
Apple’s “Glowtime” event is next week, and I’ll be watching to see if they make any announcements related to Lasso.
What I’m Watching - Spring 2024
I only have a little downtime for TV these days. My kids are my full-time job, and as a stay-at-home dad, I'm also the responsible party for the bulk of the food prep, transportation, cleaning, etc. So, while I'm not sitting down to watch movies with my wife (she's also busy working and being a fantastic mom and wife), I do find small windows of time, most often while doing those aforementioned household chores, to stream a show or two. Here are a few shows that I'm slowly watching and enjoying:
Franklin - Apple TV+
I read Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson last year and found the story of one of America's founding fathers to be fascinating. Of course, growing up, Franklin has always loomed large as an important character in the history of the United States. The Apple TV+ series focuses on the eight years that Franklin spent lobbying the French to aid in the cause of independence.
The cast is splendid, led by Michael Douglas as Franklin. I know this may seem an odd choice for casting, but Douglas is enjoying the role and playing him with the demur whit that Franklin seems to have embodied. I also quite enjoy Noah June as Franklin's grandson Temple.
Clarkson's Farm - Amazon Prime
Jeremy Clarkson is best known for his time on Top Gear and later The Grand Tour. I've watched some of each series and have enjoyed them both. Clarkson's Farm, now on its 3rd season on Amazon Prime, follows the efforts of Clarkson and a humble band of characters as they work to make Diddly Squat farm a success. They're up against the weather, Clarkson's own incompetence, and the local council, and these challenges make for entertaining and occasionally poignant moments.
Tasting History with Max Miller - YouTube
Max Miller had a successful career at Disney when he was furloughed during the COVID-19 Pandemic, giving him more time to focus on his YouTube Channel and eventually to publish his first cookbook. Tasting History with Max Miller combines two things I really enjoy, History and Food. Max picks one recipe tied to an important moment from the past, and while he cooks the recipe, he devotes most of his time to sharing its place in history.
Some of my favorites from Max include his detailed breakdown of the menus of the Titanic, recipes from Ancient Rome and Egpyt, and a particularly tasty Pecan Pie that I made a few Thanksgivings ago. Our guests were divided, although I preferred this earlier rendition, popularized before Caro Syrup became a thing.
What's on your watch list
Do you have any recommendations that I might enjoy? If so, please send me a note. I'd like to hear from you.
Weekly Quote: Princess Leia Organa for Star Wars Day
background image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling
This week’s quote comes from Princess Leia Organa, delivering this well-known line in Star Wars: A New Hope.
In this iconic and memorable scene, Leia’s distress message is delivered by R2-D2 with the assistance of C-3PO to an awe-struck Luke and a knowing Obi-Wan. This scene sets the stage for much of the story and introduces us to something called The Clone Wars, explored in greater detail in the prequel trilogy, and animated series released several decades later.
I wrote a little about my love of Star Wars last year, and my enjoyment of the universe continues with shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandolorian as well as my current favorite of the Disney+ streaming era, Andor.
I’ll celebrate today by sneaking in a few minutes of A New Hope, which I began rewatching earlier this week as I worked on this post. I’ve seen it dozens of times since I was a kid, and I still get a thrill when the opening crawl begins, and the main theme music hits.
Happy Star Wars Day. May the force be with you!
Weekly Quote: Ted Lasso on Feeling the Love
This week’s quote comes from AFC Richmond’s head coach and all-around nice guy Ted Lasso, promoting the beauty and the practicality of how much people can do when they care about each other.
Coach Ted’s big and imperfect heart is one of the reasons his namesake show has become such a beloved hit. The first season’s light and humorous approach was a beacon during the early days of the pandemic. The second season had a slightly darker tone, with a twist at the end that, with a careful rewatch of the episodes leading up to it, isn’t as surprising as it first seems. Hope abides for the third season to provide an equally entertaining mix of humor and drama. The new season premieres today. I’ll be watching, will you?
Ted Lasso Returns to Apple TV+ on March 15th
I'm excited for the third season of Ted Lasso premiering on March 15th. There have been conflicting reports that this will be the final season. However, there's no mention of that on the Youtube page or in Apple's press release announcing the new season. British GQ has a rundown of the new season, including what those involved in the production say about the future (spoiler alert, no one knows for sure).
One of the aspects of British TV production that I've always enjoyed is the comfort with which they sometimes take lengthy breaks between series and use one-off specials to move the story forward. While it's fun to speculate if the show will continue and in what form that might take, I'm thrilled that one of my favorite shows is returning, and I hope the creative team does what serves the story best.
Happy Star Wars Day!
As a kid growing up in the early 1990s, I vividly remember watching the original Star Wars Trilogy on television and receiving the reissued “faces” VHS box set for Christmas in 1995. I watched all three movies many times, especially The Empire Strikes Back, my favorite of the original three.
We live in a bountiful time for new Star Wars projects, particularly from the non-feature length side of things with shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, The Bad Batch, and the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi all landing on Disney+. I know there are plenty of comic books and novels available too. I can personally attest to the very cool Lego sets available because they are slowly beginning to take over parts of my desk!
During the last few months of 2021 and early 2022, I rewatched all of the films and decided that my favorite from the newer batch of films is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Do you have a favorite?
Chain Bookstores Aren’t Dead Yet (Thank you, TikTok)
I came across this article about the bookstore revival on Bloomberg CityLab by Alexandra Lange. It offers some history of the big-box booksellers, and dives into how Barnes & Noble is staging a comeback thanks mainly to nostalgia (check out the photos!) and by acting as the backdrop for the BookTok boom that has racked up over 40 billion views on TikTok. Gen Z is apparently finding its way to the mall.
There’s also talk of the concept of these stores becoming the third place. From the article:
It’s not until you add the coffee shop to the chain bookstore, circa 1990, that it becomes the best illustration of sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of the “third place.” The chain stores were pick-up joints without the alcohol, teen hangouts without the style pressures of the mall, opportunities to explore identity both socially and via reading material out from under the thumb of parents and teachers. As with the malls and shopping centers that often support a bookstore, these private enterprises offered accommodation to a broad range of people, in terms of class, race and age.
Thanks to the efforts of Starbucks once and again CEO Howard Schultz, this is a concept associated with that coffee chain at least before the pandemic.
I grew up without a Starbucks nearby, but we did have a large Barnes and Noble that opened when I was in my early teens. I spent many hours exploring books and magazines about technology, business, cooking, science fiction, and fantasy. I also developed my taste for coffee at the cafe. Yes, they did serve Starbucks, but as part of a licensed program, so sadly, they weren’t nearly as good at misspelling our name in wild ways.
Ted Lasso on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes did a segment on Ted Lasso, one of my favorite television shows and one of the shining beacons of hope, love, and kindness that helped many of us get through some of the darkest days of the pandemic.
It’s a great watch if you want to smile and know a little more about this show that no one, including its creators, was quite sure would find an audience.