Emberweave Reviews

Roseanne: Twenty Years to Life (2018) Season 10, Episode 1

Unfunny from the beginning

[3/10 · 15 April 2024]

With so many people screaming that The Conners would have been funnier if they'd kept Roseanne, I wanted to revisit this "final" season of Roseanne, because I watched it when it first aired and wasn't very impressed. Well, I just watched the repeats on COZI and I was right the first time. The show is not funny. There is no balance whatsoever between humor and commentary. The humor is missing completely and the commentary is delivered with a sledgehammer, regardless of the viewpoint. During the first three episodes I watched, I think I might have chuckled once. The dialogue consists of nothing but angry yelling. The characters are pale shadows of the original portrayals. It's as if the writers never actually studied or even watched the first five seasons of the original show in order to capture the Conners. I gave this three stars because it was nice to see the set and the cast, but after a few minutes, that novelty has worn through. If the Roseanne twitter fiasco hadn't happened, I doubt this revival would have lasted more than two seasons.

Hazel: Hazel's Endearing Young Charms (1965) Season 5, Episode 14

A sweet story that is out of order

[8/10 · 24 January 2024]

This is an enjoyable storyline, with Hazel concerned that she and Harold endear themselves to Steve and Barbara because Hazel is worried that if they don't, she could lose her job and Harold could be sent to live with his severe Aunt Deirdre. The interaction between Hazel and Harold is very sweet. You really feel their bond, so the fear that they could be separated is a genuine worry.

The problem with this story is not the plot itself, but where this occurs in the episode order. This is episode fourteen, nearly halfway through season five. Hazel and Harold have already endeared themselves to Steve and Barbara and have blended into the family quite nicely as previous stories show. Yet, Hazel actually says they've only been there three weeks and need to make sure they can stay. This is very jarring when viewed for the first time. Clearly this story was supposed to air in the third or fourth slot of the season, but for reasons unknown was bumped to halfway through the season, which makes the plotline very incongruous.

If you own the DVDs, then I recommend skipping to this story and watching it as the third episode. It will make a bit more sense overall and also break up the sudden "Deirdre is in several stories in a row" run.

One Lane Bridge: Escape (2020) Season 1, Episode 3

After two interesting episodes, the plot drives off this one-lane bridge

[3/10 · 12 July 2023]

The first two episodes were interesting and appeared to set up an intriguing mystery, but the this episode made a sharp turn and drove right off that one-lane bridge. Nothing happens to advance the story. There is no plot development. There is no character development. There is no investigation into the murder. There is a lot of random stupidity and viewer confusion, though. We start off with the wife-in-the-wheelchair asking Ariki if he's all right because she heard him screaming last night fit to wake the dead. Why didn't she or her husband get out of their bed and find out what was going on? He's the chief of police. But that's right. He never does any actual police work. Ariki refuses to play rugby because he doesn't want to injure himself, then sees a ghost, goes and plays rugby...and injures himself. He then gets drunk with some dude, proceeds to ask where he can score cocaine, behaves like creepy man at a bar, then has sex in an alleyway with a possible murder suspect. What the actual....? Viewer confusion: Small town that gossips, so naturally a new cop asks about buying drugs and naturally the bartender tells him. Oh, there is gay bashing and a pathetic drunk wandering around screaming obscenities. And speaking of this drunken widow: Was it meant to be as laugh out loud funny as it was when she tells her daughter she's going to stop drinking? Because I did, in fact, laugh out loud at the absurdity of the scene. And the green lizard makes me think it's a cameo by Harry the Lizard from Death in Paradise. Having found a plot synopsis online to find out the ending, I can say with absolute certainty that stopping here will save the viewer time and aggravation. There are a lot of good actors in this program (Joel Tobeck, Sara Wiseman) so it's a real shame they're not given better material. If you've made it this far and think you should stop, you're not alone.

Van der Valk: Plague on Amsterdam (2022) Season 2, Episode 1

At least the city of Amsterdam looks pretty

[4/10 · 2 October 2022]

I was looking forward to this second series of Van der Valk. My mistake. The beautiful shots of Amsterdam were not enough to compensate sitting through this convoluted mess. None of the characters are developed in any sense, so there is no one to care about. The plot itself is tenuously held together by an alleged connection to Spinoza, but everything feels contrived. It's as though the writers used wikipedia as their source material as opposed to having any actual knowledge about what they were writing about, and that includes the crimes and the characters.

I'm glad another reviewer referred to the Joanna-Lumley-in-the-Avengers hairdo. I was confused by it and now I know why it seemed familiar, yet out of place. I don't have a problem with the variety of accents, like others, but I do have a problem with the sound of bacon sizzling every time someone inhales on a cigarette in every flipping show these days. Peter Jackson has a lot to answer for with that opening shot of Aragorn's pipe and the crackling noise. That does NOT happen when someone inhales on a cigarette. It's annoying, distracting, unrealistic, and pretentious.

I also have no problem with the Brad character eating all the time. What is an issue is his total incompetence. HOW is he even allowed to be on the police force? He is such an idiot that he is a detriment to public safety. And the coroner is an annoying cliché. That oh-so-jaded attitude and the stupid flippancy of his dialogue is tired and not entertaining or original.

The one bright spot in this entire episode was the performance by Beatie Edney. In spite of the mediocre dialogue, she gave her character an inner life and energy that lit up every scene she was in. She even managed to keep from being upstaged by her sizzling cigarettes. Whatever work she did off-screen to try to come up with three dimensions for her character, it paid off. She was memorable in a good way.

And now to the spoiler: That whining, pathetic boy-man who kills three people because he had to move was just so stupid. Whatever social issue the writers were trying to make here, it did not work. AND, throughout the entire episode it's pointed out that this killer is left-handed. The officers try to trick several suspects into writing something to see if they're left-handed. One guy even takes a pen in his left hand, dips it in ink, but OH! Wait! He switches to his right hand to use the pen! Well, at the very end, our Left-Handed Killer, who is wrapped in explosives and ready to blow up hundreds of innocent people, is holding the detonation stick IN HIS RIGHT HAND.

Ted Lasso: Beard After Hours (2021) Season 2, Episode 9

It's as bad as everyone says

[1/10 · 27 February 2022]

I watched this episode last night and this morning checked the reviews. I'm glad the trivia section mentions this was added after the original ten episodes were shot because this feels totally disconnected from the series. Movie homages only work with truly epic films that are embedded in national pop-culture. Apparently this is an homage to After Hours, a thirty-five year old movie a lot of people didn't see. Everything about this episode was anathema to what "Ted Lasso" has created. And even worse, there was absolutely no character development for Coach Beard in this episode. His character is neither deeper, nor more interesting as a result of this episode. Apple needs to figure out the number of episodes it wants before they start production, so the writers can weave a proper narrative. This was a hot mess with no redeeming value. At least I know in future I can skip this episode entirely when re-watching the series.

The Conners: Three Exes, Role Playing and a Waterbed (2022) Season 4, Episode 9

Final nail in the coffin

[1/10 · 8 January 2022]

I've really tried to stick with this series, but it's just awful. The same tired over-angst and idiocy with zero humor. Darlene is on an alleged spiritual quest which involves jumping from one idiotic/pretentious man to the next. Jackie has devolved into a complete idiot. Baby Rose has suddenly aged, because I assume no one can write about a woman taking care of an infant. The writer of this episode put PhD after his name. I assume it's a PhD in physical education because it's clearly not a writing degree. The plot devices of this episode were inane. Is there only one hardware store in the entire city of Lanford? Why did Darlene go there? It's not like a fuse requires an employee discount for them to afford it. They keep adding new characters for no good reason and to no good purpose. The old finacee? Why? If you want to add more people, then how about D. J.'s wife? The U. S. pulled out of Afghanistan a while ago. Why not deal with her return to home and life and integrating back into her family? But something like that would require a writing skill and emotional maturity that is sorely lacking on this show. This terrible episode in a long line of terrible episodes was the final nail in the coffin for me. I won't be watching any more.

A Discovery of Witches (2018–2022)

She's not a witch. She's a zombie.

[3/10 · 30 December 2021]

That's the only explanation I can find for such a lifeless performance. Teresa Palmer's vocal performance is lifeless. Her physical performance is lifeless. Her facial expression is lifeless. The only thing Palmer seems capable of doing is filling her eyes with tears. Which she does. A lot. Quite a lot. And yet there is no emotion behind the tears. I can almost hear the mechanical clicking in her brain of, "This is the cue for the tears." The same with her first dinner with Matthew. When she runs her hands up his chest, it was so perfunctory. "Now, I'm supposed to touch his chest because that's what the script says." She goes through the motions, but is physically lifeless. No tension or emotion in her body at all.

I went into this series knowing nothing about the story, but I was really looking forward to something interesting. Sadly, that's not what I saw on the screen. For a character that should be so dymanic and interesting, Palmer is extremely wooden. The script doesn't help much, with inconsistencies and plainly stupid behavior, but a better actor could work with it. The pacing is very slow. We have lots of characters thrown at us in the first three episodes, but in terms of plot it was three hours of angst about whether or not to re-check a book out of the library.

Matthew Goode and Alex Kingston are wasted in this series. The only performer with any spark is Elarica Johnson, who, when her character is leaving Venice for England, manages to convey more energy and emotion and depth in one wordless scene than Palmer had done in three episodes with dialogue. What a shame Johnson wasn't cast as the lead. I think it would have been a much better show, even with the shoddy scripts.

Oxford looks beautiful, if a bit too steeped in sepia tones. Since it's a show about magic and creatures, by the third episode I kept hoping that a resurrected John Thaw as Inspector Morse would show up and resolve everything in a few hours to get things moving along. I'm disappointed and won't bother to finish out the first series as it feels like it would be a frustrating waste of time.

American Experience: Citizen Hearst: Part 1 (2021) Season 33, Episode 7

W. R. Speaks!

[9/10 · 3 October 2021]

This two-part documentary on William Randolph Hearst was very well done. There were no cheesy scenes with "re-enactors" and dreadful dialogue like what has become standard fare on the now laughably named "History Channel." This is a genuine and proper documentary; chock full of historical photographs and images of the people and the era, along with scholars who know their subject. I believe it is mainly based on the David Nasaw biography "The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst." Nasaw is one of the commentators, along with other Hearst scholars. The best bit comes in Part Two when, after years of reading about Hearst's high-pitched voice, I finally got to hear him speak! It is definitely in the higher register, but it's not comical in any way. I was glad to hear him for myself. I wish there was a way to hear Abraham Lincoln's voice because he was also a powerful man constantly described as having a high-pitched voice.

My only complaint is that there is no mention whatsoever of the Thomas Ince scandal and it is glaring by its absence. This documentary would have been a good opportunity to put rumors to rest. There was also no mention of Louella Parsons, who was a vital part of the Hearst newspaper empire. Hearst had a long, full life, but even a cursory mention of Ince and Parsons would have helped give this a higher rating.

This is a documentary that is most definitely worth watching more than once. Hearst was a fascinating and complicated man. I've already read the book by Nasaw, which is also good. This documentary makes a good companion to the book.

Ted Lasso (2020–2023)

A stand-out series

[10/10 · 27 April 2021]

Ted Lasso is a refreshingly well-done program. It's the first show in ages I've watched where I laughed out loud several times. The show can also be very touching at times. The humor springs from the characters themselves rather than rapid-fire jokes, which makes the situations more real. Each episode is funny in its own right, but it is also nice to see how the characters develop as they get to know each other. I also liked that the two women bond and become good friends, rather than the tired "rivals" situation that is overused. Ted Lasso is a kind person and it's unusual to see a kind character on television these days; especially one who isn't cloying and preachy. Ted is a nice guy trying to do his best with the life he's living. The other people around him are also doing their best and evolving. The program is a bit difficult to describe in some ways because it feels so different from most of the current shows. There is an emotional maturity to the show that is lacking in other sitcoms, yet there is also a sense of playfulness. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this program and I am actually looking forward to the second series.

The Red Tent (2014)

Instead of The Red Tent it should be called The White Teeth

[4/10 · 27 April 2021]

The story is beautifully shot, but the dialogue is silly and anachronistic at times. There is also an issue with the actors looking too modern. When watching historical stories, one has to suspend some disbelief, but the blindingly white teeth that leap off the screen were very distracting and annoying. Teeth should never be bleached whiter than the whites of a person's eyes, but people routinely overdo it. Since most scenes were bathed in sepia tones, the white teeth were even more accentuated than normal. And for all the feminist messaging in the film, it's surprisingly backwards in the way it cast roles. Dinah and Joseph, the good children, are blue-eyed and pale skinned. Early on Joseph looked almost blond. But Rueben and Levi, the evil brothers are very dark and swarthy. That's very cliched subliminal messaging. The sudden graphic violence at the end of part one was extremely off-putting since it was so out of synch with the tone of the rest of the film. A lot of talented actors were wasted on this drivel. I went into this film really looking to be entertained and I was sorely disappointed.

Howards End (2017–2018)

At least it makes me want to read the book

[7/10 · 5 April 2021]

This production made me want to read the book if only to see what they really messed up. It's not a bad production, but I was definitely ready for it to end after four episodes. There were times when events seemed too episodic and unfinished. I never felt I got to know the first Mrs. Wilcox enough to believe her friendship with Meg would lead to her wanting Meg to have Howard's End. I had the same feeling with Mr. Wilcox's children. They all seemed like bitchy, spoiled brats. Paul, who was all cowed and weak leaves for Africa in episode one and doesn't return until the final episode where he behaves like a bitchy, spoiled brat. It's never really made clear WHY the children don't want Meg to have Howard's End because none of them want it and there isn't enough of a devotion to their mother shown to indicate it's her memory or something they don't want sullied.

With regard to the Schlegels, another reviewer compared them to the Gilmore Girls, which is hilarious and pretty accurate. The hyperactive non-stop, overlapping chatter was extremely grating. Helen, as a character, was extremely grating. Her interest in Mr. Bast came across very much like an A. D. D. Child playing with a shiny object. And any romantic chemistry between them was non-existent. Mr. Bast was pasty and bland. There was zero spark in him to justify a liaison. And it's a sad commentary on the performance that when, at the end, Mr. Bast is crushed by the bookcase, I was far more upset about the damage to all those beautiful books than I was about any injury to him. And casting a black woman as his wife, aside from the anachronism of it, added a racial element that is not in the original work. He's attracted to the rich, vivacious white woman and wants to discard his black slatternly wife. Rosalind Eleazar did a fine job in the performance, but the original intent of "colorblind casting" was not to just plonk whomever into a role regardless of historical accuracy. It was to make people think twice about casting white actors in supporting roles where race was a non-issue in modern productions: i.e. The local doctor, the businessman, the veterinarian, etc. Could be a man or woman of color. Mrs. Bast being black may seem progressive, but it denies the genuine struggles and suffering that took place in that era. I'm also annoyed that the script didn't wrap up what happened to Mrs. Bast. Or Tibby for that matter. Unnecessary loose threads after four hours.

Anyway, in spite of all these things, the actors (Mr. Bast excepted) all gave great performances, injecting their roles with energy even if the script let them down in terms of character depth. Hayley Atwell as Meg can certainly carry a show. I found her likeable, engaging and very interesting to watch. Matthew Macfadyen is always good. Alex Lawther as Tibby was also funny. The production is beautifully filmed and was gorgeous to watch. This may not be the best adaptation of Howard's End, but it's certainly not the worst. It's worth watching and enjoying, but it's not something I'd want to own and/or watch again.

Sanditon (2019–2023)

Enjoyable viewing

[8/10 · 1 February 2021]

Sanditon is an entertaining mini-series. It seems like these days viewers expect everything to be groundbreaking or "amazing" or the next Downton Abbey. This series is well-done and that's enough. There are lots of familiar faces amongst the cast and some newer ones as well. Rose Williams is an engaging ingenue and is likeable throughout the episodes as Charlotte Heywood. The heroines in literature of that era tend to be on the vapid side, so the fact that Williams keeps the viewer rooting for her is a definite achievement. Anne Reid is a hoot as the termagant Lady Denham. The surprise stand-out for me was Charlotte Spencer as Esther Denham. I really grew to like her character, who definitely went through the most interesting emotional arch and transformation. The plot has enough surprise twists in it to make up for some of the more obvious situations that occur. I did get tired of the gratuitous male nudity, which seemed hypocritical in light of current issues. Plus the fact that the men had such obvious "gym bodies" that it took me out of the time period. I don't know why people are clamoring for a second series since the story concludes very satisfactorily. In my opinion, any further storytelling would feel forced. Enjoy this mini-series for the cast and the costumes and the setting and the quality production values and don't try to make it more than it is.

History's Greatest Mysteries: The Escape of John Wilkes Booth (2020) Season 1, Episode 4

Absolutely terrible "history"

[13 December 2020]

Thank heavens I taped this so I could fast forward through the last half hour to the inevitable conclusion that none of these people are related to John Wilkes Booth. The speculations that JWB somehow survived being shot in the barn (or had already escaped) are so ludicrous that they're not even funny in a campy way. However, I did laugh out loud when they were speaking about a man who signed his name "John Wilkes Boothe" and the narration intoned with deadly seriousness, "Was the 'e' added in an attempt to hide his identity?" REALLY?? Because, you know, that's what you do when trying to hide your identity; add a silent "e" to the end of your surname. Sweet Jesus, how did this ever make it to broadcast? I'm sorry Mr. Fishburne clearly has bills to pay because why be associated with this dreck masquerading as "history." Even the most dilettantish history buff should find this show appalling.

Flesh and Blood (2020)

Disappointing, convoluted mess

[2/10 · 28 October 2020]

I stayed with this through all four aggravating episodes because I like Francesca Annis and wanted to see what happened to her character, although I guessed who was in the hospital by the third episode. Three adult children ranging in age from mid-thirties to mid-forties behave like sulky, petulant adolescents in a plot so ridiculously convoluted and soap-opera-ish that I'm shocked Sally Wainwright isn't attached to the project. Plot holes abound: If new hubby is so close to his daughter, why hasn't Francesca Annis spoken to her on the phone? The daughter is in Spain, not Australia, so there are no time zone issues with the call. One hour ahead does not create issues. And in this technological era, a voicemail or skype chat or email is easily done; Why does the son's wife have a key to the apartment where he bangs his landlady? Why does crazy fired employee have no money to pay rent, but can afford a lawyer? It goes on and on, getting more and more stupid. And at the end, poor mother says her three children are her best achievement? Which one? The alcoholic witch, the lying adulteress, or the gambling-addict adulterer? It was such nonsense. And Russell Tovey seems to be overcompensating for being an openly gay actor; He's become such a muscle-mary steroid case and his physicality is so hyper-butch that it teeters into a comical parody of masculinity. I expected him to wear a Tom of Finland outfit at some point. The ending was absurd and tired. I was surprised to read other reviews that said this might be a series? I assumed this was a one-off "mystery." What a dreadful idea for a series. How would the next one even begin? The new husband revives and the neighbor is put in jail for attempted murder and the children are all imprisoned for perjury to the police? Or will he have amnesia? What a mess and a terrible waste of fine actors.

Murder Maps (2015– )

Cheesy, poorly written and directed re-enactments ruin interesting stories

[2/10 · 20 September 2020]

I was really looking forward to this series when I saw it on PBS, but was sorely disappointed. I barely managed to get through the Bermondsey Horror, which was a horror for all the wrong reasons. The re-enactment scenes are terrible. When an unexpected guest stays too long, everyone sits around looking all broody and moody and sinister. It's ridiculous and laughable. There is no sense of urgency or tension in the scenes. It's like watching sulky millenials in period clothing. There isn't enough background information at the beginning to set the drama going. I began to have a feeling they were skipping vital exposition in order to dwell on showing the murder itself and I was right. The only thing that keeps me from giving this zero stars is the presence of Donald Rumbelow and other crime experts who attempt to inject actual information and interest into the story, but they are undermined by the terribly written, poorly directed re-enactment scenes. If this is how the series begins, I can't imagine it getting any better. I've taken the Jack the Ripper tour with Mr. Rumbelow and read his book. Both are excellent, so I feel no need to slog through this series until that episode. If you're interested in Marie Manning, better to read the book "The Woman Who Murdered Black Satin: The Bermondsey Horror" by Albert Borowitz and avoid this mess altogether.

Vera (2011–2025)

Disappointing and I blame the writers

[2/10 · 31 May 2020]

As soon as the episodes stop being based on actual novels, the quality of the story-telling drops dramatically. And that's saying something, since the adaptations weren't done very well either. Blethyn's talents are wasted on scripts that have her screaming and shouting all the time and being obnoxiously indignant.

What has happened to British writing? It seems like most scripts nowadays are written by people who were rejected by EastEnders for being too hackneyed with their plots. The very-tired soap opera device of having people react with anger for no apparent reason as a way to allegedly heighten the drama is such a lazy form of writing. Characters are nasty or sarcastic for no reason except to illicit an indignant response. In real life, people that snarky would be fired or punched in the face. There are so many plot holes in these stories and unprofessional police behavior it makes me wonder if they've bothered to consult any actual police or legal advisors as to what is plausible. I made it through the first episode of series two "The Ghost Position" which has tons of plot holes and implausibilities and dragged in many places. What was also ridiculous was (and there is a spoiler of sorts here) was when Holly puts in for a transfer and Vera is shocked! Shocked, I say! Never mind that she is a terrible leader who constantly puts her team down with sarcastic remarks and snark; why would anyone want to leave her team? Never mind that Holly actually brings up this issue in a previous episode and clearly Vera did nothing to change her own behavior. I'll miss Holly as she was the one character who seemed intelligent (Vera's sidekick is an insubordinate moron), but I was glad she stuck to her guns. With Holly's departure, I'm leaving as a viewer because there is nothing enjoyable about watching the show. It's ninety minutes of frustration and who needs that?

Queen Victoria and Her Tragic Family (2018)

More proof the British can make terrible documentaries

[3/10 · 20 May 2020]

This documentary was entitled "Victoria and Her Nine Children" when it aired on PBS, so I expected this to be a documentary about her children. A better title would have been "Victoria and Six, Maybe Seven, of Her Children." Vicky, the eldest child, is hardly discussed, and Affie and Arthur are barely mentioned at all.

This program was even more of a mess than Dan Jones awful "Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets". It seemed all over the place with the narrative and what it did and did not explain or reveal. Albert, the future Edward VII, is portrayed as a problem child who just gads about London, much to the dismay of his long-suffering mother. Very little, if anything, is said about how he was bullied and abused by his parents practically from birth because he was not as smart and quick as his older sister, Vicky. There is a brief, passing mention in the final episode of the fact that his parents refused to let Albert be involved in affairs of state or anything that he should have been learning in order to be a future king, yet that is a huge factor in his behavior.

This documentary seemed to be more interested in the sex lives of the children than anything substantial about their existence. I've read books about the daughters and about Edward VII that provide much more information about the children's broader lives than simply who had an affair with whom. Even as pandering titillation, this documentary fails to deliver. I gave it three stars because at least the photographs were interesting to see.

What a huge disappointment this program was, because it really could have been an interesting look at the children living in the shadow of a formidable woman and her husband's ghost. One commentator stated that Victoria made everything about HER at the expense of her children, taking focus at their weddings and even their funerals. Well, she's still doing it over a century later in a documentary. A sad re-hash of highlights of her life at the expense of an in-depth look at her children.

Frankie Drake Mysteries (2017–2021)

An entertaining, light-hearted mystery series from Canada

[8/10 · 10 May 2020]

I'm very glad I gave this show a chance because it's a lot of fun. I was concerned about other reviews saying it's not as good as The Murdoch Mysteries because I found the Murdoch episodes I watched to be painfully bad, but this show is much better. And comparisons to Miss Fisher Mysteries are unfair. Yes, they're both women in the 1920s solving mysteries, but the similarities end there. It's like saying Albert Campion is derivative of Lord Peter Wimsey because they're both male detectives in the 1930s.

It did take a few episodes for everything to click, but right from the start the actresses were engaging and interesting. Frankie is the calm center around which some lively characters spin. At times Lauren Lee Smith seems to underplay the part, but when Nora arrives, it makes for a stark and entertaining contrast in personalities. The writing gets better with each episode and I think the highlight of the first series is the episode with the WWI soldiers home and the gas masks. The final episode of the first series explores how Frankie and Trudy met and it was a lot of fun.

My only complaint is when they try to add real historic figures into the narrative. The guy who played Hemingway was terrible and boring and added nothing to the story. He should stick to print modeling. And the episode with Mack Sennett would have been better if it were a Mack Sennett type instead. The real-life figures hamper the ability to tell the stories creatively. Otherwise, the plots are enjoyable fun and a good way to spend some time in Corona lockdown. I would also like to point out to some reviewers who seem to want to mainly slag off American television. If you're going to be a bigot, at least get your target right. This show is CANADIAN, not American.

Frankie Drake is an amusing mystery series set in the past and I look forward to PBS airing series two and three.

The Conners (2018–2025)

Bad from the beginning, even with Roseanne

[2/10 · 14 April 2020]

I stopped watching The Conners by the end of the second season because the show is just awful. There is very little humor and the commentary is so heavy-handed and lacking in subtlety. But with all the claims that the loss of Roseanne ruined the show, I finally watched the final season of Roseanne repeats on COZI and I think people are misremembering the actual programs. The reboot was not very good from the start. There is a lot of angry yelling and very little humor in the nine episodes of Roseanne. The Conners managed to deal with the loss of Roseanne's character with some dignity, but there is very little difference in quality after Roseanne Barr was fired. The show was bad from the very start and has never improved. The writing is awful, characters are incredibly unlikeable and, at times, preposterous. The fact that this show has made it to 100 episodes feels more like stubbornness than anything else.

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff (2011–2012)

Very funny show rendered unwatchable by director's gimmicky camerawork

[5/10 · 23 November 2019]

This show is a hoot. It's goofy and funny and all the performances are good. The sets are fun and there are several jokes in the background that are clever. However, one cannot focus on those things due to the director using that hackneyed "shaky camera" technique. It's as though the cameraman was put on a boat while trying to film the scenes taking place on land. It's vertigo- and nausea-inducing and totally unnecessary. The camera never stops swerving around. I recently read a quote by famed Hollywood director George Cukor that is appropriate: "You should never move the camera unless you have to. If you do a lot of fancy footwork, maybe they notice you as a director, but I think it hurts the story." I definitely notice this director and I'd like to give him a good sock in the jaw because he definitely hurts the story. It's as though he didn't trust the writers and the actors to deliver, so he distracts with his own attention-seeking gimmicks. He has ruined what could have been a fun show to watch over and over. Instead, it's unwatchable.

Black Books (2000–2004)

Mediocre, but watchable

[4/10 · 12 January 2019]

Graham Linehan, a co-creator of the hilarious sitcom "Father Ted", has basically taken the "Father Jack" character from that show, made him younger, and put him in a bookstore in England. It doesn't really work. That behavior is funny for a supporting/side character, but in the lead character it quickly becomes tedious and monotonous. I rented this because of Tamsin Grieg and Bill Bailey and they are fine in their performances. The scripts have moments of really funny dialogue, but it's inconsistent. It's sort of half-assed creativity. The show is watchable, though, so if you don't have anything else better to view it helps pass twenty-two minutes.

British Men Behaving Badly (1992–2014)

Puerile, one-note joke that goes on interminably

[3/10 · 1 November 2018]

I started watching this show because I like the actors in it from other stuff and I thought it would be fun to see their earlier work. Well, sadly, the enjoyment pretty much ended there. ITV cancelled the show after two series for good reason. These aren't men behaving badly, they're just stupid. And it's the same stupid in every single episode. Why the BBC picked this up I'll never know. Supposedly the first series was to be a showcase for Harry Enfield, but the writing doesn't really bear that out. Enfield left after the first series because he felt he was the weakest link in the cast. He was. His performance was so low energy and so distracted that I began to wonder if he was on sedatives the entire time. In series two, Neil Morrissey joins the cast and he is a burst of energy that was sorely needed. However, the show never develops or evolves into anything. It's just the same tired premise in slightly different clothes. The men are stupid, and the women are stupid. Why does Deborah keep coming downstairs and interacting with these guys when all they ever do is make crude sexual jokes and try to get her into bed? Why does Dorothy stay with Gary when he constantly flirts with Deborah right in front of her? I gave up halfway through series three when the fun of seeing Clunes, Quentin, and Morrissey younger had completely worn off and the scripts were just tired and contrived. Simon Nye did a better job with "Wild West". This show is certainly a time capsule of a different era. The most interesting part of this show would be to have it discussed in a university film class on gender stereotypes. It's a good example of why the "Me, too" movement came about and a clear example of white male heterosexual privilege. Tony is constantly harassing Deborah and she just takes it. Gary is a horrible boss to his employees and they just take it. Tony and Gary are total buffoons and idiots, yet they are at the top of the heap. They know they can get away with behaving badly.

The Miniaturist (2017)

Beautiful costumes, terrible script and direction

[2/10 · 14 September 2018]

A lot of what I was going to write has already been said by Korereviews, so read that as well. I thought the premise of the story was interesting, but after the first episode (they're showing it as a three-parter on PBS) I stopped watching. The historical inaccuracies are infuriating. It's supposedly 1689 yet servants are mouthing off, questioning orders, and behaving in ways that would have them fired as employees nowadays, but they're unchallenged here. Mrs. Bellamy would not have put up with this at all. Then add the fact that the young woman who is married off to the merchant to save her family seems to know nothing at all about how to behave as mistress of her house, yet she's sexually aggressive to her husband right off the bat and grabs his crotch? And her motivations are silly as well. In the real 1686 she'd want him to consummate the marriage so that she couldn't be divorced and sent back to penury. And she'd just lie there and think of Holland. I'm sorry I stopped watching before the gay sex that seems to appall the more delicate on this site because that might have been mildly interesting (folks, the percentage of gay sex on TV is still miniscule compare to heterosexual coupling, so get over yourselves for having to walk in our shoes for five minutes and watch something that isn't your thing). The script is terrible. There is no character development. The first twenty minutes are just choppy editing of people I neither know nor care about expounding ominous phrases. And was the comment "My daughter can play the lute very well" followed by a smash cut of the daughter playing the lute meant to be as hilarious as it came across? Nothing is explained or shown to have any meaning. My fellow viewer said, "There is no heart in this story". It was boring, boring, boring; even the heavy-handed implications of incest between Johannes and his sister. When my main focus is on the costumes and whether or not the actor playing Johannes is the love child of Tim Curry and Hugh Laurie, then there is definitely something wrong with the show.

The Hollow Crown (2012–2016)

What a waste of talented actors. What a waste of viewers' time.

[1/10 · 15 January 2018]

With such a stellar group of British actors, it's amazing how they have managed to ruin Shakespeare. I've seen so many excellent productions, both on stage and on film, but this series stunned me with its awfulness. I watched Richard II, which was boring and grey. The heavy-handed Christ metaphor is not supported by the text and is so obviously shoe-horned in by the director that one wonders why he didn't choose a different story altogether that might have matched his narrow-focus interpretation. Richard is played as such an ethereal, dreamy idiot I'm surprised there wasn't sitar underscoring, along with lava lamps in the castle. It doesn't work with the text. Neither did the St. Sebastian silliness. I certainly enjoy seeing cute gay men, but was this a Shakespeare play or a Herb Ritts photo-shoot documentary? I hung in there for Henry IV parts one and two and they were also dreadful. Where was Henry IV? A better title would have been "The Overly-Extended Drunken Antics of Falstaff". By Part Two I was fast-forwarding through huge swathes of Falstaff nonsense hoping for some sense of interesting story. Instead, people rant and rail with no genuine purpose. I felt nothing for the characters at all and great contempt for the directors. I assume the final shots of Falstaff are supposed to be poignant, but I could not have cared less what happened to that character. This series was such a huge disappointment. I couldn't be bothered to watch the rest of the series. Really, don't waste your time.

Janet King (2014–2017)

A poorly-written soap opera masquerading as a legal drama.

[1/10 · 17 August 2017]

I was looking forward to watching "Janet King" because, like several other reviewers, I enjoyed "A Place to Call Home" and became a fan of Marta Dusseldorp. However, after three episodes I gave up. This show is ridiculous. It reminds me of the UK show "Happy Valley"; talented actors, quality production values, and hackneyed, horrible, absurd scriptwriting. This is soap opera writing at its worst. Everyone, and I mean everyone, answers simple questions with over-the-top defensiveness and anger in a pathetic attempt to create conflict for the sake of it. There is so much pseudo-moralizing that I was laughing out loud. In episode three people kept banging on about "motherless children" to the point of ludicrousness. This is the most poorly run law office I've ever seen. And are the Australian police really that stupid? They want to prosecute a woman because they "know" she did it, yet have no evidence, no body, no murder weapon, etc. The most casual viewer of Poirot or any decent legal drama could tell you they had no case. But apparently the juries in Australia are as stupid as the police. (I'm also watching "The Dr. Blake Mysteries" and they are so much better. In a recent episode the Chief of Police tells Blake there isn't enough evidence to prosecute, so apparently 1950s Australia had much higher standards for going forward with a prosecution than 2010s Australia.) Most of the characters are so one-dimensional that I couldn't keep track of who was who and didn't really care; they were "Doris from APtCH", "Guy who was in a Phryne Fisher Mystery", "Amanda Donahoe's red-headed doppelganger") Everything is so contrived and so obviously happens because the writing says so, rather than from any logical, professional reason. Don't waste your time on this frustratingly bad program.