Posted inEntertainment Television

The Pitt is much more enjoyable to watch than I thought it would be

I'm not a big fan of medical shows. I never watched ER. I've liked a couple of old television shows about doctors doing their thing, but House is the only one that comes to mind. So at first I wasn't interested in The Pitt, which was released by HBO on January 9, 2025. Then as December rolled around, I saw The Pitt was consistently featured in lists of 2025's best television shows. I decided to give it a try. And am really glad that I did. It's set in a Pittsburg emergency room. The fifteen episodes in Season 1 mirror…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment Television

I hugely enjoyed The American Revolution on PBS. And I’m not a big fan of documentaries.

When I started watching The American Revolution on the Apple TV PBS app, I looked upon this as sort of a civic duty to see the newest documentary from the talented Ken Burns -- especially since documentaries aren't my first choice for evening entertainment. Well, six episodes and about 12 viewing hours later, my first impression was completely wrong. I was enthralled by every minute of the series, even though obviously there were zero photographs or videos of our Revolutionary War. Burns and his co-creators skillfully wove together voiceovers, documents, commentary from historians, maps, battle plans, reenactments, and such into…
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Posted inEntertainment

Portland’s KATU won’t show return of Jimmy Kimmel. Here’s how to complain.

I was happy when I learned yesterday that ABC is bringing back the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight, Tuesday, September 23, after being suspended for a week after Kimmel made a joke about how the MAGA folks are worried about the killer being one of them. But today I was deeply irked when it was announced that Portland's KATU, our local ABC affiliate, wouldn't be airing the Kimmel show because the station's corporate overlord is the Sinclair Broadcast Group. An Oregonian story says: Jimmy Kimmel is set to be back on the air Tuesday night, but Portland’s KATU is among the…
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I came to Game of Thrones late. But I loved the series once I got into it.

Don't know how many people there are like me -- someone who heard of Game of Thrones when it first aired in 2011, took a quick look at it, and decided it wasn't for them. Probably quite a few. These are the folks I'm writing this blog post for, because earlier this year I had an urge to give Game of Thrones another chance. After watching the first few episodes of Season 1 on HBO Max,  I became so addicted to the series that was all I watched during my "me" time every day until I'd gotten through all 73…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment

Conclusion of Handmaid’s Tale inspires resistance against Trump’s autocracy

I just finished watching the last episode of the final season of The Handmaid's Tale. It capped a wonderful story spanning six seasons of resistance by June Osborne (masterfully played by Elisabeth Moss) and many others against the dictatorial regime of Gilead -- a religious autocracy that forces women into becoming breeding machines impregnated by rapists who are Commanders of the regime. It was a difficult series for me to watch. I came to it late, after the first five seasons had concluded. Sometimes I wanted to give up on the Handmaid's Tale. Often, or usually, it was bleak, dark,…
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Posted inEntertainment

I loved Emilia Pérez, a highly creative genre-bending film

Last night my wife and I finished watching Emilia Pérez on Netflix. We loved the movie, which won four Golden Globe awards this year and likely will be nominated for many Oscars.  We tried to imagine what the pitch would have been to movie studios. "Hey guys, we want to make a film about a man who is a vicious Mexican drug lord, but whose dream is to become a transgender woman. It will be largely in Spanish with English subtitles and feature lots of singing and dancing." Yeah, right, not going to happen seemingly would have been the typical…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment

I watched The Handmaid’s Tale to learn what reelecting Trump would be like

It was a tough job, but I had to do it -- watching every second of every episode of the five seasons of The Handmaid's Tale, a show that I wasn't interested in when it aired from April 2017 to November 2022, but which grabbed my attention this year for a couple of reasons. One was that I'd seen Elisabeth Moss in The Veil and was captivated by her acting. She's the lead character in The Handmaid's Tale. Another was that I wanted to see what lessons The Handmaid's Tale had for our current political situation, where Donald Trump is…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment Sports

I loved the Olympics opening ceremony, including drag queen part

When I first heard that the Paris Olympics opening ceremony was going to be held on the Seine River, with boats carrying the parade of nations, I thought that this could be a big mistake by the organizers. Why not respect tradition and have the ceremony in a stadium, like it always has been? Well, my thought was the mistake, not the decision to have the opening ceremony on the Seine. I recorded the lengthy ceremony. My wife and I are only partway through it, but we've loved what we've seen so far, and I know that we'll love the…
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Posted inEntertainment

Five recent streaming shows that I liked a lot

These days, on broadcast television I mainly watch news and political programs. For entertainment, it's almost entirely streaming shows that appeal to me. Here's five recent offerings that I liked a lot, or at least enough close enough to a lot that I was eager to watch all of the episodes in the series. They're ranked in the order of my liking, with (1) being my favorite. (1) The Veil - HuluAmazingly, this was my first real introduction to Elisabeth Moss, who does a terrific job playing an intelligence agent tasked with finding out whether an Islamic woman in a…
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Posted inEntertainment Health

Woman in wheelchair brought tears as I watched So You Think You Can Dance

There's a lot of crap on television. There's also beautiful, unforgettable, highly emotional moments. That's why I watch. A single moment of that sort makes up for all the crap. My wife and I have watched every episode of every season of So You Think You Can Dance. The show took a hiatus during the covid years. It reappeared recently. So far this season has had a lot of memorable auditions, as the three judges select contestants for a Top Ten competition, if I recall the number correctly. (It's varied somewhat over different seasons.) The audition that has stuck in…
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Masters of the Air — a moving series about the bravery of WWII aviators

Having just finished watching Apple TV's nine-part series, Masters of the Air, I can heartily recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a deeply moving portrayal of the American aviators who flew B-17 Flying Fortress bombers into Europe from bases in England during World War II. It's based on a book with the same name about the 100th Bomb Group. At the conclusion of the final episode, some of the main characters are shown along with photos of the real-life aviators, plus a description of where life took them after the war ended.  I found that highly emotional. Partly because…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

I like to watch TV with subtitles on. Half of Americans agree with me.

My wife, Laurel, and I agree about most things. That's one reason we've been married for 33 years. But we differ when it comes to watching television with subtitles (a.k.a. closed captioning) on.  I enjoy subtitles considerably more than Laurel does. So when I'm watching on my own, I almost always turn subtitles on, especially with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. With sporting events and news programs, I usually leave subtitles off. Though I'm 75, firmly in the Baby Boomer generation, not being able to hear dialog isn't why I like subtitles. I can hear what actors are saying…
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Posted inEntertainment Television

Here’s how our (not so) wild New Year’s Eve went

If you think that your New Year's Eve was mild, not wild, in comparison to how others celebrated the last day of 2023, take heart: likely our night was just as unexciting. We did go out. To a neighbor's house. Which took a whole three minutes of driving. (They have a really long driveway out here in rural south Salem; otherwise it would have been quicker.) The get-together started at 6:30 pm. Most of the attendees were old, so there's no way we were going to party on until midnight.  After snacks and conversation, Pictionary took center stage. Laurel, my…
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Posted inEntertainment

Streaming shows I’ve liked recently

This is the third, and last, installment of my hit blog post series (in my own mind, at least) about streaming shows I've liked in 2023. First two posts are here and here. Billions -- Various streaming servicesYeah, I know. This series, which had seven seasons, kicked off in 2016 and concluded this year. But I came late to the Billions party. I started watching it in 2023, can't remember exactly when. Once I started, I was completely and utterly hooked on Billions. I couldn't watch anything else during my Me Time for streaming. (My wife and I watch some…
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Posted inEntertainment

Streaming movies and series I’ve enjoyed recently

Watching entertaining television is as important to my mental health as is my evening dose of relaxing marijuana in a hot bath, both of which I enjoy every day.  Though we have ten zillion channels (more or less) on our DirecTV subscription, I rarely watch any of them other than for sports and news. Streaming services via our AppleTV device is how my wife and I entertain ourselves, sometimes together, sometimes on separate televisions. Here's some of what I've enjoyed recently. Rye Lane on Hulu was highly enjoyable. My wife and I watched this movie together, since we're both fans…
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Posted inEntertainment Film

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has screwed up Hollywood

I'm no superhero fan when it comes to movies. I can't understand their appeal, though I readily admit that I've only seen the first Wonder Woman movie, the first Iron Man movie, and the first Black Panther movie. When someone in my Tai Chi class asks me if I've seen the newest Guardian of the Galaxy movie, what goes through my mind is, Good god, no; if I was confined to solitary confinement and had a choice between seeing Guardian of the Galaxy or staring blankly into space, I'd choose the blank stare. But instead I just say, "I'm not…
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Posted inEntertainment

I’ll miss Succession. But not what the Roy family stood for.

The past five years and four seasons of Succession, a highly entertaining and addictive HBO series, captivated me and my wife.  There's never been a TV show that captured so brilliantly the devious machinations of a powerful family, the Roys, as the children of billionaire mogul Logan Roy vie to succeed him as the leader of his company.  Without exception the acting was superb. The writing, exquisite. The plot twists, tantalizing. The humor, darkly funny.  I was sad when the closing credits appeared on last Sunday's final episode of the concluding season. While the Roy family couldn't be said to…
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Posted inEntertainment

My memory of Tina Turner

I saw Tina Turner perform with her jerk husband Ike at either Winterland or Fillmore in San Francisco during my college days in 1968 or 1969. (Hey, like they say, if you can clearly remember the 60's, you weren't really there.) I was high on something, naturally. Being close to the stage, absorbing her amazing energy -- that was an experience I'll never forget. So sorry that she died. Here's a song of hers that sends chills up my spine.
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Posted inCurrent affairs Entertainment

Bill Maher wrong about transgender athletes and Trump indictment

Bill Maher is a comedian. I like his jokes. It doesn't bother me when some of his one-liners mess with facts in order to get a laugh. That's what comedians often do: exaggerate in order to make a humorous point. What irritates me about Maher is when his playing loose with facts continues from his opening joke-filled monologue to the mostly serious discussion Maher has with his two panelists. Last Friday's show (April 14) featured Maher engaging in extended rants about transgender people and Trump's indictment. I didn't like what he said on both subjects. Maher claimed that transgender women…
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Posted inEntertainment

Oscars 2023 was great, but I disagree about Best Picture

I always enjoy watching the Oscars show, and this year was no exception. I liked having a host back on stage. The tag-team approach I recall from last year didn't work as well as Jimmy Kimmel providing a continuous presence -- for the whole 3 1/2 hours or so of the 3-hour show. One thing I've learned is to always add an hour to our DVR recording time, which came in handy this year. The way I see it, watching the Oscars is a lot like watching sports. If you have a favorite team, you're going to root for them…
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