Beachie got Amazon prime for a month, so we've access to that.

I binged 2 seasons of Jack Ryan. They're good - sort of like really, really, long movies with which I'm already familiar.

8 episodes per season, 2 seasons, about an hour each episode. 16 hours.

I'd recommend them if you have Amazon Prime already.

We also binged 2 seasons of The Boys.

The Boys is set in a universe where superpowered individuals are recognized as heroes by the general public and work for the powerful corporation Vought International, which markets and monetizes them. Outside of their heroic personas, most are arrogant and corrupt (and IMO, downright evil). The series primarily focuses on two groups: the Seven, Vought's premier superhero team, and the eponymous Boys, vigilantes looking to bring down Vought and its corrupt superheroes.

Pretty dark stuff, but the insulting intragroup quips to one another are often hilarious.

The Seven


The Boys


Recommended, but it's not your typical super hero offering.

https://tvline.com/2021/02/12/jeopardy- ... -champion/



Brayden Smith, the last five-time champion from the late Alex Trebek’s era of Jeopardy!, died on Feb. 5 at age 24.
A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Smith’s December 2020 appearances on the long-running game show were among the last hosted by Alex Trebek, pre-taped before the Emmy-winning host’s Nov. 8 passing after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek dubbed Smith “Billy Buzzsaw,” for his ability to cut through the competition.

Hailed on social media as “Alex’s Last Great Champion,” Smith was looking forward to competing in the show’s next Tournament of Champions, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
“We are heartbroken to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly,” his mother, Deborah, shared on Twitter. “We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy.”

Clarice debuted on CBS last night and we liked it.

Not amazing, but good acting, creepy and not dull.

Critics haven’t been kind, but I don’t know why.

Wandavision on Disney+ gets better and better every week.

Banshee one of the craziest violent and sex fueled dramas ever that originally ran on Cinemax is now on HBO MAX. Bear with the first few episodes and be rewarded with the ride of a lifetime.

I have to admit that I tried it and lasted a grand total of 64 seconds. That camerawork - ouch.

Every Saturday morning, wife and I wake up, have coffee and watch an episode of Columbo on Peacock. Into season two, and Robert Culp has been the bad guy in two already. Love it.

been watching the west wing om HBOmax on and off, and i gotta say one thing...aaron sorkin writes some of the most witty dialogue i've ever heard.

the little things, the asides, that are just so on point and pertinent yet aren't.

i could watch that show all day long.

We've been watching Schitt's Creek on Netflix. Never watched it when it was in production, but we decided to finally give it a go. Probably a good thing we waited - it felt like it took the first half season to hit its stride, but it definitely did. We're up to season four, and there was a definite change in feel in this season. I don't know if they changed networks or time slot or if it's the version supplied to Netflix, but there are definite breaks for commercials, and the language is way toned down. Still funny, but it's kind of distracting, especially going from season three immediately into four.

Over the past month or so, I also watched season three of Designated Survivor. Boy, did that drop off the cliff. Bad plotting, inconsistent writing - it felt like each episode was written by someone who had only a vague outline of what had happened before. I finished it, but I don't recommend it.

I've been rewatching Scrubs alongside the "Fake Doctors, Real Friends" podcast hosted by Zach Braff and Donald Faison. That show holds up for me. I'm really glad I have it on DVD - apparently some of the music had to be changed for the streaming versions, and that has hurt some of the episodes. It's pretty cool getting some of the behind-the-scenes stories that go with the episodes. That's part of why I'm watching around the time I listen to the podcast - so I still remember the episode.

Yes like I said the first episode or maybe two suffered from shaky cam in the action scenes but the director does calm down. The show is so deliciously over the top it’s worth giving it a shot. All I know is if I’m driving through Pennsylvania and see a town called Banshee, I’m exiting left.

Probably the worst show on tv is ABC’s Big Sky. Talk about an incoherent plot and bad acting. It looks good though and it’s one of those shows that you end up yelling at the screen for its absurdities. Probably a big hit for ABC.

however, the 2 female leads do wear jeans that they wore in the 8th grade. the tightest jeans on TV, bar none.

Wife and I recently wrapped up on Schitt's Creek. Basically the same, just started watching recently.

I did notice a change as well. To me, it became richer as it developed. Sad it ended. Loved all the characters; even those who one could have written off as cliche showed depth. Plus its great to see a show where no one blinks an eye at gay characters.

That show us great. I had to talk Mrs ARK into it, and after the first week, I thought she would bail out. Then 2 days ago, Friday comes around and she reminded ME that a beer episode was out. Good stuff.

TV Ratings: Golden Globes Crater to 13-Year Low

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live- ... den-globes

Hard to believe that viewers didn't want to watch three hours of celebrities telling us how important they are.

coupled with the fact that almost no one heard of just about every thing nominated for anything..

Cats (1998) - about 2 hours.


Cats (2019) - about 1 hour 50 minutes.


Just watched both. I liked both.

1998 didn't have closed captions, however, while 2019 did - so I prefer CC as an option.

Some different songs and at least a couple of the 1998 songs were better done - maybe much better done since big name actors in the 2019 version don't always sing so well and almost talk the lyrics. The addressing of cats at the end of 2019 was particularly poor, and it's sad to go out on a bad note like that (especially for a musical), so that alone probably would leave one with a poorer impression of the the 2019 version.

Maybe they tweaked the special effects from the original 2019 movie on this DVD since I hear they were awful or flawed, but they seemed fine to me on the DVD. I guess many hated all the CGI. Some even thought it was creepy. I'm not sure why. I definitely prefer active tails compared to limp, hanging, unrealistic looking tails in the 1998 costuming.

You'd have to see both to view the best of each, of course, but I'd still recommend them both. 2019 wins for better special effects and CC and easier to follow story, though 1998 has better singers. I'm no expert, so the dancing seems pretty good to me in both. However, 2019 uses more sets and more interesting sets - though I heard one guy complain the scale of the cats compared to some items was inconsistent throughout. Didn't bother me since I wasn't looking for realism, not on that front, anyway.

But wow, a lot of people hated the 2019 version. And it lost a ton of money, but since it was during covid-19 times, I dunno if that's entirely its own fault.

1998 also showed each cat's image and actor's name in the credits, while 2019 didn't bother to pair them up for us. Silly buggers. I wish more movies would do that - especially when they alter the appearance of the actors to that degree.

Bought each for around $7.50, IIRC. I'd say that was worth it.

Would I rewatch them? In time, probably. More likely, though, I'd rewatch 2019 and listen to the 1998 soundtrack on CD - on separate occasions, of course.

TV Ratings: Grammys Suffer Steep Fall in Early Numbers

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live- ... ch-14-2021

Three and a half hours of celebrities who know nothing about music giving out awards chosen by algorithms for having the most social media engagement but few actual sales. Why didn't more people want to watch that? It's a mystery.

I didn't even know they were on last night.
Though that knowledge wouldn't have made me watch.