Genre: TV Series  

Grade: B+

Notable People: Alfred Molina, Claire Coulter, Rossif Sutherland, Elle Maija Tailfeathers Created by: Josep Cister and Jaime Vaca-

Title: Three Pines

Review: Trolling the stream last night and stumbled on this two-episode miniseries from the Canadian Broadcasting (CBC) on Amazon….and …got sooooo excited. If you read my reviews …. ever….you know how I feel about Louise Penny’s Gamache series of books….and this is a long time effort in the making to try and capture the magnificent complexity of these Quebecois treasures. Well, not quite the total success, but a decent stab. Molina almost captures the contemplative angst of the magnificent Gamache and the supporting cast is good. The locale they found for shooting the lost and remote Eastern Townships village of Three Pines is dead on, and the crazy old woman they found to play crazy old Ruth Zardo….is just great. Quite entertaining though flawed Might want to check out an alternative take “Still Life” –which is the name of the Penny book both takes are based on-which is also on available free on Amazon. I expect there to be more of these from the CBC as Penny/Gamache are viewed as national treasures up dat way- Ay. .

Genre: TV Series 

Grade: A-

Notable People: Macarena Garcia, Patricia Lopez Arnaiz, Ana Wagener, Begona Vargas Created by: Josep Cister and Jaime Vaca-

Title: La Otra Mirada

Review: Masterful PBS series set in Spain- in Seville (pronounced Se- Vee-Yuh) after WWI. The title means “boarding school” and it is set in a controversially progressive school for girls. Extraordinary ensemble cast of beautifully composed young woman and their mentor –teachers striving to overcome the shades of fascism and extreme woman oppression of the times. Wonderfully shot with amazing costumes and a very engaging set of story lines. End shockers all the way around for this 13-episode season that has a season 2 in Spain –but is not yet available here. Loved this show.  

Genre: TV Series

Grade: A-

Notable People: Created by: Lee Eisenberg & Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani- with a vast array of fine actors in ensemble casts

Title: Little America

Review: I absolutely loved this accidental find on Apple TV that tells the funny, heartbreaking, romantic and inspiring stories of a number of different new American immigrants. Each episode is a standalone story of a true experience of immigrants from places such as Nigeria, Syria, China and Pakistan- in unexpected American locations like Oklahoma City, Topeka, Kansas and Boise, Idaho. The writing and acting (mostly unknowns with some special cameos thrown in) are wonderful and the stories are intimately uplifting chronicles of perseverance and friendship. Loved it. Second season coming this month.

Genre: TV Series        

Grade: A

Notable People: Ken Burns, Lynn Novick

Title: The War

Review: Extremely profound and illuminating seven-part, 15 hour mini series from the masters of 21^st century documentary- Burns and Novick. The series focuses on World War II in a “bottom up” fashion through the lenses of four “quintessentially American towns”: Luverne, Minnesota, Mobile, Alabama, Sacramento, California and Waterbury, Connecticut The series recounts the experiences of a number of individuals from these communities as they move through the war in the Pacific, African and European theaters, and focuses on the effect of the war on them, their families and their communities. Made in 2007, with the last of an elderly group of dying -off WW II vets. In times like ours, this experience cannot help but rekindle any lost sense of patriotism you may have. I dare anyone to watch these young American and British and their allies liberate the horrors of the camps or march down the Champs Elyse reclaiming Paris to the adulation of the hordes of victims. Extremely emotional experience that I found needed to be done in small segments, but worth every minute.  

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: B+

Notable People: Ben Miller, Emma Naomi, Barney White, Sarah Woodward, Created by: Matt Baker

Title: Professor T

Review: another in a long line of offbeat mysteries from PBS Masterpiece, the brilliant Ben Miller (Death in Paradise) plays Professor Jasper Tempest, a genius criminologist at Cambridge who has major OCD (wears gloves at all times) and an overbearing mother. He reluctantly (and often hilariously) assists the police in solving bizarre crimes. It is an adaptation from a Belgian TV series of the same name – but the original is not nearly as good without the eccentric Miller. A second season is already playing on the BBC but not yet on PBS. Miller makes it worth watching.

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A-

Notable People: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss- Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Lisa Colon-Zayas, Created by: Christopher Storer

Title: The Bear

Review: Love this half hour knockout series that blends max intensity with high doses of comic relief. White almost reprises his wonderful Lip character from Shameless though even a bit more on the edge. The supporting cast is a magnificent ensemble, and you can’t make a show any more /Chicago than this. Filled with foodie dreams, gangsters, bums and the meshing of the world of haute cuisine with Italian beef- this is not to be missed. As second season is a lock. Hard to not love this one.

Genre: TV Series         

Grade: A-

Notable People: Matt smith, Eve Best, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke…and cast of thousands Created by: George RR Martin, Ryan Condal

Title: House of the Dragon

Review: What’s not to like? Dragons, deceit, drama, cuckoldry, heads falling left and right, mystical medicine men, bloodletting, children with big swords……set 200 years before Game of Thrones, the show is the origin story for all the families and the history of the coveted Iron Throne that we became acquainted with the groundbreaking GOT show. The cinematography is magnificent, the sets and costumes beyond compare and the acting almost Shakespearian. The hour is over before you know it. Feeling certain there is a next version to come in this veritable goldmine for HBO. And, man, how about them dragons?