Category: TV Series

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A

Notable People: Ken Burns and Lynn Novak

Title: Muhammad Ali

Review: The Greatest does The Greatest. If you haven’t made time for this yet, you should. A brilliant primer on the life and times of Time’s Man of the Century, from his humble beginnings in Louisville, to his three world heavyweight titles to his ultimate role as a world leader on challenging race relations in this country and around the world. Incredibly complicated portrait of an incredibly complicated man; once maybe the most reviled figure in the US to become an absolutely beloved part of our collective conscience. Brilliantly told, as always, by the Master, Burns, and friends, this four-part series (around 7-8 hours) will leave you laughing, riled up and weeping- a major chronicle of the times. Wonderful.

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A-/ B+

Notable People: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Tara Lynne O’Neill, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Dylan Llewellyn      Created by: Lisa McGee

Title: Derry Girls

Review: We inexplicably really liked this show. The five Derry girls are a hoot; the supporting cast is beyond eccentric and it is often sadly very funny- a large extended family of mismatched parts in contrast to the intensity of living in ravaged Northern Ireland during the 1990s. There is an underlay of cultural frame of reference here that I’m guessing you have to be from a very Irish family to fully appreciate, but after a while, you kind of get it. This is a great half hour antidote to intense serial dramas you may watch. No indication of a third season as of yet.

Genre: TV Series

Grade: A-/ B+

Notable People: Titus Welliver, Mimi Rodgers, Madison Lintz, Stephen A. Chang Created by: Eric Overmyer, Tom Connelly

Title: Bosch: Legacy

Review: Welliver returns to the wonderful role of LA detective Hieronymus Bosch- based on the Connelly novels of the same name and building on a slew of seasons on Amazon. The Amazon series ended with a disgruntled Busch retiring from the PD and more or less rising off into the sunset- and his series picks up several years later with a much more grizzled Bosch as a private dick. Rodgers and Lintz reprise their roles as the brilliant lawyer, Honey Chandler and as Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, now grown and a rookie LAPD beat cop. The show’s transition seems pretty seamless and the addition of Chang as a techno-sidekick to Bosch is good. The drama and storytelling remain strong and Welliver and friends are great. The show misses some of the regular characters that did not come back for the revival, but a few of them make regular cameos which is a nice touch. The show now airs on Freevee, an Amazon derivative that used to be IMBD TV. Clear expectations for a second season.

Genre: TV Series  

Grade: A-

Notable People: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Created by: Tony McNamara

Title: The Great

Review: The Great is a historical black comedy about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider, imported from Germany as a bride, to become the longest reigning female ruler in Russia’s history. The series is quite fictionalized and portrays Catherine in her youth and marriage to Emperor Peter III of Russia (the son of Peter the Great), focusing on the plot to kill her depraved and dangerous husband, and her desire to create “a better Russia”. All that said, any historical accuracy is quite loose in this gender-bending dramedy, which is a good thing. The plots and dialog are hilarious and the rapport between Fanning as Catherine, and the crazed Hoult as Peter, is mesmerizing. This is a “Court” you will never forget. Absolutely delightful and Hazzah, for the decision to have a third season.  

Genre: TV Series   

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Anneke Von der Lippe, Amos Tamam, Andrea Berntzen, Daniel Littman, Created by: Kyrree Johannessen and Ronit Berkowitz

Title: The Girl from Oslo

Review: Very intense Norwegian/Israeli drama that takes place in Gaza and involves a terrorist kidnapping of a Norwegian girl from Israel. It’s a harrowing portrait of life in a constant war zone and the extraordinary craziness and enmity between ISIS, The Israelis and Hamas. Not a particularly pleasant show, but well done, well-acted and gripping. Living here in America, this is a reminder of what life is like in many places. Somewhat brutal experience, this show. Half sub-titled- half in English. Surprisingly, seemed to leave the door open for a second season.

Genre: TV Series    

Grade: A-

Notable People: Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, Jamey Hector, Dagmara Dominczyk, Wunmi Mosaku Created by: David Simon

Title: We Own This City

Review: A six-episode mini-series based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, this is the less titillating and more factual follow up to Simon’s “The Wire”. Hector switches sides from his Gangsta turn in The Wire to play a troubled homicide cop here. Bernthal is the clear star as the wacked out and dirty-as –can –be detective who never saw a pound of powder or a roll of bails found in a bust that he did not think was rightfully his. The show, set in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray scandal, walks a line between drama and documentary so lacks the character development and nuance of The Wire, and frankly, is not all that pleasant but it will make your head explode in thinking about the state of policing in America and on the regression in race equity that we are facing. This is filthy, filthy shit.

Genre: TV Series     

Grade: A+

Notable People: Agnes O’Casey, Rory Kinnear, Eddie Marsan, Tom Varey Created by: Sarah Solemani

Title: Ridley Road

Review: another wonderful book adaptation from PBS Masterpiece- this is a four-part miniseries focused on the post-was Fascist movement in England in the early 60s. O’Casey makes her striking debut as a sheltered British girl from Manchester, who sneaks to London for her adolescent fantasy lover and winds up deep in with her splendid Nazi-fighting Jewish uncle masquerading as a tailor (the always magnificent Marsan). It’s a frightening look at the staying power of the Nazi movement in Europe juxtaposed with the emergence of the swinging sixties in its London birthplace. Mini-skirts meets madmen. A four-part one-time series well worth a watch.   

Genre: TV Series                                                                        https://vermontrambles.com/2022/05/07/stus-reviews-641-tv-series-ben-franklin-pbs-1-season/

Grade: A+

Notable People: Bon Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Rhea Seehorn Created by: Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan

Title: Better Call Saul

Review: What is there to day about the precursor to Breaking Bad, and what is likely the best show on television since The Wire. Odenkirk is pathetically wonderful in the title role and his crisis of faith are so subtle that you can miss them with a blink of an eye. Banks is the master of aging menace, Esposito is evil incarnate and the cast is a miracle. The story never ceases to shock and amaze and the dialog lulls you into sleep mode and then hits you over the head. Odenkirk’ ongoing complex and tortured transformation from Jimmy to Saul is a role for the ages. Miserably, the sixth and final season is currently underway and can be watched on AMC. It will be a divided season with half the episodes now and the reminder in the fall. Say it ain’t so, Saul!

Genre: TV Series

Grade: A-

Notable People: Ben Franklin et al Created by: Ken Burns

Title: Ben Franklin

Review: It’s hard not to be bowled over by any Burns documentary and the only slight here is that there is nothing live except a bunch of historians rambling on in present- pluperfect tense that they seem to be enamored with. Unfortunately, there are no survivors to interview for this one. Still, what a story! Franklin (with the brilliant choice of voice over from Mandy Potemkin) was a giant of his time; often believed to be the most famous man the world, from his scientific proclivities to statesmanship to his wicked sense of humor in his writings. Poor Richard’s Almanac may have been the first great piece of satire and he alternately wrote columns pretending to be an elderly preacher, an indentured slave and a cranky old widow. His creativity knew no bounds, and he may be the single person most responsible for the formation of our country and its independence from British tyranny. But, he was also enigmatically quite complex: a committed slave owner well into his last years, an absentee father and husband and a bit of a dirty old man. He discovered and became a lightning rod in all sorts of ways, and the incomparable Burns presents them all. In two- two hour segments that I recommend limiting to an hour at a time of watching-it’s a lot to absorb- but fascinating stuff.