When I sat down to compose this piece about television, I was of the opinion that I’m a casual TV-viewer rather than a TV-viewing addict, seeing that I engage with the boob tube for an average of one and a half hours per day. That’s a fairly modest amount of time. As has happened frequently before, however, working on stories for Yeah, Another Blogger has led me, as if by magic, to discern the truth about things. Meaning, I now realize I’d go half-mad were my TV-watching privileges ever to be revoked. Anyway, what would I replace those hours with? Learning to crochet erotic hand puppets? Attempting to become one of the world’s best tiddlywinks players? Hell, I don’t even want to think about life without television, because I absolutely need TV. I’m addicted!
An ace dial-flipper, I regularly tune in to bits and pieces of news, sports, nature, cooking and late-night talk shows. I’m all by my lonesome when viewing the majority of those bits and pieces. What I catch the most of, by far, though, are scripted drama and comedy series. And I always watch them — in their entireties, unless we ditch them because we decide they suck — with my spouse Sandy. It’s one of our favorite things to do, for we have similar tastes in series fare. Let’s take a look at two shows that entertained Sandy and me recently.
Have you seen Adolescence, a British miniseries? It is a huge Netflix hit and has garnered a lot of media attention. Justifiably so. I place it in the pantheon of series, up there with The Queen’s Gambit, Anxious People, The Investigation and Call My Agent, to name but a few. Adolescence is really, really good.
Foremost among its explorations, Adolescence delves into the mind of Jamie Miller, a seemingly normal 13-year-old lad who, his insecurities enflamed by the taunts of a female classmate, loses all control and murders that young lady after meeting up with her one evening. The foul deed turns his life upside down and deeply damages the lives of the people who love him the most: his parents and older sister.
The show probes its subject matters with precision and honesty. The third episode hits especially hard. Set in the youth detention center where Jamie is being held, nearly all of its 52 minutes are devoted to a talk between Jamie and a court-appointed psychologist. The episode left Sandy and me shaken, so powerful and disturbing are Jamie’s words and actions as the session progresses. In my opinion, Adolescence is not to be missed. Its scripts are as tight as square knots, and each main member of the cast performs magnificently. First-time actor Owen Cooper, for example, is incredible as Jamie. Equally splendid is Stephen Graham, who not only plays Jamie’s father Eddie Miller, but co-created and co-wrote the production. What a talent he is. Adolescence, I believe, will stay in my mind for quite a while.
And then there’s the frothy Loot, a series that tips heavily into the wacky–as–hell category. Your life won’t be incomplete if you skip Loot, whose two seasons are available on Apple TV+. If you decide to tune in, however, you might end up digging it as much as Sandy and I did. It’s light, but it’s also refreshing.
Maya Rudolph shines in Loot, her comedic and dramatic talents fully on display. The show centers around her character, Molly Wells, who goes ballistic when she discovers her husband John has been cheating on her. She loses no time in divorcing him. The dissolution sends Molly reeling. She’s in pain. She’s also unimaginably wealthy, to the tune of over 100 billion American dollars, her share of the assets she and John, a tech industry genius, had jointly owned.
What to do with all that dough? Well, Molly, spoiled but possessing a heart of gold, doesn’t go for the usual approach of attempting to become even richer. Instead, she opts to give it all away, to groups and social causes that will better the human condition. The conduit for her generosity becomes the Wells Foundation, a do-good organization Molly founded while married but then totally forgot about until after the divorce came through.
I’m going to leave it at that, except to note that crazy situations have no trouble finding and enveloping Molly and her Wells Foundation employees, and that I laughed my ass off at some of the lines tossed out by the actors.
Till next time, boys and girls! If you have any series recommendations, please let me know. Sandy and I always are on the prowl for viewing options.
Yeah, Another Blogger 
A great post! Yes, I saw Adolescence recently. It was indeed very thought provoking. I do watch a lot of Netflix and Amazon tv shows and movies! Have a great Easter weekend🌻😊
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Hi. Have you seen The Residence? My wife and I thought it was clever as can be, and highly entertaining. It’s a mini series on Netflix.
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I haven’t, but will definitely check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!
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Thanks for your insightful reviews and suggestions, Neil.
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My pleasure. Have a good upcoming week!
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Thank you. I wish you the same.
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Always great to have ideas on new things to watch!
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We’re all fortunate that there are so many entertainment options available. It’s pretty overwhelming, actually.
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Yes, it is sometimes:)
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Just catching up, Neil. We’ve been away for a while. ‘Adolescence’ got huge attention here, widespread newspaper coverage, opinion pieces, tv discussion programmes etc and it was truly and eye-opening insight into the teenage world. The algorithms of many of these viewing platforms is highly suspect. We disabled YouTube on our television set a few years back as our young grandson would use it to view football (soccer) related material – action, toys, games etc – and we found one video led to another and another and soon presented material which we considered, at the very least, borderline appropriate. A child could so very easily come to accept such material as normal when it is being presented to him constantly. They are at an age when they are not capable of discriminating and rejecting.
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All of this really makes me wonder about humanity’s fate. With endless amounts of “information”and opinions available online, much of it wrong/fake/ridiculous/etc., some people’s attitudes and beliefs maybe are becoming more warped than ever before.
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Attitudes and beliefs are certainly more influenced than before!
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I really love A Man On The Inside with Ted Danson. It has a bit of an Only Murders In The Building vibe. And The Residence was excellent too!
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Hi. I liked the Danson show too. I think I read it was renewed for a second season.
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Oh, that’s great!
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I haven’t seen Adolescence, but I’ve heard great things about it!
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Catch it if you can. It’s top-notch.
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I enjoy Netflix most every evening without any guilt. Cheers, Muriel
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Hi Muriel. Netflix has so much content, it’s amazing. Netflix is terrific. Enjoy the upcoming week. See ya! Neil
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I too tend to enjoy a relaxing evening next to my husband watching the newly picked series to view. I had head that Adolescence was very good, and after your fine review might just line that one up. We also live opposite a movie theatre, so between the TV and the theatre we are rather topped-up film-wise. We saw Black Bag the other day and can recommend it for its good acting and brilliant writing. It is slick and worth a viewing.
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Hi Vivienne. I saw Black Bag too, and liked it. By the way, a friend of mine raved about another new movie: The Penguin Lessons. Take care and have a good week.
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We watched adolescence and it was powerful – interesting the way they’d done if from the different perspectives. We recently enjoyed ‘The Burning Girls’ and ‘The Devil in Ohio’ both of which are on Netflix.
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Hi, and thanks for the suggestions. My wife and I will look into those two shows.
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Adolescence sounds terrific but a little dark for me right now. I think I’ll give Loot a watch. I need a laugh or two!!
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Hi. I hope you enjoy Loot. Have a real good rest of the week.
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I am going to try both recommendations. You have suggested some good shows in the past.
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Hi Geoff. I hope you’ll enjoy them.
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Thanks for your thoughts about Adolescence. As you say, it’s been getting a lot of buzz, and I’ve been curious about it … except that it sounds so serious, and I’m not sure that what I most need right now is more seriousness. However, if it’s really as good as Queen’s Gambit, I think I should give it a spin.
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Afternoon, Jeff. Adolescence is very serious. But I think it’s worth watching. Just about every aspect of the production is high quality.
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Thanks for the recommendations. My son inadvertently signed us back up for Netflix last week 🫠 but now I’ll take advantage to check out Adolescence.
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Hi. I hope you’ll like it.
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Our latest mini series was House of David which we watched since it’s the Holy Week for Christians. We enjoyed it and hope there’s a Season 2.
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Thanks for the recommendation!
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We watched this as well and agree it was very well done. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Queen’s Gambit. But thanks for the other recommendations. I’ve got a list.
Currently, we are finishing the final season of White Lotus. It’s a dark comedy but intriguing. Unfortunately, the 3rd Season has a family supposedly from NC and their accents are terrible (take it from a Carolina girl). LOL
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Hi. The new season of White Lotus is on our list. Ditto for the new season of Hacks. It’s amazing how many viewing options are available. And the number of options increases every day!
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I’m not much of a TV person at all, not a series watcher or anything. Even much more of a casual watcher than you, be it on the normal TV box or streaming TV services. I’d be okay not having a TV screen at home to be honest. But definitely understand how TV and series watching is a pastime and escape.
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Hi there. Yeah, there’s nothing intrinsically important about TV viewing. Everybody has their own habits and interests and ways in which to spend their time. Take care.
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As a happy tv addict, I heartily agree with you as regards Adolescence. It’s like being dropped right in the middle of a torrid drama. Mindblowing use of real time.
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Hi. It’s such a high-quality production. By the way, I’ve read that Adolescence’s Stephen Graham (Eddie Miller) plays Springsteen’s father in an upcoming biopic about Bruce.
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I’m not a big tv watcher, but I did enjoy The Queen’s Gambit! I’ll look for another of your recommendations on Netflix. Enjoy the weekend, Neil! 🙂
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Hi, Lisa. Queen’s Gambit sure is great. That series made a big impression on a WHOLE lot of people. Adolescence is really good too. But it’s much more disturbing than Gambit.
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“Adolescence” indeed sounds gritty and dark. But then, I enjoy “Jack Reacher” and he’s certainly about grit and mayhem–how many hours a day does that guy spend in a gym? Twenty-two, twenty-three??? I’ll give “Adolescence” a try. Definitely loved “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Ed and I have watched a lot of series in our years together. “MI-5” was a real favorite. Also “Midsummer Murders” (which had a lot of comic moments, too) was another thumbs-up, and “Lewis”–all three of these were long-running British hits. Another major love for us was “Endeavour”–a nine-season prequel to the long-running series “Morse.” EXCELLENT show! Hmm, we obviously love mysteries of the whodunnit type. We also watch a lot of films. “A Complete Unknown” (the 2024 Bob Dylan story) blew both of us away. Definitely my favorite film of the year.
Well, do with this what you will. And thanks for sharing several of your faves!
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Chalomet did an incredible acting job. He really seemed like Dylan. Do you have a favorite Dylan album? My fave, I guess, is either Blonde On Blonde or Blood On The Tracks.
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Ooh, a favorite Dylan album. What would I choose??? For me, it’s more about the particular songs. I LOVE The Times They are A-Changin; Mr. Tambourine Man; Forever Young; Like A Rolling Stone; My Back Pages; Blowin’ in the Wind, of course…Just so many great songs.
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We’ll take a look at Adolescence, as per your suggestion, Neil. (Don’t have AppleTV, and one of us is impatient with froth.) Have you seen “The Residence?” It’s fun, with Uso Aduba wonderful as a brilliant detective, and former Sen. Al Franken playing…a Senator.
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Hi Annie. We watched The Residence a week or two ago, and loved it. It’s just so clever and stylish, and the acting is so good. I don’t think I’d ever seen Aduba before. She nailed it.
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I’m saving Adolescence for when I’m feeling really good about life. As for crocheting the hand puppets… please give it a go😁
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There might be a market for those puppets, so I better start learning how to crochet.
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Loved this post! Totally agree about Adolescence—such a powerful show! And Loot sounds fun; adding it to my watchlist. Honestly, I’m with you on needing TV. After a long day (which includes wrangling my dog and relying on a poop-scoop service to keep the yard sane), there’s nothing better than kicking back with a good series.
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Hi, and thanks for adding your thoughts. Appreciated!
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I haven’t read all the comments, but we have become hooked (at least I have) on kdramas as well as Japanese and some Taiwanese series. These are mostly on Netflix, but some now are on Hulu and elsewhere. Of course you would likely need to read captions, but with my hearing I am doing that with English language shows anyway. I prefer “slice of life” or even romcoms over dark, gritty shows. Many of the Korean shows, as well as some of the others, are very well done and much better (IMO) that most American shows. There are many, many choices, but my initial suggestions, all Korean, are:
“Crash Landing on You” on Netflix
https://bit.ly/42SemIo
“Itaewon Class” on Netflix
https://bit.ly/3YMZWb6
“My Mister” on Netflix
https://bit.ly/4493KqI
“Extraordinary Attorney Woo” on Netflix
https://bit.ly/3S8UxHB
“When Life Gives You Tangerines” on Netflix
https://bit.ly/4jvKMze
Plus many more on Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Viki and others.
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Hey there. As far as I can recall, we haven’t yet watched any Korean shows. Thanks for the suggestions.
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Great flicks!👍👍
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Hi AOC. Have a great day!
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And a good week ahead for you Neil!
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‘Taboo’ is one I like. Dark, Dickens like. Real, gritty and standout performances by all. Another top rate production from the UK. A little history so CB can join in conversations and sound intelligent, fool a few people.
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Hi CB. It sounds like a winner. Thanks for the tip.
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