TV Tuesday 2/24/26

The last edition of TV Tuesday ended with the line: “There’s more to report, but I’ve hit my word ceiling and will abruptly stop.” That was three weeks ago, so now there’s even more to report. (Baseball starts soon, and that will have a big impact on how many shows and movies I can watch.)

That last post focused on movies I’d seen. This time much of the focus in on a related pair of TV shows I finished watching. One is a French TV series about a female “Sherlock Holmes” who works as a police consultant. The other is its American adaptation.

I like the French original better. (No surprise there, right?)

That series, which premiered in 2021, is called HPI (Haut Potentiel Intellectuel — high intellectual potential), and it stars Audrey Fleurot as Morgane Alvaro as a 38-year-old with an IQ of 160. Despite her intelligence (and knowledge from watching documentaries) she works on the night cleaning crew at a police station because discipline and responsibility are for other people. And because she tends to have a lack of self and situational awareness. Given her chaotic approach to life, she’s lucky to have a job.

Though a loose cannon with an overly sensitive hair-trigger temper, she’s a good person at heart. She loves her three kids (by two ex-boyfriends — one of who is a friend and frequent unwilling babysitter; one who is a plot point). She tries to be a good mom (and is) but her lifestyle keeps her in last-minute reaction mode most of the time.

In the first episode, one night she’s cleaning in the DIPJ (French equivalent of a Major Crimes Unit) and accidently knocks over a stack of folders containing documents about the current case. One the police are currently stuck on. While she’s putting things back together, she notices the police have made a mistake — they’ve oriented on the murdered man’s missing wife as the main suspect.

Morgane realizes that’s wrong. The wife was actually abducted by the murder. On the “murder board” under the wife’s photo, she writes “victim”.

The next morning, the detectives try to figure out who wrote that. They check the security tape to discover it was their cleaning woman. They bring her in for an explanation. Which she delivers. Then, with her help, they solve the case. In the process they realize she’s a useful resource. The department captain (Marie Denarnaud) offers her a position as a consultant.

But Morgane doesn’t like police, in part because she generally has problems with authority, but also because she isn’t happy with how they investigated (or in her view didn’t) the sudden disappearance of her first boyfriend — the father of her oldest child, Théa.

She turns down their offer but rethinks it when she decides to insist that they reinvestigate that disappearance. They agree to her terms, and she becomes an official consultant for DIPJ.

The series is essentially “Sherlock Holmes” plus police procedural murder mystery. A problematic resource is seen as too valuable to not use despite the problems. Somewhat comparable to The Mentalist (2008-2015) or Monk (2002-2009). In this case, the problematic odd duck detective factor is cranked up to the point of creating occasional serious friction with her co-workers.

Morgane is impulsive, careless, irresponsible, and impatient. In the extreme. And she is hostile to being called on any of it. She clashes in a huge way with the by-the-book lead detective, Adam Karadec (Mehdi Nebbou).

Which of course means they develop reluctant feelings for each other.

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The American adaptation, High Potential, premiered in 2024 and stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory. The first episodes mirror the first episodes of the French version, particularly the premiere, where Morgane/Morgan accidentally becomes a police consultant. After that, the episode plots and the character arcs diverge, and I found the contrast intriguing.

Olsen’s Morgan is (somewhat) less chaotic and has less hair-trigger anger than Fleurot’s Morgane. She’s not quite the loose cannon. She’s Hollywoodized. Even her home is upscale compared to the more realistic places Morgane lives (including having to sometimes stay with less-than fully willing co-workers).

Two key differences: Firstly, there is no romantic vibe between Morgan and this Karadec (at least through two seasons). Secondly, the subplot involving the missing father of Morgan’s oldest is significantly different — they’ve turned it into a much larger and more mysterious thread.

Minor Spoiler: Of note, that missing father plot represents a comeuppance for Morgane — one of many that attack her self-image. In stark contrast, Morgan is more the Hollywood girlboss who always turns out to be right even when it seems like she’s not. I don’t understand why Hollywood doesn’t get that this takes all the charm out of the character.

The American version overall is glossy and slick. The dialog is quippy. The locales are ritzy. The music, camera work, and editing all reveal Hollywood’s many decades of industrial TV series production. They have it down pat.

It takes place in fantasy central, Los Angeles. In contrast, HPI is set in the northern French town of Lille. It makes the French version more realistic and grounded. Rougher around the edges but more a labor of love. The American version is just another commodity.

It has apparently been a successful one for ABC, though. Viewership has been good for its two seasons (but it has not yet been renewed for a third season).

There are four seasons of HPI available on Hulu (which has both shows). There is a fifth (and final) season that Hulu doesn’t have. It’s apparently on Disney+, so maybe it will show up on Hulu eventually.

I watched the shows in parallel and found a strange comparison between liking the French show better but struggling to like that chaotic character versus finding the American version less interesting but with a more likeable character. I may return to this down the road.

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I half-thought it might be one-and-done — the first season was a satisfying and complete story arc — but the Netflix show A Man on the Inside, starring Ted Danson, came back for a second season with a new story.

The show is the creation of Michael Schur, who created The Good Place (2016-2020), also starring Ted Danson (along with Kristen Bell). That show is on my list of Best TV Shows Ever [see this post].

This show is much less ambitious than that (I thought brilliant) philosophy-based depiction of the afterlife. (And all its Wizard of Oz references.) This show is smaller and more grounded in everyday life.

Danson plays a bored retired engineer who starts working for (he would say “with”) Julie Kovalenko, a private detective (Lilah Richcreek Estrada). Danson is light and charming and, oh, so excited to be a detective. He’s smart and capable but prone to enthusiasms. Estrada balances him as the more inhibited by-the-book buttoned-down “let’s be clear about this” boss.

It’s charming, watchable, and has likeable characters who tend to make good interpersonal choices. Friendly, fluffy fun. J’approuve!

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I wasn’t sure what to think when it showed up in my Netflix feed:

I generally like movies starring Bill Murray. He seems to have good taste (or at least tastes that align with mine) when it comes to picking scripts. As presented by Netflix on my TV, the graphic showed only Murray and Adam Driver. Had the graphic been the one above, I would have jumped on it immediately. Because Jim Jarmusch. And Tilda Swinton, but Jarmusch would have made it a lock.

As it was, I went into it mostly because it was a zombie movie starring Bill Murray. Driver is a capable actor, and the graphic suggested the movie was at least in part comic, so I gave it a shot. Once it started and I saw it was by Jim Jarmusch, I settled back for what was certain to be an interesting ride.

Jarmusch made one of my favorite vampire films: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), which starred Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. [See Acclaimed Trio for a review.] He also made one of the more interesting assassin movies: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), which starred Forest Whitaker. And he got a lot of acclaim for Broken Flowers (2005), which starred Bill Murray.

I really enjoyed The Dead Don’t Die. Great cast. Highly recommended if you enjoy Jarmusch’s deadpan style and languid pacing. There’s a bit of a fun plot twist involving Swinton’s character.

It’s a fairly standard zombie movie. It even includes references to the Romero films. I’m a sucker for fourth wall breaking, so I got a kick out of how Driver’s character knows “this won’t end well” … because he read the whole script.

I thought it was a lot of fun and give it a good Ah! rating.

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I have “spilled a lot of ink” on the blog over film and TV adaptations of books and other source material. Since 2011 I’ve ranted about how modern film adaptations dishonor their source text and more reflect the ego of the director. The Kenneth Branagh adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels (2017 and especially 2022; see this post) are a good example — and a pity because his Hamlet (1996) is the best I’ve seen (and I have, in fact, seen quite a few).

Those three Branagh adaptations demonstrate the problem. His 1996 Hamlet uses Shakespeare’s text. Unlike just about every production of Hamlet ever, it uses the entirety of Shakespeare’s text. Which makes the movie four hours long. And worth every minute. More to the point, it’s an adaptation that understands Hamlet.

On the other hand, his current-millennium adaptations neither understand nor honor Agatha Christie’s work. To my eyes, the more recent film adaptations play fast and loose with their source material. And usually in what I view as the worst way: by adding new material.

So, it was a breath of fresh air recently enjoying a most satisfying double-feature: The Name of the Rose (1986) and The Prestige (2006). Both based on excellent novels, and both do justice to their source. (The novels are better in both cases, but that is almost always so.)

The Name of the Rose (1980), by Umberto Eco, was one of my dad’s favorite books. When I finally got around to reading it, I saw why. It’s surprisingly engaging murder mystery set in a Medieval monastery.

Sean Connery is excellent in the lead role as the worldly investigative monk. (I know people who’ve called it his best role.) A very young Christian Slater (in his third film role) plays the apprentice.

Watching the movie (which is outstanding) made me want to read the book again.

As an aside, the burning of the library is heartbreaking.

I can’t remember now what inspired me to read The Prestige (1995), by Christopher Priest. The Christopher Nolen adaptation is my favorite of his films. It stands out in not being an original story by Nolen and/or his brother Jonathan. As far as I know, the only one of his films based on a novel.

[I find it interesting that my favorite Tarantino movie, Jackie Brown (1997), is also the only film he’s done based on a novel — Rum Punch (1992), by the great Elmore Leonard. Two cases of very good adaptations by directors who usually write original scripts. Unusual for being good adaptations and a change of directorial style.]

I read the novel last October, and it made me want to see the movie again. Unfortunately, my Nolen DVDs were among those I gave away during one of my “who needs DVDs anymore” purge sweeps. No streaming service I subscribed to had it, though Amazon offered to sell it to me. I kept the movie in my watchlist since last October hoping Amazon would add it to their free lineup.

Never happened, but it did go on sale for $4.99, so I “bought” it (unless Amazon someday decides otherwise) and finally watched it as part of my double-feature night.

I had forgotten how good the movie is. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in the lead roles, with Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson supporting. David Bowie as Nikola Tesla is inspired casting (along with Andy Serkis as his assistant).

It’s Nolan at his best. The opening shot provides a huge clue. The closing shot provides a brutal reflection. It’s one of those stories that’s different the second time around when you know what’s going on.

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And once again, there’s more, but that’s enough for now.

Stay away from zombies, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.

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