Category Archives: TV Tuesday

TV Tuesday 3/12/24

I thought it had been a long time (just over six months) since I published a Mystery Monday post, but it has been even longer — close to a year — since my last TV Tuesday post. Again, it wasn’t that I wasn’t watching TV (or reading mysteries), but that I haven’t been moved to write a post about it.

The most notable thing in my TV world is that Netflix finally added the tenth and final season of the NBC show The Blacklist. The show ended last year, and I’ve been waiting to see the final season.

And because I watched it on TV (Netflix, in fact), I’ll tell you about an excruciatingly bad movie I watched. It was directed by Renny Harlin and stars Pierce Brosnan, so I had high hopes, but it was a real stinker.

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TV Tuesday 6/20/23

Back in March I posted about the Japanese media franchise Lupin the Third. The main character is the grandson of the fictional thief Arsène Lupin from the stories by French author Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941). Last month, I posted about a Japanese live-action series that isn’t connected with the franchise and only implies the fictional French thief.

For TV Tuesday this month, I’m posting about the French standalone live-action series Lupin. Here the references are explicit. When he was young, the main character fell in love with the stories of Leblanc and based his own life (as a thief) on the fictional Arsène Lupin.

And, as usual lately, I’ll mention some movies I watched on television.

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TV Tuesday 6/6/23

The other day I began watching the Canadian TV series, Letterkenny (2016-present). A couple of my friends had recommended it, so I added it to my Hulu watchlist some time ago but only got around to checking it out last week. And was pretty much instantly hooked.

Thanks to Amazon Prime, I’ve been slowly working my way through a couple of British golden oldies: The Avengers (1961-1969) and The Saint (1962-1969). I was a big fan of both shows when they aired back in the Jurassic era of black-and-white television.

And as seems a new habit with TV Tuesday posts, I’ll mention a worthwhile film I watched (on TV) last week, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

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TV Tuesday 5/16/23

Back in March I posted about the Japanese manga/anime franchise Lupin the Third (aka Lupin III aka Lupin the 3rd). And about my love of stories about clever thieves, a love clearly shared by many given all the stories and movies made over the years — from Robin Hood to Inside Man (2006) and beyond.

Because I’ve been watching various Lupin III anime TV shows, Amazon Prime’s mighty algorithm suggested a Japanese live-action spin-off, Daughter of Lupin (2019; 11 episodes). It’s quirky, silly, exciting, delightful, romantic, and fun. Definite thumbs up!

I also have some movie double-features to tell you about.

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TV Tuesday 4/25/23

I don’t know how it is with hobbies and interests for others, but mine — the ones that persist, anyway— are typically cyclic. I’ll be into something, reading, blogging, programming, trying to learn quantum mechanics, whatever, and then I’ll burn out or get temporarily tired of it and take a break.

Watching TV is definitely an interest that waxes and wanes. Through most of March, it was more or less on the wane. In April, though, it waxed, and one result of that is another TV Tuesday post.

Perhaps not surprisingly (given my tastes), the main entry today is a Japanese anime series, but there are a number of side dishes, including some movies that snuck in because I watched them on TV.

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NCIS: Over and Out

‘Tis human trait that, when we love something or someone, we accommodate and excuse flaws. We may not even see them. The classic example is the love a mother has for her child. Very similar is the love any pet owner has for their pet. (Of course, dogs don’t have flaws, so it’s extra easy to love the little darlings.)

Conversely, not loving something or someone tends to amplify flaws. Sometimes to the point it’s all we see. We lose sight of the good, especially over something we once loved. [As Danny DeVito says about Bette Midler in Ruthless People (1986), “I hate the way she licks stamps!” Great line.]

Which brings us to the TV series NCIS.

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The Umbrella Academy

Over the last week or so I’ve been watching The Umbrella Academy (2019-2022; Netflix; three seasons; 10 episodes each). Speaking as someone who is beyond being over live-action superhero stories, I rather enjoyed it. Enough that I plan to check out (in both senses of the word) the same-named graphic novels the show is adapted from.

And that right there says even more about my enjoyment of the series. How many times have I written here that doing a live-action adaptation of comics or animated shows is a mistake that usually ends badly? (A lot is the answer.) And it’s a Netflix show to boot.

Yet, despite some small annoyances, I found it quite engaging.

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TV Tuesday 8/16/22

Early last year I wrote about Cowboy Bebop, an award-winning Japanese anime classic from 1998. It’s on my list of favorite things ever. It’s so rich on so many levels that I’ve watched and enjoyed it at least half a dozen times. For me it’s an almost perfect combination of anime, hard SF, music, action, and humor.

Late last year Netflix released a live action version with John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda, as Spike, Jet, and Faye, respectively. I watched three episodes and bailed. It wasn’t just me. Netflix cancelled the series only a few weeks after its release.

Ever since, I’ve wanted to give it another try, see if it really is that bad.

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TV Tuesday 5/31/22

As an intro with nothing to do with the post, yesterday I started reading The Big U (1984), by Neal Stephenson (one of my favorite authors). It’s his first novel and one I’ve been meaning to read for a while. As with his second novel, Zodiac (1988), his first is a social satire with a distinct technological flavor. Unlike most of his later work, these aren’t science fiction. That began with novel #3, Snow Crash (1992), still one of my favorites.

I mention this because I’m eager to get back to it, but it’s TV Tuesday, and I want to commemorate the ending of not one, not two, (…etc.), but four TV shows that recently aired their last episodes.

Two I was glad to see go, but I am in mourning over one of them.

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TV Tuesday 5/24/22

I’ve been awaiting the sophomore season of Netflix’s Russian Doll with both anticipation and dread. Anticipation because I thought season one was outstanding, one of the best shows of 2019. I only mentioned it briefly in a post back then (and gave it a solid Wow! rating). I meant to write a whole post about it but never did.

The dread came largely from how complete the story arc of season one was. It was hard to see more story there. Dread also came from how good it was — a very hard act to follow. Maybe best not to try?

Season two finally came out last month. My best reaction is something along the lines of “Huh?” but the phrase “muddled mess” keeps running through my mind.

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