Spring TV times...

So I know I'm greatly behind in my posts on books (I have been reading them, just haven't had time to post...by and large... I also have been slower reading them than I would like), I do promise I'll get back to them soon (maybe tonight if I have the time). Instead I have some recommendations on the new season of TV on screens at the minute. Now my predictions may not work out...if you read my last TV show related post, an update... Broadchurch season 2 good but not as great as I was expecting, and I still haven't been able to find Mad Men season 7 part 2 legally as I got Foxtel just after it finished (if you know of somewhere to get in legally in Australia, PLEASE fill me in as its absence from both Foxtel boxsets and Netflix saddens me). Anyhow onto the current TV season, which I know is half over but with catch up you can still get there... two recommendations are very serious adult drama, one is just awesome, and one is very silly but huge fun... so let's begin with the serious...

The Affair

This is the season 1 trailer and season 2 is the current season but not going to share that trailer for fear of spoilers. Plot summary is that Noah, a New York based school teacher who has published his first novel, travels on a family holiday with his wife, Helen, and their four children to visit his wife's parents in Montauk on Long Island. On arrival in Montauk they stop at a diner who Noah meets Alison, a waitress who lives in Montauk and who is mourning the lose of her and her husband, Cole's child. The attraction between Alison and Noah is pretty much automatic and since the show is called The Affair you can guess where this is going. There are myriad things that count in this show's favour...the outstanding score including a hauntingly beautiful theme song by Fiona Apple, the cinematography, the performances especially Ruth Wilson as Alison because she was the "new" actor in the mix as I've long been a fan of Dominic West (Noah), Maura Tierney (Helen), and Joshua Jackson (Cole...yes those who grow up in the 90s, Pacey from Dawson's Creek), the complex characters (not all unlikable, though I profoundly dislike Noah, just honestly complex), the writing, and just well everything....but to single one thing out, the thing that marks this show as different is the format. What do I mean by format? Each episode is in two halves one told by Noah and one by Alison (in the first season), and just as people's wouldn't in real life their memories (it is quickly shown that they are conveying past events to a police officer as part of an investigation) don't quite synch- different things are emphasised and each character is even dressed in the way they are viewed in the other character's eyes (there was a moment in last week's episode where Alison saw herself as Noah sees her...as in it is exactly how she appears in his version of events and it completely threw her off kilter). I couldn't recommend it more strongly and there was a clear reason that it came out of nowhere to win a truckload of awards for its first season. The first season in its entirety is on Foxtel boxsets (and probably on DVD by now too) and the second season airs on Tuesday nights on Showcase (all of the second season is still on Foxtel Go for catch up folk).

The Beautiful Lie

Now for something that is in its first season, actually probably only season as it is based on something, and no I'm not obsessed with shows about affairs it was just happenstance. Plot summary, Anna is married to Xander, they were once the dream couple of the Australian tennis world, and they are happily married; Anna's brother Kingsley has just cheated on his wife Dolly with their nanny/aupair; Dolly's sister Kitty has just got engaged to Skeet; and finally Kingsley's best mate and long time family friend of Dolly and Kitty's family is pining for Kitty. This all goes spinning out of control when Anna meets Skeet, and the two of them start an affair. Does that sound familiar at all? If you have read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, it should as The Beautiful Lie is a modernised Australian version. I have long wanted a modernised Anna Karenina and though this isn't quite how I would have done it, it is amazing and most of my issues with it relate to odd things like characters being too likable  (I really dislike Anna, Karenin, and Vronsky in the book, as for their TV counterparts, I find Anna mildly sympathetic, Xander I really like, and Skeet...well I don't like him and what grown man willingly goes by Skeet), or the show not being political enough (Tolstoy would agree I think). The show has captured the lust, the chaos, and the internal conflict of the characters perfectly, and the performances, especially as many are delivered by actors known for comedic roles, are amazing. I also love that they kept the depth, if not the politics and agricultural economics, of the Levin (Peter in the show though Levin is his surname still) plot as that often gets lost in interpretation as it is my favourite part of the book. The Beautiful Lie is on Sunday nights on ABC and on iView for catchup (yes it is all still up in spite of the normal two week shelf life on iView).

Dr Who

Moving on from all the affairs, and yes this is the current season's trailer as Dr Who is something you can jump on the band wagon of at any point. Plot summary...are you kidding me this has been on the air for over 50 years?!?! OK basic premise but this is sci fi so you likely won't get it unless you watch it...the Doctor is a hundreds of years old Time Lord (read alien) who has a blue police box circa 1960 something that is actually a ship that enables him (there is yet to be a female doctor but after last season's development with one of his nemeses I hold out hope that maybe one day) to travel through time and space, and he usually take a companion or two along for the ride (they are normally human but not always). The Doctor also regenerates every few seasons hence all the different actors who have played him...no we aren't supposed to forget he used to look different, he isn't James Bond. I have been a Dr Who fan still before I can remember as in I grew up on it and have always loved it. This said the show has been in recovery mode of the last few years. After the departure of the amazing combo of Russell T Davis as show runner and David Tennant as the Doctor, the quality dipped. There are myriad reasons and I don't want to lay to hate in the direction of the new show runner, Steven Moffatt, as I've long been a fan of his work (Press Gang, Coupling, Sherlock, and some of the best episode of Davis era Dr Who were scripted by him). The issues were myriad...plot lines were too convoluted, some characters LONG outstayed their welcome (River Song I mean you which was unfortunate as you were so interesting to begin with), the main companions were too manic pixie dream girl (I loved Rory though as the secondary companion), and Matt Smith's version of the Doctor was about a billion times too daffy. I persevered with the show because of my long endearing love for it and since the casting of Peter Capaldi, it has gone on a marked upturn and this current season is shaping up to be the best since the departure of Davis and Tennant- possibly even better than some of their work. Capaldi brings the perfect blend of bluntness, ego, confusion, comedy, and at times compassion to his version of the Doctor, and it is outstanding. Also Jenna Coleman's Clara who waded through manic pixie dream girl land throughout most of the time she was opposite Matt Smith has finally emerged as a complicated and strong character in her own right- with a highly enviable wardrobe at times. The writing quality has also improved again, probably aided by the move away from season arcing complex over-the-top impossible-to-follow plots back to the traditional two episode blocks. All in all a strong return to form from an old favourite. Dr Who is available on iView from about 5am each Sunday morning and airs on Sunday nights on ABC- sadly the two week shelf life on iView does impact Dr Who so not all of the current season is up.

Jane the Virgin

The first season of Jane the Virgin has just arrived on Australian Netflix in recent weeks and I completely binged it. Now it is highly silly and based on a telenovela but don't let that stop you...pretty much if you were addicted to Passions in the 90s (and which teenager wasn't) or you liked Ugly Betty, this is a more ironically self aware show in that vein as in it is MUCH better. Plot summary, Jane at age 10 promises her grandmother that she will not lose her virginity until she gets married- partly on childhood religious grounds but mainly because she loves her grandmother and does not want to be a teenaged single mother as her mother was. Jump forward 13 years, Jane aged 23 is living with her mother and grandmother and working on her teaching degree whilst working as a waitress at a local hotel, and she is still keeping her promise to her grandmother which her boyfriend is thankfully fine with. Jane goes to get a routine pap smear but the doctor is having a very bad day and gets Jane confused with another patient and inseminates her. To add to all the confusion, the doctor was supposed to be inseminating her sister-in-law (she doesn't know it is her) with the last sample of her brother's sperm (he is a cancer survivor so has no more ability to produce viable sperm and yes he also doesn't know his wife is going to use the sperm as it is a "surprise" to save their toxic marriage). Further complicating things, the brother is both Jane's boss at her waitressing job, and the man who five years ago she met and had a moment with. Can you feel the drama? Also there is a character in a wheelchair, a druglord on the loose, and a telenovela star who keeps appearing to Jane. DRAMA! If you are currently playing through in your head all the extreme ways this could play out, you are probably getting an idea of where this might be going. Now if you are thinking that this sounds like pure soap, I will throw a spanner in the works and let you know that this show walked away with the best actress in a comedy award at the last Golden Globes and was nominated for best comedy series at the Globes and won it at several other award ceremonies. The reasons people are actually raving about this could be that Gina Rodriguez gives a gorgeously unaffected performance as Jane, Justin Baldoni who is too attractive for his own good as Rafael the father of Jane's baby, the other performances where all the actors seem to know when to tone it down and when to overplay it like nobody's business because it is based on a telenovella after all, the production quality which is far and above what you would normally see on a show like this, or the writing which is hilarious. Personally my biggest rave about it is the narration which is so tongue in check, ironically self aware and detached that I challenge people not to love it and embrace the way it turns the whole show into a delightfully, not too biting satire of the telenovela (from what I understand the satire is what was added to the originally telenovela plot to make it appeal to a broader audience). Just go with the silly, there is much to love here especially if you are looking for something light (I strongly recommend it as post exam viewing for anyone needing some down time). The first season is now on Netflix, and the second starts on Fox8 in a few weeks.


 So there are my new season recommends. Enjoy...