What are you watching right now?

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Criminal Minds: "Amplification"

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

I finished the 3rd series of GHOSTS (UK) last night, too. There will be a Christmas Day special follow-up to the 4th series, just as there were for series 2 and 3. I've read that series 4 will be on HBO Max around the end of this month or early next month.

[ClarkKent_DC]

The final show of Morning Express with Robin Meade. CNN canceled it after 21 years(!). In its place, the network will simply air CNN This Morning on both CNN and HLN.

This hurts. Morning Express was a bright morning news show like what I liked about HLN back when it was Headline News: a place where you could get a complete half-hour news program at any time of day, with a friendly, warm team of anchors and correspondents. Morning Express had a nice balance of the serious and the sentimental and the goofy and the fun, and it will be missed. 

[Captain Comics]

We binge-watched Wednesday. (Eight episodes, four nights.) We even stopped The Great (we'll return to it) to do so.

We were hooked after the first episode, as Jenna Ortega is a revelation as the lead character. Purists may not like how some of the established lore is mildly altered or added to -- after all, Wednesday is now 15-16, not a child like the TV show and Charles Addams cartoons, or 11, as in Addams Family the movie -- but will enjoy how certain elements of the original TV show are woven organically into the narrative (e.g., a secret door is opened by two finger snaps).

The actress playing Wednesday's roommate Enid bounces off Wednesday really well (she's into bright colors). Those two make the show, but Catherine Zeta-Jones is pretty good as Morticia, and the fellow playing Gomez more closely resembles the original cartoons than John Astin.

I saw some familiar faces, notably Christina Ricci (Wednesday in Addams Family, Addams Family Values), Riki Lindholme (Another Period), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, The Sandman), Jamie McShane (Gone Girl) and Percy Hynes White (The Gifted).

One question that arose in my mind while watching was how they were making Ortega (with whom I was not familiar) look so young, especially her height. It's not hard for most people to look short when standing next to Gwendolyne Christie (6'3"), but she looked short next to the other actors as well, like the teen boys. I thought maybe she was standing in a hole (or the others were standing on boxes) to make her look small, but it turns out she really is small: She's a "shade short of 5'1" and petite. In other words, in a shool uniform she really passes for a high school student, despite being 20. (Unlike, say, everyone in Riverdale.) The actress playing Enid is also 20, but also passes.

Something that her frame doesn't sell is all of Wednesday's ersatz skills; Ortega did that herself. According to various stories, she learned/practiced fencing, German, the cello and other things Wednesday had to do flawlessly. I'm happy to say she delivers. (Her German is much better than mine.)

Recommended.

[Richard Willis]

This is on my to-be-watched list.

I've loved the character of Wednesday ever since Christina Ricci asked if the girl scout cookies were made of real girl scouts.

Apropos of nothing, I recently learned that American English has the word "cookies" (as opposed to biscuits) because it originated in pre-New York New Amsterdam, from the Dutch word for them.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

While the adults were watching Sandman over Thanksgiving, the kids were in the other room watching Wednesday. Tracy's keen to watch it. It may be a while until we watch the U.S. version of Ghosts. It's on Paramount+, which we dropped after  the recent seasons of Strange New Worlds and Picard and Discovery. We plan to pick it up again (and to watch Ghosts) after those other shows return for new seasons. 

[Captain Comics]

Richard Willis said:

Apropos of nothing, I recently learned that American English has the word "cookies" (as opposed to biscuits) because it originated in pre-New York New Amsterdam, from the Dutch word for them.

This is interesting. I don't know anything about Dutch, so perhaps it could explain a few other British/American diversions, like flat/apartment, lorry/truck, lift/elevator, etc. 

[Richard Willis]

Like driving on the left or the right*, I suspect these fairly modern creations were just locally named when they came into existence. Like here the train tracks underground are called the subway while in Britain it's the underground. In Britain a subway is a walkway under a busy street.

* Being island nations, Britain and Japan driving on the left doesn't affect other countries. (except for the car from Germany I saw driving on the wrong side of the street where one of my uncles lived)

Captain Comics said:

This is interesting. I don't know anything about Dutch, so perhaps it could explain a few other British/American diversions, like flat/apartment, lorry/truck, lift/elevator, etc. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

GHOSTS (American version): We watched the British version, then decided to transition to the American before we realized it was on Paramount+. We dropped that channel after the latest round of Star Trek shows were over and didn't plan to re-up until they came back, but Tracy couldn't wait. (Besides, there is, like, nothing else on TV we are interested in that we haven't already seen.) I enjoyed comparing the American counterparts to the British originals. The ones I don't like as much are the straight-up copies: the scout instructor with the arrow trough his neck; the pantsless businessman; the beheaded guy. Those seem too derivative to me. I'm sure they'll grow on me as the show is (expectedly) very similar in tone to the original.

ANDOR: We tried this one two months ago, watched the first episode but couldn't get into it. In sheer desperation we tried again last night but, knowing nothing happened in E1, we started with E2. So many characters, but not a single one of any interest. When does it get good?

[Richard Willis]

While you have Paramount+, you should check out the show Evil. A group of three are engaged to investigate alleged demon possessions. It's pretty elaborate. Good writing, acting and special effects. There are high stakes involved and the "alleged" part turns out to be a very secretive conspiracy.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

We'll keep it in mind!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

January 6th Committee Hearings: series' finale. 

[Richard Willis]

Me too.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

January 6th Committee Hearings: series' finale.