2023: The Year In Television

With less and less good productions airing on network and cable and moving to the various streaming platforms, that seems to have taken over as my main form of television watching. Now that I work from home full time, I have plenty of time to take in whatever they have to offer. Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 23 seasons of shows I streamed on eight different platforms this year.

Black Mirror Season Six (Netflix)
The British anthology returns with a five-episode season that started strong, with one of the best episodes of the show’s run, but ended poorly.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 16 (Paramount+)
The BAU returns, minus a few key resources, to hunt down the most prolific serial killer they’ve ever faced.

Daisy Jones & The Six (Amazon Prime)
Based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, it is the tale of how a garage band from Pittsburgh morphed into the biggest band in the world, and then how it all blew up.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Seasons 6-7 (Netflix)
The Legends see their travels through time and space come to an end.

Dead to Me Season Three (Netflix)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini return for one last go-around.

Doctor Who Specials (Disney+)
David Tennant returns and helps Ncuti Gatwa usher in a new era for Doctor Who.

The Flash Season Nine (Netflix)
The show, and the CW’s Arrowverse, winds down with one final go-around.

The Flight Attendant Season Two (HBO Max)
Kaley Cuoco returns for another go-around as the alcoholic flight attendant who also works for the CIA.

Ginny & Georgia Seasons 1-2 (Netflix)
Imagine Gilmore Girls if Lorelai came from nothing and was somewhat amoral and Rory was bi-racial.

How I Met Your Father Season 2 (Hulu)
The second and final season leaves us hanging as to who the father would have been.

The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV+)
Jennifer Garner stars in the adaptation of the Laura Dave novel. Continue reading →

Book 30 (of 52) – Lessons In Chemistry

Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

A headstrong woman, with a masters in chemistry, finds it hard to be taken seriously in the world of science in the 1950s.  When her life partner dies unexpectedly, she finds herself alone, pregnant, and jobless.  While trying to find a new path, she unexpectedly finds herself on television, teaching cooking through chemistry, and becomes something of a celebrity.  Meanwhile, her daughter and neighbor start to bring together a found family to replace the one she never had.

Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, won the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Debut Novel and was a nominee for Best Historical Fiction, which explains how it would up on my list of books to read.  I’ll confess that this really wasn’t my type of book, as I kept waiting for something to happen, but it just told a story of how women were treated by society in the not-so-distant past.  An adaptation for Apple TV+ is due this fall, with Brie Larson taking on the role of Elizabeth Zott, which I think will be a better medium for this particular tale.  At least for me.