A FOLLOW-UP

The usual amount of folks have inquired as to my opinion about the Oscar broadcast. In brief: Conan O’Brian was surprisingly good. I have never been a fan, but I thought he took an almost always thankless job and handled himself (and it) very well. On the other hand, HULU, the service that streamed the show to those of us not able to get ABC, should issue a public apology and return their monthly charge to its subscribers.

The movies themselves this season I believed to be less than stellar, and it did not surprise that it would therefore turn out to be one of those perverse Academy years… of which there are more than a few… where a tiny motion picture (such as Anora) prevails over other, seemingly more prestigious, films. (Hello? The Greatest Show on Earth over High Noon? How about Crash over anything?)

Frankly, the Academy sort of lost me at the nomination level, excluding Nicole Kidman for Babygirl, and much more egregiously, Angelina Jolie for Maria.

Onward: the casual reference made to other best of all time dramatic television series in my tribute to Homeland, got a great deal of response… enough so that I have given a list of the “best of all time” the thought it deserves. First are my choices:

Besides Homeland… clearly, in my view, number one… there is (in something close to in-order) The West Wing, Deadwood, Justified, The Americans, The Game of Thrones, Friday Night Lights, Downton Abbey, The Good Wife.

Everyone else’s list includes the above plus The Sopranos, Oz, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Succession.

Being a gent now in his mid-80s, I lived Mad Men and so was never very inclined to watch it as entertainment. And, although I have revisited The Sopranos and The Wire occasionally, I am none-too-sure they hold up as well as you might remember. Breaking Bad had a flaw in its origins that I could not get past (though it was still an exceptionally good show in most respects). I must confess to never having watched Band of Brothers or Six Feet Under and will put them on my list of maybe someday. I enjoyed Succession very much as well as Oz, but readily admit I have no desire to see them again.

I can add little to the multiple tributes to The West Wing and will simply stick by my original comment that it is “the finest Network series” ever made. It still holds up, even though it is a tribute to a kind of American political environment that no longer exists.

FX had something going in a way few broadcasters ever did, and Justified, The Americans, Fargo, The Shield, and American Horror Story are but a few examples of their acumen. Some of my readers claim the final episode of The Americans beats the finale of Homeland, but I take issue with that.

The two great series on HBO cannot stake out any claims for satisfying finales. Deadwood abruptly ended, then years later they came up with a two-hour movie unworthy of this spectacular series. Then there was the ending of The Game of Thrones which practically caused a boycott of the one-time prestigious premium channel.

My list concludes with two other Network series, Saturday Night Lights and The Good Wife. Terrific writing, great casting and very, very entertaining dramas. It would be far less than modest of me to not confess I took some time the other evening to check the two-part finale of my own Cagney & Lacey (season 7) on Amazon Prime. My show is not in the league of the aforementioned, but… I am happy to say… not bad either. I am still proud of it.

A final couple of notes as to input from readers. Younger, a newish series on Netflix was recommended to me and I tried out at least a half dozen episodes. Extremely cute and most definitely worth your time. In half-hour serial form it explores the trials of a 40-something recently divorced woman attempting to get back in the job market by presenting herself as someone in her mid-20s. Sutton Foster just about pulls off that challenge while placing the series on her back and running with it. It is more than “cute.” It is downright charming.

And then there is the HULU presentation of The Rivals, based on a book of the same name by Jilly Cooper and recommended to me by an erstwhile member of my The Trials of Rosie O’Neill writing staff. Ms. Cooper and I are the same age, but she is a much better and far more prolific writer than this 87-year-old. I have read that she believes this is her best book which may be true; I can only testify that the series based on this book of hers is a hoot… A Bridgerton PLUS… brought into the 20^th century and at just the right time in the1980s to take advantage of a barrage of terrific pop music from the period.

Aiden Turner, who you may remember in the title role of the PBS hit, Poldark, is one of a trio of male leads and there is a plethora of great British talent backing this troika as they romp around the gorgeous Cotswold countryside while Margaret Thatcher runs the UK from #10 Downing Street.

Apparently Disney-owned HULU is responsible for bringing this terrific series to an American audience. If nothing else, in my book, it makes them more than even for the mess they made of the Academy Awards.

Finally, finally. My fabulous editor and proofreader has taken off for a well-deserved trip to Europe to see the Northern Lights. If there are more mistakes in the foregoing than you are used to, it is because of her absence. She may be back before the next one of these NOTES… or, maybe not. Apparently one must be flexible when scheduling views of these mid-night light shows, forcing me to ask you for tolerance and patience as well.

 

Barney Rosenzweig