Why Isn't Everyone Talking About this TV Show??

June 16, 2024 by Karen 30 Comments

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Welcome to this month's Things to Read & Watch. I'll give you all of that but what I really want to know is why no one is talking about this ridiculously good tv show.

Imagine a show that makes you feel the way Ted Lasso did. A show that has big heart and smart humour like Schitt's Creek. And it stars Chris O'Dowd.

And then imagine no one talking about it. Eerie.

I don't want to explain the plot of The Big Door Prize mainly because I went into it knowing nothing and I think you should do the same. But if my above description makes you think you'd like it, might I suggest watching it.

I predict you will not only like it, you'll want to buy the tee shirt, wear it around and just wait for people to ask you about it.

I tried to do just that, but not enough people are interested in the show for there to be online tee shirt sales apparently. On the other hand there are many many tee shirts that revolve around the subject of sucking big toes. Toe sucking in general actually.

Take a look.

Table of Contents

Television

The Big Door Prize

Seasons 1 & 2

From David West Read, the writer and executive producer of Schitt's Creek is a show that deserves to be seen.

Most importantly it deserves to be renewed for a third season because we deserve to watch a third season.

The Veil

A spy series with 2 female leads and 6 episodes of action filled, attention getting angst.

Why yes it does star Elizabeth Moss. You need to pay close attention with this one so put the laptop down.

A Gentleman in Moscow

Eric

Starring Ewan McGregor and his real life wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffman and McKinley Belcher III

Based on the book that I did not love comes the series I enjoyed very much but did not love. But I did like it.

I can't explain it, I don't know why.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays puppeteer Vincent whose 9 year old son disappears on his way to school.

It's like nothing you've ever seen before.

Since last we met I've read:

Mary Jane

In 1970's Baltimore, 14 year old Mary Jane gets permission from her ultra conservative parents to act as a nanny for a local doctor. A respectable position in a respectable house.

The doctor turns out to be a psychiatrist treating a drug addicted rock star, who moves into the psychiatrist's home with his movie star wife, one week after Mary Jane starts her job.

★★★★☆

Buy or read more about Mary Jane

I am a SUCKER for a good coming of age book and this is indeed a good coming of age book. Loved it.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Currently reading

Eleanor Oliphant is a regimented, depressed, socially maladjusted, quirky loner with an appetite for vodka.

Burned in a traumatic event and belittled by her mother, Eleanor only starts to appreciate that life can be more than fine, when she's befriended by a big hearted if slightly slovenly co-worker.

This friendship leads to Eleanor confronting her own life path; past and present.

I'm in the dead centre of this book and am really liking it. It's an easy read, but feels substantial and want to go to bed early every night to find out what's going to happen. I do not succumb to the lunacy of going to bed early but still ... I think about it.

For someone who would prefer to never go to bed, this is as good as it gets.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price

As the title probably led you to believe, this is about a woman who disappears as a teenager, then reappears 16 years later as an adult.

Rachel Price goes missing and the only witness to the event is her 2 year old daughter who is found alone, in the back seat of Rachel's car in the middle of winter.

When she reappears Rachel is confronted by a documentary maker who is working with the family to make a docuseries about what could have happened to her all those years ago.

Her stunning reappearance does nothing but create more questions.

★★★☆☆

Holly Jackson has a real skill for turn of phrase. Her writing is sharp and clever, but I wasn't nearly as invested in the storyline and characters as the other people on Goodreads were. It has twists, turns and a surprise ending.

It was hungry for a fun little mystery and it did the job but I still felt like I'd eaten a Big Mac, not a Michelin star meal.

On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals

by Turid Rugaas

Who doesn't want to know what their dog is thinking? They don't talk so to understand what they're thinking you have to understand how they communicate.

Through licking, head turning, scratching and other cues, dogs communicate with each other. Once you learn these communications you will in effect, be able to know exactly what your dog is thinking.

★★★★☆

I read this book from Norwegian dog trainer & behaviourist Turid Rugaas last year and I'm about to read it again. Training a dog this way (through positive reinforcement) and understanding a dog's communication cues takes a long time but at the recommendation of a behaviourist I worked with just recently, I'm reading it again.

If you're interested in understanding dogs and what they're trying to tell the dogs and people around them this is a GREAT guide. It's a short, easy and fascinating read.

Summer Reads

(although not the classic, beach reads these are the next two books on my list.)

Published in 1965 "Stoner," by John Williams, is a novel that chronicles the life of William Stoner, a farm boy who finds his calling in academia. Born at the end of the 19th century in rural Missouri, Stoner enrolls in the University of Missouri to study agriculture but discovers a passion for literature. This revelation changes the course of his life, leading him to become an English professor at the same university.

Buy Stoner

"Fayne" by Ann-Marie MacDonald is a historical fiction novel set in the late 19th century. It follows the story of Charlotte Bell, a young girl growing up on her family's remote estate called Fayne, situated in the Scottish-English borderlands. Charlotte, who suffers from a mysterious illness, leads a secluded life, educated and cared for by her father, Lord Henry Bell.

Buy Fayne

Television Reminders

These are shows I've already recommended that are back with new seasons.

THE BEAR (Season 3)

June 27th

If you haven't watched Season 1 of The Bear (Hulu/Apple TV/Disney+) watch it. It's really good. But the main reason you should watch it is so you can then watch Season 2.

Season 2 of The Bear was, in my opinion, one of the best seasons of any television show ever.

Hacks (Season 3)

May 2

As my neighbour said, I want these two to grow old together and the show to go on forever until one of us dies.

I might be paraphrasing.

Loot (Season 2)

June 3

The real life version of this show is taking place right now with Melinda Gates (former wife of Bill Gates) and Mackenzie Scott (former wife of Jeff Besos) giving away billions of dollars to charitable organizations.

Now it's your turn. If you give recommendations please give a couple of other examples of what you like so we all know what your general tastes are.

Why Isn't Everyone Talking About this TV Show??