Hillary made a cameo on Murphy Brown pic.twitter.com/wOrkFhozY6
— Chris Evans (@notcapnamerica) September 28, 2018
The Spousal Unit and I like to watch a little TV together to wind down in the evening… but our tastes don’t have a lot of overlap. He doesn’t like anything ‘too depressing’, or that involves people shouting at each other for long stretches; I’m not a big fan of whimsy or slapstick. Leverage was the perfect sweet spot for us, also (the first ten seasons of) New Tricks (after Amanda Pullman left, I felt it degenerated into fanservice). We both enjoyed the first four seasons of Elementary, but haven’t gotten around to finishing the second season of the BBC’s Sherlock. I’m looking forward to watching the new Murphy Brown online, but it’s probably a little too ascerbic for him…
Given those parameters, any of you want to explain why The Good Place would or would not be something we’d both enjoy? I’ve got the first disc of the first season queued up on Netflix (yes, we’re old, the actual TV is upstairs in the bedroom and he ‘hasn’t gotten around’ to running a cable for the Roku box through the attic), but it’s marked ‘short wait’, so we may be testing the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries first.
Other suggestions, of course, would be more than welcome!
John Rogers
Hi. I wrote LEVERAGE. Watch THE GOOD PLACE.
As a TV writer I will say it’s ridiculously good. It is screwing woth narrative structure a bit, so if it feels a bit off, trust it and keep going.
Anne Laurie
@John Rogers: Fangirl squeeing in your direction!
And thanks very much for the recc!
Major Major Major Major
@John Rogers: hi John! Big fan. That is all.
I like the good place. Just watch it and give it a try. Fair warning, I thought episode two was pretty weak, but keep going!
ETA fun fact: Michael Schur, creator of The Good Place and Parks & Rec, owns the film rights to Infinite Jest
Adam L Silverman
Do you need us to set up a gofundme for you all to get a 55 inch or larger TV? So you don’t get eyestrain.//
Adam L Silverman
@John Rogers: If you need any consulting input on nat-sec stuff, you know how to reach me via the contact a front pager button.
Adam L Silverman
@John Rogers: Also, I was a huge fan of Leverage as both a criminologist and someone who does a niche type of human intelligence.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
agreed you gotta let yourself go with it, it’s worth the pay off. I’m saving season 2 for some cold rainy day when I can binge it
anybody else find it a bit derivative of Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life? There are a couple of winks that I think are meant to acknowledge it.
Anne Laurie
@Adam L Silverman:
I married a Virgo. He did intensive online searching to figure out exactly the right size TV for its placement at the foot of our CA-king-sized bed. Can’t remember the final choice, but not as big as 55″.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: Just checking.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: can I have a gofundme to upgrade this ridiculously small 55-incher we have?
meander
For me, the Good Place is one of the brightest pieces of TV comedy in many years*. To respond to your taste notes: there is not much shouting, no slapstick, but it might push close to the edge of whimsy. It’s also a little convoluted.
But SO CLEVER. The basic setup is novel, the jokes are frequent and offbeat (some of Eleanor’s and Jason’s lines are legendary). The cast is outstanding and works well together. Try a few episodes.
* Along with “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and the often too-dark “Bojack Horseman” (Hooray for Todd!).
Meredith
The Good Place is brilliantly hilarious and thought-provoking. Hard to believe that it may be even better than Parks and Rec and Brooklyn 99. May be. But it’s at least as good as those; so, if you enjoy those…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
you sold me on this show
Mary G
I have only just started the Good Place, but I think you might like it, AL. The star is someone who’s told she’s gotten into Heaven because she did all these good deeds, but she’s actually a pretty cynical person who didn’t do all that, and is always trying to curse, but it comes out shirt for shit, etc. It’s pretty charming without being saccharine sweet. I’ve been trying to get into Homeland, but just not buying the plotting so far.
NotMax
If you’ve never seen it, both seasons of Pushing Daisies are on Amazon Prime (viewable either for free or paid, which is kind of strange). Kristin Chenoweth, as always, was a perky wonder.
Also on Amazon Prime is Dead Like Me, which is suitably watchable but really needed to go back to the shop for retuning before being rolled out.
Major Major Major Major
@meander: it’s not quite Kimmy Schmidt, but they’re definitely cousins. If you like KS you’ll like TGP.
Viva BrisVegas
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You could go back a fair bit further than that to “A Matter of Life and Death”. The old Powell/Pressburger film. It’s a fairly old trope.
There are not many shows that manage to extract laughs from moral philosophy.
The Good Place was my favourite show from last year.
Now that it is starting up again, it will be my favourite show from this year.
trollhattan
I’m-a have to check out “The Good Place” per the many enthusiastic recommendations. “Better Call Saul” is my current fixation. Unbelievably good teevee.
When’s the “Deadwood” movie due?
bruins01
The Good Place is the best show on TV.
Mary G
Roh roh, somebody doesn’t want to talk to the FBi:
bruins01
OK, Better Call Saul is the best show on TV. The Good Place is the next-best show on TV.
Bobby Thomson
The Good Place is outstanding. It’s one of those things that is as layered as you want it to be.
And a hearty welcome to the discoverer of the Keyes Constant.
Bobby Thomson
@Mary G: unsworn letters are cheap, coward.
trollhattan
@bruins01:
Being #2 behind BCS is heady territory.
jacy
@John Rogers: gosh, I loved Leverage.
t he Good Place is terrific. Don’t find out too much about it so you can be surprised.
Also recommend Superstore.
Chetan Murthy
Everything everybody says above about TGP is true. I’ll just add one more bit: It is a _kind_ comedy. This is rare, and typically, I like my comedy a little raw and mean. But TGP, it’s kind and gentle, and still uproariously funny. I. Mean. Uproariously. Funny.
This is remarkable.
mohagan
I adore Better Call Saul but tried to watch TGP last season and found it a bit too twee to watch (lasted 3-4 episodes), even with Ted Danson. I loved Leverage though. And I can watch semi-marginal stuff, since I watch The Librarians (also with Christian Kane :-))
trollhattan
So this.
West of the Rockies
@NotMax:
I first read that as Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, and was stunned that anyone had bothered to put the series on Amazon.
For you youngsters, it was a bland 60s sit-com.
Anne Laurie
@Mary G: Yeah, what first interested me in the show was Kristin Bell, whom I adored in Veronica Mars (too dark for the Spousal Unit).
@NotMax: The first episode of Pushing Daisies, on the other hand, made my teeth ache for saccharine-sweet whimsey. (I liked Tru Calling, but no way would I ask the Spousal Unit to watch it with me.)
NotMax
Currently working through the Nordic noir (in English) series Fortitude on Amazon Prime. Gory parts but all of that thus far is in service of the plot.
If you don’t mind subtitles, the both of you might garner some enjoyment from El Ministerio del Tiempo on Netflix. Ridiculous premise but a decent enough part of it is a hoot.
Major Major Major Major
@Chetan Murthy: ‘kind’ is a great word for it and something we desperately need right now.
The exact same reason I found The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet so amazing when I read it this spring.
Yutsano
I’m going to do my standard decompress by watching random YouTube videos. Mostly cooking but a few science/sci-fi clips in there too for spice.
Major Major Major Major
The New Yorker has a posthumous Leonard Cohen poem which is just ? if anybody wants a nice read before bed:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/24/drank-a-lot
God, I miss him.
Anne Laurie
@West of the Rockies:
I loved Jean Kerr’s book when it first came out, though. I was very young, but even then, the semi-hidden desperation of a smart woman trapped in the ‘good housewife’ role & joking to keep from screaming… stirred something. Also, her dog stories were hilarious!
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: No.
Mart
@trollhattan: Re Deadwood the movie: Bloys also said the movie is currently scheduled to begin shooting in October for a spring 2019 air date, but added that the date is not “set in stone.”
Yea, I am so ready for some serious iambic pentameter.
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Yeah, the first episode was all you say. Once they found their sea legs it became much more enjoyable for the tongue-in-cheekiness.
SFBayAreaGal
Loved the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries
Sigh, still have to keep signing in
West of the Rockies
@SFBayAreaGal:
That was a fun show. I kind of liked Murdoch Mysteries, too.
Anne Laurie
@Major Major Major Major: You wouldn’t want to move a TV that size cross-country, even assuming you could fit one in a NYC apartment…
SFBayAreaGal
Anne, get back to watching Elementary. Elementary has been renewed for Season 7. I so love this show.
West of the Rockies
@Anne Laurie:
A sweet product of its time. I wonder if it would have legs today.
NotMax
Unbelievable. Eating moist and tender 2+ pound pork loin done in the Instant Pot in 15 minutes pressure cooking time. With a sour cream and mushroom sauce made in the same pot with the leftover liquid.
Major Major Major Major
@Anne Laurie: I guess we’ll find out! It’s actually very thin and light.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Major Major Major Major: Holy hell, that is a meteor of a poem. Thanks. I miss him, too.
Keliy
Adding The Good Place to the queue. We watched the first three episodes of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel tonight. We loved it and will be bingeing our way through that first.
frosty
@Anne Laurie: I read that in my teens and I still use the title to describe situations. No one, but no one, knows what I’m talking about. But it’s a perfect way to describe how you have to lay out every single thing you want someone not to do because that’s the way they operate. Like middle schoolers.
Seanly
@John Rogers:
John Rogers on my fav bloig? [faints]
SFBayAreaGal
@John Rogers: Thank you for writing Leverage. I throughly enjoyed the series
Adam L Silverman
@SFBayAreaGal: Signing in will continue until morale improves.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Mary G:
Judge uses “under penalty of felony” in that letter. It’s a phrase that Kavanaugh also used today. Is that a real thing? I’ve heard “under penalty of law,” but this sounds like something in the zone of “double secret probation.”
Major Major Major Major
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: I don’t think I’ve ever been borne aloft by capitalization before!
KithKanan
@NotMax: Omnom. I just got an Instant Pot myself recently, but haven’t tried anything as big as a pork loin yet. Is the recipe you used something you can link?
SFBayAreaGal
@West of the Rockies: Had to look that up. After seeing the cast I realized I’ve watched it as the Artful Detective on Ovation.
Kelly
Kinda missed most of today’s events. Beautiful sunshine here in the Willamette Valley. Had a nice walk in the woods, swan in the river. Is there any need to consult any accounts other than this one?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/09/27/how-dare-you-do-this-to-brett-kavanaugh/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.46f853e83af9
SFBayAreaGal
@Adam L Silverman: My morale sucks right now, so I will continue to sign in.
Kelly
@Kelly: I swam in the river, no swans in sight. 60 degree water clean and clear.
Mnemosyne
Ironically, I missed seeing John Rogers stop by because I was watching the season 3 premiere of “The Good Place.” Just my luck today.
I’ve been running around this here blog telling people to watch TGP because I lurve it. As other people have said, it’s funny, and whimsical, AND it has a lot of heart and you really come to care for these four characters who seem to be very annoying at first glance. It’s a sitcom about ethics and philosophy, with fart jokes.
NotMax
@KithKanan
Patchwork recipe composed of pieces from different places plus my own doctoring.
Season loin with salt, pepper, a little ground sage, generous amount of paprika.
Brown the loin well on all sides in butter using Saute function (low or medium setting to keep butter from burning). If necessary, cut loin in half crosswise and brown each half one at a time (both pieces should fit snugly side by side in the pot for the pressure cooking part of the recipe).
Remove meat, put trivet into pot, add one and a quarter cups broth of your choice.
Add some chopped garlic.
If using fresh mushrooms, slice and place in pot, saving some for putting atop/around the meat.
Place loin back into pot.
If using canned mushrooms, layer over and around the meat now.
Cook at high pressure for 14 or 15 minutes.
Let sit for only a minute or two then quick release and remove meat to rest.
Remove trivet, turn on Saute function and whisk in a half cup or so of sour cream. Let sauce reduce to your preferred thickness, whisking occasionally and checking for seasoning.
C’est finis.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@John Rogers: Since everyone else already thanked you for Leverage, I feel I should thank you for your wisdom regarding Atlas Shrugged and orcs. I lost count of how many times I’d quoted that years ago.
Please do comment more on this almost top 10,000 blog, should your schedule permit. You have a perceptive way with words that I admire.
Jimmm
Piling on praise for The Good Place – there aren’t many like it.
If you want to keep your crime not-so-dark, Miss Fisher’s Mysteries are entertaining. Going back a few years, the Nero Wolfe series (starring Timothy Hutton) were also fun.
If you’re looking for something for yourself, though, here are a couple of shows worth your time:
Ozark (netflix crime show with Jason Bateman & Laura Linney)
Luther (BBC crime drama with Idris Elba)
Chance (Hugh Laurie drama on hulu)
Killing Eve (BBC America production with Sandra Oh)
And I always like to pay lip service to these Canadian shows (Lighter stuff which I enjoyed, but many people I talk to have never heard of):
Being Erica (fun – kind of a “time travel as therapy” conceit)
Republic of Doyle (Canadian show about a private detective in Newfoundland. A bit simple and silly, but the leads are all very likable.)
Corner Gas (half hour comedy set in small town Saskatchewan)
Letterkenny (another show set in rural Canada. Sharp, funny highbrow/lowbrow dialogue. You’ll love it or hate it in the first 60 seconds).
(((CassandraLeo)))
I will also back up the recommendations for TGP (though I’m way behind, and you should know it takes awhile to realise its full potential), Elementary, and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. And it’s worth catching up with Sherlock, too.
Jimmm
Also, both the Instant Pot and John Rogers’ oeuvre are magical things that make life better for everyone who encounters them.
JoeyJoeJoe
Definitely start from the beginning with The Good Place, since there are so many twists. Also, I’d say to take your time going through the episodes (definitely don’t binge watch a season!) so you can catch all of the little jokes, references, etc
NotMax
@NotMax
Have another same size chunk of loin (between 2 and 3 pounds) still in the freezer. Plan to eventually try doing that in the IP with different mix of seasonings, a soupçon of liquid smoke and a teriyaki type sauce in place of broth.
NotMax
@NotMax
Left out one obvious part of the recipe.
If the loin is frozen, let it thaw completely in fridge before cooking.
KithKanan
@NotMax: Sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it next time pork loin is on sale. This weekend it’ll probably be b/s chicken breasts though, because they’re just too cheap to pass up (under $1/lb from a quality local independent market).
NotMax
@KithKanan
Beauty of those is that, for most recipes, can plunk the chicken into the IP still frozen.
KithKanan
@NotMax: Yup! Already found that out, and it’s one of the things that makes the IP so incredibly convenient.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@NotMax: Why thaw loin but not chicken breasts?
lurker dean
that sack of entitled shit lied his ass off.
https://twitter.com/CuomoPrimeTime/status/1045487271451885568?s=19
another vote here for the good place, love it.
rikyrah
@NotMax:
15 minutes??
rikyrah
Do you watch Death in Paradise, AL?
rikyrah
Thank you for Leverage. Loved it?
rikyrah
Elementary – still love it.
KithKanan
@John Rogers: As everyone else has said, thank you for Leverage. Also, too, the Atlas Shrugged/LotR quote and the crazification factor.
NotMax
@YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
The loin is much thicker and wanted to be sure it cooked all the way through.
Boneless chicken parts and suchlike can usually be done either frozen or thawed.
@rikyrah
Freely admit was very leery of that myself, but yes.
Sloane Ranger
John Roberts – loved both Leverage and The Librarians. Selfishly hope you can find someone to pick up the Librarians for new season
We may not reach the top 10,000 blogs in readership but we have quality commentators!
Recs – have you tried Frankie Drake Investigates? It’s set in the same universe as the Murdoch Mysteries but after WWI.
Also Instinct might be worth a try. Crime scenes can be a bit graphic but great odd couple pairing and dialogue.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
The Murdoch Mysteries were rebranded as The Artful Detective for US release FYI. It shows up under either name at times. Spouse compatible tv is an issue in our home too.
Tim Ellis
The Good Place is amazing! One of my top shows (probably #2, after Brooklyn 99). I’m stoked that it’s back on the air with Season 3 tonight too. It is one that I am willing to watch week by week as it comes rather than dribble it down in spurts from Netflix.
sukabi
@Mary G: I’m hoping either Dr. Ford or Avenatti’s client have the Montgomery County sheriff open an investigation.
opiejeanne
Haven’t read the comments yet so, apologies if someone else mentioned this, but we really liked Norsemen and Season 2 just became available. It’s on Netflix.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: My sister’s ex was a (regular) extra on Pushing Daisies. He sat in a booth and ate pie. He had no clue who the actors were, didn’t know who Swoozy Kurtz was.
Chetan Murthy
When I first started reading this blog, I didn’t quite understand all the non-political posts and comments. Though I did love the pet pics. Today, I understand them all. And am thankful for them all, and for you all.
Anne Laurie
@Tim Ellis: Y’know, I really want to enjoy Brooklyn Nine-Nine (The Unusuals is on my Top 10 TV list), but I find not-Adam-Sandler (just wiki’d: Andy Samberg) so effin’ unbearable I’ve been unable to get through a whole episode where he’s on screen. Not even for Andre Braugher, who’s been a favorite since Homicide (yes, I have the whole boxed series).
Darkrose
@John Rogers: Hello! Loved Leverage so much, and miss it still–though the “this can’t be real” has proven to be sadly so.
Darkrose
@Anne Laurie: I was leery about B99 because of Andy Samberg. Lord knows, Jake can be grating. But like all of the main cast, he has a genuine character arc that develops over time, and his work with Braugher is occasionally brilliant.
Amir Khalid
@opiejeanne:
Swoosie, not Swoozy. Rhymes with juicy, not wth woozy, per The Hollywood Reporter. And it is her actual first name. Her IMDB listing provides its origin:
Darkrose
@John Rogers: Also, too: are you familiar with the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch? My mental picture of Peter Grant is Aldis Hodge as Hardison, only with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s accent.
Joey Maloney
Miss Fisher is basically Murder, She Wrote with an Australian flapper instead of Angela Lansbury. Entertaining enough but, even though you expect this kind of show to be formulaic, it starts to creak by mid-second season. My favorite part is the budding romance between the young constable and Miss Fisher’s “lady’s companion”, and no, that is not a 1930s euphemism for dildo.
rikyrah
How about This Is Us?
PaulWartenberg
@John Rogers:
Whoa. I didn’t know you hung out here.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@NotMax: Chenowith was hilarious in an NBC show for the summer season that hardly anyone watched called Trial and Error. Chuck streams free on Amazon now – all 5 seasons. It holds up.
Jim Bales
My wife and I give two thumbs up to Miss Fisher!
Your description of what you want in a series would work for her as well.
We have been enjoying the Father Brown series, and Grantchester.
We very much enjoyed the first six seasons of “once upon a time”, and have just started the seventh. There is a big time skip between seasons six and seven.
Jim
JR
The Good Place is a nice, lighthearted comedy.
Michael Schur (created) also created Parks and Recreation and wrote for the Office (US). That will give you an idea of what kind of comedy to expect. He’s also a good card-carrying liberal with a considerable online presence and probably has read this blog (at least once).
JR
@bruins01: Man, I’m glad people agree on Better Call Saul. I think it’s better than Breaking Bad (which I really enjoyed) and that the comparison isn’t even close.
satby
@John Rogers: late comment, but I’m another long time fan from the Kung-fu Monkey days. Loved Leverage too. Appreciate your work, and the rec for Good Place.
NotMax
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Never seen Chuck. Premise seemed to be a rip-off of Jake 2.0, a good in its own right effort (which next to no one watched).
hells littlest angel
Best show on TV, Breaking Bad-level good: Line Of Duty.
Matt McIrvin
Megan Amram writes for The Good Place. If you know Megan Amram you will realize that citing that fact is a major recommendation.
A description of the show (that is trying not to spoil too much) makes it sound like one of those mid-20th-century feel-good comedies involving bumbling angels and Pearly Gates. It is far more bizarre than that, though I do think that Season 1 sometimes feels like it’s spinning its wheels while putting off a predictable conclusion (the characters are charming, though). Season 2 blows that away: some episodes have enough story to feel like an entire season arc of a different series. Based on the S2 finale, which seemed like it might be turning the show into something completely different, I have no idea where S3 is going (haven’t seen the premiere yet) but I just trust them at this point. So I’d recommend sticking with it.
Matt McIrvin
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is sort of a guilty pleasure: not sure how I feel about a show portraying cops as amiable goofballs at the current historical moment, but it’s good, funny character comedy. I’ve heard it compared to Police Squad! but I think that’s not right; it’s not surrealistic Airplane-style gag comedy; it’s more like a modern Barney Miller, an ensemble show driven by the personalities of offbeat characters interacting with one another.
The first few episodes make it seem like the show is going to revolve around Andy Samberg’s obnoxious man-child character being the hero and getting the better of everyone, and that would be dire, but it doesn’t really go that way.
oldster
Love the Good Place. It’s really, really good, and I agree that Season 2 opened it up and took it into entirely different directions that I could never have predicted. I am very much looking forward to Season 3.
And I’m going to claim a tiny, pathetic sliver of credit for it: back when I was a teacher, I taught (for a term) one of the advisors to this show. She was smarter than me back then, and is much smarter than me now.
Miss Bianca
@John Rogers: Wait, are you saying you were one of the writers on Leverage? Into Season 2 now, on the recommendation of the jackals hereabouts, and really enjoying it. Hats off!
mawado
You can’t go wrong with either Miss Fischer or the Good Place.
If you ever get the roku hooked up, I strongly recommend Mr. and Mrs. Murder on Acorn TV. It is a light-hearted mystery show that follows the adventures of a middle aged married couple. It’s like if the happily ever after in a rom-com was a couple founding a crime scene clean up service and solve crimes quipping all the while. Like The Thin Man w/o the cynicism.
BruceJ
Missed the season premiere of “The Good Place” bc Murphy Brown was on, followed by the British police procedural “Vera” on our local PBS station. But The Good Place, while it starts out kinda twee, really built over the seasons and is kind of unexpectedly deep.
Also @John Rogers is also the immortal inventor of the “27% Crazification Factor” which shoulld cement his place in History Books forever, if I had my way!
DavidTC
Wait, are you saying you were one of the writers on Leverage?
John Rogers was actually the creator of Leverage. And The Librarians, and Jackie Chan Adventures), all of which are pretty good shows.
What I find particularly interesting is that not only do I enjoy his shows, but I always enjoy his recommendations of other people’s shows.