Streaming Recommendations (Netflix, HBO, Amazon, etc.)

Just signed up for the Amazon Prime free month
Watched 2 seasons of Bosch over the weekend
Loved it
I read all the Michael Connelly Det Bosch books
Just so neat to see characters fleshed out that I have read so much about
I see Michael Connelly is also exec producer

Now finishing up OZ, Watched 1st 2 seasons years ago on DVD
Now Watching season 3
Weird watching an old box picture instead of a rectangle. Old school TV.

Two BBC shows on Nflix. Foyles War and Midsomer
Murders. Both are long running Brit series that were
on for many seasons.

Foyles War is ridiculously good. It's so well done, it
nails the period of the early war so well, it's almost
hard to believe. The detail the producers went to
have you believing this was made 75 years ago.
The cars, buildings, homes, shops, clothes, it must
have been a production nightmare. But the result
is glorious. Fine stories, great acting. There's a
charming young actress named Honeysuckle
Weeks that steals every scene she's in. I'm loving
every minute of this show.

Midsomer Murders is the polar opposite. Set in
modern times, no productions values, the scripts
are silly and lifeless, and so are the actors. How
it's stayed on for 15 years is a tribute to Brits
who will watch anything. The stories are so
rambling and complicated, you end up not
caring about any of the characters. No thanks.

Quote: Evenbob

Foyles War is ridiculously good. It's so well done, it nails the period of the early war so well, it's almost hard to believe. The detail the producers went to have you believing this was made 75 years ago.

It's rare to read a critic get positively giddy with excitement.

Quote: Mary McNamara - LA Times TV critic

We have been told that the eighth season of “Foyle’s War,” will be the last. ITV, which produces the series in Britain, has said it, and creator-writer Anthony Horowitz has concurred.

Some of us, well me anyway, refuse to believe it. For one thing, we’ve heard it before. ITV canceled the show after its fifth season, only to bring it back because of popular demand. Horowitz subsequently announced that Season 6 would be his last, yet here we are.

Personally, I proudly choose to be a Foyle’s Finale Denier for a simple reason: I don’t want it to end. Ever.

The world I cover as a critic may be bursting at the seams with the exquisite and the innovative, the mind-blowing and the groundbreaking, but sustained excellence is still hard to come by. But “Foyle’s War” started out great and just keeps getting better.

I should know. I have watched the entire series three times in four years. That’s 25 episodes, each nearly 90 minutes, from the first seven seasons plus three episodes from the new eighth season.

It is true that you can see that the production budget exponentially increases as the series progresses. But that is also true of Inspector Morse, and it's sequels "Inspector Lewis" and "Endeavor" as well as "Dr. Who".

It's one of the best TV series of all time, and you will fall in love with "Honeysuckle Weeks" or your heart is made of granite. As it was on for 12.5 years, she says she grew up with the show. Michael Kitchen actually played against type when he took the role of Foyle, as he was primarily known for playing villains.

Interestingly screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz, who created this show, also created and wrote "Midsomer Murders".

Quote: Pacomartin

It's one of the best TV series of all time, and you will fall in love with "Honeysuckle Weeks" or your heart is made of granite. As it was on for 12.5 years, she says she grew up with the show. Michael Kitchen actually played against type when he took the role of Foyle, as he was primarily known for playing villains.
.

Kitchen underplays the chief inspector to
perfection. Most of his acting is with his
face. He's enjoyable in every scene. He
has the burden of the world on his shoulders.
He has a good relationship with his son, but
they're very Brit with each other, very cordial.

Miss Weeks is adorable. She captures
what a young intelligent girl from that
period might be like. She's so bright
and sunny, she cheers up the grim
times. We in the States have never
been bombed, we have no idea
what having it happen for years does
to demoralize the populace. It must
have been truly awful to live thru that.

I watch 1/2 an ep a day, it's way too
good not to make it last. I don't know
what happened to Midsomer, the ep's
I saw were really terrible. The acting
isn't very good and the stories are
worse than Murder She Wrote.

Quote: Evenbob

Kitchen underplays the chief inspector to perfection. Most of his acting is with his face.

He is famous for refusing to do any interviews. It was a contractual requirement before he took the job in 2002. Can you imagine him facing reporter after reporter saying, "Michael, how do you convey such emotion while remaining so stoic?".

Quote: Evenbob

I don't know what happened to Midsomer, the ep's I saw were really terrible. The acting isn't very good and the stories are worse than Murder She Wrote.

Daily Mail did a famous article where they calculated Murder Rates of Cabot Cove, Midsomer County, and compared them to Honduras, El Salvador and other well known murder capitals.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2191990/Murder-capital-world-Quiet-seaside-town-Cabot-Cove-named-dangerous-place-Earth.html

One ep of Midsomer had 5 people die in
3 days nobody raised an eyebrow. In
every other scene there was a new
killing. Stupid is the only way to describe
it. And the cops are such forgettable
bumbling twits, it's amazing they
catch anybody. It has to have the same
demo of MSW, people over 65.

On Better Call Saul, in the old folks home
he represents, the TV room is packed
at 4pm every day because it's an old
rerun of MSW. Things never change.
Saw only one when it was running,
seemed like it was 3 hours long.

Foyles War
I bit,
especially since the LA Times critic was gushing over it
Watched episode 1
interesting
Not hooked yet but probably will watch more
Its good but I don't see greatness
on the flip side it took me several seasons to see the greatness in Breaking Bad

Taking a break from Dexter after a shocking death at the end of season 4

Quote: terapined

Its good but I don't see greatness
on the flip side it took me several seasons to see the greatness in Breaking Bad

It builds slowly as it takes a while to get into the world. You really feel the ups and downs of the war. The fear of invasion, the hope that it will be over soon, the conflicts in British society especially involving communists. The reality that people are greedy and petty and used the war to gain advantage. The hatred engendered by Italians and Germans who had lived in Britain for years.

It took a while to catch hold even in Britain. The first 12 episodes were done 4 per year. Then they dropped to 2 per year for two years, then an abrupt cancellation of the series that resulted in a final 3 episodes that ended the series with the end of WWII. That was 8 years ago, and the public began clamoring for the series to return. So the final 9 episodes took 7 years to air and are concerned with Cold War. At this point the production budget clearly took a massive increase.

Honeysuckle Weeks was cast for the main role in Reese Witherspoon's film "A Far off Place". Reese was 16 when she made the film, but Honesuckle would have been 13. Honeysuckle was flown to America to begin filming, but she was Spielberg's choice. When Spielberg left the film and Mikael Salomon made his directorial debut,and Reese was called in to replace the younger Honeysuckle. "A Far off Place" sold 3 million tickets, but it was enough so that Reese could build a career when she was over age 18. Honeysuckle's career became almost entirely in British television, stage and film.

Quote: terapined

Its good but I don't see greatness
on the flip side it took me several seasons to see the greatness in Breaking Bad

BB was good, I would never call it great.
It had too many places where it dragged
terribly. It was 2 seasons too long.

Each ep of Foyle is stand alone, and you
have to have a knowledge of Brit history
or it will be lost on you.

Midsomer Murders is conveyor belt TV... churn it out, get it up on screen. Foyle's War, Morse and the like are much more nuanced and detailed... and hence why there's only so many episodes made. It takes time to produce good stories that tell interesting stories. The British system of having much smaller seasons is a strength for better writing in the bigger productions... you never have to over use the characters.