New Year, New Show

Everyone does New Year, New You... well not in this house! Here we do New Year, New TV Show.

With Now TV and Netflix I've got a few things that I haven't seen before, so I decided to give a few first episodes a go and see if I could find a new favourite.

So I started with Nashville starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere. The basic idea is the original generation of Nashville musicians are being outshone by the new wave of singers... drama, sex, more drama, some singing.

I would imagine that this is really good if you enjoy drama at every turn... but I just can't watch it, which is a shame because there are some good actors in it. This one was a pass for me, it must be good for some people as there are four seasons of it.

Next up I tried Mad Dogs. Another one that didn't exactly leave me wanting more.

Four 40 something guys go to visit a friend for a vacation at his villa... and then get mixed up in some drug... things... pffffft, I don't know... I got really bored. But I do like looking at the picture above.

Next on the bill was The 100 Code. Staring Dominic Monaghan and Michael Nyqvist. Young women have been turning up dead, buried near asphodels. Conley (Monaghan) is a detective from the NYPD who comes to Sweden and works with detective Eklund (Nyqvist) to investigate the murders.

One of my main bugbears when it comes to TV shows and movies is when they're based on books. There are two main problems with these adaptations... one... the writers cut out all the good bits that they think aren't relevant or make for good programming. But number two is alive and well with The 100 Code... based on the book Merrick by Ken Bruen... published in 2014... not easily available. I can't express how much that annoys me.

This one is a 12 episode series, and so far it's interesting. It is a bit dry at the beginning and you do have to pay it your full attention because of the subtitles, but so far it's a good series. Something I'm trying to get over is the fact that Dominic Monaghan still doesn't look like he's old enough to be a detective...hold the phone... I just Googled him and he's 39... 39?!?! How does he do it?

Lastly I gave Wayward Pines a go, main star Matt Dillon and also staring Toby Lewis, Juliette Lewis and lots of other familiar faces. US secret service agent Burke is investigating two missing agents when he wakes up after a car accident in the town of Wayward Pines. Things aren't as they seem in this idyllic town. Why doesn't his partner and former lover acknowledge him? And why is there a prison-like fence at the edge of town?

Another one based on a book, this one is available though, a three book series by Blake Crouch. I watched the first episode (of 10) and instantly called my mum who loves things like this. Her response was, you'll enjoy it, but the end will leave you a bit...

So I binge watched the series before it was due to leave Now TV, and was left going "whaaaaatttttttt?!" A good whaaaaatttttttt though, well, I think so. There's going to be a second series but in the mean time I've brought the book to read because you can never really know what is going to happen in a series. This one is definitely my favourite pick out of the ones I watched.

---

Next stop is Jessica Jones on Netflix, I feel a binge watch coming on... although I did re-watch the first episode of Bones... so that could be a bit distracting.