Top of the Tops in TV
An "as of this moment" list of interesting, relatively non-violent television programs that I've enjoyed.
Here’s a “Top Ten” list of a sort, of programs developed for television that I liked enough to watch again, and sometimes again and again. It is, of course, subject to errors and omissions; and can change on a whim.
A Top Ten List
10. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
A sweet program set (and filmed) in Botswana. It may involve “cultural appropriation” that some critics might disapprove of—an American actress playing the leading role of an African woman in a story created by a white Scotsman. I think made the nation of Botswana come alive; and exuded warmth and kindness. The opening title sequence is gorgeous. British film director Anthony Minghella was the driving force behind the production and it turned out to be one of his last creative works.
9. Friday Night Lights
A fictional television program based on a non-fiction book about high school football in Texas. Young people being young and growing up; old people being old; coaches and teachers navigating a fraught landscape. The football games are secondary—it’s a show about life, summed up by the team’s mantra: “Clear eyes. Full heart. Can’t Lose.” Darn good television.
Bonus Pick: Connie Britton, the actress who plays the Coach Taylor’s wife wife, Tami, in Friday Night Lights, went on to play a country music star in Nashville. Wikipedia identifies the show as a musical soap opera and that’s a good call. The first couple of seasons were great and Britton is a fine singer.
8.Big Bang Theory
I’ve written about The Big Bang Theory here. I’ve said to Jane that the next time we watch it, we have to freeze frame and read Chuck Lorre’s vanity cards. (As I’m writing this, I recall that we watched How I met Your Mother. It was, like Big Bang, pretty darn good for half-hour sit-coms.)
7. Glee
Music. High school drama. Comedy plus angst. I really enjoyed it and it allowed me to catch up with a couple of decades of pop music that I had totally missed. Here’s a YouTube link to the scene in Glee where I first heard music by Lady Gaga – the Glee cast performing Born this Way.
6. Doc Martin
I’m not a huge fan of cringe humor, but I do enjoy cringing with Doc Martin. Martin Clunes as a surgeon suddenly paralyzed by hemophobia is brilliant. The supporting cast is excellent and it’s great television. The show was filmed in Port Isaac, Cornwall. Jane and I made a pilgrimage there when we visited that part of England a few years ago.
Bonus Pick: Martin Clunes in William and Mary. He, a mortician, and she, a midwife (played by Julie Graham). Loved seasons one and two and liked season three.
5. Slings & Arrows
I wrote about Slings & Arrows here. Great backstage theatre show. Three six-episode seasons built around productions Hamlet, MacBeth (The Scottish Play if you are a superstitious theatre person), and King Lear.
Bonus Pick: Paul Gross in Due South. A police buddy comedy in which Gross plays a fish out of water Canadian Mountie patrolling the mean streets of Chicago with his street-wise partner. Seasons one and two are very good—it trends down in three and four.
4. Foyle’s War
Great television. I wrote at length about it here a couple of days ago.
3. The Good Karma Hospital
A television program that transports you to India and puts the subcontinent in a new, vibrant perspective. At least that’s how it worked for me. Amanda Redman is the focal point of the story arc as Lydia Fonseca—an expatriate English doctor who runs an “under-resourced and overworked cottage hospital” in rural India. We enjoyed Good Karma very much though some critics have disagreed.
Bonus Pick: Amanda Redman as the leader of a “cold case” team that includes three older, somewhat eccentric, detectives in New Tricks (as in “you can’t teach an old dog . . . “) Seasons 1-10 are very good.
2. All Creatures Great and Small
We loved the 1978 television series led by Christopher Timothy. The new television series that launched On Masterpiece in 2020 is even better. I wrote at length about it here.
1. Ted Lasso
Best. Television. Program. Ever.
Okay, I’m saying that now in 2024, less than a full year since the final episode dropped. Maybe I’ll change my mind in time. But right now—it’s my Number One.
And to think that it all began as a promo—an advertisement if you will—for NBC’s coverage of Premier League Soccer. You can watch one of the original NBC promos (featuring a much younger looking Jason Sudeikis) here.
Ted Lasso, the television series, is a mash-up: fish-out-of-water, buddy story, sports story, rom-com, pop culture quiz, and more. The overall arc of the three seasons (35 episodes) follows an American football coach (the titular Ted Lasso) as he guides a top-flight English soccer team.
While the on-field success or failure of the footballers controls the overall shape of the story, the shows are all about the people; well-defined characters we get to know and care about. Great characters; quirky, funny, honest, kind, diverse—to know them is to get to like them if not love them. Ah yes, and there villains, too, drawn in a way that they can be despicable and amusing at the same time.
The scripts are exceptionally well written; tight and, at the same time, open enough to let viewers feel that they are really getting know these people. And the scripts are packed with humor; pop culture references, silly jokes and lots of self-referential, modest, “aw shucks” kindness.
Every Little Detail
What is most boggling about Ted Lasso is the way every character is allowed to engage with the viewers and shine. One small example: Higgins (played by Jeremy Swift), the business manager of for the club, has the Rolling Stones ballad She’s a Rainbow as a ringtone on his phone. Later in the same episode, there’s a scene where he meets his wife, Julie (played by his real life wife, Mary Roscoe) at the stadium to attend a match.
She’s a Rainbow is the soundtrack behind the scene. And the lyrics?
Have you seen her dressed in blue?
See the sky in front of you
And her face is like a sail
Speck of white, so fair and pale
Have you seen a lady fairer?
Here’s a link to an online gif of the scene.
Just one tiny snip of a scene. So good.
The Language Issue
Everyone speaks English with a wide variety of accents; no problem with that. But the show is set in the world of professional athletes and there will be profanity. And for what it’s worth, the profanity is entirely appropriate and perfectly in tune with the stories. It couldn’t be any other way. It’s not the kind of gratuitous profanity that I think a lot of stand-up comedians lean on; it’s just a reflection of how these characters would speak in the real world. So, rated R for language and a little bit of sex.
If you haven’t seen Ted Lasso, you owe yourself a treat. Subscribe to Apple TV for a month and give it a go. It is absolutely brilliant. My two cents (tuppence?), anyway.
Anon.
Ridge