Television Favorites!
Re: Television Favorites!
72 - The Rockford Files Season 1 (1974) - The tv series follows the formula of the pilot pretty well. Rockford is often involved in car chases, gets roughed up a lot, and solves the case in the end. I enjoyed the season. This was one of my dad's favorite shows and I used to watch it with him on occasion during the last few seasons. I don't think that I ever saw the early seasons before.
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73 - Kolchak: The Night Stalker Season 1 (1974) - I enjoyed the show, but think that the two movies were better. That is likely due in part to the longer run time. The series pretty much follows a monster of the week motif. It reminded me a little of the first season of Smallville in that regard. I probably would have enjoyed the show more on a weekly basis like it originally aired rather than binging it over a short period of time.
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74 - M*A*S*H Season 7 (1978) - Another decent season.
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75 - The Lost Islands (1976) - The backstory is told in the catchy theme song - a wealthy man gathered 40 teens from all over to sail around the world on a ship around called the United World to learn from each other and their surroundings. However, a hurricane forced them to abandon ship, but five of the teens were left behind and they end up stranded on a pair of uncharted islands near the equator which is home to a small town full of people living like it is still the early 1800s and ruled by a mysterious hooded figure. It's generally a fun show and I liked it, though I probably would have loved it had I watched it when it first aired.
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76 - Come Back Lucy (1978) - Lucy is an 11 year old girl who was lovingly raised and homeschooled by her elderly aunt. After the aunt dies, she is sent to live with a distant cousin that she has never met. The cousin and her husband are very busy and have three rambunctious, but generally well meaning kids of their own. Lucy is quiet and shy and doesn't really fit in to this lively household. She befriends the ghost of a Victorian era girl named Alice who inhabits the home and is drawn into her world. It was pretty good.
77 - Fly Into Danger (1972) - An 18 year old mechanic gets a job at a private airfield in England. It doesn't take long before he discovers that something fishy is going on. He also befriends a young woman who works there and the two are in some danger when they discover the smuggling operation taking place there which also includes illegal immigration. The show is a bit boring, but was okay and gets a little more interesting toward the end.
77 - Fly Into Danger (1972) - An 18 year old mechanic gets a job at a private airfield in England. It doesn't take long before he discovers that something fishy is going on. He also befriends a young woman who works there and the two are in some danger when they discover the smuggling operation taking place there which also includes illegal immigration. The show is a bit boring, but was okay and gets a little more interesting toward the end.
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78 - Dominic (1976) - Dominic is a 16 year old naval cadet at a military academy in this sequel to the earlier series, Boy Dominic. Dominic comes into possession of a watch with a family crest which is the only clue in solving a murder. He sets out to track down the owner of the watch and to discover the meaning behind it. This starts an almost non-stop adventure with smugglers, murder, kidnapping, and plenty of danger in a pretty entertaining series.
79 - Soldier and Me (1974) - Two teenage boys in England witness an old Czech man being shot and end up on the run from the gang that did the shooting. The chase takes them across the country as the boys seek to elude capture. It wasn't as interesting as I expected, but was okay.
80 - Carrie's War (1974) - Carrie and her little brother Nick are among the children evacuated to the British countryside during WWII. They are placed with a cantankerous old man and his timid sister. The old man is estranged from his older sister and falsely thinks that her housekeeper is stealing from her. Carrie and Nick are square in the middle of the various family dramas and the series is very well done.
81,82 - Flockton Flyer Seasons 1,2 (1977,1978) - A family takes over the running of a heritage railway line between Flockton and Lane End. They have to first get the engine and other cars up and running while also dealing with the locals, graffiti, and more. I liked the second season more than the first.
79 - Soldier and Me (1974) - Two teenage boys in England witness an old Czech man being shot and end up on the run from the gang that did the shooting. The chase takes them across the country as the boys seek to elude capture. It wasn't as interesting as I expected, but was okay.
80 - Carrie's War (1974) - Carrie and her little brother Nick are among the children evacuated to the British countryside during WWII. They are placed with a cantankerous old man and his timid sister. The old man is estranged from his older sister and falsely thinks that her housekeeper is stealing from her. Carrie and Nick are square in the middle of the various family dramas and the series is very well done.
81,82 - Flockton Flyer Seasons 1,2 (1977,1978) - A family takes over the running of a heritage railway line between Flockton and Lane End. They have to first get the engine and other cars up and running while also dealing with the locals, graffiti, and more. I liked the second season more than the first.
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83 - The Sandbaggers Season 1 (1978) - This is a pretty smart and well written spy show about a special branch of British intelligence called Secret Intelligence Service. The show includes various ops, but tends to focus a bit more on how it affects the people involved, especially the man in charge of this branch. The pacing can be a bit slow at times and it took me a while to get interested in what was going on, but by the end of the season, I was enjoying it.
84 - Thursday's Child (1973) - Margaret Thursday is a 12 year old girl who was left in a church as a baby with money left anonymously every year for her care. However, the money has now run out and the kindly ladies who have been raising her are now too old for the job so the rector sends her to an orphanage. She makes friends with a slightly older girl who is accompanying her two younger brothers to the same orphanage. The orphanage is run by a strict and somewhat mean matron and Margaret takes an immediate dislike to her. The child cast here is pretty good and its an entertaining series.
85 - Thick as Thieves (1974) - Bob Hoskins stars in this sitcom as a thief who gets out of prison after a short stint. However, when he returns home, he finds that one of his best friends (also a thief) has taken up residence and that his wife loves both men. The three end up living together in an awkward situation. I thought it was kind of dumb early on, but did get better as the season progressed, though it still wasn't great.
84 - Thursday's Child (1973) - Margaret Thursday is a 12 year old girl who was left in a church as a baby with money left anonymously every year for her care. However, the money has now run out and the kindly ladies who have been raising her are now too old for the job so the rector sends her to an orphanage. She makes friends with a slightly older girl who is accompanying her two younger brothers to the same orphanage. The orphanage is run by a strict and somewhat mean matron and Margaret takes an immediate dislike to her. The child cast here is pretty good and its an entertaining series.
85 - Thick as Thieves (1974) - Bob Hoskins stars in this sitcom as a thief who gets out of prison after a short stint. However, when he returns home, he finds that one of his best friends (also a thief) has taken up residence and that his wife loves both men. The three end up living together in an awkward situation. I thought it was kind of dumb early on, but did get better as the season progressed, though it still wasn't great.
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86 - The Singing Detective (1986) - Philip Marlow is hospitalized due to a rare and debilitating skin disease. He finds himself in a mix of reality, memories of his childhood, and his creation, the singing detective. I wasn't enjoying this very much during the first couple of episodes, but I started enjoying it more after that.
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87 - Superman and Lois Season 3 (2023) - Now that the season is over, I binge watched the show over the last couple of days and enjoyed it quite a bit. I like the recasting of Jonathan Kent after Jordan Elsass left the show. I'm glad that the show got renewed for another season and not just because it ends on a cliffhanger.
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88 - Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles Season 2 (2022) A good second season. I hope that it gets renewed.
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89 - Apocalypse: The Second World War (2009) - This series consists entirely of actual footage from World War II or just before the war. The narration follows the course of the war which is illustrated with the film. The footage has mostly been colorized and is the real draw here, though the narration isn't bad.
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90 - The Power of Nightmares (2004) - This show ties the rise of neoconservatism in the United States to the rise of Islamic extremism and attempts to show similarities between the two. It's put together pretty well and some of the interviews shown are pretty interesting. They use fear and exaggeration to get what they want. I don't know if there is anything here that is really new, but it collects the information together and tries to connect the dots.
91 - Long Way Round (2004) - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embark on a four month motorcycle journey from London, across Europe and Asia before flying from Siberia to Alaska and then continuing through Canada and the United States before ending in New York City. They have a cameraman on another bike with them as well as a support van for filming. It's an interesting trip and they ran into a number of obstacles along the way. They also met a lot of people and got to see a lot of sites along the way.
91 - Long Way Round (2004) - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embark on a four month motorcycle journey from London, across Europe and Asia before flying from Siberia to Alaska and then continuing through Canada and the United States before ending in New York City. They have a cameraman on another bike with them as well as a support van for filming. It's an interesting trip and they ran into a number of obstacles along the way. They also met a lot of people and got to see a lot of sites along the way.
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92 - The Civil War (1990) - This Ken Burns series does a nice job organizing the various events and people into an entertaining whole. I was already familiar with quite a bit of what is covered here, but it is presented very well.
Re: Television Favorites!
93 - Heimat (1984) - This series follows the lives of the Simon family and others in their rural village in Germany from just after the end of WWI through the early 1980s. We see the major events of the time through the lens of the effect that it has on these people. It took me a few episodes to really get into the series and it became more involving as it went along. Overall, it is very good, though for me it fell short of being the masterpiece that some see it.
94 - The Blue Planet (2001) - Lots of cool shots of the ocean and ocean life, but it does get kind of boring at times.
94 - The Blue Planet (2001) - Lots of cool shots of the ocean and ocean life, but it does get kind of boring at times.
Re: Television Favorites!
95 - Blue Planet II (2017) - I liked this series a bit more than the first one. The first series seemed to have some repetitive bits here and there. There is some of that here as well, but not as much. The topics chosen here are also more interesting with less emphasis on fish, fish eggs, and fertilizing said eggs.
96 - The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) - This series looks at Robert Durst, an heir to a wealthy family who was a suspect in several murders, including his wife back in the 1980s. Durst himself had the idea for the series and is featured prominently with interviews. Police detectives plus friends and family of those who died are also interviewed. The series does a nice job telling the story and looking at the evidence and suppositions.
97 - Wonders of the Solar System (2010) - Brian Cox hosts this series which explores interesting parts of the solar system - the sun, features of planets and moons, etc, - by relating them to places on Earth which exhibit similar characteristics or have similar forces at work. It's a pretty nice show.
96 - The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) - This series looks at Robert Durst, an heir to a wealthy family who was a suspect in several murders, including his wife back in the 1980s. Durst himself had the idea for the series and is featured prominently with interviews. Police detectives plus friends and family of those who died are also interviewed. The series does a nice job telling the story and looking at the evidence and suppositions.
97 - Wonders of the Solar System (2010) - Brian Cox hosts this series which explores interesting parts of the solar system - the sun, features of planets and moons, etc, - by relating them to places on Earth which exhibit similar characteristics or have similar forces at work. It's a pretty nice show.