A bit ago I told you that my “Jo Bucket” was empty. I was referring to “me time”.  I hadn’t been getting much time to myself. I also don’t get a lot of Rosie time….at least not hanging out time. Most of our time is spent with telling telling her no. We don’t get a lot of good plan snuggle time. So in light of that, I decided to do what I can to get some “Jo time”, “couch time”…”stitching time”…”Rosie time” all wrapped up on one. To do that I am cross stitching. I decided that at 9pm on many nights, I’m going to sit on the couch with Rosie, watch TV and stitch.
I told myself, nothing good can happen here after 9pm so I’m giving in and stitching. (as a teen my parents said that about midnight…nothing good could happen after midnight) Whatever I didn’t get done for the day can wait until tomorrow. I’m sure this won’t be an everyday occurrence but I’m going to make a serious effort to make it happen more often.
Last night I didn’t get there until 9:30pm but that’s an improvement and I’m going to take it.
So what have I been watching….
On Netflix I watched The Pharmacist.
It’s a very interesting docudrama on a couple different levels. There are personal stories that come together to that tell about the opioid crisis.
Here is the synopsis from IMBd:
“In 1999, after losing his son in a drug-related shooting in New Orleans and lacking answers from police, a small town pharmacist – Dan Schneider – beats the odds when he embarks on a dogged pursuit to find and bring his son’s killer to justice. But months later, the ripple effects of his son’s addiction and tragic death would find him again when a troubling number of young, seemingly healthy people begin visiting Dan’s pharmacy with high dose prescriptions for OxyContin. Sensing a crisis long before the opioid epidemic had gained nationwide attention, Dan stakes a mission: Save the lives of other sons and daughters within his community. Then take the fight to Big Pharma itself.”
….and the trailer. If the trailer doesn’t show up for you you can find it HERE on Youtube.
The show was tragic but good. I admire a man with conviction to change things he can see are not good with the world. Living in rural NE Iowa in a small community, I don’t end up seeing a lot of prescription drug addiction. I know when Kramer was sick and needed opiods for pain management we were put through many precautions and lots of hoops had to be managed to get them. Now I see more clearly why the hoops are needed.
I recommend the show. It’s only 4 episodes and I think run time is 215 minutes for the entire series.
The next show I started watching but I’m not done with is…..
Outlander. (I know I’m late to the party)
This has come up in recommendations time and time again. As I finished up The Pharmacist, I caved and decided “one episode. I will watch one episode just to say I gave it a try”.
This show is about time travel. I’m not big into time travel type shows or ideas…I am more of a reality gal. So, my plan was to watch one episode and be done with it.
That didn’t happen. I am still watching it. In fact, I went to bed the other night and as I was lying there to go to sleep I grabbed my phone and looked up how many seasons there are. I was happy to know that there are 4 that are able to be streamed. Five is just being released now on Starz and season 6 has been renewed.
Netflix has the first three seasons. After that I need a Starz subscription…or Amazon has the seasons available for $8 – $12 per season. (Here’s the LINK)
Here is the synopsis:
“After serving as a British Army nurse in World War II, Claire Randall is enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland with husband Frank, an MI6 officer looking forward to a new career as an Oxford historian. Suddenly, Claire is transported to 1743 and into a mysterious world where her freedom and life are threatened. To survive, she marries Jamie Fraser, a strapping Scots warrior with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humour. A passionate relationship ensues, and Claire is caught between two vastly different men in two inharmonious lives. `Outlander’ is adapted from the best-selling books by Diana Gabaldon.”
UPDATE: I was pretty happy with the show but as the episodes go on and on, I’m becoming a little disenchanted. There is so much nudity. There are sex scenes regularly. There is brutality. All of it is too graphic so as happy as I was when I started it, I’m over it.
Then in one scene, the husband spanked the wife. I was done then. That may have been a social norm of that time but I can’t and won’t abide by abuse of any kind. I don’t want anyone thinking it’s ever okay to spank their wife.
So now I’m back to looking for something to watch. Tell me what you’re watching…I am always looking for ideas.
..and with that, it’s 9:10pm and I’m needing some “me time”, “Rosie time”, “stitch time” so I’m off to hunt for a new show. Buck said that he’s enjoying Jack Ryan. I might check that out on Amazon.
I think film and tv of this time relies for heavily on sex scenes, action scenes and gore. If you watch movies from 1940’s and 50’s the story lines are so much richer and in depth. I was born in the early 80’s and as a young adult started watching films from the 40’s and 50’s and was shocked at how much better they were. I don’t watch much popular tv for that reason. Everyone loves game of thrones but I just can’t tolerate it. I doesn’t sound like I’ll be watching Outlander either. The other program sounded very good I’ll have to check that one out.
Jo:
Next Fashion is similar to Project Runway and really good, if you like reality sewing shows. The Great British Sewing Bee Season 5 can be found on YouTube. Also, a quirky but interesting and funny foreign series is “Call My Agent”. It takes place in Paris and is quite well done. It takes place in an entertainment agency and frequently, in later episodes, stars actual French stars. They poke good-natured fun at themselves. I really enjoy it. “Grace and Frankie” is another show my husband and I enjoy. Highly recommend “A Place To Call Home” on Acorn TV.
Hope you find something you like!
Alice
I quit watching Outlander for the same reasons, just got tired of the sex and violence. I had read the books years ago so decided to try the programs, as usual, the books are better.
I suggest Republic of Doyle…a little nudity at the beginning of the series and episode is 3 is darker….but star/producer said they decided they didn’t want to be dark. comedydrama.
I dislike American TV intensely. We have Amazon Prime but also have Acorn occasionally and Britbox. I like Hulu too. We really enjoyed watching the shows on Acorn and have pretty much watched them all. Right now we are watching Vera and Silent Witness On Britbox. No sex scenes, no stupid car chases. We particularly like shows from Norway and Sweden on Hulu.
I watched a short series on tubi tv and it was about the building of the titanic and the Irish laborers and the tense relationships between the Irish and the English. It was two seasons and I really wish it’d have continued. I can’t remember the actual title. My all time favorite is calling the midwife!
Republic of Doyle
Virgin River
Longmire
I loved the Outlander books and started watching season one but had to quit because of exactly what you found. I really liked Inspector Lewis but I’m not sure where to find it these days. I liked Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix which is somewhat quirky. We also liked Foyle’s War which is British.
The aeronautics is a beautiful movie about early balloon pioneers. I think you would like it.
I watch a lot of British mysteries on Netflix and Acorn TV and love them. “Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders, Inspector Morse. “ I can’t even watch American tv now except reruns of Law and Order.
I loved the Outlander books because I could skip over the graphic sex and violence. Harder to do on tv. It’s a great series of books though. I enjoyed the history of that period in Scotland and the American colonies. The author, Diana Gabaldon, writes so well and with such detail about life at that time in the 1700’s.
I love Criminal Minds. I am always trying to figure their thought processes along the way to solving crimes. It’s run for many years so will keep you busy for awhile.
Have you checked into streaming PBS? So many wonderful series run there as well as specific topic specials.
Jo, you might want to check out “Poldark”. It is a period piece, set in the late 1700’s and doesn’t have the nudity/sex/violence that Outlander does. In fact, BBC produced a “Poldark” series sometime back in the 1970’s. Although I haven’t seen the older series, the present one is excellent!! The storyline: Ross Poldark returns to England after fighting in the American Revolution. His family and friends thought he was dead. The woman he hoped to marry is now engaged to his cousin. His father is dead, and the property he has inherited has been allowed to deteriorate. It is the late 1700s in Cornwall, England. This is a family drama, but is also about the challenges and conflicts between the rich and the poor. It is a time when fishermen are not catching much fish, tin and copper mines are closing down because prices are too low, but the price of food and rents are high. Ross faces the challenge of making his land productive, caring for the tenants who rely on him, and trying to win back the woman he loved – or finding a reason to live without her.
I watch it on https://two-movies.org/. This is a free streaming service, and nothing is downloaded to your computer. However you do need to sign up for a free account. On two-movies.org you can make your own watch lists, as well as check off movies or episodes as you watch them. I have both a personal list of shows/movies for me to watch as well as a list for my grandkids to watch if they get bored while visiting.
Hi, Jo! I sympathize with the struggle to find “worthy” shows to watch. The hubs and I have watched season 1 of Jack Ryan. It was okay, we thought, but we really haven’t gotten pulled in well for Season 2. We DID go through all 7 seasons of The Closer on Amazon prime video. (We too live out in a rural area and have found that Amazon gave us good choices for reasonable money –and fast delivery of goodies!) Currently we are watching DCI Banks, a British detective series (we’re on season 3 or 4 now). We like it–the mysteries have twists and turns that keep us guessing and hooked in to the show. There are lots of BBC shows on Amazon prime. Hope this helps you. Rosie and you deserve quality shows to snuggle together and watch! :-)
I just finished Call the Midwife on Netflix and really wish I could watch the Christmas episode before the next season on PBS. I also really enjoy Anne with and E, Heartland and When Calls the Heart
If you watch Jack Ryan, you have to watch it. There are several captions that have to be read and scenes with no dialogue that are important to the plot.
Jo I have read most of the Jack Ryan books.i was hoping the series would be nearly as good watched one episode not to bad 2nd episode there was so much cursing it turned me off. They didn’t follow the books very closely at all. The story lines were fairly good.
Heartland
McLeod’s Daughters
Longmire
Father Brown Mysteries
I recommend “Call the Midwife ” great show.
I don’t have Netflix but wish I did. I’d watch Virgin River series. I read all the Virgin River Books by Robyn Carr and loved them. I borrowed the books from Hoopla, so if you like to read, too, try them.
Two thoughts – The Outlander books are sooo much better than the TV series. I could not put them down. Highly recommend them. Also, if you can’t find what you want on TV have you considered listening to audible books during your me time? I have an audible book going at all times – listen to it in the car, while I am cooking, sewing, knitting. You can get free audible books from your library. Oftentimes a gentle, feel good audible book is so much more enjoyable than most of the junk we see on TV.
I saw the Pharmacist with my daughter and her family when it first came out. His dedication is to be admired. I’ve watched all the Outlander series (read most of the books first) but I agree about the nudity and it was too graphic and that’s why I kept the fast-forward buttons close by. A friend kept telling a quilt group how good the books were and I finally caved and read one. I too didn’t think I’d like the time travel theme but was hooked. The season are so short and far apart I’m loosing interest.
The most recent memorable show I saw on Netflix is called Dirty John. It is based on a true story. I watched it a second time with my daughter when I was with her family in January and February for the birth of my third grandbaby.
I read the first Outlander book and liked it but not enough to continue. Just my personal opinion. :-)
I do enjoy watching some of the older tv shows on Prime. Before we left in our RV, I was watching Murder She Wrote. I always loved that show.
We don’t stream that often due to poor signals so I’m not much help though I look forward to seeing the answers to your question!
Love and prayers
I love Outlander, I have read all of her books and can’t wait for her to finally finish her next one. Yes there is a lot of sex and Violence (she gets raped a lot, or attempted rapes. But that was also a thing then and often times now. The spanking…. happened once, and she never let it happen again. She was a NEW AGE woman, (1940’s nurse= assertive feminist) which is a difficult transition to that era. I still love it.
I read (actually listened to the audiobooks) all the Outlander series and loved it, especially the first few books. I liked the Starz series, seasons 1 and 2, but after that, not as much. I’m still watching the current season, but it’s not as good as the books. The pacing is different. The books are excellent, though, and I highly recommend getting the audio version through your library or online. The reader is the best! I agree with a lot of the recommendations here. I think you would enjoy Poldark, Call the Midwife, Last Tango in Halifax, etc.
You’ve probably seen all these, but I highly recommend each one: Grace & Frankie, Midsomer Murders, Longmire, Call the Midwife, Alias Grace, The Crown — all excellent!
You NEED to watch The Detectorists on Amazon Prime, it is a lovely sweet comedy and has 3 seasons. You will feel so good after every episode. And yes, I could only do l l/2 episodes of Outlander for similar reasons as you.
The Crown, start at the beginning, Rosemary and Thyme, Vera, A Place to Call Home, Grace and Frankie, Foyles War, Father Brown, Grantchester
These are all on either Netflix, Amazon or BritBox. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
The Good Place.
Have you seen Cheer? Documentary about a Texas cheerleading squad, six episodes (I think). Heartwarming and good. Also Great British Baking competitions are always fun.
Chicago Fire
Chicago PD
Chicago Med
If you decide not to watch “Outlander” ( I didn’t) read the books. I loved them.
Hi Jo…I like to see what you are doing & OMG I am so glad you are watching the outlander… the show is right on with the history & the times & that means the fighting the intrigue & violence. That is how our country is founded on & it wasn’t pretty. But it is a wonderful love story & you can get up to season 4 free from public library. Just keep watching it & yes again w the violence. But the story spans from Europe to Jamaca & then to Carolinas. Last season she meets George Washington.
Hi Jo, Yes! to Grace & Frankie, Call the Midwife and that new Aeronautics movie. Enjoy!