I’ve said it before that cutting funding to NPR and PBS is a horrible thing. They are worth every penny in making our communities better, more informed, and connected. My local public media stations WTCI-PBS and WUTC-NPR in Chattanooga, Tennessee are vital to creating a culture where everyone can learn and grow. Without public media America is certainly not great.
For more information visit Protect My Public Media to get involved. https://protectmypublicmedia.org/
Tonight, we have begun a re-watch of Battlestar Galactica from 2024 that was produced by Ronald D. Moore. This update of the late-1970s program takes a decidedly darker tone as what’s left of humankind struggles for survival against the robot Cylons, who have killed millions. The Galactica, led by William Adama, protects a patched-together fleet of civilians – led by de facto president Laura Roslin – in search of a mythical planet called Earth.
I grew up a fan of the 1978 edition, but this updated version is my favorite. It’s full of complex issues, like family, politics, survival, espionage, sociology, religion, mysticism, and more. This show has a great cast including Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackoff, Jamie Bamber, and Tricia Helfer.
This evening, two Americans who love Canada checked out some new-to-us Canadian TV shows. We love the talented actors who tell great stories set in a country we love very much.
Our first program was Kim’s Convenience, which is about the lives of a Korean Canadian family that owns a convenience store in a Toronto neighborhood. The show features Paul Sun-Hyung Lee from The Mandalorian and lately in Murdoch Mysteries and Simu Liu, who you have seen in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Then we checked out Hudson & Rex, a show about a detective who teams up with his very good boy and very trained German Shepherd Dog. John Reardon, who you might have seen in Arctic Air and Hallmark Movies, stars with his K9 companion the late Diesel vom Burgimwald. They work to solve cases and bring people to justice.
Part of my motivation was in honor of King Charles’ throne speech to Canada that happened on May 27th. Nonetheless, we look forward to seeing more of these programs and checking out others from North of The Border.
Saturday Night Live is a venerable television institution. This long-running sketch comedy and musical series has been on American TV sets via the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for fifty years. The first episode featured comedian George Carlin, Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
SNL launched the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Keenan Thompson, Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Molly Shannon, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and many many more. At its core, it is a variety show that satires what is going on in the culture.
It is a show that always makes you laugh at first and then makes you think. Each episode has a host and a musical guest. The music is as important as the skits if you ask me. Tonight, the show will celebrate its anniversary, looking back at all the talented people and crazy stuff they have done all these fifty years. Congratulations, Lorne Michaels and company, for your amazing achievement.
We are having a three-episode binge of this iconic Canadian TV show, which features the United States in each episode. This seems appropriate in light of the tariff war with Canada and Mexico, which has been put on pause, thank goodness. This is one of our favorite series ever.
We are late to the Marvel TV series “Agatha All Along” but we are fixing that tonight by binge watching a few episodes. It’s spooky season so it seems like the right type of show to watch. Kathryn Hahn is a terrific actress and this role seems tailor made for her. “Agatha” is a spin off of sorts from “WandaVision” and it will be interesting to see how the two are alike and different. I will give my thoughts later.
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