The Emerging Artist and I watch far too much television. Fortunately, a lot of it is very good. We’ve learned the art of temporarily subscribing to a streaming service to watch a particular show, but we haven’t quite learned not to be seduced into staying subscribed.
We whittled our list down to twenty (20!) shows. Here they are, broken into more or less arbitrary categories:
Documentary series



- Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (Brian Knappenberger 2024, on Netflix)
- 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (2021, on Apple TV+)
- Steve (Martin): A documentary in two pieces (Morgan Neville 2024, on Apple TV+)
Crime
- The Bay, Seasons 1 and 2 (Daragh Carville & Richard Clark 2019, 2021, on BritBox)
- Bad Monkey (Bill Lawrence 2024, from a Karl Hiaasen novel, on Apple TV+:)
- Blue Lights, Season 2 (Declan Lawn & Adam Patterson 2023, on SBS On Demand)



Having babies
- Trying, Season 1–2 (Andy Wolton 2022–2023, on Apple TV+)
- Gavin and Stacey, Series 1–3 (Jame Cordon & Ruth Jones 2007–2010, on BritBox)
- This Is Going to Hurt (Adam Kay 2022, on ABC iView)
- The Shift / Dag & Nat (Lone Scherfig 2022, on SBS on Demand)




Other comedy
- Nobody Wants This (Erin Foster 2024, on Netflix)
- Colin from Accounts, Season 2 (Patrick Brammall & Harriet Dyer 2024, on ABC iView)
- Somebody Somewhere, Season 1–3 (Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen 2022–2024, on Binge)
- Shrinking (Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence & Jason Segel 2023–2024, on Apple TV+)
- Only Murders in the Building, Season 4 (John Hoffman and Steve Martin 2024, Disney+)





Drama
- The Bear, Seasons 1–3 (Cannah Bos & Paul Thureen 2022–2024, on Disney+)
- Bad Sisters, Season 2 (Brett Baer, Dave Finkel & Sharon Horgan 2024, on Apple TV+)
- Plum (Brendan Cowell 2024, on ABC iView)
- Boy Swallows Universe (adapted for TV by John Collee 2024, on Netflix)
- Davos 1917 (Thomas Hess, Adrian Illien & Michael Sauter 2020, on SBS On Demand)





Next, a much shorter list: Theatre

Fascinating selection Jonathan, of which we’ve watched almost none. But we did love Blue Lights Series 2. I plan to watch Plum. We got bored with the set up in Bad Sisters Series 1 I’m afraid, though I did like much about the characters, so didn’t come up for more. We don’t have and streaming channels besides iView and SBS On Demand, except Apple TV+. Shrinking got my attention but not Mr Gums’s so that got the flick I’m sorry to say.
My most recent recommendation would be Steeltown Murders, a 4-part true crime miniseries on SBS I think.
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The re s no arguing about taste, but it might be worth giving Bad Sisters another go. The first season at least gets very funny. Second season not so much, though I still loved it. You’ve gotta love the way spouses restrict each others TV watching. I get to watch very little SF! Or true crime. But I’ll use your recommendation as a lever in the direction of Steeltown Murders. Thank you
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Haha Jonathan, cheeky … we found each episode with a failed attempt to kill him just got formulaic, so we jumped the middle episodes and watched the last couple for the conclusion.
As for restricting one’s TV watching “love” is one way of describing it! I get to watch little slow moving drama. But, on the other hand, I can always watch Austen. Of the crime sub-genres I often like true crime the most – and this one is a cold case so it’s not gruesome as the crimes have happened. I won’t say more, but let me know if you watch it.
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