The TV thread

We’re enjoying it. Not great but fun and nostalgic for me. The wife, wow no kidding. I like Riley Keough, I feel her drive, and Teddy.

 

The two leads have great chemistry but he’s such a mope.

 

I thought the “Lucky Hank” premiere was really great.

 

Nice. That one’s high on my list.

 

Catching up with "Alaska Daily" and I find it pretty good. I'm not a Hillary Swank fan. She is kinda bitchy in this. I don't think a nuts-and-bolts reporter needs to be bitchy to do their job well.

They are hitting on the big issues in journalism. I think it was Ep. 7, it ended with an editorial blast at Trump (fake news) and anti-media sentiments. Swank was working late in the newsroom. A "critic" broke in and held her at gunpoint. Ep. 8 ended with the owner attempting to cut staff to sell to a hedge fund, and his son trying to buy the paper from him. Ongoing plot is the state's indifference over an Eskimo woman who was killed vs. a white college woman who fell off a cruise ship.

It's reminding me of my first job. Smaller paper (but bigger than this one). Staff all knew each other, had outings together, drank together -- Wednesday was payday and meet for drinks at The Keg after work. I'm reminiscing a little bit about that. Not so much the latter stops in my career. But I've been retired for 9 years now.

 

I'm in the same boat. Never cared much for Swank, but the series presents modern journalism as realistically as I've seen on TV.

 

Very much agree. I've never really cared for how our business is portrayed on TV/movies. "Lou Grant" was good, but I questioned how the reporters always got personally involved in their stories. It just doesn't happen that way. Billie does a feature on a kennel and winds up getting a dog; Rossi interviews at an old-folks home and volunteers to read to them 2 hours a week, etc. I mean, I did a feature on two guys from the Westside Jewish Community Center who were picked to coach the Team USA swimming team in the Maccabiah Games. I interviewed one of the guys, I didn't volunteer to clean the pool and pick up towels. I covered the World Games for the Deaf at Pepperdine, but I didn't send a donation to HearingAids R US.
Usually, the reporters are goofballs or incompetent -- Jim Carr in "Slap Slot;" Les Nessman on "WKRP;" even Sally Fields in the movie with Paul Newman (can't remember the title). Al Bundy in "Blue Chips;" the ESPN woman in "Mr. 3000."

 

Not Dead Yet is set in a newsroom as well, but is less realistic. The main character only writes obits and her editor, during a job review, mentioned that clicks and ad revenue were up. We always knew the importance, but no one in the newsroom ever knew what the ad revenue was.

 

Continue to absolutely love Shrinking. One episode left, already renewed.

 

Love Gina Rodriguez, though.

 

Uneventful Perry Mason episode tonight, though the awesomeKatherine Waterson joins the cast. She is one of many Boardwalk Empire alums on the show.

 

I binged "Alaska Daily" a couple of weekends ago and got hooked. Especially like the rest of the staff working in the bar to have something to upload as soon as the situation was resolved. Reminded me of the Capital Gazette crew covering the shooting at their office.

Probably mentioned it on the Ed Asner thread, but "Lou Grant" predicted the future of journalism. They put out a metro daily with just two reporters and one photographer.