The TV thread

I started binge-watching "Home Town" on HGTV last week. A husband-wife team renovating houses in Laurel, MS. Never been to Laurel, the only thing I know is that Steve Forbert called it "a dirty, stinking town," and I have no desire to ever move there.

But they do an unbelievable job on some of the old, neglected housing stock in a city that looks to be making something of a comeback, which is wonderful to see. The prices are unbelievably low to someone used to West Coast real estate. Buying a 2500 sf (or larger) classic home for under $100K and having it completely renovated, all for under $200K? That's madness.

The "Good Bones" show in Indy is similar, some of those houses cost less than $50K and get redone for under $150K total. Lots of affordable housing in solid neighborhoods in the US if you're willing to live in the heartland, deep south or rural Northeast. Any big city in the Northeast, Atlantic Coast, Sunbelt, Rockies or West Coast? Forget it.

 

I know what you mean about these shows, projects and houses. I'm a regular HGTV watcher, and it has made it so I have seriously started to think that I need to sell my condo here and go to one of these places to relocate. I could definitely see myself doing it; I just need to really decide to pull the trigger. I'm not in love with California, necessarily, and it's not that I could never live anywhere else. What keeps me here is my mother and most of the rest of my immediate family. Those are big things, though...

 

We binged Run this weekend and have the finale to watch today. I thought it was ok with some pretty good moments. Mrs. W liked it a lot. Merritt Wever always is worth watching.

 

Got through the two seasons of "Mindhunter" in about two weekends - very much a slow burn, but pretty interesting combination of period piece and crime procedural. It sucks that season three is a big question mark, because they had a ton of loose ends, but given Fincher's name is on the project, I imagine it'll pick back up again at some point.

After that, we started watching Dead To Me, and got through five or six episodes. Applegate and Cardellini are incredible, and probably elevate the material way more than it deserves. Without them, it's probably more akin to a Lifetime network production.

 

"Bosch." Watched 8 episodes the past two nights. Not bad.

 

Laurel sounds exactly like the type of place I'd love to live in; small, but not tiny, walkable, vibrant downtown, etc. Too bad it's in Mississippi, no way could I tolerate the weather from May-September, way too hot and humid.

Of course, I already live in a slightly-larger version of Laurel. But it would be fun to have a historic house, like the one I grew up in, instead of a 1970s ranch house. There are houses like that in the older sections of Microville, but they are well out of my price range.

 

Bosch is almost a throwback to the cop shows of the past, but its a lot more. Reminds me more of the R-rated cop movies of the '70s and the producers really lean in and "get" the books. Hoping it inspires more crime novel characters to be adapted to TV - particularly when they done by producers who have written in the genre like Bosch. Lawrence Block has a few characters who would be great on TV.

 

He usually has a good reason for bending the rules, but I was surprised ...

Spoiler

... when he got sprayed in the face by the guy at the car wash, his vision got blurry and he shot his fuck buddy. I wonder if he had a secret reason for shooting her.

 

Actually...you should really watch it again...

Spoiler

You will be surprised to learn that Bosch never fired his weapon. That she accidentally shot herself and tried to blame the perp, but Bosch refused to back her story.

On the tv show, she was reassigned and they broke up.

In the book, she died from her own gunshot wound. And the perp was charged with homicide -- against Harry's objections.

 

The trailer for the new HBO series, Perry Mason, looks fantastic in a noir, LA Confidential sort of way.

 

We are in the same spot. We still have to watch the finale. I agree with your take on it, though I imagine how they handle the landing will determine a lot of how I end up viewing the series.

 

My wife has been watching this heavily. It's a good show, if a bit formulaic after a while. Have you seen the one where the house was 15 k and renovated and done for 75k? LOL

As to "The prices are unbelievably low to someone used to West Coast real estate. Buying a 2500 sf (or larger) classic home for under $100K and having it completely renovated, all for under $200K? That's madness", no, madness is paying 300k for a 1970's ranch style 3BR 2 bath and then spending another 150k to renovate it. You can buy a brand new 4 BR 3 bath with one helluva view here for the 300k and pocket the rest.