You Can Check It Out Anytime You Like..."Instant Hotel"

Instant Hotel (2018)

Hosted by Luke Jacobz

The Story:

5 pairs of Australian instant hotel owners all take a one night vacation at each other's home/hotel. They then judge each hotel they stay out to figure out what is the best Instant Hotel Down Under!

In addition to judging each other, renowned designer Juliet Ashworth pops by to see what's right, and what's wrong with the hotel.

Sounds like riveting reality tv, no?

Yes!

There are 12 episodes now airing on Netflix.

The first 5 belong to one group of hotel owners.

The second 5 are a whole new group!

The twist comes from the last 2 episodes when the winners of each group have a "Hotel-Off!" with participants from each of the 2 different casts coming back to judge.

Crikey!

All in all, you'll find some typical reality tv scheming, contestants you root for and contestants you can't stand, and some you love that you can't stand them. :)

I disagree in theory as to how the final judging takes place.  I don't think the actual finalists make for fair judges... but they are also there to help create last minute drama to help themselves win.

Fair enough I suppose.

Still, quite enjoyed my trip Down Under. Gorgeous scenery.

And, I'm of the opinion that the right duo won.

At least, of the 2 choices I had. :)

Watched an episode a night, then binged both of the finale episodes.

See?

Not your typical Netflix viewer. :)

I'll be back when they offer up a new season.

The Bad News About "Great News"

Great News  (2017)

TV-14

Starring Briga Heelan, Andrea Martin, Adam Campbell, Nicole Richie, Horatio Sanz, John Michael Higgins,

Created by Tracey Wigfield

The Story:

Go behind the scenes of "The Breakdown" one of Cable News many, many shows available to viewers in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

While the premise of the story is Carol (Martin) becoming an intern in her 60s at the Cable News show where her daughter Katie (Heelan) works as a producer, there is oh so much more to the show than simply a sneak peak at one of the wackiest mother/daughter relationships in television history.

Thanks to an eclectic cast of crazies, there is never a dull moment and you're never sure what is going to happen next in front of or behind the camera.

While many of the characters might start out as stereotypical placeholders for their role, the actors breathe life and dimension into them, so that even the supporting cast that I didn't name provides must see moments in the background, or sometimes front and center.

Sadly, after two seasons on NBC, they pulled the plug on it.

I discovered it when Netflix sent me an email that basically said "the best show that nobody is watching".

I gave it a try, and we've cycled through both seasons... a few times now...

:)

Fun comfort food when you want something to fill 22 minutes of your evening.

Although it is an ensemble, I must single out Higgin's portrayal of Chuck Pierce as my favorite. He's always been an actor I've enjoyed whenever I see him in something, and his bombastic anchorman is incredible.

Fingers crossed that Netflix might pick up a 3rd season for the show, but if they don't, we'll keep revisiting the newsroom periodically.

You'll Want To Lose This "Holiday Baggage"

Holiday Baggage (2008)

Rated PG

Starring Barry Bostwick, Cheryl Ladd, Julia Sobaski, Leah Wagner

Directed by Stephen Polk

The Story:

Pete (Bostwick) is ready to retire, settle down, and get married to the girl (literally, half his age at least...) of his dreams. Only problem, he's still married to Sarah (Ladd). When he presents the divorce papers to her, he has a stress related panic attack and ends up needing to spend the holidays with his estranged wife and daughters, none of whom want him there. Will he get what he's hoping for, or will he find that he's had what he really needed all along?

Who cares?

This movie sucked.

Now streaming on Netflix, I made it exactly 20 minutes in before I couldn't take it any longer.

Not funny enough for a comedy, not dramatic enough for a drama... terrible acting from the daughters...

I didn't care if they reconciled or not, I simply wanted them out of my life this holiday season.

Grade: F

A Holiday Lump of Coal... "Holiday Breakup"

Holiday Breakup (2016)

TV-14

Starring Manon Mathews, Shawn Roe, Katie Leclerc, Matt Riedy, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Diane Robin

Written and Directed by Temple Mathews

The Story:

Chloe (Mathews) and Jeff (Roe) are a couple that have just moved in together. Except, after a lecture by his dad, Jeff begins to realize how childish Chloe is always acting, and the two break up. However, with the holidays looming, they decide to just pretend to still be together to avoid all of the awkward pity parties that they might be forced to hear. Will the pretend love rekindle their lost love, or is their relationship forever doomed?

In case you think I love all Christmas movies equally, here's proof that I don't, and I apparently have some sort of filter on what I consider a good Christmas movie, and the ones I just don't like.

I've often said that most films that are made now have competent direction, decent acting and the only thing that truly can let a film down for me is a bad story.

This hits the trifecta.

First, the story is written and directed by the same guy. So the terrible dialogue and 1 dimensional characters are all his fault.

Then the acting is abysmal. Chloe's "childishness" is so overblown, it's a wonder that anyone likes her at all. Then Jeff is so preoccupied with having breakup sex, the two are just oil and water and not only do I want them to either get back together or stay apart, I need them to do it now.

My other usual complaint when I don't like a movie is that it had too long of a running time. Trim 15, 30, 45 minutes and the movie would be better.

Well conversely, this movie that clocks in under 90 minutes, the standard "perfect time" for a movie....

However it feels like you're enduring a 3 hour marathon.

If you'd like to see for yourself, the movie is currently streaming on Netflix.

Thankfully it was not a Netflix original, and maybe it will go away by next year.

:)

Final Grade: D-

He's Baaaaaaack..."The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale"

The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale (2018)

Starring Joel McHale

The Story:

Joel's back, doing what made him famous the first time around: poking fun at the best, worst clips you can find on television today!

Seriously, that's it.

For those with a long enough memory and cable subscription, you may remember back in the day there was a little show called Talk Soup. It was hosted by Greg Kinnear, and they mocked some of the outrageous clips that were found on the daytime talk shows.

This ran for years, with Kinnear ultimately heading off to become a leading man in Hollywood, and subsequent hosts came and went, each springboarding to further fame after their hosting gig.

Then the show was rebranded as "The Soup" as television was not only inundated with crazy talk shows, but reality tv was going gangbusters and deserved a special place in the sun to enjoy the absurdity of it all.

The ringleader in all of this? Some guy named Joel McHale.

Following its predecessor's lead, Joel stood in front of a green screen and made quips about the clips until E! decided to pull the plug.

Joel headed to Hollywood and the rest is history.

Until 2018, when Netflix decided wouldn't it be great if we brought back something old as something new again?

And here we have the perfectly titled The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale.

It's wordy. It's a bit conceited. It's the perfect title for Joel's comeback.

There are guests aplenty in each episode, usually from another Netflix series or special, but otherwise you get Joel being Joel and mocking everything from the clips to his own show to Netflix ... dun dun ... itself.

All is right with the world again.

New episodes stream every Sunday, but we're getting close to the end of the first 13 episodes.

Hopefully he'll be renewed for a Season 2 later this year.

Final Grade: A-

My Kind Of Band..."Now More Than Ever: The History Of Chicago"

Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago (2016)

Not Rated

Starring: Chicago

Directed by Peter Pardini

The Story:

The band you know. The story you don't. Follow their history from their creation in 1967 (!!) until their long overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a nearly career defining retrospective, warts and all.

I would imagine that for most casual fans of Chicago, you know the band, you know the logo, but likely aside from Peter Cetera, you probably don't know their names.

The documentary will help erase that and give them their due as one of the longest tenured rock bands still performing today.

Naturally, as with most rock bands, it wasn't all sunshine and roses, and the biggest piece missing from this documentary is the inclusion of Peter Cetera.

However, that's not for a lack of trying.

Whatever beef he's got with the band, he's not letting go, which is a shame.

He was a huge part of their success in the 80s, though producer David Foster will happily let you know it was all him. :)

This documentary is currently streaming on Netflix.

Final Grade: B+

Not Just Kid's Stuff... "The Toys That Made Us"

The Toys That Made Us (2017)

TV-14

The Story:

We were all kids once. We all liked to play. Come revisit your childhood with a walk down memory lane and learn the fascinating story about the toys we all played with and how they came to life.

This Netflix original will be an 8 part documentary series, the first 4 parts are already up and available.

They are: Star Wars; Barbie; He-Man; G.I. Joe

They are all fascinating to watch and will take you back to when you were a kid, and you'll be amazed in some cases that you even had that very toy to play with.

The designers, creators, marketers, etc. etc. etc. are all brought out to reminisce about what it took to get those toys into your hands and make your childhood the sunshine and roses that you remember.

The behind the scenes cut-throat business of toy empires are brought to light, and it's amazing what a lucrative business these toys were.

Each episode is about 45 minutes, so they all fly by fairly quickly, and no, you don't have to watch them all, but they are all totally worthwhile.

Coming in 2018, the remaining 4 episodes will be airing: Lego; Hello Kitty; Transformers; Star Trek

I'm looking forward to watching those as soon as they hit Netflix.

Final Grade: A-

I'll Skip "Breakfast At Tiffany's"

Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

Not Rated

Starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Mickey Rooney, Patricia Neal

Directed by Blake Edwards

The Story:

Holly Golightly (Hepburn) is a... socialite ... living alone in New York. Ah, but when writer Paul Verjak (Peppard) moves into her building...

Who am I kidding?

It's the tale of two hookers living in New York.

However, after trying over the course of 3 days, I finally made it 20 minutes into the movie.

Only because I always try and give every movie 20 minutes to make up my mind, or change my mind.

That said, I was ready to bail on the adventures of Holly at around the 5 minute mark.

As a comedy, it is not amusing.

As a romance, it is nauseating.

Factor in the Mickey Rooney character, and this is one of the most racist films ever made.

Done as a bit by Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies, it's amusing.

Done as a real character who is nothing more than a comic relief cliche'... well no ...

And I really had no desire to spend another 90 minutes with any of these characters any longer.

Hepburn is made to be a feminist icon with her performance here, but I think that's revisionist history through rose-colored glasses; or overlooking how she makes a living.

I can neither endorse the one-hit-wonder Deep Blue Something's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" song, because as I recall, I think, I no longer like it.

For those however that do like it, it's streaming on Netflix if you're so inclined.

Final Grade: F

Understanding Serial Killers..."Mindhunter"

Mindhunter (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Hannah Gross,

Created by Joe Penhall

The Story:

FBI Agents Holden Ford (Groff) and Bill Tench (McCallany) have trained law enforcement officials from coast to coast. However, they are about to embark on something off the beaten path as they decide what better way to figure out the mind of a killer, than to actually sit down and interview them.

Should I mention this is based on a true story?

It's the 70s, and while serial killers existed, they had yet to have that term attached to them.

In fact, there's a lot of things that these first two pioneers of profiling would create as they bounced from coast to coast discussing WHY with some of the worst of the worst to ever stand before a court.

It's a slow burn...

But man, is it intense and fascinating!

At 10 episodes in length, it doesn't suffer from many of the pacing issues that plague the shows that extend into the teens.

Be warned though, it is driven by a very dialogue-intensive narrative.  So if you aren't a fan of talking heads in your police dramas, this may not be the show for you.

That being said, the slow burn effect keeps building throw the series and at the last episode, you want nothing more than to start the next episode to find out what the heck happens next!

This Netflix original is available to stream whenever you're ready to venture down the seedy side of town.

Final Grade: A-

I Have No Reservations About This One..."Wind River"

Wind River (2017)

Rated R

Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene,

Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan

The Story:

Cory Lambert (Renner) works for the Department of Fish & Wildlife near the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. When he stumbles upon the frozen body of a local, they call in the FBI for help. They send Jane Banner (Olsen) to help, and the duo begin to uncover what may have really happened to her.

Bleak and beautiful, often at the same time, Taylor Sheridan has carved out a great future for himself as both a writer (Sicario, Hell or High Water) and now as a director as well.

It's a harrowing story of revenge and redemption, with subdued performances by the entire cast.

While the story as presented is a work of fiction, it is based on too many cases of Native American  disappearance and deaths.

Renner plays the tortured tracker who has demons of his own to atone for, and they are slowly spelled out as the movie clips along.

Olsen works the fish out of water angle perfectly, trying to balance the fact that she's in charge with the obvious despair that she's in way over her head.

In case you missed this when it first came out, it is now available on Netflix to stream as of this writing.


Final Grade: B+

Yo Ho Ho..."Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario,

Directed by Joachim Ronning

The Story:

It's the latest adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) running from all manner of cursed pirates as he seeks the elusive Trident of Poseidon. New faces and some returning characters make this the most star-studded chapter yet.

As we enter the 5th chapter of the franchise, I really couldn't tell you what has happened in any of the 4 that have come before it.

After this one ended, I really couldn't tell you much about it either.

And that has been my impression of the Pirates franchise since its inception.

Gorgeous locations and special effects.

Some of the best looking pirates/ghost effects you can hope for.

Meanwhile, Johnny Depp running around like a drunken Keith Richards just having a good time.

Yeah, that really does sum everything up.

If you've seen the first four, you're not going to be disappointed.

I wouldn't say the franchise is getting any better, nor is it really getting any worse.

They're toeing the line, and introducing some new blood that may take center stage if/when the franchise chugs ahead.

I assume they'll make these as long as Depp is willing/able to do so.

Considering they make a ton of money, and his other movies usually crash on arrival, I'd say we're good for at least another 4 or 5 of these.

If you missed it the first go round, it's now streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Paul Blart: Mall Bad@$$... "Security"

Security (2017)

Rated R

Starring Antonio Banderas, Ben Kingsley, Liam McIntyre, Cung Le, Katherine de la Rocha, Chad Lindberg, Jiro Wang, Gabriella Wright

Directed by Alain Desrochers

The Story:

Veteran Eddie Deacon (Banderas) is down on his luck and unable to find work that was commensurate to his pay grade in the military. Desperate, he tells the unemployment office that he'll take anything. As luck has it, he can start tonight as a security guard at a local mall. Meanwhile, in a US Marshal motorcade, a star witness is heading to trial when it is ambushed, and the witness heads to the local mall for help. It's going to be a long night.

Ha! Then I find a copy of the poster, and they use the same tag line!! :)

So, in a sense it's Die Hard meets Paul Blart, with much more action and a lot less humor in this direct to DVD action thriller.

Deacon's military training kicks in as he goes about protecting the witness as well as trying to use his co-workers to defend the mall and the witness while not getting any of them killed in the process.

Meanswhile, Ben Kingsley sits outside twirling his villainous moustache and threatening to tear down the mall brick by brick.

No, it's not going to reinvent the genre, but all the same, the movie remains watchable throughout.

Security is currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Who's Your Daddy? "Little Evil"

Little Evil (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Adam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Owen Atlas, Sally Field, Clancy Brown,

Written and Directed by Eli Craig

The Story:

Gary (Scott) has married the woman (Lilly) of his dreams. However she comes with a little bit of baggage in the form of her son, Lucas (Atlas). Gary's trying to warm up to the kid, but he seems a little cold and indifferent to Gary. That may because his real dad is...you know... Satan.

This horror comedy from Netflix starts off with a great scene, and then has to backtrack to get to that scene again.

The problem is, it takes almost too long to get back to it.

The movie waffles on whether it wants to be horror or if it should be comedy.

The two genres wrestle with one another for screen time instead of being a product of natural storytelling.

Adam Scott suffered a similar fate with last year's Krampus where the story couldn't quite figure out what it wanted to be either.

It's a fine line to balance, but this is brought to us by the man who gave us Tucker & Dale vs. Evil which is possibly the greatest horror comedy of all time.

The movie does pick back up in the last act and makes a satisfying end to the film.

It's still worth your time, especially this time of  year, but I hoped for a bit more with this one, and it just didn't quite click like I would have hoped.

Final Grade: C+

What The Fork!?! "The Good Place"

The Good Place (2016)

TV-PG

Starring Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D'arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto, Ted Danson

Created by Michael Schur

The Story:

Eleanor (Bell) wakes up at Michael's (Danson) office. Turns out she's dead, but the good news, is she gets to go to 'The Good Place'. And they only take the best of the best. However, apparently there's been a bit of a clerical error, and this Eleanor has taken the place of the Eleanor that was supposed to be here! She's hoping that by learning to be good from her chosen 'soul mate', Chidi (Harper) she can learn to be good enough to stay before someone uncovers the truth.

When you have Netflix and Amazon Prime, it's hard to miss not having cable television. Eventually, any show will come to DVD and I could try it that way.

Or, they'll stream on one service or another, and I might run into them.

And considering that the majority of the content is original, I really don't have to rely on the networks to supply me with any entertainment anymore.

But that's not to say they aren't trying, or that I'm not appreciative of their efforts.

Scrolling through Netflix, and see a picture of Bell and Danson, you get intrigued enough to read a little snippet of what the show's about.

Try the first episode, and you're hooked! :)

So it goes with The Good Place, a denominational free look at what could transpire after passing over to the other side, and being lucky enough to not go to The Bad Place.

Eleanor is bringing bad things to the Good Place because of the mistake, and she's working really hard to be a nice person. But man, there's certain things and people in her afterlife that are just messing things up royally for her.

But she persistently tries, and sometimes learns what it takes to be a good person after all, even if it's quite by accident.

Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, but thankfully at 13 episodes, they are paced quite nicely and you don't feel rushed or bored.

The set-up for season 2 was well played and really bold for a new show to throw at the audience with the hope of sticking around.

While everyone else is watching NBC right now to keep up, I'll wait a year, and catch it next summer and hopefully find out what happened.

Definitely worth the time.

Final Grade: B+

Get Me To The Church On Time... "Naked"

Naked (2017)

TV-14

Starring Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert,

Directed by Michael Tiddes

The Story:

Rob (Wayans) is set to marry Megan (Hall). One small problem, on the day of his wedding, he wakes up naked in an elevator with no clue how he got there. He's got to race time to get to the altar in time to get married. Too bad he's not going to make it.  The good news, he's going to wake up again in the elevator and have another shot at it, until he gets it right.

So if you've seen Groundhog Day before, you pretty much know what to expect from this movie.

If you've never seen Groundhog Day, well shame on you, you should definitely go watch it.

I happen to be a big fan of Groundhog Day, and the line of movies that have followed in those same footsteps to bring you the same story, over and over again, of someone trying to figure out what they need to do in the cosmic scheme of things to unlock their day from replaying for the rest of eternity.

Naked follows the formula just fine, the initial trial is just getting Rob back into clothes so he can try and get across town and get married.

Each time he gets ever closer to his bride but repeatedly comes up short.

Along the way he's going to learn some things about himself and his new family that will help to shape and change him into being a better person.

Wayans does a fine job carrying the movie on his shoulders. His character isn't flawed as much as he's immature at the beginning and has to do some growing up to discover what it is he truly wants out of life.

Pretty fun from start to finish, and another enjoyable Netflix Original.

Final Grade: C+

Not Scary...But All Kinds Of Creepy..."Gerald's Game"

Gerald's Game (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Carel Struycken, Chiara Aurelia, Henry Thomas

Written and Directed by Mike Flanagan

The Story:

Gerald (Greenwood) and Jessie (Gugino) head to their isolated lake house for a long overdue romantic getaway. Gerald is hoping to spice things up, and brings along some handcuffs to have a little fantasy role play with his wife. Naturally, it's that moment when your wife is completely shackled to the bed that you keel over from a heart attack and die. How exactly is Jessie going to get out of this situation?

In the annals of cinematic history, Stephen King novels are either translated well into a cinematic counterpart, or they suck.

There is rarely any middle ground.

It seems that 2017 has been the rebirth of King's works as first The Dark Tower and then IT were released in theaters.

I've seen neither, but once again, it appears we  have one of each of King's adaptations according to critics and box office receipts.

Meanwhile, Netflix puts out their own original, and really doesn't trumpet that it's a King adaptation at all.

Perhaps that's to avoid any preconceived notions by those that may find they aren't fans of Stephen King's work?

Either way, here it is, and much like my favorite King adaptations, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, this one really works.

And there really isn't any horror to the film.

Which isn't to say it isn't creepy.

Whether's it's Gerald's fantasies, or Jessie's mind splintering as she remembers what happened to her when she was just a kid (Aurelia), this movie keeps a hold on you similar to the hold the situation has on poor Jessie.

Kudos to Gugino for what is likely the performance of her career. She does so much more in this film than just be a helpless wife cuffed to a bed. Greenwood also gets a much meatier role than that of dead husband, so that is very welcome here.

Very well done, with some disturbing moments, and a scene in a bed that brings back the squeamish nature of that scene in Misery all over again.

Final Grade: B+ 

Yadda Yadda Yadda... "Jerry Before Seinfeld"

Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017)

TV-14

Starring Jerry Seinfeld

Directed by Michael Bonfiglio

The Story:

In 1975, Jerry Seinfeld began performing at The Comic Strip in New York City. In 1981, he got his big break and made it to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Jerry Seinfeld comes back to the place where it all began and takes us on a trip down memory lane.

Jerry doing stand-up is where many of his older fans will remember him from, long before he became..."Seinfeld".

This hour-long stand up special has Jerry reliving some of his first comic routines along with new material.

In addition, there's some archival footage of Jerry's stand up routines along with home movies of Jerry growing up in New York.

Clearly the special is edited from a much longer night on stage, and that's a shame.

Some of the editing choices seem a bit odd and throw a bit of the timing of the special off, but overall, Jerry is as observant and funny as he's always been.

A Netflix Original, it's now available for streaming.

Final Grade: A-

Seems Like Westworld To Me..."Vice"

Vice (2015)

Rated R

Starring Ambyr Childers, Thomas Jane, Bruce Willis

Directed by Brian A. Miller

The Story:

Welcome to Vice! The ultimate resort where anything goes, because all of the residents are robots. Fulfill your darkest fantasy. The only problem, Kelly (Childers) is starting to not completely reboot and remembering things that have happened to her before. Meanwhile, Roy (Jane) is a hard-boiled cop who thinks people acting out at Vice bleeds back to the real world and wants to shut the place down. This puts both of them in the crosshairs of Julian (Willis) who wants to shut them both down, permanently.

I hope I didn't make it sound too interesting... because it wasn't.

It was sooooooo boring.

I've yet to watch the re-imagining of Westworld on cable, but I have brief memories of the movie from the 70s.

My guess is they wanted to cash in before the new series came out.

I hope the series is more interesting.

Then again, I can't imagine it being any worse.

Willis and Jane cashing their direct to DVD checks, neither one mustering much effort to care, so I'm not going to either.

Currently streaming on Netflix if you're up for the challenge.

Final Grade:  F

Even More Sinister Than A Stephen King Novel..."I.T."

I.T. (2016)

Not Rated

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Anna Friel, Stefanie Scott, Jason Barry

Directed by John Moore

The Story:

Mike Regan (Brosnan) is a successful entrepreneur who is about to take his business (think Uber...for aircraft!) public. He has a loving wife and daughter (Friel & Scott) and a state of the art home. But when Mike invites the new I.T. guy, Patrick (Barry) over to fix a few bugs at the house, Patrick suddenly thinks he's Mike's new best friend and then gets a bit offended when he gets the cold shoulder.

Don't screw with the I.T. department, Mike!!!

This thriller is not as thrilling as it wanted to be, but it does try.

Mostly by falling on the more-than-capable shoulders of Brosnan to carry the film, Brosnan keeps the audiences sympathy as the likable millionaire who's trying to become a billionaire by taking his firm public.

Yet when Patrick interferes, he runs the risk of losing everything he's worked for, including his very family.

The ground for Patrick's motivations is really that he's just that obnoxious that he would take any slight as a personal insult, and do whatever he can to make that person's life hell.

Hmm...

I know some people like Patrick.

:)

Otherwise, Mike doesn't seem to have any skeletons in his closet or anything that would deserve the cruel fate that comes his way, other than hurting the feelings of a sociopath.

So word of warning: be nice to the I.T. folks, and don't ever invite them to come fix your smart home.
Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Absolutely Delicious..."The Great British Baking Show"

The Great British Baking Show (2010)

Starring Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins

The Story:

12 of Britain's best amateur bakers face off in a giant outdoor tent where each week they attempt to make 3 different recipes. Their efforts are judged by renowned British baking experts (Berry & Hollywood) and each week, one baker is rewarded as Star Baker, while the one most lacking that week is sent home. Finally at the end of the season, one baker remains triumphant.

Ah, reality TV as brought to you by the BBC and renamed and aired over here on PBS.

:)

Now, 3 of the shows 7 seasons are available on Netflix for streaming.

I really enjoyed the first season, the 2nd season not as much, but I am enjoying the 3rd season as well.

The difference in the 3 seasons?

It all comes down to the contestants.

The first season had a nice variety of people, and there were so many interesting characters, you don't really mind who the ultimate winner might be, and you're almost sad to see them all go.

Season 2... not nearly the connection for me with those contestants at all, and I think we wound up jumping a few episodes just to see who won and move on.

In the third season, again a better mix of contestants that rise and fall with the challenges and keep the viewer interested in who will succeed and who will be sent home.

So how is this different from every other reality TV show?

I'd say the judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. One, the duo has the best possible names ever for baking judges! :)

But two, and most importantly, they are quite possibly the nicest judges in reality TV history. Always offering the most enthusiastic reviews when they taste something good. Yet when they eat something that doesn't work, they are often quick to answer why it tastes bad.

Normally it's either too much or too little flavor, or the recipe in question is raw and inedible.

Not sure if we'll ever get the other seasons on Netflix, but if we do, I'll definitely give them a try.

Final Grade: B+