Worth Watching: A Harrowing Episode of ‘Years and Years,’ Norah O’Donnell Takes ‘CBS Evening News’ Anchor Seat, ‘London Kills’ on Acorn
A selective critical checklist of notable Monday TV:
Years and Years (9/8c, HBO): Jumping ahead to 2027, the cautionary near-future drama reaches a harrowing apex in a world where democracy is in near-total disarray all over Europe and abroad, making life ever more challenging for the Lyons family. This is especially so for Daniel (the terrific Russell Tovey), who goes to increasingly desperate measures to bring home Viktor (Maxim Baldry), currently in exile in a revolution-torn Spain. This is not a good time to be a man, gay or otherwise, without a country. Their treacherous odyssey plays out against the more pathetic dilemma of Daniel’s brother Stephen (Rory Kinnear), whose misadventures in a gig economy include becoming a guinea pig for money in drug tests. Among the side effects: being unable to cope when a domestic scandal blows up.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell (6:30/5:30c, CBS): Following a successful run on CBS This Morning, the veteran reporter, anchor and contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes inherits the Evening News hot seat. In the fall, O’Donnell will move with the show to a new permanent location in Washington, D.C. — just in time for the next presidential race to heat up.
London Kills (streaming on Acorn TV): Fans of police procedurals will want to check out the second season of Acorn’s first straight-to-series commission, a gritty and no-nonsense crime drama following the cases of an elite murder squad. While the team goes about its job over five new episodes, Detective Inspector David Bradford (Hugo Speer) obsesses on a larger mystery: the unsolved disappearance of his wife. Suspicious by nature, his colleagues — Detective Sergeant Vivienne Cole (Sharon Small) and Detective Constable Rob Brady (Bailey Patrick) — discover enough discrepancies in the boss’s story to begin to wonder if he might be a murderer himself.
Inside Monday TV: Once again breaking new ground for children’s TV, PBS presents the first nationally distributed animated show for children to feature a Native American lead character. Molly of Denali (check local listings at pbs.org) is all about 10-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native who opens a window on her culture and family values while emphasizing literacy skills… Streaming on BroadwayHD: the Tony-winning Kinky Boots, filmed during its run on London’s West End, starring Olivier Award-winning Killian Donnelly as the flamboyant Lola (a role that won Pose‘s Billy Porter a Tony)… CNBC examines the controversial phenomenon of vaping in Vaporized: America’s E-Cigarette Addiction (10/9c), reported by Carl Quintanilla.
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Because of the recent passing of Arte Johnson, I've been watching the first season of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" on DVD. His soldier that says "Very interesting" has been there since the beginning but I've yet to see his old man Tyrone character. Ruth Buzzi's Gladys, however, has also been there since the beginning. Not all the skits are funny but they go by so fast and furious one doesn't have time enough to be too annoyed. Best parts are the cocktail party after Dan & Dick's monlogue and the joke wall during the credits at the end.
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Sounds like fun.
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The show is on DECADES every weeknight at 7 pm EDT
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For the longest time I never saw Laugh-In airing anywhere in syndication, but in the last five years or so, that changed. I no longer get Decades channel (which was pretty interesting), but watching Laugh-In now is kind of funny. The show was sort of a time capsule of the times. Interesting to see who appeared as guest stars. Some were (and still are) well-known names, others are people who you have to ask yourself "who is THAT person?"
On a related note, another show you don't see syndicated very often is Love, American Style. A few years ago MeTV aired it once a week during the summer, but it's nowhere on the air now, as far as I know. Like Laugh-in, it may not be as funny or 'ground-breaking' now as it was at the time, but it was an interesting show.
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DVR...Years and Years...and...of course...Legion...
Will also check out CNBC's Vaporized...but...most of these mainstream Vaping stories are somewhat biased in that they don't mention that 98%+ of vapers are former cigarette smoking adults (not HS students)...who have stopped smoking cigarettes with 4000+ chemicals (many carcinogenic)...and replaced them with ejuice that has only nicotine in it...which may even be healthful...(and has been shown to, at least, delay/prevent the onset of Alzheimer's/senile dementia)...
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What gets me is that when the E-cigs first came out, they touted them as an alternative to smoking that didn't give off that nasty secondhand smoke and allowed them everywhere. Now, they've been banned everywhere smoking is banned (offices, restaurants, planes, trains, etc.). Is the mist coming from them anywhere near as harmful as the smoke from real cigarettes?
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The "mist" is actually water vapor with an almost immeasurable amount of nicotine in it...
After smoking for 50+ years...I (quite easily) switched to vaping 5+ years ago...partly because (at that time) one could vape almost anywhere...
Although that does NOT seem to be working out (as you mentioned)...I, nevertheless, feel 100% (at least) better...my breath/clothes/car/home no longer smell...and I can climb the Pittsburgh hills without any longer getting short of breath...
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Cool!
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Nice night to catch up on all the shows I recorded last night!
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Actually, I like some of the anchors who have been doing the CBS Evening News in the past six weeks or so. Some of them deserve good gigs.
Nothing new for me tonight.
Last night's Burden of Truth was interesting. No spoilers, but I was in the process of changing my theory when a twist was revealed in the show. Should be interesting.
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I missed Burden of Truth last night. Will try and watch tonight. Looking forward to watch that twist.
ABC's Grand Hotel tonight.
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