Binge Worthy Watching

It was a sad moment when I realized I’d watched the very last episode of Big Little Lies last week.  Following a few days of mourning and with no comparable entertainment lined up to replace the void, I knew exactly what to do:  Reach out to our team of Huff’ington experts for inspiration.  That sparked a few animated conversations with such valuable information that I decided to share the results with all of you who may be going through Big Little Lies withdrawal!

The overall favorites named by quite a few were The Crown, Marvelous Mrs. Mazel and Outlander (which was particularly cited by many for the swoon-worthy Jamie Fraser).  Alva, who has binge watched all four seasons and read all the books, swooned “…  the primary reason for watching is the Laird, Jamie Fraser! He generally wears a kilt, but not a shirt and he is a ginger!  Enough said?!”  Apparently not, since this sentiment was echoed by several Huff’ington women, including Meg, who added, “Alva and I share the same enthusiasm for Jamie Fraser: How can you not like a hunky red-headed Scotsman in a kilt?” (Image courtesy Amazon Prime)

 So in addition to these top three, what else are Huff’ingtons binging on these days?

From Huff Harrington Fine Art, and courtesy of the BBC, Mac said:  "Fleabag! First things first: it's British!  My husband jokes that if it's on the BBC, I'll watch it, no questions asked.  And he's not wrong!  Secondly; the young female writer and creator is also the lead actress (a factor that made me adore the HBO series, "Girls"). It's edgy, smart, relatable and chock-full of dry British humor.  I absolutely devoured it.  I know, I know...funny name, but don't let that deter you.  The second season was just nominated for a handful of Emmys."

Darlene, our Westerner, chimed in:  "Longmire is definitely a favorite of mine. Having lived in Wyoming I enjoyed this modern day western filled with suspense and family drama." (Image courtesy Netflix) 

Meg, who can multitask everything including, apparently, binge watching, added three recent favorites:  "Chernobyl: this is a fascinating, poignant and frustrating take on what really happened at Chernobyl and I couldn’t drag my eyes away until the very last minute of the last scene.  Really well done.  (Allison agreed on that one too, adding, "After hearing people talk about the Netflix series of Chernobyl in the airport security line, I went into binge mode each night while on vacay with my husband and son. It captured me with the untold stories and the strong fictional character of the female nuclear scientist played by Emily Watson. She reminded me so much of my grandmother!"

From Meg again:  "Divorce: I’m a big Sarah Jessica Parker fan and this is a bittersweet, quirky little show about her character going through all the emotions (good, bad, sad, happy, confused, etc.) that the break up brings.  Plus the character opens a little art gallery in upstate New York so I’ve had fun relating to that side story.

"The Durells in Corfu: this is a darling little series (based on real events) about an English widow who moves her family to Corfu in the 1930s.  They are desperately poor but have all kinds of adventures and drama in the village where they settle.  This one never fails to make me giggle (all that really witty, self-deprecating humor that the Brits are so good at!)."

 Susie’s latest binge-watching series this Summer has been Good Girls Revolt: “A drama of the transitions of the 1960’s follows several characters that are staff of a global magazine based in NYC.  The series has an emphasis of women revolting against social repression in the work place.”

Debbie just finished binging the final season of Suits and all seasons of Queer Eye.  “I found myself tearing up after so many of the episodes.”  She and Alex hesitated with the title but love the show, Schitt’s Creek.  “It’s hysterical!"  (Image from CBS)

Barb took us back down memory lane to an oldie but goody:  "While scrolling thru the TV the other day I came across one of my favorite shows from 1995-2005. JAG starred David James Elliott (very easy on the eyes) and Catherine Bell. JAG stands for Judge Advocate General and they both are lawyers who prosecute and defend military crimes. Usually on opposite sides in the courtroom, but when not in court sparks may fly! Interesting angle, on the last episode of NCIS this year both were reprising their JAG roles. Will they be back as part of the NCIS cast? Hope so." Image from Amazon Prime. 

Heather says that Emma turned her on to Dead to Me. "Matt and I binged watched it and it was thrilling. Loved Cristina Applegate and Linda Cardellini! There were lots of twists that revolve around their interesting friendship. A must see!"

Linda loves HGTV’s  Yard Crashers where “this hunky guy  hangs out at Home Depot and convinces couples to take him home and create a backyard paradise for them in a couple days.  I’ve hung out at Home Depot and never saw him, but a girl can try!”  Linda also loves the Housewives Series, especially when the Beverly Hills gals “went to Provence and hung out at some of our Huff Harrington Trip locales!”

Sam says, “I kept hearing everyone talk about a series called Downton Abbey (PBS) and thought I would catch by borrowing some CD’s from a friend.    After the first installment, I was hooked and watched all of season 1 on a Saturday.  The next evening, well into the third episode of Season 2, my husband, who only watches ESPN walked by and said "That sure is a long movie you’ve been watching".  Apparently, ESPN doesn't air Series and Episodes. His loss!  The closest ESPN comes is Wimbledon.)”

Speaking of sports, Babs binges on Braves baseball and adds:  “Sometimes we cry but mostly we fist bump. We’ll be doing the same when the series “The Falcons” start pretty soon. High drama!”

Thank you Huff'ingtons, for your great ideas.  In the meantime, I've been watching a Dutch series called The Adulterer that has all the juicy binge-worthy elements of love, sex, betrayal, money, murder and great courtroom scenes (wigs and all) with cliff hanging endings.  Unfortunately I still can't understand Dutch ... but the subtitles are great (as is the music)!  Available on DVD, Netflix Hulu & Prime,

 So what are you watching these days?  We'd love to know!  

Ta ta,

HH