Scrubs

The new Scrubs series premiered just a couple of days ago on ABC. I was a big fan of the first couple of seasons of the original show, ages ago. However, my interests waned and I lost track of the show after it went off the air … then briefly showed up … and was then off again.

I can’t say that my attention was focused when watching the two brand new episodes that dropped on Wednesday night. The first episode clicked a few of those “nostalgia” buttons. The next episode seemed to try to get us into the groove of the way the new show is going to flow with some focal points on the nine new characters / cast members.

If you’ve ever been a fan of the old show, I think you’d want to check these episodes out. If you missed the show, you can check it out on Hulu.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Prime Video had the first episode available of the newer comedy series Can You Keep a Secret with Dawn French and others. I am a big fan of French’s work in The Vicar of Dibley. I had heard about this show ahead of time via a social media blurb. I was pretty happy to find that the first episode is available to watch at no extra cost with a Prime subscription (at the time of this writing.) You’ll need a Paramount+ subscription to watch the remainder of the episodes.

It’s difficult to describe the show without really spoiling the core plot. Most of the teasers I’ve seen for the show spoil the core plot so my suggestion is to avoid them. Let’s just say that the plot of the show revolves around an adult son who discovers a serious secret that his mother has been keeping from him and the stories revolve around dealing with this now-out-in-the-open secret.

The show is a joint venture between CBS and The BBC. The style of the show seems more like a BBC series than a U.S. comedy series. The language can be a bit coarse and the humor can be a little off color.

I enjoyed the first episode but there’s honestly little compelling me to watch any further. I’d suggest that you have a look. You might really enjoy it.

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast

I happened upon the series How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix several days ago. I binged the series. It’s the story of four adult women who were involved with something mysterious and shady in teens. As the three women go to the funeral services for the estranged-from-the-group fourth member, they realize that something is amiss. As they dig to discover the unfolding mysteries in front of them, they get deeper and deeper into an unusual adventure.

I really enjoyed this series … right up until the last couple of episodes. As the sub-plots all sort of came together in the final episode, I just wasn’t happy with the ending.

That said, I’d recommend watching the show. The journey is worthwhile. The destination … not so much.

There are some hints at a possible second season. Yeah, I’d watch another season.

Rob Grant

I was saddened to hear that Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant had passed away. Grant and Doug Naylor had created the cult classic series Red Dwarf that first aired in 1988.

Red Dwarf is the story of a few crew members of the giant mining spaceship known as Red Dwarf. Dave Lister ( Craig Charles ) is a crewman who is put into suspended-animation as punishment for sneaking a pregnant cat aboard the ship. Upon being freed from suspended-animation Lister finds out that a radiation leak had killed all of the crew except the cat (and her kittens) and himself. The ship computer, Holly, kept Lister safely in stasis until the radiation was no longer a threat … which happened to have been a period of three million years!!

Lister’s cat family had evolved into humanoid form. The last of the family … simple known as “Cat” ( Danny John-Jules ), a hologram-based automaton with the personality of former crewman Arnold Rimmer ( Chris Barrie ), and a worker-android called Kryten ( Robert Llewellyn ) round out the eclectic cast.

I thought the show was very clever. I don’t know of many (if any) sci-fi comedies that work as well as this show did.

Grant had written a Red Dwarf prequel novel titled Red Dwarf: Titan which should be available this July.

Rest in peace, Rob.