Greetings Treat-A-Weekers,
The weather in New England, while hot, is beautiful, grilling is often the order of the day, peach iced tea is being drunk on the regular and everything in my neighborhood is in full bloom. It’s that rare time of the year where being outside in Boston makes one really and truly happy. Eventually, bugs and children’s bedtimes force us indoors, but when the “to dos” are done and the kids are tucked in, it’s ME TIME. And you know what I do when it’s me time…read or watch a great show! I am never at a loss for what to read, and as the consistent blog readers among you know, I do a lot of it. The TV show viewing, however, is a taller order. I have a whole list of shows that I watch solo (e.g. Bittersweet, Younger, Jane the Virgin, Handmaid’s tale) when my husband is traveling, but it’s often hard for me to find something that captures both my and my husband’s interest when we are lucky enough to be home together on weekday evenings. Our typical “go to” TV show genre is the murder mystery. We’ve watched Luther
(Idris!), Broadchurch (Tennant!), the Sinner (Jessica Biel is a very challenging role and dark, perverse storyline), the Night Of (Riz Ahmed and John Turturro are fantastic), and found something riveting about each one of those shows. That said, I get to a point where I am fed up of exploring the dark, deviant, gloomy slice of life that those shows specialize in. When the weather is so cheering, who wants to risk being brought low by a T.V. show?
And so, I posted a query in late June, asking my Facebook friends (some of the most interesting and interested people I know), for optimal couple TV viewing recommendations. 129 comments later, I had lots of possibilities to consider, and I started watching episodes of things here and there but nothing suggested seemed like a great fit for our coveted “downtime together” slot. That was a time slot in which great television and even better relaxed time, efforlessly enjoying something that was not the kids or work, just the two of us, always emerged. It was a time slot in which we’d bonded over Lost as newlyweds, the Office (U.K. and U.S. versions) while living in Connecticut, House while living in London, Friday Night Lights and Downton Abbey while living in Texas, and since we’d moved back east This is Us and Stranger Things. In short, not any old show will do when the priors have raised the bar so high.
Given that background/build up, you will be happy to know that we did actually find something to watch that we both enjoy! I will end your suspense now….drumroll please, the winning show is, Mozart in the Jungle. Haven’t heard of it? Well, it’s available free on Amazon Prime (I actually have seen a number of episodes on my computer!) and there are four seasons. We are only a few episodes in to the first season but so far, we have both found it fun, interesting, compelling viewing (ok, in truth, maybe I am finding it a bit more compelling than my hubby but he will get there). Mozart in the Jungle is yet another show set in New York City [what is it with me and NYC T.V. shows these days?] which follows the story of a passionate, unconventional, young, funny and new Mexican New York Symphony Orchestra conductor, Rodrigo (played by the awesome and intense Gael Garcia Bernal) and a young American oboist named Hailey Rutledge who is looking for her big professional break when she ends up with a job as Rodrigo’s assistant. The show takes an inside look at the lives of musicians in the symphony, and artists and performers (Hailey dates a very charismatic male ballet dancer) and the sacrifices and effort they put into becoming great at doing what they love. It’s a show filled with color, passion, fun and of course, great music. And it’s something new and fresh to watch – I don’t think we’ve ever come across anything quite like it and with the number of shows we’ve seen, that’s saying a lot. Check it out and let me know what you think….we hope it gives you something to sigh with and smile about at the end of a long day.
Until next week, I remain, very truly yours,
M
