Oh No...Not Another List of Shows To Watch While Self Isolating 

Bet 'This Is the Only One with a Polish Crime Drama About a Newspaperman and a Cub Reporter. 

Andrzej Seweryn and Dawid Ogrodnik (Please don't take off points for spelling)

A Very Eccentric Watchlist From A Perfectly Normal Person

They are everywhere, “helpful” lists of movies and TV shows for you to watch during these dark days – actually it’s sunny and 71 right now in Knoxville – okay, these days of self quarantine.

Just surfing my iPad this morning I found: TV Shows And Movies To Watch This Week While Self Isolating (Glamour magazine), 5 Shows To Stream Now That You Finished The Great British Baking Show (New York Times), 12 Family Friendly Nature Documentaries (New York Times), The 18 Best TV Shows For Vicarious Travel Thrills (again The New York Times), , What To Stream - 40 Of The Best Movies On Netflix Right Now (The New Yorker).

There’s no shortage of helpful watchlists.

I know all about writing these kinds of stories. I probably wrote a hundred of them during my 30 years reviewing TV, movies and home video for everyone from the New York Daily News to the Dayton Daily News to the Louisville Courier Journal.

(Many times over the years I was challenged by folks who vehemently disagreed with my assessments. “What are your credentials for being a critic?” they would argue. And I would always give the same answer: “I have the job.”)

So I have a little experience with recommending.

I could just dig through my files and post my stories about 12 Sweatiest Movies and 13 Great Ape Movies and 5 Movies with Great Car Chase Scenes.

Instead I went through my Recently Viewed Lists on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Acorn and Hulu (Hulu came free with my phone) and picked out the shows I enjoyed the most. They are listed in no particular order. And I’m not including any of the usual suspects: Cheers, The Office, The Irishman. You can find those on other lists.

You will notice a slant toward crime dramas, particularly British police procedurals. The remote wants what the remote wants.

(One Caution: These recommendations are provided for entertainment purposes only. Writer assumes no liability.)

Here they are…

Man Hunt - Based on a true story from the early 2000s in London, it stars Martin Clunes as the supervising detective on the trail of a serial killer. Clunes looks like your least favorite college professor. This is my favorite of the last few months.

The Mire – Drop this title into the conversation the next time you go to a cocktail party, whether in 2021 or 2022. I’ll bet no one else at the party will have watched a Polish crime drama. It is the story of a world-weary newspaper man (is there any other kind, in film or in the real world) and his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed cub reporter protégé (also is there any other kind). It’s set in 80s Poland but it seems like the 60s in America. I love all the manual typewriters and ash trays, you know, the good old days of newspapers.

The Americans – Sticking with the 80s, this spy drama focuses on a married couple from Russia embedded in Falls Church, Virginia. Spycraft was very different before surveillance cameras and the internet. They actually use drops, hiding secret communications behind a wrought iron fence.

Hinterland – Police procedural set in Aberystwyth, Wales, and yes that town name may have a typo or two in it. Flawed police detective solves crimes. Three seasons that wrap up nicely. It’s in English not Welch so you don’t have to learn a new language just for one show.

Broadchurch – Another British police procedural starring a flawed police detective. Set in a fictional seaside town in Dorset. I really enjoyed the first two seasons; the third, not so much.

Prime Suspect – The grandmum of British police procedurals with Helen Mirren as the DCI Mum. Everybody smokes.

Tennison – The prequel to Prime Suspect features a great cast of character actors. I like it almost as much as the original; most people don’t.

George Gently – Set in the sixties, which means everyone smokes, Inspector George is not so gentle, particularly with this Beatle-haired protégé John Bacchus. In an episode I watched last night he slapped a suspect for his insolence.

Foyle’s War – An inspector who can’t drive so he is assigned a very odd soldier chauffeur. The War of the title is WWII.

Endeavour – The prequel to Inspector Morse, which was followed by Inspector Lewis. The title character is a young Morse. I highly recommend all three series.

Fargo – A very odd series based on a very odd movie. Love Minnesota and Minnesotans so I love this series. I’ve only watched the first season. I can only take so much weirdness at a time.

Silent Witness – For my doctor friends this British crime drama follows a team of forensic pathologists as they dissect crime victims – just keep telling yourself, “It’s all blood by Revlon.” Many was the night I had to turn my head. And in fact I bailed before the final seasons. I like the years with Emelia Fox, daughter of legendary actor Edward Fox, the best.

Rockford Files – My favorite private detective. Jimmy, his dad Rocky, his sleazeball friend Angel and his girlfriend/lawyer Beth Davenport are always entertaining. Rockford was the first detective who would get in a fist fight and come out shaking his hand because it hurt from hitting the bad guy. Years ago I thought I might write a book about the show and even landed an interview with the elusive producer Meta Rosenberg, who was publicity shy. She told me she had been Raymond Chandler’s secretary when she first came to Los Angeles. And that Juanita Bartlett, the writer on many Rockford episodes, had started out as her secretary. I never got around to the book but somewhere around here I have a tape recording of Meta Rosenberg.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Much acclaimed comedy loosely based on the  early career of Joan Rivers. Lots of fun historical references including appearances by Lenny Bruce.

Homeland (seasons 1 and 2) – Spycraft in the age of terrorism. I love the first two seasons but after that the series falls off the tracks.

Bosch – World weary L.A. police detective Harry (real name Hieronymus) Bosch fights crime and his superiors. Yes, most TV detectives are world weary.

Patriot – Father-son spies. You don’t hear much about this show but I enjoyed it.

Schitt’s Creek – Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara are a formerly rich couple suddenly stranded in a motel in Podunk. Very funny.

The Worricker Trilogy – Essentially three movies gathered under an umbrella title. Written by David Hare (British playwright; you’ve either heard of him or you haven’t). It’s spies, it’s politics, it’s allegations against the Prime Minister and it’s Turks and Caicos.

Catch 22 – You read the book, you wondered how it could ever be filmed. A good try here in this six-episode series.

I accept no responsibility if you hate every one of these shows. My advice is free which is list price.