WildPlum

Up to Season 21 Ep1 (The Wolf Hunters) - not my favorite episode, but I am amused by how Fleur's hair gets paler and paler as the episodes go. Which is good, it started as an unflattering bright sun yellow and now it is white (I suspect her natural color). Also the idea of "oh, beloved child, we will love you forever now that we have found you, even if you are a vicious multiple-person killer and will be behind bars the rest of your natural life" strikes me as rather odd.

Just started the first season with Fleur, 2 episodes in and I find her fairly amusing. So it is a UK thing not to get dogs fixed? Most rescues and kennels here in the US require a non-show dog to be fixed, usually before being released to a new owner.

Britbox says new episodes starting January 29.

Watching the first episodes of whatever season it is after Nelson leaves and Sykes "dies" (in real life he retired from acting). I don't get why they started the exact same competitive thing between Kan and the new DS (I'll learn his name eventually, I'm sure). Maybe they already had these episodes partly written prior to the actor who played Nelson leaving? Pretty sure this is Kam's last season as well. Also, the last several episodes we've had 3 or 4 murders per episode. That seems ... excessive to me. One good murder is enough, thank you. I've also started to recognize actors from other shows - "oh, no, that's Neville from Death in Paradise, he couldn't have done it.". This episode it was "no, he is the bartender and eventual spouse of the chief doctor at Good Karma Hospital." I recognized the sister, who was head of the watch and I am pretty sure I recognized the widow, either from a previous episode or maybe a Vera, Death In Paradise, Queens of Mystery or McDonald and Dobbs episode

4 episodes is a pretty thin "season" but it sounds like we are lucky to even get those 4. At least the Vera shows are done-in-one, so it will likely be 4 plots.

Some good moments, but not particularly amused by the ending and I think I feel soured on the series.

This was probably my least favorite of the stories so far - the concept of traumatized little rich kids (or rich people behaving badly in general) is not one I'm particularly interested in and I thought the "guest stars" went a little too far in showing that traumatized kids grow up to be .. taller traumatized kids. They all seem pretty juvenile, particularly all the boys. Gamache's wife seems like a flippin' saint. Not wild about the way everyone treats Nichols - if she is making mistakes, like potentially touching evidence, she needs to be told what she is doing wrong and why. Particularly disappointed in Gamache's and Lascoste's reactions to her - treating her kinda like the kid no one wants to pick for their sports team. I thought the general idea was that Gamache would train her. Jean-Guy seems like a jerk, based on what we've seen of him, and his reactions to her just sort of cement that in for me. How did the police know to find Kevin Kis at the bus station? I suppose they could just have been looking out for him. Although didn't he have a car? If he can cross the border in a bus (which will stop at Immigration/Customs) he can drive across in his car. Or, really, there are places you can apparently cross the US/Canada border without going through a checkpoint. You are then in the US illegally, but I doubt he cares much.

I believe there are only 8 episodes, for a total of 4 story lines in this season. Two episodes are released every Friday, so at this point (12/15) we are halfway through. Based on the ratings - or at least the buzz - it seems like another "season" (I have a hard time calling 6 or 8 episodes a "season" but most of my favorite shows now are in this mini format) will probably happen.

Other quirky non-US mysteries - Three Pines on Amazon, based on the Louise Penny "Inspector Gamache" books.

I want to know if the duck is just well trained or is some sort of puppet/CGI. It reacts to being held remarkably well.

Speaking strictly on the TV series, Peter doesn't seem particularly likeable, but we haven't really seen enough to call him much else. He has some deep dark secret, but it is clearly just a personal one, as Gamache would have been unlikely to let something like "I killed my first wife" go after reading the psychiatric notes. My guess is that it is some kind of sexual issue.

Haven't read the books so I bring no baggage in. I've enjoyed the first four episodes, although the plots aren't exactly difficult. But it is interesting and quirky and I love the duck woman and Bea. It's not a spoiler because I haven't read the books and have no idea if I am right or not, but it's pretty clear to me that Gamache's buddy (Pierre?) has a hand in Blue's murder and subsequent cover up.

Does anyone know when the 2022 Christmas Special will air on Britbox in the US? I can only find dates it will be on in the UK.

Watched a couple episode of Season 6 of the Canadian show and enjoyed it. I like all the contestants, I like the two judges and the hosts are ... okay. Not Sue and Mel level, but not hanging around baffling or annoying the bakers, which Noel and Matt do on a regular basis.

This was a pretty underwhelming episode, particularly the "show stopper". None of them looked particularly neat or appetizing. Although I did love Syabira telling Noel to go away. Something he - but especially Matt - need to hear more frequently.

I used to have an ice cream maker like the one they used on the show (compressor-based, without the inner freezer bowl). When I made a custard-based ice cream, the base took about 4 hours in the fridge to cool down and then usually about 30 minutes in the freezer and then it went into the ice cream maker. Turned out wonderfully set. Putting it directly into the ice cream maker really lengthened the time it took to set AND often resulted in a less perfect texture. The instructions for the freezer in my 18-foot travel trailer mention that the freezer has a hard time with only one item in it - since the show had pics of several of the bakers trying to cool their custard on the bench in a double ice bath, they'd have been better off using all that ice in the freezer to keep the temp low. I am not a fan of custard (or puddings - what we call puddings) anyway and nothing on this show looked good. Custard cake looks particularly awful and only Maxy's cake (which Pru said didn't feature custard over cake) looked at all good to me. Back when I ate things like eclairs, I would squish all the filling out and just eat the rest. Sorry that Kevin is gone. Not particularly a Sybira fan (based on the flavors she uses). I was a bit surprised it wasn't Janusz this week, although I am glad it wasn't, he is probably my favorite, personality-wise.

Yes, watched several episodes - and Richard moved from Repair Shop to the Pottery Throw Down. Supposedly the Discovery streaming service in the US will pick up Repair Shop.

Yes - had no idea it was still in production! Will have to see how the recent episodes are.

Have really enjoyed the Great British Pottery Throwdown (on HBO? Netflix? I forget). Back when it was available on the internet, I watched several seasons of the Great British Sewing Bee - I think the last season I saw was pre-covid and then the internet links got pulled. Blown Away has been fairly good, but uneven. Some very good glass blowers on, but they don't quite grasp the "is it ART?" mandate. It's not enough to be a good glassblower. Haven't been able to watch the Canadian or Kiwi baking shows because of broadcast rights issues. I'd heard there was also a jewelry maker show along the GBBO line, but I haven't been able to find much on that. I've watched a few American cooking/baking/dessert shows but have been pretty awful and very gimmicky, which I hate. I did watch a few seasons of Forged In Fire, which was somewhat amusing, but became very repetitive. There was a furniture show on US TV, ostensibly hosted by Ellen DeGeneris (except she only appeared in finale episodes) that was probably one of the better American things, except it had to have some of the gimmicks ("You won last week's challenge and now you get to pick a bonus!") I like to watch people make things, preferably in a calm environment without shouting and being stressed by hosts. A few years back, PBS had a "craft" series where they went around the country, showing people who made various craft things (furniture, pottery, jewelry, fabric arts, beading, weaving). Started off well and then they decided to "spice it up" (or they ran out of ideas on what crafts to cover).

It was more the whole cricket that I objected to. The idea of picking cricket legs from out between my teeth doesn't really appeal.

I've actually been served an upscale version of a s'mores in a restaurant, and it did look somewhat like what they were going for - and it was pretty much a travesty. There is an entire American lore over what the texture/color/crispyness of the marshmallow bit should be, from white and slightly soft to dark and crispy. I found the bit about the cricket (both the flour and the actual whole cricket) somewhat amusing. I'd have to agree with Pru that it is likely the future of food, as far as cheap protein sources. Doesn't mean I'd be all that thrilled about trying it.

Lol, I am not sure I'd want Gina, Froddo or Trudi as a neighbor.... there is a forum (well, a thread) for Brokenwood,

Just finishing off the Season 11 eps - finally almost caught up. And now I am sad. Having watched all the episodes in the last several months, I will say that I missed Joe terribly at first, but Aidan has definitely turned in to a Joe clone, which is maybe a little too bad - he started off much edgier than Joe but that lasted less than a full season. I'd have liked to see him come out from under Vera's wings a little more. I snort every time Vera says "With me, Aiden", as that is what the spouse says to the dog when he wants the dog to walk at heel. (Well, except for the "Aiden" part.) I'd also like to be introduced to more of the the team - we have Aidan, Kenny, Jac, Mark, but there are at least 3 other team members shown sitting around in the office briefings. Plus George (?) the Missing Persons guy, who pops up occasionally (played by Steve Evets, lol). I do love the parade of sarcastic coroners as well - the first was my favorite, but I do like Malcolm, who pretty much takes no shit from Vera.

I think Syabira's flavors in the first few episodes were novel enough to surprise Paul and Pru and that's worn off a bit, plus, as others have said, she should have known not to use an extract. I think Dawn is a better baker than she showed this week, but I don't think she is a flashy enough (or technical enough) baker to last much longer. Next week will likely be her or Kevin (which is sad, because I quite like Kevin). Both he and Abdul have been downplayed on the show. And, wow, Paul, when you've dug yourself a hole, stop digging! I am two years older than Dawn and Paul would've gotten a much tarter comment back than that. Which is why I am not a GBBO or other TV show candidate. We're also at the point where a single big mistake can send you home. Definitely Janusz, Sandro and Maxy in the final.

But I am not sure it's "fair" to gauge the quality of the bake by "cultural authenticity", particularly for a culture many, if not all, of the bakers have never experienced. It'd be like asking me to cook Laplander foods. Hmm, heard of the place and can find it on a map, no idea what the food is like. These are not supposed to be professional cooks. French, German, Italian - even Chinese, Thai, Ethiopian, Japanese, Indian - are all foods that the bakers might be locally familiar with, even if the local dishes are not necessarily authentic to the culture they come from (see: "curry"). So having an expert in Mexican cuisine on wouldn't really fix the issue, unless they went back to the old Sue-and-Mel episodes where the actually talked to experts. I actually think the "Mexican Week" tie-in was partly because they haven't done it before and partly a bit of nepotism to promote Paul's "Hollywood Eats" thing on BBC4. (Which I haven't been able to watch, in part because I am too lazy to set up a vpn and change my country code, although I have considered that to Watch the Canadian Baking Show.)