TV Worth Watching

I love watching TV. I love talking about TV.

Somehow I’ve ended up with a group of friends who, mostly, have interest in neither watching TV nor talking about TV. I need to find a way of fixing that.

In the meantime, here are the shows that are keeping me up late at night these days:

• 11.22.63 — Based on a Stephen King novel and starring James Franco. Scratches my time travel itch and my 1960s nostalgia itch both.
• Billions — Stars the great Paul Giamatti and the equally great Damian Lewis: reason enough to watch. But there’s a great supporting cast and it’s tightly shot and edited with an compelling, pulsing sound track.
• Broad City — Sweary and otherwise profane and too much for some in the household. But I love it.
• Colony — Science fiction from the LOST team and starring Josh Holloway from that series. Aliens invade earth. There’s a shimmering wall around Los Angeles. Hijinks ensue. It’s better than he average cable sci-fi.
• Madam Secretary — There are some strong Téa Leoni feelings, pro and con, in my sibling community (pretty well the only people who will engage me in talk about TV these days); I’m on the pro side. This ain’t no West Wing, and it’s a little too much like The Waltons from time to time, but it’s got enough to keep me watching.
• The A Word — Currently airing on the BBC. Inevitably controversial as it portrays the life of a family where one child is on the autism spectrum, and how can you get that right. It may or may not be an accurate portrayal of life on the spectrum, but the first episode at least suggests it’s a pretty good approximation of life of parents of someone on the autism spectrum.
• The Americans — Just started back up after a long hiatus. More deliberative than I generally like, especially in recent episodes, but I enjoy the 1970s spy nostalgia. Could go either way this season.
• The Blacklist — James Spader. That’s all you need to know. Confusing by times, and dragging a little these days, but still, James Spader.
• The Catch — Mireille Enos (The Killing) and Peter Krause (Sports Night, Six Feet Under) star. It’s got shades of The Thomas Crown Affair. I love a good caper series.
• The Night Manager — Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston star in this BBC series written by John le Carré. Locations are delicious; supporting cast is talented, and Laurie and Hiddleston are a joy to watch.

Filling in the gaps otherwise are Modern Family, Scandal, and The Big Bang Theory.

And I’m waiting for new seasons of Casual, Catastrophe, Homeland, Mozart in the Jungle, Mr. Robot, Narcos, Sherlock, Shipping Wars, The Affair, The Code, The Man in the High Castle, UnREAL and You’re the Worst.

Oh, and that crop of comic book-derived shows that I watched a lot of last year – Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Arrow, Flash, Gotham: I’ve completely lost interest in them. To the point where I wonder how I ever had any.