Chatterbox - still talking nonsense

 My favourite tv of the year,  following my rules which may not make sense to anyone else... Best Drama A lot of female led drama this year which is good news.   The Morning Show:  This show, produced and led by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, but with plenty of other women in leading roles, now in its fourth season.  It has been interesting from the start, taking on different real life topics from the perspective of a US news organisation, starting with Me Too, but also looking at the January 6 riots and the political state of the US nation alongside corporate intrigue.  This season was particularly interested in AI and technology, although there were multiple other subplots and sub-Succession style wheeling and dealing wrapped into this, which made the end result a bit messy as they tried to cram everything in.  This was the weakest season so far, but I will still be watching season 5. (AppleTV+) Film Club: This drama focuses on mental healt...

I am spotting a bit of a theme in my January telly. Fellow Travellers:  this lush and steamy romance between two men over decades from the 50's to the 90s, is hidden away a bit at the moment on Paramount+ and I watched this on a free trial (which I then forgot to cancel of course!).  Whilst the romance creates the heart of the story, it is a vehicle for looking at civil rights abuses and battles over the years.  Hawk (Matt Bomer) is a war hero and a State department official, whilst Tim (Jonathan Bailey) is a congressional staffer working for Senator McCarthy.  The story spends a fair chunk of its time on the McCarthy years, focusing on the persecution of LGBTQ+ people alongside anyone with slightly leftish tendencies as 'fellow travelers' of communism. The accompanying racism and sexism and bigotry of the time in general is brought to life through the secondary characters - what must it have been like to be gay and Black, and maybe also a woman?  The kafkaesque...