Down With The Sickness

The autumn crud came early. Just about the time the weather cooled down and the rain moved in, I got hit with the rhinovirus from hell. There is so much to do around here, but picking the ripe tomatoes wears me out and I have a hard time catching my breath. I've had a collapsed lung before and this is almost that bad. And the initial phase, where I have a throbbing sinus headache, runny nose and constant sneezing lasted five days. It was like the damn thing just wouldn't settle in. I still have to water the greenhouse, but thankfully, most end of season tasks can be put off for a few more days.

Details of illness are boring at best, so let's change the subject.

The new television season is finally here. I only have broadcast television, so there isn't a lot to watch, but cable was always a whole lotta nuthin' when I had it. I might be missing a few shows, like Better Call Saul and Fargo, but mostly it's a vast wasteland.

The Orville continues to be worth watching. The critics seem to want it destroyed, but they are awful people who want us to watch old Norwegian films and wear berets. The Orville is funny, but it also has a decent story line, tackles some hard social issues and generally just satisfies my craving for spaceships and spiffy uniforms. Plus, it has strong female characters, which makes it more believable, since I've always had strong females in my life.

The new Star Trek: Discovery is pretty good so far. It has a certain amount of humor, strong female characters, spiffy uniforms and plenty of spaceships. It's sort of a noir version of The Orville. I watched the first half of the first episode before my cold forced me to crawl off to bed, but I'm sold on this latest edition of the Star Trek saga and I will be watching it.

Criminal Minds is back. I will avoid spoilers because some people DVR shows to watch later, but Hotch is not back and probably isn't coming back. Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia continues to be the glue that holds the show together as other characters are killed off. I look forward to Criminal Minds every week so I can get my serial killer fix, but enough of the mega-criminal-masterminds! Just stop. Super criminals belong on James Bond movies, not a "ripped from the headlines" FBI show.

Chicago Fire is also back. Lots of spoilers I could let drop, but I won't. I like the strong characters, the team/family relationship among the characters and the problem solving involved in their not-so-routine fires and rescues. The Chief, played by Eamonn Walker, is a great character and the real backbone of the show. I can't imagine anyone else playing the role, or him playing anything else, even though I've seen him in other things. I don't like soap opera in my dramas, but Chicago Fire manages to walk a fine line, so I'll be watching.

That's about it so far. The various medical dramas, like Chicago Med, all run together for me. It's hard to keep track of who's who, but they give me something to watch when nothing else is on.

Stephen P.

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