It will be another month before we in North America get to see the new ITV/Andrew Davies series Mr. Selfridge, about the flamboyant American retailer Harry Selfridge who founded his namesake department stores in the UK in 1909. It stars Jeremy Piven playing the lead and Frances O'Connor as his wife Rose Selfridge. I was able to preview the first two episodes and I can absolutely recommend this for great Sunday night viewing. However, I think PBS missed the opportunity to retain it's Sunday night audience by delaying the airing of Mr. Selfridge until the end of March!
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Doesn't Jeremy Piven look thrilled to be surrounded by those gorgeous women? |
In the UK, the BBC rushed their very similar offering The Paradise (loosely based on Emile Zola's department store novel The Ladies' Paradise) to the small screen in the fall of 2012 whereas Mr. Selfridge didn't start on ITV until January 2013.
It seems that the BBC didn't want to be burned again like when Upstairs Downstairs was pipped at the post by the superior Downton Abbey from ITV. This time the viewers and critics are torn, so there seems to be no clear winner yet in the UK. There is no word yet on when we in North America will see The Paradise.
If you haven't seen Season 1 of Call the Midwife, many PBS stations are replaying it (Sun March 10 and 17 8-11pm) so you can catch up. Unfortunately not my local station out of Buffalo, but perhaps you will be luckier. Remember...Check Local Listings!
My review of Call the Midwife Season 1 is here. And my sister's review of the Christmas episode of Call the Midwife is here! Have fun with your Sunday nights in April my friends!
I am also besotted with Call the Midwife. I watched season 1 on Netflix but can't find the Christmas episode anywhere, and I want to watch it before season 2 starts! I absolutely love this show--great mix of personalities, all of them very believeable and real to me. Wonderful show. Thinking about reading the book.
ReplyDeleteHi Jane. Alayna suggests Amazon and if you just want the Christmas special, it is $1.99 on their instant video. I have never used that service, but I guess that is the way to go. I also want to read the book. I may ask for it for Mother's Day. Apropos, no?
DeleteThanks for the tip--I did find it on Amazon, and will watch it this week.
DeleteHey, you stole my idea! I'm giving my mother a copy of season 1 for Mother's Day.
So looking forward to Call the Midwife! I am a little bummed that they are waiting until the end of March although, that's probably better for me. I have Comp Exams in April so CtM will be my reward for a winter of academic reading. I really hope they continue to feature Chummy; it's so refreshing to see a character's storyline continue after her marriage.
ReplyDeleteJane, I did a quick check and see the Christmas episode is available on Amazon. But it's not listed under season 1, it's listed under season 0. Good luck!
Hi Alayna. Good luck with your exams. I watched the first episode and it was great. Chummy is still there but it looks like they are taking her in a different direction. There's a teaser for you!
DeleteThanks for your help with Jane's search for the Christmas episode.
PBS has also picked up the BBC's Death in Paradise that starts on Friday evening mid March. After the fund drive. The Bletchlley Circle is in April. While they are mysteries, they both look good. Love a good mystery, but will watch pretty much anything British that's good enough for PBS to pick up. DCI Banks just finished up on Friday evening and the shows were good!
ReplyDeleteWe streamed a Doctor Who show, that significant other had missed, from Amazon and the quality was excellent. Think we streamed in HD, but I couldn't figure out how to do the standard definition.
Believe I read that Roku is going to be adding a PBS streaming option.