On the Tube: Jeff Parry’s Recommendations

By External Source

This is the second of an irregular column about what our readers are watching on the Idiot Box. With Christmas on the horizon, and the plague ongoing, it’s a given we are going to be trapped indoors and part of our routine is going to be spent watching television.

Contributing today is Jeff Parry – the western entertainment promoter with homes on either side of the Rockies ­– who brought Pink Floyd and Beatles cover bands to London’s West End, Broadway and beyond, put his money on the line with the Oh Canada What A Feeling musical tribute and, most recently, made a mint with a travelling Van Gogh exhibition that has sold over a million tickets across the continent in the past year or so.

MIRACLE ON ICE –The story of the US Olympic team is probably one of the best stories about team building. Herb Brooks, as a benevolent dictator put together a team of hockey players, half from the Boston area, half from the Midwest who were rivals but made a team of the ‘right players not necessarily the best players. He played a lot of head games to play David against the Russian Goliath in the Winter Olympics and proved that a strong team can beat anyone. (Amazon Prime)

SCHITT’S CREEK-A series I avoided like the plague until the world got the plague and could not resist giving it a try after all the awards and accolades.  It was hard not to binge-watch it during Covid as it always put you in a better mood no matter how housebound.  Cool that a Canadian cast and writer/producer Dan Levy made it happen.  Another one of those things which makes you proud to be a Canadian. (Netflix)

THE LAST DANCE / FORMULA 1 – Putting them together as were both docs which my wife and I could watch together–although she hates sports, she loved the storylines.  To me, if you can create something that both sexes can watch, then it means the creators have really made something unique and have created a storyline beyond the subject matter.  I can’t get Karen to watch 2 minutes of hockey/football etc., but she was glued to both shows.  This opened a new understanding of both Michael Jordan/Basketball and Formula One driving to a much wider audience. (Netflix)

BLUE BLOODS- Another show Karen and I watch together (as I sit here watching the Flames crush the Penguins to win five straight on the road and take over the Oilers for first and she is in the other room watching a British TV show).  Hard to believe Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg could reinvent themselves. The characters are really well developed and, somehow, they have been able to keep creating new scripts to go into their 11^th year.  Hard to make it to three episodes on most shows let alone Blue Bloods longevity so another example of creating something that engages a wide audience. (Crave)

SQUID GAME-I needed to watch this simply because it has become Netflix’s biggest show ever and how a 20-million-dollar series created 900 million of revenue for Netflix, all with a Korean movie with English subtitles.  It took the producer 10 years to get a deal showing that with persistence you can be a game-changer.  It is well written and intriguing although is also totally disgusting and would never have been picked as a winner but has surpassed all expectations.