Obsessing Over Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Not quite Abbot Elementary, but the Kay Kay Menon headlined web series brings the same charm, humor and the right amount of crisis to the lives of teachers & students in a public school. ABV starts slowly, where in the first episode we learn the education ministry will send the principals of Delhi’s top 10 schools to Cambridge for a training. Kay Kay as the long suffering, laid back principal Gyaneshwar Tripathi , is tempted by this once-in-a - lifetime opportunity and lights a fire under his teachers and students to help achieve top marks in the upcoming Xth grade board exam.

The 7 episode arc kicks in as the teachers struggle against funding shortages, local government apathy, disinterested students, and even more jaded parents (the samosa-chomping parent-teacher led school management committee brings many laughs). Don’t despair, cause these are all ultimately good people, and eventually every episode gets to a happy ending. And you walk away with a feeling that all’s well with the world.

Kay Kay delivers wonderful most unlikely role, and he should do more comedy. Archana Puri’s Urmila provides the perfect cynical foil to Kay Kay’s well-meaning headteacher. My favorite dynamic is between Prassana Bisht’s Kanchan and Abhimanyu Singh’s Meena Sir , where the recently hired young teacher pits modern ideals against the jaded, old-school educator. Both want what’s best for the students, and both have a very different way of going about it–and they both learn from each other.

Each episode comes together with a satisfying mix of irony, satire, humor, and warmth – and makes for a compelling watch.

P.S : ABV may have been the first show to introduce a comb wielding hero, fighting for the rights of human hair. Yes, that sounds silly but trust me it will make sense when you watch.

I don’t understand the 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a courtroom drama in the vein of 12 Angry Men and Witness for the Prosecution, but it doesn’t quite deliver the same magic.

Without sharing details to avoid spoiling the plot, the story is about Justin (Nicholas Hoult), who is chosen to be a juror and faces the greatest moral dilemma of his life. A recovering alcoholic with a very pregnant wife, Justin already has enough emotional stress, which multiplies when he realizes that he was a witness to the very case he is asked to be a juror on. What follows are moral gymnastics: how much should he disclose, and will it change the outcome of the verdict? There is some half-baked commentary on truth, justice, and redemption. Yes, the cast is amazing and the courtroom drama itself is mildly riveting. However, this Clint Eastwood-directed movie tries to be both a thriller and a character-driven drama but doesn’t.

Again, I must thank kdrama expert @mirambles for a great recommendation. The premise of the show is so outrageous that it would never have hit my radar.

The heroine, Hong Ye Sul, can see snippets of the future whenever anyone brushes against her lips (platonic or otherwise). And no matter what she sees, it always comes to pass. One day, her mentor, tormentor, and boss of five years, Cha Minhu, accidentally kisses her—because that happens a lot in kdramas!—and she sees them making out passionately in the future. (Yes, those weird situations which happen so often in the kdrama/cdrama world, when two people fall and their lips end up together! What function of gravity or physics is this?)

Anyway, I digress. Ye Sul sees that they will end up sleeping together. The idea of having sex or being in a relationship with her boss is so outrageous to her that she decides to tell him about her superpower and just get it over with. But Minhu refuses and lays down the condition that she has to date him first before they jump into bed! Because, all these years, he has been really into her and now he wants to have a real relationship.

So, after a few hurdles, they actually get together pretty quickly and satisfactorily! In fact, the number of kisses and make-out scenes in this show are more than anything I have seen in a kdrama. It’s refreshing to see adults behave as adults, and also nice to see at least a couple of episodes of the main leads in an actual relationship.

There are several enjoyable things about KSS:

Professionalism: Romance aside, both Minhu and Ye Sul are consummate professionals. They love their jobs, are ambitious, and never let their work suffer. I love go-getters, even in fiction.

Setting: I liked the insight into the advertising agency, too. I'm not sure about the accuracy, but it seems like a tough job.

Chemistry: Finally, the most important thing: the chemistry between Yoon Kye Sang and Seo Ji-hye is through the roof. They make this ridiculous plotline work!

This show is not one of the kdrama greats, but if escapism is what you are looking for—this is it!

Rating: A Must-Watch for the chemistry and the execution of a wild premise (7/10)

This book sat on my shelf for over a decade. I’d outgrown Archer’s style and had no sympathy for a jailed politician, but I finally picked it up.

It’s an accessible outsider-looking-in view of the British prison system—made unique because the "outsider" is an elite member of parliament. The result is a fascinating clash of two different worlds.

A busy weekend prevented me from binging this much awaited drama. I am glad, coz when I finally got to watch the first couple of episodes - I knew this show was not like beer that you gulp down to quench your thirst but more like wine which you need to sip slowly.

At episode 7 now and here are my initial thoughts :

This is Cho Muh hee's journey to find acceptance and love…and GYJ delivers. We have seen her heartbroken, in heady infatuation and deeply insecure (with a violent alter go inside her head!!)…and GYJ just dominates the screen. I love a complex, interesting female lead - and this show is it.

Kim Seon Ho is back to what he does best - look hot, throw those dimples and act his eyes out. His character is the calm to Muhee’s chaos, but it also means that his acting range is not fully utilized. He is perfect in what he delivers – but I wish he had more to do.

The show delivers on the comedy part of the romance in the first half – KSH and GYJ should do a pure sitcom. I have laughed out at every gag – so cleverly written and naturally acted.

Seeing some chatter about people being disappointed that it was not the rom com they expected. I honestly love some angst and human drama – watching 12 episodes of people falling in love is not entertaining if there are no stakes in the game

I love stories around mental health and at episode 7, we are full in alternate personality territory. Curious to see where this leads

Why the f**k is everyone so good looking? From Hiro (played the narcisstic angle so well) to , I want everyone to have a happy ending.

I have always enjoyed James Herriot’s stories based on the writer’s actual life as a vet in Yorkshire Dales. They are funny, with farm-animal drama, and quirky observations about small-town life.

The latest books-to-screen adaptation is a worthy watch just for its stunning pan shots of the Dales, Surely, there is no other countryside as gorgeous. Season 1 starts with a young Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) finding a position as a vet in Siegfried Farnon’s firm (an utterly delightful, scene-stealing Samuel West). The young vet works hard to gain acceptance in the local community, where he is initially seen as little more than a wet behind the ears rookie from the city.

He is joined by Siegfried’s younger brother, Tristan (played by Callum Woodhouse, who you might remember from Durrell’s in Corfu) another vet-in-making who, while loved locally, is constantly struggling under his brother’s exacting and demanding gaze. Mrs. Hall, played wonderfully by Anna Madeley, is the housekeeper who runs this bachelor pad.

It really is an ensemble show, and ACAS successfully gives each of these characters’ distinct personality and life stories. Each episode deals with a couple of distinct veterinary cases, glimpses of the farming life in the Dales and the goings about in the eccentric Farnon household.

The show is set in the 1930s, so the memory of the first war is still large, and another one looms on the horizon. But life in a little village in England goes on. The three bachelors even find some time for romance. Every episode is like a comforting cup of hot chocolate, making All Creatures Great and Small the perfect Christmas watch.

Thanks to @mirambles for another worthy recommendation. This underdog rugby sports drama isn’t exceptional, but with an incredible cast led by Yoon Kye-Sang (my first drama of his, and I’m loving it), it hits all the right notes. We’ve got a terrible team, a coach with a troubled history, and high school politics—petty on the surface, but in the hyper-competitive world of pro sports, nothing is truly petty. The Winning Try weaves all this into episodes filled with despair, tragedy, hope, fun, and the innocence of youth. It’s an hour of joyful entertainment and a great family watch, just ask my 11-year-old. We’re at the halfway mark, and we’re all-in to see if this team of teenage boys can win that national tournament!

Thanks to @mirambles recent mentions of the show, we have been watching Yes Prime Minister and its been a joy. I remember watching this as a kid, but now the context and the jokes land even harder. Paul Eddington and Humphry Eddington are just the perfect odd couple as Minister & Secretary. Each episode is full of such wit, that cheeks hurt from laughing for 30 minutes. The main premise of each episode lies in exposing the inner working s of the British government (or any ) where the career beaureacats and the publicity loving politicians jostle for their own agenda. So this is less sitcom and more documentary.

The show is 30 minutes of handful people just talking governance – in the most funniest & entertaining way possible. Even though my sympathy mostly lies with the minister, Jim Hacker , it is Sir Humphry who provides the nuggets of practical wisdom. And no one can beat him in the art of the word salad.

Trigger

After a doubtful start, 4 episodes in,  I can say that I am enjoying Trigger. The positives is ofcourse Kim Nam Gil (always flawless), fast paced script and an interesting concept. Living in the US, where guns are accessible (and gun violence more common), it took a while to get into the main theme of the show. Especially the big ‘dun dun dun’ movements when illegal guns or ammo was discovered, seemed silly, given how many bullets fly on American cop shows regularly, So the visualization wasn’t as shocking.

The premise about a version of South Korea, where there is a complete absence of gun violence , as the state doesn’t allow civilians access to firearms, and how that changes when guns make it into the hands of people. The  recurring theme is that anyone is capable of violence given the right (or wrong) circumstances – a quiet citizen,  a mental health patient, a  routine offender, a bullied student and so on.

The main message seems to be yet unclear, but it appears that for now the show is leaning towards that access to guns makes the emotional & actual trigger for violence much easier.

P.S - Also, KNG is definitely doing some reincarnation of his Fiery Priest role here – which I have no complaints about.