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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

To Binge or not to Binge: Is there even a question?

by Chautona Havig · 3 Comments

Anyone who enjoys a good TV show probably has, at some point in his or her life, “binge-watched” a show or twenty.  Me, at different times in my life, I’ve done it a LOT. So, when this week’s #MFRW blog prompt was “Shows I Binge Watch”, I got a bit nervous.

Let’s face it.  There’s a limit to how many words I can write about TV shows and how many words you guys want to read about it.  Madeline calls.

Madeline.  Oh, wouldn’t that be fun!  Madeline as a TV show?

Binge Watch

(note: links in this post may be affiliate links which will give me a small commission for the Denny’s fund at no additional cost to you!  Thanks!)

I digress.

So… I decided to share three I think I’d recommend–or at least, mostly.  There are several I’ve enjoyed for one reason or another that I can’t, exactly, recommend.  Shows like NCIS or The Pretender.  I loved Early Edition and originally, I liked Bones.  Newer stuff, The Black List and Blindspot.  Hmmm… I’m feeling like I see a theme to my favorites. I like shows with a mystery.  However, there is too much in each of the above that I have to add caveats for in order for me to actually recommend them.

Look, any show on tv, even the old Little House on the Prairie has something I can’t recommend. But… there are three I love enough that with a few caveats, I’ve been known to recommend to a friend.

What are they?

Foyle’s War:

Binge watch: foyleA BBC series, this show offers movie-length episodes that take place in the south coast of England during WWII and just after. I love the character of Christopher Foyle and his sidekicks, Paul Milner and Sam  Stewart.

Caveats: There is an episode dealing with same-sex attraction.  There’s no actual homosexuality in the episode, the young man involved is struggling.  I thought the show did a very nice job of showing the reality of it through the ages without glorifying it or vilifying the young man either. For the show, I think it was a good balance. There were a couple of other episodes that felt similar in dealing with issues I’d rather avoid in “entertainment” but again, they didn’t glorify sin.  It worked well. Occasionally, they’re a bit much for a child, so be careful.

Murdoch Mysteries:

binge: murdochTaking place at the turn of the 20th century, William Murdoch is a police detective in Toronto, Canada. The cast is fabulous, the way they show how people could have used new technology and ideas (but didn’t much of the time) is just fabulous. Most of the storylines are fabulous and brilliant.

Caveats: The show handles some of the same issues that Foyle’s War does, but it treats them with a much more modern,  “progressive” attitude. Honestly, I don’t expect my fiction/entertainment to hold a Christian worldview unless it is actually meant to be Christian. So if these “progressive” ideas fit the era, I wouldn’t necessarily like them in the show, but I could handle it.  I expect it in modern stuff.  But in something from 1901, showing tolerance for things that very few would even hint at much less support publicly  (even if they privately had no issues) bothers me.  Still, I enjoy the series and, for those who have no problem skipping an episode here or there, it’s an intriguing show.

I wouldn’t recommend them for children.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: 

binge: signed, sealed, deliveredI found this series on Hallmark Mysteries a few years ago and fell in love with it.  It’s the highly fictionalized story of Denver’s dead letter office (DLO). Piece by piece, they open undeliverable mail and try to find the intended recipient.  I can’t tell you how much I love this series–how much I love the characters. Norman Dorman, Rita Haywith, Shane McInerny–and of course, Oliver O’Toole.

Caveats:  Oliver’s wife has abandoned him. There is intense attraction to another woman, and he fights it admirably. However,  if temptation equals wrong for you, then you should know that happens.

Most of what I recall, I’d allow a child of any age to watch.

The worst part?

I never have real time to binge watch.  Even as I sit here typing, I’m getting caught up on NCIS Los Angeles.  But I’m almost done, and well… Madeline awaits!  She’ll never be on a TV screen, but she’s playing out on the TV on my mind.

What do you binge watch? Maybe next time I need to give myself a break, I’ll try it!

[time-restrict on="2017/02/20 2:30:00"]Will show after January 20, 2017 at 2:30 a.m.[/time-restrict]
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Comments

  1. Deb Jones says

    January 20, 2017 at 6:22 am

    Ha! I haven’t had a TV in years until I recently bought one so I could use it with a small group that was supposed to be meeting at my house. Well, that fell through. You have around 15 people asking for one during the day then provide it and they don’t come. So I have a TV I don’t use yet. I plan to use it for watching videos from Right Now Media–Bible Studies, our church’s sermons and small group offerings, etc. Just not into TV. I would rather read.

    Reply
  2. Gail says

    January 20, 2017 at 4:55 am

    I love anything British. Hubby and I have been watching Monarch of the Glen and love it. We’re almost through the whole series of about 70 shows. We also have enjoyed Murdoch Mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, and Miss Fisher.

    I spent a whole Saturday watching Fixer Upper. I love the combination of renovation, decorating, laughter, and family values.

    Thanks for the tips on the shows you mention. We’ll check them out.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      January 20, 2017 at 2:29 pm

      Miss Fisher is one I loved but never recommend. There’s just too much in it that I have to caveat. I’ve wondered if there are books.

      OH! I should have mentioned the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. That’s a fabulous series.

      Reply

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Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
byChautona Havig

Nothing says fairy tale like a sweet western romance by an author like Karen Witemeyer… unless it’s a fairytale retelling set in Texas in the late 19th century, right?  Fairest of Heart takes the familiar “Snow White” and turns it on its head with retired cowboys, a self-absorbed actress, a Texas Ranger, and a sweet girl who knows the true Source of her beauty.  Listen in to see all the genius Easter eggs Witemeyer planted in this book.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

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I fell in love with the cover of Karen Witemeyer’s Head Over Heels a few years back (only to learn it’s much older than that, even), and meant to read that book.  I didn’t.  #BecauseIdiot. Well, that’ll be rectified just as soon as I’m done listening to her first book in a trilogy of fairytale retellings. I loaded it up on my Audible app tonight and wheeeeeeee. Here I go! So much for no new books until October. HA! 

Karen talks about her heart for young women today and how they’re taught by every bit of media blasting at them that they need to use their bodies to get what they need or want when the Lord has a better plan. And I can’t guarantee it, but I strongly suspect she does it without preaching. SQUEE!

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

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You can learn more about Karen Witemeyer and her books on her WEBSITE. Don’t forget the book is 30% off on BakerBookHouse.com.  

Follow Karen on BookBub and GoodReads.

And don’t forget her Posse Group on Facebook.

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