Screen Time with Nic Jeune
Special agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks
This month I have decided to journey back in time to some of the golden oldies of UK and US television
entertaining melodramatic French farce set in Paris. Emily in Paris This is Paris through the eyes of a young Amazon Prime American on her first ever visit. The series creator Twin Peaks is Darren Star who created Sex and The City. During Lockdown 1 we decided, as a Emily’s main adversary Sylvie Grateau is played by family, to watch all 48 episodes of David Sophia Loren and Ibrahima Gueye in The Life Phillipine Leroy-Beaulieu who is also a key player Ahead (La vita davanti a sé) in Call My Agent. However opinions are divided on Lynch’s classic. It was a revelation not only for how entertaining it was, but I realised, I this series: had forgotten so much of the plot and the strange obsessions “None of the same praise can be levelled toward Star’s newest of the director and his co-writer Mark Frost. F.B.I. Special effort, “Emily in Paris.” All of the criticisms that have previously Agent Dale Cooper is one of the most enjoyable and inspiring been levelled at Star are actually valid when it comes to the characters in television history. His simple passions and quirky Netflix series, which is so devoid of narrative tension that it behaviour was a welcomed sight in our living rooms every week barely qualifies as entertainment.” Roxana Hadadi Roger Ebert. during the shows very short run in the late 80’s and early 90’s. com “Twin Peaks” started out on fire, gaining exposure during the “Yes, Emily In Paris is unrealistic. But when it comes to escapist pilot’s multiple airings. The mystery of Laura Palmer’s murderer TV, reality is overrated” practically invented conversations at the water cooler. Hadley Freeman. The Guardian. Jewel in The Crown “There’s nothing we can do,” says one character at the end. “After 300 years of India, we’ve made this whole damned, bloody, senseless mess.” The actors are all excellent, but Tim Piggott Smith as Ronald Merrick is quite extraordinary, a character who is both disturbing and strangely pitiable. “Saturated in gin fizz and repressed emotion, The Jewel in the Crown sits alongside Brideshead Revisited as the high-water mark of 1980s British TV. Understated and hugely poignant, its 14 episodes trace the decline of the British Raj” Alexandra Coghlan, The Guardian .
All 4 The West Wing If like me, you were glued to the US election there are 155 episodes about the presidency of Josiah “Jed” Bartlett, a Democrat. Created by Aaron Sorkin one of the great storytellers of US television, The West Wing won 26 Emmy’s including Outstanding Drama Series which it won four consecutive times from 2000-2003. “at heart The West Wing was a civic romance in love with democracy, and it didn’t care who knew it.” Time Magazine rated it one of the best series of all time.
Netflix The Thick of It 24 episodes worth of satire on the lack of competence of British politicians! Peter Capaldi’s character Malcolm Tucker has all the best lines peppered with many expletives.
And Finally. Netflix premieres a film starring Sophia Loren. One of the great stars of Cinema. Winner of an Oscar in 1962 (“La ciociara”), nominated for another Oscar in 1965 (“Matrimonio all’italiana”) and now 56 years later is tipped to be nominated for The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a sé)
More recent series that have caught my eye on Netflix Call My Agent A French series where in every episode a famous French star plays themselves as a client of the agency. Endlessly
“Sophia Loren, 86, returns to the screen after a decade to play a Holocaust survivor who raises the children of prostitutes. There is not a single false note in Loren’s magnificent performance. Just sit back and behold.” Peter Travers ABC. Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine December 2020 53
