Baby Reindeer.

In this compellingly gloomy tale  Donny Dunn the lead character played by and starring Richard Gadd adapted from his autobiographical one man show. A terrible but aspiring comedian. Working in a pub as a bartender, to barely finance his life.  One day a distraught Martha, brilliantly played by Jessica Gunning, a former lawyer with a criminal past, walks in sitting at the bar. Offering a cup of tea which she cannot pay for is the beginning of their nightmarish relationship.  She begins coming to the pub daily becoming increasingly obsessed with him and begins to inundate his account with texts and emails as well as attending the few show he’s able to perform. As her obsession spins out of control she harasses Teri, his trans therapist girlfriend, who Donny met online, sometimes violently, as well as any attempt by Donny to end the relationship.There is a segment that is quite telling about the inner workings of Donny's life. During one of his disastrous stand up routines he has a breakdown in front of the stone faced audience and veers off into stunningly sad diatribe about his own life failings and confusions. An audience member records the whole performance, posts it online and in the queen of all ironies Donny becomes a media star boosting his non existent career into visibility he'd never dreamed of. This however only exacerbates the Martha problem.  In the midst of this mayhem Donny meets Darrien O’conner a TV writer who offers him career advice and work opportunities but actually only delivers during drug induced blackouts sexual assault. Donny finally during a moment of clarity leaves. They meet up years later agreeing reluctantly to renew their work collaboration. Finally Donny is able to report Martha to the police, she is arrested, pleads guilty and spends nine months in prison. A musical comedy this is not. The subject matter is desperate and bleak with no real redeeming message other than be careful who you buy a cup of tea for. It is only the acting and authenticity of the story that make a viewer continue watch all the episodes until the end.

 

 Hacks.
            Of all the genres available, comedy is the most fraught and difficult. That is why sensible and smart people seldom try and create it and far fewer succeed, those who do become legends and stars. In this new streaming series starring Jean Smart playing a legendary Las Vegas comedian  Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as her unlikely much younger comedy writer Ava, hired to reinvigorate Vance's career. As always it is the writers Lucia Aniello, Paul Downs, and  Co Creator Jan Statsky that have made this gem possible. But it would be all for naught if it were not for the brilliant Jean Smart, as Vance. Not known for her comedy chops throughout her long acting career she comes across as a consummate natural. It is Smart injecting the deadly combination of steely unrepentant professionalism barely covering a core of vulnerability and hurt in the brassy fun loving take no prisoners Vance that makes this series so watchable . Her exploitative relationship with her protoge/mentor is fraught and sometimes hostile hiding the mutual respect and affection the two have for each other. Now in its third and best season so far it shows what can happen when truly gifted people come together with the goal of making the rest of us laugh.

After working for over twenty years as a director of research at a wall street investment management company, Amor Towles turned his considerable talents to writing. His second effort, a startlingly effective tale. A Gentleman in Moscow, now turned into a streaming series starring Ewan McGregor. Set against the real events of the Bolshevik revolution, this fictional tale tells the story of a Count Rostov spared the death sentence by the new regime but condemned to live the rest of his days inside the luxurious Metropol Hotel (a real Moscow hotel where the story is set).  The penalty for leaving the building being death.  Making the most of his sentence gives the resourceful McGregor plenty of room for his satisfyingly effective performance, and the tale its body. The gloomily romantic visual style helps the authentic look of the series, and given the historical background of the story indicates that things will not end well. With a solid supporting cast, this tale while not as sharp as the book is well worth the time spent watching.