Streaming video picks worth a click

Streaming options that entertained me over the summer months but I was too lazy to write up until now:

-Peaky Blinders: Love, love, love this drama about a criminally inclined family in Birmingham, England, set after World War I! Based on the real life Peaky Blinders gang, it includes an awesome and appropriately gritty soundtrack. It took me a few episodes to really get into it as I don't always care for harsh, gritty tales of crime and such. But once it pulled me in, it had me. It's kind of a British Boardwalk Empire. Two seasons are available on Netflix. Check out the oh-so-perfect for the mood theme song below.



-Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel: This sci-fi comedy features the adorably clumsy charms of both Chris O'Dowd and Anna Faris. It's fun, silly and pleasant. That may not sound like a ringing endorsement I suppose, but a good comedy is hard to find and this is one you'll enjoy. And it's streaming free on Amazon Instant Video for Prime subscribers.

-Catastrophe: This sitcom about an Irish schoolteacher and an American ad exec unexpectedly finding themselves in the family way after some casual hook ups is loads of fun. It's often surprising and just ever so occasionally a bit disturbing (I think that's unintentional -- the male lead has a layer of menace behind his words a couple of times, and I think it's just his expression and the way he says the lines that may be adding more than is meant. Otherwise, this could turn into a show about a serial killer and that would be a bummer). This also streams free on Amazon Prime.

The Affair recap: Season 2, Episode 1

The Affair is back on Showtime, and it's got us hooked at the Choco household. Again.

Now that we already know the characters so well from season one, you fall into the first episode of season 2 like your comfy old bed -- with a dirty, dirty lover waiting in it.

The first episode shows us the viewpoint of Noah first, then his soon-to-be ex, Helen.

Getting my geek on with Star Trek and William Shatner

You ever hear something that excites your soul and celebrate that knowledge by squealing like a stuck pig? Yeah, me too. It happened only yesterday when I learned there's a new book out called The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David A. Goodman. Sqwee, gasp, engage wishlist warp factor 10!

Let's look at a few Trekkie tomes pulled from my bookshelf below. You think the Kirk bio will fit in? Hell yes, it will! Note two of the books by William Shatner are hardback. As in, purchased immediately after release (or received as a Christmas gift shortly after publication). 'Cause yes, I used to be that level of fanatic.

Star Trek delights from my bookshelf

I even used to love a good Trek Con. This was back in the days when most conventions were one actor visiting towns large and small to talk a little Trek smack and sell some signed photos (then I discovered Atlanta's DragonCon with the access and free entry of the hallowed Media Pass, and I was in geek heaven). I never went so far as to dress up, but I did get to interview and chat with various Trek luminaries.

Why Sick in the Head should be on every comedy fan's bookshelf

Comedy fans who go deep will love Judd Apatow's Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy. Those who don't merely enjoy comedy but relish seeing how the jokes came together, including the life experiences and technique a comic draws on to create his or her act, will devour this book.

A compilation of 30 years of interviews with comedy greats on how they got into the biz and how they write, as well as some general experiences from the road, this book alternates between funny, fascinating and just plain fantastic. It even serves up insightful advice about life in general (for instance, check out what Chris Rock and Harold Ramis have to say in my excerpts below).

Seriously, go to Amazon now (or actually walk into a bookstore, if you've got one handy) and get this STAT. Don't sweat the price -- the proceeds benefit 826LA, a literacy charity. My frugal self bought this as soon as it came out rather than wishlisting it and waiting for a price drop or hitting up the library, like I usually would. My uncharacteristic full-price buy was not only because I greedily wanted to get my hands on it immediately, but because I could feel good about helping a charity at the same time. So grab a copy and pat yourself on the back for your largess.

Here's the gist of how this all came together: Apatow, before he was known for the groundbreaking show Freaks and Geeks and hit films like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman, was just a kid who wanted to know how to make it in comedy. So he did what any wise-ass teen would do -- he bullshitted his way into interviewing comedy heroes, starting with Jerry Seinfeld in 1983 (he follows up with a second Seinfeld interview in 2014, offering insight to where the comic was at very different stages of his career).

Playing House: My new "comfort food" viewing favorite

I'm enjoying a moist, chewy brownie as I type this, thinking how the USA sitcom Playing House is to my soul what this brownie is to my mouth -- delightful, reliable enjoyment that lifts my mood and makes me happy in a warm and toasty kind of way. The show administers visual comfort food, if you will. And I've been on a binge.

You know what it's like? It's like watching Gilmore Girls in its general atmosphere, its aura, if you will. Yes, this show is approaching a Gilmore Girls level of viewing joy for me. One of the show's leading ladies, Emma, even name-checked its atmospheric predecessor in season one, saying her idea of a great night was to "steal a bunch of mini cupcakes and then go home and watch Gilmore Girls." It's like she sees into my soul and speaks my dreams.

Get Sick in the Head for $3.99

For comedy fans yearning to look behind the scenes and see how they make the donuts, it doesn't get much better than Judd Apatow's Sick in the Head.

This collection of interviews with comedy greats started 30 years when Apatow was just a ballsy teen seeking a blueprint on how to make a career in comedy. He decided the best way to educate himself was to pick the brains of comedians via interviews, at first purportedly for a radio station that his subjects didn't realize was just a tiny high school project. He interviewed dozens of big names in comedy over the years: Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, just to name a scant few.

I'd been planning to post about some of my favorite segments of the book when I discovered it was on sale for $3.99 for Kindle! That's right, get it while it's hot -- there are no dates on this sale, but these little unannounced deals Amazon does usually come out of the blue only to disappear without warning within two or three days.

I'll be back later with some of the highlights and insights I found in the book, but for now, get your hot little hands on your own copy!