The ‘wild experiment’ turned critically acclaimed Couples Therapy returns to Showtime for an extended third season; the first nine episodes airing this spring and additional episodes airing at a later date.

The premiere season of this one-of-a-kind docu-series chronicled four couples engaged in therapy with a therapist/psychoanalyst Dr. Orna Guralnik as she walked a tightrope between the problem spouse who needed fixing and the normal-ish spouse hoping for a quick tune-up. Guralnik remained balanced between two opposing spouses, but her dilemma and struggles were expressed beautifully in conversations with her clinical advisor, Virginia Goldner, PhD.

In Season 2, Guralnik 2.0 was a lodestar that guided three new couples through the rough waters into the harbor with her keen ‘psychoanalytic sensibility.’ Their pre-existing self-sabotaging behavior were further exacerbated by the pressure cooker inside homes due to the COVID-19 lockdown. With more footage of the participants as well as the therapist herself engaged in family activities, the Season 2 disseminated ‘we’re all in this together’ vibes; a little glimpse into Guralnik’s own dysfunctional family patterns made her more relatable and endearing.

The third season of Couples Therapy features four new couples: Molly & Josh, together 19 years; Cyn & Yaya, together 18 years; India & Dale, together 8 years; and Ping & Will, together 7 years. They deal with couples’ issues both universal and specific to them.

The old adage “opposites attract” is at play across the board. The pursuers — Molly, Cyn, India, and Ping — initially were attracted to shy, gentle, calm, and understanding withdrawers. The withdrawers — Josh, Yaya, Dale, and Will —, on the other hand, found their pursuers to be passionate, ambitious, and driven. Once the initial phase of attraction and honeymoon are over, life happens and these opposite relational patterns collide big time! Adding criticism and contempt into the mix prove destructive to the relationship.

While the show’s pursuers want to quickly tackle the issue head on, the withdrawers find their partners’ intensity overwhelming and shut down, which happens to be their go-to position due to their childhood trauma. The more anxious the pursuers feel, the more intense the pursuit gets and they end up launching attacks; they’re not equipped to sit still, feel the pain, and work through their underlying issues of neglect and/or abuse. The onslaught of assail-like aggressions from the pursuers, of course, prompt the withdrawers to retreat further and further, but that very reaction amplifies the pursuers’ childhood trauma. This vicious negative relationship cycle goes on and on until the couple learns to stop reenacting their childhood trauma with the hope of resolving it here and now.

Guralnik hypothesizes the participants’ make-or-break key dynamics that might bring about the most change to the soul-crushing relationships and discusses her concerns, frustrations, and observations with Goldner, who offers insight into how to deal with the ‘enigmatic unconscious’ since people don’t always know what’s motivating them and what’s at play. As in the second season, the candid discussions between Guralnik and Goldner are strategically edited into episodes as a storytelling engine. Yet another layer of the lively conversations with Guralnik’s peer advisory group of 7 therapists — 3 females and 4 males — is added to the storytelling with diversified perspectives and suggestions.

It’s absolutely fascinating to witness the overly expressive and testy women — impatient for improvements or a marriage they deserve — pounce on their unexpressive or checked-out partners. Their over-the-top outbursts of fury make them look like a dragon breathing fire and devouring everything in sight; female rage can be frightening to any men, particularly to these emotionally numb and unexpressive partners, who apparently have strong aversion to anger and confrontation, period.

It’s never been socially kosher for women to show even a hint of anger let alone claim their right to rage. Suppressed, repressed, diverted, ignored, and gunny-sacked anger has to pop up somewhere we can get away with, right? Bingo! That happens to be the intimacy and privacy of the home where, in theory, we’re allowed to be authentic selves. My theory is that women have been socially oppressed so long — trust me, I come from the eternal MadMen land — that the only space we can safely express our anger or negative emotions might be restricted to personal relationships.

Remember in Season 1 how guilty Dr. Guralnik felt for sacrificing Annie since she rarely called out on Mau’s know-it-all and misogynistic BS? “I’m not sure if I’m indulging him. Could I confront him more? Could he tolerate it? Or would it blow up the treatment?” Guralnik tried in vain to walk the very tight rope and they left the treatment halfway through. Annie’s last words linger in my memory forever; “I do love you, but I don’t like how you treat me.”

Guralnik, in contrast, does not hesitate to call out the aggressors — fire-breathing, venom-spewing, and biting-head-off dragon divas — on their BS when she senses that they’re trying to control the session. Is she more comfortable confronting them now that she has three years as TV’s most sought-after therapist under the belt? Or is it possible that all the aggressors are women this season and Guralnik appreciates where they’re coming from? I have no doubt she’s been underestimated, unheard, and unappreciated like the rest of us. All together, ladies. We’re as mad as hell and we’re not gonna take it any more!

The extended third season of Couples Therapy is split into two distinct runs. Episodes air back-to-back each Fridays through June 10, 2022. All nine episodes are available on demand and on streaming platforms for Showtime subscribers on May 13, 2022.

About the Author

Meg Mimura is a TV critic who actually watches shows zealously in search of thought-provoking and paradigm shifting human drama worth our precious time. She is a member of Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter.

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Benjamin Franklin portrait by Joseph Siffred Duplessis, 1778. Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Filmmaker Ken Burns brings another interesting and educational film to viewers of PBS. This time America’s founding father Benjamin Franklin is brought to the small screen and shows how this man helped create the country while dedicating his life to freedom. Actor Mandy Patinkin voices Franklin in this fascinating historical documentary.

What Burns, Patinkin, history professor Erica Armstrong Dunbar, and Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson stressed during a virtual press conference, was that Franklin sought the best blueprint for the creation of the country. His contribution to the Constitutional Convention was significant and he knew he had to compromise in order to create a free country. This meant keeping slavery alive in the south, yet he dedicated the remainder of his life to abolishing slavery.

When he emerged from the convention, he was asked by a woman in the crowd if America was to be a republic or a monarchy. He said something like, “A Republic. If you can keep it.” That is a telling statement. Franklin knew keeping a republic would take constant effort. Looking at the state of society today, he definitely knew what he was talking about.

Patinkin explained, “And to think that if Franklin hadn’t realized the necessity of compromise, … we would not have had a Constitution.  So, he tried to weigh all of that and then chose to devote the rest of his life to righting his own wrong, which was first to be a slave owner and then to devote the rest of his life to be an abolitionist.”  The actor continued, “Everything costs something.  Franklin lost his son, who was the governor of New Jersey, I believe was the state, and the son wanted to honor the monarchy and Franklin wanted to honor democracy and the promise of America.  He sacrificed that relationship with his son because he believed in this democracy.”

“Printers are educated in the belief, that when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the publick; and that when truth and error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter,” Benjamin Franklin said about the news industry. There were no televisions back then so printers, aka newspapers, were the newscasters of the day. By highlighting this quote, Patinkin wanted to stress the fact that Franklin knew the public had to have both sides of a story to make an informed decision.

There is no doubt Benjamin Franklin was integral in the creation of the country. Were he to come back today to see what has transpired, he would probably be overwhelmed and dejected. He was a forward-thinker and put his faith in the future of America remaining a free society.

Patinkin stated, “I consider getting to be his voice for those sessions when we recorded it one of the privileges of my artistic life.”

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain. Left to right: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens and William Temple Franklin. Painting by Benjamin West, in the collection of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association, was a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.

The new Showtime anthology series The First Lady has an impressive cast, not least of which are Viola Davis (Michelle Obama), Gillian Anderson (Eleanor Roosevelt), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Betty Ford).  Dakota Fanning plays Susan Ford, Aaron Eckhart is Gerald Ford, O-T Fagbenle is Barack Obama, Kiefer Sutherland is Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ellen Burstyn is Sara Roosevelt. With this great cast come three intriguing stories about the women who have played a major part in our country’s history.

The series is a work of fiction based on actual people and events. There is no way anyone other than those who were there would be able to create exact dialogue, however what the producers were after were the tone of the women and their contributions to their husbands and the country.

Of the three women, Davis is the only one who had to contend with the fact that the person she was portraying would possibly be watching her. When asked if this crossed her mind as she was filming the scenes, she replied, “Let me tell you something, Francine.  Not only does it come to mind, it keeps you up at night, yes, because you don’t want to insult them by your portrayal.  And here’s the thing.  It’s a famous quote.  I think it’s Thoreau who says, ‘To be known is to be misunderstood.’  As much as we feel like we know Michelle Obama and I did everything I possibly could to research, I mean everything, but still, in those private moments, there is some level of, sort of, creative decision‑making that you have to take.  I mean, I don’t know how she lays in bed with Barack.  I don’t know how she would discipline her children.  There’s just small minutia that I can take creative license with and hope that I’m not insulting her with it, and that’s what you have to navigate as an artist.” Davis graciously added that the word she would use to describe the experience is “terrifying.”

Executive producers Susanne Bier and Cathy Schulman decided to focus on three women each season. “The thing is that three is a great number for a season because you can do in‑depth portraits, but it’s also incredibly interesting how the three ladies reflect upon each other, and that’s why it’s a fantastic number,” Bier explained.  “So whatever three ladies it is going to be next season, I still think that three is the right way of doing it.”

Schulman explained about the selection of the three first ladies this season. “What they had in common that fascinates, I think, in so many ways is that none of them wanted to be there.  Eleanor wanted to be there but only if she could be president.  She didn’t want to be there as first lady.  And Betty went into the White House kicking and screaming, and Michelle was absolutely terrified for the lives of herself and her family.  And finding that living in that house turned out to be a benefit to themselves, to their families, and their countries ultimately was an incredibly similar ‑‑ was a really interesting unifier that they had.”

Both Pfeiffer and Anderson expressed their honor at being able to portray the strong women. Davis is also an executive producer on the show as well as playing Obama.

While this is a work of historical fiction, viewers will get a sense of the three women who have been first ladies of the United States. And watching their mannerisms and hearing their vocal inflections, the actors were spot on.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years and has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association, was a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.

Courtesy photo from Paramount+

The Father Brown series is now on its 9^th season with the adorable and venerable Father helping out the local police. Now Sister Boniface takes on her own challenges with a different slant.

Unlike the Father Brown mysteries where his assistance is not overly appreciated by the local police, Sister Boniface  (Lorna Watson) works side by side with law enforcement. And where Father Brown rides his bike to crime scenes, Sister Boniface drives her little Vespa with a sidecar. Also, she has the approval of the Bishop to work alongside the police.

Sister Boniface is a wiz at science and math and her expertise is put to good use when she helps with murder investigations. The series takes place in the 1960s in a quaint British village where everything is quiet, until it’s not!

Sister Boniface helps DI Gillespie (Max Brown) and newly arrived Bermudan DS Livingstone (Jerry Iwu) when they undertake some of the most interesting cases in the village of Great Slaughter.

“We are absolutely thrilled to see Sister Boniface return for a second series. Jude Tindall and the team of writers have created unforgettable characters full of wit and mischief,” said Will Trotter, Executive Producer, BBC Studios Drama Productions. “Lorna’s performance is as forensic as her character – the sharp intelligence, charm and warmth she brings to the role is an irresistible combination. The entire cast and crew have been a joy to work with, and I think that shines through in this big hearted and hugely original show.”

Watson recently spoke with members of the media about this show and her experiences.

“I would say, in terms of putting the character together, first of all, the scripts were so brilliant that I — because it had been such a long time since I did Father Brown, the scripts really informed me and, I have to say, sort of led the way.” It was evident the actor enjoys her on-screen character. “I feel like she has this sort of childlike element to her.  She asks lots of questions.  She’s quite sort of wide-eyed, puppy dog about the world. And I think I’m a little bit like that.  I can be also quite surprisingly naïve, which I also think that she is.  And there is an element of the silly about her at times as well.”

Watson told a story about not being recognized in the studio when she was not in her costume. “Something sort of takes over when I put the habit on and it’s one of those quite transformative costumes where you just sort of immediately become someone other.  So the costume is really helpful, too, in that sense.”  Plus, she added, that because she looks completely different when not in her habit, she is not recognized in her everyday life, but never acknowledged if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

The lighthearted and endearing Sister Boniface Mysteries is available to stream now on BritBox.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years and has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association, was a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.

Kate Thornton, the host of The Royal Beat, and Nick Bullen, Executive Producer and Co-Founder of True Royalty TV, join forces to preview several documentaries honoring Queen Elizabeth II. This Platinum Jubilee special looks at the life and times of the Queen as well as her husband, the late Prince Phillip.

With personal insights into the people discussed in the documentaries as well as personal recollections, both Thornton and Bullen provide viewers with a composite of the life of Queen Elizabeth. They describe the various documentaries available on the channel.

True Royalty TV is a streaming channel that is devoted to not only the British royal family, but also includes shows about royals around the world. This year, however, is focused solely on Queen Elizabeth II to honor her 70 years on the throne.

By examining the various documentaries available on the channel, viewers learn about the various aspects of the life of the Queen. All the shows are interesting and informative, and for viewers in the U.S.A., they provide lessons about how the British royals have lived and worked, which is not something generally taught in American schools. After all, the Revolution was fought to get the royals out of the lives of Americans. However learning about them is intriguing and in this special year, it is perhaps timely to check out the documentaries on the channel.

Unfortunately, the world realizes Elizabeth’s reign is coming to an end, although the thought is not a pleasant one. So it is a perfect time to discover more about this woman who has dedicated her entire life to her country and the Commonwealth.

For more about the Queen and royals around the world, check out the channel and take a look at the new discussion focusing on all things Elizabeth.

Elizabeth at 95: The Invincible Queen – This film highlights how the Queen has grown the British Monarchy into an ‘unbreakable’ brand during her time on the throne and acted when necessary to protect the Windsor brand at virtually all costs, even when the threats come from within their own family.  The documentary also analyzes the Monarchy’s business operations and how it makes its money by leveraging its brand, and reveals how the Palace uses its powerful influence behind the scenes to protect its revenues and avoid scrutiny.

“This special references the créme de la créme of True Royalty TV’s documentaries on the Queen,” notes Bullen. “Viewers will get a comprehensive look at the history of her time on the throne, along with the personal and political challenges and triumphs she has experienced over the years. Many of these documentaries include first-hand testimony from those who were there as history was made. I recommend watching The Collection special first, as Kate Thornton and I provide even further context to these seminal events and their impact on the Queen’s legacy.”

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years and has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. Follow her on Twitter.

The first original series on Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) — the Free Amazon Channel — is Bosch: Legacy, a continuing saga of Amazon Prime’s longest running and most popular series Bosch. Adapted from Michael Connelly’s best-selling novels with some tweaks, this character-based procedural series follow Hollywood Homicide Detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) as he grinds away in his job relentlessly pursuing bad guys and trying to bring a little justice to the world.

Bosch: Legacy picks up almost two years after the jaded and disgruntled Bosch left the force. The next chapter (Welliver finds it odd to call it a spinoff) of the continuing saga of Harry Bosch focuses on the three returning Bosch characters — all victims of the corrupt multimillionaire Carl Rogers (Michael Rose) who knows how to work the system — as they explore and navigate through uncharted waters in their personal pursuit of justice.

Although Harry Bosch has always been a lone wolf with a moral compass intact (remember his code? Everybody counts or nobody counts), Bosch: Legacy explores who is Bosch without the badge? He feels untethered like a ronin — a wandering samurai with no lord/master. With neither the authority nor the specialized resources for good old-fashioned police work at his disposal, the newly independent PI Bosch solicits help from new and old friends; a tech-forward gadget whizz Mo Bassi (Stephen A. Chang), Harry’s former partner J. Edgar (Jamie Hector), retired Detectives Moore (Gregory Scott Cummins) and Johnson (Troy Evans) — aka Crate and Barrel — and, not to mention, Harry’s loyal dog Coltrane.

Harry is summoned by ailing billionaire Whitney Vance (William Devane), exploring “the paths not taken” before he dies, and is retained to investigate whether he has an heir.

Still nursing her gunshot wounds and suffering from a myriad of PTSD symptoms, Honey “Money” Chandler (Mimi Rogers) is hell-bent on avenging the wrongs inflicted not only on herself but also on other victims in Carl Rogers’ wake, including Judge Donna Sobel (Bess Armstrong), collateral damage due to her liaison with Harry, and Harry’s daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz) who barely escaped the assassination attempt. Honey is all gung-ho about hunting him down or die trying; she has nothing to lose!

Once a high profile defense lawyer in “the big ivory tower office,” Honey turns over a new leaf as a civil rights attorney — yeah, you heard me right! With the guidance of her old mentor and law school professor Martin Rose (David Moses), she plugs away at righting injustices for those who could not fight for themselves. If life-changing traumatic experience does not change you radically, I don’t know what will.

The spanking new chapter for Maddie Bosch should read; who is Maddie with the badge? The legacy candidate with serious DNA from her parents is looking to find her footing as a ‘boot’ (a rookie patrol officer) with the LAPD. She thought she knew what being a cop was all about, but the reality hits her hard; she knows nothing, and she cares too much. As Maddie patrols the streets of Los Angeles, she grapples with the bigger question at the heart of the new series; is it a calling or just a job?

It’s a given that every parent worries about their kid’s safety, but now that daddy’s little girl is following in his footsteps, Harry’s anxiety is all-time high and palpable. Like two peas in a pod, Harry and Maddie are products of broken homes and suffer from great losses and abandonment issues, not to mention the glaring fact that both their mothers were murdered. The shared narratives contribute to a thoughtful and insightful parent-child dance; while Harry waits for his daughter’s cue to impart his professional wisdom, Maddie spares her father the anguish of losing her by judiciously containing her own concerns and anxious uncertainties. They aren’t doing too bad, considering.

The first four episodes of Bosch: Legacy are available on Freevee. Two new episodes will drop every Friday through May 27. There will be 10 episodes in total.

About the Author

Meg Mimura is a TV critic who actually watches shows zealously in search of thought-provoking and paradigm shifting human drama worth our precious time. She is a member of Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter.

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