The way the telemarketers operated is that they made an agreement with the FOP to give them only ten percent of the proceeds and some FOP chapters chose to accept that because it’s essentially free money. Plus some of the FOP and other police “charities” mentioned in the HBO documentary Telemarketers were essentially just fronts for the telemarketing company with perhaps one retired police officer in them.
(BTW, I received phone calls from this sort of telemarketer, though I don’t know if it was the same company as shown in the documentary. I asked them myself how much goes to the charity and they admitted only ten percent. I said I’d drop a check off at the local police station though I never did.)
If you knowingly authorize a scammer to scam people then you are a scam.
Watch the doc, and you decide. They interview a wounded officer who had to sue the FOP to get a cut of what was raised using his case as a sales pitch. They raise millions on the stories of wounded and killed officers who get nothing in return but a cheap plaque or medal.
Heartstopper, season 2. Still largely following the books, and everyone in it is freaking adorable. A little heavy on the “Everyone you know is LGBTQ+” vibe but not enough to be bothered by it.
In other news, my survey of anime involving people transported to other worlds as overpowered beings continues with Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs. Nothing particularly new compared to others in the genre except that the protagonist is deliberately obnoxious to pretty much everyone except the two potential love interests. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching Heartstopper, but I would find it hilarious if the two women ended up together instead of with the protagonist.
I finished the first season of Winning Time on MAX, and now starting Season 2. Although based on the real history of the Lakers in the early 1980s, the characters are almost cartoonishly hilarious. IMO, this has more laughs per episode than Ted Lasso. It’s worth watching just to see Jerry West lose his shit. I don’t know if West was really like that or if it’s down to the script or a great performance by actor Jason Clarke, but that character is one of the funniest I’ve ever seen on TV.
Just finished Bad Sisters on Apple TV - highly recommend. It’s 10 episodes and excellent in all phases: writing, acting, directing, even music selections. It is at times hilarious, heart-wrenching, and tense. One of the best series I’ve seen in a while.
I did guess the mystery at the heart of it, which normally then gets me bored, but this was so well-executed and satisfying, that I didn’t care. Five stars, watch it immediately.
We’ll be finishing Dark Winds tonight. Coincidentally, I’m reading the novel from which this was taken (People of Darkness). In the book, it’s not Leaphorn’s son who was killed, but some white sheriff’s older brother. In fact, the entire book is about introducing Chee’s character, and Leaphorn doesn’t figure into it at all. Still, it’s been a good series.
I’ve also been revisiting the old Frasier series. It’s not hard to see why it was such a hit, and it still holds up just fine today. Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce both have impeccable comedic timing, the writing was crisp, and the subject matter timeless. It’s worth watching for Harriet Harris’s turn as Frasier’s evil agent.
We’re also trying to watch Shakespeare & Hathaway on Britbox. I’m not sure we can last for the long haul.
Holy crap! I see where there is a reboot of Frasier (new series) coming to Paramount Plus in October!
Just finished Dark Winds season 2. I enjoyed it, even if it was a bit predictable toward the end.
There was one annoying thing, however, I couldn’t understand why, after he escapes the 2nd time, there is seemingly no effort to find the blonde bomber guy. Leaphorn goes above and beyond to track and catch him the first time, but when he escapes the 2nd time there’s no full court press. Only Vines knows he’s dead, so it would seem everyone (especially the FBI) would be out looking for this bomber/murderer.
There are a few moments in the history of TV comedy that I found side-splitting, ROFL funny. One of them is when Frasier forgets the lyrics to “Buttons and Bows”.
I agree with the blurred bit, but I quite liked the episode as a wrap-up. It seemed much closer to the books in spirit than the rest of the season which I found relentlessly, aggressively violent and often dull (all the silent tramping across the desert). And I was happy to see Chee back in uniform. Good music choices, as well.
Finally decided to watch Only Murders In The Building and have made it to the end of season 2. It took me a while to warm up to it, but eventually I got there.
We started watching Silent Witness on Britbox, as most of our series have wound down to season finales. Twenty-six seasons should keep us occupied. It’s pretty dark, but well-acted.
Reservation Dogs My wife and I are in the middle of season 3. Wanted to wait until we had all of them dropped to binge at once but we couldn’t wait. I like the Indian Spiritual side and Bear’s journey. I was very much like Bear at that time in my life so I understand. You have this powerful need to go somewhere and do something with your life but you don’t know what, where or if you can. Sure wish I had a Warrior Spirit with pointy nipples or a badass Deer Lady to guide me.
We watched a few episodes from one of the later seasons, and I just couldn’t take it any more. It was really contrived, and the characters kept doing really stupid thing so they could be in peril and need saving…
I’d guess that if it had that many seasons they ran out of steam. Maybe the earlier seasons are better.
As I’ve mentioned before, we really liked the French series Balthazar. Only five seasons, but I loved the characters. It had its dark moments (and lots of body parts), but the cleverness and humor kept me involved. It had the sweetest finale.
We’re liking Chelsea Detectives whose second season is popping up now on our Accorn.
Exactly. Its like they were able to read the script.
But then Leaphorn murdering that dude.
Joe acts surprised that he gets out on bail. Joe is a LEO, he knows everyone but extreme flight risk and capital murder cases get bail. That’s not “one set of justice for the white man, another for us”- Native Americans can get bail also. Mind you, it is sorta “one set of justice for the rich…” since he can afford the bail, but still, Leaphorn should not have been surprised or angry- he should have known that bail was gonna happen.
Then there’s the charges- what evidence does Joe have that there was even a bomb? “My Dad and I collected some blue wire and some other junk” Lawyer- “Objection, no chain of evidence, and the Lt is clearly biased as his son died, we move to exclude this!” Judge- “sustained”. (this is why “and this time it’s personal” is bad writing) Not to mention that really isnt much evidence of a bomb.
Next Leaphorn has exactly zero evidence that the dude was involved with the bombing. None.
Joe does have some evidence of fraud, and that fraud does show a motive. But even if a team of ATF experts gets out there and finds admissible evidence there was a bomb, there is nothing but motive tying that bomb to the dude.
So, this is shoddy police work with crappy evidence.
I’ve been watching Hulu’s Moving, a Korean drama with a Heroes vibe, about teens discovering they have super powers. What they don’t know is that their parents were all part of a government black-ops program for people with powers, so all their powers are inherited.
It’s pretty dark, but well-acted.