Page 29 - ARUBA TODAY

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 13 december 2017
Loads of TV shows were great in 2017; here are the 10 best

By FRAZIER MOORE soon) when he unveiled
AP Television Writer his fake rantcast. His nightly
NEW YORK (AP) — So- show captures the present
called “Peak TV” remains moment as shrewdly as
the blessing and the curse Colbert did on his bygone
for viewers in 2017, with the Comedy Central show. Like
tally of scripted series now the voices he mocks, TV-
totaling some 500. Where Klepper is against all ideas
to begin saluting all the and movements along
great shows? Here are 10 with the conspiracies he
to salute, recall fondly and, sees lurking behind each
for viewers who missed any of them. His show is bitterly
of them, catch up with: funny and right on target
“American Gods” (Starz). A at a time when everything
former convict is hired upon is in ugly dispute, especially
his release by a charismatic reality.
con man and finds himself “Ozark” (Netflix). When not
in a hidden world where advising clients on their
a battle brews between 401(k) plans, humdrum Chi-
Old Gods and New Gods. cago financial adviser Mar-
The stated premise for this ty Byrde launders cash by
dazzling series makes no the millions. But then he gets
more sense than the series jammed up with the Mexi-
itself will for many viewers. This Sept. 25, 2017 image released by Comedy Central shows comedian Jordan Klepper hosting can drug cartel he cleans
No matter. The trippy, eye- the premiere of “The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper” in New York. that money for. So he and
popping visuals (along with Associated Press his family skedaddle to
brilliant acting) never gives Woodley. from prostitutes and push- the cruel futuristic dysto- the Missouri Ozarks, a safer
the viewer time to feel con- “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (CW). ers to mobsters and dirty pia of Gilead, a totalitar- base of operations where
fused. This romantic-musical- cops, and even a college- ian society where human he hopes to set things right
“The Americans” (FX). For comedy-drama never fails dropout-turned-barmaid) rights are trampled and this before he, his wife and kids
its fifth season, this thriller to find insight and humor explore the modern evolu- special caste of women is all end up dead. Jason
about Russian spies posing in the plight of a smart, tion of pornography. David forced into sexual servitude Bateman heads this mar-
as 1980s-era all-American attractive young woman Simon (“The Wire”) is a writ- in a desperate attempt velously twisty, sometimes
marrieds (Keri Russell and who also happens to be a er-creator, and the spec- to repopulate a ravaged scary, often funny thriller as
Matthew Rhys) took an illu- bit loony in matters of love. tacular cast includes Mag- world. A cautionary tale the Byrdes scramble to stay
minating look at the Ameri- Co-created and starring gie Gyllenhaal and James when the novel was pub- solvent, and alive.
can Dream while gaining the radiant Rachel Bloom, Franco. A remarkable, eye- lished in 1985, this TV series “The Vietnam War” (PBS).
unsought relevance as the it is funny, poignant and opening flashback. adaptation gained even It may seem odd to de-
Cold War of that distant supercharged with musi- “Feud: Bette and Joan” more urgency after last scribe an 18-hour Ken
age is bestirring anew. cal production numbers (FX). Starring Susan Saran- year’s presidential election. Burns docuseries as a crash
“Big Little Lies” (HBO). Mon- that would find a warm don and Jessica Lange A stirring cautionary tale in- course, but this heartbreak-
ey can’t buy happiness in welcome on any Broad- as Bette Davis and Joan deed! ing, insightful masterpiece
the cushy seaside North- way stage (how DO they Crawford, two screen stars “The Opposition with Jor- moves quickly as it tracks
ern California community create and film those wit- deemed over the hill by stu- dan Klepper” (Comedy every step of a disastrous
where this miniseries un- ty sequences week after dio lords, “Bette and Joan” Central). Move over, Breit- military misadventure that
folds. Every wife and moth- week?). is set a half-century ago. bart, Alex Jones and “Han- still haunts the nation, and,
er has a beef with other “The Deuce” (HBO). In this But this sumptuous minise- nity.” Klepper is on the judging from the country’s
locals while the men mostly ambitious drama series, ries zeroes in on the age- case. Adapting to the cur- ongoing involvement in
misbehave. Then someone the denizens of the Deuce ism, sexism and misogyny rent media ethos with its Iraq, seems to have taught
dies violently. It’s a gripping (shorthand for Manhattan’s afflicting Hollywood (and ever harsher, ever more ab- the nation little.
mystery and social dissec- 42nd Street wasteland) society overall) right now, surdist pitch, Klepper in ef- It’s an essential TV event
tion that puts women in the trace intertwined narratives as well as then. fect hosts a supercharged for everyone who lived
forefront, with an extraordi- set against an exactingly “The Handmaid’s Tale” version of “The Colbert through the Vietnam era,
nary cast including Nicole re-created Big Apple of (Hulu). Elisabeth Moss por- Report,” whose time slot and especially for those
Kidman, Laura Dern, Reese circa 1970s. The rich spec- trays one of the few re- he inherited in September who have come along
Witherspoon and Shailene trum of characters (ranging maining fertile women in (and not a moment too since.q

Bruce Brown, whose ‘Endless Summer’ redefined surfing, dies

By ANDREW DALTON, causes in Santa Barbara party movies of the early a friend of Brown’s since surfer, said in an Instagram
Associated Press on Sunday, said Alex Mecl, 1960s. they were young and a fel- post Monday. “There are
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bruce general manager of Bruce Then came Brown and low filmmaker. never enough words to say
Brown, whose 1966 surfing Brown Films. “The Endless Summer” with People were interested in goodbye properly.”
documentary “The Endless Along with the music of the his beautiful, soulful story of surfing and Brown took it to Brown, who took up surf-
Summer” molded the im- Beach Boys, Brown took surfers on a quest for fulfill- a new level, Noll told The ing in the early 1950s, had
age of the surfer as a seek- surfing from a quirky hobby ment — an image that be- Associated Press on Tues- made five other documen-
er of adventure and fulfill- to a fundamental part of came emblazoned on the day. taries about the sport be-
ment and transformed the American culture. cultural psyche. “Thank you for showing fore “The Endless Summer,”
sport, has died. Surfers had largely been “His timing, everything, was us the world as you saw it, including 1958’s “Slippery
He was 80. portrayed as beach blan- perfect,” said legendary Bruce Brown,” Kelly Slater, When Wet” and 1960’s
Brown died of natural ket buffoons in the mindless big-wave surfer Greg Noll, 11-time world champion “Barefoot Adventure.” q