Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year’s Eve to All Our Readers!!

Can you believe another year has gone by already? It just doesn’t seem possible that 2019 is nearly behind us.

Do you have anything planned for your New Year’s Eve celebrations? Are you going to watch any marathons over the holiday? Maybe you’ve got a movie night planned with friends and/or family? Whatever way you plan to spend the holiday, I hope you get to do exactly as you want.

Since we are at nearly at the start of a New Year, I’d like to make some recommendations to our readers.

First two shows that I highly recommend you watch when you get a chance:

Virgin River

This new Netflix drama, based on the book franchise by best-selling author Robyn Carr, debuted on December 6. At first glance, the tagline for the show may sound familiar: A woman leaves the big city to go to a small town to work in a doctor’s office where she is actually not wanted; most definitely not by the doctor. Once there she begins a relationship with the town bartender, and slowly begins to adjust to her new life there, making unexpected friends along the way.

If this synopsis sounds anything like the four-season long CW series Hart of Dixie, you aren’t wrong. It also doesn’t hurt that veteran actor Tim Matheson – who starred in Hart of Dixie as Dr. Brick Breeland – the doctor who didn’t want Dr. Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson of The O.C. fame) – to be working there – is also in Virgin River. It’s inevitable that comparisons will be made.

But those few similarities are where the comparisons come to a full stop. Here is the full synopsis of Virgin River (with a few caveats from me):

Melinda “Mel” Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge, who portrayed Sophie on This Is Us) answered an online advertisement to work as a nurse practitioner in the remote California town of Virgin River. [Yes, Mel left the big city – this time Los Angeles – instead of Zoe’s New York City and ended up in a small town – but down in the South]. Mel thought this small town would be the perfect place to start fresh and leave painful memories behind [not at all like Zoe heading to the “heart of dixieland” to learn more about her biological father]. Mel soon learned that small-town living isn’t quite as simple as she expected and she must learn to heal herself before she can truly make Virgin River her home.

Sure, Mel meets the local bartender Jack (Martin Henderson from Off the Map and Grey’s Anatomy) – well, actually the local bar/restaurant owner, who takes her under his wing – so to speak – helping her navigate the town and its residents – not unlike what Wade did for Zoe in Hart of Dixie. But Jack has his own troubled past and a secret or two that he kept from Mel during the course of the first season.

The cast also includes Annette O’Toole (Martha Kent from Smallville) as town mayor Hope McCrea; Colin Lawrence (Coach Clayton from Riverdale and a Battlestar Galactica alum) as as Preacher, the chef at Jack’s bar; Jenny Cooper (TeenNick’s Open Heart series) as Mel’s older sister Joey and Lauren Hammersley (Orphan Black) as Charmaine.

There are other familiar faces laced throughout the show like Daniel Gillies (The Originals) as Mark Monroe; Benjamin Hollingsworth (Code Black) as Brady; David Cubitt (Siren and Mediu) as Calvin; Lexa Doig (Aurora Teagarden movie franchise) as Paige; Ian Tracey (Continuum) as Jimmy; Teryl Rothery (Cedar Cove and Stargate SG-1) as Muriel and Michael Shanks (Stargate SG-1).

Virgin River has been renewed for a second season by Netflix.

The Witcher

Much has been written about The Withcher, the new Netflix action fantasy drama based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and created for the small screen by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. The 8-episode first season debuted on December 20, and has been considered by many to be the heir apparent to Game of Thrones for TV viewers.

Set in a medieval world known as the Continent, the series follows mutated, solitary monster hunter Geralt of Rivia (Superman himself Henry Cavill), who struggles to find his place in the world in which people often prove more wicked than the beasts he hunts; Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra from The ABC Murders), a hunchback young woman, who is one-quarter-elf, who becomes a powerful sorceress and Cirilla aka Ciri (newcomer Freya Allan), a princess from the Kingdom of Cintra, who not only loses all those she loves in one night but also possesses magical powers, making her wanted young girl. The destinies of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri are tied together.

The cast also includes Joey Batey (Knightfall and The White Queen) as Jaskier, a travelling bard, who is the reluctant companion to Geralt; MyAnna Buring (Downton Abbey and the Twilight franchise) as Tissaia de Vries, the Rectoress of Aretuza, an academy for training sorceresses; Jodhi May (The Last of the Mohicans and Gentleman Jack) as Queen Calanthe, the ruler of the Kingdom of Cintra and grandmother of Princess Cirilla; and Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen (the original The Killing) as Stregobor, a powerful sorcerer.

The first season is based on the short stories that started it all The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny; but viewers should be forewarned that the first season is told in a non-linear way that could be confusing upon first viewing. A second season of The Witcher is set to be released on Netflix in 2021.

And then there is my one suggestion for our readers to binge watch:

Outlander

[Photo Credit: Starz/TV Line]

I was late to the party where the book franchise Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is concerned; but I made up for all that by devouring the series when it debuted on August 14, 2014 and every episode that has aired since that series premiere – in some cases watching many of the episodes countless times.

The show will return to Starz on Sunday, February 16 for the start of its FIFTH season so viewers have time to catch up on the first four seasons. I am sure that Starz will be featuring marathon viewings of past episodes leading up to the fifth season premiere, but you can also check out the episodes via Starz’s official website, starting here.

Here is the teaser trailer for season 5:

Outlander returns to Starz on February 16.

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!