Greetings Readers!

First of all, apologies for posting this Favourites Friday post a day late. We're experiencing a bit of a heatwave here in the UK currently, and I do not cope well with heat. I spent most of yesterday in bed. Thankfully, it's cooled down today, and the coming week is set to be cooler too, so it's business as usual again.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

One thing me and Hubby make sure we do every day is watch about an hour of TV together (sometimes more, if we feel like binge-watching a complete series, like we did with Fallout.)

For the most part, we like the same TV shows and if there's something one of us like that the other doesn't, we might do a trade, like we did with him agreeing to watch Jojo's Bizzare Adventures, if I agreed to watch Attack On Titan -- and I'm SO glad I did. AoT may be my all-time favourite piece of media. 

But that's a story for another time...

I think I will make a separate post about anime and animated shows we've watched and loved. For this post, I want to talk about  live-action TV shows we've watched and loved, including some recent favourites.

I will try not to post too many spoilers, but please be aware, for any show I mention, I will discuss things that have happened up to and including the currently aired episodes.

I'm doing this a sort of 'top four' and I will list the shows from least to most favourite.

4. Star Wars: The Acolyte on Disney Plus.

Let's start with the most important thing, shall we? We can all agree that Manny Jacinto as Qimir is PERFECTION. The writers knew what they were doing with that river scene! ;)

Credit where credit is due, not only is Manny gorgeous, he's also one of the best actors in the show, along with Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae. And I think *that's* where my problems with the show begin ...

Aside from the three mentioned above, I didn't find any of the other actors or characters that engaging. Some were downright annoying. 

I love the concept of the Acolyte, and the new lore it adds to the Star Wars universe, and I'm not one of those fans who quibble over small, 'inconsistencies' as long as the story is good. 

What I dislike about The Acolyte is the same thing I dislike about the Marvel TV shows. I don't know if it's the Disney writers, or a problem we're seeing across the board with TV shows now only having 6-10 episodes per season, but something feels lacking. I was a big fan of Lost, which saw a minimum of 14 episodes per season, and a maximum of 25. I'm not saying TV shows should go back to 25-episode seasons, but I do think they need a little more room to breathe and expand. I would have liked a little more everything. More Jedi, more Sith. Especially more with the twins.

That said, I am still interested in seeing what season two has to offer, especially with the character cameo in the final episode. It's clear Mae and Osha's stories are far from over, and I'm intrigued to see what happens next.

3. The Boys on Amazon Prime

My favourite thing about The Boys is how it subverts superhero media tropes. Homelander could have easier been a Superman type, powerful, with a heart of gold. Instead, he's a maniac! And the good guys aren't all good either, with Butcher being a prime example of this.

Where the Boys loses me is with the weird 'shock value' sexual stuff. How many times do we need to see The Deep have sex with an octopus? Or Mother's Milk get attacked by a giant penis? This season felt especially bad for the 'shock value' sexual stuff, and made what could have an otherwise fantastic season difficult to watch at times.

That said, I really enjoyed the character development of many characters including Hughie, Starlight/ Annie, Butcher and Kimiko.

Season five is meant to be the last, and there's so much currently in play that it's impossible to guess exactly how the final season will go. I have *some* theories, and if one of them is true, The Boys is going in the fridge! :P

2. House of the Dragon on HBO/ Now TV

House of the Dragon is another show I feel has suffered from the writers limiting the number of episodes. I also think that there's too much focus on sex. I know the purpose of some of the sex scenes in season two, but some of them feel unnecessary.

Once again, the characters aren't given room to breathe, and we seem to be jumping from one huge event to the next, without enough forus on how these events are affecting the characters we both love and hate. A prime example of this is Jace's trip to Winterfell, which is much longer in the books, and could have set up both the pact of Ice and Fire, but also shown us Jace's potential as heir to the throne.

At least Aemond is pretty. I love what Ewan Mitchell has done with the character this season, and the brothel scene was one of my favourites (and no, not just for the obvious reasons). I loved that switch from vulnerable, to 'watch the fuck out' and I think that's really set the trajectory for Aemond's story arc going forwards. I'm ready to see some war crimes! I just wish we'd gotten a *little* more before the switch was flicked. We have no interaction between Aemond and his family regarding both what happened between him and Luke at Storm's End, nor any reaction to Blood and Cheese.

1. Interview With the Vampire on AMC

One show that didn't struggle with limited episodes was season two of Interview With the Vampire. I feel like nothing was wasted that season. The pacing was excellent, and both allowed the characters to breathe, while also keeping the story compelling and moving.

I know some book purists have issues with various changes (such as Louis' race, or ageing up Claudia), but I think every change that has been made has served the show well. I also think the writing and acting is phenomenal. It's impossible to pin-point just one actor or character who stood out in season two. Even minor characters like Madeleine were fantastic.

Of course, I'm a Lestat fangirl, so I especially enjoy Sam Reid's performance, but honestly, the whole cast are amazing.

The only thing I *dislike* about Interview is how it really emphasizes the weaknesses of AMC's other Anne Rice based show. The Mayfair Witches trilogy is my favourite of all time, and when you see the mind-blowing performances and writing in Interview, it's easy to expect the same thing for Mayfair Witches. Even accepting the changes from the book, the TV shows is still nothing compared to the Interview TV show, and hardly resembles the books at all. It makes me so disappointed. We could have had something so much better.

Have you watched any of the TV shows I mentioned above? If so, do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? If not, what are some of the shows you're enjoying recently? Or what is your all-time favourite show?

Thanks for joining me for this belated 'Favourites Friday,' I expect next Friday's post to actually be on Friday! I'll be back this coming Monday with a guest post from Beyond Starlight author Diana Dawn.

Until then.

Take care and stay creative.

T.T.F.N