“Hey!” (you say to yourself). “I wonder what Bob has been watching? It’s been since May. Well, dear reader, I can’t leave you unfocused on our Monday work day, so let’s take a look, shall we? And – Gasp! – it’s all current stuff. How about that? And this is all spoiler free.

BALLARD

Michael Connelly writes the Bosch books, which spawned a terrific, gritty, seven season streaming series. HIGHLY recommended watch. Bosch an LAPD homicide detective, underwent a career change, which is the subject of the succeeding series, Bosch: Legacy. That lasted three seasons. All of this stuff has been taken from the novels. In the final episode of Legacy, an LAPD detective named Renee Ballard (also from a Connelly book series) plays a central part. And that’s because she’s the star of her own new series on Prime.

Ballard has the tough-luck story typical in cop shows, and they explore it throughout season one. Strangely, it hasn’t been given a season two yet. Bosch was a franchise with popular novels. Connelly also writes The Lincoln Lawyer books, which have spawned a successful Netflix series (and also an older movie with Matthew McConaughey). Connelly is the kind of guy you bank on, and season one seemed to go over pretty well.

Bosch appears in a couple episodes, but you can watch Ballard on its own. I will say, you should watch Bosch, before you watch Bosch: Legacy. The latter is literally a continuation of the first series. You’d lose out on a lot. Both are worth watching.

I hope Ballard comes back. I also liked seeing Ricardo Chavira, who was Carlos on Desperate Housewives (a show I’ll mention below). Another regular is John Carroll Lynch, who was Drew Carey’s brother. He was also a cop on Dana Delaney’s Body of Proof, which was a good coroner crime show.

GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY

I feel like Desperate Housewives had been kind of forgotten about in 2025. It was a hugely popular show over the course of its eight seasons, creating a few household names. It was a prime time soap opera for the new century.

I think there have been a couple shows with that vibe: Devious Maids (from the same creator), and GCB (canceled after only ten episodes resulting from a sham protest movement).

Housewives wrapped up in 2012, and I genuinely feel that Grosse Point Garden Society (Peacock) is Desperate Housewives for today. It’s that kind of show. It jumps back and forth in time (usually around six months, and I think always less than a year). And I haven’t actually known what’s going on a couple times. This is a show in which you MUST pay attention. I often read or doom scroll on my phone while watching something. You are gonna be lost if you don’t lock in on this one.

But its’ deliciously twisted and fun. I didn’t recognize anybody except mother-in-law Nancy Travis (So I Married an Ax Murderer, and the vastly underappreciated Greedy).

It ended on a serious cliffhanger. And sadly, NBC has already canceled it – no season two is coming. Clearly creating another Desperate Housewives is an uphill climb. I’m bummed.

RESIDENT ALIEN

I’m not sure there’s another show on quite like this one. Alan Tudyk is an alien whose mission is to destroy the earth. But his character changes as seasons go on, as does his mission as he sees it.

He’s the protagonist, but sometimes you don’t want to root for him. And he’s absolutely hilarious. If you saw him in his streaming series Con Man (which is a treat for Firefly fans), you appreciate his physical humor, and ‘goofiness.’ It’s ratcheted up in this role.

The supporting characters fit in his world in different ways as he changes. If you want a funny, strange, sci-fi series, you should check this out, on Peacock. Tudyk starred in one of the best episodes of Justified – he’s a good actor.

ST DENIS MEDICAL

I prefer the original, British iteration of The Office (with Rickey Gervais) to the American version (with Steve Carell). However, I like both. St. Denis Medical is coming back for a season two. And simply put, this is a hospital version of The Office. If you liked Carell’s show, you are gonna like St. Denis Medical. This ain’t ER, or Chicago Med. In fact, you see a lot of Michael in the hospital administrator, and in the neurosurgeon.

You’re absolutely gonna get those same kinds of laughs from this fake documentary series. It’s a half hour show, and you can binge right through season one.

If The Office isn’t your kind of thing, you should skip right past this one. But if you did like it, this one is pure bonus for you. Season two starts airing on NBC in early November.

TWISTED METAL

I never played the video game back when it was popular. But I did watch the first season of Peacock’s new show for it, last year. With Anthony Mackie (Falcon/Captain America and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) co-sharing the lead, it’s a wild ride. Season one was really good, with Thomas Haden-Church excelling (as he always does). And having Samoa Joe and Will Arnett double up for Sweet Tooth, is PERFECT.

I binged it again a few weeks ago, with season two starting to drop on August 1^st. And it’s more of the same. If you’re looking for something funny, naughty, and violent, based on a video game from the past, you really should check this one out. Mackie reminds me of Bad Boys-era Will Smith. Fun show.

Old and New….

DEATH IN PARADISE

This show kicked off in October of 2011 and is still going strong fourteen seasons later. There have been quite a few cast changes, and a new Detective Inspector took the reigns this year, while a founding character seems to have said goodbye. Good news is that it will be back for at least one more year in 2026 (and the now-annual Christmas special).

Episodes are an hour long, and it took me a LONG time to complete my re-watch of the first thirteen seasons. And then I watched the new one for the first time. That’s 117 in all. And it wasn’t my first re-watch.

I never solve the crime, but clearly I enjoy this one. I think it’s probably my favorite mystery show. One of the previous DIs has his own spin off show, Beyond Paradise, which has a fourth season coming up.

Return to Paradise takes place in Australia, and I haven’t seen any of that one. It seems independent of the other productions; except that a former Death in Paradise DI appeared in two episodes. I hope that series comes to BritBox some time.

I could talk about Chicago PD, my Burn Notice re-watch reaching the final season, and my ongoing first watch of Clone Wars. But maybe next time.

I also re-watched the final Star Wars trilogy, and I enjoyed them. Pretty good stuff.

Last week, I watched the first, second, and then third, Pirates of the Caribbean movies – one each night. That first one is still brilliant. On the same level as Brendan Fraser’s first The Mummy movie. I laughed out loud at some of Johnny Depp’s stuff. And there’s plenty of swashbuckling action.

The second movie is good – not great\ – and worth watching again right after the first one. The third one was a chore for me and while it has some moments, it’s meh. However, I think overall, Depp gives a tour-de-force performance. His non-verbal stuff is top shelf. Really watch him; even when he’s not center camera.

I will probably watch the two remaining movies to complete the Captain Jack Sparrow experience. I have his skin in Fortnite, and I really wish it walked the same way he does. I enjoyed the re-watch.

Some previous entries on things to watch:

What I’ve Been Watching – May 2025 (County Line, The Bondsman, Bosch: Legacy)
What I’ve Been Watching – October 2024 (What We Do in the Shadows, The Bay, Murder in a Small Town)
What I’m Watching – November 2023 (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, A Haunting in Venice)
What I’m Watching – April 2023 (Florida Man, Picard – season three, The Mandalorian)
The Pale Blue Eye, and The Glass Onion: Knives Out
Tony Hillerman’s Dark Winds
The Rings of Power (Series I wrote on this show – all links at this one post)
What I’m Watching – December 2022 (Frontier, Leverage: Redemption)
What I’m Watching – November 2022 (Tulsa King, Andor, Fire Country, and more)
What I’m Watching – September 2022 (Galavant, Fire Fly, She-Hulk, and more)
What I’m Watching- April 2022 (Outer Range, Halo, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans, and more)
When USA Network was Kicking Major Butt (Monk, Psych, Burn Notice)
You Should be Streaming These Shows (Corba Kai, The Expanse, Bosch, and more)
What I’m BritBoxing – December 2021 (Death in Paradise, Shakespeare & Hathaway, The Blake Mysteries, and more)
To Boldly Go – Star Treking – (Various Star Trek incarnations)
What I’ve Been Watching – August 2021 (Monk, The Tomorrow War, In Plain Sight, and more)
What I’m Watching – June 2021 (Get Shorty, Con Man, Thunder in Paradise, and more)
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
What I’ve Been Watching – June 2021 (Relic Hunter, Burn Notice, Space Force, and more)
Appaloosa
Psych of the Dead
The Mandalorian
What I’m Watching: 2020 – Part Two (My Name is Bruce, Sword of Sherwood Forest, Isle of Fury, and more)
What I’m Watching 2020: Part One (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, Poirot, Burn Notice, and more)
Philip Marlowe: Private Eye
Leverage
Nero Wolfe – The Lost Pilot
David Suchet’s ‘Poirot’
Sherlock Holmes (over two dozen TV shows and movies)

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.