Poldark
So I have a confession... I have yet to read any of the novels by Winston Graham that make up the Poldark Saga. Yes, I know! This is SO unlike me it's baffling! I've had most of the books for years, after watching Ioan Gruffudd as Jeremy Poldark in the 1996 Poldark TV movie I bought the ones then available and scrounged up the rest of the epic twelve volume series at library sales, only to watch them languish on my bookshelves. But once the new adaptation was announced, and before you ask, no I haven't seen the seventies version, I thought, heck, I'll give it a read because I KNEW I'd watch the series what with my love of Aidan Turner... and then that never happened, and I watched Poldark and I loved it and oh my yes, it was epic sweeping romance, the strains of the music perfectly matching the Cornish coast and the ache in my heart, what could be better? Therefore I have given myself over to this adaptation. I've decided not to read ahead, I've decided to remain in the dark. This led to me being unaware of some issues that came about in season two, with Ross basically leaving his perfect wife Demelza played by the gifted Elinor Tomlinson and going to his first love Elizabeth. Never have I hated my name more! That season's mullet haircut barely warrants a mention except for the fact I think it is the symbol of all that was wrong with season two. How grateful am I that season three is like season one good? Immeasurably! Warleggan up to no good! Demelza's eye roaming, let's teach Ross a lesson! Daring French escapades! And a whole slew of new characters who came to hold special places in my heart. This might just be my show of the year... I did save the best for last after all.
Fall. The time of year when thoughts turn to the new TV season while also lauding the past year's work. While I love award shows and the Emmys are certainly a favorite, especially in a year when Stephen Colbert is hosting, it also makes me sad because my favorite shows are considered "genre" television so no matter how amazing the acting or the writing they just never get their plaudits just because they may have vampires. So I decided, I'm going to change that right here, right now. No, I'm not rigging the votes or casting my own statues, but I am going to pick my favorite shows that aired over the last year that just happen to have started out in book form and convince you to give them a chance! Be it science fiction, graphic novels, horror, some of my favorite shows got their start on my bookshelves. So let's hear it for Oz and Fillory and Midnight, Texas, and all the places in between that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences looks down on. Let's hear it for the underdogs, the Ross Poldarks of the world! Here's to who the Emmy should be going to...
