As TV show titles go, Killer Grannies leaves little to the imagination. It is a series about female senior citizens who commit murder. The show airs on Bravo at 8:30 pm on Monday, hosted by June Squibb.
A Fresh Take on True Crime
The creators deserve credit for finding a relatively untapped niche within the overcrowded true-crime genre. Television shows, books, podcasts, and other media have been saturated with true crime for years. Audiences seem insatiable for stories about people killing other people, which is rather unsettling upon reflection.
Killer Grannies manages to add a shocking twist. When one thinks of murderers, grandmothers are not typically high on the list. Perhaps that is because most grannies are smart enough to get away with it. Nancy Crampton Brophy was not smart. She was a mediocre romance novelist who, in 2011, wrote an online essay titled How to Murder Your Husband. She is now serving a life sentence for killing her husband.
Leonard and Hungry Paul: A Wistful Irish Comedy-Drama
On Tuesday at 8:30 pm, ABC airs Leonard and Hungry Paul, an Irish comedy-drama that left this reviewer puzzled. It did not seem particularly dramatic or funny, leaning more toward wistful. Checking other reviews did not help, as they all praised the show, leaving the reviewer even more confused.
Leonard is an oddball who lives with his mother until she dies. Her death makes it even harder for him to connect with others, except for his friend Hungry Paul. In the first episode, he is unexpectedly hit on by Shelley in a scene more strange than humorous. Perhaps the show improves with more episodes, but the reviewer felt little desire to invest time in something that might not pay off.
A Gentleman in Moscow: Charming and Confusing
On Thursday at midnight, SBS On Demand presents A Gentleman in Moscow, starring Ewan McGregor. Based on the novel by Amor Towles, the series follows Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, who returns to Russia in 1922 after years abroad. He arrives just after the revolution, when being an aristocrat is dangerous. A court spares his life but confines him to the Hotel Metropole, which the Bolsheviks have taken over. He can never leave the hotel on pain of death. The story is a charming and slightly confusing tale of a man who glides smoothly over life's obstacles.
