When the news broke that Daisy Jones and the Six was going to be made into a miniseries, I couldn’t wait. While the book was not my favourite, I was excited at the prospect of the adaptation. As the novel is written as an interview with the members after the band’s breakup, documenting their journey from the beginning, to their success, and their downfall, I envisioned that the whole story would be brought to life on screen in the way that a book cannot do. Being able to physically hear the dialogue of these characters if they were being interviewed would make it feel so real that it would be impossible to remember that they’re fictional.
I was expecting to be blown away, and yet, I got two episodes into the series and I found myself not liking it at all.
Often people say that reading a book before watching the film/series can be somewhat of a curse. Readers tend to build up an image of what things look like in their head, and many times what they picture – in terms of characters and settings – never make it onto the big screen. Which, I found was the case with Daisy Jones.
Firstly, I think the casting directors did an excellent job choosing Riley Keough for the role, because she perfectly captures the chaotic mess that is Daisy , and I don’t think I could have selected anybody better for the part. Riley was exactly how I pictured Daisy to look, with her flaming red hair, and exquisite features, even before the adaptation was announced. However, when it comes to other characters – Billy Dunn, Camila, etc. there was just something that didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Of course, I have nothing against the actors chosen for these roles – and I think Sam Claflin is a brilliant actor in his own right, but I imagined Billy with a Kurt Cobain look/vibe and he didn’t scream Billy to me. And while I wasn’t disappointed with Suki Waterhouse, she just wasn’t the Karen I had imagined in my head.
But, truthfully, I don’t think the casting was the problem for me, as even if the characters don’t look exactly as I imagine, I can usually get on board with their performances, especially if they’re good ones.
In fact, I think the whole thing was just way too slow. I know from reading the book that it isn’t the most fast-paced narrative, but literally nothing happens in the first two episodes of the series. I kept watching, and waiting, and yet, I got to the end of each and found myself disappointed. In the book, Daisy and the band meet relatively quickly into the story, and yet, at the end of the second installment their paths still hadn’t crossed. While I think background is important with stories set in previous eras as historical context is important, there was just way too much in these episodes and not enough plot pushing the story forward. I wanted more and wanted something to keep me interested, but my intrigue faded rather fast, hence why I finished the second episode and made it no further.
But, I have to admit that the soundtrack is FIRE. “…Regret Me” and “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” are two of my absolute favorites, and I adore the fact that they released an album alongside the adaptation, as it really immerses you in the story. I was surprised by how good Sam Claflin is as a singer, and Riley Keough too, though I wasn’t too surprised considering her grandfather was Elvis Presley… music is basically in her genes. Even if you haven’t seen the series or read the book, I highly recommend listening to ‘Aurora’ on Spotify. If you like 70s alternative indie/rock/folk then you’ll love the songs included on the album!
Perhaps it’s a crazy idea, but I feel like this would have made an excellent adaptation in the form of a radio drama or podcast. The mixture of the band interviews and the music would have been brilliant to listen to, without the constraints or needing to include all of the other information like in an audio book, straight from the page.
I have had many people tell me to stick with it because apparently it gets better, but I feel like unless the story is a thriller with massive twists and turns and an excellent payoff, then each episode up until the ‘good bit’ or the part of Daisy Jones that I’m waiting for, feels wasted until that moment. Maybe I’ll try and revisit this again in the future once I get through my lengthy list of other adaptations waiting for me, but for now, the overall series is only getting 2 and a half stars from me.
If you know me, you’ll know that I have been a long-time fan of NCIS. For years, it was the show that defined me. I had turned the television over to the show by accident one day circa 2007, and that was all it took. One episode and I was hooked – forever invested in these characters and stories, to the point they almost felt like friends. I would watch episodes religiously every week, and I felt so deeply for these characters that I even dabbled in writing fanfiction (but that’s for another post…)
To be honest, although at one point it was my favourite show, I haven’t truly watched it in years. When Cote De Pablo announced her departure for season 11 in 2013, I was utterly heartbroken. I had become so attached to Ziva David as a character that saying goodbye to her felt like saying goodbye to a friend. I couldn’t imagine not seeing her on screen every week alongside the other wonderful actors, and my favourite show no longer felt like my favourite show. There would be no more sexual tension between Tony and Ziva; no more of their longing looks across the bullpen. There awesome threesome – Tony, Ziva, and McGee would be non-existent. Everything changed, and I could no longer bring myself to watch it as avidly as I once did.
Of course, I did tune in for the odd episode such as the departure of Tony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly), because although it was a bittersweet moment, my little Tiva shipping heart was happy that there closure, albeit not the closure I would have hoped for.
I watched the departure of Abigail Scuito, whose character I had once aspired to be, having become enamoured with the idea of forensic science (though, I decided against becoming one because I didn’t think I could handle the real-life responsibility of the job and everything it entailed… and it was also probably not as glamourous as the television made it out to be).
Then, in Season 17, Cote De Pablo returned for some very special Ziva-centric episodes which filled my heart with so much joy that I felt like I was going to burst. Seeing her return to the character and the role that I had grown so attached to… it honestly felt like a friend was returning home after almost a decade away. And again, though her episodes didn’t give us the closure we wish we had had (i.e. and on-screen reunion with Tony & Tali), they came much closer than her previous departure episodes did.
And more recently, at the end of season 18/beginning of season 19, Mark Harmon–the OG leader–decided that it was time to leave his role as Leroy Jethro Gibbs behind, having played the same character for almost two decades of his life. Admittedly, there was some speculation that the show would not survive without him, leaving only Timothy McGee (played by Sean Murray) as the last remaining character to appear in every single season since the show aired. But despite the worries, the show is still as successful as it once was, having gone through the routine of character changes more than a few times – from Jenny Shepherd to Leon Vance, from Caitlin Todd to Ziva David, from Abigail Scuito to Kasie Hines, and from Leroy Jethro Gibbs to Alden Parker.
Of course, having a show on air for two decades means that there have been a lot of storylines and background for every character, most notably Gibbs. Over the course of nineteen seasons, the show explores Gibbs’ past multiple times – from his various marriages to different redheads, to his immediate family including Shannon and his daughter Kelly, his encounter with the beloved medical examiner Ducky (David McCallum), his journey to becoming an NIS agent (later renamed to NCIS), and his relationship with his former mentor, Mike Franks (Muse Watson).
Last week, CBS’s announcement of Mark Harmon’s return to the role of Gibbs in a new show – NCIS: Origins – caught me by surprise. I know that there will be many fans out there for whom this is wonderful news, but the question begs: how much more of a story can they tell that they haven’t already told before? How will they be able to translate this into a story that is multiple episodes long, without being a cut-and-paste version of what we’ve seen in NCIS? Also, will there be continuity?
In addition, Mark Harmon’s son Sean will be returning to play the role of a young Gibbs. He has previously portrayed the character in several episodes of NCIS during flashbacks to Gibbs’ past, which is sure to be a treat for the hardcore NCIS fans and bodes well for the continuity aspect. Still, what about the other characters that we have seen in Gibbs’ past in the original series? Will the same actors/actresses be willing to reprise their roles to keep the continuity, or will they be casting new and unknown actors for the parts?
But the question I am perhaps the most interested in (aside from whether it will be good, which remains to be seen), is will viewers find it popular or are there some stories that should simply rest in peace? Having watched Gibbs’ departure storyline, it felt like a fitting farewell to him. It made sense. It gave the closure we all needed to say our goodbyes to this character that had graced our screens for so many years. After all, even Gibbs states in his rules:
Rule 11: When the job is done, walk away.
I’ll admit, I am intrigued to see the outcome of this new series, even if I may be on the fence about watching it. (Although I may do so, if only to review). To be honest, if I had it my way I would much rather see a spin-off show starring Michael Weatherly and Cote De Pablo as Tiva (Tony & Ziva), because even after all these years my heart still ships them as hard as it once did!
But then, I wonder: if the door is open for a Gibbs’ origin story, will there be space for others?
Photo: Digital Spy, CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
It’s hard to know where to begin. This is not a post I thought I would be writing for many, many years, and yet, here we are.
On Sunday morning, I woke up to the news of Matthew Perry’s passing, and I cried, in a way that I haven’t cried over a celebrity’s death since Cory Monteith. Full-on snot-sobs. I am heartbroken and devastated, to say the least. Days later, and it still feels so surreal to me.
Mourning the passing of a famous person you love is a bizarre thing. You have no physical personal connection with them in the way that you do with your friends and family, and yet, you feel the grief as deeply as if you knew them intimately. It is as raw and as painful as losing a member of your own inner circle. But, it is a testament to the meaningful impact they have had on you through their work.
The first thing you are overwhelmed with is shock. For any death, even if you know it’s coming, it’s still shocking. As humans, we are not innately programmed to think about mortality, and it is sometimes a curse that we are the only sentient species on the planet that are aware of it. I think a lot of us see celebrities as being immortal, but the truth is, they are not. It is the one thing which we all share – the inability to escape our eventual demise. We do not ruminate on it during everyday life otherwise we would find it simply impossible to function. But, when it happens to someone we love and admire, our brain is confronted with reality, and it is startled because it spends the majority of its time shielding us from it. We feel the shock reverberate through our body – sometimes physically, as we end up hiccuping through our sobs, or a tightness in our chest when it feels like our heart is physically aching.
Hearing about Matty’s death shocked me to my core. And yet, there was a part of me that was not surprised. After all, if you read his memoir – Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing – he had so many near misses with death that it genuinely made you wonder how it hadn’t happened sooner.
I listened to the audiobook version of his memoir last year and flew through it. It was heartbreaking, funny, and poignant – perhaps three words that best sum up Matthew Perry. For somebody who found so much joy and purpose in trying to make others laugh, he battled some dark, dark demons. He spent decades struggling with an addiction to alcohol and substances, and as a result, his body succumbed to real wear and tear.
In 2019, at the age of 49, he nearly died from a burst colon – the result of his overuse of opioids. He underwent seven hours of emergency surgery, with doctors only giving him a 2 per cent chance of survival. After the surgery, he slipped into a two-week coma and spent a further five months in hospital, as well requiring a colostomy bag for nine months, and another 14 surgeries to repair the damage.
He also shared another of his near-death experiences at a rehab facility in Switzerland, where had been taking hydrocodone to treat his stomach pain before surgery. In the operating room, they had administered Propofol – a common IV medication used for induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia – but the two drugs interacted and caused him to enter five minutes of cardiac arrest. (Note: cardiac arrest is not the same as heart attack which is caused by a blockage to the blood flow. CA simply means the sudden loss of all heart activity.) They managed to resuscitate him, but broke eight ribs in the process, causing him to pull out of his role in the film Don’t Look Up, alongside Meryl Streep.
It is at this point in the book, where he asks you to temporarily pause reading/listening and time five minutes with a stopwatch to appreciate the gravity of how long it actually feels, because while it seems like a short amount of time for us in everyday life, when there is nothing happening – at all – it feels like an eternity.
He also shared that more recently, he was diagnosed was emphysema – a disease that involves damage to the lining of the lungs and the destruction of alveoli – as the result of his decades of smoking, to which doctors told him that if he did not quit, he would die.
And yet, this is not even the tip of the iceberg of everything that he had been through.
But, he was on the road to recovery. After 15 trips to rehab clinics and $9 million dollars later, in 2021, for the first time in his life, he was completely sober – no drink, no drugs, no alcohol, and no smoking. He was passionate about helping people, especially those with addictions, and even opened his own sober living facility – Perry House – in Malibu, overlooking the pier.
And yet, I wonder if he had any idea how much he helped those he didn’t know – who tuned in to the television and turned on Friends because they found comfort and joy in the loveable, awkward, and sarcastic character that was, and is, Chandler Bing.
Of course, as you’ll have read above, Matthew wanted to be remembered for more than simply being Chandler. And, while it is undoubtedly true that the majority of people will remember him for this iconic role, I think it is important to at least try to honour his wishes.
It is true that Matthew lived a troubled life. And yet, it is evident – not only from the handful of tributes below, but also from the tens of thousands of tributes being posted from every corner of the world by celebrities and fans alike – that he was also a kind, wonderful, decent, and generous human being. From the way he would interact and smile with fans who came up to him on the street, to his appearances in interviews – everyone who came into contact with him, has nothing but nice things to say. And isn’t that a beautiful way to be remembered?
I know that this is a hard time for all of us, but when you feel ready, please read/listen to his book. It’s heart-wrenching, but I am thankful that he got to speak so candidly about his life. I know that for many of us, watching Friends will never be the same again, and if I am being honest, a part of me is tempted to never watch it again because I fear it will make me too sad when I remember what we have lost.
But then, I think, Matthew’s whole purpose was about making people laugh and helping others. He lived for it. And if Friends does both of those things, then doesn’t that mean that as long as we’re watching, his purpose and legacy lives forever, within all of us?
The world is a little less funny without him in it, and I am devastated that he never got his happily ever after when he fought so hard to survive. But, I hope that after all these years, he finally has the peace he so desperately yearned for.
So, while I and the rest of the world sit quietly in our grief, I will also take this opportunity to say thank you to Matthew – for our lives simply would not have been the same without him. He was there for us, until the very end.
Matthew Langford Perry. 19th August 1969 – 28th October 2023.
So, we’re nearing the end of November, and we all know what that means…. the decorations go up, the music starts playing in every single shop you enter, the awful itchy jumpers get pulled out of the drawer that never sees the light of day… and for the next twenty four days, if you haven’t started already, you spend your time painstakingly covering gifts in pretty paper which ultimately just going to be ripped apart and thrown in the rubbish….
However, I take some joy in wrapping presents. It’s a weird kind of relaxation… until you get your finger stuck on some sellotape and spend the next forty-five minutes trying to get it off, while it decides to stick to the table, the carpet, and the entire roll of wrapping paper.
Wrapping Christmas presents in our house is a wonderful thing. Now, I know that this isn’t the case for everybody, as I’m sure a lot of people hate the act of wrapping presents and can’t wait for them all to be done. But for me, there is just something so festive about wrapping presents under the glow of the twinkly lights whilst binge-watching all the cheesy, cliche, laugh-out-loud, romantic Christmas movies. Because what better way to get into the Christmassy spirit?
Whether you’ve started watching Christmas films or not, or whether you’ve seen these all multiple times or never before, here is a list of some Christmas films that will really get you in a festive mood!! (This is by no means all of them because if I were to list them all we’d be here forever!)
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Christmas with the Cranks (2004)
Elf (2003)
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone 2 (1992)
JustFriends (2005)
Klaus (2019)
LoveActually (2003)*
Miracleon34th Street (1994)
Nativity! (2009)
TheChristmasChronicles (2018)
The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)
The Holiday (2006)*
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Polar Express (2004)
The Snowman (1982)
And, of course, if you love cheesy made-for-TV films, here are some of my favourite:
AChristmas Melody (2015)
ARoyal Christmas (2014)
A Timeless Christmas (2020)
A Wish for Christmas (2016)
Christmas at Castle Hart (2021)
Christmas in Evergreen (2017)
Coming Home for Christmas (2017)
Heart of the Holidays (2020)
Holiday Hearts (2019)
Hometown Christmas (2018)
Last Vermont Christmas (2018)
Matchmaker Santa (2014)
Miracle in Manhattan (2010)
Mrs Miracle (2009)
Sleigh Bells Ring (2016)
The Sweetest Christmas (2017)
*These are probably my two most watched films over the holiday period. They’re rom-coms, but if I don’t watch them, then it never really feels like Christmas.
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