The Saucy Wenches Book Club

I discovered TV in the early 1960s: wholesome, twin-beds-in-the-master-bedroom comedies like I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, children’s stories every Sunday night on The Wonderful World of Disney, and then the “really big shew”, The Ed Sullivan Show, where I met the Beatles, Topo Gigio, Stiller and Meara, Señor Wences, and that guy who ran around balancing spinning plates on tall poles, who has served as an ongoing metaphor for my entire life.

Which were all well and fine, but I as my age approached double digits, I began to seek weightier subjects that engaged my brain more deeply.

The dramas that grabbed me were the ones that showed me strange new ways of looking at our world, challenged my assumptions, and made me think. All of them were sci-fi and suspense-with-a-twist, and the suspense was enhanced by the fuzzy, disappearing reception on our TV antenna.

These old shows ignited a voracious hunger in me for dark-and-deep-and-twisty stories, and it has been exceedingly…

Another Friday, another Fangirl post. I was thinking about doing another Man Candy post for our first post hiatus, and I remembered how I had promised another Superhero Man Candy post! (You can check out the first one here.) I'm a woman of my word, so here we are! 



This time let's take a look at the dudes that make Marvel's Netflix series fun to watch apart from the plot and all that. And some of the reasons why I'll be binge watching The Defenders as soon as it's available!

Click here to read more.

You guys are in for a treat, thanks to Saucy Reader Patricia's brilliant suggestion, I am making your Friday even happier by sharing some sinfully delicious man+woman candy from Fox's LUCIFER. (Which you guys should definitely be watching if you aren't already! It's clever, funny, sexy, and entertaining as hell!) 



Click through to read more! 

This is a great time for TV. There are so, so many good shows out and so many different platforms producing TV. It's a really beautiful thing for someone like me. I work over forty hours a week, nights and weekends, and I have a three year old. I don't have much time or energy for going out to the movies. But, with so many fantastic shows out right now, I don't have to. There are so many shows I could talk about, but given what kind of blog this is and the plethora of choices, for today's Fangirl Friday, I'm going to focus on TV shows that are based on books. There are/have been some absolutely SPECTACULAR translations just in 2017. They are spoiling us, really. So, sit back, relax, and follow me after the break to discuss some great TV shows of 2017.

I recently watched Victoria on Masterpiece Theater and enjoyed it so much that I want to share it with you. It’s another impeccably well written, acted, costumed, and staged British period drama aimed at the same audiences that enjoy Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, and The Queen.

Victoria follows the young Victoria from the time she becomes Queen of England through the birth of her first child. Jenna Coleman is absolutely enchanting as Victoria, and there are strong supporting roles for Tom Hughes as Albert, Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne, and Outlander’s Nell Hudson as Victoria’s servant.

I’ve generally thought of Queen Victoria as a dour old prude, in part because she spent half her life mourning the death of her soulmate and in part because an era associated with repressive social standards bears her name. Yet this show portrays her as exuberant, independent, playful, outspoken, and quite determined once she sets her mind to something (i.e., genteelly kickass). She’s a joy and…

For the last few months, I’ve had a voracious hunger for harrowing post-apocalyptic dystopias. It’s one way of drowning out the din around me, or at least distracting myself, for a while. It can be maddening, inspiring, cathartic, and strangely soothing.

This was the genre I loved in high school and college, titles like 1984, Brave New World, Alas Babylon, Lucifer’s Hammer, and The Stand. They explored the best and worst of innumerable possible paths through devastation triggered by nuclear war, asteroids, toxic pollution, or aliens — leaving survivors to begin again without government, technology, and infrastructure, or to weather the rise of authoritarian, totalitarian, and fascist regimes. The latter was my least favorite post-apocalyptic theme.

As I discovered new stories, I pounced on them: The Postman (the novella, NOT the movie), The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hunger Games, The Passage, Station Eleven, and a lengthy list of more.

I’ve been wanting to revisit my old favorites, but r…

A Diet You Can Actually Stick With.

I've been putting off tackling my daunting TBR list, and catching up on all my usual shows. So, of course, it makes sense that I'd start a brand new one. Because, why not? 

I was browsing Netflix and saw Drew Barrymore, figured I'd give the first episode a go, and that was it. I was hooked. 

Click through to read why you should definitely give Santa Clarita Diet a chance! (NO SPOILERS!)

In the fall of 2005, through friends at work, I was introduced to the joy that is Gilmore Girls. I was hooked from the start. Rory was my age, though a year behind me in school. Lorelai was the best thing to ever grace my TV screen. I couldn't get enough. I used my brand new DVR to record the reruns every morning on ABCFamily. I watched the new episodes every week and discussed them the next day with my co-workers. Even after the final season, I continued to watch the daily reruns over and over. I've seen all of these episodes so many times, my husband knows them by heart too. And, then, miracle of miracles, a Netflix revival was announced! The heavens rejoiced! Well, maybe not quite, but I rejoiced for sure. The revival was released a little over a month ago and it was A. MAZ. ING! That is why I'm here today, on this Fangirl Friday, to gush about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Spoilers abound, so be wary and keep reading after the break!

One of my all-time favorite television series is Gilmore Girls, a show about the relationship between a thirty-something single mother and her brilliant teenage daughter. Gilmore Girls had a seven-year long run from 2000 to 2007.

This is a British baking tv show. You watch ordinary people baking the most delicious treats in the world. You learn something new, your waist line seems to expand just by watching them bake, you get a desire to learn how to bake (if you are like me and know nothing about baking), and you conclude that baking must be some kind of alchemy.



For this fangirl Friday I've decided to write about (and fangirl) about the Bake Off. There are a quite few reasons why I love it.

I knew I had a Fangirl post due, but was running low on inspiration. I happened to go through a bunch of old DVDs to find something cheerful to rewatch and came across Coupling. Which is probably one of my favorite TV shows ever, and something I have the happiest memories of watching with my best friend over the years, and after introducing it to my siblings and other friends, more rewatches than most other comedies series I've watched. 

Click through so I can tell you just a few reasons why Coupling is something you should definitely at least TRY watching, especially when you're in the mood for some top notch comedy. 

I recently spent a weekend watching the Faith episode of the Starz series Outlander on an endless loop, and I’m still so emotionally wrung out that I can’t even imagine fangirling about anything else on this Fangirl Friday. It was an absolute masterpiece!

At its heart was a mesmerizing passage through the gut-wrenching depths of loss and forgiveness, anchored by a riveting, award-worthy performance by the stunning Caitriona Balfe as Claire Fraser. Here’s where having a glass face works against the audience, because watching the stages of grief wash across Cait’s face, in all their tragic glory, evoked a tsunami of emotions in me. Her palpably raw anger and despair literally made my chest hurt — for an entire hour.

That is some damn fine acting.

I can’t remember the last time I cried so intensely over fictional characters. This was like experiencing the death of my own family member. It was too real. I still cry whenever I think about it. Like now. I don’t expect that will change, e…

Season 2 of Outlander is upon us. It's a must-see series for many of the Wenches, and you can guarantee that most of us have read some, if not all, of the books to date. With that in mind, we thought it would be a perfect time to discuss what we are dying to see transferred from the book to the screen. Plus we're just a little bit curious as to what the writers might have changed to meet the requirements of adaptation. After all, television is a different medium to books, and what works in the books doesn't always work on screen.

Join us after the jump for our thoughts on season 2. If you haven't read Dragonfly in Amber yet, be warned that we do talk about events in that book, so spoilers abound!

I’ve had a theory lately about the proliferation of aliens on TV. Vampires were all the rage for a few years, with various comparisons drawn to a general feeling in Real Life of being sucked dry by the Evil Forces of Greed. Then the zombies shuffled in, as we stumbled around after the Great Recession trying to get our bearings and figure out how to survive in our new economic landscape.

But lately there seems to be a rising number of aliens on TV — and I’m not just talking about the media circus surrounding the U.S. Presidential election shenanigans. Even The X-Files made a brief reappearance! A few of the new aliens have been invading Earth and setting themselves up as overlords, whether for nefarious or benevolent purposes. The recently aired Childhood’s End was a good example of this, based on Arthur C. Clarke’s classic book from the 1950s.

But my favorite new sci-fi show is Colony, set in a not-too-distant, dystopian version of southern California that has been divided by giant …

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
~ L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between

I have been caught again watching a TV period drama and loving it.
I may have told you already how much I like historical period dramas, and when they are done properly and the acting is good and believable, they captivate me. A Place to Call Home has captivated me lately, and I’d like to tell you a little about it. I will keep my description short and try not to have too many spoilers, in case you’ll want to watch it.
Come with me and you are in for a treat.

My favorite new show this year is Blindspot, which premiered on September 21, 2015, and focuses on a mysterious tattooed woman (Jaimie Alexander) who has lost her memory. The FBI discovers that each tattoo contains a clue to a crime they will have to solve. It’s a fast-paced drama with lots of action and intrigue. With every passing day Jane unveils a new skill or a hidden talent without understanding its origin. Who is Jane Doe – is she an asset or an enemy? Who erased her memory? And who is behind the cryptic tattoos?

I first heard about The Crimson Field because a director working on some Outlander episodes* tweeted that it was his next project. The show sounded interesting, but when it aired in the U.S., I was so busy watching Poldark that I missed it. I finally got around to binge watching this show recently, and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to spread the word.

The Crimson Field takes place in a fictitious British field hospital on the French coast at the beginning of World War I. It was originally broadcast by the BBC in 2014, as part of its World War I centenary season, commemorating the war’s 100-year anniversary.

Casualties come to this hospital, from far and wide, to heal and be healed — from the ravages of the battlefield, the cruel conventions of civilization, the loss and longing that life throws everyone’s way. But this is no grand epic, it’s like a cultured British version of M.A.S.H. (though not nearly as funny). These gritty challenges are translated into heart-warming or -break…

If you're like me, you're going to be looking forward to Halloween and alllll the scary movies that will be on TV, all the Halloween-themed episodes of your favorite shows, and best of all, the books. Rereading my favorite horror reads on All Hallow's Read is one of my favorite things. 

I talked about my favorite classic horror must reads here. And now I'm going to tell you about some authors who make scaring you into an art. You'll have plenty of time to get these books in time for Halloween! 

Click through... if you dare.

Last week Barb told you about the very attractive men that populate the hit TV show How To Get Away With Murder here, and this week we decided to give the women equal treatment. It's only fair, since this show clearly has one of the most attractive casts to ever grace our TV screens! 
If there's one thing Shondaland has taught the world, it's that there's no one way to be a woman. That strong women don't fit any one box (Although many TV and movie writers clearly think the only "strong" women are those that kick ass in leather and remain largely poker-faced throughout every ordeal). The women of How To Get Away With Murder are complex, broken, manipulative, sometimes tragic. They love, they hate, they're loyal, and capable of betrayal. And they are awesome. And it doesn't hurt that each and every one of these women is absolutely gorgeous! 

Click through to read. *Will contain minor spoilers for season 1*

Many months ago Zee told me that I should be watching How To Get Away With Murder, but the
season was far enough along that I couldn't get all of the episodes on Hulu, and it wasn't yet on Netflix, so I decided to wait until I could watch the whole season in one shot. When Netflix finally got the first season, I did, indeed, watch the whole thing in one shot--four days to be exact. And now I am completely, utterly hooked. It is my favorite thing on television at the moment.

HTGAWM is such a spectacular, flawless show that there are a million posts we could write, each about different facets of its perfection, but today I'm going to focus on the shallowest of reasons that this show is amazing--the stellar Man Candy. Whoever does the casting for this show is a person after our Wenchy hearts, because not only are the men gorgeous (you'll see) but their characters are smart, funny, flawed, and just all-around great. Even when they're despicable they're still great…