I rarely review, recommend, or even mention movies and television programs. I rarely do so because I am aware that tastes vary and so too do family rules and personal consciences. Not only that, but I am not very adept at understanding the themes or messages in visual media and wouldn’t wish to inadvertently lead people into watching something that would offend them. (Aileen will attest that I often have to pause shows so she can explain to me what’s going on.) But today, without necessarily recommending it, I want to mention one show I have particularly enjoyed and tell what I have enjoyed about it.
I know that every genre of entertainment and every jurisdiction in which it is distributed has its own system for rating the content—from programs suitable for every audience to programs unsuitable for any audience (which should thus never have been made). On a personal level, however, I find that I increasingly divide films and programs into two categories: pleasant and unpleasant. While acknowledging that these categories are somewhat subjective, I find them helpful.
When the end of the day comes and I’m too tired to read yet not tired enough to go to sleep, I love to watch something with Aileen—to settle onto the couch together and be entertained for 45 minutes or so. And it is a joy to watch something pleasant. So much of today’s entertainment is violent or edgy, provocative or profane. So much of it is a thinly-veiled veneer for identity politics as if that message is so important that no other quality really matters. It’s unpleasant—and if it’s unpleasant in the middle of the day it somehow seems even more so at the end of a day.
It has been a long time since I have watched a show as pleasant as All Creatures Great and Small. It is now several seasons into its run and to this point it has avoided just about all of the common traps. While I will grant that there have been some isolated scenes that are a mite disagreeable, the great majority has been a joy to watch. It hasn’t merely avoided traps, but actually told engaging stories in a really satisfying way. The period is fascinating, the setting beautiful, and the characters deeply developed. While I keep waiting in dread for some immoral and anachronistic addition to the series, so far it hasn’t come. The writers have mostly just followed the stories from the books or written their own that are in the spirit of the books. It is all so pleasant and has become one of our favorite ways to end a long day.
So in its own way, All Creatures has reminded me just how pleasant and unprovocative television can be. It has reminded me of an earlier era in entertainment when much (though certainly not all) of what was available was actually watchable for those who don’t wish to see what shouldn’t be seen and amused by what shouldn’t be amusing. And I hope the show’s success helps the studios understand that if they keep out the raunch, hold back the politics, and simply tell good stories in a compelling way, they’ll have an audience eager to watch.
