'Why Aren't You Writing?'

(Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland in the New Zealand series, "The Brokenwood Mysteries.")

 Lately, some friends have been asking what I'm doing.
My answer is, I've been trying to pitch in more -- plus keep in touch with family and friends -- plus follow the Mets. 
That does not leave much time for feeding my personal beast on the Web.
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We've also been discovering the little treasures that pop up on the two public channels in our area -- Channel 13 and WLIW21. 

For a year or two, we were caught by a Swedish series, "Before We Die"  -- Stockholm cops, Euro crime family, tangled family ties -- that gave me chills I had not experienced since "The Sopranos."  (Later, a British version of "Before We Die" proved to be a gabby failure.)

This past winter we got hooked on a French series, "Astrid et Raphaëlle," about a Paris cop who notices that an office worker is autistic, and has the ability to notice and decipher clues, physical and psychological. Before long, the inspector is taking Astrid along on cases -- relying on her intuition. 
I often wonder how Astrid, the French-Norwegian actress, Sara Mortensen, manages to change gears from her introverted persona when she goes back into the real world. 
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As a former news reporter, I am fascinated by the police methods in "Before We Die," and "Astrid et Raphaëlle." And that brings me to "The Brokenwood Mysteries," in a small New Zealand town that seems to have more than its share of characters -- golfers, actors, a snarky young Maori guy -- and an extraordinarily high murder rate. Good grief, we once visited friends in Wellington for a week, and NZ seemed like the most civil place in the world.

The Brokenwood series began a decade  ago, without my knowing, and at some point there was a new inspector with his own dark side-- Niall Rea, who makes no secret of his past divorces (three? five?) and he admits he deserved every one of them. He also has well-developed detective skills, and quickly makes the judgment that the local assistant, played by Fern Sutherland, is smart and brave, and he treats her with respect. 

I like the New Zealand police series whereas I scorn the British detective series on the tube because the folksy bumpkin detectives are always explaining things to the suspects. Shut up, already. Detectives keep things to themselves; they do not conduct therapy sessions for their suspects. In  a recent episode from "Brokenwood," a suspect is entitled to a suave lawyer, who protects his client, Just like real life.
The most recent episode of "Brokenwood" had a country music theme -- the regional star breaks the news that she is moving to, of course, Nashville. Needless to say, she does not live out the night.
With my background of helping write Loretta Lynn's autobiography, "Coal Miner's Daughter,"  traveling around with the Loretta entourage, I am familiar with the fans -- known as "the bugs" to my old musician pals on Loretta's bus. Rea's detective, himself a country buff, notes that avid fans know everything about the mysteries and jealousies of the traveling band. 
"Brokenwood" was filmed a decade past, and the personnel has moved on. If the inspector and the assistant fall for each other, please do not tell me. 
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More public TV:  Irish music, including including a series of intimate performances in lovely Irish castles, in a series called "Tradfest."  The interviewer is Fiachna Ó Braonáin, a longtime member of the great Irish band, Hothouse Flowers. My wife and I love how the musicians respect each others' work.  So that's what I've been doing in my spare time, instead of typing.