Hollywood Suite is offering a free month of its movie-centric stations this month. As a longtime subscriber to the channel, I can attest to its depth of catalogue, from genuine classics to, well, less-than classics.
While there are just too many movies to recommend (or whatever the opposite of recommend is), there are a few TV series that I’ve enjoyed over the years that you can find on Hollywood Suite. In the spirit of the season, here are some 100% guaranteed good series suggestions available on demand.
You would be hard-pressed to find a series with a less inspiring name than Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, but don’t let the title deter you. This 2024 ITV British production (with a title like that, could it be anything but British?) is the ultimate David vs. Goliath story. In 1999, a new system was introduced to the nation’s hundreds of sub-postmasters, basically mom-and-pop postal stations. But when money disappears from accounts, the post office blames the sub-postmasters, knowing the real problem was their faulty software. Careers were ruined, huge fines paid, and some people even went to jail to protect the post office’s reputation. Toby Jones, a familiar face to anyone who watches British TV (check out the quirky comedy The Detectorists on Acorn) stars as Mr. Bates, who quietly rallied his fellow sub-postmasters against the government. It has already aired on PBS, but if you missed it this is British TV at its best.
Still with the true crime category, The Allegation is a prize-winning series from Germany based on a sensational trial that took place in the city of Worms, where 25 people were accused of participating in a child sex abuse ring. But did it really occur, or were the children coerced into believing something that didn’t happen? One of the fascinating aspects of The Allegation is a look at how German trials are conducted, which is completely different from ours. The Allegation won the top prize at the Cannes International Series Festival, the TV equivalent of the film festival, in 2021. Just seven episodes of a half-hour each, it’s riveting viewing.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I highly recommend The Contestant, a documentary on the wildest, weirdest game show in Japan’s history.
The star of The Contestant is a would-be comedian named Tomoaki Hamatsu, who in 1998 got a part in a Japanese game show where he was locked in a small, virtually empty living space and stripped naked with no outside communication. The only way he could get the necessities of life, including food, was by entering and winning contests. It’s absolutely nuts what happens and says a lot about Japanese society. Exactly what, I don’t know.
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All of these suggestions are available on Hollywood Suite on Demand, in the category of films from 2000.
