Thanks, Mary.  I don't know if I get Netflix, but I'll check it out.

Sue

Sue, you have to subscribe to it separately, and unless you have a "smart TV" or Roku box or something similar, you'd have to watch it on your computer.  It's not a cable channel.  And Netflix is a monthly subscription service.  I don't know if The Crown is available to get from them on DVD or just streaming.  You'd have to check their web site to be sure.  I subscribe ($15/month) because of the movies that are available and now so much original programming (Longmire, etc.).  I have a Roku box that brings it into my TV.

Netflix just went up in price for us.  It is $10.75 a month and well worth it.  We only get the streaming Netflix --no DVDs.  We watch Netflix on our Apple TV box, although we do have a smart TV and could watch it without the box.  Last night we watched that old movie "To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.  Love that movie.

I don't know what I would do without Netflix.  I get it streaming on my smart TV and end up watching it a lot because mainstream TV is so bad.  Watched Benedict Cumberbatch last nightt in The Imitation Game about Alan Turing and the Enigma machine during WW II.  Interesting historically and Cumberbatch was good in it.

We watched the first episode of The Crown, last night, and both of us thought it was an excellent hour!  I'm so looking forward to seeing the entire series. 

Jared Harris, the actor who played King George, is one of my recent favorites. He had a memorable part in Mad Men, that left a lasting impression on me.  I thought he was very good as the dying King.  The actor who plays Prince Philip, is also very good, and John Lithgow, is perfect as Churchill! 

Tome - Thanks for reminding us.  I was planning to watch, but had forgotten about it, what with all the activity around Thanksgiving, and getting ready for Christmas.

I also have the Roku stick, in order to get Netflix streaming. We are hoping to get a smart TV, after the first of the year.  Washing machine comes first!

I certainly endorse the accolades for the Crown. I'm terrible with names so I can't recall who plays what part. John Lithgow is the exception and he does an outstanding portrayal of Churchill. Elizabeth's father, George 6th, is played by the actor who was the suicidal English executive officer in Mad Men. He plays the foul-mouthed king effectivey, but underplays the stammer which afflicted him severely. The role of young Elizabeth is quite remarkable. Her vocal nuances bear an uncanny likeness to the present queen, and I'm sure that if I did a blind hearing test I would have a problem distinguishing between the actor and the real one. This definitely worth watching.

I have just watched
all 10 episodes of The Crown  and
loved it.    I hope that they do
another season or two or three...

I am sure that there is plenty
of history to bring out.    Oh how
the Crown has changed through the
out the years...   Should be very
interesting to follow that through
until the end.   (if they in fact continue with this series)

Sandy

I believe that one of the reasons The Queen and Diana did not get along, was Diana's propensity to be in the spotlight (of sorts), and this was something that had always been drummed into Elizabeth, and she felt that way about her sister, Margaret.  The monarchy did NOT do or say anything that would paint them in a "celebrity" status.  Those of you who have not seen Episode 5 will note this especially.  Oh, don't let me get started here because I love this program so much and could just rattle on.  I don't know how many seasons this will run, but we have to remember Elizabeth has ruled for 60+ years, and there must be many stories to be told! 

No time for serious TV watching the past couple of nights, so tonight I can relax and watch Episode #3 of The Crown. I remember a number of things dealing with the Royal Family, that were in the news back in the 50's.  The romance between Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, made big headlines back then, and I'm interested in how it plays out in the next couple of episodes. 

Another thing I remember, was the lavish Coronation ceremony, when Elizabeth was crowned Queen. The TV picture was of course, in black and white, and very poor quality, but we didn't know any better back then. That summer, I went on a short vacation with my parents to British Columbia. I recall that the city of Victoria, was decorated in honor of the Coronation, with beautiful colored photos everywhere of the new queen, as well as souvenirs of all kinds.  I was probably a bit too young (18) to really appreciate the scope and the significance.   I might have some old photos that we took while there, and if I find them, I'll post them.

I remember the Royal Wedding as still in UK.  They have both made us Proud. A good match and good to see then still together. He must be about 92 now.

I see that "Anne of Green Gables" is on again tonight. Wonder if it is a second Series or just what was on Last Week.  I don't get "The Crown.  No TV when the Queen was married but I do have a full VCR of the Charles and Dianna one.  it was pretty big. Such a waste but at least got 2 good sons out of it.  Think the eldest will make a good King and I like the wife he picked.

"Anne of Green Gables" was a repeat of last weeks. PBS are pledging on every station. Don't know who would be sending money. Everything on are repeats. Even the one I watch for the cooking shows are doing the pledge in there. Again all old shows. People are going to stop following them soon.

Last night I watch on DVD the number 4 and 5 disc of the BBC show "The Cazalets" Have looked to see if I could find any more Series. Doesn't seem to be. The WW2 1942 was the date they were in then.  Wonder if was just cancelled. It did go back to Made in 2001 I think.  Wasn't bad. I would have carried on watching.

So far I've watched four episodes of The Crown, and still enjoying every minute.  I hope that all of you have a chance to see this wonderful series.

Other than that, I haven't seen anything worth mentioning.  Mostly just "vegging out" in front of the TV, staring at CNN, HGTV, or Nat Geo.  I haven't watched anything on TCM, because no movies on lately that interest me.  However, soon they will play all the old Christmas classics, like It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and many others that I love watching every year.   

I recently  "cut the cord"
on most of cable TV.   (Huge monthly/yearly savings)  ... $150 a month savings. 

I kept local channels  (ABC, CBS,  NBC, ION, CSPAN,  PBS and OWN..  (cost about $15
a month  for these "Local Stations" 

I now get everything else that I want thru Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime.   Also on  YouTube...   

I absolutely love it.

I feel like  a free Woman!!!

Sandy

     

Sandy. Now what are your using for you Internet? I just have the basic TV with Comcast that is $15.95 but it is the Internet that is so high now. That is where they just added another $25plus . Got to figure out as it is not worth the price I pay now to them.

Sandy - I admire your determination to "cut the cord"!  I'm sure it's saving you a bundle every month, but you still have plenty to watch on Netflix, Amazon, and the others.  I don't think I'd be able to do it.  I'm a news junkie, so I would miss all of those channels the most.  I especially like to compare how the different news channels cover a big event. (like the election, and now the new administration.)  For me, it's fun to watch CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Fox Business, and see how differently they each cover the same story.  The wide variety of guests and panel discussions, is what I enjoy most. (Often referred to as, "the talking heads".) LOL 

Jeanne - I'll have to take a close look at my cable bill, and see exactly how much I pay for internet.  We have the Comcast package, that includes full TV cable, internet and land line phone.

I had to keep Time Warner (now "Spectrum")
because theirs is the only
internet service that I  can get ... So through them I pay for internet service and starter cable... 

I use Roku to connect to my time warner, neflix, hulu,  amazon   and other services that I subscribe to.   

The cable news stations can be reached through a service called "Sling"..
(I choose not to subscribe to that)   

I have chosen to give up cable news for now....
As I am absolutely disgusted with 24/7 crappy
cable news.   

I can stay current without be
hounded via the news stations that Roku
offers and don't have to listen any  more to
the "bull" that is offered up via cable news,  Fox,CNN, and MSNBC....
(I was addicted to them for years... and particularly like Rachel and Lawrence O' ) 

Between Roku and the internet I can  get the
drift of whats happening around the world...
And  that is a whole lot more than I
ever got off from those cable news stations.

Since I cut the full cable services,  my brain
has stopped hurting and I sleep better !
(giggle) ...

I researched and took a long time to make
the cut ... As I live alone,  I have
complete control of my TV,  so I don't have to consider others.       

My children do not subscribe to cable either.
The younger generation learned  a long time
ago that good internet service gives them all
they need via their telephones.

Sandy - I get burnt out on the cable news too.  After the election, I swore off completely, but it didn't last long.  Now, watching all the various appointments unfolding, as well as the basic chaos, is addicting all over again. 
Back in my distant past, I majored in journalism in college, and then worked for a couple of newspapers.  I loved the pressure of deadlines! Getting the story, asking the questions, writing it up and moving on to the next one. This was print journalism of course, not television.  Things have changed a lot since then!  (understatement of the day!) LOL!

Very quiet in S and F today.  Think I am in to stay for a few days now. Just hope the car starts next time need it.  New Battery a few months ago but it needs running on such cold days.
Saw snow flurries coming down. Good time to prepare to stay indoors for days.
Have lots of letters to write and put into the few cards I send out. Mostly New Year Cards.

Got lots of movies and books from the library. Started on one with 5 discs covering the whole Series. So good. I had never heard of it. Its Australian. (A place to call Home). the name of it. One disc last for 4 hour. I couldn't make myself turn it off to go to bed. Must have been Midnight.

did  anyone watch Hairspray live.  I tried one hour and that was enough

Gloria de - I've seen three productions of Hairspray, over the years, and that was more than enough for me.  I usually like all musicals, but I really don't care for Hairspray, so I didn't watch the live TV version. 

JeanneP - Looks like you're all settled in and prepared for the weekend.  I saw on the news tonight, that it's going to be a cold one for all of you folks in the Midwest.  Stay home and stay warm.   

Gloria de, Not my favorite show but I watched it all.  I thought individual performances were good but the production in general was awful!  I guess they plan to do this sort of thing every year.  Ads said next year will be "Bye Bye Birdie".
I prefer to watch musical theater on a real stage.

Last night we watched episode #9 of The Crown, so only one more to go.  I'm going to be so sorry to see this series end!  They have stuck with historical facts, (as far as I remember them), and each actor has done an excellent job!  I have a few favorites, that I will maybe mention, after I've seen the final show.  I very much hope that there will be more of this series in the near future.

We will get "Sherlock" and "Victoria" in January and "To Walk Invisible-The Bronte Sisters" in March. In May, we'll get   "The hit Broadway show King Charles III, starring Tim Pigott-Smith" and  "Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt in Dark Angel, a new drama following Mary Ann Cotton--Britain's first female serial killer". 
Sweet little Anna as a serial killer?  Say it isn't so!!!!   

Callie - what a great bunch of shows to look forward to in 2017! To Walk Invisible-The Bronte Sisters, sounds especially good.  Like you, I can't imagine the sweet and faithful "Anna", as a serial killer!

Hubby went to a retirement dinner tonight, so I had my choice of TV shows to watch.  I picked Meet Me in St. Louis, on TCM.  I've seen it many times over the years, and always enjoy it.  I needed a "feel good" movie tonight, and it certainly qualifies as one!

We finished watching The Crown, last night, and now I can hardly wait for Season #2.  This show is a beautiful example of the high quality of TV programming, that is available to us now, on Netflix and Amazon. I hope that all of you who read this discussion, will have a chance to see this show.

All actors did a wonderful job of portraying the real members of the Royal Family, as well as Churchill, Anthony Eden, and all of the many people who worked for the Royal's. As I mentioned before, I remember most of the events that were depicted on the show, and I would say that the writers definitely stuck closely to the facts. 

The final scene was so well done.  Poor Margaret, betrayed . . . and Philip, feeling resentful and trapped. In fact, they were all trapped, including Elizabeth herself.  Still, she managed to impart that cool composure.  She was, and is, and amazing woman. 

Has anyone seen the movie 'Sully" with Tom Hanks playing Sully.  I tried to rent it last night but ITunes Store won't start renting until the 20th.  Looking forward to seeing it.

A funny thing happened to us.  We rented Bridge of Spies.  This nice voice constantly told us everything that was happening.  I told my husband it was driving me crazy and something must be wrong with the movie.  I looked at the settings and somehow had changed the captioning to voice.  It is a nice feature if you can't see well but it bothered me.

FlaJean - I'm laughing about the voice narration, on the movie Bridge of Spies!  It happens sometimes when you rent a DVD, and accidently push the wrong button.  It happened to us once, and I reacted like you did, and kept asking AJ to turn it off. He was puzzled and thought for some reason it was supposed to be that way, and that "the voice" was part of the movie.  We finally figured it out, and never made that mistake again!

We haven't seen Sully, as yet, but plan to watch it On Demand.  My husband is a big admirer of the real Sully, and is looking forward to the movie.

Tonight we watched one of the old classic Christmas movies on TCM - Christmas In Connecticut, 1945, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet.  It's a typical 1940's comedy.  Very predictable, but fun to watch.

I'm disappointed that my three favorite Christmas movies, are apparently not being shown on TCM.  Instead, they're repeating the same movies next week, that were just shown this week . . .  Meet Me in St Louis, Christmas in Conn., and The Shop Around the Corner.  Just watched them, so I don't want to see them again so soon. 
My three favorites that are not listed, are It's A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street.

I suspect that the missing three are available On Demand, and not for free? Could be that some are playing on Netflix or Amazon, so I'll take a look there. 

Marilyne, "White Christmas" is listed in my tv schedule tonight on AMC - 9:00 p.m. CDT.  The 1984 version of "A Christmas Carol" is on AMC at 7:00 p.m.

"It's A Wonderful Life" has been on several channels in the past couple of weeks but I haven't seen "Miracle on 34th Street" listed.