The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, October 29

Hello, all!

I’ve been meaning to share that I’ve been tuning into BBC’s W1A (which I can watch on Netflix), and I absolutely love it. (I’m about to talk about another television show briefly, but you’ll see in a second.)

Ramble of the Day

Prodigal Son’s on my television as I type this, and though the protagonist’s sister is hardly the most important character, but I still have thoughts. She’s a journalist, and wants to interview her serial killer father for a big scoop and to boost her own profile, but I can’t stop myself from saying (out loud and multiple times over) that’s there’s a conflict of interest. (It doesn’t help that, by the episode’s end, she wonders if her serial killer father has been painted negatively by her mother.)

Later, the protagonist is solving a crime — a wife admits to killing her husband, and another detective calls for Family Services to care for their 12-year-old son. “It’s ACS in New York City, which stands for Administration for Children’s Services,” my older sister quickly noted. “You can tell people who aren’t from New York wrote this.”

I’ll admit to being a very detail-oriented tv/movie watcher, and getting distracted by those little details. It’s always a little bit more difficult to look past when you’re so familiar with the details, through your profession or otherwise. It’s always an experience in wondering how much research the writers did, being critical of so many choices, and wondering if you’re being a bit too harsh before you notice another incorrect thing.

There aren’t enough journalism shows or movies for me, and I’m not eager to watch something else based in that world. (The latest example, Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, is apparently awful and unbelievable.) I have to imagine it’s much harder to navigate for lawyers, doctors, and lawyers, who end up with a lot of shows about them.

I know that’s the case with my lawyer sister, who I think used to be more frustrated with the inaccuracies of legal dramas than she is now. She’s moved on to a phase where she seeks out the newest legal dramas to enjoy their inaccuracies, like a light and enjoyable form of hate-watching.

Still, I wonder if writers should do a bit more due diligence if they’re trying to be experts on a given topic. One can still pack the drama while staying accurate — though it doesn’t get everything right, Grey’s Anatomy uses real medical cases for the tv doctors to solve. The rest of us can be some level of forgiving; I know I can and have, and will continue to be, and I think audiences in general have been. Meeting us halfway might be nice (but I still feel bad for pushing a little too hard, even though I think I’m right.)

tl;dr: Isn’t it annoying when tv shows and movies get details wrong about certain jobs when they’re focused on those jobs?

Links of the Day

Vlatko Andonovski is the new manager of the United States women’s team.

Ajax’s Sergiño Dest has chosen to represent the United States over the Netherlands.

Southampton players will donate a day’s wages to the Saints Foundation after the 9-0 loss at Leicester on Friday.

Guangzhou Evergrande has ordered manager Fabio Cannavaro to take an “enterprise culture studies class” as the team is in bad form.

Today’s longer read: Suzanne Wrack on the girls’ high school team from Vermont whose equal pay celebration went viral for The Guardian