Weekend Watch

FXX began its Simpsons marathon today, all 552 episodes plus the 2007 movie running nonstop, in order, through September 1st—truly an accurate definition of a marathon, at least in the TV sense of the word.

But maybe you don't care for The Simpsons, or don't have the inclination to watch more than a few episodes, but you're still looking for something good to watch this weekend. If you have Netflix streaming, I have a suggestion for you: Happy Valley, a BBC police drama which started streaming yesterday.

The six-episode series is centered on Catherine Cawood, a sergeant in Yorkshire, so this isn't Prime Suspect or Luther: the main character is a patrol officer and not a detective, and the action isn't in London. (Not that those other shows are bad; it's just nice to have things changed up a bit from the standard Brit-cop procedural. Now that I think about it, DCI Banks also takes place in Yorkshire.)

British TV shows tend to be produced in much shorter seasons than American shows, which makes them perfect for a weekend binge. On the other hand, the wait for subsequent seasons often ends up being much longer, but sometimes that's the price of entertainment.