(This piece corresponds to one of the issues of the weekly newsletter of EL PAÍS Television, which comes out every Thursday. If you want to subscribe, you can do so through this link).
The end of summer has arrived, with the return to the daily routine. Behind us are weeks of disconnection and change of habits, and days in which many take advantage of the opportunity to resume series that they left unwatched or rewatch what they liked in the past. Well-known personalities also take advantage of the summer to resume titles that they left behind and settle pending accounts. We asked presenters, actors, journalists, writers and politicians which series they have watched this summer.
Among those questioned, there are those who have not watched enough television to give recommendations, such as Mercedes Milá, who has read a lot but has only seen a few documentaries. Or Carlos Franganillo, who has switched off from television and has only seen a few episodes of Commissioner Montalbano. Or Carlos Areces, “anti-series activist” because “they demand a fidelity and an investment of time that would make even the most jealous couple look ridiculous” and who claims that the last one he saw is Dead SLwhich he stars in.
Alba Lago, presenter of News Four, She has been hooked this summer on The Crowded Room (Apple TV+), with a Tom Holland that he finds sublime and where he “demonstrates his maturity as an actor,” he says. This thriller The psychological thriller is set in 1970s New York and focuses on the interrogation of a man who has been arrested for his involvement in a shooting. “It’s the best I’ve seen in a long time,” says the journalist.
Actor Ricardo Gómez has taken advantage of the summer to see See you in another life (Disney+), the series by Jorge and Alberto Sänchez-Cabezudo that tells the story of Gabriel Montoya Vidal, the first person convicted for the 11-M attacks. He has also brought back a miniseries that he saw years ago, Blood brothers (Band of Brothers; on Max, Movistar Plus+ and Netflix), the fiction that HBO released in 2001 that follows Easy Company, an American battalion that fought in Europe during World War II.
Borja Sémper, spokesman for the PP, has recovered Black Summer (Netflix), set in the early days of a zombie apocalypse. “I confess to being a post-apocalyptic and zombie movie geek. I watched the series months ago and watched it again this summer.” He has also joined the craze for Shogun (Disney+), the series set in 17th century feudal Japan, and the Argentine comedy The manager (Disney+). “It is probably the series I have enjoyed the most in the last year and which I finished watching this summer. In fact, you should watch any series or film that Guillermo Francella works on,” says the politician.
The actress Cayetana Guillén Cuervo has seen again The Messiah (Movistar Plus+). “I think it’s THE SERIES. It’s amazing, the best of recent years.” He also took the opportunity to pay off an outstanding debt and watch Borja Cobeaga’s comedy I don’t like driving (Max, Movistar Plus+), which also stands out. And recently it has recovered the first season of Fargo (Movistar Plus+, Prime Video). “It’s my favorite series.”
The journalist Jordi Évole, presenter of The thing about Évole On La Sexta, he answers from Amsterdam with some of the titles he has seen in these weeks. He has also taken the opportunity to put himself See you in another life. Also, add the comedies The manager and Nothing to the list, the two created by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat (and both on Disney+). And one of the cinematic phenomena of the summer has also been added, House on fire (House in flames)the film by Dani de la Orden that has been a box office success in recent weeks.
Actress Elena Rivera will star in the legal drama Losing the trial on Atresmedia, and that’s why he’s preparing himself by watching series with lawyers involved, such as Presumed innocent, Defending Jacob (both on Apple TV+) and The Good Fight (Movistar Plus+). She is also watching the new season of The manager —”one of my favorite series”— and adds comedy Palm Royale (Apple TV+) and Becoming Karl Lagerfeld (Disney+).
Pablo Iglesias, former second vice president of the Government, has seen again The Deuce (Max, Movistar Plus+), by David Simon. “It is a masterpiece about prostitution and the origin of pornography in the US,” he says. He has also watched the second season of The house of the dragon (Max), “which does not innovate with respect to what is already known in Game of Thrones”, he says. “And I have seen Marisol, call me Pepa (Movistar Plus+), fascinating, although it does not fully describe the violence suffered by Pepa Flores or the media attacks for being a communist (many from EL PAÍS).”
Journalist and writer Carme Chaparro has seen both seasons of The Capture (Movistar Plus+). “It mixes the best of British crime fiction with the use of technology, especially the second season, which focuses on AI and what secret services could already be doing around the world.” He loved it Earth sounds (Apple TV+), a documentary series about what the Earth sounds like and the creatures that inhabit it. “Magical and surprising.” Presumed innocent (Apple TV+) has seemed to him to be a very well-woven classic legal drama although “with an ending that tries to do too many twists to surprise”. And he has also taken the opportunity to watch Sugar (Apple TV+). “I have to confess that I discovered the magic trick quite early on. It seems like the typical private detective series about a missing person, very well shot, very intimate, and with a lot of character exploration, but at the end the bomb explodes.”
Actress Eva Isanta is on a theater tour and has not had much time to watch television, but she stands out Gypsy (Netflix), thriller psychological thriller from 2017 starring Naomi Watts as a therapist who gets too involved in her patients’ personal lives. She has also seen documentaries about Luis García Berlanga.
The presenter Juanra Bonet has repeated with Separation (Apple TV+). “Awesome, with a striking premise, a calm pace, beautiful aesthetics and a very good management of information for the viewer.” He also returns to the fray with Doctor Who (Prime Video, Disney+), this time accompanied by his five-year-old daughter. “I love the series, the character, I like science fiction, time travel. He is a character whose main driving force is curiosity and he goes without weapons. The closest thing he has to a weapon is a screwdriver. When there is danger, what he usually says is ‘run’, run and escape. Maybe I am a bad father, but I was raised to be cowardly and that is what I am going to do with my daughter, that at the slightest hint of danger, run away,” he laughs via WhatsApp audio.
The writer Elvira Lindo recommends the documentary series Stax (Max). “In four chapters, it tells the story of Stax Records, an interracial producer from Memphis that introduced black music to radio and the charts. This documentary tells the story of a musical milestone and its relationship to the history of civil rights. Music would not be the same today without those geniuses,” he explains.
Journalist Carlota Corredera says that her great television discovery of the summer has been The Sinner (Netflix). “I was fascinated. I watched all four seasons and fell in love with Bill Pullman forever. In the first season, I was dazzled by Jessica Biel, but Harry Ambrose’s character really captivated me,” she says about the role played by Pullman, the police officer who is the common denominator of four seasons that deal with different cases.
The journalist and writer Sandra Barneda does not hesitate to recommend Ripley (Netflix), the series starring Andrew Scott and in which Steven Zaillian adapts the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. “It’s a masterpiece for me, every scene is beautiful,” she sums up about the production that is nominated for 13 Emmy awards, including best miniseries and best lead actor in a miniseries.
The actor Brays Efe has seen this summer Ghosts (Max), by Julio Torres, a scriptwriter and comedian who he has been following for a long time. He highlights the series’ mix of genres to speak “very accurately about our reality.” “Very funny, it takes you to places that you don’t expect. It follows the story of a person who lives a somewhat marginal life and who has a special talent for things out of the ordinary.” The series begins with the protagonist losing an earring and becoming obsessed with the fact that one of the moles on his face has grown in size. “The only way he has to cut it off is to find that earring, and to do so he gets involved in incredible madness, where there is even a gay hamster disco or he has conversations with the water itself,” he describes in an audio message. “I loved it, it entertained me, and it goes beyond the ordinary and what populates almost all fiction now. It is something original and fun that speaks of reality very well without having to be realistic,” he concludes.
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