BEST OF THE REST
MODERN LOVE Amazon Prime FOR 15 years, readers of The New York Times have been sending in personal essays about their relationships, feelings, betrayals and revelations. The weekly Modern Love column has inspired this TV series which sees eight stories brought to life.
The half-hour romantic comedies explore love in all its forms.
A stellar cast – Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, John Slattery, Dev Patel, Andrew Scott and Andy Garcia to name a few
– is worth tuning in for even if the concept doesn’t grab you, and the whole series drops on Amazon today.
The first story sees Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother) play single woman Maggie, who forms an unnatural but rather sweet relationship with the doorman of her building.
In another episode, Patel is a whizz businessman who wants to launch a dating site, but has his own love story to deal with at the same time. Hathaway gives an astonishing performance as a woman dealing with bipolar, while Tina Fey and John Slattery are a couple working out if they will still have a future once the kids have left home.
Each standalone episode is like a mini Hollywood movie and brings a suckerpunch of emotion. REALITY CARAVANNING WITH SHANE RICHIE Channel 5, 9pm IT SEEMS Shane Richie, once a holiday camp Blue Coat, has signed up to be a walking, talking, advert for the famous British caravan holiday.
“They are marvellous but misunderstood!” says the entertainer.
“Some people can get quite snobbish about it, but I say don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
With caravan holidays apparently on the up – some two million enjoyed them last year – Shane visits various parks across the country, joined by family and friends as he tries to convince them it’s a good idea.
“What are we looking forward to the most?” he asks his wife and three kids en route to Golden Sands in Rhyl, north Wales. “Going home,” says wife Christie.
This occasionally swings into an odd travel review as Shane runs through amenities – do we really need to know if towels are included? – but when he joins the on-stage entertainment – of course he does – it’s a lot more fun.