Having not even known Good Omens was getting another adaptation, first one being a radio drama I have not listened to, I can say I was definitely taken by surprise seeing the end product. This is one of those cases where staying true to the source material paid off handsomely and resulted in a show that's distinctly not formulaic despite the fact you could probably summarize it as a “buddy cop comedy”.

Like all good stories we have to start at the beginning – garden of Eden. Everyone knows the story about Adam and Eve, but what you may not know is that demon Crowley assumed the form of the snake to tempt and angel Aziraphale gave his flaming sword to Adam when he and Eve left Eden. Aside from the “did you lose your flaming sword?” that gets brought up couple of times in the show, for a surprising callback in the finale, the premise is used to setup that both of our main characters may be atypical of their angel and demon kin as both worry they may have done good and bad respectively, and wonder how it'll turn out. Main part of the story deals with the birth of Antichrist, execution of the God's Great Plan as Hell and Heaven will finally meet in Armageddon, Horsemen of the Apocalypse returning to end the world... and our two apparent protagonists, who have definitely gone native in the millennia they spent among mortals, kinda like this world and don't want to see it turned to ash. Cue intentional incompetence and well-meaning intentions to avert the end of the world as everyone seems intent on bringing it about.

Lest you think this is a production done on the cheap to capitalize on myriad of book adaptations we're seeing more and more, I'd like to reassure that's definitely not the case. This has the production values to back it up and that comes through when we witness timid Aziraphale and cheeky Crowley over the centuries as their accidental camaraderie grows seeing as they've been stationed on Earth without leave. Tennant and Sheen absolutely carry the show as the hilarious duo up to no good shenanigans and balancing each other out. Not to say other characters or their portrayals were bad, except for the kids which are meh due to child actors generally being hit or miss, but lead casting was phenomenal for a show that doesn't really go for laughs-per-minute approach and instead embraces that snarky and, for the lack of a better word, sophisticated humor that keeps you constantly entertained if that's your thing or is unbearably dull and misses the mark if it's not. This is ultimately subjective and I'm not sure how to sell a show based on the fact.

Good Omens gets a rock solid recommendation from me. Maybe because I don't really watch comedies that often, but the juxtaposition of comedic characters who are STILL taking all of this very seriously, and there are very real stakes at hand, is entertaining on its own merits to me. Making good use of Queen songs for soundtrack and expanding certain bits from the book, such as Gabriel having an actual role, doesn't detract either. That's without taking into account some genuinely witty and sharp writing as befitting considering at least one of two authors was directly involved with the show. REST IN PEACE, TERRY PRATCHETT.

To be perfectly honest I have kept my eye on What We Do in the Shadows ever since I heard the show was in the works. Why? Well, because I liked the original movie. Did the show live up to its full length namesake? Only one way to find out, but let's just say the answer is both more and less straightforward than you may expect.

What's a mockumentary? Basically, it's when the characters themselves are aware of the “crew” filming them and is usually justified by characters being filmed as part of some media project on top of obviously mocking its subject. In this case we have three vampire roommates, and human familiar, living together in an old house on Staten Island. Why? They all have their circumstances for ending up in the New World, but I assure it's all highly comedic and hijinks ensue as we quickly find out these licks; husband and wife – Laszlo and Nadja – along with Nandor the Relentless, don't really know how to pass for normal humans despite centuries they have on them. Vampires of very much traditional convictions aka subjugate humans to serve as amusement, who end up relying on Nandor's human familiar Guillermo as a sort-of feeble link to humans of Staten Island as they find themselves fascinated with the area out of laziness to actually do anything past brutalizing and feeding. Did I forget to mention there's an energy vampire also living with them and they only got him on-board to help pay rent? Characters are really what makes this show, but that's where we kinda get into problems...

They didn't get together for me. Any one of these vampire, except maybe Nandor who comes off as too much of a buffoon to exist for as long as he has, could perhaps work on their own yet combining them together really brings out how similar they are. As a result it mostly comes down to differences in mannerisms. When everyone's a boisterous and domineering predator it kinda gets old quickly. Which may be why I would've liked to see more of Collin who stands distinctly apart due to his nature seeing as he gets his jollies from people's emotional state. Needless to say he works as an office worker, and has no usual vampire weaknesses in the first place, and from what we see he drives his co-worker to madness.

Problem with characters is largely remedied by the fact there's very little overarching story and What We Do in the Shadows works on episodic format for the most part. Sure, show hints at something more major when this ancient vampire comes over from Europe and seemingly charges the group with taking over the US, but it is played for laughs at the end of the day because of how incompetent they are when you get down to it. Which is strange because they have powers of mesmerism, shapeshifting and other feats of physical prowess. Absurdity and overreactions to commonplace things is where most of the comedy comes from so feel free to take what you want from that.

Would I recommend this one? Maybe. Check out the movie first because the show is essentially a remake with different cast. Or so you would think until later on in the show when a vampire council episode comes featuring a start studded cast of vampires from recent years with absences duly noted.

Before it becomes really obvious I rather liked Chernobyl as a show I should probably point out this clearly was not a documentary. As such it takes liberties, particularly with a certain character that even show itself points out in the end credits and perhaps exaggerating fallout's global consequences, and should be taken for what it is – drama made to be consumed by viewing audiences. If hard facts are what you're interested in I imagine there are better options out there.

With all of the above taken into account I still find it hard to believe Chernobyl got the mood and mindset of the time so right. Set against the horrendous events surrounding the nuclear power plant disaster near Pripyat there's the backdrop of USSR vs US and what ramifications that would end up having, Soviet inner policy with KGB influences, etc. This is all seamlessly conveyed to you as events unfold and you realize getting something done isn't exactly as clear-cut as you may think when default responses to events was to hide them under the rug until the radioactive cloud got so bad it was no longer possible to do so as other countries noted the increase in radioactivity.

What can I really say about the historical events themselves? Not much. Show will do plenty on that front; with both how it came to be, painful measures taken, and ultimately the resolution itself alongside laying the blame. What really works here is you essentially have a story that follows events from hours before nuclear catastrophe and involves many players. From our main protagonists Valery, Boris and Ulana, last of which is the above mentioned made up character meant to represent all the other scientists who actually helped Valery to deal with the escalating situation, to various other government officials, power plant workers and management themselves as well as unrelated parties. It's an all-around excellent cast, but we were fortunate to have Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgard perfectly cast as chief nuclear scientist and minister of energy who have to get on-site and see what the situation really is. Things go from bad to worse. One thing that may detract from the show depending on how authentic you want your Eastern Block cinema to be, is that half the characters speak English with appropriate accents and some go full Queen's English. It grows on you as the show goes on.

Now, all of that above is also helped tremendously by some excellent cinematography at hand. I would list some standout scenes, but I think the entire show is filmed amazingly well. This is before the area became desolate and abandoned so you get that vivid panic as the government finally releases a statement about what happened and people start moving. Not to mention what follows as radiation rich zones have to be purged. Slip from your everyday town to grim depression is handled outstandingly with both visuals and limited use of music. Silence tends to speak for itself a lot in this one.

I'll end this piece the same way I started it and say Chernobyl gets a thumbs up. Keep in mind this is somewhat of a downer. It's also a whole lot of people talking about... well, less about science beyond the very basics and more about the humanistic side of it all. There's also Ulana doing the investigative bits which actually help explain how and what transpired. Not sure if I would advise binging, though.