New Amsterdam (January 2019 TV Show, Season 1) - A Review by Mark Barry...

Happy Wappy E.R. Wannabe TV Show That Unfortunately 

Has Characters You Want To Scalpel (And Not In A Good Way)...

While "New Amsterdam" isn't quite the tripe some are saying it is (there is some good stuff in it) - unfortunately I can understand completely why so many are infuriated with it.

The scenarios are often laughably hammy, the punchline dialogue feels forced at almost every turn, the tangled relationships and faux tears, the Spanish dialogue that isn't subtitled so you can understand what's being said, and most of all, the staggeringly unhygienic scenes where people literally dance voodoo rituals as they cut a patient's skin and stick dirt in just before an open-heart procedure (because that's their cultural belief man). These things are completely at odds with the sterile environments of modern operating rooms (the doctor watches and is ok with a woman ranting like a banshee, smearing and spitting over the sedated patient – yeah right).

The sorry state that US medicine is in (dominated by money and nursing staff under siege from exploitive malpractice lawsuits) is addressed at times, as is the horrendous legally binding overmedication of most American youth - a health ticking time bomb if ever there was one. But it's always with a falsely upbeat outcome and never the reality of how the US government simply panders to big pharmaceutical cash cows while patients of all ages get hooked, damaged, destroyed and even get dead. Throw in a leading man that's a Matthew Fox wannabe dispensing hippy medicine and cures for broken internal hospital rules in his sneakers and perfectly sculpted morning stubble that never grows or changes - complete with a pregnant wife who always seems to have perfect hair after a labour emergency and a sloppy, rotund but loving therapist who looks like a friendly lion straight out Good Will Hunting goodness school – and you begin to get the level of cheese you're being ask to swallow.

In these days of too much darkness, I love hopeful (who doesn't) and "New Amsterdam" clearly seems to think it has something enlightening to show us at the centre of its saccharine-clogged aorta (positivity will cure everything including corporate greed), but IMO it just fails on too many fronts, offering up too many unrealistic set pieces to remain believable and therefore truly touch you.

What a shame. I've watched only two episodes and its already irritating me too much. And after Amazon's triumph with the stunning and award winning "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" across two whole seasons and the sheer energy and hutzpah of their "Sex and The City" meets "Girls" Indian take on young lives in "Four More Shots Please!" – that's a real disappointment. 

Give it a go for sure, but be warned, I have facial stubble and I will diagnose you with it...

"Four More Shots Please! Season 1" (January 2019 on Amazon Prime) - A Review by Mark Barry...

Get Drunk with "Four More Shots Please!" Season 1

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Sexy, crude, rude and utterly at odds with the endemic poverty that infects so much of India's mainland - "Four More Shots Please!" is pure fantasy - an Indian "Sex & The City" meets "Girls" that’s very funny, hip and bristling with life - and I for one am down with that.

It's beautifully filmed in 4K making the absolute most of downtown Mumbai locations, the sleek interiors of glass skyscrapers and bonfire-lit Goa beaches. It also gets that right mix between personal fun, exploratory snappy dialogue and social commentary - taking none-too-subtle blasts at many Hindi stereotypes and lifestyle restrictions as the four ladies giggle, booze and navigate their way through a world still very much locked into the old ways.

The four leads are gorgeous (of course) – Sayani Gupta plays Damini, the young and conscientious journalist fighting to keep her investigative start up company relevant in a media market obsessed with gossipy celeb news and salacious titbits – while Anjana is a divorced single mum lawyer and oldest of the group (played lustily by Kirti Kulhari) – her character's life revolving around her adorable but precocious four-year old daughter Ayra. Then there's the well-endowed but physically naïve Siddhi who is played sweetly by Maanvi Gagroo - the youngest of the group who eventually resorts to some exposure of her own to counter her mum's constant put-downs. And finally - there is the wild and funky personal trainer Umang, played by a sensational Gurbani Judge – a lean mean long-haired panther machine who's all midriff tattoos, toned biceps and bulging eyes for the ladies – especially a Bollywood star whom she falls for like a cement mixer that's bursting – even if that star isn’t willing to trade love for fame by doing the brave thing and coming out.

The disparate bubbly group convenes several times a week in their fave bar "Truck" (where they met one terrible fateful night) and natter openly about men, work, family, sex, pleasure (or the lack of it) and pretty much anything else that jumps to mind. There's bisexuality, gayness, the difficulty of navigating a career in a predominately men's world, single parenthood, weight obsessions, pushy parents, workplace affairs, old flames, snogging on beaches and not remembering who you were with the night before or why. There is lots of discussion on lady bits and of course the big one - how do you find love in the modern world of smartphones vs. actually talking to someone. "Four More Shots Please!" is well written and the large cast eats it up and most of the men are hunky and likeable too (this program will undoubtedly make the ladies and their male counterparts bigger stars than they probably already are).

It should be noted that as the characters speak, the expletive-loaded rapid-fire dialogue in every episode often lapses from English into Hindi without any warning or onscreen explanation. Baring this in mind - I suggest that 'before' you watch any of the ten instalments, go the Menu bar above the Amazon program's photo square, move across and set the Subtitles button to 'English On'. It may be a pain having the words on the bottom of the screen but at least you'll be able to keep apace and get a gist of what's being said.

"Four More Shots Please!" is very funny in places too. But what I liked most (and what kept me watching) is the life force that is coursing through its admittedly over-pretty veins. This is India standing up to the West and saying yes we're beautiful too - yes we're sexy too - this is a young Bollywood wanting to be counted. For sure the girls all have too much money, apartments to die for, Carey Bradshaw costume changes every five seconds without the wherewithal to pay for any of it - but that doesn't stop "Four More Shots Please!" being great fun and shockingly open and deep at times about a culture that all too often wants to sweep anything that's not the religious norm under a very heavy carpet.

Raising yet another shot-toast at their favourite watering hole, the feisty character Umang shouts over the girly din, "Kick it in the balls!"

And indeed they have. Dig in and enjoy and well done to all involved...