Sleepers was originally a TV miniseries from 1991 and has taken forever to be re-released in video or DVD format. After years of false hope when the title got mixed up with the Woody Allen film in searches, I finally hit the day when the story description matched what I remembered.  Everyone involved: the KGB, CIA, British Secret Service, and the embedded spies, are willing to fight to the death not to return to the cold war but they still don’t trust anyone either. It pokes fun at the stereotypes of every nation in a friendly sort of way. There’s enough suspense to be interesting and sufficient happy endings to satisfy the romantics.  Highly recommended for sick days at home.

Whenever there’s upheaval in the news, and when isn’t there?, there’s something comforting in the black and white world of Benton Fraser, RCMP in the old series Due South
.  He always holds the door for women and stops his horse at a red light. It’s been a long time since it was on the air, so the styles are a bit retro now, but the stories are timeless in a quirky, offbeat way and there is a loyal cult following that shows no signs of dying out – see the Wikipedia entry for all the details.  Supposedly all the characters, no matter how brief the appearance, are named after Canadian historical figures, so see how many you know (Maggie Thatcher is the freebie.)

I do love happy endings.  There’s no promise that things will end happily for the minuscule crew of the infamous mining ship, Red Dwarf, but I’ve always wondered what happened to the toaster.  The caveat is that the three-part special (with an additional ‘making of’ ) will be broadcast over Easter weekend on the BBC, the original UK BBC.  BBC America is mum on the topic so it may be awhile before it makes it’s way across the pond although my guess is it makes to Youtube in less than 24 hours.  I’ll be checking;-)  In the meantime you can get ready with a Smeg shirt (and who doesn’t need one of those?)

Update -As predicted, Red Dwarf Back to Earth is now on Youtube – start the series here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhJRgI17suo