Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here hoping you are having a Happy New Year. Right after Christmas my novelist called the groomers, and found they are on holiday until the beginning of the year…which is now. Dear me. That means she will be contacting them soon. Seemingly, my holiday is quickly coming to an end. I know I will feel better after the whole grooming ordeal, but it is after all a whole grooming ordeal.

I suppose I should be coming up with a New Year’s resolution, but all I can think about is to aspire to be even more fantastic than I already am and that is a tall order. However, after having tea with Bernard D. Bunny and his little sister Belle yesterday, they beg to differ. They believe I need to be less arrogant. Less arrogant indeed. I asked them what their New Year’s resolutions were. They said to build a better home in the woods. And they call me arrogant. See if I bring Harney’s raspberry tea for them again. And with that thought, here is my novelist.   

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING SEASON FOUR (2024)- HULU

For one more holiday season binge-watching selection we are suggesting the fourth season of this fun and witty show. We have had Only Murders in the Building as our Stream of the Week before, but Gigi and I were so impressed with their fourth season we thought we would suggest it again, especially since the Golden Globes are coming up and we think it is almost as good as the first season. This time the murder is personal, and the cast is a little tighter which we think worked well. We do miss Theo Dimas, the deaf tenant, who is played by James Caverly this season as we think he is one of the most intriguing and complex characters on the show. But that said the question of who killed Charles-Haden Savage’s stunt double Sazz Pataki, makes for a thrilling and whimsical storyline. We do recommend you view the other three seasons first if you have never seen the show. But if you finished the third season, we strongly recommend watching the fourth.

The series takes place in an opulent apartment building in New York City called The Arconia which is a real Italian Renaissance building in New York City called The Belnord. Three of the residents of the building are former crime and action television star Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), his buddy Broadway play director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and millennial Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) who temporarily acquired her residence there by remodeling her aunt’s apartment. Unfortunately, after she finished remodeling it, she had to move out and is presently squatting in apartment 12E in The Arconia. The three of them do a podcast based on crimes, usually murders, that occur inside the building.

The fourth season starts where season three left off with Charle’s beloved stunt double Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) who worked with him on his show Brazzos, getting shot with a sniper rifle through Charle’s apartment window when she goes to retrieve wine for the cast party for Oliver’s play Death Rattle. At first Charles, Oliver and Mabel think she is just missing as the crime scene is cleaned up after they return to Charles’s apartment. But when Oliver gets a call from Hollywood producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) that she wants to make a movie of their podcast, the plucky trio heads to California to find out about the film and begin their search for the missing Sazz. Look for a number of famous guest stars who come in on various episodes to help move the plot along.