I googled Mick Herron, creator of "Slow Horses" and the new show, "Down Cemetery Road." To my consternation, I discovered we are of the same age -- in fact, we are the same age. It used to be that stories about grizzled, cantankerous characters were created by grizzled, cantankerous writers, people who resembled my grandparents. This recent discovery, coupled with a visit to the mirror, revealed the inevitable: I look like my grandparents. So I guess the world is still, in some ways, in order. 

"Slow Horses" has been a favorite of mine for a long time. In the world of unrealistic and crackling-but-impossible "Mission: Impossibles," watching tired, jaded professionals getting the job done is ultimately very satisfying. I am no longer -- don't think I ever was -- a fan of the modern crime shows in which police officers work in crystal cathedrals of screens, computers, cameras that can zoom in to a fingernail from space, and who seem to spend far more time at the gym than solving crimes. Gary Oldman has really leaned into the slob for this role, going full Christian Bale on the pastries. Hats off to him -- although not mine, since his Jackson Lamb looks like he has a dandruff problem. In the end, I think it's more honest, and more robust, to present a (more) realistic portrayal of how things get done in the world. When we tell young people that problems can be solved by magic, witchcraft and impossible technology, we get people who aren't equipped to deal with reality. Although many of those folks today are billionaires, so maybe I'm not someone you ought to be listening to. 

Herron's world is expanding with "Down Cemetery Road," featuring one of my all-time favorites, Emma Thompson. I had enjoyed her performances for so long in Merchant/Ivory dramas, and was impressed by her writing and starring in "Sense and Sensibility," that I did not know she started as a comedian and is an outrageously funny person. It's a bit jarring to see someone so beautiful acting like a shticky comic. She is so beautiful, and physically adept, in fact, that I had at one time hoped she would be tapped to play Emma Peel in a film version of "The Avengers." But as anyone who followed that calamity can tell you, that was not a happy experience. Much as I like Uma Thurman, they all should have waited before trying to lay that egg. Ah well, at least Diana Rigg got a fantastic final act in "Game of Thrones." 

I have not watched "Cemetery" yet but I am looking forward to it. I recently bought a new Apple TV and assumed they'd give the ol' freebee for a month, but nope, all you get is Apple Music. Is there a name now for the streaming service juggling act? I think it's interesting the Herron books are both on Apple TV -- I guess the demographic skews old ... er, mature, so I guess that's the audience they're going for. Strangely, I watch Tubi quite a bit and all the ads I get are for dodgy-looking online gambling apps and Hims male enhancement pills. Not sure who they think I am, but their audience demographic software/algorithm dingus isn't doing them any favors. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to seeing Emma Thompson in a crime thriller and some jeopardy, and will be cheering for her to find a way out of it. Aside from that, she also deserves a flat-out brilliant comic role, as I don't know if she's been in one that equals her talent. Why do I feel that Emma Thompson and Melissa McCarthy together would somehow produce something magical?