If you’re searching for a series to stream, let me recommend NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” which has been on TV since 2012. Superbly written with an obvious emphasis on female empowerment, this procedural drama follows the personal and professional lives of various firefighters, paramedics and rescue personnel at the fictional Firehouse 51 in Chicago, Illinois.

They’re led by stoic Battalion Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), who is very protective of his men and women, even putting his career on the line several times to help them. 

Next in the chain of command are Lieutenant (eventually to be Captain) Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer), a serious, civic-minded carpenter who runs a side construction business, and Lieutenant Kelly Severeid (Taylor Kinney), the son of a former fire chief (Treat Williams), A brooding loner, Kelly is presented as a classic womanizer, perhaps because (off-screen) Taylor dated Lady Gaga.

Their fellow firefighters include Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg), the station’s father figure who runs Molly’s Bar, their favorite hangout; Randall ‘Mouch’ McHolland (Christian Stolte), the couch-loving union representative; Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso), a native of the local gang-infested neighborhood; Brian ‘Otis’ Zvonecek (Yuri Sandarov), who got his nickname working elevators; and perennial provocateur Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), who seems determined to wrangle with Severeid.

As the series began, given the most screen time among the paramedics was Gabriella “Gabby” Dawson (Monica Raymund), a former ‘smoke-eater’ whose perfect make-up/heavy mascara/thick eyeliner never, ever, ever smears – not even when she’s facing imminent destruction and/or death. As a result, her self-centered character exudes phoniness/insincerity.

Appearing far more realistic are her hard-working colleagues: outspoken (yet doomed) lesbian Lesley Shay (Lauren German), naïve Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) and alcoholic ‘Chili’ Chilton (Dora Madison).

And let’s not forget one of the most honestly appealing female characters – Donna Robbins (Melissa Ponzio), a dedicated teacher married to Chief Wallace Boden; they have a strong, respectful, loving relationship. That’s true too of outspoken Christopher Herrmann & his ever-supportive wife Cindy (Robyn Coffin) and ‘Mouch’ McHolland & no-nonsense police officer wife, Trudy Platt (Amy Morton).

Over the seasons, there are pivotal cast changes but the plot remains compelling.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Chicago Fire” is a compelling, addictive 8 – with all 11 seasons streaming on Peacock.

Make no mistake – Billy Crudup could sell ice in the North Pole! That’s why he – almost alone – propels “Hello Tomorrow,” the new 10-part sci-fi series that premiered last month on Apple+.

Familiar from “The Morning Show,” Billy Crudup plays Jack Billings, a relentlessly smiling, silver-tongued traveling salesman. In a retro-futuristic world, Jack heads the Brightside team who hustle luxurious homes on the Moon. It seems irrelevant that these enticing lunar timeshares are fantasies and their buyers are, essentially, delusional.

In the opening scene, Jack convinces a depressed barfly (Michael Harney) that the object he pulls from his pocket is a Moon Rock plucked from the Sea of Serenity. When his mark utters: “Wow!” Jack says, “That is the one word none of us can live without,” setting the stage for the flim-flam to follow.

Jack’s Lunar Residences crew consists of reckless Eddie (Hank Azaria), a gambler who believes that “desperation is a salesman’s greatest asset;” pragmatic, capable Shirley (Haneefah Wood), who’s routinely cheating on her husband with Eddie; and naïve Herb (Dewshane Williams), made ambitious by impending fatherhood.

Their sketchy scam is simple: for zero down and $150 a month, you can leave all your troubles here on Earth and relocate to a sumptuous setting in space, a luxury that’s no longer reserved for the very rich. 

But when they roll into Jack’s Vistaville hometown, he’s forced to face Joey (Nicholas Podany), the son he abandoned many years ago, while desperate Myrtle (Alison Pill), having left her philandering husband, has nowhere to go.

Created by Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen, the dramedy serves as a skewed mirror on contemporary America as adventurous billionaires launch their own moon rockets. “We live in this age where dreaming about a better tomorrow has become a kind of relentless, universal pursuit,” notes Jansen. “It sometimes looks like a deadly addiction and sometimes like our only hope.”

Problem is: there’s more style than substance, featuring caricatures rather than fully-fleshed-out characters.

On the Granger Gauge, “Hello Tomorrow” is a sleek yet shallow 6, streaming every Friday night on Apple+.

“Marlowe” is 70-year-old Liam Neeson’s 100^th film! I just wish it were better.

Based on “The Black-Eyed Blonde” by Irish novelist John Banville, writing under the pseudonym Benjamin Black, it’s not even one of Raymond Chandler’s original Philip Marlowe tales.

Set in Los Angeles in 1939, street-wise Philip Marlowe (Liam Neeson) is hired by femme fatale heiress Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) to find her former lover, Nico Peterson (Francois Arnaud), who may or may not have been the victim of a hit-and-run accident in front of an exclusive club.

His investigation includes lengthy – i.e., boring – interviews with Clare’s former movie-star mother, Dorothy Quincannon (Jessica Lange); the club’s manager, Floyd Hanson (Danny Huston); and sleazy mob boss Lou Hendricks (Alan Cumming). 

Leisurely scripted by William Monahan (“The Departed”) as a vintage film noir, it’s self-consciously directed by Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game”), who previously collaborated with Liam Neeson on “Michael Collins” (1996) and “Breakfast on Pluto” (2005). 

Filmed by cinematographer Xavi Gimenez in Dublin and Barcelona, any resemblance to the light in California is purely coincidental…and “I’ll Be Seeing You” is constantly playing in the background.

There are mentions of Dorothy Quincannon’s affair with a prominent banker which are supposed to evoke memories of Gloria Swanson’s entanglement with Joseph Kennedy, patriarch of Massachusetts’ prominent Kennedy clan.

But researchers missed their mark referring to the journalist’s handbook “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. That venerable tome was written in 1918 by William Strunk, but E.B. White’s collaboration was not added until 1959….so it could not exist in the film’s 1939 time frame.

(Over the years, the iconic Philip Marlowe private detective has been played by Humphrey Bogart, Dick Powell, Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Robert Mitchum and Elliot Gould, among others.)

After a tepid reception as the closing film of the San Sebastian International Film Festival in September, its original December 2022 release date was postponed until February, 2023. It made only $1.8 million in its opening weekend, it only totaled a paltry $2.9 million in its first five days.

On the Granger Gauge, “Marlowe” is a tedious 3, available to rent via RedBox.