Imagine going to Paris to watch television! For some, such a impious prospect will make perfect sense over the coming week.
Nowadays, most of us know that TV drama is the new cinema; actors love it because they can get their thespian teeth into meatier roles, writers have a broader and more diverse canvas to write great TV novels, and audiences can go episode by episode or binge watch as their fancy takes them. Top-notch directors from Martin Scorsese, to David Fincher, to Danny Boyle are prime movers in the revived game.
Scandinavians are having a field day; Israelis are innovating. Cable and Internet technology has played its role: HBO was the original champion of this renewal, now joined by Netflix, Orange, Microsoft and hosts of others. Everybody is winning and the quality just gets better by the year.
So it's perfectly normal that Paris, the capital of world cinema, from 22nd - 30th April should be presenting the 5th edition of Series Mania at the Forum des Images in the centre of the city. It is a unique event where we get to see previews of first and second episodes of top drawer TV series from around the world as well as meet their creators, the famous show runners of legend.
