What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Jack Ryan

An Amazon Prime original series. I just watched the first episode and I think it was great. They did a super job of bringing the Jack Ryan character from the days of the Cold War up into the modern day and yet still maintaining the feel of those great Tom Clancy novels.

Gonna watch episode 2 right now.

Sometime later: watched through episode 3. Damn this is a good show. Love the French police Captain. The guy from The Wire, Wendell Pierce, is killing it as Ryan's boss James Greer.

I am nearly finished with watching season two of Preacher. Season one tossed most of the comic book story out the window, but did a great job of capturing the personalities of the main characters. As with season one, I find that these are compelling characters, but I wouldn't enjoy interacting with them in real life. Season two seems closer to the source material, though still quite different at times.

So far, nearly all of season two has taken place in Louisiana. That has caused me to reflect on the number of cable tv shows that have been filmed in Louisiana in recent years. True Blood, True Detective season one, American Horror Story season three, Treme, and now Preacher season two. Maybe the state is offering some serious tax incentives or even just bribes to get these shows.

I finished Jack Ryan. It's a great show. There are some plot holes, but it's an entertaining ride. Looking forward to more.

Oh boy the Parallels episode of Next Gen is on in 15 minutes. The one where Worf is shifting between alternate dimensions. One of my favourites, and best ending ever

Better Call Saul > Breaking Bad

ChristopherMD wrote: Better Call Saul > Breaking Bad

Ehhh, the best I’d say is that some of BCS is better than some of BB. It is great, but man, does it sometimes wear out its lengthy montages.

Speaking of things compared to BB, Ozark was never really a valid comparison to BB, IMO. Not even close in quality. Really strains its credulity a lot and gets cartoonish with some characters and situations. That being said, I’m enjoying season 2, maybe more than the first. Pulpy and tense, and fun enough to follow casually. Jason Bateman scrambling to deal with problems seems like a very natural and entertaining fit, whatever thing he’s in.

ChristopherMD wrote: Better Call Saul > Breaking Bad

In general, I agree, though this season of Better Call Saul is taking its sweet time getting anywhere.

they had $100k HQ on Monday night, EMMY edition. all to one winner. I got totally smoked on Breaking Bad questions having never seen the show


...cool story, bro

Grudunza wrote: Speaking of things compared to BB, Ozark was never really a valid comparison to BB, IMO. Not even close in quality. Really strains its credulity a lot and gets cartoonish with some characters and situations. That being said, I’m enjoying season 2, maybe more than the first. Pulpy and tense, and fun enough to follow casually. Jason Bateman scrambling to deal with problems seems like a very natural and entertaining fit, whatever thing he’s in.

I'm having precisely the opposite reaction to season 2. I was interested in season 1 and appreciated the Breaking Bad comparisons, as well as a couple of the characters. But season 2 just lost me. We got 4 episodes in and I was just like: Why am I bothering watching this? It's all perfectly predictable. The new characters are like cardboard cutouts (the cartel's hardass lawyer, the wealthy religious guy, etc. You can tell I'm detached when I can't remember characters' names.) The old characters are basically archetypes (Every time Darlene gets involved, something CRAAAAZYYY will happen!) And it's basically just watching Bateman running around putting out fires while exactly none of the characters are actually moving forward or changing.

My girlfriend wants to go back to it, but I'm just not interested. I had the same problem with the most recent season of Orange is the New Black. They're just going through the same motions, but now it's in a "real" prison. We sat down to watch something the other night and she vetoed a movie because it was too late, so I booted up the first episode of Peaky Blinders, which I've had sitting in my list for a while. I was really intrigued and really appreciated the unusual time frame for an historical drama (post-WW1 industrial Birmingham) so I'll probably watch some more of that to see where it goes.

Peaky Blinders is excellent. Excellent.

Peaky Blinders is a great show. Watch it all.

I think I enjoyed Ozark season 2 more than season 1. I consider it a second-rate Breaking Bad, and I'm fine with that simply on the merits of liking Jason Bateman. But mannnnn does that show have a way of killing characters you don't want to die, and preserving the ones that you do.

Wrapped up all the available episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Was it worth watching? It was okay. Perfectly cromulent, I guess. Definitely better stuff to watch.

One of these better things that I'm watching right now on Netflix is Spartacus. That show contains a lot more than your minimum recommended daily requirement of boobs and blood. Unlike a couple of shows like True Blood or Banshee, there's a decent show lurking underneath all the sex and violence. I've finished S1 and the Gods of the Arena prequel, and unless it suddenly starts to suck I'll watch the rest of the season.

RobertB wrote: One of these better things that I'm watching right now on Netflix is Spartacus. That show contains a lot more than your minimum recommended daily requirement of boobs and blood. Unlike a couple of shows like True Blood or Banshee, there's a decent show lurking underneath all the sex and violence. I've finished S1 and the Gods of the Arena prequel, and unless it suddenly starts to suck I'll watch the rest of the season.

I enjoyed Spartacus until season two, where the whole premise of the show changes dramatically. The story went where it needed to go, but I just didn't enjoy it as much. One thing the show did well was to escalate the violence. An atrocity that you saw early in season was easily trumped by an atrocity that you saw later in the season, and then season two was even more over the top.

@Shellhead - If you're talking about Gods of the Arena, I read that it was put together on relatively short notice to give the actor who played Spartacus some time to deal with cancer. Unfortunately, he passed away.

RobertB wrote: @Shellhead - If you're talking about Gods of the Arena, I read that it was put together on relatively short notice to give the actor who played Spartacus some time to deal with cancer. Unfortunately, he passed away.

No, in my head canon, Gods of the Arena is Season 0 because it takes place before Season 1. Season 2 (Vengeance) is after the gladiators escape and start a rebellion. Gods of the Arena was fine, but the show moved away from what I enjoyed during season 2.