What TV SHOWS are you watching?

I'm one of those weird people who likes The Pacific better. I like that it captures the oppresive and negative psychological experience of war and doesn't fit into a "big group of buddies except for a couple villians" war narrative. I think it's a harder, more disjointed watch but is incredibly effective. I get why people enjoy watching Band of Brothers more, but I'm skeptical of such a relatively simple linear character narrative that story tells.

I watched the first episode of Chernobyl last night. This would be scary if it was fiction. As something that really happened, it’s absolutely terrifying.

Shellhead wrote: Starting over Memorial Day weekend, I rewatched the sequel to Band of Brothers: The Pacific. I consider Band of Brothers a 10, but The Pacific only rates a 7. Not as many characters, but most of them are unmemorable compared to the cast of Band of Brothers. High production values, great battle scenes, and lovely orchestral background music. But the lack of a focal point like Easy Company made The Pacific less compelling. Still worth the time if you are a WWII buff.

That is such a sad show.
I am amazed that anyone managed to walk away from those battles.
Certainly, the raw savagery of it left everyone scarred and that gets expressed very well in this show. The character of the theater is contrasted well to that of Europe.

hotseatgames wrote: I watched the first episode of Chernobyl last night. This would be scary if it was fiction. As something that really happened, it’s absolutely terrifying.

I'm watching this as well. It doesn't get better.

Last night I gave my dog a bit of extra attention (keep watching if that doesn't make sense).

hotseatgames wrote: I watched the first episode of Chernobyl last night. This would be scary if it was fiction. As something that really happened, it’s absolutely terrifying.

Hey, me too!

I thought the first episode was incredibly creepy. It was almost like a horror movie, except the monster (i.e., radiation) is silent, invisible, and kills you from the inside. God, that scene where the kids were playing in the ashes blowing over from the burning power plant ...

I was only 13 when it happened, and I barely remember even hearing about it (one of the perks of being 13 is being oblivious to the world around you). Pretty fascinating so far.

I too, was 13. And didn't have any real sense of what was going on.

We are now perfectly in sync. I'm having hot dogs for lunch today if you want to keep this train rolling.

hotseatgames wrote: Chernobyl

I may need to pirate this one. I'm not buying HBO for one show, and I don't think it's available for purchase separately.

Soviet reactors were really awful designs, begging for catastrophic failure. To a large extent they've tanked nuclear energy, at a time when we could really use it. Modern designs are so much better, designed to scram on their own when there's a sudden power loss or loss of control. But we won't build them because of TMI and Chernobyl.

Well, and, you know, Fukushima Daiichi. And their endless huge construction and operation cost overruns. But that's a different thread.

Sagrilarus wrote:

hotseatgames wrote: Chernobyl

I'm not buying HBO for one show

They have a few others you may have heard of

Gary Sax wrote: Well, and, you know, Fukushima Daiichi. And their endless huge construction and operation cost overruns. But that's a different thread.

Oddly enough, modern coal and oil plants have similar overruns, hydro too. In spite of decades of experience with century old technology big plants end up costing big bucks, and generally deliver over schedule and over budget. A product of being publicly funded maybe.

Most of HBO's old stuff is available other places, so there isn't a compelling reason to subscribe. I could get the free two weeks and pound through them when they're done.

I just finished Chernobyl. That was some of the most impactful television I have ever seen. I have no doubt that this series will win awards, and they will be well deserved.

I had no idea about the devastating human cost, and the maddening human blunders surrounding this incident. No hyperbole, I think literally everyone should watch this show.

I've now done a bit of fact checking, and the show does alter / fabricate some events for various dramatic purposes. I don't think it detracts from the overall message.

Good Omens was good. I read the book a long time ago, and found it pleasantly amusing but not actually funny. The show was the same, except that it ended really, really well. This is not a trivial thing in an era when major shows tend to end poorly. Endings are often challenging for writers, because they want to leave the reader satisfied, but without resorting to cliches. The Queen soundtrack was used effectively, and the closing music for the final episode might have been a new Tori Amos song. Overall, it was the nicest possible show about the end of the world.

My current binge is season 3 of Riverdale. When the first season broke I described it as Twin Peaks meets 90210 (the original run, Riverdale even features Luke Perry (R.I.P.)); a teen melodrama with a moody background. Since then the show has blown up into something much more thrilling, camp, weird and melodramatic and it's bonkers and excellent. There's gangs, a teenage fight club, many many shirtless men, tons of family intrigue, and a demonic villain with a game like D&D at the center of the mystery. And at it's heart it stays true(ish) to the Archie comics.

It's a blast to watch.

hotseatgames wrote: I just finished Chernobyl. That was some of the most impactful television I have ever seen. I have no doubt that this series will win awards, and they will be well deserved.

I had no idea about the devastating human cost, and the maddening human blunders surrounding this incident. No hyperbole, I think literally everyone should watch this show.

I've now done a bit of fact checking, and the show does alter / fabricate some events for various dramatic purposes. I don't think it detracts from the overall message.

You beat me! I've only watched three episodes. I've had to parcel this show out into small doses, it's so fucking grim.

The whole incident was a toxic brew of mechanical flaws, paranoia, bureaucracy, fear of the State, and good ol' fashioned human incompetence. It's terrifying. I drove by the nuclear power plant in western Illinois earlier this spring, and I'm really glad I hadn't watched this show at the time.

I assumed there was probably some alteration / fabrication. I'm going to guess that the main character, the professor, is some sort of amalgam of multiple real people. He's the classic "Cassandra" character, where he's the ONLY PERSON who sees the truth, and he has to convince those around him who refuse to see it. It makes for good drama, but real life rarely works like that. It's fine though, because the show is not a documentary. It's a dramatization of real events, so some alterations are expected.

Also, Gorbachev??? Kind of a dickhead!!

Shellhead wrote: Good Omens was good. I read the book a long time ago, and found it pleasantly amusing but not actually The Queen soundtrack was used effectively, and the closing music for the final episode might have been a new Tori Amos song. Overall, it was the nicest possible show about the end of the world.

Tori posted on Facebook that Neil asked her to re record a song for the soundtrack. I believe she collaborated with someone and did just that.