What TV SHOWS are you watching?

The Boys opened with machine guns. That's become an American audience must-have feature, machine gun violence in the first four minutes of episode one. It usually is a solid indication that I won't like the show.

I watched the first episode, didn't like the gore of the one scene. I'm getting old, that shit just feels like stress. Got all I need.

Oh, and do NOT watch season two of Harrow.

Sagrilarus wrote: The Boys opened with machine guns. That's become an American audience must-have feature, machine gun violence in the first four minutes of episode one. It usually is a solid indication that I won't like the show.

I watched the first episode, didn't like the gore of the one scene. I'm getting old, that shit just feels like stress. Got all I need.

I never imagined I'd be there, but I am with you. I am pretty grim most of the time due to the state of the world and cruel TV is off the table for me. It's not the violence per se, just cruel dark violence. No judgment on others or anything, something has really changed about me.

My wife and I are watching the second season of American Crime Story, which focuses on Andrew Cunanan and his killing spree leading up to his murder of Gianni Versace. The first season, about OJ Simpson's trial was outstanding, and I'm arriving at the same conclusion about the second. But it's got a very different feel.

The whole aesthetic is much chillier, and because it focuses on the killings rather than a trial it's darker and more violent. It also goes for a Momento-esque backwards storytelling method. Each episode goes a little further back in Cunanan's story revealing a bit more. I'm not wild about making killers more sympathetic, but I do think it's threading the needle of making a serial killer into a human being. Big props to Darren Criss and his portrayal of Cunanan for pulling that off.

In other shows I keep rewatching I Think You Should Leave. It's going to be one of the great sketch comedy shows like Kids in the Hall or Mr. Show. It regularly serves as my antidote for a bummer of a world.

hotseatgames wrote: I enjoyed The Boys, and look forward to more. But it can't be overstated that if Karl Urban wasn't on it, I may have never even given it a chance. Everything he is in is made better for it.

All that Karl Urban talk made me go watch Dredd.

Season 2 of The Terror is pretty good. It's set in a Japanese internment camp in 41, blending social commentary with horror in an interesting way. I'm not digging it quite as much as the previous season, but it's still well done and worth the watch.

Shellhead wrote: The writing is good, and I suspect better than the original comics by Garth Ennis.

I read The Boys several years ago, so once I heard about the TV show I reread it to see if it holds up. It doesn't, at all, for myriad reasons. However, the show has done a masterful job of jettisoning 95% of the story's Ennis-isms while simultaneously salvaging and expanding on interesting themes from the comics.

At the end of season 1 I'd say the show has diverged enough from the comics where you could say it was "inspired by" them rather than being an adaptation, and that's a good thing. Don't get me wrong, the show retained the comics' abundance of sex and violence so if you're not into that the improvement in writing and tone won't change your mind.

I've been wading through season 2 of Dark. This is a great German show about time travel. It's also the most complicated show I have ever seen. Keeping characters and timelines straight is a constant challenge for me, partially because they rarely label the time period you are viewing.

Once I'm through it I may actually just watch it all again to clarify things.

Just FYI: Also on Netflix, the first season of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was released today. Haven't watched any of it yet, but I'm guessing there are other Dark Crystal fans here.

Jackwraith wrote: Just FYI: Also on Netflix, the first season of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was released today. Haven't watched any of it yet, but I'm guessing there are other Dark Crystal fans here.

It's gotten pretty good early reviews too. I'll definitely check it out. Also, for fans of the fantasy genre, Amazon Prime has Carnival Row starting tonight. I haven't read much about it yet.

I watched the first episode of the Dark Crystal show with my daughter this evening. It’s really great. It starts off a bit corny with a long winded opening monologue that’s a bit too close to feeling like a light rip on the Elvenfolk of Lord of the Rings but very quickly finds its own voice when the show proper gets underway.

It has a very salient undertone with the blindness with which the Gelflings submit themselves to an avaricious menace yet maintains an overall feeling of optimism. I’m really looking forward to watching the rest of it although it’ll take a while as it’s definitely a good show to watch together as a family so we’ll likely get through it over the coming weekends.

Carnival Row - Watched a few episodes. Good enough world-building with the typical aliens/monsters/whatever living as second-class among humans. Orlando and Cara would probably be fine as leads if paired with a stronger actor but put together they're both just kind of there. Jared Harris is only in a few short scenes so far, which is too bad as he usually elevates his material. Room for it to grow and improve but for now if you're into Victorian fairy porn I'd say give it a shot, otherwise there's better stuff to watch.

I've been re-watching Season One of Blake's 7. It's been about 25 years since I watched the entire series, so I started from the beginning. Just finished Episode 7 and it's so fascinating watching the series hitting it's stride. Paul Darrow (RIP) was born to play Avon.

Finished The Boys and enjoyed it. Was surprised it was a Kripke production and Urban is the reason to watch it. I'm interested in how they will continue and wonder if they use more of the comic plots or just head in their own direction.

Has anyone else tried Glow? The first episode was amusing as hell.