What TV SHOWS are you watching?

I really liked the Watchmen pilot, too. I was very pleased by how they advanced the world, which made it familiar and yet completely new. I'm eager to see where it goes.

The opening scene of the Tulsa Riot was appropriately harrowing, but I especially liked how it was a retelling of Superman's origin story. It would be fun if they did something similar every episode, recontextualizing various different origins into real historical events.

Started re-watching Chernobyl with my girlfriend. She hates horror movies but enjoys documentaries, and Chernobyl occupies an uneasy space between the two. We got through the first full episode and part of the second before my cat shut down the viewing with his 100th meow of the evening. He really wanted to get on the couch for some reason, despite my girlfriend's allergies. He is probably having some separation anxiety because I have been working six-day weeks all month plus averaging 1 or 2 nights out each week for major social events.

I could tell my girlfriend is enjoying Chernobyl because she actually wanted to talk about it a lot afterwards. Turns out that our age difference gave us a separate perception of Chernobyl. I was done with college by the time Chernobyl happened, so I gradually got the news over a lengthy period of time, as the story dribbled out past Soviet censors. To my girlfriend, it was a significant event covered in detail in a history class. The difference meant that I was more sketchy on the facts before seeing the show, due to early Soviet attempts to suppress and obfuscate the news. Also, I was more focused on getting my career going while hitting the bars with friends every weekend back then, so I didn't always follow the daily news.

Upon second viewing so far, the first episode is more or less a standard disaster movie with some horrific visuals and some internal politics. By the second episode, the political dimensions come fully into view. There was a strong desire by the leadership to suppress and deny the unpleasant truth, but once the full threat became apparent, they were able to throw impressive resources and organization at every challenge, to a degree that might not be possible in a more democratic nation.

Being a fan of the comic, I tried out Stumptown. Two episodes in, my wife and I are really enjoying the characters and the humor.

BillyBobThwarton wrote: Being a fan of the comic, I tried out Stumptown. Two episodes in, my wife and I are really enjoying the characters and the humor.

I've enjoyed it too.

Who watches the Watchmen? Well I did. It was not what I was expecting, and I enjoyed the show. I do wish it was a bit more fictional, sadly.

I also kept an eye on the Watchmen. I definitely didn't hate it and even enjoyed a lot of it, but two things are keeping me at a distance for the moment:

One, I'm not sure yet that this needed to be a Watchmen sequel. I'm not seeing the throughline tonally or thematically yet. Where Moore's work really was concerned with masks and legacies and the people behind them, Lindelof's show is clearly cares most about race and law and terrorism. The mask element at this point is window dressing, something to make it stand out above the crowd. The cheapness of some of the costumes like Red Scare or Panda, almost makes the production feel embarrassed about that whole aspect of the show, like they're getting in on the joke first by not taking it too seriously even though Looking Glass and Sister Night look great. Which is fine. Nothing wrong with tackling a new subject in the universe, but it still makes me ask, "Why a Watchmen sequel?" You could begin your own alternate history with the first mask saving Kennedy and pretty easily arrive at the same setting without making people feel like they need to do homework to understand your show.

Two, it doesn't feel "comic-book-y". The sort of things I associate with Watchmen as a graphic work like the monologues from one scene appearing over and commenting upon the images of another haven't been attempted yet on the show. Of course there are Easter eggs, how much nods to fans and how much repeated motifs remains to be seen, but the visual density is still nothing compared a single page of Gibbons' nine regular panels. Which is fine. Moore said Watchmen is unfilmable, and surprise, he's right that changing the media is really hard. Not everything will make the leap. My greater problem in the lack of "comic-ness" is the lack of arresting visual imagery. Outside of a few shots in that opening scene, nothing made me say "wow." Again, the change of media makes it a challenge, but I guess I'd expect something based on a comic to be more visually dynamic.

So, yeah, I'm not so sure what to make of WatcHBO, but that's fine for the first hour of however many hours this season and series will be.

I think the steps they took to distance themselves from the original work will probably work in their favor. Whether being associated with Watchmen at all is anything more than marketing, remains to be seen.

So Watchmen...the first episode was excellent, for the most part, with a few grating “tune in next week to see what this actually means” things. I liked the references to the book (squid rain, ha ha) and I especially liked the world building without exposition- it just kind of unfolds as you watch. The Tulsa opening was unexpected and powerful. Conceptually I think the concept that the police have to become effectively masked heroes to protect themselves and their families is quite brilliant, especially in the context of Watchmen where the mask represents a complex array of issues and problems. I also think that where they are headed with Rorschach is interesting- it reminds me of how the shit-for-brains alt-right co-opts certain things and misreads them, like A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, and The Matrix.

But so far (one hour in, so admittedly not much to go on), I’m really not sure why this has to be Watchmen yet. Just like the comic, where Moore took old Charlton Comics stuff and made it his own, I don’t really get why this story needs any connection to Watchmen specifically. That said, there were some images and tonal elements that were just right on the money in terms of capturing the look and feel of the book.

The Owl Ship was...odd. The hero stuff in general hasn’t really come into its own just yet. I like Sister Night and Looking Glass, I feel like they are pretty Watchmen-y if that can even be a thing. The Pod was a total rip off of not one but both Blade Runner movies. But it was cool and visually it looked awesome with the reflection in Looking Glass’s face.

What was the deal with Veidt’s servants, that was goofy. I’m thinking he’s some kind of Howard Hughes-y recluse and he’s now totally insane.

Definitely a lot of potential. I know some of what is coming because it was shot in Atlanta (some of it like 5 minutes from my house) and we know a few folks that worked on it. There’s two scenes in particular I can’t wait to see, if they made it into the final cut. Watch for “help me” and “crab traps”.

Also- the music was awesome. I didn’t realize it was Reznor/Ross.

Can’t help but wonder if Moore is hate-watching it.

The theory I heard was that Jeremy Irons is Dr. Manhattan, not Ozymandias, and the servants are the life he created, though they do feel like Ozy’s servants in the comic. The play makes more sense if he’s Manhattan, too.

Theory A is -possibly- contradicted by something I know. But it does make sense if what I have heard I’m misinterpreting or not getting the full story. But theory B definitely has to do with the crab traps.

And there is also the matter of the watch...which would be the biggest tell in TV history...

There was a quick shot of a newspaper that said Veidt is dead. Not that that means he has to be dead.

My wife and I watched Fleabag. It's two six-episode seasons, so you can watch it in two nights. 'Bad Girl(s) in the Big City' isn't normally a genre I seek out, but I really enjoyed it. Season 1 is good but Season 2 deserves its Emmys.

So American Hero Story is just a straight goof on Zack Snyder, right? I’m not super psyched about this latest episode of Watchmen being straight mystery box nonsense, but if they’re going to make fun of the movie like that, I’ll let it slide.

DarthJoJo wrote: So American Hero Story is just a straight goof on Zack Snyder, right? I’m not super psyched about this latest episode of Watchmen being straight mystery box nonsense, but if they’re going to make fun of the movie like that, I’ll let it slide.

Mystery Box is why I am holding off on the Watchmen tv show for now. Lindelof worked for J.J. Abrams for too long, so he is likely to reach for the Mystery Box, and the Mystery Box is almost always empty. Also, the Mystery Box tends to encourage the very bad writing habit of not knowing how the story will end. When the writer doesn't know how the story will end, the story eventually ends poorly, and possibly with an empty Mystery Box.

This week’s Watchmen is definitely on shakier ground than the premiere. There is some awesome stuff in it- the Zack Snyder piss take was -brilliant- and I love that it was Hooded Justice. The Veidt/Dr. Manhattan thing is compelling. Sister Night is turning into a great lead.

But the mystery box stuff is already grating. Half the damn episode was “Will” saying cryptic shit with this “what, you don’t know?” tone. Surprise! Topher got power’. What is the deal with all the Nite Owl gadgetry and references (“I’m a pirate and she’s an owl!”) Let alone deliberately oblique imagery like the painting in Juds house.

What starting to feel weird is that it feels like a show for Watchmen super fans but the storyline really doesn’t depend on Watchmen to work. So there’s al of this extremely deep referencing to the point where I’m not sure someone who hasn’t read the book (not seen the movie) will have a clue as to what’s going on...outsiders are just going to think it’s “weird”. The core political story is more accessible, topical, and easy to grasp...but it’s mixed up with obsessive detail and lore.

Regardless, it could be a great show if it doesn’t mystery box itself to death. Definitely watching the rest.