What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Msample wrote: I'd disagree that Goggins is the true star. While he was certainly a principal character , it was always an ensemble show, and Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey was the head of the cast.

What I meant is that Shane Vendrell's actions drive the plot more than Vic Mackey's, when viewed as a whole.

I am not watching Ghosts because it isn't available on the platforms that I currently access. But I look forward to seeing it sometime, thanks to this great clip that I could only find on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1658487730986180

I usually find most Netflix originals content ranges from poor to middling but I really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit. It's a bit aimless but it's enjoyable to watch and was compelling enough to keep me hooked until the end.

All this recent discussion of Justified in here lately is timely, since Timothy Olyphant shows up in the season 2 premiere of The Mandalorian to play Space Raylan Givens, and it's exactly as delightful as it sounds. AND, the episode has W. Earl Brown totally unrecognizable as a Weequay, so it's also a stealth Deadwood reunion!

Yeah, I wish the main character was better written. Yeah, I wish the dialogue was a little sharper and wittier. But an episode that has the Mandalorian teaming up with Space Raylan Givens to help a dusty frontier village work with some Tusken Raiders to kill a krayt dragon?!? YES PLEASE. Just a thoroughly enjoyable episode. It's been a long time since Star Wars was this much fun.

sornars wrote: I usually find most Netflix originals content ranges from poor to middling but I really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit. It's a bit aimless but it's enjoyable to watch and was compelling enough to keep me hooked until the end.

I just watched the first two. A little slow out of the gate, but it's picked up the pace and the interest level.

I'm trying very hard to not have a tablet or laptop in my lap when I watch TV these days.

Sagrilarus wrote: I just watched the first two. A little slow out of the gate, but it's picked up the pace and the interest level.

I'm trying very hard to not have a tablet or laptop in my lap when I watch TV these days.

I hear you on not doing something else while watching TV. TV has warped into a secondary activity for me in which I “watch” something while I do something else (eating/browsing/gaming) and it has hampered my ability to enjoy new shows. I usually end up rewatching shows that I’ve already seen dozens of time before. I’m sure this can’t be healthy for me or my ability to concentrate.

I've never been one to watch tv while doing something else, short of eating. To me, if a show is worth my time, it's also worth my attention.

hotseatgames wrote: I've never been one to watch tv while doing something else, short of eating. To me, if a show is worth my time, it's also worth my attention.

I agree, but the crackbox calls out and I reach for it. It's nothing but a bad habit that is not bringing me happiness.

The same thing with bedtime, where I've gotten into the habit of looking at the news or seeing if I have a turn on BGA, in spite of having just checked 10 minutes before. So one of my Christmas gifts this year (bought already) is a book light designed to fit on my Kindle 3. Bedtime needs to be book time for several reasons. The ultra-light reading I do on my tablet is a complete waste of my time.

As best I can tell smartphones and iPads are responsible for the loss of about 20% of America's productivity.

As recently as 2007, I often watched television while doing other stuff. At one apartment, my living room was a long rectangular area where I had my tv at one end and my computer at the other end, and I often "watched" television with my back to the tv while on the computer. Then the tv format change happened, and I took stock of the unhealthy amount of reality tv I was watching at that time. I decided to pass on upgrading my tv and just stopped watching anything except movies and tv seasons from the public library. The quality of the tv shows that I checked out was often high, so I often gave the screen my full attention. This was around the time when I realized that the best tv shows were often better than the best movies, and the longer story arcs sometimes rewarded an attentive viewer.

Last year, I finally got a modern television with a big screen, and now get a lot of content from Roku, Amazon Prime, and HBO. The better content gets my undivided attention, especially HBO shows. But if I am re-watching a show or movie, or watching something that isn't very good, I will often take it in while multi-tasking. I might even leave the room for a while without pausing the show.

I'm with hotseat. If I'm taking the time to watch something, then I'm giving it my attention. If it's something that doesn't hold my attention enough to take it away from my phone, then I watch something else that will. I have a hard time exercising in front of anything dramatic because the noise often overrides the dialogue and I kinda want the full experience if I'm taking the time to watch. That's why I tend to watch football (soccer) whenever possible, since I don't need to hear anything and, if I look down at my pace or heart rate or whatever, I haven't missed much.

Shellhead wrote: I am not watching Ghosts because it isn't available on the platforms that I currently access. But I look forward to seeing it sometime, thanks to this great clip that I could only find on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1658487730986180

The first season of Ghosts is really excellent. We’re currently watching the second and have stalled out about halfway through, it’s just lost some of it’s snap. That first season though is just gold. It’s the same crew who were behind Horrible Histories, they also made Yonderland which is another great show worth looking out for.

Joebot wrote: All this recent discussion of Justified in here lately is timely, since Timothy Olyphant shows up in the season 2 premiere of The Mandalorian to play Space Raylan Givens, and it's exactly as delightful as it sounds. AND, the episode has W. Earl Brown totally unrecognizable as a Weequay, so it's also a stealth Deadwood reunion!

Yeah, I wish the main character was better written. Yeah, I wish the dialogue was a little sharper and wittier. But an episode that has the Mandalorian teaming up with Space Raylan Givens to help a dusty frontier village work with some Tusken Raiders to kill a krayt dragon?!? YES PLEASE. Just a thoroughly enjoyable episode. It's been a long time since Star Wars was this much fun.

I've been watching Deadwood so for me it was a nice twofer.

As for the Mandalorian, I rate this episode higher than almost all of the season 1 episodes. Season one he is practically incompetent and needs person after person to bail him out. I gotta say I was a bit miffed about how Tusken after Tusken died but no villagers. I guess they might have had to do that to keep a PG rating or something, but it was a bit off putting.

Interesting/funny backstory on his filming experience from W Earl Brown. He played the bartender on Tatooine.


io9.gizmodo.com/the-mandalorians-w-earl-...ecial-dea-1845549470




I’d kill to see a DEADWOOD/MANDO dialogue scene.

Sagrilarus wrote:

sornars wrote: I usually find most Netflix originals content ranges from poor to middling but I really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit. It's a bit aimless but it's enjoyable to watch and was compelling enough to keep me hooked until the end.

I just watched the first two. A little slow out of the gate, but it's picked up the pace and the interest level.

I'm trying very hard to not have a tablet or laptop in my lap when I watch TV these days.

I liked QUEEN'S GAMBIT quite a bit, and thought it did a good job of capturing the intensity of chess as an intellectual duel. It flagged strongly for me



But, I stuck it out and things picked up again with a strong return to form, and the series ended on a high note. Very good miniseries.

Haven’t mentioned it despite being well into season four of Episodes. That probably means something. Two British writers travel to LA to adapt their BAFTA-winning series for American audiences. Indignities ensue. Matt LeBlanc plays a terrible version of himself, and Tamsin Greig is there, too.

My wife likes it a lot more than me. It’s not bad, and I do laugh enough, but its rhythms are strange. There are exaggerated characters who wouldn’t be out of place in a 30 Rock or Office, but the pace of jokes is a lot slower. The drama is a bit heavier.

It’s on Netflix if you want to check it out after this glowing recommendation.