What TV SHOWS are you watching?

I picked up Paramount+ and started 1883 which I guess is a prequel to Yellowstone, which I have not seen and am not even sure where to watch. Anyway, I'm a sucker for Westerns so take this with a grain of salt, but I'm digging it so far. The costuming, cinematography, and sets are on point and the dialogue is suitably lyrical with enough "old timey western" speak to feel authentic without being obtuse like Deadwood. Only a few eps in so it might take a giant dump but the first couple are keeping things moving with a lot of grit (there are a group of german settlers that are all getting cholera because they drink straight from a river, for example). Not sure if anything would be improved having seen Yellowstone or if that show is even similar to this in tone.

1883 is pretty good. My only complaint is that it's too repetitive and could have been cut down. Starts to feel like most of it is filler.

Well, the wife ixnayed a western PDQ and put on an epix (we are watching it on amazon, not sure if it will be free on prime for its whole run or just some teaser eps) show called FROM which is a bleakly nihilistic horror show about a town besieged by nocturnal demon/vampire/alien/ghost things. LOTS of mystery box stuff in the first 2 eps, so we'll see if there is any payoff for it all or if, like a lot of these shows, the "real" focus is on interpersonal drama and all the horror stuff is just set dressing that gets less and less attention. Like the other epix show I've seen, "War of the Worlds", this one is grim, gritty, and totally unafraid to do malicious harm to kids. So if you do watch it, be warned that while all the actual violence is off screen (so far) it is SUPER gory with the aftermath of these creatures attacks and it does not shy away from making parents want to run in and hug their kids as they sleep. I think this is a weekly drip or maybe amazon only has 3 eps up front so we might make an effort to keep watching it if the characters are allowed to channel a little Rambo and initiate action instead of the usual 100% reactive posture and constantly putting themselves into stupid danger lazy writers fall back on (which I'm sure is a TV troup

Sagrilarus wrote: Yeah, and speaking of dwindling locations, NBC seems to be the only network will to pony up the billion dollars to broadcast. They own broadcasting rights through 2032.

Poor bastards.

Began watching Method on Netflix. It's the Russian equivalent of Sherlock, but with fucked up things at the Broadchurch level. The way Meglin solves crimes is somewhat more believable than Sherlock, but sometimes it's the writers pulling stuff out of their ass. I like this series more than Sherlock.

I ended up dropping 1883 because the bad acting and shit writing became more and more noticeable as it went on.

I have not watched 1883 partially because its behind yet another streaming paywall, but also because Taylor Sheridan seems to be stretched way too thin these days. He's basically both showrunner and writer for 1883 , YELLOWSTONE, MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN, as well as god knows what else. This past season of YELLOWSTONE was almost unwatchable due to numerous back door pilot scenes for yet another series, based on the ranch he bought in Texas. Paramount Plus has become the Taylor Sheriden channel and they seem hell bent on cramming as much of his content on it in as short a time period as possible.

Yellowstone was terrible. Total collapse.

But Mayor of Kingstown is the best of the trio and a solid watch.

Rliyen wrote: Began watching Method on Netflix. It's the Russian equivalent of Sherlock, but with fucked up things at the Broadchurch level. The way Meglin solves crimes is somewhat more believable than Sherlock, but sometimes it's the writers pulling stuff out of their ass. I like this series more than Sherlock.

Yeah, Broadchurch feels a little too gritty for me. Method sounds interesting.

Righteous Gemstones is extremely good.

Yes! Have a Misbehaving 89 tour shirt.

Warning you, it's sometimes worse in areas than Broadchurch.

You were talking to someone else, but yes, Righteous Gemstones is fucking darker than Broadchurch at times. It gets deep into the heart of what (completely in my opinion, not trying to start anything) is rotten at the core of a lot of evangelical circles in an extremely cutting satirical way.

It is also super well-observed about patriarchal families and approval seeking.

The fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel dropped. One and a half episodes in and I think I’m done. The dialogue, the overlapping, talking past, repeating dialogue has become a parody of itself, and every character is terrible but none of them realize it. Midge, of course, is the greatest offender in this regard. She constantly sabotages her own career only to come back stronger but still plays the victim without acknowledging the immense safety net of her family and former in-laws. She makes poor financial decisions and is dismissive of her parents, as warranted as it may be. Nothing wrong with flawed characters, but there has to be some acknowledgement that they are flawed. Instead she’s positioned as an inspiration to all the women in her life and is never called on her garbage.

I think that’s why Joel is my favorite character. He is, like everyone else, terrible, but is actually aware of it and trying to do better.

I’ll keep watching, I guess. It’s something to do with my wife, the production is nice enough to look at and Tony Shalhoub is eminently watchable.

Watched the first couple episodes of The Tourist on HBO, which is a Lynch-esque mystery show about a guy who wakes up in the Outback with amnesia and tries to piece together the puzzle. I say "Lynch-esque" because it lacks the bizarre nature of Lynch's better productions, but has that feeling of lurking menace that he brought to a lot of his work. It's worth continuing for a couple more to see if it gets a bit more interesting.