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What TV SHOWS are you watching?
26 Sep 2022 21:03 #335760
by jason10mm
Replied by jason10mm on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
The beauty of HotD us that there are NO VILLAINS. Everyone acts out of human self interest or for their kids. There are no moustach twirling mad with power evil people. There are just folks who might crack under pressure, gotta deal with societal expectations, can't escape their families needs, and better step up or get crushed because second place tends to be in a shallow grave.
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26 Sep 2022 22:50 #335764
by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I think that's a fair call in that there are no obvious villains and that was the draw of Game of Thrones. Everyone was wearing a gray hat of one color or another except for Ned Stark and occasionally Sansa or Jon Snow, but even they had to make morally questionable decisions because that's what their circumstances demanded. This lot is in the same boat. The difference here has been that HALF THE SEASON has been prologue to this latest episode which was actually the best of the show to date because they finally presented characters who had human motivations, other than Viserys, who's been the most human, but also the most one-note. This is the episode that finally emulated Game of Thrones, in that people were showing actual emotions other than teenage angst. This is where the machinations actually happened. Everything else has just been a lead-in to this, the most interesting moment in the last month-and-a-half. If they'd done the first five episodes in a two-hour movie that just showed us how we got here and then started the actual story (which they presented last night) three weeks ago, you might have a show worth talking about. As it is, I think they've waited too long to make it anything other than a poor reflection of the show that inspired it.
That said, I can certainly understand Shellhead's disaffection with the characters since, like Succession, they're all assholes of one kind or another. I'm fine with that, as it's part of Succession's appeal. You watch in morbid curiosity of just how much more of an asshole everyone can be (and they're often so much so that it's hilarious.) In this case, I don't think any of these characters are as well-formed as the ones on Succession, so I don't think they'll be able to reach the same depths... but they could have been, if the FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON hadn't just been a prologue. Whichever studio exec was the one who decided that the first FIVE episodes had to be an explanation of how we got here should be shot (or at least fired.)
That said, I can certainly understand Shellhead's disaffection with the characters since, like Succession, they're all assholes of one kind or another. I'm fine with that, as it's part of Succession's appeal. You watch in morbid curiosity of just how much more of an asshole everyone can be (and they're often so much so that it's hilarious.) In this case, I don't think any of these characters are as well-formed as the ones on Succession, so I don't think they'll be able to reach the same depths... but they could have been, if the FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON hadn't just been a prologue. Whichever studio exec was the one who decided that the first FIVE episodes had to be an explanation of how we got here should be shot (or at least fired.)
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26 Sep 2022 23:48 #335765
by jason10mm
Replied by jason10mm on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
Fair point. I'm rather glad we didn't get all the young Rhaenyra stuff as flashbacks cut throughout the season but you probably could trim a bit. But for the later stuff to hit really hard, I think knowing the set-up well will help.
Did we NEED to see Daemon taking the Stepstones, or could we have just heard brief mention of it? How much of Cole and Rhaenyra's past is relevant? I'd argue they have already cut the younger girls relationships to the bone, they could have stretched Milly Alcock out through some of Rhaenyras early pregnancies if they wanted (by book time they are, right now, at Rhaenyra at 23, Alcock is 22) but that would mean they fed into GRRMs lust for 15 year old pregnant brides.
Did we NEED to see Daemon taking the Stepstones, or could we have just heard brief mention of it? How much of Cole and Rhaenyra's past is relevant? I'd argue they have already cut the younger girls relationships to the bone, they could have stretched Milly Alcock out through some of Rhaenyras early pregnancies if they wanted (by book time they are, right now, at Rhaenyra at 23, Alcock is 22) but that would mean they fed into GRRMs lust for 15 year old pregnant brides.
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- hotseatgames
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28 Sep 2022 09:31 #335782
by hotseatgames
Replied by hotseatgames on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I finished Narco-Saints on Netflix. Even though it's only 6 (rather long) episodes, I'm afraid I can't recommend it. You'd be better off starting Narcos again.
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29 Sep 2022 06:04 #335802
by mtagge
Replied by mtagge on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
Got one more episode in The Orville. That third season is amazing and they are hitting them all out of the park with really provoking episodes. It's a shame there won't be any more.
Rings of Power is a bit frustrating in that Galadriel an entirely unlikeable character and to say the writers don't care about the timeline of events would be an understatement. It's still enjoyable if you can detach your brain entirely from logic, but if you are one of those people who wants your TV shows to make sense it is pretty garbage.
Andor is alright. First two episodes show him as a truly horrible person after that it starts to show him as a man who is turned to a "good" person by getting dragged into the rebellion. The settings and set designs are stunningly well done. I love that it is not Tatooine and there are no Jedi nor Skywalkers. It's filled with real people doing things for realistic reasons.
Gave up on She-Hulk a while ago. That thing was pure hot garbage.
I gotta say I understand why streaming services are having problems with people subbing, bingeing, then cancelling. I hate the weekly single episode releases of these shows. Me and my family are not exactly TV addicts, we sit down to watch an hour of TV after the kids are showered maybe four times a week. Over two services we don't have enough content to fill that demand without going to some back catalog item. Basically if they want people to subscribe the entire year, I feel they need to put out more than a month's worth of content every year.
Rings of Power is a bit frustrating in that Galadriel an entirely unlikeable character and to say the writers don't care about the timeline of events would be an understatement. It's still enjoyable if you can detach your brain entirely from logic, but if you are one of those people who wants your TV shows to make sense it is pretty garbage.
Andor is alright. First two episodes show him as a truly horrible person after that it starts to show him as a man who is turned to a "good" person by getting dragged into the rebellion. The settings and set designs are stunningly well done. I love that it is not Tatooine and there are no Jedi nor Skywalkers. It's filled with real people doing things for realistic reasons.
Gave up on She-Hulk a while ago. That thing was pure hot garbage.
I gotta say I understand why streaming services are having problems with people subbing, bingeing, then cancelling. I hate the weekly single episode releases of these shows. Me and my family are not exactly TV addicts, we sit down to watch an hour of TV after the kids are showered maybe four times a week. Over two services we don't have enough content to fill that demand without going to some back catalog item. Basically if they want people to subscribe the entire year, I feel they need to put out more than a month's worth of content every year.
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- Disgustipater
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29 Sep 2022 09:27 - 29 Sep 2022 09:47 #335803
by Disgustipater
One of my main gripes with it, and seemingly most shows or creators that move to streaming after being on network TV, is that they have no time limit restriction and the episodes are way too long. There are so many overly long and lingering shots that don't add anything in my opinion. Limitations foster creativity and all that.
I really hope the Futurama reboot doesn't fall into the same trap.
Replied by Disgustipater on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I felt like there were too many "overly dramatic world changing events" episodes. I miss the week to week adventures. I really liked the episode with Gordon going back in time, and I cannot emphasize how happy I am that the Kaylon stuff is done and over with, hopefully to never be visited again.mtagge wrote: Got one more episode in The Orville. That third season is amazing
One of my main gripes with it, and seemingly most shows or creators that move to streaming after being on network TV, is that they have no time limit restriction and the episodes are way too long. There are so many overly long and lingering shots that don't add anything in my opinion. Limitations foster creativity and all that.
I really hope the Futurama reboot doesn't fall into the same trap.
Last edit: 29 Sep 2022 09:47 by Disgustipater.
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29 Sep 2022 10:18 #335804
by jason10mm
I think, as the streaming model evolves, that we will start to see "Seasonal availability" of shows to target the monthly bingers. So "Stranger Things" is only available from July to Nov, stuff like that. Sort of a new spin on Disney vaulting their DVD releases to manufacture artificial scarcity.
My problem is that I hear of a cool show, it's on a service I don't have, and guaranteed within a week I'll have either forgotten the show or forgotten where it is. Or we start something after some random thumbing through catalogues and then forget where it was, it falls off the front page, and we never go back. I imagine there are entire departments at these services that can analyze viewer habits down to the second to better combat disinterest. That kind of data was hard to get before, but now they know exactly how many viewers nope out after a specific scene or stretch of time without action, etc to better build their algorithm for making addictive programming.
I also suspect they scrutinize scenes where viewers go back and rewatch, over and over, to better build a profile of said viewer....then they know when the dialogue was too garbled, yeah, that's the reason
Replied by jason10mm on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
mtagge wrote: I gotta say I understand why streaming services are having problems with people subbing, bingeing, then cancelling. I hate the weekly single episode releases of these shows. ....Basically if they want people to subscribe the entire year, I feel they need to put out more than a month's worth of content every year.
I think, as the streaming model evolves, that we will start to see "Seasonal availability" of shows to target the monthly bingers. So "Stranger Things" is only available from July to Nov, stuff like that. Sort of a new spin on Disney vaulting their DVD releases to manufacture artificial scarcity.
My problem is that I hear of a cool show, it's on a service I don't have, and guaranteed within a week I'll have either forgotten the show or forgotten where it is. Or we start something after some random thumbing through catalogues and then forget where it was, it falls off the front page, and we never go back. I imagine there are entire departments at these services that can analyze viewer habits down to the second to better combat disinterest. That kind of data was hard to get before, but now they know exactly how many viewers nope out after a specific scene or stretch of time without action, etc to better build their algorithm for making addictive programming.
I also suspect they scrutinize scenes where viewers go back and rewatch, over and over, to better build a profile of said viewer....then they know when the dialogue was too garbled, yeah, that's the reason
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01 Oct 2022 07:17 - 01 Oct 2022 07:18 #335852
by mtagge
Replied by mtagge on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
Watched the latest Rings of Power last night and I gotta say I'm out. I can't take it anymore. The writing is just clown-shoes at this point it's so ridiculous. Near as I can tell the writers were trying to evoke the Battle of Helm's Deep in spirit, but it doesn't work because they work on Schrodinger's reality (if you cannot current see something on screen at this moment anything is possible, including the cat is a rat).
That's the episode folks. I don't expect the writers to be engineers, and I am okay with time dilation for the purpose of story telling (although West World's extreme use of it to confuse on purpose was stupid to me), but I do need outcomes from one scene to effect the possibilities of the following scenes. Otherwise each individual scene is meaningless.
Warning: Spoiler!
-Early in the episode Galadriel's army is approaching the Western coast of Middle Earth (so farther West than the Shire) by boats (which are not large enough for the 300 soldiers let alone their horses). Apparently they are able to sail directly to Mordor (farther East than Minis Tirith) without passing by any civilization up some rivers that don't exist.
-The villagers are able to all sneak out of the tower (except for Arondail) and hide in the forest so that the Uruk army is trapped in the tower courtyard. Arondail is able to collapse the entire tower by a single arrow shot to a rope that was holding the entire tower from collapse (that people filled the previous episode).
-The villagers somehow sneak back to their pristine but empty village and setup defenses. That night when the Uruk attack comes they are able to fend off the Uruk. But surprise, it turns out the Uruk were not Uruk at all, but willing human volunteer soldiers complete with masks. They were f'king not (I'm not going to rewind the video to check, but they really were not). Oh, except for the one who wrestled with Arondail for five minutes, he really was an orc.
-Anyway, the true Uruk army shows up this time, with full strength as if they were not damaged at all from the tower collapse, and attacks the village easily taking it over. They trap the villagers in the tavern and get the key they seek after some murder of hostages. Just then day breaks (huh, must be June 21st for night to only be one hour long, but the weird part is Mordor isn't at the South pole) and Galadriel's Numinorian calvary attacks! They easily win.
-Adar (the first Uruk apparently) steals one of the horses and key (but not really he already gave it to someone he met yesterday to use the key creating the sequence of events to make Mordor the black lands) and as fast as he can takes off. Galadriel follows in hot pursuit. She even uses some elven words to speed her horse to make up the distance. Then BOOM, out of nowhere Halbarand coming from the opposite direction uses his spear to trip up Adar's horse. Our theory is that he circled the globe in those three minutes to come from the opposite direction.
-Anyway, the battle is won (all the orcs are taken prisoner, not killed as Galadriel swore to do) and all the villagers meet Halbarand for the first time and immediately accept his as they king that was prophesized. Despite apparently being the king from the region no one has a clue who he is or that there even was a king.
-Meanwhile, the tavern owner who defected and was given the key from Adar unlocks some ancient engineering structure that redirects the river to all the tunnels the Uruk had been digging in secret with their army of captured slaves the last few weeks. This apparently causes the river towards an active volcano (Mount Doom) and triggers an explosion. The entire village (along with Galadriel, Isildur, and Halbarand) are engulfed in scalding smoke and pyroclasm. Cut to black!
-The villagers are able to all sneak out of the tower (except for Arondail) and hide in the forest so that the Uruk army is trapped in the tower courtyard. Arondail is able to collapse the entire tower by a single arrow shot to a rope that was holding the entire tower from collapse (that people filled the previous episode).
-The villagers somehow sneak back to their pristine but empty village and setup defenses. That night when the Uruk attack comes they are able to fend off the Uruk. But surprise, it turns out the Uruk were not Uruk at all, but willing human volunteer soldiers complete with masks. They were f'king not (I'm not going to rewind the video to check, but they really were not). Oh, except for the one who wrestled with Arondail for five minutes, he really was an orc.
-Anyway, the true Uruk army shows up this time, with full strength as if they were not damaged at all from the tower collapse, and attacks the village easily taking it over. They trap the villagers in the tavern and get the key they seek after some murder of hostages. Just then day breaks (huh, must be June 21st for night to only be one hour long, but the weird part is Mordor isn't at the South pole) and Galadriel's Numinorian calvary attacks! They easily win.
-Adar (the first Uruk apparently) steals one of the horses and key (but not really he already gave it to someone he met yesterday to use the key creating the sequence of events to make Mordor the black lands) and as fast as he can takes off. Galadriel follows in hot pursuit. She even uses some elven words to speed her horse to make up the distance. Then BOOM, out of nowhere Halbarand coming from the opposite direction uses his spear to trip up Adar's horse. Our theory is that he circled the globe in those three minutes to come from the opposite direction.
-Anyway, the battle is won (all the orcs are taken prisoner, not killed as Galadriel swore to do) and all the villagers meet Halbarand for the first time and immediately accept his as they king that was prophesized. Despite apparently being the king from the region no one has a clue who he is or that there even was a king.
-Meanwhile, the tavern owner who defected and was given the key from Adar unlocks some ancient engineering structure that redirects the river to all the tunnels the Uruk had been digging in secret with their army of captured slaves the last few weeks. This apparently causes the river towards an active volcano (Mount Doom) and triggers an explosion. The entire village (along with Galadriel, Isildur, and Halbarand) are engulfed in scalding smoke and pyroclasm. Cut to black!
That's the episode folks. I don't expect the writers to be engineers, and I am okay with time dilation for the purpose of story telling (although West World's extreme use of it to confuse on purpose was stupid to me), but I do need outcomes from one scene to effect the possibilities of the following scenes. Otherwise each individual scene is meaningless.
Last edit: 01 Oct 2022 07:18 by mtagge.
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03 Oct 2022 08:46 #335884
by RobertB
Replied by RobertB on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
House of the Dragon: much better than last week. Explained a few things to the dummies in the audience, like me. Everyone's now picked sides, and are ready to rumble.
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03 Oct 2022 09:32 #335886
by Msample
Replied by Msample on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I read an excellent comparison/description of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON the other day. It’s basically SUCCESSION with wigs. Both feature unsympathetic characters fighting over a company/Iron Throne, headed by an aging patriarch.
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03 Oct 2022 09:45 #335887
by jason10mm
Replied by jason10mm on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
HotD is KILLING IT! I don't wanna draw comparisons to another on-air big budget fantasy show but WOW.
GRRM almost maliciously punished "good" characters in ASOIAF because it's pretty clear in history that "doing the nice thing" often just gets you exploited and/or killed. In HotD at least you have clear motives linked to self-survival, no one is going out of their way to hurt others, well, at least not crossing the street to hurt others.
Looks like they are setting Aemon up to be the closest to a moustache twirling (maybe eyepatch tapping) bad guy but even he, so far, shows humanity when it leaks out of a teenage boys psyche.
GRRM almost maliciously punished "good" characters in ASOIAF because it's pretty clear in history that "doing the nice thing" often just gets you exploited and/or killed. In HotD at least you have clear motives linked to self-survival, no one is going out of their way to hurt others, well, at least not crossing the street to hurt others.
Looks like they are setting Aemon up to be the closest to a moustache twirling (maybe eyepatch tapping) bad guy but even he, so far, shows humanity when it leaks out of a teenage boys psyche.
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03 Oct 2022 10:17 - 03 Oct 2022 10:18 #335895
by jpat
I'm a week behind, but about halfway through ep. 6 (not this week's, but last week's) I was thinking a Wikipedia entry would've been more interesting to me.
Far from a hot take at this point, and probably far from the majority opinion, but I feel like I have to give some props to the conclusion of s3 of Star Trek: Discovery, the season before the most recent one. I feel as though the show climbed up from pretty terrible (s1) to not quite so bad (s2) to middling but watchable (s3). The plot holes are still there; there's too much action for my taste relative to any meaningful engagement with the concept of "Star Trek"; there are any number of times where the writers think what they've written is cooler/edgier/whatnot than what it is. But fair's fair. They took some chances here, including giving Michael a much-needed personality transplant (not a knock on the actress; it's just what she was given to work with) and moving us out of prequel territory. It's still kind of garbage, but it's not Picard-level garbage (at least Disco s3).
Replied by jpat on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
RobertB wrote: House of the Dragon: much better than last week. Explained a few things to the dummies in the audience, like me. Everyone's now picked sides, and are ready to rumble.
I'm a week behind, but about halfway through ep. 6 (not this week's, but last week's) I was thinking a Wikipedia entry would've been more interesting to me.
Far from a hot take at this point, and probably far from the majority opinion, but I feel like I have to give some props to the conclusion of s3 of Star Trek: Discovery, the season before the most recent one. I feel as though the show climbed up from pretty terrible (s1) to not quite so bad (s2) to middling but watchable (s3). The plot holes are still there; there's too much action for my taste relative to any meaningful engagement with the concept of "Star Trek"; there are any number of times where the writers think what they've written is cooler/edgier/whatnot than what it is. But fair's fair. They took some chances here, including giving Michael a much-needed personality transplant (not a knock on the actress; it's just what she was given to work with) and moving us out of prequel territory. It's still kind of garbage, but it's not Picard-level garbage (at least Disco s3).
Last edit: 03 Oct 2022 10:18 by jpat.
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04 Oct 2022 05:31 - 04 Oct 2022 05:31 #335940
by sornars
Replied by sornars on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I'm late to the party but I enjoyed Cyberpunk Edgerunners. They do a lot of make you care about the characters in a relatively short space of time. The story itself is nothing special but it does its job in delivering its message. The world building is cool and the animation great. I had no exposure to the IP but after watching it I wish I could tolerate first person shooters because I'd like to play the game. I guess as a tie-in medium, mission accomplished for CD Projekt Red.
Last edit: 04 Oct 2022 05:31 by sornars.
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04 Oct 2022 10:18 #335948
by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
Have been re-watching season one of Los Espookys, in preparation for the recently-released season two on HBO. Very amusing show about some Mexican goths who like to stage spooky paranormal occurrences for fun and profit. Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) is one of the producers. The show is fun, and the humor is both dry and eccentric. My favorite character is Tati, a delightfully clueless woman who is perpetually broke and working multiple jobs, including helping this spooky crew. There is also Andres, a delightfully bitchy blue-haired homosexual who delivered my favorite line in deadpan: "I hear what you're saying. And it makes perfect sense. But I'll keep insisting on this idea as if I never heard you.” When characters speak in Spanish, there are English subtitles. When characters speak in English, there are Spanish subtitles. I took three years of Spanish in school, so I find the show easy to follow. But my ex didn't know any Spanish and she was the one who got me hooked on the show, so she clearly had no problem with the subtitles.
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04 Oct 2022 10:19 #335949
by RobertB
For those of you interested in watching it, be warned that you will see animated nudity.
And CDPR should have pushed for that show a couple of years ago, although it may still rev up the franchise a little bit.
Replied by RobertB on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
My daughter didn't like it; she thought it had too much gratuitous T&A, and stopped watching. I told her the combination of anime, the Cyberpunk universe, and the natural inclination of Projekt Red was going to push the show in that direction, but she wasn't buying it.sornars wrote: I'm late to the party but I enjoyed Cyberpunk Edgerunners. They do a lot of make you care about the characters in a relatively short space of time. The story itself is nothing special but it does its job in delivering its message. The world building is cool and the animation great. I had no exposure to the IP but after watching it I wish I could tolerate first person shooters because I'd like to play the game. I guess as a tie-in medium, mission accomplished for CD Projekt Red.
For those of you interested in watching it, be warned that you will see animated nudity.
And CDPR should have pushed for that show a couple of years ago, although it may still rev up the franchise a little bit.
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