What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Greg Aleknevicus wrote:

Gregarius wrote: Am I the only one who liked Obi Wan?

Note to writers: If you need a character to survive, don't stab them through the chest with a lightsaber.

TWICE!

[quote="Jackwraith" post=336024I've never even seen Endgame and haven't seen anything after that, either.[/quote]

I was somewhat disappointed with Infinity War, because the big battle felt more exhausting than entertaining, so I was skeptical going into Endgame. But Endgame surprised me because a significant portion of it was a fun heist. There was another exhausting big battle scene, but there were also some great character moments throughout the movie, and the ending was nice.

At the time, I had a feeling that Endgame was the end of an era and that I wouldn't enjoy subsequent Marvel movies or shows as much. So aside from Spider-man: Far From Home (the last MCU movie in my Chinese bootleg dvd boxed set), I haven't seen any Marvel stuff since Endgame. Based on comments from friends and reviews that I've seen, the quality has slipped and there is less cohesion between the newer releases.

I scoffed when I heard that there is a show called Pennyworth and it is the origin of Batman's butler. I mean, Alfred is a very cool dude for an elderly butler, and there have been hints dropped over the years that he had some serious experiences in the military. Since he is British, I suppose that he considers himself Batman's batman, if you will. But still, there have to be dozens of more interesting DC characters who could carry a tv series.

After some vigorous morning chores, I wanted to take it easy at lunch time and watch something on HBO. I accidentally clicked on Pennyworth but it immediately grabbed my attention. The pilot episode was great, and I have now watched the first three episodes. It turns out that a weak concept for a show can still work out well if you have good writing, good acting, and a decent budget. Everything about this show is good, except that some of the musical selections are great. The star of the show is compelling, easily holding the center of his every scene.

The setting is London, but it initially had that same timeless quality that we always get with Gotham City. And some anachronistic musical selections were also misleading, but the show finally settles on possibly the mid '60s, give or take a few years. The show definitely has a British feel to it, as social class is a recurring element. There is a surprising amount of action, and there is definitely the suggestion that Alfred may have taught a young Batman a thing or two. But that comes later. At this point, Alfred is 26, and he has just met Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne. There are no supervillains in sight, but multiple secret societies in the mix. Anyway, I highly recommend at least trying the pilot episode.

I dunno, sounds pretty cool to me. Sean Pertwee as a middle-aged, former special ops guy during GOTHAM worked really well.

To what degree is this Pennyworth thing a kind of odd homage to Michael Caine? (And I don't mean like, Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred in the Christopher Nolan movies, i mean like swinging 60s, Italian Job, Alfie kind of Michael Caine).

mc wrote: To what degree is this Pennyworth thing a kind of odd homage to Michael Caine? (And I don't mean like, Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred in the Christopher Nolan movies, i mean like swinging 60s, Italian Job, Alfie kind of Michael Caine).

It's definitely in the mix. The very first time someone addresses Pennyworth by name, they call him Alfie. And I think that Pennyworth has the same accent as a young Michael Caine. The setting is definitely Swinging 60s London, much like last year's Last Night in Soho.

dysjunct wrote: I dunno, sounds pretty cool to me. Sean Pertwee as a middle-aged, former special ops guy during GOTHAM worked really well.

Even though I like Ben McKenzie, I wasn't planning on watching Gotham anytime soon. Now I feel like that will be the next show I watch after Pennyworth.

GOTHAM has its moments; predictably the villains steal the show ( esp Penguin and Riddler ) but the series probably ran a little too long . But as pointed out above the Alfred character was def a highlight.

I've been overall impressed by the quality of Pennyworth. I was particularly happy with Paloma Faith's turn on the show as I am a long time fan of her music. The series has made Alfred more than 'Batman's butler'.

Shellhead wrote:

mc wrote: To what degree is this Pennyworth thing a kind of odd homage to Michael Caine? (And I don't mean like, Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred in the Christopher Nolan movies, i mean like swinging 60s, Italian Job, Alfie kind of Michael Caine).

It's definitely in the mix. The very first time someone addresses Pennyworth by name, they call him Alfie. And I think that Pennyworth has the same accent as a young Michael Caine. The setting is definitely Swinging 60s London, much like last year's Last Night in Soho.

I keep thinking the idea behind the show is that Pennyworth is all of the Michael Caine characters from the 60s/70s rolled up into one (e.g. the soldier from Zulu, Alfie, Harry Palmer and Jack Carter.)

I think it's a great romp, though very sweary and brutal (especially for a comic spinoff.)

The only thing that gets in the way, for me, is the need to tie it into the Bat mythos with Thomas and Martha (though Martha's a fun character in her own right.)

Bit worried we're going to see the Bat conception.

Finally finished Peaky Blinders. It ended as it began: with acting, production design, costumes and music drops that deserved better than the writing. I thought the fifth season was the best since the first at giving the Shelbies a worthy enemy, but that all is done this season as Tommy never really feels behind or outmaneuvered. He always is prepared to the point of omniscience and never feels particularly challenged besides his search for a cure to a gypsy curse (possibly the best episode of the season).

The greater problem with the writing though is that the writers can never commit to Tommy’s evil. Like Breaking Bad, the writers just think their lead is too cool. Every man wants to be him. Every woman wants to be with him. They never deal with the fact he’s never done a good thing in his life until he became obsessed with doing good and building homes for workers this season. They write him emotionally detached and empty, but it comes across cool and earned.

Lady Diana Mitford marked her place as one of the shows’ greatest villains. Arthur’s final shoot out was pretty great. Helen McCrory was missed. There was a weird attempt to be of our times when the doctors insist Tommy wear a mask.

trif wrote:

Shellhead wrote:

mc wrote: To what degree is this Pennyworth thing a kind of odd homage to Michael Caine? (And I don't mean like, Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred in the Christopher Nolan movies, i mean like swinging 60s, Italian Job, Alfie kind of Michael Caine).

It's definitely in the mix. The very first time someone addresses Pennyworth by name, they call him Alfie. And I think that Pennyworth has the same accent as a young Michael Caine. The setting is definitely Swinging 60s London, much like last year's Last Night in Soho.

I keep thinking the idea behind the show is that Pennyworth is all of the Michael Caine characters from the 60s/70s rolled up into one (e.g. the soldier from Zulu, Alfie, Harry Palmer and Jack Carter.)

I think it's a great romp, though very sweary and brutal (especially for a comic spinoff.)

The only thing that gets in the way, for me, is the need to tie it into the Bat mythos with Thomas and Martha (though Martha's a fun character in her own right.)

Bit worried we're going to see the Bat conception.

I can't stop thinking about this and laughing.
I feel like it's a new height in pop cultural post-modernism. Gonna have to watch, I guess!

mc wrote:

trif wrote:

Shellhead wrote:

mc wrote: To what degree is this Pennyworth thing a kind of odd homage to Michael Caine? (And I don't mean like, Michael Caine's portrayal of Alfred in the Christopher Nolan movies, i mean like swinging 60s, Italian Job, Alfie kind of Michael Caine).

It's definitely in the mix. The very first time someone addresses Pennyworth by name, they call him Alfie. And I think that Pennyworth has the same accent as a young Michael Caine. The setting is definitely Swinging 60s London, much like last year's Last Night in Soho.

I keep thinking the idea behind the show is that Pennyworth is all of the Michael Caine characters from the 60s/70s rolled up into one (e.g. the soldier from Zulu, Alfie, Harry Palmer and Jack Carter.)

I think it's a great romp, though very sweary and brutal (especially for a comic spinoff.)

The only thing that gets in the way, for me, is the need to tie it into the Bat mythos with Thomas and Martha (though Martha's a fun character in her own right.)

Bit worried we're going to see the Bat conception.

I can't stop thinking about this and laughing.
I feel like it's a new height in pop cultural post-modernism. Gonna have to watch, I guess!

From mildly interested to must see in five posts, thanks fellas.

Rewatching Breaking Bad with my fiancee who has never seen it. I had a very different reaction to most people with this show in that I thought it peaked in season 2 then went rapidly downhill.

On the rewatch season 1 was better than I recalled, and season 2 was just as good. And we are now half way through season 3 and I was right in that the quality just plummets after the finale of season 2. Season 2 is perfect in that it is about this guy who has been downtrodden and trying to regain ego, money and status, while maintaining balance in his life and there is this tension in his need to keep all aspects of his life separate. And then Season 3 he just becomes a jerk, stuck in middle management of a drug cartel. He turns into a horrible, unlikeable person and all the tension comes from the interactions of the other characters in the show as all the things that drove the tension in the earlier seasons evaporate from Walter's life. I recall Season 4 is better than 3, but 5 ends up with the same problems as 3.

I had the same problem with Better Call Saul which notably drops in quality once the main antagonist changes half way through.

Wasn't sure if I wanted to watch something scary or just the next episode of Pennyworth. I chose well and the 6th episode of Pennyworth was surprisingly creepy, featuring unconnected storylines about Alistair Crowley and a crazy witch. Only problem is that Crowley died in the '40s, though this excellent version of Crowley was creepy enough that there seems to be black magick involved.