Author Topic: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?  (Read 333893 times)

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Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1440 on: July 16, 2019, 02:12:50 PM »
Oh, poo, sorry, didn't realize I lapsed into non English there.

DLC or downloadable content, alters a video game experience. Sometimes it's a few snazzy uniforms and a gun that makes you unfairly superior to other players. Sometimes it changed the whole game. In one I'm playing now, it makes you a VAMPIRE!

Generally you have to pay for it, but if you wait a year or two post release, you can get a version of the game that bundles all the extras, and pay less for the whole package.

Paul Riser can not drop the Carter Burke persona, because it's more Paul Riser than Paul Riser. It was the absolutely perfect role of a soulless corporate automaton.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1441 on: July 20, 2019, 12:46:48 AM »
I'm watching season 3 of Stranger Things.  Like they got a good run out of the whole creepy apparatus that worked last season so let's try that, only new & improved.  Say, throw in some of that pod people stuff that worked so well with Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

I'm halfway through it but feel sort of exhausted by it.  Tonight Jett is back so I think I'll give the creeps a rest and go back to beautiful thieves instead.

We are also watching, via amazon prime, a John Simm vehicle called White Dragon.  It's pretty good.  Miniseries of 8 episodes.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1442 on: July 25, 2019, 02:18:03 AM »
The show wrapped up nicely.  Now I'm catching up with Luther.

Both of these shows are so dark.  Meaning that I'm constantly attempting to increase the brightness.  This is a deliberate trope most likely intended to increase suspense as what you can't see can hurt you.  And I now think it would be fun to come up with alternative versions, like "Luther Lite."  Luther has to arrest people for shoplifting in the middle of the day when all of London is brightly lit, inside and out.  That would be a switch instead of the sicko murderous maiming criminals he's usually dealing with.

Tonight he got tazed, beaten and threatened with a gun.  He went home and pulled up his shirt to examine the damage.  I wonder if that's to make the ladies happy, as he is not lacking in male pulchritude.  The purportedly dead crazy friend played by Ruth Wilson (Alice Morgan) appears to have come back to life.  But of course.  Frankly, she was one of the reasons I liked the show.  There's plenty of moral ambiguity to go around with this program and she's doling it out with the best of them.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1443 on: July 26, 2019, 11:15:37 PM »
Apparently "the boys" dropped on amazon prime. While you may have had to overlook some gross stuff in preacher, The Boys is mostly gross stuff.

Seriously, the book intro is a lovely day. Hughie and his best girl are twirling in the moment. They have a sudden and unfortunate encounter with a flash expy (A-Train, he runs fast)

Hughie is left holding the severed arms of his girlfriend, nothing else is left of her. A-train gives zero naffs and zips off.

This is a constant problem in the world of "The Boys" The aforementioned team is designed around solving "the problem" once it goes beyond what PR firms can manage.


Honestly, while I enjoyed the concept for a few issues, I regret reading the book. It was a joyless, grim, and ultimately disgusting experience. Pretty sure it was meant to feel that way too.


I don't know how I feel about a creator actively hating their audience, and punishing them for liking anything that isn't nihilism.

Then again, I didn't much like the extended slaughter of the last avengers film either. They had a Happy Ending, but needed a BOSS FIGHT.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1444 on: July 27, 2019, 12:53:49 AM »
It sounds pretty violent.  Luther is drearily predictable in having vicious criminals.  It's one of the more tiresome aspects of the show.  I think there's a passage in Horace's Ars Poetica where he admonishes the tendency of contemporaneous Roman plays to enact increasing gore-filled spectacles on stage.  He says that it's not necessary to have Medea slay her sons in front of the audience.  Simply being told it happened should be enough, the audience has an imagination that can fill in such gaps.

Series 5 ends with Luther, once again, in deep poo.  Apparently there's a film version that should pick up or be connected to that season.  I wonder if Idris Elba does his own stunts.  He's like an energizer bunny or something.  Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2019, 02:12:50 AM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1445 on: July 27, 2019, 02:13:35 AM »
Oh god, I watched the first (of 8 ), and it was as awesome as I feared it would be.

See, that's how the book drags you in too. It's the veneer pulled back, and like the drive by truckers say, there's a lotta bad wood.

They're already shaking things up from the source material, so if you "know" something, now you don't.

Karl Urban is probably too Warm for Billy Butcher, he makes you like  a guy who was about as warm as the punisher in the original. (Hatefucking was his character entrance)

Here he's a federal agent, out to take the Avengers, COUGH, the Seven down.

The scene with the arms goes down in a way to introduce plausable deniability, but A-train is still a bless'ed monster.

As to your Luthor bit, sounds like he'd fit in to that web of procedurals idea I posted in that other section.

A certain actor I may have mentioned before shows up as Hughies father, and once again, His American accent isn't one. He's become an American. He's only in two short scenes, but holy hell are they fantastic.

The show was put together by Eric Kripke, who previously put out the good seasons of Supernatural. One thing I always envied in that show was his music collection. Dude literally holds a commercial license. He can listen to whatever he wants, wherever he wants, on whatever he wants, and unlike us schlubs, it's 100% legal. You know those do not duplicate stickers? He can ignore them!

The "caper" solution was fantastic. I reluctantly must recommend this show.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Literally ALL OF THEM.

More specifically, there is a rape scene. It was in the original, it's here. It's sadly, more realistic than it should be. I don't mean in that it's graphic, I mean that the way it is both made possible, and completely erased from "history" is entirely too plausable.

Specifically, the victim could literally fry her victim like KFC, she has the power of the SUN. But she can't, because in the "world" she doesn't.
(If she had, she would be the villian who attacked or murdered a "hero")


On a different, possibly more personal note, it irked me that most of the poo avengers put on stark would be schoolyard hijinks compared to THIS poo.


Violence - about par for the preacher premier. Since it isn't on cable, there's full frontal male. It's not particularly gratuitous, it is a hero being a disgusting bless'ed skeeve, but is pretty much telegraphed from his introductory scene.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2019, 02:10:34 PM by 8ullfrog »

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1446 on: July 27, 2019, 03:32:05 AM »
Boys was among Bianculli's Bets on TV worth watching.

I just saw another episode of Jett.  I really like it.  It has Giancarlo Esposito in it.  He seems to like good scripts, as I don't think I've ever seen him in a bad tv series.  There's some rather interesting plot twists in this show.  I find myself waiting for another episode to air.  I think that was #7.

Offline Beatrix

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1447 on: July 27, 2019, 09:55:32 AM »
I've seent trailers for the boys, I'm ready to check it out, but hesitant after that book review ;)
I need something, I RIP through new seasons of stranger things in like 3 days.
Still watching away at the same tired ass davincis demons episodes (they cancel everything I love, as well)  and now I'm watching 300 *2 and robin hood and stuff left over on my smaller external harddrive, fantasy/history or bust for me, for life, apparently.. I get over anything else.
Gotta have the cultural historical underlay though, and boy do I despise most of those "knights" shows on Netflix, terrible acting, like watching documentaries short acting sequences.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1448 on: July 28, 2019, 11:39:42 AM »
I started to watch Years and Years last night.  Got bored half way through episode 1.  Sigh.

Also, The Rook is boringly formulaic.  There's a gaggle of Gary Numan wannabes on there, ensuring that the hair dye industry will continue to thrive.  Not much else to say.  If there is any good tv out there that I've yet to see, I'd like to hear about it.  Thanks in advance.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1449 on: July 28, 2019, 02:08:59 PM »
Well, I finished watching season 1 of the boys.

It's actually more subtle with the horrible. It's still there on full display, but it hits you later. I think TVtropes calls it "fridge horror"

I think the one that bugs me the most is the invisible guy. He's on Fallon in the first episode, and he says he recently rescued a single mother and child by stopping an apartment robbery in queens the night before.

We are THEN informed that translucent (his supe name) needs to be completely nude for his power to work.

Think about that for a second. Dude was totally naked in some rando's apartment, essentially perving on them.


He's worse than that though. He has the "empathy" mask down perfectly. Hey buddy, everything's going to be okay, you just have to do exactly what I tell you to. I'm so relatable and fun! We totally have a personal connection!

I mean there's another hero on the seven who is essentially a mix of wolverine and batman. He's covered in a black bodysuit from head to toe, never talks, and cuts people to poo with knives. At a Christmas party, he is revealed to play piano.


Like, I want to recommend it, but at the same time, I really don't. This is some messed up poo. Cognitive hazard warning.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1450 on: July 29, 2019, 03:16:25 AM »
Sweetbitter.  The anti Boys show.

Pretty girl moves to Manhattan with her emotional baggage and gets a job at an upscale restaurant that, despite its location in a major metropolis, has a staff that appears content to ignore the other several million inhabitants of said city in order to socialize exclusively among themselves.  Social strife and romance ensue.

If you liked "Slaves of Manhattan" or "Desperately Seeking Susan" you'll like this.  I attribute it to mindless guilty pleasures.  It's like a high budget soap opera for young women.  Not as obnoxious as Sex and the City.  And fresh faces at least.  There are some fine character actors on this show.  And good makeup artists.  If you are looking to expand your intellectual horizons or obtain a better grasp of culture in Manhattan, you will be well advised to keep looking.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1451 on: July 29, 2019, 06:18:04 AM »
Bad news there Six, The Boys... ARE IN MANHATTAN!  Like smack dab in the middle. Big ole tower. Maybe used to say STARK on the side :P

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1452 on: July 29, 2019, 08:40:24 AM »
It's hard to know how that could be bad news.  In theory, one or more of your sick superheroes could get a job at the same upscale restaurant and spice things up a bit.  Right now, other than learning about grape varietals and negotiating which guys to have sex with, there's not much going on here.  Maybe a few of the Boys characters would offer some useful plot developments, and possible new love interests for our lovely young protagonist.

I'm sure that a Sweetbitter/Boys hybrid would allow for some engaging creativity among the writers.  Plus, just think of the savings to be gained via duplication of filming locations!

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1453 on: July 31, 2019, 03:24:39 AM »
I started to watch the Boys but found the dialogue sort of dull and predictable.  It wasn't the gore that put me off, but the Bad Corporation and corrupt power trope that was tiresome.

So I opted for a Russian sci fi movie, Attraction.  An alien space ship crashes on earth.  Crashes into Moscow and takes off the top of a bunch of Corbusian style apartment towers.  It was on amazon prime and I couldn't turn off the dubbing which made it reminiscent of "What's Up Tiger Lily?" the dubbed Japanese spy flick that Woody Allen altered.  This has a host of stupid teenagers who sound even more stupid because of the stilted dubbed voices.  I had to stop watching the lot of them.  Oh for some good tv...

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1454 on: July 31, 2019, 03:34:43 AM »
Did you get to the end of the first episode?