Author Topic: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?  (Read 333650 times)

0 Members and 7 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1545 on: November 06, 2019, 10:42:53 AM »
Jack Ryan sounds promising. I like Homeland, and I don't think it's back yet.

I took the night off and watched Spiral (S2, which I've seen before, but not for a long time).  Mean French drug dealers and a corrupt legal system with virtuous cops and judges undermined by the promise of money, power or fame.   

And Mayans MC.  Mayans MC had a pretty high body count last night, S2:10.  If they keep this up there won't be any bikers left in California to liaise with in order to distribute contraband like drugs and weapons.  This was the season finale.  Lots of dead bodies and little sense that things were going to get much better.  Bikers taking leave of their senses.  Nice Stanford educated hispanic guy (Ezekiel) gets promoted to full membership in the club with a shiny new vest just in time to go murder a bunch of Mexican bikers.  So much for honor among thieves.  Mother of drug cartel kingpin gets offed at her own request.  That should sit well in Season 3.

Really, Mayans MC should also be called Spiral, since it starts out sort of sad and gets downright depressing, looping down until the only option is to drive one's motorcycle into a semi to end the series.  Is this what having Kurt Sutter fired results in?

I read this today.  Disney underwrites this?  Mayans MC is a far cry from the Mickey Mouse Club.  Gak.  https://deadline.com/2019/10/kurt-sutter-letter-mayans-mc-struggles-disney-culture-dana-walden-john-landgraf-fx-sons-of-anarchy-1202762937/#:~:text=EXCLUSIVE%3A%20As%20Deadline%20reported%20earlier,the%20FX%20series%20Mayans%20M.C.&text=Sutter%20also%20reveals%20his%20struggle,ultimately%20led%20to%20his%20firing.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2019, 12:05:23 AM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline smokester

  • Administrator
  • Q
  • *
  • Posts: 15833
  • Gender: Male
  • Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo!
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1546 on: November 08, 2019, 02:49:40 AM »
I haven't enjoyed a show as much as I did season 1 or "The Terror" for years. However, I can't get through the first episode of season 2.

That could be due to the fried brain condition I'm currently experiencing
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

There is an exception to every rule, apart from this one.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1547 on: November 08, 2019, 03:08:01 AM »
You are not alone.  We enjoyed Season 1 and could barely get through 5 minutes of Season 2 Episode 1.  It's just unnecessarily violent for no apparent reason.

I'm watching Spiral (Engrenages) Season 2.  Entertaining police drama set in contemporary Paris.  Actors are very good and the writing is compelling.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2019, 12:46:02 PM by 6pairsofshoes »

Offline 8ullfrog

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3146
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1548 on: November 17, 2019, 04:39:17 AM »
The Mandalorian. Shame Kayos isn't active, we got more onscreen mando'a culture in the first episode than we ever have on screen. (excluding animated and games)

I liked the slower pace. Part of what made me stop watching SOLO 30 minutes in was everything was pop bang go now. I'm not saying this episode didn't have pop bang, because it did, but it wasn't slapstick.

I mean, they had Han Solo go from being a ground marine, framed for a crime, pit fight with Chewie to robbing the dang train in I'd say, fifteen minutes? It was crap.

I won't say we follow the Mandalorian through all his every day minutia, but we do get to see the toilet on his ship. That's one of those small details a lot of scifi glosses over. He also mentions fuel costs.

I sort of feel like after the success of Iron Man and those losers who hang out with Iron Man, Lucasfilm wants to use Jon Favreau to wash star wars "clean". The Western tone fit extremely well. This is a man on a mission, he has clearly defined goals... and he encounters complications. It honestly makes me want to boot new vegas back up, but the only bounties there are lethal. One nice note on the Mandalorian is that he appears to prefer live capture.

Carving the time out to have him tame a mount was shocking, considering how much gets cut out of media these days, it was like a breather episode... in the middle of an episode!

I was a little pissed we got more JJ-Abrams style giant weird monsters stalking the lead, but both giant monsters made more sense than the ones that showed up in Star Trek '09. One of them even gets repurposed as the already mentioned mount.

Other than that, the whole thing was 38 minutes long, and I've heard the entire season consists of five episodes. I'm not saying they can't turn that assignment in, but it does feel, I dunno, bad?  I got pissed when BSG switched to "mid season finales" and it sucks here too.

Okay, the season is actually going to be eight episodes long, not five.

I watched the second episode, and it's as good as the first, if eight minutes shorter.

I have no clue how to discuss this episode without major spoilers, so I'll try to remain vague.

Jawas totally golly up the mandalorians ride, and he needs to ransom the parts back from the evil little gits. He kills a lot of them before that, and holy crap was it satisfying.

Jedi academy tried to make you feel bad for killing jawas, they had a "death bark" that made you feel like a real bottom. Not so much here.

Oddly enough, his quest was WEIRDLY similar to one in Fallout New Vegas: Go to the cave, collect the egg. And nevermind THE GIANT MONSTER.

Nick Nolte's character is endlessly patient and helpful, but also carries a tone of finality, when he's done talking, he cuts things off with a "I have spoken".

I kept expecting an ugly double cross from the character, and it somewhat soured the viewing, so I'll say this right now, Nick Nolte's character is decent throughout both episodes.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2019, 05:23:56 AM by 8ullfrog »

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1549 on: December 05, 2019, 03:41:20 AM »
I ran out of Season 6 Engrenages (really fine French cop drama) so I'm back onto the Man in the High Castle.  It's kind of soap operaish but still well acted and the sets and costumes are fabulous.  I need something to watch for about an hour late at night, so I'm back to this. 

Eventually I'll get back to SG1. 

Offline 8ullfrog

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3146
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1550 on: December 06, 2019, 07:34:08 AM »
God I hope. I said I wasn't going to watch Jason X, so after "Jason goes to hell" (DO NOT WATCH THIS GARBAGE)

I'm watching Friday the 13th 2009. Can't say I'm a fan, but I made a thread for all the other ones.

Offline smokester

  • Administrator
  • Q
  • *
  • Posts: 15833
  • Gender: Male
  • Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo!
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1551 on: December 06, 2019, 12:14:53 PM »
Kinda opposite to the thread topic, but we (the family) waded through 6 seasons of The 100 for want of something better to to watch that had some longevity. We pretty much hated every moment of every episode as they were just so nonsensical. I cannot believe the lack of morality and the insatiable appetite every character had to kill someone or something.

However, we couldn't stop watching it and will no doubt watch season 7 as soon as it airs.
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

There is an exception to every rule, apart from this one.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1552 on: December 06, 2019, 10:41:18 PM »
I watched the 100 until the last season and then I could stomach no more of people wearing too much eye makeup beating the living crap out of each other if for no other reason than to indulge in some violence porn.

There was no real excuse for a plot any longer, no significant character development, just attractive young people engaged in violence.  What was the point?  The earlier seasons were better but they got progressively worse as if they couldn't really come up with any more interesting stories to tell.  It's too bad, as I think they had a talented cast but it really just lost direction.

Offline smokester

  • Administrator
  • Q
  • *
  • Posts: 15833
  • Gender: Male
  • Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo!
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1553 on: December 07, 2019, 04:30:34 AM »
We find it fascinating the Clark and Bellamy are an item in real life. You can see it bleed through in the shows, occasionally.
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

There is an exception to every rule, apart from this one.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1554 on: December 07, 2019, 12:00:24 PM »
I didn't realize that.  When I last watched, Clarke was in a lesbian relationship with some woman that died, if I remember correctly, then she braved out the surface while people went back up into space.  She had a shot or transfusion of some extraordinary woman's blood that made her immune from radiation.  Good job and very suspenseful.  Her mother was still around then.  I think that show had 3 people over 30, the mother, her boyfriend, and another man of African descent, Thelonious (great name), who had been subjected to mind control of the evil robot woman (Alle?), but that was dispensed with a few seasons back, along with robot woman--you know, kind of like the bad angel on BSG who caused the big nuclear attack, she'd done the same thing here.  Bad robot!  Then he got right again and was good but I don't know if he's still around.  I think there was radiation that made the surface uninhabitable again.  Physics takes a back seat on this show. 

Some of them, led by Bellamy's sister, went into a subterranean space for a few years.  Clarke was with some young girl when the season started, and then there was more fighting underground and a big prison transport, that was never explained in any of the prior year's plots, came down out of the sky and Clarke was warily eyeing it from a distance.  That's when I pulled the plug.

Offline smokester

  • Administrator
  • Q
  • *
  • Posts: 15833
  • Gender: Male
  • Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo!
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1555 on: December 07, 2019, 02:55:43 PM »
I didn't realize that.  When I last watched, Clarke was in a lesbian relationship with some woman that died, if I remember correctly, then she braved out the surface while people went back up into space.  She had a shot or transfusion of some extraordinary woman's blood that made her immune from radiation.  Good job and very suspenseful.  Her mother was still around then.  I think that show had 3 people over 30, the mother, her boyfriend, and another man of African descent, Thelonious (great name), who had been subjected to mind control of the evil robot woman (Alle?), but that was dispensed with a few seasons back, along with robot woman--you know, kind of like the bad angel on BSG who caused the big nuclear attack, she'd done the same thing here.  Bad robot!  Then he got right again and was good but I don't know if he's still around.  I think there was radiation that made the surface uninhabitable again.  Physics takes a back seat on this show. 

Some of them, led by Bellamy's sister, went into a subterranean space for a few years.  Clarke was with some young girl when the season started, and then there was more fighting underground and a big prison transport, that was never explained in any of the prior year's plots, came down out of the sky and Clarke was warily eyeing it from a distance.  That's when I pulled the plug.

Spoiler alert:

Every episode from the point you left off contains even more mindless killing ... and then some.
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

There is an exception to every rule, apart from this one.

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1556 on: December 09, 2019, 06:41:58 AM »

I'm about to go on a 10 day holiday and am taking the 4th in the Volker Kutscher Berlin series (The Fatherland Files) to read as well as Paul Scott's The Jewel in the Crown, vol. 1 of the Raj Quartet, (I'm about ¾ of the way through it, but I may need a shove to get back into it.)  I was compelled to read each because of the fine television series that were made from them.  I also downloaded some urban history of Berlin, my destination.  I know individual buildings but have less of a sense of how the city developed.  There are plenty of Cold War intrigue type movies that take place there, but the Babylon Berlin series, 4 Blocks, Beat, etc. -- all contemporary tv shows, situate the viewer into the city at various points in its history.  The most recent movie I can think of that really moves the viewer through the city is Lola Rennt (translated as Run Lola Run), a movie so delightful that I just wanted to sit though it twice.  Fassbinder's stuff is more wartime related, so not as much a tribute to the capital (and then there's a few of the Jason Bourne flicks that dip in there from time to time).

I have not been to the city since before the Wall came down and when I was in the East it was with a state approved tour guide with a university group.  That was pretty weird in itself, but I'm looking forward to hanging out there and moving freely, although it won't be for nearly as long as I'd like. 


Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1557 on: December 19, 2019, 02:01:44 AM »
Volker Kutscher's Fatherland is best read while spending a week in Berlin visiting history museums.

I just watched 2 episodes of the 4th season of the Expanse and it didn't disappoint.

Offline Beatrix

  • Cro-Magnon
  • ****
  • Posts: 861
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1558 on: December 19, 2019, 10:26:04 PM »
I'll be watching the star wars series as much as I can, but other than that I have been working all the time.  Ski park, very cool. Still cleaning the bar in the mornings.
 Mom wants to sell the family house and move to Wisconsin after a tour de'Illinois whilst we build on the property.  I say it'll take awhile to actually get situated in Wisconsin, but I'm glad I'll be in the support of a family network, while the kids are still young.
Makes me very happy that you went to Berlin this year, Six.  I better get some sleep for morn.  It's late here.  I still only work off wifi.
 

Offline 6pairsofshoes

  • Homo Superior
  • ******
  • Posts: 3465
Re: What's your favourite TV program of the moment?
« Reply #1559 on: December 19, 2019, 10:33:56 PM »
I lived in Wi for a number of years.  Where is the property?  I mostly stayed in south central, Madison area but I did venture to various places in other parts of the state.  It's beautiful there, but the winters are a bit harsh for me.  On the plus side, if you can get used to it and like ice fishing and cross country skiing, it can be a great place.