General Television Thread 2021

[MalaCloudy Black]

Reading the AVC review for Tiger King 2 and it sounds absolutely dire. Carole Baskin (obviously) doesn't appear except in archival footage, and some "psychic detective" shows up at one point to cry about how he "senses" where Don Lewis was killed. Christ. 

[Ruki]

Wheel of Time episode 1 was pretty good. I'll probably watch the rest.

[Moses Julep]

On 18/11/2021 at 14:54, tristy said:

So, I finished Another Life this morning. I liked it a lot, but if it doesn't get a Season 3, at least it wrapped up the story it started with. There are other places to go after the S2 finale, but as far as I can remember, there aren't any lingering questions when everything wraps up. Certainly feels like they don't expect to get renewed.

I now need another (recent) sci-fi show. I was going to start Stargate, but it's so undeniably 90s, but it also goes deeper than the movie does.

The Expanse? It starts off a little slow and becomes one of the best things on TV.

[Ruki]

On 18/11/2021 at 12:54, tristy said:

So, I finished Another Life this morning. I liked it a lot, but if it doesn't get a Season 3, at least it wrapped up the story it started with. There are other places to go after the S2 finale, but as far as I can remember, there aren't any lingering questions when everything wraps up. Certainly feels like they don't expect to get renewed.

I now need another (recent) sci-fi show. I was going to start Stargate, but it's so undeniably 90s, but it also goes deeper than the movie does.

Cowboy Bebop just released on Netflix today.

[Ruki]

IGN gave Arcane a 10/10, which I think I agree with based off the 6 episodes I've watched. I can't wait to watch the final episodes this weekend. 

[Gabriel]

I waited on Solar Opposites for awhile because Thomas Middleditch is a piece of shit... and it's basically just Rick and Morty anyways... but we are quite enjoying the show. It's been a nice little thing to throw on at the end of the night.

[Bobfoc]

On 19/11/2021 at 07:12, Ruki Returns said:

Wheel of Time episode 1 was pretty good. I'll probably watch the rest.

I quite liked it as well. Magic in stories is something that usually turns me off, but I'm somewhat engaged so far. If it's successful, Amazon will be onto a winner because they've got fourteen books' worth of material to work with.

[Benji]

It's bad enough that Penelope Cruz supports noted rapist and nonce Roman Polanski, but I'm finally getting around to the second series of American Crime Story and her horrendous acting and "Italian" accent (which is suspiciously Spanish) is absolutely ruining every single scene she is in. I will never understand how she became so famous.

[Josh]

6 hours ago, Gabriel said:

I waited on Solar Opposites for awhile because Thomas Middleditch is a piece of shit... and it's basically just Rick and Morty anyways... but we are quite enjoying the show. It's been a nice little thing to throw on at the end of the night.

Aside from Middleditch being a real life shithead (which he is), it’s honestly a great series. The Rick and Morty comparison is inevitable, but I honestly like Solar Opposites way more.

[britneyspearsisgod]

On 19/11/2021 at 06:39, The Redeemer CLDY said:

Reading the AVC review for Tiger King 2 and it sounds absolutely dire. Carole Baskin (obviously) doesn't appear except in archival footage, and some "psychic detective" shows up at one point to cry about how he "senses" where Don Lewis was killed. Christ. 

Just finished watching it and it's while it's not as engaging as the last season it still has its moments and offers a lot of new information. I think it does start to feel like they've kind of hit the bottom of the well in terms of the story, but the story does get added to this season.

[gunnar hendershow]

On 20/11/2021 at 17:02, Josh said:

Aside from Middleditch being a real life shithead (which he is), it’s honestly a great series. The Rick and Morty comparison is inevitable, but I honestly like Solar Opposites way more.

Solar Opposites existing in a really small universe is a great way to control Justin Roiland's impulses. The Rick & Morty writing tends to be better (though with the ongoing brain drain there who knows how much longer) but Solar Opposites is a much better series to just sit down and enjoy.

I love the side stories of the people in the wall. Perfect way to break up episodes and even the season.

I'm holding out hope they recast Middleditch soon but it doesn't seem like he's being faced with any consequences.

[Gabriel]

17 hours ago, damshow said:

Solar Opposites existing in a really small universe is a great way to control Justin Roiland's impulses. The Rick & Morty writing tends to be better (though with the ongoing brain drain there who knows how much longer) but Solar Opposites is a much better series to just sit down and enjoy.

I love the side stories of the people in the wall. Perfect way to break up episodes and even the season.

I'm holding out hope they recast Middleditch soon but it doesn't seem like he's being faced with any consequences.

They should recast him with Ben Schwartz and just never mention anything about it.

We finished both seasons, and quite enjoyed them. I'm hoping for more, even if Middleditch returns. I'd prefer that he doesn't, but it won't totally ruin my ability to watch the show.

The story of the Wall was brilliant. I loved it, but it wouldn't work on a one episode per week viewing for me. Binging it, I loved those episodes, but if I had to wait a week and got one of those, I'd probably have been disappointed.

[gunnar hendershow]

4 minutes ago, Gabriel said:

They should recast him with Ben Schwartz and just never mention anything about it.

We finished both seasons, and quite enjoyed them. I'm hoping for more, even if Middleditch returns. I'd prefer that he doesn't, but it won't totally ruin my ability to watch the show.

The story of the Wall was brilliant. I loved it, but it wouldn't work on a one episode per week viewing for me. Binging it, I loved those episodes, but if I had to wait a week and got one of those, I'd probably have been disappointed.

If I recall Ben Schwartz seems to be the only person who cut ties with Middleditch.

Yes the show is definitely written with binging in mind. Most comedies, even ones that air weekly, seem to do that nowadays which just demonstrates how the last decade has transformed TV.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Yeah, they had a Netflix special together and Schwartz stopping advertising it after all that came out, then completely cut ties with him shortly after.

[livid]

 

[tristy]

Cowboy Bebop was really good. I haven't seen the anime, so I have nothing to compare it against, but I enjoyed it a lot. Poor Spike

Daniella Pineda is fantastic as Faye Valentine, I think she might be the standout for me. The only complaint I see online are from neckbeards who complain about the outfit and her comments in interviews about it, haven't seen a bad thing said about her performance.

EDIT:

And nothing to do with that... apparently Amazon is close to finalizing a deal that would see them making a Mass Effect TV series.

Edited November 24, 2021 by tristy

[Ruki]

49 minutes ago, tristy said:

Cowboy Bebop was really good. I haven't seen the anime, so I have nothing to compare it against, but I enjoyed it a lot. Poor Spike

Daniella Pineda is fantastic as Faye Valentine, I think she might be the standout for me. The only complaint I see online are from neckbeards who complain about the outfit and her comments in interviews about it, haven't seen a bad thing said about her performance.

EDIT:

And nothing to do with that... apparently Amazon is close to finalizing a deal that would see them making a Mass Effect TV series.

I think if I didn't watch the anime and have preconceived notions about the story and characters, I would have liked it more. Spike and Jet were perfect, Faye (while different) grew on me. Vicious was just downright bad.

[Josh]

Speaking of Solar Opposites, they did a special holiday episode and it was good. Hope you like gore!

[The Buscher]

Feel like Curb Your Enthusiasm just isn't hitting for me this season.  It's really missing the cringe factor it pulled off for so long.  Larry seems way more self-aware this season, and as such he commits faux pas knowing full well they're going to cause a scene instead of just being oblivious of the fact that he's creating an awkward situation.

Still has some funny lines of course but it's just not what it used to be.

[gunnar hendershow]

The last season of Curb ran into that a bit too, and the scenarios were sometimes over the top. But last season they did manage to make a Timothy Olyphant character dislikable, no small accomplishment.

I think overall Larry sometimes, as a writer, tries to up the ante in terms of stories to tell and it's led to the most recent seasons feeling a little less organic and more like a scripted sitcom.