General Television Thread 2023

[K]

Just now, Mx. Canadian Destroyer said:

Yeah, I said this recently. It's like both shows are so close to figuring it out.

The thing with the Traitors is that there's no incentive to throw a challenge because they are competing for the same prize pot. 

I've just started watching Season 1 of the UK mole from like 2001, and it seems like none of them have figured out the strategy of pretending to be the mole to skew the votes, so it's a lot more wholesome and a lot more interesting for the viewer trying to find the mole's tampering among genuine mistakes. It also feels like when they do the quiz they're all going after one person each in particular, rather than spreading their votes.

My wife and I were trying to perfect a concept for this general idea and we couldn't quite nail it. What I want to do is have everyone except the mole doing their very best, and the mole working to sabotage them. I think you would have to do a fundamental redesign of the elimination round, and have the mole able to be replaced, like traitors.

[Szumi]

Shrinking is absolutely hilarious, and I highly recommend it if you have Apple TV/Plus/whatever it's called. Jason Segal is amazing in it, and honestly the whole cast is. I've been laughing constantly at it. Great mix of dark comedy and oddly uplifting me.

[gunnar hendershow]

I would say the peak TV endpoint is more just a natural running of the course where everyone has figured out that, no, you actually can't make money trying to overload on expensive prestige shows and is course correcting extremely hard in warp speed. The best path is to overload on cheaper shows and then maybe milk one big hit for all its worth for a decade.

Netflix has been extremely open about their plans and it's a perfect distillation of how we generally engage with media. They just need one hit to build a huge franchise off of and they know most people will just go along with it.

It's what every upstart cable station did over the course of 20 years.

[Chris2K]

The BBC (unsurprisingly) have comissioned a second series of The Traitors

I have a fear that this might suffer from Big Brother syndrome, where the first series was a genuinely interesting look at human psychology, and it soon deteriorated into being the go-to spot for people looking to get some cheap fame.

[Benji]

Everyone Else Burns is a decent way to spend a couple of hours. Could honestly have been a two hour movie with the way it goes, but better digested as individual episodes.

[GhostMachine]

10 hours ago, Chris2K said:

The BBC (unsurprisingly) have comissioned a second series of The Traitors

I have a fear that this might suffer from Big Brother syndrome, where the first series was a genuinely interesting look at human psychology, and it soon deteriorated into being the go-to spot for people looking to get some cheap fame.

Hope they do a second season of the U.S. version.

 

[K]

Started watching Hunted Australia, it's most of the same cops as the UK version, and the same concept, except the contestants have to stay within the state of Victoria, which is about the same size as Great Britain, but with only one city.

My main thought is fuckin hell, stop taunting the hunters. Christ. One pair tagged the hunters on Instagram with their location and then when the hunters turned up shortly after they're like "holy shit, how did they know???" Fuck, you tagged them on insta you idiot. you did this. Then he's sat in a chair looking like he's gonna shit his pants in fear. My dude, you did this.

[livid]

On 23/02/2023 at 19:42, livid said:

Well that's a bit of a bummer but not exactly surprising 

"Hey Buddha, nice Tom Fords"

[GhostMachine]

22 hours ago, K said:

Started watching Hunted Australia, it's most of the same cops as the UK version, and the same concept, except the contestants have to stay within the state of Victoria, which is about the same size as Great Britain, but with only one city.

My main thought is fuckin hell, stop taunting the hunters. Christ. One pair tagged the hunters on Instagram with their location and then when the hunters turned up shortly after they're like "holy shit, how did they know???" Fuck, you tagged them on insta you idiot. you did this. Then he's sat in a chair looking like he's gonna shit his pants in fear. My dude, you did this.

Is it as bullshit as the US version, which only lasted one season, because the rules the hunted have to follow give the hunters too much of an advantage?

[K]

1 hour ago, GhostMachine said:

Is it as bullshit as the US version, which only lasted one season, because the rules the hunted have to follow give the hunters too much of an advantage?

The UK one was also dead after two seasons. It's impossible to say because they don't tell you the secret rules obviously, but it's a lot of the same crew so i imagine so. The rule I hated in the UK version was the last episode, where the huntees all have to gather at the same location which is just out in the open or a major city or whatever making it really easy for the hunters

[GhostMachine]

19 hours ago, K said:

The UK one was also dead after two seasons. It's impossible to say because they don't tell you the secret rules obviously, but it's a lot of the same crew so i imagine so. The rule I hated in the UK version was the last episode, where the huntees all have to gather at the same location which is just out in the open or a major city or whatever making it really easy for the hunters

There was a list of rules for the US version posted somewhere, which were stupid and gave the hunters too much of an edge. I can't find the list anywhere now, but remember a few. For instance, the hunted couldn't hide in the same place twice or stay somewhere more than 24 hours. 

[tristy]

guess what else is ending with S4 and its finale is a week after Succession’s own finale?

If you guessed Barry, you’re right.

[LittleDaniel]

Spoiler

 

[The Buscher]

I love this show and am so glad to see it back.

There's so much to glean just from this trailer alone, and I'll collect my thoughts in spoilers.

Spoiler

Right out of the gate and from the thumbnail alone - Ted being in the locker room but not wearing his signature Richmond polo.  I long assumed the 3-season arc would end with Ted leaving Richmond to go back to the US to be with his son.  It's just the logical end point and true to what the character would do given all of the father-related stories in the previous season.  But showing him without the polo strikes me as some foreshadowing. 

Sudeikis openly acknowledged that while the show was written with the 3-season arc in mind, there's always the chance Apple could want more seasons.  Ted back in the US could open up other possibilities if we do go to a Season 4, while also keeping their intended 3-season arc intact.

You can tell it'll be a roller coaster for Nate's character too.  Him sitting at his coveted window seat at the Greek restaurant but looking sad and alone.  Presumably getting the team to play dirty against Richmond (very likely on Rupert's orders).  And even after all of that, Ted takes his son to a West Ham game to support him.  Gonna be emotional as hell.

Sam is wearing the captain armband in one clip, so presumably Isaac gets hurt, maybe in the West Ham game.  Sam is so lovable so I'd be happy to see him shine in a leadership role for a bit.

Also though he was only in the trailer for a few seconds, I'm glad Trent Crimm is still around.  I've had a theory that he's going to become an independent (lol) investigative journalist but we'll see.

And lastly - Brendan Hunt's physical comedy is top notch.  Love Beard's reactions every time Roy Kent says something nice.

 

[Ruki]

Do they release the whole season at once? Or is it an episode a week?

[tristy]

20 minutes ago, Kazuma KiRuki said:

Do they release the whole season at once? Or is it an episode a week?

I believe Apple only does once a week episodes. It's infuriating, I hate it.

--

The following thought is pretty much only for Americans, since it's about CNN:

With Chris Licht being in charge of CNN, I really shouldn't be surprised that the Overtime segment of Real Time with Bill Maher is now on that channel. Also just the shifting from centrist programming to dipping their tippy toes into right leaning stuff, but whatever. Maher fits in pretty perfectly in their new edict for programming, alongside people like Michael Smerconish who has really amped it up since last year.

Man, I remember when I really liked Bill Maher's show YEARS ago, and thought he was this firebrand. In a lot of ways, Dave Chappelle kind of stole Maher's schtick when it comes to the anti-wokeness and rallying against the transgender community and far left American politics.

[The Buscher]

@Kazuma KiRuki @tristy

Yeah it's once a week for Apple.

Personally I don't mind it, but that's because with certain shows it feels like there's pressure to binge an entire season within a week so as to avoid running into spoilers.  At least when only a few episodes get dropped at a time it's more manageable.

Also, my girlfriend is one of those "don't watch it yet!  we need to watch together!" people so when you only have one or a few episodes a week it's a bit easier.  She's over my house on weekends and man, having an entire season of a show I want to watch just staring me in the face all week is annoying.

[Ruki]

I am only a minutes in, but I am really liking Miracle Workers so far!

[Ruki]

 

[Benji]

I haven't watched the UK version of Ghosts yet, but I am watching episode 6 of the US version and it is arguably one of the best episodes of a TV comedy I've ever seen. A tremendous look at human emotions and funny to boot. If you haven't given the show a chance, do so.