General Television Thread

[RazorsEdge]

3 hours ago, Monkey D. Lars said:

The Witcher is out today! Hopefully it won't disappoint! 

I watched the first episode. It is everything I wanted and more.

[Gazz]

Never played the games. Watched the first three episodes. That bird is by far the most attractive woman to ever come out of Wolverhampton. Even with the hunchback...

[GhostMachine]

On 14/12/2019 at 22:20, Ruki said:

The new show runner doesn't like that the character was angry and black. 

Well, the production company has `explained' that the character, and another that's either bi or gay I believe (the book is on my to-read list, and I haven't watched the show), aren't in the part of the book that the next season is based on. 

BUT...the show is done by Freemantle, the same company that produces AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, and Gabrielle Union quit after one season due to behind the scenes racism (being told her hairstyles were `too black', for example) So I believe him more than I do the producers. There's an investigation going on, so Freemantle could end up being Clifford Franklin's new ho*.

 

 

*Shame on you if you don't get the reference!

[Colly]

Fremantle produce Neighbours and therefore can do no wrong.

[RazorsEdge]

21 hours ago, RazorsEdge said:

I watched the first episode. It is everything I wanted and more.

I watched the second episode. It is still everything I wanted and more. I am already seeing the dreaded Game of Thrones comparisons, which frankly, suck, because despite being fantasy settings the world's aren't really that similar. I just hope people watch and don't write it off as a knock off of GoT.

On 15/12/2019 at 12:42, Benjamin said:

What did he say? I can't view the video.

Mr. Nancy is angry and black and the new show-runner didn't like it, apparently. I question it a little bit because obviously Shadow is the main character and he also happens to be both black and angry (although in a different way), but I am really disappointed that Mr. Nancy won't return because I think Orlando Jones played him very well, switching between his playful sarcasticness to all out anger in a heartbeat. I actually found he to be the most interesting of the side characters, apart from maybe Mad Sweeney. Hopefully he comes back.

[Tigerstyle]

The Witcher is a decent watch, it’s hard not to compare fantasy TV to Thrones because it’s the benchmark for not just fantasy but television now.

After around 3/4 episodes it definitely finds its groove, but it started out by being a bit ‘the last thing the show runners watched was the Dungeons & Dragons movie’

[GoGo Yubari]

Mr. Robot season 4 is so unbelievably good. I thought season 3 was a big bounce back for that show but S4 might be my favorite show of the year.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Speaking of Mr. Robot season 4, am I understanding it right (series finale spoilers)
 

Spoiler

The Elliot we've known all this time, the Fsociety hacker, the anarchist, isn't the "real" Elliot? The "real" Elliot was in the hospital for a morphine withdrawal?

 

[livid]

10 hours ago, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

Speaking of Mr. Robot season 4, am I understanding it right (series finale spoilers)
 

  Hide contents

The Elliot we've known all this time, the Fsociety hacker, the anarchist, isn't the "real" Elliot? The "real" Elliot was in the hospital for a morphine withdrawal?

 

Spoiler

Yes, the Elliot we saw throughout the show wasn't his base personality. The anarchist persona took over and wouldn't cede control. 

What a great finale though! I think they really nailed it so kudos to them but I guess it helps that Esmail has known the ending since the start. 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by livid

[MDK]

20 hours ago, Tigerstyle said:

The Witcher is a decent watch, it’s hard not to compare fantasy TV to Thrones because it’s the benchmark for not just fantasy but television now.

After around 3/4 episodes it definitely finds its groove, but it started out by being a bit ‘the last thing the show runners watched was the Dungeons & Dragons movie’

Toss a coin for your Witcher, o' valley of plenty

[Tigerstyle]

56 minutes ago, MDK said:

Toss a coin for your Witcher, o' valley of plenty

Yep, when it stopped taking itself seriously it became a lot better

[MDK]

1 hour ago, Tigerstyle said:

Yep, when it stopped taking itself seriously it became a lot better

Also, absolutely banging tune 

[Tigerstyle]

17 minutes ago, MDK said:

Also, absolutely banging tune 

My wife said the exact thing

[OctoberRaven]

On 22/12/2019 at 16:07, Tigerstyle said:

The Witcher is a decent watch, it’s hard not to compare fantasy TV to Thrones because it’s the benchmark for not just fantasy but television now.

After around 3/4 episodes it definitely finds its groove, but it started out by being a bit ‘the last thing the show runners watched was the Dungeons & Dragons movie’

Which one? The cheesy but still fun one, or the genuinely good one?

 

Also, my dad has gotten into a show on Animal Planet called Man vs Bear. After I had a had a laugh and a reference to my favorite Rick and Morty gag ("Wouldn't the bears always win?") I watched an episode and... yeah, it's basically American Gladiators with an eating competition mixed in, but instead of Gladiators there's bears. This show is a lawsuit waiting to happen. One round is literally being chased by a bear.

There's also the unintentional hilarity of the Play By Play guys talking about setting records on the second episode, the horribly unbalanced points system, and the fact that in one episode the announcers talked as if someone who was mathematically eliminated still had a fighting chance in the second-to-last round, implying that neither of them could understand that if you need six points to move on to the head-to-head round and you can only get five points in the next round, you literally cannot advance. Unless one of the others got mauled, maybe? One guy got KTFO in the first episode and nobody came to try to help him, so yeah... lawsuit waiting to happen.

[RazorsEdge]

I finished the Witcher season 1 and just wow, this show... wow. Spoilers for the whole season, obviously.

Spoiler

So I think the show handled the slow build to the finale really well. Geralt completed side quests that fleshed out his character and we got good character development from Yennefer and Dande-uh I mean Jaskier. I've seen people complain that the show focused too much on Ciri, but the thing is, while Geralt is the main character of the Witcher it is really Ciri that makes the whole universe tick, everything revolves around her. We got to see how Geralt claimed her as a child of surprise (*Pavetta throws up* "Fuck."). We also really got to see how Geralt comes to be the type of witcher that he is, one with a code. We get to see his reluctance in becoming the Butcher of Blaviken, we see his reluctance to take Ciri away from Calanthe because he thinks he will ruin her life, but vows to stay and protect her, we get to see him form bonds with Yen and Jaskier (although of course it is a love-hate relationship with the bard) and episode 6 really solidified his moral code when he refused to kill the dragon and took up arms to protect it.

I have also seen complaints about the CGI (I'm sure it'll be better in season 2, and to be honest it wasn't that bad) and the lack of Geralt using signs other than Aard - though really if he uses them all the time the novelty will wear off, surely?

My only real gripe is with Triss. There's nothing overly wrong with her she just doesn't look like how I expected her to look like and her personality is a bit different to what I expected, in that she doesn't really have one (yet). Hopefully she gets a better chance as the series progresses.

Also the final scene with Ciri and Geralt finally coming together was a perfect way to end season 1 and season 2 can't hurry up and get here fast enough!

If you're on the fence with this it is a bit of a grower. If you can get through the first 5 episodes (which are in no way bad anyway) the final 3 are absolutely fantastic and will sell you on the series.

[JasonM]

Episode 1 was a big rough I felt because of exposition-itis having to do a LOT of worldbuilding in a very short time, as such one of the stories kinda felt flat and felt too much trying to build a deep intricate story of political shenanigans in half an hour time, made it feel kinda cheap and poorly acted too. Granted, between actors that only showed up in one episode.

The other side of course, Geralt's story was great in that episode and had one of the coolest swordfighting scene in a long time, quick brutal and decisive.

After episode 2 I was sold, though. First episode was definitely a bit too dark and broody, and they were smart to throw in a bit more light-heartedness and adventure-ness to the story early on like that. Helped build Geralt's dry humour very well, which is a hard thing to do, but Cavill has it down really well.

But yeah, I need to start on episode 4 but i'm definitely sold. I was sold beforehand as a fan of the series, but I had my doubts, most of those were wiped away really quickly. The episodic nature of the season (which is because the first two novels were a collection of short stories) I feel helps, which is rare in this day and age. But it does well to explain a complicated world, a complicated character who can't simply monologue the exposition, and establish multiple intricate satellite characters around Geralt to be more than cardboard cutouts.

Also as someone who'se played the games (all three to 100% completion), it was just beyond awesome to see them touch on subjects that you hear referenced so much and finally see what really happened.

[MDK]

Winds howling 

[Lint]

As someone who hasn't read the books, can someone explain the timeline of The Witcher series for me?  I just finished E4

The stuff with Geralt and the bard is clearly taking place before Ciri was born.  I know from the bit of Witcher 3 I played that the relationship between Geralt and Ciri is a big deal.  So why is her part of the story seemingly taking place in the future?   Also, when is the stuff with Yennifer taking place? 

[RazorsEdge]

29 minutes ago, SiLint_Night said:

As someone who hasn't read the books, can someone explain the timeline of The Witcher series for me?  I just finished E4

 

  Hide contents

The stuff with Geralt and the bard is clearly taking place before Ciri was born.  I know from the bit of Witcher 3 I played that the relationship between Geralt and Ciri is a big deal.  So why is her part of the story seemingly taking place in the future?   Also, when is the stuff with Yennifer taking place? 

 

I haven't read the books, just played the games but...

Spoiler

Everything taking place with Ciri is taking place in the "present". Everything taking place with Geralt, Yennefer and Jaskier (Dandelion) starts around 30 years (I think) before the Ciri events, so it starts before she was born but also continues after she is born. It is a bit confusing but it'll all come together. I'm not 100% clear on the timeline but at one stage Yen mentions being a court mage for 3 decades so that's what I've sort of gathered so her story probably starts even earlier. EDIT: Also not really a spoiler but episode 7 will clear up any confusion.

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by RazorsEdge

[Colly]

Because they can't afford to get Charlie Brooker to make new ones, the BBC have compiled together a 90 minute Best of 2010-15 Wipe to show on Monday. Just to happily remind us about when things were marginally less bleak.