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What have you been watching on (proper scripted) telly?


Dynamite Duane

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Don't think I ever finished Fringe (life got in the way at the time) but did really enjoy it, might give it a revisit. What's it on now?

Saw the first episode of Gangs Of London last night, quite an enjoyable opener, very graphic in places, there was enough from the first episode to keep me invested so will stick with it. 

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During lockdown I've been steadily catching up on some of the telly I've missed over the past few months and years.

I haven't seen Succession discussed here much but it's well worth a look. It was sold to me by a friend as being up there with the Sopranos and while I may not go that far it is really good (I've only done the first series) and feels like it could be the next great HBO series. The main character is I think loosely based on Rupert Murdoch and is played wonderfully by Brian Cox (the actor not the astrophysicist). I see it more as a painful comedy rather than a drama, but it comes highly recommended from me, but be warned that just about every single character in it is completely awful but you at least get to see really bad things happen to them all throughout. 

Caught up with the last series of Inside No. 9 which I know a lot of you hold in very high regard. I've always seen it as good rather than great and I think more often than not it falls into the same trap as Black Mirror in being a little bit predictable in it's style and content. However, I will say that the episode "Love's Great Adventure" was one of the best 30 minutes of TV I've seen in a long time. Wonderfully played and very moving at times. It works much like the Black Mirror episode about those lesbians in that it steers clear of the cliches and tropes the series is renowned for and stands out as a result. The rest was watchable enough though.

The latest series of Curb was great fun. I think it started to go off the boil a bit around the one they did when he moved back to New York and with Ricky Gervais in it a lot. This was much better although sorely missing Marty Funkhouser - Vince Vaughn is a poor substitute for the wonderful Bob Einstein. 

Think I'm going to give This Country a whirl next.

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On 4/29/2020 at 10:19 AM, Scott Malbranque said:

I've been watching Harper's/Harpers'/Harpers Island and I have to say, it's really ramped up to a mix of Scream and Prison Break, and the final stretch is brainlessly wonderful and entertaining.
Elaine Cassidy is absolutely wonderful and I love the couple of Cal and Chloe.
Everyone is a shit B movie version of another actor in boot cut jeans too, which is a fun game to play in matching them up, along with the murder/mystery that's going on.
 

what have you been watching this on pal? remember watching this when it aired on one of the bbc channels I think it was, great show 

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Started watching Noughts And Crosses on iPlayer last night. I like how much thought has gone into the aesthetic of the show, and the writing as well. I wouldn't mind having a look at the books it's been based on. 

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Normal People

Finished this today, and I must say it is a really good series. Haven't read the book or knew anything about it before going on, but thought I'd give it a go.

Story is a moneyed, standoffish girl and sensitive, bookish jock boy fall in love and the novel/series follows them from the end of school in Sligo to their university years at Trinity.

Not a very complicated story, but it succeeds due to its leads, Daisy Edgar-Jones (who reminded me so much of Anne Hathaway it was hard to get One Day out of my head, as it's fairly similar) and Paul Mescal in his TV debut, which is a bit mad, as he is great.

There's lots of sex and nudity (Father Stack voice: "Watching young 18/20 year olds having it off; That's the kind of thing you like looking at."), and I've read some criticism of these scenes, but I thought they were done well and were realistic.

The only criticisms I would have would be to get 6 hours out of a 266 page book is a bit of a stretch, especially when that story really focuses on two characters, and that it is a really serious, po-faced show with pretty much zero humour. 

Not saying there should be slapstick gags in it, but the best dramas have an element of comedy to them. Having said that, I enjoyed it, and probably would read the book off the back of it, and it's one of the better iPlayer offerings I've watched.

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The BBC have been adding some cracking boxsets on the iPlayer lately. They have a better selection of programmes on there compared to what they've dropped onto that Britbox shite. It's full of the same shows that are on a constant loop on channels such as Gold.

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3 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Normal People

Finished this today, and I must say it is a really good series. Haven't read the book or knew anything about it before going on, but thought I'd give it a go.

Story is a moneyed, standoffish girl and sensitive, bookish jock boy fall in love and the novel/series follows them from the end of school in Sligo to their university years at Trinity.

Not a very complicated story, but it succeeds due to its leads, Daisy Edgar-Jones (who reminded me so much of Anne Hathaway it was hard to get One Day out of my head, as it's fairly similar) and Paul Mescal in his TV debut, which is a bit mad, as he is great.

There's lots of sex and nudity (Father Stack voice: "Watching young 18/20 year olds having it off; That's the kind of thing you like looking at."), and I've read some criticism of these scenes, but I thought they were done well and were realistic.

The only criticisms I would have would be to get 6 hours out of a 266 page book is a bit of a stretch, especially when that story really focuses on two characters, and that it is a really serious, po-faced show with pretty much zero humour. 

Not saying there should be slapstick gags in it, but the best dramas have an element of comedy to them. Having said that, I enjoyed it, and probably would read the book off the back of it, and it's one of the better iPlayer offerings I've watched.

Normal People has caused quite the controversy over here, with religious auld wans  ringing up phone in shows and likening it to a porno being broadcast on the national airwaves. Summed up hilariously by the lads on Second Captains pod:

 

 

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Watched the first two episodes of Devs tonight. Largely what I would expect from Alex Garland (which I regard as a good thing) with another teeth-rattling soundtrack as well. The acting's a bit mixed - Sonoya Mizuno is great in the lead though and Alison Pill is always fantastic. Seems to be moving at a good pace too, so I'm liking it so far. Should have finished it by next weekend.

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On 4/27/2020 at 9:37 PM, PunkStep said:

I don't even think I've seen a trailer yet, but anything being called Gangs Of London is going to be an utter disappointment and will probably star Craig Fairbrass.

Well I've given this a shot and two episodes in, it's certainly nowhere as bad as I thought it would be. It's not trying to be funny like a Guy Ritchie clone, it's not trying to glamorize gangsters like the works of Nick Love and the untold amount of shitty copycat movie makers he's influenced either. It's ok so far. To give Sky a compliment, I'd have guessed this is something made by the BBC (well, aside from the level of violence). It's certainly a marked improvement on their normal stuff.

On 4/27/2020 at 5:28 PM, CleetusVanDamme said:

The action scenes in Gangs of London are unreal

Boy oh boy, you're not wrong there. The normal scenes are all quite seriously toned, and then you get these ridiculously choreographed fight scenes where Elliot seems to channel his inner Jackie Chan. I liked them.

Oh and yes, the lead character (Joe Cole) is easily the worst thing about it so far. 

Edited by PunkStep
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7 hours ago, PunkStep said:

Oh and yes, the lead character (Joe Cole) is easily the worst thing about it so far. 

I just watched the first episode which gave me serious Dredd/The Raid vibes, and then found out why.  But I said to my wife he’s not menacing at all and his voice is just as limp as his acting. And I liked him in Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. But he’s so far like a spoilt kid who is none threatening 

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Done five episodes of Devs now and I still like it but I do have one or two issues with it. I think the fifth episode is too obtuse for a series that's still in its formative stages, it felt like something you'd try around the third or fourth series mark. I also think some of the character work is a bit obvious and shoddy, especially as relates to Nick Offerman's character.

That being said, I am enjoying it. Alex Garland already has this happy knack of taking a deep dive into science and not being afraid of the audience not knowing what the fuck's going on (I don't really know what the fuck's going on) but also keeping it surface level entertaining. Looking forward to finishing it off.

Edited by Devon Malcolm
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I love Garland to absolute bits, but he can be a bit like the person who'll literally just say "I did, yes." out of nowhere and expect you to know what they're talking about. My missus does it periodically and as I look at her with absolute befuddlement, she'll have convinced herself that I either asked a question to warrant her saying that, or that she elaborated at some stage to justify that comment, when she's done nothing but say "I did, yes."

He can annoy me in that he either thinks the audience are his intellectual equals, or doesn't half think too highly of himself and is arrogant enough to say "There's Pi, a clitoris and a rubiks cube. You figure it out!"

But I still love him.

 

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