Telly thread

[Mr_Danger]

It wouldn’t surprise me if the cancellation of Kaos gives it some buzz and ends up getting picked up elsewhere. It’s a shame because it’s one of the better shows to have come through them in years and I’d much rather sit through a few series of Jeff Goldblum Goldbluming Zeus than whatever flashy hollow shite they’re paying Ryan Murphy to do there. 

Did those Game of Thrones fellas get another series of that show that bombed?

 

[wordsfromlee]

26 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Did those Game of Thrones fellas get another series of that show that bombed?

3 Body Problem? Yeah, that got renewed for a second and third season back in May.

[DavidB6937]

2 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

3 Body Problem? Yeah, that got renewed for a second and third season back in May.

Did that bomb? I thought it did alright?

[d-d-d-dAz]

5 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Did that bomb? I thought it did alright?

It bombed critically, but lots of people watched it. And I think that's the issue, there's a lot of conflating the two.

Looking, it appears that 3 Body Problem did 965 million viewing minutes in its first week, which is around 3.4 million unique views. And then in week two it went up into the billions of viewing minutes, and repeated that into week 3. 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/streaming-tv-ratings-march-25-31-2024-1235881816/

Kaos appeared to do 2.2 million unique views in week 1 and trended downward from there.

I know ratings chat is tedious, but the broader point about how Netflix have changed the game from a commissioning perspective IS interesting.

They don't care about critical regard or the art of what they're making. If something artistic and awards worthy also attracts a lot of viewers (and retains subscribers) I'm sure that's great, but if Adam Sandler taking a shit on the floor brought in lots of people they'd commission that tomorrow.

For the Netflix business model, if Kaos isn't doing the business in terms of acquisition, retention and viewing minutes, then they'd rather hire the director to do 3 more different shows in the hope they work better, rather than sticking with something trending downwards.

[DavidB6937]

Yeah the streaming side of commissions and cancellations is such a complicated and confusing thing. 

The thing that will always frustrate me is that half the time I don't even know something's on or out there. Especially with something like the shows on Apple. Barely advertised, barely discussed. All these companies have their own goalposts too which is fair enough but again unless something breaks through massively like Stranger Things or whatever then it can be incredibly tough to get a solid lifetime.

[Merzbow]

Sweetpea on Sky is pretty solid, perfect timing having a show with Ella Purnell as the lead after Fallout, too. I've heard that fans of the book aren't too pleased in how they've changed things though, apparently dumbing things down quite a bit and taking away a lot of the power the main character held, taking away the edge and making her far more catty etc. It's made me want to pick up a copy though.

[CleetusVanDamme]

Paris Has Fallen is exactly what you think it is, just with Gerrard Butler swapped out for some guy and a tidy Indian girl with a top-tier sweaty chest game. It's my jam, all action. All 8 episodes have aired already in France, but the monsters didn't add English subs to the (minimal) French talky parts for some reason, so I'm stuck having to watch it weekly LIKE A PHEASANT, after it airs in Australia.

FROM is still pretty mid in season three, with the occasional threats of getting interesting petering out quick. It's helping pass the time until an actually great mystery comes back though, speaking of which...

My anus is ready, it's been a long 18 months. Book readers have behaved themselves for once, I know nothing that's coming. Can't wait!

[DavidB6937]

Industry (HBO/BBC iPlayer)

I'd let this one pass me by because in my head I couldn't deal with two similar shows and I already had Succession.

With the third season being added to iPlayer recently, and Succession being done now, I thought it was a good time to start it.

Honestly I wish I hadn't waited so long. I haven't watched something so intense and addictive in a long time. I'm not sure if it makes me horny or disgusted or a little bit of both but there's something utterly mesmerising about it.

At first it felt like someone had taken Gossip Girl and put a more business-y spin on it with unlikeable characters ramped up to 11 and thrown in a lot worse language and explicit sex scenes but I think that's probably being a bit harsh on them. The cast are fantastic. There's a range of older familiar faces from US and UK TV and some younger ones that I hadn't seen much before but to their credit they really pull off the heavy material. It's a massive ensemble but generally on the whole they all perform their roles well.

It's not a show to watch if you want cheering up. It's dark and bleak and some episodes are absolutely relentless to the point where you feel like you might need a shower after them or just some time alone in a dark room crying. But there's something about the show that keeps you coming back for more and I'm gutted I've reached the end of what's available now.

It won't be for everyone. The swearing and the sex is definitely going to put some people off, as will how completely unlikeable most of the characters are so often. They all fuck each other over so often that you're not really sure who you're meant to be supporting. But that's probably the point.

Anyway I loved it and there's definitely a few scenes I won't be forgetting in a while. And Yasmin might be my new obsession.

 

[wordsfromlee]

On 10/23/2024 at 11:48 AM, DavidB6937 said:

Industry (HBO/BBC iPlayer)

I'd let this one pass me by because in my head I couldn't deal with two similar shows and I already had Succession.

With the third season being added to iPlayer recently, and Succession being done now, I thought it was a good time to start it.

Honestly I wish I hadn't waited so long. I haven't watched something so intense and addictive in a long time. I'm not sure if it makes me horny or disgusted or a little bit of both but there's something utterly mesmerising about it.

At first it felt like someone had taken Gossip Girl and put a more business-y spin on it with unlikeable characters ramped up to 11 and thrown in a lot worse language and explicit sex scenes but I think that's probably being a bit harsh on them. The cast are fantastic. There's a range of older familiar faces from US and UK TV and some younger ones that I hadn't seen much before but to their credit they really pull off the heavy material. It's a massive ensemble but generally on the whole they all perform their roles well.

It's not a show to watch if you want cheering up. It's dark and bleak and some episodes are absolutely relentless to the point where you feel like you might need a shower after them or just some time alone in a dark room crying. But there's something about the show that keeps you coming back for more and I'm gutted I've reached the end of what's available now.

It won't be for everyone. The swearing and the sex is definitely going to put some people off, as will how completely unlikeable most of the characters are so often. They all fuck each other over so often that you're not really sure who you're meant to be supporting. But that's probably the point.

Anyway I loved it and there's definitely a few scenes I won't be forgetting in a while. And Yasmin might be my new obsession.

 

We've just started this too. I was a bit wary going to it that it would be a bit too business-y and all the investment banking chat would make me zone out, but then everyone starts caining the ketamine and getting their knobs out all the time and I realised I'll be alright. It's brilliant stuff. 

Also, I agree on Yasmin. She might be the horniest TV character I've ever seen. I'm glad that mediocre Amy Winehouse biopic has been getting a bit of love since it appeared on Netflix as Marisa Abela deserves for it to not slow down the momentum of her career.

[gmoney]

Watched the first episode of The Penguin. Lots of people were saying it had similarities to The Sopranos. It's like the Sopranos if Tony Soprano was a Dick Tracy villain and it was shit. There was a glimmer of something interesting here occasionally but mostly I am baffled by the praise this is getting.

[Jesse]

9 hours ago, gmoney said:

Watched the first episode of The Penguin. Lots of people were saying it had similarities to The Sopranos. It's like the Sopranos if Tony Soprano was a Dick Tracy villain and it was shit. There was a glimmer of something interesting here occasionally but mostly I am baffled by the praise this is getting.

Yeah, I think it's a real 'lowered expectations' thing. I'm enjoying it, I think it's great fun for a Batman show and I'm enjoying a lot of the characters/performances. But it's only good in comparison to the glut of shite that gets blasted out on a weekly basis on streaming services. It's more Mandalorian S1, than Andor.

[I Bent My Wookie]

Watched in full Before I Kill You on ITVx today and absolutely blown away by some of the acting on it. Can see Anna Maxwell Martin getting a BAFTA TV nod for it come award season.

Worth a checking out for people who like their true crime dramas.

[Merzbow]

Ideal is on iPlayer at last, it's seemingly in 360p or something but now I don't need to bung in a million DVDs when doing a rewatch. It's a bit of a comfort show, still gutted they axed it while it was getting it's best numbers.

[LaGoosh]

On 11/2/2024 at 8:20 AM, Jesse said:

Yeah, I think it's a real 'lowered expectations' thing. I'm enjoying it, I think it's great fun for a Batman show and I'm enjoying a lot of the characters/performances. But it's only good in comparison to the glut of shite that gets blasted out on a weekly basis on streaming services.

A different discussion entirely but I've definitely noticed the past few years people's expectations generally getting lower and lower. I think the onslaught of constant shite has led to people being perfectly content to watch stuff that would have been absolutely trashed a decade ago and wouldn't have even made it past the pilot stage twenty years ago. Same goes for films too. The general quality of writing, story telling and production for a huge swathe of stuff is in the toilet.

[DavidB6937]

53 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

A different discussion entirely but I've definitely noticed the past few years people's expectations generally getting lower and lower. I think the onslaught of constant shite has led to people being perfectly content to watch stuff that would have been absolutely trashed a decade ago and wouldn't have even made it past the pilot stage twenty years ago. Same goes for films too. The general quality of writing, story telling and production for a huge swathe of stuff is in the toilet.

I was thinking about this the other day randomly. The fact that there are so many shows and channels and streaming services etc means we're absolutely inundated with questionable quality levels of content. And there's no logic to the madness either. So many decent shows fly under the radar because people don't even know about them. You'll get stuff that gets lucky by being on Sky or HBO etc that isn't to the quality you would've expected from years ago but people still think it's great just because.

When I first started downloading shows and trying to follow them on an American schedule (because the delays were still massive here), you'd get so many cancelled after a few episodes because they didn't perform well. Obviously not saying cancellations don't take place now but it was absolutely brutal back then. And as you say, many wouldn't have even got past the pilot stage.