Telly thread

[Jesse]

1 hour 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.

While I don't disagree, I remember really enjoying Flash Forward when it first came out so I've gotta be careful with how many stones I start throwing

[Carbomb]

On 10/14/2024 at 8:25 PM, CleetusVanDamme said:

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.

Ritu Arya - she's pretty good as one of the few likable characters in The Umbrella Academy.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

22 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Ritu Arya - she's pretty good as one of the few likable characters in The Umbrella Academy.

I loved her as the arty big sister in the criminally underrated Polite Society. I had no intention of watching this paris is burning shit but I may well do now.

[Mr_Danger]

Finished Teacup this week. The show Stephen King was raving about and I can see why, it’s quite King-y but not to such an extent that they can’t possibly end it in a logical satisfying way. It starts off really strong but the mystery soon unravels and it becomes pretty basic after the first few episodes. It’s decent enough. Serena Joy off of Handmaids Tale is in it and she’s quite clearly up the duff as she walks around the entire time with her overalls tied around her waist. The other main guy looks like John Krasinski in the same kind of knockoff way the dad in From looks like Bradley Cooper. 
 

Started Industry. Might be the horniest show I’ve seen since True Blood. Like This Life meets Succession but only BBC. It looks and sounds very good for a British show though and has HBO’s prints all over it. Loads of dong on show if that’s your thing.

Edited November 8, 2024 by Mr_Danger

[DavidB6937]

34 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Started Industry. Might be the horniest show I’ve seen since True Blood. Like This Life meets Succession but only BBC. It looks and sounds very good for a British show though and has HBO’s prints all over it. Loads of dong on show if that’s your thing.

Will be interested to hear your thoughts once you've finished it. Horny is an understatement.

[King Coconut]

1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said:

Loads of dong on show if that’s your thing.

We all initially signed up here because it very much is.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Quite enjoying 'Ultimate Cover Versions at the BBC'. Loads of different and quirky covers and some I didn't even realise where covers!

 

Also been watching 'Sweetpea' that's so bad it's good! 

[SaitoRyo]

Yellowstone is back after a two-year hiatus. As most will probably know, Kevin Costner quit the show in the interim in order to focus on his Horizon film series and they write him out in the first episode - nay, scene - back. 

It's quite jarring to have him go in the manner he does, but the rest of the episode was decent. I've enjoyed watching Yellowstone (started it during the initial COVID lockdown), but I think the time is right to end it and I'm not upset that this is the last season (especially since there's a good chance the main storyline of the last five or so episodes is going to be the rather insufferable Beth and Rip romance). 

I'm pretty sure there will be more spinoffs, too, and am hoping for ones set in either the 1970s, 80s or 90s. 

Another Taylor Sheridan neo-western, Landman, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Hamm and Demi Moore, premieres on Saturday, too. I'll be watching. 

[LaGoosh]

I watched the first three seasons of Yellowstone. I somewhat enjoyed it but after awhile I got a bit tired and wasn't quite sure what reaction I was supposed to be having watching it - the main characters are all incredibly awful, selfish, terrible and often evil people but the way the show portrays them it's like it wants me to root for them and want them to win. 

1883 was much better and I really enjoyed it even though it was probably one of the most brutal and depressing TV shows I've watched in quite some time. 1923 is rubbish but in a ridiculously camp over the top way that I'm quite enjoying.

[Carbomb]

19 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I watched the first three seasons of Yellowstone. I somewhat enjoyed it but after awhile I got a bit tired and wasn't quite sure what reaction I was supposed to be having watching it - the main characters are all incredibly awful, selfish, terrible and often evil people but the way the show portrays them it's like it wants me to root for them and want them to win. 

That's probably why The Sopranos gets such plaudits - the writing is so good, it often has you momentarily forgetting what vile people the main characters are, and does have you rooting for them. 

If you're noticing that in Yellowstone and actually questioning it, sounds like they haven't quite nailed it. (Or, equally likely, a quarter-century of TV culture sprawling with grey-area characters has you conditioned to be on the lookout for that sort of thing.)

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

If you're noticing that in Yellowstone and actually questioning it, sounds like they haven't quite nailed it

I think Yellowstone wants to have it both ways which is ultimately why I think it's a not great show. It wants morally grey characters who do brutal and evil things but it also wants to celebrate their way of life, ideals and what they're fighting for. There's also a weird and unpleasant American right wing mentality to it. 

[SaitoRyo]

4 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I think Yellowstone wants to have it both ways which is ultimately why I think it's a not great show. It wants morally grey characters who do brutal and evil things but it also wants to celebrate their way of life, ideals and what they're fighting for. There's also a weird and unpleasant American right wing mentality to it. 

It's not a great show, but it is a very good and entertaining one. It loses its way a few seasons in and, yes, you're right about it being a 'red state' show. I personally don't really care about the politics (implied or otherwise) and enjoy it mainly for the aesthetics, the scenes of actual cowboy work and culture and the soundtrack, as a large chunk of the plot and many of the major happenings are hard not to roll your eyes at. 

Its biggest crime has been what they've done to the Beth character. Just beyond a parody at this point and I am starting to groan whenever she's on screen (which is a lot).

[Dr. Alan Grant]

I’ve been watching Derry Girls for the first time. I absolutely love it. The cast are impeccable (I can take or leave James though) and with only 3 episodes left, I don’t really want to finish it. Erin’s facial expressions are a constant highlight. I may have also developed a crush on the kooky aunt. 

[Mr_Danger]

Yellowstone is pure MAGA porn these days. It always was but there was enough 5 minute cowboyin’ montages to country music to get you through. Then around season 3 they started introducing dumb libs who the cowboys could teach lessons to in speeches that are ripped from Facebook meme’s. I’m sticking with it until the bitter end and I’m hoping that they’ve swerved us all with the Big Kev death. The characters never really stood a chance when it was established that they’ll murder any worker who steps out of line in the first episode. It’s one thing doing that when you’re a mobster and you’re snitching but when you’re just an arsehole cowboy who wants to go and work on another farm  it’s a tad monstrous when you’re all being otherwise portrayed as salt of the earth humble types.

[Merzbow]

Finally got around to watching Severance and yeah, what a show. I wasn't too in to some of the goofiness at first but then I took a second and realised these are freshly born people pretty soon after, probably should have got that right away but hey.. is Apple+ putting out all the best shows or what now? They don't have much on there compared to other services but they are producing quality art unlike many.