Topic: The TV Show Thread

@JohnnyShoulder @Ravix Shows that don’t know when to stop are a real turn-off for me. And honestly most TV shows seem to fall into this category, with some being more egregious than others [cough, The Walking Dead, cough].

One of the criteria when I look to start a TV show is whether it has a reasonable ending point and a strong conclusion. It’s less important for a sit-com or other series that is light on narrative, but still. I’ve long since stopped watching The Simpsons, which I think is still going if I’m not mistaken, and I loved the first 10 or so seasons. I’m trying to limp to the finish line with Game of Thrones and it’s just sad when a show loses steam because it went just a little too long. And some go more than just a little too long. Do we really need thousands of episodes of One Piece. 😂

We get the same problem in video games too, although maybe not quite as common. Also books. But clearly this is a ‘me’ problem because many people played all of Destiny 2 and are happy to put in thousands of hours into it and into other endless live service experiences.

And with books - I was actually at the bookstore last week browsing for something to try to get me back into reading and was thinking I really should try The Wheel of Time series, but good grief, it’s like 15 books and I don’t want to commit to that. 😅 Although I do have the first book so we’ll see

That's wild @Ravix! I didn't expect to ever see this coming back.

Even more so as I just looked up to confirm it was real and found out that "The Todd" and Hooch of all people are apparently returning in some capacity

I do hope Neil Flynn comes back as the Janitor...

@HallowMoonshadow oh no, I just decided to google the characters and have seen that Ted (Sam Lloyd) died in 2020 😭 I do not know how the show will work without the A Cappella.

Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) is alive though. But i'm not sure he is involved. It wouldn't really make sense, I suppose, as he would have retired, surely. And Kelso without Ted would just be sad to watch anyway. Dr. Cox will probably be in charge (and hate every minute) and have his own underling/lawyer/busy body, If I were to guess.

But still :/

I suppose this is the problem with both remakes and the passage of time.

About to be tortured by The Witcher season 4. Send help 🙈

I am partially interested to see how the heck they manage to save Cahir from LSH's nonsense (I doubt they can) but, apart from that, my eyes shall be glazed over. I have basically no recollection as to what they hell is supposed to be going on anyway, as the show always veered from: completely missing the point, to brand new random nonsense, to weirdly specific adapted parts from the books but done in a way that made no sense because of all the stuff they changed.

I am NOT a Nilfgaardian... I'm a Vicovarian... and also a murderhobo, psychopath, doppelganger manipulator and some other nonsense too just reading the Witcher wiki character page for his story so far is hard enough.

Omg, I highly recommend watching the 1-3 recap. I think it is genuinely a parody/comedy 😂

Help me understand. The first episode they almost started adapting the books again 🙈

The funny part is that this is now annoying people that liked it before, as they think it has changed too much, and they are complaining about stuff that is in the books 😂

"The writers turned Ciri into a gay character and made Geralt-once a stoic, emotionless Witcher-into a sentimental, teary mess, completely ruining what fans loved and showing how out of touch they are with the original story and its spirit."

I can't help but laugh. Geralt has always been a big overly emotional white knight, and his knee injury makes him a sulky, grumpy fellow. So that sounds about right.

They still aren't adapting it well, it has a very low budget feel about it, accents are all over the shop, and it is hard to follow the with all the veering towards and then away from the source. But it is fascinating in a very peculiar way. It is almost watchable at the moment, ignoring the journey so far, and trying your best to not have your eyes roll fully out of your head when it does something eye roll worthy.

I finished Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass on Netflix last night and boy did I love that one! I've enjoyed pretty much everything Flanagan's made, especially the two "haunting" series he made for Netflix, but, for some reason, this passed me by. Maybe the very heavy religious tone turned me off, I don't know. It shouldn't have, though, because it has quite a few interesting things to say about it. There's plenty of blood in this one (particularly towards the end), but some of the most riveting scenes are simply pure dialogue. I loved, loved, loved it

@Ravix You should probably watch "The Rats - A Witcher Tale" instead, which Netflix apparently quietly snuck out under the cover of darkness recently, hoping no one would notice. I hear it's a masterpiece and with Dolph Lundgren in one of the roles, how can it not be?

@FuriousMachine i'm sure it is a masterpiece in the same sense that Blood Origin (eh?) was a tour de force 😂

If you can tolerate checking out season 4, i'd love to hear your unabridged thoughts. It, of course, veers off wildly so LSH can still live out her "i'm actually Yennefer - Girl Boss with Attitude, yay!" fantasy that she clearly has. But when it is adapting, it is at least almost like they finally read the books. Like I mentioned though, it still doesn't make much sense in the series they made. All of a sudden adapting Cahir to Book Cahir, when he's already met Ciri in season one and then gone on to do horrendous things after that meeting, doesn't really make much sense.

The other Witchers who pop up looking like very budget cosplayers are just weird.

But since treating it like trashy garbage without a real care what they do now, as it is a lost cause to me, it has at least reminded me of books I love at some points, and i've been able to just lol my way through the rest. It doesn't even begin to move me, mind. The one time it did was maybe the opening scene of S1, as I was wide eyed and ready for an adaption without knowledge of the awful writing team, and the fall of Cintra had meaning to me.

It's cool to see Bonhart, who is now known as Bon Hart, because Americans are generally like that and can't say words that flow naturally. I genuinely don't even think Lawrence Fishburne is bad as Regis. I know people want to hate the casting, but Regis is a pompous wordy fellow, and he has that aura, at least. Costuming is sh*te, mind.

I think the show should be studied for future generations though, i'd love to watch a documentary about how the f*** they messed it up so much in the first place, and how they took so long to read the books before starting writing it 😅

@Ravix I jumped off after season 2 (which I, curiously, didn't hate). Began reading the books instead and realised that there was no point in wasting time on the Netflix show after that. So, no S4 (or 3) for me. If I don't remember incorrectly, Michelle Yeoh is in "Blood Origin", isn't she? That makes it difficult for me to skip, but I've managed to pretend it doesn't exist thus far (I'm madly in love with Michelle Yeoh, you see )

@FuriousMachine Midnight Mass is ace! The only series I've not enjoyed from Flanagan is Bly Manor, as I've found it a bit too slow.

@JohnnyShoulder It certainly wasn't as good as "Hill House", which set the bar fairly high, but I didn't mind the slower paced "Bly Manor" as much as some of my friends did. May be that Carla Gugino is in it. (You see, I am madly in love with Carla Gugino, as well )

@FuriousMachine I added a little more to my previous, as i'd hit post before I meant to.

But yes, you should pretend that Blood Origin doesn't exist. That had exactly zero redeeming qualities, and I'd also ignore season 3, as I have no idea what they were doing then.

But as a standalone, you can kind of watch the start of s4 and it will make some sense because of the books, rather than the rest of the show itself.

There's a good chunk of detail from Baptism of Fire, it's just the quality varies wildly, Milva is god awful, unfortunately. There's pointless side arcs for Dandelion that they started in s3 for no real reason. And again, Yennefer has to have a girl boss storyline for soemthing to do. I don't disagree with the concept of having Yennefer involved, as a tv show that goes away from an important character for ages doesn't work. It is just clear that LSH thinks of herself as Yennefer and it is her story of empowerment for her own ego. But for the first time, even though it is nonsense, it was at least mildly entertaining while you let your brain switch off. Rather than the other storylines they had for her, like losing her powers and trying to sell ciri to baba yaga or whatver the f*** was going on in the middle seasons 🙈

Is it good. No. But I think if you watch a bit of season 4 it will at least remind you of the books, and I found that to be comforting, even though I know the show is dead in the water and they have to wrap it all up with 8 more episodes.

I'd bet you a shiny dollar that they try to make a Regis spin-off though (animated). Just to milk that last little bit from the IP.

@Ravix Yeah, no, don't think I will give it any of the precious time I have at my disposal for the billions of TV shows, movies, books and games that simply must be watched, read or played before the Dark Ones call me home.
I enjoyed the portrayal of Regis in Blood & Wine and I can definitely see Laurence Fishburne doing a good job with him... though only in my mind's eye, I will not see him doing any kind of job with Regis on the screen, for the time being (I have been known to change my mind and opinions, though, so I will not say "never")

just subscribed to Slling tv last night. i chose the blue and orange bundle thats pretty cheap for this month.

it kind of sucks that sling doesnt have the local CBS, NBC and ABC channels for local news and weather but at least Paramountplus premium gives you their decent version of Live tv. paramountplus premium's live tv is mostly of just the one local CBS channel along with the usual regular Paramountplus channel junk of movies etc that im not interested in

So just a little update on Attack on Titan… I’m now on episode 51 (season 3, episode 14) and it’s just gotten better the further I’ve gotten through it tbh. Still don’t know what actually caused/birthed the titular titans… but loads of pivotal things have happened and been revealed.

I’m roughly halfway through in terms of the episode count and am more riveted by it now than I’ve been at any point previous. I have a feeling it’s only gonna get better, the closer I get towards the conclusion too.

@FuriousMachine I don't blame you to be honest. It would have been cool to see your opinion on it, as they kind of almost tried to adapt BoF and some of the later books in one go, but it isn't worth going out of your way for (especially if it means watching s3. You'd be better off just using the books as a start point and watching s4 with no prior knowledge to the show) I do think that overall people will hate on it for all the wrong reasons or take some small insignificant changes to heart, over massive things like totally missing the point of the entire works as a whole, which I feel is far more unforgiveable 😅

Ah, but Bonhart is such a great character, so i'm glad to have seen that on screen, even though they shy away from a few more harrowing topics in the show, they kept Bonhart bloody expletive brutal. It is weird how that part of the story has become so condensed (if only they were actually adapting the books a bit earlier instead of having it as a monster of the week show. Oh, how it seems so simple now 🤦‍♂️🙄) and i'm not sure they are going to get much of Ciri's time as a slave in the fighting pits, plus, you know, the entire ending squeezed in to one more series, but hey ho, they made their bed and they are going to have to try to make it make sense in that very short period.

I'd almost say it is worth it just for Bonhart, honestly. But still, I can't in good faith actually recommend it. Seeing them finish off classic Sapkowski multi-novel set ups to dry jokes without having themselves set them up is also interesting. Geralt being knighted has absolutely zero weight in the show, whereas in the books it has you grinning at the audacity of such a long build-up for that payoff. I think they may have casually mentioned in the same episode "I chose my name" with Dandelion, exposition expert, having to chime in "don't tell anyone, but he always wanted to be a knight" it is that lack of subtlety and understanding of Sapkowski's writing style that always made me roll my eyes at the adaption in the first place. You can't read one or two books and know what he was thinking, you have to wait 4 or 5 just to get a little cheeky reveal. And I truly believe they collectively didn't read the entire story before starting the adaption (hence Cahir being such a random psychopath before doing a complete 180) come on, Lauren, he is feared so much because of the situation. Trauma, plus the backdrop of death and deatruction creating a nightmarish visage, not because he is genuinely pure evil and then changes his mind for the f*** of it. But again, hey ho, they eventually got there, even if it makes no sense 🤷‍♂️

You'll be glad to know that after the fight on the bridge, you know the one, they also made another totally pointless change that added absolutely nothing, other than make it feel like an awkward LotR fanfic for a minute. But i'll keep that one secret so you can roll your eyes if you ever do watch it for some reason 😁

Final word, I hadn't realised Dolph Lundgren was playing a Witcher in the random heist spin-off they decided to make. And since realising I haven't been able to stop chuckling about it. Dolph Lundgren... Witcher 😁 i'm going to end up watching it just for that madness! I doubt even Sapkowski had that on his bingo card of things he'd see made of his work.

@Ravix I have to say, Lundgren as a Witcher does sound like something I will struggle to stay away from, but I will try to pretend it doesn't exist and maybe watch Johnny Mnemonic again instead (which features the most fantastic Lundgren performance ever!)

TVLine has reviewed Vince Gilligan's ("Breaking Bad", "Better Call Saul") new show, Pluribus and they gave it a "B" based off of 7 of 9 (heh) episodes.

Bizarre, audacious and often confusing, "Pluribus" is unquestionably a big swing, with Gilligan spinning a boldly unconventional sci-fi fable that seems to enjoy testing our patience. Although the show eventually runs into a bit of a storytelling rut, Gilligan and his trusty star Rhea Seehorn deliver enough here to reward us for sticking around.
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I never managed to get into "Breaking Bad" or its spin-off, but Gilligan still has his X-Files cred in my eyes, so I will check this out at one point. It's on Apple TV+, btw

So I usually don't watch TV shows but last night I tried an episode of Squid Games. I wanted something for background noise while I farmed hours worth of materials needed for a coal factory in Satisfactory and after the first episode I came to the conclusion that I needed to see episode 2. I started watching the show at 8pm (according to Discord) and I kept going throughout the night. When I did see the credits rolling for the final episode of season one it was after 4am. I guess it should come with a warning. I don't think I've ever binged a full series in a whole night before.

@FuriousMachine do yourself a favour, mate. Contract a "really awful cold, oh I can barely get out of bed, honest" and spend the next x days binge watching Breaking Bad.

I can forgive not watching The Witcher, but I cannot forgive not giving Breaking Bad another chance 😛 how far did you make it with your first effort until you stopped watching? I know I missed out on the show when it was actually on, but I then ended up watching about one episode a day when it was all on streaming and I could not stop. And Saul is potentially even better in my eyes.

Wait... Was Dolph Lundgren... the dolphin? I don't recall? Maybe due a rewatch too 😅

@Ravix Lundgren was the insane preacher/assassin with the crucifix dagger and the catchphrase "It's Jesus-time!" (or something like that). It's a thing of sheer beauty, that movie.

As for "Breaking Bad", I've tried it twice. Got through the first episode but it just didn't compel me to start the second. Tried again a few years later, after it had blown up and become one of the most popular shows of the time, with the same results. That time I realised that the show actively turned me off; did not like it at all and I already loathed Cranston's character. I doubt I'll give it a third chance, but again, I won't completely rule it out. Sorry. (Should be said: Not giving it another chance doesn't even rank among the top ten unforgivable things I'm capable or already guilty of )

It's N7 day for us Mass Effect fans and in blog post over on BioWare.com, Mike Gamble talks a little bit about the upcoming Amazon TV show:

The writers room is going strong, and we’ve got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon, and where it sits in respect to the new game. The show will explore a brand-new story within the universe’s timeline, and will be set after the original trilogy. It won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story – because after all … that’s YOUR story, isn’t it?

This is very welcome news to me, as I've always been of the opinion that adapting the original trilogy would be a huge mistake. Glad to see that they're avoiding that, at least for now.