Topic: The TV Show Thread

@nessisonett Agreed. How good were Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins? I kinda wish I watched all of the series closer to each other, as I watched the final season a couple of years after and had forgot most of what had went on before.

@JohnnyShoulder They were both brilliant right up until the end. I couldn’t believe just how great a show it was for binging, sometimes shows that aired normally on TV aren’t particularly suited but the pacing was excellent. The final scene is right up there with some of my favourite endings to a TV show. I’d probably rate either the 2nd or 4th seasons as the best ones but they were all great, the guest stars really made the show. Especially Jeremy Davies, who played Dickie Bennett and is also The Stranger in God of War! It’s kinda sad how some of the criminals end up since they’re sorta lovable by the end but I guess that’s what is to be expected.

UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie (Amazon Prime Video) - Early 00's harem anime that centers around high schooler Kazuto, whom is running his grandparent's bath house (a bit of a passion project, as it's not very profitable in today's world). His world is thrown upside down whenever Valkyrie (an alien princess on the run) crashes into the place killing him. After giving him half her soul he finds himself looking after her (the process de-aged her into a child, though she's able to briefly transform back into an adult via a kiss), and soon a variety of other women come into his life as well (such as a jealous childhood friend, and a Valkyrie's sisters, hunting her down).

It's a pretty run of the mill, typical harem of the era, but I remember liking shows like Dear S & Girls Bravo way back when (though the excitement of sneaking them in late at night on the family computer as a teen probably played a part), so I figured I'd give it a try. I liked the quintessentially Japanese setting of the bath house, but otherwise it's pretty unremarkable though it elicited a few chuckles along the way. Luckily it managed to avoid representing her child form in a reprehensible way (which I was a bit worried about going in), so I guess it gets credit for that. Amazon only has season 1 on Prime, but I don't feel like I'm particularly missing out on much not having part 2.

Content Guide:

Sex/Nudity (High) - All the princesses have a transformation sequence of some sort (I'm pretty sure Valkyrie's adult transformation plays at least once per episode) where their clothes disappear during the metamorphosis, which is the source of like 80-90% of the show's nudity. The other 10-20% is just a scenery shot of random women in the bath house that's replayed ocassionally.

Violence/Blood (Mild) - There's some slapstick stuff, but as a comedy there's nothing heavy (even a big space battle or two during the climax is relatively low impact, with a group of space pirates successfully fleeing their hideout before it explodes, for example). The bloody nose trope that tends to show up in this genre a lot is even totally absent.

Language (Mild) - Just the PG/PG-13 level stuff you hear in your average Shonen series.

@RR529 Did you see that there’s going to be an anime sequel to InuYasha? Seeing your avatar it would be interesting to hear your thoughts!

@nessisonett, I actually hadn't heard about about it yet, so thanks.

I'm shocked as I honestly never thought it'd happen (I've read interviews where Takahashi's said she doesn't like going back to series she's completed, and Urusei Yatsura & Ranma have never had follow ups), but excited all the same, even if a bit worried (don't want them ruining the happy ending of the original to create the drama for the sequel, similar to what happened with Eureka 7).

@RR529 I had no idea it was the same author as Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2! I really have to finish off InuYasha and a sequel series gives me a perfect reason to go back to it. My tastes are basically SoL/romcoms. I’m really not a big fan of the major shonen shows so I’ve been binging Bakuman and keeping up with Kaguya-sama while patiently waiting for OreGairu to come back and hoping for 3-Gatsu no Lion to get another series

@nessisonett, yeah, Takahashi actually likes reusing character designs, and if you pay attention Lum, Ranma, InuYasha, and Rinne (from Kyokai no Rinne) have the same design, just alternating from long & short hair (and the switch to male after Lum. After learning about UY the first thing that struck me was that she looked exactly like a female InuYasha). Ranma & InuYasha even have the same voice actor in both the Japanese & English versions.

@RogerRoger it’s great to hear that Clone Wars at least hit a stirring conclusion, even if it sounds like it stumbled toward the finish line a little bit before getting it’s last stretch kick. I still need to start that series.
Speaking of Disney+, I have watched 3 or 4 episodes of The World According to Jeff Goldblum though, at your recommendation. It’s funny seeing him as himself and realize the characters he plays in the movies aren’t a far leap from his own personality. I liked it pretty well what I’ve watched so far. I’ve seen the documentary style musing of mundane daily things done better, but JG adds a charisma that can’t be matched. 😄
Glad you appear to have liked The Mandalorian! It was an intriguing ride and I can’t wait for season 2. I figured you’d like it, but wasn’t sure.

Aww I love The X Files @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy! Me and my sister first watched it on TV in the '90's and were absolutely terrified! We've since watched it many times on DVD and still been terrified. 😂 The monster of the week episodes are particularly great early on. Squeeze is such a creepy episode and I love Eve too. It's a shame that the revival series didn't quite live up to the legacy of the original run.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy X files is so good, we are currently and very slowly re watching it only with the added filler of Millenium mixed in, we are on season 4 of X files and season 1 of Millenium.

I recently started the third season of westworld (currently on episode 5 or 6) and I have to say it might be either the best season yet or at least the best season since 1. I thought season 2 was a bit boring but this one has really picked up and is dealing with some interesting themes.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I found the revival so dull I can't remember much about it other than a hideously aged CSM and yet another reboot to the mythology.

Antique dolls are rather creepy so Chinga was somewhat unsettling. 😂 The little girl's expressions in that episode are particularly scary! The Bruce Campbell episode you mentioned is a lot of fun but I think one of my favourites is The Postmodern Prometheus. I really need to watch the show again.

There's definitely a more serious tone to the earlier seasons. The whole style changed somewhat once filming moved from British Columbia to California. Home is frightful!

I’ve been watching Deadwood after finishing Justified because my mum’s now a Timothy Olyphant stan but it’s been really good so far. Ian McShane is great as an absolute b*stard and it was weird seeing a really young Kristen Bell turn up. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Millenium is a tough one, when I watched it a bit way back when, I found it too dense to get in to. I kind of thought the opening credits were lame and the whole idea of it was a bit boring but since watching it as part of X files (broken up with a 4 episode disc of each series) I'd say its a lot more enjoyable now.

I really liked the X files revival, maybe for the wrong reasons but I thought it was really funny how skinner seemed a lot older than Mulder in the original show but in the revival, Mulder looks way older, like his face has melted (I assume because of duchovnys real life escapades). I think overall it was good but there are some things that could've been better. I guess the retcon of the colonisation storyline makes sense as the 2012 date has passed and nothing has happened in real life which the show more or less reflects, so they created a new conspiracy out of it (which comes across as a bit less interesting tbh). Though X files had a habit of retconning it's overall conspiracy storyline throughout its original 9 series run anyway, if I remember correctly, just so they wouldn't run out of plot every time it was renewed

I think the saddest part about the revival was the serious lack of Agent Dogget who was one of my favourite characters along with Jeffrey Spender (smoking man's son) who I think did make an appearance briefly . (I know I have random favourites lol)

The lone gunmen series is brilliant, it's just 13 episodes of them doing what they do best, which is largely just being funny. I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the 2008 X files movie with Xzibit and Billy Connolly contrary to popular opinion. That works well as a standalone story too so its probably worth a watch in your run through of non mythology episodes!

Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Amazon Prime Video) - Early 80's Sci-Fi/Mecha anime. A massive alien craft (dubbed the Macross by the people of Earth) crashes on Earth, and after a 10 year long project to restore it, it's ready to launch on it's maiden voyage. However, things don't pan out as expected when an alien race known as the Zentradi arrive in the solar system in response to it's activation, and after the Macross attacks them of it's own accord the crew must activate it's untested "Fold" system (pretty much Warp Speed) to escape their powerful new adversary, and wind up on Pluto. With an entire city's worth of civilians in tow (the most notable being hotshot pilot Hikaru Ichijyo, invited to the launch by Squadron Leader Roy Focker who serves aboard the Macross, and Lynn Minmay, a teenage girl rescued by Hikaru during the chaos who ends up being more important than you could guess) who were caught up in the warp, the Macross must make a long and arduous journey back to Earth while being hunted by the Zentradi.

It turned out to be an excellent watch. You'll have to get used to the dated animation (and the fact that it clearly hasn't been remastered in any way), but once you do you're in for a treat. While it does feature some of the typical "power of friendship/love" trope you see in anime a lot, it's also one of the most hard sci-fi anime I've ever seen (even if aspects of it are naturally dated), and even kind of gives me Star Trek vibes, especially in the first story arc. It has an excellent balance of action (are fighter jets that transform into mechs ever not cool?), down time/humor (the Zentradi reactions to the Earthling way of life never get old), and of course romance (the relationship between Hikaru & Minmay had me on the edge of my seat, and I was gutted that they seemingly couldn't be together). It is dated in spots (a few action scenes seem to be running at 5 frames of animation, while others are quite good), but it makes me more interested in trying out the other old sci-fi anime they have on the service.

Content Guide:

Sex/Nudity (Mild) - You see Minmay's butt during a shower scene early on (this is replayed during a later pseudo-recap episode), and there is a vaguely detailed topless pinup poster briefly seen in Roy Focker's quarters.

Violence/Gore (Medium) - I'd say it's mild in intensity as there's not a lot of blood, but there is tons of battle (it's just 95% mechs, planes, and other war machinery blowing up without showing what happens to the people inside), so keep that in mind. The few times there is blood it's at the very low end in terms of gore (things like the single sliver of blood coming from the lip/forehead, or a stain on a piece of clothing).

Language (Mild) - Some PG/PG-13 type stuff, as usual.

NOTE: the Americanized version (Robotech) is also available on Prime Video, and does come in a remastered format, however given that it's an 80's localization I'm not sure how true it is in terms of story & content so I didn't watch it (the only things I can confirm are that they Americanized some of the names, as Hikaru became Rex Hunter, and that they linked Macross with two other anime, Calvary Southern Cross & Genesis Climber Mosphaeda, in order to make Robotech, though I'm not sure how invasive this was to each of their core narratives, as the three shows seem to be treated as different seasons just set generations apart within Robotech & may not necessarily have their events jumbled up). That, and Macross & Calvary Southern Cross may actually be related, as both carry the Super Dimension moniker in their original forms.

I finally got around to getting Disney + mainly just for The Mandalorian. I've watched the first 3 episodes and love it so far. It's really well made and definitely feel like they have mixed a slight hint of western into the theme music which is excellent. The little nods to other Speilberg/Lucas films is fun touch too. I was a little surprised the episodes are only 25 minutes long which doesn't help avoid binge watching. I'll try and pace myself a bit. Eager to see where it goes.

@BearsEatBeets There are some episodes which are bit longer, I think just under 40 mins.

I’ve been watching Turn, which is a relatively OK show about the American Revolution. Kinda funny how all the British officers have pure flowery accents when they were all mostly American born. Also the fact that English accents back then were closer to American accents now. I think the historical inaccuracies don’t exactly stop there however. I do find it funny, all the talk about Patriots and Sons of Liberty though, Kojima really loves his weird historical allegories.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy no worries! Hope you like TLG at least. I don't mean to reccomend things too much, I just get quite excited over the stuff I like! I'd hate for somebody to waste their time on a poor reccomendation from me!

I’ve been watching I Know This Much Is True, with Mark Ruffalo playing identical twins. It’s like an onion of misery. Each layer being peeled back reveals another source of pain for poor Mark Ruffalo and his identical yet tortured schizophrenic Mark Ruffalo. I love the way it’s filmed and he’s incredible but it’s truly miserable and a hard watch.

well she didn't last long