Topic: The TV Show Thread

@ralphdibny I saw Alan Moore absolutely rip into Rorschach fans who were annoyed that the Seventh Kavalry use his imagery. It’s funny because as a character, he’s Moore’s way of poking holes in Steve Ditko’s Ayn Rand inspired heroes so him becoming a symbol for that lot is rather ironic.

"I wanted to kind of make this like, 'Yeah, this is what Batman would be in the real world.' But I had forgotten that actually to a lot of comic fans that smelling, not having a girlfriend—these are actually kind of heroic. So actually, sort of, Rorschach became the most popular character in Watchmen. I meant him to be a bad example, but I have people come up to me in the street saying, 'I am Rorschach! That is my story!' And I'll be thinking, 'Yeah, great, can you just keep away from me and never come anywhere near me again for as long as I live?'" - Alan Moore

@nessisonett I didn't think this new Watchmen series would even be on Alan Moore's radar letalone him even know what the seventh cavalry is to the point where he can rip into fans/trolls for their opinions. I am curious as to what he said about it!

It's weird, because no matter what Moore says, all the characters in Watchmen are relatable and/or could be people you know. I mean, their traits are taken to the extreme but they're all conflicted characters with huge shades of grey, even Rorschach who kind of does bad things for good reasons. But that's one of the reasons why the book is so good, the characterisations are very realistic and I can look at myself and say hmm yeah, I get where they're all coming from. But it's probably the balance of all the traits that stops me being a hopelessly nihilistic, frustrated, super smart, rich, gadget making axe murderer that experiences all of time in one go...😅

@LN78 I’m gonna be honest I (doomsday) clocked out after the original. Really not a fan of the cashing in on the brand even if I loved the original and the mini-series. Having them in the DC Universe just seems weird.

@LN78 @nessisonett I thought mister miracle was brilliant but I also loved Tom Kings Batman run which I know is contrary to popular opinion but I just liked how it wasn't too wordy but effectively told a story. It really communicated emotions without saying a lot.

The prospect of Doomsday Clock is kind of what got me back into comics, but since I started collecting, the series linked to what I was getting just balooned out (originally it was Batman Flash Titans and Teen Titans) to the point where I am so behind on about 20 different series that I still haven't got around to reading doomsday clock. But I am looking forward to it!

I think what excited me was wondering how they were going to do it. I love Watchmen, it's one of my favourite books but when you've seen three spider man continuities in film and two versions of deadpool in the same film continuity I think you come to realise that stuff just exists and you can enjoy it or not. But there's not alot of point holding a particular piece of work to be so precious that nobody can sequelise it. Any new material doesn't detract from the original work, what is "official" is only in your mind and therefore you can regard any additions to the canon however you see fit!

I've got the first couple of issues if rorshchach ordered because of how cool the covers look (standard and variant) but it remains to be seen if DC actually sort out their UK distribution by the end of the year or not and whether I can carry on collecting it. I'm probably going to pick up the trade of Strange Adventures when that comes out though, I just couldn't afford to add that to my monthly comics at the time!

What do you all think is the best streaming service, as far as quality content and value? Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max, etc. including perhaps others that are unique to the UK (I think I see you all talk about Sky and others I don’t think we have)

To me it’s pretty annoying that in order to have access to all the content you have to carry multiple subscriptions. I used to think Netflix was the best all-around value due to large quantity of content and good quality original shows, but honestly I find myself rarely watching it anymore. I watch Disney plus the most but the content is definitely more limited on there.

@Th3solution Personally I think it is between Netfix and Amazon Prime. Netflix has the most content that interests me and quite a far bit of stuff in 4k but you have to pay extra for. Prime has stuff like 4K content at no extra cost plus you get free next delivery but has less content which I'm into. NOW TV is the streaming service from sky, but you pay for separate packages for Cinema, Entertainment and Sport, plus you have to pay extra to get any content in HD (1080p) which really grinds my gears. They do have the HBO shows which is probably worth the sub on its own. Disney+ has a low price but has by far the least amount of content for me and I've only got cos it was free for 6 months. I've not tried Starzplay as yet. As far as I'm aware we don't have HBO Max or HULU in the UK.

I think I've become accustomed to the seperate services now, and I think it will only get worse so we might as well get used to it. I usually rotate between all the services but this year because of lockdown i've kept Netflix and Prime.

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, I might have mentioned this before, but I have a hard time with Netflix partly because there is too much and I don’t know where to begin. Disney Plus is more manageable as far as its content. They need to hurry up though with Mandalorian 2 and the Marvel TV shows.

@Th3solution Just pick a show which you think you like and if you enjoy it keep watching it until the end or you stop enjoying it. Not sure how hard it can be really? Or if you are not feeling it, just unsubscribe and be done with it.

@JohnnyShoulder Netflix has awful discoverability. It skews what shows you see to what you’ve watched before, therefore making it quite hard to truly see what’s on the service.

@JohnnyShoulder Lol. Yeah, well it’s a personal flaw in my character, think it stems from some mild obsessive compulsive personality traits. And unsubscribing isn’t an option because it’s a shared account. So I just largely ignore it lately and pretend it’s not there when I look for something to watch, until I have a specific title to search out; which the majority of the time lately they don’t seem to have the show I’m looking for.

@nessisonett Well yeah it's using the shows you have watched and liked to reccomend new stuff. It doesn't always get it bang on but I'm not expecting it to either. Never really had an issue with that in all honesty. I pretty much know what i want watch though, and I tend not to binge watch either. There have been a few occasions when I can't decide what to watch when I've finished a show, but that is me being in a odd mood and I usually watch a bunch random stuff on YouTube or something. Next time I'm on the service I've usually found something to watch no problem. In the past when time has passed and nothing interests me I cancel it and try another service.

@Th3solution So in that instance you could subscribe to the service the show is on, you can sometimes get a free trial and then cancel it when you finished it, hopefully before the free trial ends. Or you never know you might find other stuff on there that you might enjoy and you can stay subbed for a bit longer. You could have a look to see what other stuff is on there before signing up.

My mum has profile under my Netflix account, but i have cancelled it before. Not until she has finished whatever she has needed to though. I have been subbed to it continuously for a couple of years now but I am always watching stuff on it. You shouldn't be forced to use something that you are not really using at the end of the day.

@JohnnyShoulder Very true. I have been wearing my Netflix watch list like an albatross around my neck for a couple years and probably need to just move on.

The “try it out and see if it sticks” is the method I used for Disney+ and after finishing Mandalorian I’ve continued to find nice simple diversions regularly on there with much more ease. Anything from the Jeff Goldblum show to The Clone Wars, to Pixar shorts for a 10 minute diversion — its just easier to navigate and find something up my alley.

So apparently the Batman prequel series will be set during Year One, which could be really interesting. Seeing the GCPD trying to adapt to having Batman around is a good premise, I enjoyed the police side of Gotham. Honestly Gotham is one of the strangest shows I watched on TV in the last few years, it just went all over the place and did its own thing while wildly varying in quality. It had moments of absolute brilliance and some great character casting but would inexplicably go all over the place on tangents and sometimes just make no sense.

@LN78 I assume it was maybe done for advert format online. Instagram has square videos for example. I wouldn’t say no to 4:3 though, I quite like the format and both the opportunities and challenges it poses. A lot of superhero movies can have very similar filming styles so I guess it would set it apart? Snyder does have a very distinct style after all.

Anyone else watching Lovecraft Country? I thought the first episode was brilliant and really intriguing. I’m not a Lovecraft fan in the slightest so seeing them adapt a book that’s essentially a big two fingers up at the racist tw*t while still using his style is brilliant. Jordan Peele really does choose great projects.

@LN78 I quite liked Twilight Zone but the quality does vary massively - as did the originals of course. Glad you’re enjoying Perry Mason, the styling is great and it’s just a good old fashioned mystery with some proper good performances from the main cast.

Looking good for Season 2 of The Boys:

@JohnnyShoulder Haha, I'm not quite as in love with The Boys but it really is a solid show. I'll say I preferred Doom Patrol/Watchmen/Harley Quinn/Legion last year in terms of comic book TV, but it was just a really good year in general so that doesn't really say anything about The Boys. Aya Cash being cast in S2 is the reason I started it in the first place, and judging from the reviews she's fantastic as expected. Super excited to get started on this second season.

@Vahla_Hanesh I always feel like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1 is quite underrated. I still had a lot of fun with it, but I think people are very easily turned off by procedural aspects in shows nowadays. Season 4 remains the very best season to me with ease, and 5 and 6 were probably the worst seasons of the show, but I thought 7 really managed to stick the landing and give us a very satisfying ending. The whole ending scene with everyone meeting up again was very bittersweet, although I did get terrified by Fitz and Jemma's picnic because it gave me Fringe flashbacks... and since the Cronicoms were a lot like the Observers in Fringe, well.. y'know. I also really, really loved the time loop episode this season. I'm a sucker for any kind of storyline that plays with time, and this just did it so well. Besides that though, I'd say the best episodes are 4,722 Hours, Self Control and Inescapable. In terms of long-running, network, sci-fi TV it's definitely up there as a great choice to get into. Agent May was my favourite for the entire run (even though I clearly also have a soft spot for FitzSimmons). Ming-Na Wen is just amazing.

@nessisonett Ah! Watchmen! I had no choice but to watch that show simply because of Damon Lindelof's involvement. The Leftovers is easily my favourite show of all-time, and I'm so glad that his follow-up project did not at all disappoint. Quickly found its way into my top 25 shows of all-time as well. The character centric episode approach Lindelof loves to do worked so well for this show, and it really gave all the characters and actors a time to shine. Regina King and Jean Smart were definitely my faves, but Jeremy Irons is certainly up there. Then you also have the double whammy of This Extraordinary Being/A Gold Walks Into Abar which are just... perfection. Both for very different reasons, directing and writing respectively, but both so, so good. I believe I ranked A God Walks Into Abar as my second favourite episode of last year. (Not surprising, I suppose, since I mentioned earlier in this comment my love for anything that plays with time.) Fantastic miniseries. I'd still say The Haunting of Hill House is my favourite miniseries, but Watchmen is a very, very close second.

And also, yes to the Succession shout-out! I'll admit that I kind of hated the first season of Succession and thought it was pretty awful, but the second season was such a ridiculously great 360. Feels like it took all the solid groundwork from the first season and really just ran with it. A more engaging overall storyline, tighter and funnier writing and a much better focus really made for a much-improved second season. Loved the second season, and I'm glad to see you've gotten into that already. Brian Cox in particular in this show is just pure genius. He runs acting circles around everybody else when he gets the spotlight, and I'm a sucker for it. Recently saw his Penny Dreadful stint as well, where he was equally amazing. I guess he just can do no wrong. Cool to hear how he grew up in Dundee though. That's a fun fact I didn't know about! Also glad to see you've been enjoying Lovecraft Country! I'm definitely gonna start that one soon.

@Th3solution I've always felt Amazon Prime has the most consistently high quality shows coming out, but obviously with Netflix's insane quantity it can usually pump out great shows at the same rate if not faster. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Transparent and Undone on Amazon for example are all incredible, so percentage wise I think Amazon has the edge. Just hard to match the insane rate at which Netflix puts out all kinds of shows of wildly varying quality, haha. They're still going strong, even with corona! That said, I would also like to give a shout-out to Apple TV+. They haven't been around for very long yet, but the lineup in the 9-ish months they've been here is truly impressive. I've only seen For All Mankind, The Morning Show and Central Park, but the first two are both really incredible shows. For All Mankind I actually finished just this week and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Besides that, they have so many shows I am very interested in and want to get to. I'm also currently finally watching Mythic Quest, and while I haven't finished that yet, it's been a great ride so far. They're really doing great stuff over there, but not many people seem to notice! In terms of HBO Max, they've been around for even less longer so in terms of original content there's not much to judge yet. I have watched quite a few of their initial offerings. Search Party S3, Legendary and Love Life were all great fun, although Love Life is also wholly inconsistent. Hard to pass up Anna Kendrick, though! Search Party I would also put as one of my favourite seasons of the year so far. Off to a solid start at least, and I am very interesting in Raised by Wolves coming out next month.

Disney+, Hulu and Peacock are definitely the ones I don't have as much affinity with. I haven't started watching anything on Peacock yet, although I'm interested in Brave New World thanks to Grant Morrison's involvement and Angelyne looked fantastic, but hasn't yet premiered. Hulu seems to be going all-in on these smaller, creative comedies, but not many of them have piqued my interest yet. Woke is probably one of the first ones to do it, and that's coming out next month I believe. I did enjoy my time with Castle Rock (particularly the second season), There's... Johnny!, Catch-22 and The Great a lot though, but honestly they always seem a bit hit or miss to me in the content they produce. Probably didn't help that my first experience with them was The Handmaid's Tale and... the less said about that show, the better. On Disney+ I have greatly enjoyed both Encore! and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, but they don't really have much in the way of orgiianl content that I am interested in besides those shows. They also feel like they have the least of an identity outside of just having (not the) entire Disney back catalogue, so I'm not particularly fond on that service.

.... to answer your question a lot less complicatedly, I'd probably rank them in the order of: Netflix > Amazon Prime > Apple TV+ > Hulu > HBO Max > Disney+ > Peacock.

@LN78 I'm about halfway through Perry Mason, and I'd say I'm definitely enjoying it more than I thought I would. I'm not usually really into the whole period mystery shows, but this one has exceptional production values and a cast with Matthew Rhys, Tatiana Maslany and John Lithgow is hard to pass up. The fourth episode's ending was also a huge swing for the show, so I'm intrigued to see how that plays out. I'll continue the show later on for sure, although I must say I'm very excited for once we finally start getting into the law stuff. I do love me some courtroom drama!

(P.S. Sorry for the long-winded comment. TV really is my ultimate obsession and if I start getting into it then well... there's no stopping me!)

@Tjuz Wow! Thanks for the breakdown! That’s a solid review of the different services. You really know your stuff! I don’t have experience with most of the streaming services but that’s quite interesting to see some of the good content highlighted.