Topic: The TV Show Thread

Wait Veep is just a British remake? How does that work? ... Okay a quick DuckDuckGo search and I see it's basically The Thick of It with the VP at the center ... Geez, so do we even have any originals?

Also this is probably as good a time as any to register my unpopular opinion that mockumentary, observational style shows are terrible. And on a related note, cringe humor is only barely comedy. Just putting people in awkward situations and calling it a day is about as lazy as throwing Will Ferrell in a movie and asking him to yell a lot.

Also I'm aware I'm no fun. Sorry.

@zupertramp Parks and Rec was great but better when it ditched the mockumentary format. And This is Spinal Tap is brilliant! ‘Cringe comedy’ in the US is totally different though, it’s dreadful. Shows like The Inbetweeners, Peep Show, Fresh Meat etc are brilliant whereas the only ones I can think that are decent from the States are Curb Your Enthusiasm and It’s Always Sunny.

@nessisonett Yeah I probably should have qualified my remarks on mockumentaries with the word "modern" because This is Spinal Tap is indeed brilliant. But it's funny you mention Parks and Rec because I'd rather get drunk, ride the teacups, and come home to play Doom VR with all comfort settings off than watch that show. That editing style is just so bad. I didn't realize they stopped using that format. I never even made it through an episode.

I've never seen any of the British shows you mentioned. So I'm totally open to the possibility this is something we just don't do very well state side. Or simply rely on it too much. Which makes sense. Excess is kinda our thing.

@zupertramp Parks and Rec’s first season and a bit are kinda rubbish and basically all reviewers openly admit as much. It’s one of those shows that builds to a peak and then the last season isn’g very good. But the good episodes are really good!

God, Parks and Rec is fantastic. Such a great ensemble cast.

The first season is okay but it gets waaay better once Ben and Chris turn up. The final series dips a bit but still works fine and it actually wraps up pretty nicely too.

Lesley Knope and Ron Swanson are fantastic characters.

@Thrillho Ben is my favourite character. The ongoing saga of Icetown is brilliant and I love his reactions to how messed up Pawnee is.

Yeah, I think there is definitely a cultural aspect to comedy that doesn’t always translate. I loved The Office (up until Steve Carrol left) but when I tried to watch the British version, I found the humor fell flat. Even through it was clearly a direct copy, I just didn’t think the British boss had near the captivation as watching the train wreck of Michael Scott trying to run a paper company.

I remember watching Mr. Bean and thinking, “Is this supposed to be funny?” Monty Python has its moments, but still is much funnier to talk about and quote than to actually watch. And likewise, I’d expect the average British viewer to be completely turned off by the horrible over-the-top and hyperbolic low-brow “comedy” of Will Farrell, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, or Eddie Murphy.

@nessisonett Ha, I do like his “Frank Grimes” type bewilderment at stuff that the rest of the town inexplicably love, particularly over L’il Sebastian.

And that’s the thing, all of the characters are well written and could easily carry an episode by themselves but they don’t need to. Even Gerry/Garry/Larry is great!

The Office (US) and Parks & Rec are two of my favs. As others have said both take a few episodes to find their feet and dip off near the end but otherwise are great series. I have watched both many times as they are my comfort TV whenever I'm tired/ill/down. I used to prefer The Office but over time think Parks and Rec might be better. I agree with @Thrillho that it's greatly elevated once Ben and Chris join the show and it has such a high quality of characters played by a gifted cast. The outtakes for both series are brilliant.
I don't mind the mockumentary format but feel Parks and Rec handled it better than the Office which lent to much into it in the latter series. One great example of it (aside from Spinal Tap) is 'What we Do in the Shadows' film and subsequent TV series.

Which also reminds me, any Flight of the Conchords fans? Love that show and saw them live last year at the O2.

@BearsEatBeets I haven't seen any Flight of the Conchords for years but it really is great. The second series was a bit of a dip in quality but I'm glad they left it at just the two.

To see them live you either got in there very quickly and had a fair bit of cash to burn!

I decided to catch up on the last few eps of Supergirl I missed in Season 5 and the last season of Legends of Tomorrow. I think Crisis on Infinite earths was kind of a good ending to the Arrowverse for me so I didn't have much enthusiasm to keep going.

But Supergirl had some brilliant episodes towards the end like Reality Bytes and Deus Lex Machina. I think Jon Cryer is legitimately one of the best Lex Luthor's that have been. It's a far cry from his role in Two and a half men and even his original Superman related role in superman 4 (I think). Also the previously on recap showed the Smallville and Superman Returns related scenes from Crisis which was an excellent way to start the episode!

Legends of tomorrow is fantastic as always (disregarding season 1). I'm glad the Constantine show is finally getting it's season 2 in the form of this season of Legends. I love the new opening sequence for it too!

@Thrillho I got them from the O2 site itself so paid ticket price. Not sure how quickly they sold but I had time to text with a mate if he wanted to go before buying them. Just found the ticket it was £45, it probably helped it was on a Tuesday. Also discovered it was 2018 not last year, time flies!

@ralphdibny I’m loving season 1 of Legends of Tomorrow to be honest, the worst one out of what I’m watching atm is Arrow Season 4 😂😂

@nessisonett oh nice are you going full on superlegendsconstanbatwomanflarrowvixenverse then? Season 4 is the Damien dark one isn't it? Have they introduced Kurt, Dinah, Renee and Rory yet? I think this season had the first Constantine crossover, might be worth watching the Constantine series in preparation for the crossover if you haven't already as the storyline gets picked up in later arrow related shows. I think it's only 10 or 13 episodes and I thought it was rather good!

@ralphdibny Yep, at the moment it’s Arrow season 4, The Flash season 2 and the first season of both Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. Arrow has been a bit rubbish this season, they introduced Damien Darhk far too early and Felicity barely resembles her former self as they seem to have forgotten how to write for her. The Flash is excellent but it was last season as well. Supergirl is decent but it’s a bit lighter than the other series which suits it but means it lacks a bit of punch. Legends has been really fun, it’s great seeing characters from different shows get their time to shine!

My opinion on Supergirl is that it gets immensely better in Season 2, stays there a bit into Season 3 but then drops back off. There's something about the show that's just too airy for my tastes. Seems like everyone complained about the darker material in The Flash, when it showed up, but I'm sorry, DC is supposed to be dark. Maybe not BvS dark where it's just all dark and there's barely anything else redeeming about it but, y'know, at least dark enough to take it seriously. Let me say dark again, geez.

Eh, but that's just my view anyway.

@nessisonett I think the darhk dynamic just never really fit with arrow but I guess at least it's not just another archer baddy. But literally what are a bunch of non powered vigilantes supposed to do against somebody who can stop their arrows mid flight. Their plans get wackier and wackier but never really get to Batman levels of planning and execution. Neal McDonough is brilliant in the role though!

I don't think Felicity gets any better really. I still quite liked her toward the end but I still prefer John Diggle, it's a treat whenever he is on screen! I think you'll be fine with the rest of the seasons if you've stuck through the first few seasons. They can all get pretty ropey at times, normally around the first and 3 quarter points (in the middle of the first and second halves of the season).

I think Supergirl gets a lot better with a few dips at times, Flash gets a lot worse before it gets better again. Legends just keeps getting better and better though! I mean I love all the shows, faults and all but I can watch them critically and still find them entertaining for the most part.

I think the real problem I had with legends season 1 was Vandal Savage who looks like a really friendly and funny guy but is supposed to be a massive villain, like maybe he's not just believable. Also the actor Carter Hall or Katar Hol was a bit weird, I don't think I really bought his performance either, or at least the storyline the actor had to work with.

@zupertramp I think the dark bits of Flash are good, I think what doesn't work is when he gets all mopey and that's just because it's a 24 episode season. It's painful to watch someone moping around week after week, it's better when he gets over that phase. I do just mean the mopeyness though, I really like neurotic Flash, world on his shoulders flash, tough times Flash etc. I really don't mind the struggle but he does have a tendency to mope at times and it's not amazingly fun to watch but luckily the supporting cast pick up the slack in those episodes. I did used to watch a bunch of episodes in one go though instead of watching it weekly so maybe I just picked up on it more because of that!

@ralphdibny I could see picking up on the mopeyness watching them back to back like you say.

I've watched half way through episode 7 of Bly Manor and I'm struggling to watch any further. I'm not even remotely finding it scary, apart from the odd jump scare now and again. The best episodes of Hill House i was thinking about them long after. I couldn't even say what happened in the last episode of Bly Manor I saw as I was hardly watching it. Extremely disappointed.

@BearsEatBeets
Watched Flight of the Conchords two or three years ago, was great fun. My wife loves it, fair to say we'll be watching through it again at some point. Got into it after watching What We Do in the Shadows.