Topic: The TV Show Thread

@Tjuz Guess I don't know what's keeping them from just postponing things. Similarly with I'm Not Okay With This. They were just like well Covid so it's cancelled sorry, not sorry.

I'll probably check out The Haunting of Bly Manor eventually, I just don't know much about it. Guess this would be a good month for it though.

@zupertramp I really liked I’m Not Okay With This although considering they didn’t renew it, they should have just kept the original ending!

@JohnnyShoulder I purposefully avoided all promotion for it as well. It's made for a fun experience these first two episodes, discovering both the setting and the characters! I didn't know anyhting about the Turn of the Screw source material either, so that's good. Hope you enjoy the finale of The Boys! I've fallen behind by... three episodes I think? I can only pray they don't kill off Stormfront.

@zupertramp I think what's keeping them from postponing is contracts. They'll have to pay talent for contract extensions, and apparently GLOW wouldn't have graced our screens until 2022 at the earliest. I suppose they figured that extra cost mixed with the long wait was just no longer worth the investment. A real shame. You definitely should try out The Haunting of Hill House before Bly Manor if you haven't already seen that. It's easily my favourite miniseries I've ever seen and my second favourite TV show in general (after The Leftovers). Absolutely recommended.

@Tjuz Yeah when people ask my favorite scary movie I just say The Haunting of Hill House. I don't care if it's television. It's that good in my opinion. But I wasn't sure if this new The Haunting Of... was related in any way, be it by way of anthology or actually connected.

Never could get into The Leftovers. I tried because it seemed like my kind of show but idk, I just couldn't bring myself to care. And all the smoking didn't help either. I know it's weird or whatever, I just find it gross even in small amounts and this show took it to extremes. I'm told the show gets much better but I gave up.

As regards contracts, that's true but I'd think there might be workarounds for unforeseen events like this. Plus they can't cancel everything. They need some shows to film when it's all said and done. Or maybe not. Maybe it'll just become the nothing-but-Stranger Things-and-crap-movies streaming service.

@zupertramp The Haunting of Bly Manor only connection to The Haunting of Hill House is that its made by the same people, Mike Flanagan writes and directs them both. As far as I know, there are no story connections between the two series.

@zupertramp Totally agree! It really is that good. It turned me from someone who didn't want anything to do with horror to someone who now loves the genre. Not many shows or movies are able to make that much of an impact! As JohnnyShoulder mentioned, Bly Manor is the second part of the Haunting anthology, so they're related in that way. Not so much in terms of story or characters, although you'll recognise some of the same actors from season one. I'll give one minor correction in that Mike Flanagan only directs and writes the first episode of this new installment, and the rest is given over to other writers and directors.

Interesting that you say you couldn't get into The Leftovers. I've always thought of The Haunting of Hill House and The Leftovers to be a little bit of one and the same. Both explore very similar themes, except one does it via horror and one does it more in a fantasy setting. I personally didn't really get into the show until episode six, but I quickly got it and had it rise to my favourite after that. Fair enough on the smoking though, they do that a lot.

@Tjuz Now I'm worried I quit it too early. Who knows maybe I'll try it again eventually.

@Tjuz You have made me pay attention to The Leftovers, I've never really noticed it before.

Finished off season 2 of The Boys there. Brilliant final episode, although this season has not been as good as the first imo with more episodes not quite doing it for me. Still high quality stuff though, the cast all round do a fantastic job. Anthony Starr as Homlander has been consistently great over the 2 seasons and manages not to over act which can be an issue in the kind of roles. Can't wait for season 3 which has already been commissioned.

Watched quite a lot of The West Wing yesterday.

Such timeless perfection.

@RogerRoger I didn't even know the difference between a Republican and a Democrat until around 2004 when I voted for what I think was the first time. Needless to say political shows weren't really my thing back then so I never got into The West Wing.

Though I've never heard anything but good things about it, I'm hesitant to watch as I worry it won't translate well. By that I mean things are so different today. Surely they cover universal themes and all but I just imagine it all coming off so naive in contrast to our current political landscape.

@zupertramp Naïve is the word for it. I’m not really an Aaron Sorkin fan anyway but The West Wing always came off to me as really quite flag-waving. The problem is that at that point, Bush was in charge and Sorkin felt that making a ‘what if’ show of if the Democrats were in charge was a good idea. Nowadays after both Obama and Trump, there’s no way it could be taken seriously. Considering that people were wanting Martin Sheen to actually stand for President after the show, it somewhat shows the utter stupidity of the voter pool. It’s decent drama, with a somewhat saccharine, bum-licking take on the Democrats.

@zupertramp I could not disagree with @nessisonett more, but that's okay because The West Wing is very much a show dependent on what each individual viewer brings to it. Which is why, as a curious Brit with half a degree in political science, I can't really recommend it to anybody, not least of all Americans who are obviously gonna have more of an investment in (and therefore an opinion about) what is a fictional, often romanticised take on their own political system.

Having said that, I'd almost argue that the show's concept, setting and politics are immaterial. I don't think it waves any flags for anybody. There are just as many flawed Democrats as there are Republicans and Independents; in fact, there are probably more flawed Democrats, given that the show is about a Democratic administration and so you naturally see more of them. Every obvious political point it attempts to score is afforded a response, one way or another. Watching it back through of late, I would call it balanced, particularly by today's hyperbolic standards. There are heroes on both sides.

Fundamentally it isn't a show about who believes in what, but rather a bunch of very realistically-sketched, well-acted characters trying to do what they think is right, and you end up caring whether you agree with them or not. Josiah Bartlett could be President of a book club for all the difference it'd make; as long as the production's passion and intent remained intact, I'd be just as hooked.

My comment about it being "timeless" was made partly because that's how I view the show, but also unfortunately because the issues and problems it deals with are still making headlines today, almost two decades later. Again, I'm not an American and so I don't have any answers to some of the questions it poses, but the show doesn't claim to, either. I would argue that its biggest takeaway (overriding any smaller messages which can, admittedly and occasionally, end up standing on a particular side of the fence) is basically "get involved to make a change" and that's a universal truth that I think anybody can get behind, no matter what nuance they believe in. Perhaps that's where its naïvety can be felt most today, because it constantly shows well-intentioned people working hard and goodness only knows, we've learned that such gumption won't get you very far in the 21st Century.

If you wanna use it as escapist political wish-fulfilment after the nightly news, I'm sure you could, but you could also just watch it as a study of people, presented by some ludicrously talented actors. I do the latter, and I therefore think that it's one of the greatest television shows of all time. I know I said I couldn't really make recommendations but, if you're tempted to give it a shot, ignore what others made of it and do so. You'll form your own opinion real quick.

At the very least, you'll laugh a lot. It has a comedy streak running through it which borders on sitcom farce territory. There are so many plates spinning in every episode, and across every semi-serialised season, and they're all perfectly balanced. Above all else, that's why I respect it.

@RogerRoger That's a well reasoned and persuasive write-up. I guess my concerns were that the show would depict politicians as "a bunch of ... characters trying to do what they think is right." Just seems like a bridge too far. A high school science teacher turned drug kingpin? Sure, why not?! But politicians acting in good faith to solve problems for the good of the country? Har har. But I take your point about it just as easily being a book club for all you care.

This does make me wonder if I'd be more likely to enjoy a similar show about British politics. It's all so far removed from what I know politics to be, I'd probably have an easier time with it. Especially since, with the exception of someone like Nigel Farage, from my view everyone seems somewhat on the level. I know I'm probably wrong but it's all foreign enough that I can believe that.

@zupertramp Just watch The Thick of It. Sure it is probably not a very accurate portrayal of British political life, but it is not supposed to be being a satire. It's hilarious however and I've never been able to see politicians and those that work with them in the same way again. A word of warning though, it is extremely heavy on the swearing.

@zupertramp The original House of Cards is a great look at the British political system. A Very British Scandal was also fantastic and focuses on one of the most insane political scandals in somewhat recent memory.

Has anyone else made it to the end of Bly Manor?

I appreciate what they were trying to do, but blimey that was hard work

@Gremio108 I watched episode 4 the other day. It has been quite slow paced up until then but episode 4 answered a few questions (and opened up a few more) which had me hooked again. I'm not finding as scary as Hill House though.

@Gremio108 Yeah the whole thing was extremely tedious. And I get we're dealing with supernatural elements here but even then I found myself having to really stretch my suspension of disbelief.

Aside from Hill House just being more clever it was also actually scary/creepy at times. This one was neither. Some sweet moments but not really worth the time sink.

@JohnnyShoulder Dude, you'd be surprised how scarily accurate The Thick of It really is.