Topic: The TV Show Thread

@RogerRoger nice one! I'm still waiting, perhaps in vein for a ln agents of shield season 6+7 blu ray announcement. I still haven't watched those two seasons!

Fair enough about UC, like I say, I do get tempted to try it out because of the positive word of mouth. It looks a bit like a less funny version of Doom Patrol (which is easily the best DC show that's ever been made). I'm not saying Elliot Page is a bad actor or anything, I think it's just that you gel with certain actors over the years and I never really gelled with Robert Sheehan or Elliot Page. But you know, there could be that one show that sets me on the path to being a mega fan. I used to hate Lee Mack but now I'm halfway through season 4 of Not going out!

@Th3solution The regeneration thing is a very clever way of getting around the issue of recasting!

When a Timelord dies, they regenerate with their memories but into a completely different body (and can even swap gender as we recently learnt!). They can only do this a limited number of times but thanks to some typical “wibbly wobbly timey wimey” writing, the Doctor has a few more in the bag!

It’s clever as it allows recasting but means that doctors can have quite different personalities; Capaldi is rather different to Tennant for instance!

I recently watched the first 5 or 6 episodes of Titans: Season 1, might end up watching the rest today along with starting Cobra Kai: Season 1, depends on how much time I spend on the computer haha.

(I only stream shows on my 65 inch TV, computer screen is too small for me)

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Very interconnected, yes! Thankfully it's a fast-talking show, so there's always a bit of exposition to cover the necessary details, but still.

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@Th3solution Oh, I agree; there are some days you couldn't pay me to pick up a DualShock. Passive entertainment is much more useful for keeping you distracted whilst your head plays Tetris with blocks of thoughts and feelings. It's good that you're being experimental, but I'm sorry it's taken some stress to get you here. Hopefully you'll have found it a worthwhile endeavour!

And yes, I noticed the retroactive credits change for Elliot Page in the first couple episodes of The Umbrella Academy. Made it a little jarring when his character kept being referred to as "she" but hey, actors can play whoever and whatever they want; it's why it's called acting.

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@ralphdibny I'll be finishing the fifth season of S.H.I.E.L.D. next week, depending on progress, so I'll let you know how the sixth and seventh pan out (spoiler-free, of course). It's quite remarkable how the show has evolved so much, yet remained so familiar.

And hey, we like what we like, and that stretches to actors and performances, so it's all good. I keep meaning to track down Doom Patrol. I hear excellent things!

I’ve been binging The Crown from the perspective of someone who’s not a Royalist in any sense of the word. I mean, coming from primarily Irish and German blood means that I have my gripes with the Royal Family. It’s pretty good though if you watch it like a soap. Mountbatten is literally Littlefinger. The Queen’s a bit boring but she’s boring in real life too like I’m not expecting her to start sniffing lines off a prostitute but I dunno, show some personality. Prince Phillip is a right tw*t but again, he is in real life too. Actually, there aren’t any likeable characters at all. It’s proper good though.

@RogerRoger nice one! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on AoS!

@nessisonett My family have strong feelings about that show. My background is very military, very royalist, and all the headlines regarding its apparent inaccuracies have ensured that I've heard the word "treason" a couple times too many in recent months.

I love the Queen. She's a hard-working and genuinely empathetic inspiration. As long as she's still with us, I still support the monarchy... but, as soon as she's gone, it needs to end.

@RogerRoger It’s basically like Succession except they pretend they have a divine right to rule instead of just being rich.

@nessisonett Yeah, trust me, it's proper frightening what goes on behind palace doors. Whatever soapy madness the writers of The Crown have extrapolated from various rumours and innuendo, it's probably still falling short of the bizarre reality.

I wouldn't trust the modern royals to run a bath.

@nessisonett I can't say I care about the Royals one way or the other, but pretty much think we should be a republic. It's good that the programme isn't a fluff piece designed to make us love them; it presents the characters as flawed and human, and therefore relatable in some ways. It's an interesting show, especially the first few series where it's set in a slightly more glamorous era, and we see the Queen struggling to settle into her role. The acting is brilliant, especially from Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby.

The producers arguably dropped the ball in series 3 as most of the characters are quite horribly miscast, and they chose to focus on stories that really aren't all that interesting. Bizarre given the immense social changes that occurred in the 1960s. They actually filmed a scene in the town my Mum lives while I was visiting, and lord knows how much that lone scene cost. They made all the pedestrians wait at the end of the road so that Helena Bonham Carter (looking like she was chewing a wasp) could be filmed. I can't blame her for being grumpy, it was a bitterly cold January day and the scene was set in the summer!

@RogerRoger I’ve dabbled in Doom Patrol also. Honestly I like Umbrella Academy better, but DP is also pretty good. It has only kept my attention for the first half of season one, so I need to pick it up again. In full disclosure, I’m not much of a Brendon Fraser fan. He’s always irritated me. Although I will say that he’s better in this than in the other roles I’ve watched him in (...couldn’t stand the Mummy movies). Also Diane Guerrero seems overwhelmed in her role. To me, she isn’t convincing at all in what is arguably one of the more difficult TV roles to try and tackle. When/if you watch the show you’ll see what I mean. At times she’s ok, but at times shrinks in the role. Timothy Dalton is great though. I should really get back into the show.

Edit: As an aside, I’ve got The Crown on a short list to try fairly soon also. I wasn’t sure what the British response would be to it though. I’m not sure if it’s deemed as pulp nonsense over there.

So, late to the party as always but... just finished season 1 of Cobra Kai and I absolutely bloody loved it (as did the missus who until recently really didn’t want to give it a chance). So many homages, so much nostalgia but also some really decent story-telling, acting and the season 1 finale gave me genuine chills.

Gutted that I only have two more seasons to watch, as we’re gonna smash it by Saturday I reckon.

@Th3solution Thanks for the thoughts! I'll admit, I quite like Brendan Fraser (as an actor; haven't really seen him in interviews) and love The Mummy franchise pre-reboot. Timothy Dalton is probably the biggest draw, though, me being a Bond fan and whatnot, although the fact that it has DC roots might help me overcome any rough patches; despite my total and utter surrender to Marvel's many marvels this past year, I'm certain to still enjoy any nods, references and interconnectivity.

@KidBoruto mentioned Titans up there, and that's one show I did plan on watching. Alas, it's on Netflix over here, and I've just cancelled my membership. I'll get to it someday.

@RogerRoger I like Brendan Fraser too, movies like The Mummy and George of the Jungle were a big part of my childhood after all. It’s truly horrible to hear what he went through which explains why he hasn’t really acted for years so it’s nice to see him coming back as he was also fantastic in Condor.

@nessisonett Holy crap... I had no idea about Fraser's recent history. I just Googled it, wondering what you meant. That's awful. Definitely glad he's currently making a comeback.

@RogerRoger @nessisonett Oof... I didn’t know about Fraser’s personal struggles either until I searched it. Now I feel like a complete heel for being critical of him. I guess it doesn’t make me appreciate his acting style any more, but it definitely makes me empathetic.

@Th3solution Separating actors from their performances is a good skill to have. We're all allowed to think that Tom Cruise is a phenomenal actor, because he is, but it doesn't mean I'll be standing by his side when the mothership arrives to take him home.

@nessisonett @RogerRoger A few years ago I read an interview with Brendan Faser, and felt really quite bad for the guy. He's actually a pretty good actor when the role demands it. I recently watched season three of The Affair, in which he plays a sociopathic prison guard. It wasn't remotely what I was expecting after the sort of roles he played in the '90s!

@RogerRoger I have the advantage of having very little interest in Hollywood gossip and I don’t engage in social media so I’m often way out of the loop as to what’s going on in celebrities’ personal lives. My apathy toward pop culture backstories is an advantage when trying to judge a performance, so I don’t think it’s any personal savviness per se in my case; and I will admit that knowing some personal background can often enhance an experience with a particular actor or performer. But you’re right, in general I think it best to “separate the artist from the art” and the Tom Cruise example is probably the perfect case in point. 😄

@mookysam Wow, definitely not standard Brendan Fraser fare there! It'd take a couple of those kinds of roles for me to separate him from Rick O'Connell, I think.

@Th3solution Yep, I try to do the same, and regret when it becomes unavoidable (again, see the Tom Cruise case study). Beyond the occasional DVD special feature, where an actor's select comments might reveal a little personality, most of my opinions have been formed by spotting the glimmers of reality breaking through any given performance and that, as you say, can be good or bad.