Topic: The TV Show Thread

@CJD87
The Leftovers was excellent and I am surprised so few ever even mention it. I imagine some people put it off as being too depressing but It ends on such a rewarding conclusion. I put off The Wire after finishing season 2 for whatever reason and need to get back into it eventually and I have never watched Mad Men but my parent's wouldn't ever stop gushing over it.

@CJD87 Justified is brilliant, it was my first big show I binged during the first lockdown. It only gets better as well, season 1 is strong but I have a hunch that you’ll be blown away by how much it steps things up in season 2.

@PegasusActual93 The Leftovers seems to be quite a 'well-kept secret', which is a shame as it really is pretty great. It is also a rare example of a TV adaptation actually becoming a stronger show once the source material runs out. (I recall that it was based on a book, with the season 1 conclusion essentially tying in with the end of the book... and then seasons 2 and 3 were essentially 'new material')

I'm a big Damon Lindelof fan as well, and it was a pleasure to see him actually stick the landing for the Leftovers - as you say, bringing it to a satisfying conclusion (vs Lost, where the ending was somewhat divisive!)

I'd really encourage you to see through all of Succession, it just keeps getting better and better. Cousin Gregg for the win ha!

@nessisonett Thanks, your insight on this is appreciated... many have said that Season 2 is 'even better', so I expect I'll stick with it. I love the complicated relationship between Raylan/Boyd, but some of the peripheral characters are also fantastic. My favorite recurring character so far is Arnold Pinter, the dodgy ex-con informant (played by David Eigenberg?)... great banter between him and Givens

on episode 7 of Haunting of Hill House.

Show is ok. It keeps going back and forth from the past to the present. That and the family drama where the Shirley sister i cant stand where she takes it out on Luke and Steve.

Show's really not scary during the moments with the family in the past.

Watched the first two eps of Welcome to Wrexham… and would’ve happily binged the whole 8 episode season if they were all available. It’s still such a strange and surreal thing that happened/is happening to Wrexham AFC, that it’s intriguing to take a look behind the curtain and to see how and why it all played out.

@colonelkilgore Yeah, I’m definitely going to watch that soon. Not sure whether to wait until all the episodes are available though!

@nessisonett I kinda wish I’d waited for all of the eps to drop but the trailer got me and the missus so pumped that we just had to make a start on it.

Obviously none of us actually have any idea how this absolutely bizarre collision of Hollywood and Small town welsh football team will ultimately culminate… and it’s easy to be cynical about outside interests taking over community treasures (albeit treasures that haven’t sparkled for a long old time) but I can’t help but see this particular case as one where it could work out (& work out surprisingly well at that).

Watched the first two episodes of The Rings of Power. It’s alright. Visually stunning for sure but I don’t think I’m quite as up on Tolkien lore as I need to be to fully appreciate it. You might need a degree in the LotR appendices to really understand half of who everyone is. I love some of the stories going on and then others I’m not as much of a fan of. The elf dude pining after the human woman is brilliant, he’s a bit less perfect than the normal portrayal of the elves and looks like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Galadriel is interesting too, she’s quite scary but I guess it’ll contextualise why she’s in the forest instead of with the other elves and how she manages to resist the Ring when she goes all spooky on Frodo.

Watched the first two episodes of The Rings of Power. Not feeling it so far to be honest. Two episodes and there aren’t really any characters I’m rooting for yet. In the first LOTR movie you follow the hobbits immediately and then later, the fellowship. Too many characters whose stories are moving at a snails pace, after two hours.
It’s a problem I have with a lot of TV shows to be honest, plots are artificially dragged out to make 10 hours of viewing. It’s why I prefer film.
Also, definitely an inclusive LOTR for the 21st century, which is a good thing, but does practically every male have to be stupid, and every female wise and and kind?

@MB81 "but does practically every male have to be stupid, and every female wise and and kind?"

Yes! Because many writers are so talentless these days women can't start from nothing, work hard and achieve. She must just be automatically brilliant at anything and certainly superior to her male counterparts.

That's where identity politics gets us though.

So the missus just came back from a day in Wrexham (the area she covers for her work includes North Wales) bearing gifts. Wrexham shirts, caps, coasters and Aviation Gin. T’was a good afternoon!

@colonelkilgore
I watched the first four episodes yesterday. They do seem like genuine guys who want the team to succeed and progress. Wish there was a bit more of the running the club as a business shown with the new CEO as it seemed quite clear that most of those on screen dont really know anything about it. Happy to watch the rest of the episodes when they appear but get a feeling i know how its gonna end (for that season at least).

@sorteddan yeah that is the thing, I know how the 21-22 season ends! Still, it’s just the first season of many I’d imagine… and it’s always interesting to see how things start. I know what you mean about it not going deep enough into the day-to-day running of the club, hopefully that will start to come more into it in future though.

I went right off football… but this story has actually gotten me interested again. Who doesn’t love a good underdog story.

Saturday was a pretty nostalgic day of TV for me. When I woke up in the morning Cartoon Network was showing a couple episodes of the OG Teen Titans (the two part finale of season 2), so I decided to watch (& realized that this version of Robin is probably my favorite animated iteration of anything "Batman").

That night me & bro stayed up and watched Toonami together for the first time in years (watched Primal, YashaHime, Lupin the 3rd Part 6, and an hour of One Piece). Because of YashaHime & Lupin we joked that if you suddenly transplanted someone from 20 years ago (when both InuYasha & Lupin the 3rd Part 2 were part of the lineup) into the modern day, they'd probably assume both shows had just been completely ongoing this entire time, lol.

@RR529
Toonami, that takes me back. I used to watch Adult Swim late at night as a kid for episodes of Superjail, Robot Chicken and Venture Bros while trying not to get caught by my parent's. Was never much into anime but I loved Dragon Ball so tuned into Toonami for that too.

@PegasusActual93, was never big on Superjail, but I enjoyed Robot Chicken & Venture Bros.

As for Toonami, I still remember it in it's infancy where it was an after school block & hosted by Moltar (the bad guy from Space Ghost) instead of T.O.M. (the robot it's had for most of it's run). I think one of the earliest lineups was DBZ, ReBoot, & the New Adventures of Johnny Quest. I even remember when they were making a big deal out of Tenchi Muyo! premiering.

@RR529
Superjail was fun just for how truly bizarre and unpredictable it could get in any given episode but was certainly not everyone's cup of tea. It's been fun having a re-watch of various Adult Swim shows that I haven't seen or really thought much of in years. I knew of Moral Orel for example back in the day but never paid much attention to it. So I watched through it like six months ago and wow what a masterpiece of satire and emotional storytelling. If that show had come out a decade later than it did it would have been a hit.

Poor Brian K Vaughan really can’t catch a break. That’s Paper Girls now been cancelled after one season by Amazon.

That got cancelled? I've never watched it myself but it seemed to be getting a decent amount of attention when it released. Many shows have been renewed for less.