Topic: The TV Show Thread

@colonelkilgore
I am surprised nobody has ever tried to do a Neuromancer series. Three books, three seasons; would work perfectly. Get HBO or Amazon or whoever to take a crack at it.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion + R2 (Blu-Ray)

Mecha anime set in an alternate universe where the British empire (now referred to as the "Holy Britannian Empire") never collapsed and with the advent of mechs known as Knightmares, have recently conquered Japan (& renamed it Area 11). It centers on a spurned (& believed dead) Britannian prince named Lelouch, who vows to get revenge upon his family by destroying Britannia, and with the aid of a power that let's him control the minds of others, he begins with a plan of liberating Japan.

I only ever watched this once before when it aired on Adult Swim back in the day, & although I remember liking it I never fully followed it through, so it felt good to finally get back to it. Wasn't a huge fan of the character design at first (I think I prefer 80's & 90's anime designs), but it grew on me and the story is so full of twists and turns it had me on the edge of my seat (even if I wasn't a big fan of the "reset" at the start of the second season). My only main gripe is that it's so reliant on those narrative twists that I probably won't want to watch it for another 5-10 years that way I can forget the fiber details, lol.

Jungle De Ikou! (Blu-Ray)

What in the heck did I just watch...

Parody of the magical girl genre that sees a young girl (Natsumi) tasked with transforming into the flower goddess Mei in order to stop the revived destruction god Ongo (the latter trapped in an artifact her archaeologist father brought home), however things take a more humourous turn when the fearsome being appears and isn't nearly imposing as led to believe.

I'm very mixed on this. Most of the parody elements take the form of wild fan service & innuendo, and while I'm generally of a fan of such things (and don't have much of a problem when it comes to the "Mei" side of the character), it seems to awkwardly give the "Natsumi" side her fair share as well (I'm not sure I even want to describe what she has to do to even transform in the first place, and the classmate who gains the power of the water goddess may even be worse in this regard). Plus, there's Ahem the Earth god, who might make Mr. Popo (of Dragon Ball fame) look like a progressive case of Black representation (this, coming from someone who generally doesn't care about such things in anime, shows just how blatant it is).

That said I can't dislike it. When it's not being completely awkward there's times when the humor hits (again, I don't have a problem with the fan service when focused on Mei), I think they could have had something with the various god/goddesses in terms of lore & story had it actually been longer (it's a 3 part OVA), and the more I watch the more I realize that I think 90's anime both in terms of aesthetic & tone may just be my favorite. I just like looking at it, & it may be a slapstick magical girl show, but that doesn't stop them from dedicating animation resources to lovingly recreate detailed renditions of various military equipment (including a scene with Mei going into detail about the spec load out of a US air force jet), which is an element of otaku/anime culture which has unfortunately been removed in today's anime culture from what I can tell.

watching a little marathon of Star Trek Deep Space Nine on Pluto TV tonight along with watching whatever for IGN on Pluto TV

@LN78
Some of the episodes of the original Twilight Zone can be hit or miss but there are truly some bangers among them. "Five Strangers in Search of An Exit", "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", "To Serve Man" and "Eye of The Beholder" are just a few of the classics that hold up.

@LN78 I’ve been saving ‘1899’, because I think that’ll be something that’s going to demand my full attention.
Is it worth having on, in the background while gaming? Unfortunately that’s how I consume most of my shows nowadays.

The sign of a good TV show or movie, that you can have it on in the background. 😂

@LN78 Thanks for the heads up. I suspected as much, but might try an episode a night (although they’re a bit on the long side). It looks brilliant.

starting off year 2023 today by renewing my netflix subscription and continuing watching the rest of Season 2 of Designated Survivor.

that and having to pay my annual payment for my annoying renter's insurance for my apartment which took a chunk out of my money. But i guess Im glad to get that one and taken care of til the next time next year

The missus and I have been struggling through Andor the last week or so. It wasn’t that it was bad… but I just didn’t feel hooked/compelled to put another ep on after finishing one. Until today that is, for as mediocre that I thought the first 6 or so eps were, the last 6 were brilliant. Probably my favourite Star Wars show yet.

@LN78 yeah quality stuff… I honestly think the general vibe of the back half of the season would’ve been a great basis for the actual prequel trilogy back 20 or so years ago. Obviously Andpr himse;f wouldn’t necessarily have been the protagonist etc. and you’d have to slot some Jedi’s in… but the whole birth of the rebellion is pitch-perfect.

@LN78 yeah I had a feeling there was gonna be one, so we hung about for it. Nice pay off too, what with the portents of the near future but also the call back to the prison eps.

@LN78 no way… we haven’t watched that yet as the missus wasn’t feeling the trailer but I did like the look of it though. This news does give me more reason not to watch it if I’m honest. Would it still be worth a watch knowing that I’ll never see a conclusion?

@LN78 For all I didn't enjoy it I am surprised that it got cancelled given the reception. I found the pacing really bad and took ages for it to go anywhere. Soundtrack was class though.

@LN78 Haha behave! I found myself watching it just hoping something would happen to answer the mystery and it took ages getting there. Still wasn't really answered and now never will be.

@LN78 Haven’t watched 1899, but it will now become one of many Netflix shows that I relegate to the “probably not” watchlist since it was cancelled after one season. I’m not sure how they make the decisions they make on what to axe, but it seems like it doesn’t always make sense.

@LN78 One of my TV pet peeves is when either a show doesn’t end, or when it’s clear that the writers just drag out open ended narratives because they are unsure if they can keep milking the show. It’s fine for a sit-com or a reality show or a serialized group of unrelated episodes (a la Black Mirror) but for a longitudinal drama I prefer the writing to have a solid ending planned out from the start. It’s fine if a show wants to wander a little to take advantage of its popularity, but it’s clear to me that some shows don’t have any idea where or when they plan to conclude.

@LN78 @Th3solution A really bad example of a brilliant show not being finished is Mindhunter on Netflix. Was never boring but the writer has just move onto other projects. Gutting

I don't think this service is available in English-speaking countries, but has anyone subscribed to SkyShowtime and is it any good? The service consists of movies/TV shows from Universal, Dreamworks, Sky, Peacock, Nickelodeon, Showtime and Paramount. I discovered the service while looking up Paramount+ because I really want to watch the Halo TV show but Paramount+ isn't available in Sweden anymore since it's been replaced by SkyShowtime.

I've looked up some TV shows on there and Yellowstone seems to be the Game of Thrones/Stranger Things/Mandalorian show of SkyShowtime. Tulsa King looks pretty good as well. Sylvester Stallone as a mafia boss, that's a really cool premise.

I'm honestly really in the mood to try a new subscription service and SkyShowtime is looking pretty compelling right now.

@LtSarge If it’s got Sky shows from across Europe then I guess it’s probably similar to our NowTV we have here. Make sure to take a look at their subtitled shows, Sky Deutschland and Italia have made some great shows over the last few years.