Topic: The TV Show Thread

@zupertramp I get that, it’s an HBO show with an HBO look. I personally think that the show would have really benefited from being shot on film, with the aesthetic leaning into natural tones and a softer picture. If I’m not mistaken, it was shot on an Alexa Mini, which is the same camera that most modern productions of this type are shot on, so I would probably say that this was an intentional choice of the director to give it a handheld look.

@Kidfried but the game is swimming in film grain. And it's dark... visually.

@nessisonett yeah, I guess I wasn't aware this was a signature HBO look. Is this a new thing? Hated the new Matrix (for many reasons) and the visual aesthetic was one but on the other hand Mare of Easttown, True Detective, Big Little Lies... all among my favorite shows but I don't recall them looking like this.

Idk, this super bright and sharp look seems more beffiting something like Kissing Booth part 8 or whatever.

But I'm just glad someone recognizes what I'm taking about. Makes matters worse that I don't have the language to even describe what's off since I know very little about shooting but whatever they're doing, it's too crisp. Makes it look even more fake.

Anyway, done complaining. Show's fine I just am having trouble getting on board with the look.

@zupertramp I’ve noticed Euphoria, The White Lotus and Succession having a crisp, clean quality to the picture and I definitely think that it works for those shows. The Last of Us should be a bit muddier though, that’s the entire aesthetic after all, and the more desolate shots of scenery could have used a bit more of a rustic, grainy look. True Detective’s a good example of that, it was filmed on 35mm and that feeds into the entire aesthetic of the show. I’d probably point to Stalker and Come and See as movies that could have served as reference points for The Last of Us’ cinematography, except filtered through American influences like Hell or High Water or There Will Be Blood. With TV getting this expensive, I sometimes despair of the increasingly sterile visuals.

@LN78
I'm surprised Boardwalk Empire never comes up in the discussion about best shows of all time. Definently one of the best historical dramas I've seen for sure and the characters are all great. Nucky, Chalky, Richard, Margaret, Van Alden, love them all.

@PegasusActual93 @LN78 being a huge HBO Stan for years the missus and I watched the first season of Boardwalk Empire when it aired but never ended up going back for the subsequent seasons. I probably would’ve gone back to it but the missus just wasn’t keen at all, so we didn’t bother. In fairness to @missuskilgore the first season didn’t really click for me neither but I probably would’ve watched the remaining seasons anyway.

Do you guys think the show improved during its later seasons?

@colonelkilgore
It's certainly a slow burn show. Don't go in expecting a thrill a minute. The reason the show works in my opinion is that for one the characters across the board are fantastic. Even the characters whom actions I hated I could still sympathize with (save for one she was a little too creepy for my comfort), plus the incredible period accurate detail. As a major history buff I never once felt anything was historically innaccurate. Seasons 2-4 I believe are the shows peak. Season 5 I consider the weakest. Not because it's bad but because much of the season features flashbacks to one of the main characters past that I found unnecessary as most of that information was already relayed to us either through details or context clues. Highly recommend finishing it. I also would recommend another HBO show after you finish Boardwalk called Perry Mason as it is set in the same time period with the same production team and therefore feels like a spiritual sequel.

@PegasusActual93 Perry Mason was brilliant, I’m looking forward to season 2. Probably one of the very few gritty reboots of old properties to actually work.

@nessisonett
Agreed on the point of it being a good reboot (although i think it serves more as a prequel than anything else) as It keeps alot of the originals spirit while making everything much more realistic. Aka: a portrayal of the courtroom now that doesn't make real lawyers have a borderline brain aneurysm while watching.

I'd be super grateful if the show looked like either of those examples. Both fantastic visually. But yeah, sterile is a great word for it. I almost feel like it's a product of streaming. Like it cuts costs in some way, I just don't see how.

@zupertramp
I have always suspected the thing with streaming is that the visuals don't pop as well when you are streaming as it does through other mediums. I am no expert on this kind of thing but I suspect it has to do with video compression, similar to Youtube videos. For example I watched Stranger Things on Netflix as did most people and then I watched it on Bluray not long after and wow do the visuals pop much better on my 4K TV then it did through streaming. Same thing happened when I watched both Penny Dreadful and Black Sails on Bluray. Maybe it's just issues on my end but I have the feeling streaming technology just isn't quite there yet in terms of native resolution. Just a theory though.

Finished watching season 1 of Yellowstone. Great show thus far! It started off a bit slow but then it kept getting better and better. I tend to not watch more than one episode each day with TV shows in general but this one made we want to watch more. It's great that there are four more seasons, as well as the two prequel shows. Lots to watch!

@LtSarge incredible show, which reminds me… I have to get my 1 week free trial of Paramount+ to watch season 4 (and the two prequel shows).

@LN78 hmmm, I’d actually heard good things about The Offer… still I’d probably rather just re-watch The Godfather and The Godfather part 2 if I’m honest.

@LN78 I guess I was going off the reviews… which aren’t always worth listening too I’ll give you. More than anything, I guess I was just hoping it’d live up to the great The Kid Stays in the Picture… oh well, it’s a good job that I have more things to watch than I have time to do so I suppose 🤔

@colonelkilgore How much stuff is there even on Paramount+ alone? Considering SkyShowtime (that I'm watching Yellowstone on) has like over half a dozen different content makers, including Paramount+, and there's very little worth watching on there, I'd imagine there'd be even less on Paramount+.

@LtSarge yeah I don’t think that Sky showtime is available in the uk. Pretty sure that the only way to get Yellowstone et al over here is if you sign up for Paramount+. As you say, I can’t imagine that there is enough content atm to make a constant subscription worthwhile… but there’s definitely enough for a month’s worth I reckon.

@LtSarge
I'm frankly surprised Paramount even bothered with a streaming service. They have always been a mid tier company at best and don't have nearly the amount of content as major players like Disney or Warner Bros to fill up a streaming service. Not to mention alot of Paramount movies are still exclusively on other streaming services like Netflix and Hbomax.

@LN78
South Park isn't even exclusive to Paramount Plus though. At least here in the states it's on Hbomax as well and will stay on it for at least a couple more years. Right now almost all of the Star Trek movies are on Hbomax as well and are none of those are even on Paramount at this time. I don't get their long term strategy here.

@PegasusActual93 Yeah, in all honesty I'd rank Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max on the highest tier in terms of subscription services while services like SkyShowtime and Prime Video would barely be mid-tier. The content that's on there (like Yellowstone and The Boys respectively) are great but the offerings are so slim in general.

@LN78
I could see a merger of the two entities and that would make it a more competitive service for sure considering Peacock is Universal and that means Paramount and Universal would be combined. That means two somewhat reputable companies working in tandem, whether that would put it on the S-tier of the streaming service tier list though is yet to be known.