Topic: The TV Show Thread

I discovered another great tv show on Netflix and it's called La Casa de Papel, pretty awesome. It's a Spanish tv show about robbers who invade the Factory of Moneda. Great characters and narrative,

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm finally getting back into Netflix.

Currently watching (and almost done) with Marvel's the Punisher, but I have a huge backlog of stuff I've missed out on, lol.

@KratosMD, it took a few episodes to grow on me, but I am liking it. Not sure if it's my favorite one, though.

@RR529 I've just finished season two of Daredevil so was thinking of watching Punisher next. What is your fave Marvel show on Netflix?

@JohnnyShoulder, I really liked Luke Cage, as it doesn't tip toe around the fact that it's part of the MCU as much as the others tend to do (I don't need or want Iron Man or Thor references shoehorned into everything, and understand that these series are meant to be mostly stand alone, but it feels like they usually try too hard to distance themselves).

I'm really struggling with the Marvel TV shows, they don't seem to be a patch on the films. The pacing seems to be far too slow (for me, at least) and too many episodes. The Punisher is the best of the bunch in my opinion but even that is too slow and hardly any punishing gets done. I think I've got about 4 episodes left to watch but it has been a struggle so far.

@crippyd As they are tv series they will be a bit slower paced than the films. More time for character building etc and less on action heavy scenes. Plus the budget will be less than the movies so that will effect what they can do.

Not seen em all yet but I do like Daredevil. The combat reminds me of Chris Nolans Batman films. Violent, visceral but realistic at the same time.

@crippyd I agree I tried to get the Netflix shows but just couldn't. Got about half way through each and just stopped watching them. I think the only one I finished was Luke Cage. Of course I could just be burnt out on the whole Super Hero thing as well.

@JohnnyShoulder I agree that the pacing is different to the films but it seems to me that there is a little bit of action in the first few minutes then a whole lot of nothing until the last 5-10 minutes to get you to watch the next episode. If you look at a shorter series like Stranger Things, I think this is a shining example of good pacing and story which Marvel could well do to take a look at.

@Tasuki yeah, there is a lot of superhero stuff about but for me I'm still caught up in it all (I'm off to see Black Panther at the cinema on Friday) and I'm looking forward to the next ones. I'm favoring Marvel over DC as there has been some much more that appeals to me from Marvel and only a couple from DC (Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad (standard cut) and Justice League, with WW being the absolute stand out).

I’ll throw my 2 cents in (2 pence in the UK? Not sure if y’all say that) ... I also have had a hard time staying with the Marvel and DC TV shows. I got through 2 seasons of Arrow before I burned out and have made it through about 5 episodes of Daredevil and one episode of Jessica Jones and just can’t make myself get interested enough to stay with anything. I’m not sure why because they are really well done, I don’t know. I understand The Punisher and The Flash are the best, so maybe I should just jump straight to those. And actually to be honest as much as I enjoyed S1 of Stranger Things, I am stuck at about epi 4 of S2. Lately I just would rather play video games or do something else with friends than watch TV most of the time. I also think part of the issue is too many shows to choose from. They say it’s the Golden Age of TV and there are just too many quality shows that I can never decide what to watch.
@crippyd @Tasuki @JohnnyShoulder @RR529

@KratosMD Yeah, with movies, there is less of a commitment, so I still do the occasional movie. It’s a 2-3 hour time frame and it’s done. For TV, I just stare at a series with like 14 episodes and think that it’s going to take several days if not weeks to get to any conclusion here, and even then sometimes there’s multiple seasons.
I think we are spoiled in this generation to have all this stuff on demand and we have our entertainment and media in bite sized portions like YouTube, Vine, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. and so we’ve grown accustomed to a quick digestion of information and then move on to the next thing. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. I used to read more, but haven’t picked up a novel in several months.
I know I’ve gone off the rails here in the TV show thread, but it got me thinking about all these shows I would probably like to see if only I had the time and patience to devote to them. It might be a phase, like you say, and maybe I’ll have my interest rekindled down the road.

I only watch one or two episodes of each show a week rather than blitz through a whole season in a few days, which is probs i don't get burned out as much. The only problem is that stuff like Arrow with over 20 episodes per season is too overwhelming for me. And i never go for anything that has more than 3 seasons lefr to watch, unless it is something stellar like Breaking Bad.
I also try to have a nice variation of shows on rotation at once and only watch one super hero show at a time for insurance.

@Th3solution Ha ha no in the uk we don't really say throw my two pence in. The only time I've heard something like that is when football hooligans throw coins at matches.

@RogerRoger @JohnnyShoulder This is a little off topic, but can I say I just love reading this site because of the contributors from all over the world. The different slang and idioms used here are fun to read. As gamers we speak a relatively common vernacular, and the internet has homogenized language quite a bit, but I still enjoy the different cultural wrinkles that are displayed through the forum and article comments.

On the subject, I used to watch The Office, and when I found out the US version of this show was actually a knock-off of a British show, I watched a couple episodes of the original version. I quickly abandoned it because I didn’t find it nearly as funny as the Steve Carell led show, and I attributed this to just a cultural difference in what Americans found humorous versus Brits. I had a similar impression of Mr. Bean/Johnny English, another show/character that had a little bit of traction in the US at one time, but I just never got it. However I think I am realizing that our collective sense of humor among native English speakers is more alike than different. Although some British and Australian shows do not appeal to an American viewer and vice versa, I think that amazingly most of the time we like the same things. For example I see a lot of users from the UK and Australia that like South Park and American Dad, which I would expect that humor to be very “North American” but obviously it is more universal. Furthermore I frequently read comments on here that make me literally laugh out loud, even though some will fall flat when I don’t understand a British slang term or cultural reference.
Maybe it’s the fact we have the common gaming background that makes us appreciate the same TV and comedy. When I see Japanese shows and games, I can appreciate their style of humor and entertainment, even though I think the average American would brush it off as strange, awkward, or overly exaggerated. But for me, I love the quirkiness.
Anyway, sorry about the random ramblings of someone trying to function on too little sleep.

Finished up Marvel's the Punisher (Netflix Original). It was pretty decent, but not one of my favorite Netflix Originals (the same can be said about all their Marvel shows though). Definitely gets the award for most violent, though.

@KratosMD Me too, the first season felt a bit different to the normal superhero fare.

@KratosMD It got quite dark later on and asked some pretty serious moral questions.

Blazing Transfer Students: Reborn!! (Netflix Original) - Actually watched this months ago, but forgot to mention it here. Best I can gather, it's a live action sequel to a manga, and it's as zany as you'd imagine (if you want to watch a show full of Japanese weirdness, you couldn't find any weirder on Netflix). Good, stupid fun.

Good Morning Call season 2 (Netflix Original) - I loved season 1 (it was one of my favorite shows of 2016), so I was stoked to see a season 2 pop up. I didn't like it quite as much (though it may be because the novelty has worn off, as I've since seen other series in the same genre), but I still very much enjoyed it, and even teared up during the finale.

Fuller House season 3, part 2 (Netflix Original) - Still a pretty fun show to follow if you're up for it's brand of nostalgia tinged cheesiness. They even did an episode in Japan this season which was pretty cool.

@KratosMD, since you enjoyed Good Morning Call I'd also suggest Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo & My Little Lover (two shows I didn't think I seen on your list of Japanese shows).

Mischievous Kiss is VERY similar to GMC, but longer (it's only 2 seasons as well, but each season has more episodes), and covers the protagonists' romance from high school, through university, into the workforce. Interestingly enough, there's even an episode where a few characters are reading the Good Morning Call manga, lol.

My Little Lover is the shortest of the bunch (just one 10 episode season), but also the most unique. The female protagonist is shrunk down to the size of a doll and ends up in the care of the neighbor boy, who she's loved since childhood, and is the only one who knows of her condition. Funnily enough, there's a character who occasionally reads the Mischevious Kiss manga, lol.

@KratosMD, They are on Netflix here in the States. Keep forgetting this is a UK based site, and that you might not have access to the same titles.

On another note, I like that when a character in a Japanese show is playing a video game, they're actually playing it (as opposed to western shows, where the camera is usually placed behind the TV so you can't see what's on the screen, or it's filled with mock CG "gameplay" from a fake game).

• I remember Uehara could be seen playing Devil May Cry & Gran Turismo in season 1 of GMC, and I think Resident Evil VII in season 2.
• In Hibana Spark someone was playing a freakin' Dreamcast (I think Crazy Taxi)!
• Then you have Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light, which should be self explanatory.