Topic: The TV Show Thread

@LN78 "PS "The Guardian" is not a measured and rational source. They gave "Velma" a positive review."

This guy gets it!

Yea, right. I won't use the forbidden word 'actually' again. And I don't like The Guardian either. Have a lovely 2023.

@Kidfried No need to be so tetchy - as I said, I was "actually" questioning the validity of the negative criticism. @The_Moose I watched the first two episodes out of morbid curiosity and I couldn't believe it. Irrespective of their political leanings , how stupid must the writers be to think it's funny to come up with a show trolling themselves? Absolutely idiotic.

@LN78 Indeed, hard to think Mindy Kaling who wrote it had input into the US Office which is one of my favourites.

Wait, did someone suggest Elliott Page for the role? I suppose that was the deleted comment, yeah? Little old I think.

I don't know what it is about Bella Ramsey's performance so far but everything has just felt really forced. It's something where I have trouble really pinning down what's wrong, I just know something feels off. Had a similar opinion of Rami Malek in Little Things, for example, which I just watched recently. Performance was just off and I had trouble buying him for the part.

Oh well.

Edit: also feel the need to register my dislike of The Guardian lol. Which is funny because I remember them being good at one point but like, idk what happened. Same with New York Times and Washington Post. Though the latter two haven't gone quite off the rails in the same way as The Guardian. Honestly I'm more of a The Atlantic type guy these days.

Sorry for going so off topic by the way. Just bored.

Personally, I think the off thing just comes from cross media translations. It takes a lot to make something not just feel like cosplay to me, and even after three episodes I'm still seeing Pascal, Ramsey etc rather than being convinced I am seeing Joel and Ellie et al.

@Pizzamorg it really could be this. And so I'm sticking with the show in spite of my hang ups in hopes that it all gets ironed out by the end.

@zupertramp "did someone suggest Elliott Page for the role?"

It was me, well sort of, but I suggested Ellen Page and not Elliott Page who they are now because back in the day Ellen Page accused Naughty Dog of ripping off "her" likeness (I thought she sued but didn't as far as I can tell). It would be quite unusual if Elliot Page accused Naughty Dog of ripping off "his" likeness bearing in mind Ellie is a girl.

So I'll rephrase it in a more acceptable format for people who can't accept that transgender people were born as another sex and usually went under a different name prior to transition.

Before Elliot Page became Elliot Page they were known as Ellen Page. Ellen was a female who accused Naughty Dog of stealing her likeness for a female character they created called Ellie. Whether this is true or not I don't know but there was I think a resemblance. So when Elliot Page was Ellen Page they would have made a good actress to portray Ellie. Now because they are Elliot Page, they would not make a good fit for Ellie.

I wonder if this will be enough of an explanation as to why I heretically referred to Elliott as Ellen because in context it makes sense.

@The_Moose yeah I kinda picked up on what was going on from the subsequent back and forth. I do recall there being some accusations of ripping off his likeness (but yes hers at the time), and I wanna say the character even underwent a small visual revamp because of this.

But on the topic of how to reference those who've changed genders, even when referencing a time before the new gender, it's just generally encouraged to use the new gender. If anything try not to get too caught up on whether it makes sense and just consider it a courtesy. Like saying "bless you" when someone sneezes. Makes absolutely no sense really but hey, it's just polite.

Also just for the record I'm in almost a constant state of confusion regarding the changing norms so I personally don't get too worked up over what I'm going to generously consider a faux pas but conversely, I acknowledge that since some people often find themselves on the receiving end of a fair bit of ugliness on pretty much a daily basis, they may have less patience on the topic. Just one of those things y'know. So i'd urge you, respectfully, to consider cutting even those who jump down your throat a bit of slack.

Well, now that my subscription of SkyShowtime has run out, I've started watching Stargirl and resumed watching Walking Dead on HBO Max. Absolutely loving Stargirl (I just can't get enough of superhero shows) and it's nice to be watching WD again. I'm a couple of episodes into season 8 and it's amazing so far.

Right now I feel like I'm finally exploring more of what HBO Max has to offer besides Game of Thrones, lol. There's so much stuff on here that I need to watch. I really want to see Chernobyl and Band of Brothers next. Then there's The Last of Us but I still haven't decided how I want to watch it. I don't mind watching it weekly since I have tons of other shows to watch while I wait for the next episode, but at the same time I could always save it for when I'm done with those shows. And don't get me started on the movies. There's just so much stuff to be enjoyed here!

@LtSarge
Theres no shortage of stuff on HBO that I'm a fan of. Just some recommendations not including what you have mentioned:

•Boardwalk Empire (seriously why don't more people talk about this one)
•The Sopranos
•The Deuce
•Station Eleven
•Peacemaker
•Deadwood
•The Leftovers
•True Detective (Seasons 1 and 3 specifically, season 2 is a little more divisive)
•Succession
•Perry Mason
•Barry
•The Pacific (its a spiritual successor to Band of Brothers with much of the same creative team).
•Rome

@PegasusActual93 Appreciate the recommendations! I have a lot of those on my watchlist already, but there are some from your list that I haven't heard of. The Deuce, Deadwood, The Leftovers, Perry Mason, The Pacific and Rome sound very compelling, so I'll be adding them to my watchlist as well.

It's crazy how much stuff there is on HBO. It's nice to watch stuff that I've heard of, but I'm also interested in checking out shows that aren't that well-known. Your list is a good mix of both actually.

@PegasusActual93 lol that's pretty much my exact take on True Detective. It's not that season 2 is bad. It's just way too different.

@PegasusActual93 @zupertramp Season 1 of True Detective is so good. One of my fave tv shows of the streaming era. Woody and McConaughey bounce of each other really well. Vince Vaughan's performance in season 2 was an eye opener for me and almost made up for being a bit disappointed by it. Not seen season 3 yet, but do want to get round to it.

@zupertramp
Agreed. Season 3 kept the same style and tone as season 1. Season 2 was like a completely different show and I can understand the backlash. Had it been an entirely new show however I think it would have been received better.

@PegasusActual93 @JohnnyShoulder yeah I've seen the 2nd season a couple times and when you go into it knowing you won't really get any of what made the 1st season into arguably television's best, it is much easier to enjoy because it does, imo, have merit... it just didn't have the eerieness that seemed like a True Detective trademark at the time. And it definitely didn't have anything like the chemistry between McConaughey and Harrelson.

So I usually tell people to watch 1 and 3. Then watch 2 as if it were an unrelated series. Cause yeah, it's got some great performances across the board imo. I could do without Kelly Reilly in anything, ever but other than that some solid work even if the story isn't exactly life-changing.

Not sure how I feel about this week's Last of Us. The previous episode was always going to be tough to follow, and this episode did feel a bit "business as usual" as far as your post apocalypse zombie stories go. Some nice scenes between Joel and Ellie though, and some teases at some fun stuff to come. Or whatever the right term is in this context.

@Pizzamorg Four episodes in, and there is a severe lack of clickers if you ask me.

Oh look the newest episode of Last of Us hit another ratings record. Weren't all the homophobes saying the show would drop hard in the ratings after episode 3?