Topic: The TV Show Thread

currently binge watching Season 1 episodes here and there on Netflix. Not every episode just an episode here and an episode there

Anyone watching Succession? The final season is out next week. I binged the first 3 after TLOU was done. I thought it was pretty good, but didn’t think it was must-watch TV.

Also looking forward to new South Park after the 1 week hiatus. Season 26 has been great, but Matt & Trey need to get out of that deal they’re in. 6 episodes & 2 specials is hardly enough.

@Fight_Teza_Fight
I have also watched all of Succession. Very good show, though whether it is must watch depends on your taste. I was told Sopranos was a must watch for example but I never finished it because it just never pulled me in. Funnily enough I watched this show because of an out of context video which showed me that it is was alot more comedic and chaotic than I had assumed. As for South Park the contract they signed was a minimum of 10 episodes a year. Not a strict cap of only that many episodes. Warner Bros is arguing in their lawsuit that not only have they not fulfilled that contract due to the specials but that the specials was a way to loophole the contract as they were initially exclusive to Paramounts streaming service due to South Park being owned by Paramount and Paramount obviously wanting all South Park to be exclusive on their streaming service as soon as possible due to South Park being one of their cash cow properties. To be fair Warner might actually have a good case. They are still under contract for releasing episodes onto HBO Max until 2025.

Just finished watching season 9 of The Walking Dead. Fantastic season, definitely the best one since I started watching the show again with season 7. It's just nice to see the show head in different directions compared to the first six seasons, which were formulaic. Probably why a lot of people lose interest (like me) but the show does get better and better after season 6. Season 9 in particular was just so good. Introducing a new type of enemy was brilliant. It made me want to keep watching just to see what happens next. It reminds me of how I felt when I first started watching the show.

Cannot wait to start watching season 10 soon.

@LtSarge I really this post a lot. You described perfectly why I lost interest during season 7 and actually made me more hyped to give the series another try sometime. Maybe I will!

@Kidfried I say season 6 but I actually did lose interest during season 7 as well. Probably because not much was happening. I vividly remember stopping after the episode where they kept playing the song "We're on easy street" over and over again lol.

Definitely give it another try when you feel ready for it, whether it takes a year or five years like in my case. It's worth it.

@PegasusActual93 Succession was hyped up to me for years, so I finally got ‘free access’ to it, it fell a bit flat. Like you said a very good show & I’ll be tuning in on Monday/Tuesday.
I’m not too familiar with the South Park deal, but I’d like them to go back to a proper season. The Pandemic specials were great & it was timely, but I’d prefer them to be used more sparingly.

@Fight_Teza_Fight
Trey and Matt I imagine are extremely busy right now with their other ventures so they as of now are fine just meeting the contract minimum of 10 episode seasons. As for whether or not they will ever do more than that, I wouldn't hold my breath. 10 episode seasons seems to be the standard now with American animation.

currently binge watching Season 3 of Riverdale on Netflix

the show's getting wackier and stupid lol. frikkin town overrun by gangs and cults

So I know it's only one episode into season 2 but Yellowjackets is just as deliciously twisted as the first season so far. And lawd is it nice to see the 90s and its music get some love. It's like all anyone can remember is the 80s when they go to create a soundtrack these days - or even just deciding on a setting.

The missus and I just finished off Daisy Jones and the Six and… wow! Although I was in actuality a child of the eighties, I always felt more connected to the seventies in terms of music and film… and Amazon have worked some miracles in the delivery of period-perfection in terms of those two things. The original music is incredible… and so perfectly captures Fleetwood Mac in particular but others also. The performances (both the acting and the singing… AND the chemistry) are incredible. What an absolute joy!

@colonelkilgore Was just reading about this today. Really had no idea what it was even about. Guess they are just counting on everyone to have heard of the book because I don't see much promotion regarding the premise. But yeah, I'm intrigued.

Glad it hit a sweet spot for you.

Edit: also a child of the eighties but who doesn't like Fleetwood Mac and all that drama

Aye, might not be one for you in that case bud.

Cat Planet Cuties (Blu-Ray)

With a name like "Cat Planet Cuties", you know what to expect from this, and it delivers on it, really no more no less.

It's your standard fare harem fan service anime, with light themes and nods to classic & b-movie sci-fi properties (like "Star Trek"), plus a lot of cat (& dog) puns.

Angel Cop (Blu-Ray)

80's-90's OVA set in near future (I think 2000, lol?) Japan that sees an extra legal police force combating "communist" terrorists who want to destroy Japan's booming economy.

With cybernetically enhanced police, a trio of telekinetic assassins, hyper detailed, gritty, & gory animation, it's sort of a mixture of "Ghost in the Shell", "Akira", & other such seminal works that delivers a generally awesome blood soaked time.

Unfortunately it is held back by some mean spirited elements. At first blush it's "merely" nationalistic, with a jealous America pulling the strings of the terrorists & assassins (Japan will agree to be the next state, or else they will tank the economy & turn the country into a nuclear waste dump), and if you're watching the dub or "censored subtitled" versions that's as deep as it goes (& those are probably the only variants available on streaming platforms).

However, the Blu-Ray release also includes an "uncensored subtitled" track, with a warning upon startup that says it "features dialogue offensive to certain nationalities & ethnicities", and urges you to watch the dub or "censored subtitled" track if you are bothered by such things. Long story short, it features blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments, with the extra context being that America's hostile behavior is due to it being controlled by Jews, who want to exert that control over Japan's economy as well (even Lucifer, the crazy telekinetic big bad, is ultimately described as just wanting to protect America from further damage by them).

Credit to the publisher, one of the special features included is a lengthy article exploring the history of anti-Semitism in Japan, how it peaked in the 80's/90's, & how it likely found it's way into this project (it's a good read, especially as context if you decide to watch the "uncensored subtitled" version).

Of course, you could always just watch the dub (or "censored subtitles") if you want to leave behind some of the more questionable elements, as it's generally a really good watch otherwise (& even then it doesn't outright blow it's top until the final part, although there is a hint a bit earlier on).

In what’s possibly an indicator of my somewhat fragile mental state, I seem to have realised that Torchwood is genuinely very good. I always dismissed it because the first few episodes are mainly rubbish but at a certain point it suddenly jumps to realising that an ‘adult’ show can just mean dealing with mature themes instead of what it’s normally interpreted as. Best way of describing it is going from a Starz show to an HBO show. There’s some incredibly emotionally draining episodes in there but totally engrossing TV as a whole. And the craziest part is that the showrunner was Chris Chibnall. Insane given his Who output.

Because I’ve been binging the full wider Who shows from that period, it’s interesting seeing how well-realised that world actually was. Even Sarah Jane Adventures is quite good and that’s for kids. There were only a few low points in seasons 2 and 3 of the main show as well, plus I’ve decided that Love And Monsters is a total camp masterpiece and does not deserve the drubbing it gets from fans. Definitely excited for the end of the year now, it’ll be nice having Tennant back.

@nessisonett
As a Doctor Who fan I always pushed off watching Torchwood as It didn't look as good and was seemingly edgy for the sake of being edgy. I don't mind dark or edgy content especially if done well but that just never seemed to fit the Who universe to me or whatever you want to call it. So is it respectable to its source material?

@nessisonett I got really confused then as when I first read your post, as I thought it was Deadwood you were on about! 😂

@PegasusActual93 If you can push through the first 4 or 5 episodes where it feels like ‘Doctor Who but edgy’ then I’d say it’s worth it. It excels at feeling like it exists within that universe while dealing with a seedier side of alien hunting.

@JohnnyShoulder Deadwood is also very good! Would love to see Ian McShane come face to face with an alien 😂

Just finished watching season 10 of The Walking Dead. I didn't like it as much as season 9 but it was still good overall. It was also brought down by breaking the pattern of having 16 episodes per season and adding six more episodes of complete filler. Just like with previous seasons, this one did technically end on the 16th episode but it still kept going. Those six episodes focused on a couple of characters instead of continuing with the overall story. As a fan, I did enjoy them regardless. But I would've preferred if the season had just ended after episode 16.

So the main reason why I didn't like this season as much is because of how stupid it was. They went from having all-out wars with guns in previous seasons to losing all of the guns now just for plot convenience. The new enemy doesn't use guns, so if the protagonists had them it wouldn't have been much of a fight. But I just can't help but find it so dumb. It would've been better if season 9 and 10 had come before season 7 and 8. That would've made more sense to me.

Anyway, it was still an enjoyable season and I'm looking forward to finally watching the last season of this show. Can't believe how long it's been going on for and that I'm almost at the end of this journey.

@LtSarge yeah I didn't love 10. Villain came out really strong in previous season, and re-injected the series with some much needed malevolence but it wore thin the longer it all went on. It wasn't all bad but definitely a downgrade from season 9. Kinda also hate that they seem to hold onto Jeffrey Dean Morgan for dear life. Not because his character is really all that compelling but because they need to keep any big name they can so they do. Shoe-horning him in anywhere and everywhere. Gets old. I don't care about his character, like, at all.

Also, I only watched two of the filler episodes and mainly stopped because I hated everything about the Daryl episode. Just, jfc, talk about not knowing your characters. Just an atrocious episode. And you think you can leave it behind and forget it ever happened but, nope, you can't.

Anyway, I won't go into 11 but I'm definitely curious what you think.