Topic: The TV Show Thread

After wondering what Winona Ryder would stick up on the walls of her house a third time, it was with much eye-rolling laughter that my partner and I watched magnets fall off her fridge, yesterday evening and this morning, in the latest season of Stranger Things.

Weirdly, I kinda preferred it over the second season. It picked a tone (namely one of a cheesy, hammy and probably some other kind of foodstuff-y comedy) and stuck with it. The first season was a dedicated monster mystery, and a very effective one, but the second felt like it was still trying to be that whilst also being a tongue-in-cheek, laugh-out-loud, something-for-everyone ratings winner. By getting over this apparently transitional identity crisis and just saying "heck with it, let's have some fun" the third season felt much more consistent. It didn't just send up 80s cultural touchstones, it sent up itself as well, whilst still being solidly paced and beautifully produced.

Some of the characters were slightly mishandled to manoeuvre them towards a predictable outcome, and many moments had my partner and I shouting people's lines at the screen seconds before they said them, but that kinda made it an enjoyable viewing experience because of its camp ridiculousness. It was, from a critical perspective, quite awful on the surface, but that pacing and production quality still had us leaning forward with interest all the way along. Who knew that a mystery with absolutely zero mystery could still make for compelling viewing?

Apparently the fourth season will be its final one, and I'd more than agree with that (heck, I thought the first season should've been standalone, but since we're doing this...) because of that post-credits teaser showing the Soviet Union having successfully accessed the Upside-Down. Without that tag, however, I'd have called it a perfect ending.

Tagging @KALofKRYPTON who specifically showed interest in my brain workings last week.

I finished season 1 of the HBO prison drama Oz.

Oh boy I certainly wasn't expecting that!

Despite at times the very uncomfortable scenes I found it quite well done and enjoyed it in that oh god what's gonna happen now?! kinda context.

For HBO's first hour long drama programming I can see how this paved the way for the Sopranno's & Game of Thrones on HBO amongst countless others.

Definitely not perfect though.

First of all Ryan O'Reiley.

My god the writers seem to love this unlikeable smarmy git. He's so bloody smug about everything and backstabs absolutely anyone and everyone he does a deal with! And yet he completely gets away with it! How does anyone trust him?!

Second... they killed off a lot of good characters.

Still there was plenty of good too.

I quite liked Augustus Hill. His narration segments just on the verge of over the top but they're usually a nice bit of levity to the otherwise dark show.

I think the character of Tobias Beecher had a pretty good arc too Really beware of the "nice" ones

J.K Simmons probably putting in the joint best preformance alongside Eamonn Walker.

I don't agree with a number of Kareem Said's (Walker's) philosophies but he's still quite compelling and has terrific presence in every scene he's in and Schillinger (Simmons) I loathe with a passion... but he's J.K and there's just something that draws me to him too.

Was surprised to see B.D. Wong (The scientist in Jurrasic park/world or Li Shang in Mulan) as Father Ray Mukada too! He's great and honestly the only character that seems to be genuinely good.

Might hold off a bit til I start season 2 though...

Haven't actually watched any superhero programming at all since Heroes

Well I watched Agent Carter but there's no superheroes in that... definitely super villains though. More of a spy, period drama & thriller really.

and well I guess the misfits have powers... but they sure ain't super lol

I've seen Arrow advertised a couple of times but theres' something about it that's completely turned me off of trying it whenever I see it.

Glad you've enjoyed it though @KrastosMD and shame it's ending for ya

Lol sometimes I think I am the only one that loves Arrow, its good there are more that like the show. This series, especially in the beggening, was how I imagined a live action comic series should be: great action, serialization etc.

@KratosMD I certainly was a fan of the Green Arrow before the show and I liked the direction the took with established characters like Huntress, the Ra's family, Roy Harper (even if he was underused in S7) and some original characters were cool. Other elements like the the one you mentioned or classic Arrow storylines were generally handled well. They don't know what to do with the Black Canary though. We already had 4 or something and all had their ups and downs. The worst part still is the death of a certain main character (that I liked) in S4 although prior to the death the reception to the character was mixed.

As far as the other DC CW shows... Legends is by far the worst. It is more of a surreal comedy than a superhero show. Flash is good but I don't like the chemistry between some of the main cast. Also sometimes things make no sense even considering the exaggerated comics point of view. Supergirl is also good but not great. Most episodes are hit or miss. I like how they adapted classical Superman stories but with Kara as the main character

@RogerRoger You’re very much in the majority in thinking S3 of Stranger Things was better than S2. The parallel storylines really helped with it as it meant much more was going on at all times and it all worked to come together well. A fourth series is definitely enough though.

I think sometimes the “hype” is lost when you binge shows after everyone else though. Having time between series or episodes helps it sink in a little and grows the anticipation. That said, for weekly releases I quite often wait until they’ve all dropped and watch them then but rarely watch more than one episode an evening, apart from comedies with 20min episodes.

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Speaking of which, me and the wife just finished our rewatch of Parks and Recreation which is possibly one of my favourite comedies. The cast are just perfect; it has good story arcs despite “just” being a comedy; and it’s so much fun at the same time. The first series is a bit iffy compared to the rest but that’s understandable, and the final series is a little self indulgent and feels a bit out of kilter with the rest but I still love it.

I think we’ll try Modern Family as our next easy-watching comedy. I’ve seen some of the first few series a long time ago and can’t believe how long it’s kept going (gone?) for as it surely can’t have kept up the quality.

@Thrillho Yeah, and given where the fourth season may be heading, what with those hints and all, I'm a little concerned that it'll feel incredibly different. Whether that's good-different or bad-different remains to be seen, but stretching things out any longer would be a mistake.

I agree with you regarding shows that are designed to be released weekly, but now we have content like Stranger Things which is dumped out all at once, a season at a time, on streaming services that defined the binge-watching era and its pacing has been purposefully tuned for consecutive viewing. I'm not certain Stranger Things would've held my interest if I were watching it one episode at a time, or if I were waiting between seasons, but it definitely worked as a big chunk of entertainment (especially since the standard length of a season has now become eight-to-ten episodes... I remember when it was twenty-four-to-twenty-six and then yeah, absolutely, you needed breaks).

Well I thought the Dredd TV series was dead, but turns out not.

https://screenrant.com/judge-dredd-tv-show-focus-multiple-cha...

Still, if they have not even started to cast people yet, it's gonna be awhile until we see it on screen. By the looks of it there are a few people from the Karl Urban movie behind the series, colour me intrested if that is the case.

@JohnnyShoulder Sweet!

I finished Swamp Thing. Completely baffled at the decision to cancel it. Easily one of the best realised comic TV properties out there. Absolutely great show with good performances, scripting and pacing throughout. Bloody shame it's no more.

Conversely, Batwoman!
I wasn't going to watch any more after the dismal pilot, but the online reviews of the second and third episodes peaked a morbid curiosity.
I implore everyone on the thread to go out and find some way of watching this show! I've no idea how the episodes are even making it out of the door. It has just taken everything wrong with the pilot and turned it up to 11 for the following two episodes.

This show boasts terrible dialogue, terrible acting, poor production design, one of the worst Batsuit designs on screen (nothing will beat Gotham), janky editing, poor pacing, wildly shifting character portrayals, lacks narrative cohesion and is generally - genuinely one of the worst genre shows I've had the pleasure of watching.

Seriously. Find it, grab a couple of beers and laugh/cringe your way through. I think I'll stick around to watch the rest!

@KALofKRYPTON You've just inadvertently reminded me that I've got the fifth season of Gotham to catch up with. I'm back on Netflix and just finished the tenth season of Archer (actually not as terrible as I'd feared, a vast improvement over the dire Season Nine) and was gonna move on to Our Planet, but I might stay with more outlandish entertainment before scrubbing my brain with a documentary.

Can't wait to see Batwoman at some stage. Given my track record and based on your description, I'll probably think it a downright masterpiece.

@RogerRoger You have my apologies! ;-p

I think Batwoman is actually too s*** for anyone with an even passing amount of intelligence or interest in well made television to genuinely like.

I can see the young woke-folk being in to it (or at least, saying they are) and perhaps even giving it a free pass; but the thing is so badly put together I find myself questioning whether the showrunners/producers are actually the people who have been credited.

@KALofKRYPTON That's good to know about Swamp Thing. I have no problem in watching one season of something as long as it is setup that way. It will be kinda refreshing to watch one self contained thing, rather than multiple seasons. Without spoiling things, does it end in the right manner for a one off season, or do they leave the carrot dangling?

Is it just me or does the actor who plays Jason Todd in Titans looks like Ruby Rose?

@JohnnyShoulder It wasn't intended as a single season. I think they actually had the episode count cut too.
It doesn't wrap up so much as it sets up unfortunately. Still worth watching though.

@WanderingBullet 😂😂😂 Yes. Yes he does.

@RogerRoger Archer 1999 (S10) was alright as recent Archer goes. I only bothered with the first episode of Danger Island (S9) and thought it would be as bad as S8 so didn't bother.

They kind of need to give the programme up now really.

@KALofKRYPTON Wow, sounds pretty rough!

I watched the first two episodes of Gotham's fifth season yesterday. Took a while to get back into the swing of things, but I don't mind a couple scene-setting stories to gather momentum. I also had to readjust to watching it, given its particular brand of bonkers (which hasn't fully kicked in yet, either).

@Thrillho Agreed. I didn't mind Season Eight being a one-off, but Season Nine was such a disaster and then it ended with yet another "he still hasn't woken up" tease which had me determined never to return. Curiosity got the better of me, and in hindsight I'm glad it did, but I'm pleased that it finally dragged him out of the coma. Apparently there's gonna be another season, but I think it should be its last, a final "normal" hurrah for everybody with a definitive ending.

@KALofKRYPTON Haha, so it's not just me then.

Just finished the fifth and final season of Gotham... and I loved it.

We all know that the show's a shallow, over-produced, overacted hot mess of total insanity, but I respect that it so obviously embraces and trades on this reputation. The final season benefitted from being shorter, although I'm still sorry to see the cast and unique setting go. It's just wacky; even its darker, more mature moments lose their edge because of the pure, undiluted bananas of it all, simply becoming frames of a living comic book (for example, I usually recoil at close-up shots of throats being slit, but never when have when watching Gotham... alright, now that I stop and think about what I just wrote, that's either genius or terrifying).

I'll definitely seek out the Blu-Ray box set, having liked the ending and therefore being satisfied at being able to own a complete beginning-to-end show. It's also worth having on my shelf as it contains my all-time favourite Alfred in Sean Pertwee, as well as my all-time favourite Riddler in Cory Michael Smith. There's also Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin and one heck of an enthralling performance from Cameron Monaghan as... well, as all the various crazies he played. I hate to single them out, as great as they were, because everybody always did a fantastic job to sell the madness of it all and make me care about their paper-thin characters.

It might never be my overall favourite take on the Batman universe but, with so many bits of bat-media to choose from, I love Gotham for being this weird, unqualifiable anomaly, always pushing risky choices with legacy material and forever being the over-excited kid in the back of the class, jumping on the desk whilst yelling "Faster and more intense!!" at the top of his voice.

Like I said, it's either genius or terrifying. Ignorance is bliss; I'll just enjoy the ride, thanks.

@KratosMD Thanks; I hate the phrase "guilty pleasure" (because nobody should ever feel guilty about enjoying a television show, film or game) but I guess, against the mainstream view, Gotham had become that for a lot of people. It's just fun to switch off and revel in its madness.

I watched it on Netflix (UK) so hopefully it'll come to your territory soon.

@LN78 It's as if they want people to steal it... Seriously - it's 2019, just launch your service/game/book/whatever at the same time.

No point generating so much global hype then only launching in NA with a 4 month wait for anywhere else.

@LN78 Despite comments to the contrary (about which I make no judgement; I just can't break the law), what choice do we have but to wait?

At least the whole season will be out by then. I've gotten far too used to binge-watching things nowadays, and if the show is as good as it looks, I'll want it all at once.