TV & streaming thread

[majestic]

 

I almost stopped watching the show after that episode

that had Janeway and Paris "evolve" into some sort of crocodile, mate, lay eggs on a unexplored planet, leave and never talk about it again. Wtf?!?

 

I heard that was one of the most hated episodes of all Star Trek, so that's not surprising.

 

Until the series finale of Enterprise it easily held the top spot of bad Trek.

 

And that's with the Enterprise finale These Are The Voyages... actually being a decent epiose. It's just so disrespectful to the show it ended that it often ends up in the top spots of the worst series finales of all time. Up there with Lost.

 

Not that I entirely understand why the ending of Lost was that badly received. Sometimes when I'm bored and I browse clickbait articles the ending of the BSG reboot is often in the "top series finales" and the ending of Lost usually in the "worst" category. Beats me why.

 

I've still never forgiven Voyager for changing Nick Locarno into Tom Paris.

 

Heh. The official excuse being that Locarno was considered irredeemable by showrunners. Irredeemable my ass, more like unpayable (yay royalties).

[ShadySands]

I also never forgave Janeway for murdering Tuvix or the crew for not defending him in the slightest. I do think these kind of morality episodes are probably my favorite but in this case I don't recall that Tuvix even got a trial like Data did to prove his personhood. Might need to rewatch.

 

Janeway is easily my least favorite headlining captain of all the Trek series. Though I still haven't started season 2 of Enterprise and barely remember season 1.

Edited April 20, 2019 by ShadySands

[majestic]

I also never forgave Janeway for murdering Tuvix or the crew for not defending him in the slightest. I do think these kind of morality episodes are probably my favorite but in this case I don't recall that Tuvix even got a trial like Data did to prove his personhood. Might need to rewatch.

 

Janeway is easily my least favorite headlining captain of all the Trek series. Though I still haven't started season 2 of Enterprise and barely remember season 1.

 

No, Tuvix didn't get a trial. Or any consideration by anyone except the Doctor who refused to perform the procedure with Janeway being all pissy about it.

[Guard Dog]

Whelp... had to happen eventually. The are officially out of ideas: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-studded-all-family-jeffersons-live-event-set-at-abc-1203282

[Keyrock]

I've been watching The Gentleman's Hentai Club.  This show is Jesse Cox and Michael Santell taking a hentai, La Blue Girl in season 1, and breaking down the plot, character motivations, etc. It is *chef kiss* delightful. Obviously, the vast majority of people watching hentai don't give 2 ****s about the story, they're just skipping to the sex scenes, same as with live action porn. But these movies do have stories and they are BONKERS. TGHC isn't on YouTube, for obvious reasons (yes, they very much show parts of the hentai), instead it's on Vimeo and Pornhub. They're already planning a season 2, no word on what hentai they're going to cover yet. Super entertaining stuff.

 

As for Star Trek, for the longest time I was of the opinion that TNG was the best show, but as I got older and rewatched some of the shows, it's become clear that DS9 was the best of the shows. It had the best premise, most interesting story lines, and Quark is my favorite Star Trek character ever, slightly edging out Q. The Ferengi, in general, are phenomenal.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Keyrock

[LadyCrimson]

I do think DS9 was likely, on average, the most intelligent show. Still boring.

 

These days the only series I tend to remember or find somewhat rewatchable are ones that either make me laugh a lot or ones that give me tons of feels - or are visually astounding/affecting in some way. I think what I want out of entertainment has changed a lot.

 

And while I loved Breaking Bad when it was airing, I have a feeling I wouldn't care to watch it over. Some shows are only awesome the first time.

[Keyrock]

And while I loved Breaking Bad when it was airing, I have a feeling I wouldn't care to watch it over. Some shows are only awesome the first time.

I think that's true for pretty much any really tense, really suspenseful drama. It won't be nearly as good the second time around because you know the twists and turns in advance. But holy **** was Breaking Bad AMAZING the first time around. I will always hold up that show as one of the few shows that went off the air at exactly the right time. Dexter was great for a while, but outstayed its welcome. Mad Men, great for several seasons, outstayed its welcome. Lost was terrific for several seasons and... well, not so much outstayed its welcome, but **** the bed in the final season. 

[LittleArmadillo0]

I've been watching The Gentleman's Hentai Club.  This show is Jesse Cox and Michael Santell taking a hentai, La Blue Girl in season 1, and breaking down the plot, character motivations, etc. It is *chef kiss* delightful. Obviously, the vast majority of people watching hentai don't give 2 ****s about the story, they're just skipping to the sex scenes, same as with live action porn. But these movies do have stories and they are BONKERS. TGHC isn't on YouTube, for obvious reasons (yes, they very much show parts of the hentai), instead it's on Vimeo and Pornhub. They're already planning a season 2, no word on what hentai they're going to cover yet. Super entertaining stuff.

Sounds weird and interesting. I'll have to check it out sometime.

[majestic]

I've been watching The Gentleman's Hentai Club.  This show is Jesse Cox and Michael Santell taking a hentai, La Blue Girl in season 1, and breaking down the plot, character motivations, etc. It is *chef kiss* delightful.

 

La Blue Girl is the first hentai I've ever seen. It also remains the only one I have actually bought. Our goto store for CCG booster packs, manga and anime also took mail orders and had a hentai section where you could order without any age checks. We wouldn't have gotten it otherwise with none of us being adults yet at the time.

 

Still not entirely sure if the discs are legit. They look nice and came with a booklet but are really just quicktime files with hard coded subtites.

 

As far as stories go that's spot on. Ninja  girls fighting demons by having sex and winning by making them have an orgasm before they do, who else but someone from Japan could come up with that idea?

[Guard Dog]

GoT did a major callback to the books tonight. I'm pleasantly surprised seeing how late in the story the TV show is. 

 

Prediction: "Who is Jenny of Oldstones" is going to be the #1 google search by tomorrow morning. 

[Volourn]

Another good dialogue heavy episode which highlights one of GOT's greatest strnegths and worst weaknesses - a lot of characters. It is good to have a lot of interesting characters but they simply don't have time to breath. Almost an hour of basically talking yet each character had so little time. Even the main ones.

 

I do laugh at Dany's reaction whenever someone dares not kiss her ass. I loved her reaction to the reveal as well. So predictable I am actually surprised they went there. But, not really. 'cause it totally fits that would be her first thought instead of the other ramification of the news.

[algroth]

A lovely episode. I like this observation by the Washington Post's Alyssa Rosenberg on it:

 

"The very final-feeling conversations between characters in this show are the stuff their humanity is made of. Whatever the outcome of next episode’s battle is — and I suspect it will be a very high body count — the real distinction between the living and the dead was drawn this week in the warm bodies and warmer conversations between our tragically, beautifully human characters."

[Maedhros]

Yeah this episode was better than the last. Loved the shoutouts to the books (Jenny of Oldstones, Tormund finally telling one of his stories), and Brienne being knighted was oddly touching. Something's definitely going to happen in the crypts in the next episode. Are the corpses there decomposed, or are we going to see a gang of Stark skeletons wreaking havoc there?

[majestic]

 

When season 6 started to air I said that I've made my peace with the show being the only resolution we'll ever get. And I truly believed that. At least until this week's episode and the song.

 

Strange how quickly the joy of the entire episode gave way to unbridled anger. Sigh.

[Amentep]

Regarding ST -

 

ST:TOS - sentimental favorite as I watched it growing up, I still feel it has some of the strongest core ideas if you like big imponderable ideas in a sf setting that usually isn't dealt with very deeply as Kirk needed to fight someone and get his shirt ripped.

 

ST:TNG - Working my way through this again.  I remembered enjoying it, but also feeling like a friends description as Star Trek Intergalactic Taxi Service wasn't wrong.  Be curious to see what I think now.  First season is actually better than I remember it (damning with faint praise?)

 

ST: DS9 - Only saw maybe half the episodes because the local station bought it to bury it in the early morning (2-3 am).  Seemed like it had a lot more story to tell because it dived deep into one area (but at the expense of the best 'adventure into the unkown' that other series offered, though they did manage some of that even with the stationary locale).

 

ST:VOY - Why didn't Paris die in the first episode?  Or before the first episode?  I'm not sure I've ever really given the series a fair shake because I hate the character of Paris so much.  My memory is that too much time was spent with the characters bickering but my memory cheats (if not out and out lies) at times.

 

ST:ENT - goofy.  But sometimes enjoyably goofy.  I don't think I saw the last season other than the final episode.

 

ST:DIS - Haven't got to DIS yet.

[algroth]

Yeah this episode was better than the last. Loved the shoutouts to the books (Jenny of Oldstones, Tormund finally telling one of his stories), and Brienne being knighted was oddly touching. Something's definitely going to happen in the crypts in the next episode. Are the corpses there decomposed, or are we going to see a gang of Stark skeletons wreaking havoc there?

The thing you mentioned about the crypts has been in my mind for a while. I can see such a thing happening though I hope the whole defense doesn't hinge on such a predictable element.

[Guard Dog]

 

 

When season 6 started to air I said that I've made my peace with the show being the only resolution we'll ever get. And I truly believed that. At least until this week's episode and the song.

 

Strange how quickly the joy of the entire episode gave way to unbridled anger. Sigh.

Agreed. I wish HBO and the mass market hadn't discovered this series until it was finished. GRRM is the victim of his own success. He does not deal well with pressure and the success of this series has him under tremendous pressure to make it perfect. What he forgot was that when it was one man telling his story to a few readers is when it was at it's best.   

[Malcador]

But did they get paid?

[Hurlshort]

Extras usually get some sort of daily stipend.

[majestic]

Extras usually get some sort of daily stipend.

 

As far as I know fan clubs aren't allowed to make money from anything related to Star Wars. That's why they usually get goodies out of promotion deals (e.g. free tickets and popcorn at the theater, a toy or two at market chain promotions, etc.).

 

Not sure if that limitation applies to dealing directly with LucasFilm/Disney though. But the chance is high that it was just unpaid fun. Not to mention appearing as extra would most likely be something these guys would pay, not get money for.

[Blarghagh]

Pretty sure it's required by law.

[Hurlshort]

I think those crowdfunding movies got around making people pay to appear in their films by giving them producer credits, or something.

[algroth]

Also re: Game of Thrones, I'm getting the impression Dany will be the real final boss at the end of it all. She's always been power-hungry but whereas before she could attach a righteous cause to her conquest and thus be a "leader of the people" almost, it's increasingly clear that conquest is the answer even in the face of a culture wanting independence and governed by people with just about every quality you'd want in a leader. Which, I feel, would be a pretty interesting twist on things and make her into a pretty interesting "villain", if you can ultimately call her that.

[Zoraptor]

I can't see them going any other way than marriage to solve that problem, probably after some fake tension. I'd like to see the 'benign dictator' trope that Dany represents be subverted, but I cannot see them actually doing it.

 

I'm kind of hoping that some of the set ups from the last two eps also get subverted. Can't help but think that a lot of the characters have neatly tied up story arcs and are there just to give emotional depth to the battle by dying. In contrast to most I'm not a fan of the last two eps- they were utterly predictable and, frankly, 95% fan service meet ups, but then I'm not a massive fan of the series overall.

Edited April 22, 2019 by Zoraptor

[ShadySands]

I haven't watched anything of this season but it seemed like marriage was the best option for Jon and Dany after Jon's totally non-obvious parentage reveal.