The TV and Streaming Thread: Pilot Week

[Lexx]

And I didn't even finish s1.

[Gfted1]

Me either. Come to think of it, Im not sure I watched past episode 2 or 3. Huge bummer since thats one of my all time favorite book series.

[Keyrock]

I attempted to watch the Netflix Resident Evil series, emphasis on attempted. 

The quickest and easiest way to describe what I watched would be "wet fart". After the exceedingly stupid Milla Jovovich movies, which I admittedly found to be a guilty pleasure, a lot of people thought there'd be nowhere to go but up for the IP in terms of film and series. Turns out, no.

*sigh* I'll say this, any time Lance Reddick was on screen, the show was entertaining enough, the man is a delight. Unfortunately, he wasn't on screen nearly enough. Every other character besides Reddick's Albert Wesker was about as interesting as staring at a blank wall. I don't know how it was possible to make Resident Evil boring, but here we are. It's like a teen drama, and not a good one at that, with a very thin coat of Resident Evil paint over it. I literally fell asleep during ep3. I didn't bother going back and watching the rest of the episode, or any of the following episodes.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Keyrock

[Chairchucker]

1 hour ago, Gfted1 said:

Me either. Come to think of it, Im not sure I watched past episode 2 or 3. Huge bummer since thats one of my all time favorite book series.

I can only assume you read it when you were much younger, and now you've matured and have more discerning taste.

[Gfted1]

Yeah, its easily been over 25 years and I didnt even finish the series with the new author. But dont ruin it for me! My rose colored glasses are thick!

[InsaneCommander]

11 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Only bit they really could have cut was the very start, and the obligatory 20/21st century pop culture reference.

Orville s3e8- liked this one just about unreservedly.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Yeah, Dolly Parton felt a bit of a self indulgent 20/ 21st century reference and not really necessary but I guess she had been used before. And if I was being tortured by a one eyed Moclan I'd probably admit eventually to liking Dolly Parton too.

This time no complaints on length from me though, while some of the others felt like an overlong single episode this one felt a lot more like a double episode watched back to back. Bullet finally bitten on the Moclans leaving (well, being ejected from) the notFederation... and yeah, very much does have to be said that the Moclan delegation had a point about how they were treated. While there's a narrative imperative for the Orville constantly being in the Moclan's faces- without it you don't see the story- having them constantly being involved is more than a tad inflammatory and very, very easy to see as an absolutely deliberate insult.

I'd imagine Heveena's contact got warned in time. You'd have to suspect that someone on the Orville was willing to send a message, or she had some way to send a panic code (which doesn't have to be encrypted or sent via a specific frequency, since if it's sent the cover is blown anyway).

Keeping Chad Coleman out of the opening credits was good, always hate it when something gets spoiled by knowing which actor plays which character, and it certainly wasn't clear that Klyden would react that way given how the previous Moclan episode ended.

Not really sure whether they've got enough time to do another war with the Kaylon well, but maybe so if they're also long episodes. You'd certainly hope that they aren't finishing on a cliffhanger given the questions over whether there will be a S4 anytime soon/ at all. Given a lot of episodes have been indirectly (and directly) about the Kaylon you'd have to expect them to be dealt with though and that is the obvious Big Bad.

 

Good point about the warning, I didn't consider that, but the people involved had more than enough time to get prepared. As for the last two episodes, they could always do like Stranger Things and make them over 2 hours each.

[Lexx]

I thought it was already clear that this is the final season and there won't be a s4.

[Zoraptor]

Officially it isn't the final season and the show isn't cancelled. Since they've released the actors from their contracts and Seth M is working directly on other projects there certainly won't be a S4 any time soon though whatever is said.

Re Wheel of Time: Prime (hoho) example of someone with very little talent trying to improve something written by someone with far more talent. Why Amazon thought someone whose main claim to fame was being a competitor on Survivor and had zero show running experience was a good idea for running a big and expensive show who knows. And it was incredibly expensive, but looked cheap, felt both rushed and padded for length and at times  would have been embarrassed by 90s era Hercules for both sfx and- lol- battle scenes even without mentioning the non sensical plotting. Then again allegedly 10% of the entire budget goes towards paying Pike...

Funny thing is that the one thing that has been universally praised and iirc has got an Emmy nomination is the one thing the show runner had basically nothing to do with and actually follows the books- the animated shorts.

[InsaneCommander]

3 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

Why Amazon thought someone whose main claim to fame was being a competitor on Survivor and had zero show running experience was a good idea for running a big and expensive show who knows.

It's not that difficult to understand. They probably thought: "Well, we are spending way more with LotR, that has those two writers whose only experience is Jar Jar Abrams trek movie, so why not?"

[Malcador]

https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/x-men-97-animated-series-trailer-first-look-marvel-comic-con-2022/

 

[Zoraptor]

Vince McMahon has retired from WWE after a string of sexual misconduct allegations. Who would have thought that someone who pitched an incest angle with his daughter and thought Fabulous Moolah was great would go out like that?

I honestly thought the only way he'd go was when they'd nailed shut his coffin, and given his mother is still alive at 100+ that could have potentially been decades away.

[HoonDing]

[Raithe]

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Raithe

[Keyrock]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:27 PM, Zoraptor said:

Vince McMahon has retired from WWE after a string of sexual misconduct allegations. Who would have thought that someone who pitched an incest angle with his daughter and thought Fabulous Moolah was great would go out like that?

I honestly thought the only way he'd go was when they'd nailed shut his coffin, and given his mother is still alive at 100+ that could have potentially been decades away.

There's a high probability that Vince will still be running the show from the shadows. He's still the majority shareholder, he still wields the greatest power.

[Zoraptor]

Running the show from the shadows would still be a bit step down from him being there and micromanaging/ rewriting stuff up to the last minute.

Dunno though, I kind of suspect it may be more permanent/ real than might otherwise be the case due to a bunch of circumstances. (1) You'd have to suspect that the WWE's and Vince's personal lawyers are telling him to Stay Away, in all caps, bold, underlined, 72pt font. (1a) Especially so if there are more accusations to come... and let's be honest, it's extremely likely there are. (2) There was the very Successionesque managerial bloodbath which saw Shane, HHH and Stephanie all sidelined and which may leave the latter two a lot less inclined to play cat's paw now they're back. (3) There were the rumours that he was going to sell and that was why the roster was getting gutted, so he may have been prepared to quit anyway. (4) He's got a lot of other skeletons in his closet which would make for some not so great headlines. (5) Johnny Ace being involved as well, and him very much being a Vince guy. (6) Hulk Hogan. Time used to a great healer for reputations in wrestling. Last time Hogan showed up though he was roundly booed, even years later. And for what I think most would consider a lesser offence.

While it's allegations at the moment they're pretty damning. Bryan Krzanich got fired from Intel not for how badly he ran their core (hoho) business, but for merely bonking his PA- albeit he wasn't its main shareholder, but... Vince supposedly not only did that, but passed her on to Laurinaitis too, plus used his position to demand sex from wrestlers (and fired them when refused). If that's true then it's going to be impossible to come back from, and very hard even to come back from the allegation of it.

[Keyrock]

31 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

Running the show from the shadows would still be a bit step down from him being there and micromanaging/ rewriting stuff up to the last minute.

Dunno though, I kind of suspect it may be more permanent/ real than might otherwise be the case due to a bunch of circumstances. (1) You'd have to suspect that the WWE's and Vince's personal lawyers are telling him to Stay Away, in all caps, bold, underlined, 72pt font. (1a) Especially so if there are more accusations to come... and let's be honest, it's extremely likely there are. (2) There was the very Successionesque managerial bloodbath which saw Shane, HHH and Stephanie all sidelined and which may leave the latter two a lot less inclined to play cat's paw now they're back. (3) There were the rumours that he was going to sell and that was why the roster was getting gutted, so he may have been prepared to quit anyway. (4) He's got a lot of other skeletons in his closet which would make for some not so great headlines. (5) Johnny Ace being involved as well, and him very much being a Vince guy. (6) Hulk Hogan. Time used to a great healer for reputations in wrestling. Last time Hogan showed up though he was roundly booed, even years later. And for what I think most would consider a lesser offence.

While it's allegations at the moment they're pretty damning. Bryan Krzanich got fired from Intel not for how badly he ran their core (hoho) business, but for merely bonking his PA- albeit he wasn't its main shareholder, but... Vince supposedly not only did that, but passed her on to Laurinaitis too, plus used his position to demand sex from wrestlers (and fired them when refused). If that's true then it's going to be impossible to come back from, and very hard even to come back from the allegation of it.

For the sake of argument, let's say that Vince is permanently gone, he has ZERO say in the day to day goings on in WWE. Is that a good thing? My initial reaction is yes, given how out of touch 77 year old Vince is. But then, who runs creative? If it's Stephanie or Nick Khan, I'm not sure what to think of that. Side note: One or the other will make a power play, if not both. Co-CEOs never work. If head of creative winds up being Triple H, that's most likely a good thing. Before AEW started, NXT, a Triple H run show, was the best wrestling show week in and week out. If it winds up being someone like Bruce Pritchard, who is just as stuck in the 80s and 90s as Vince, that's a wash at best. The most hilarious scenario, and the one I'm rooting for for comedy reasons, is that "The Chosen One" Jeff Jarrett winds up as head of creative.

Choke on that, slap nuts. 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Keyrock

[Chairchucker]

Marvel Studios announced the release dates for a few MCU TV shows.

What if? Season 2: early 23

Secret Invasion: Spring 23

Echo - Summer 23

Loki Season 2 - Summer 23

X-Men '97 Season 1 - Autumn 23

Ironheart - Autumn 23

Agatha: Coven of Chaos - Winter 23 (Probably too much to hope for that it'll be Christmassy)

Daredevil: Born Again - Spring 24

Marvel Zombies - 24

Spider-Man: Freshman Year - 24

Honestly not sure which ones were just announced and which ones we've known about for ages

[Amentep]

 

[uuuhhii]

another season of mythic quest

happy ending in the previous season really didn't last long

[Sarex]

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/eragon-tv-series-disney-plus-1235325019/

 

[Camp]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:45 AM, uuuhhii said:

another season of mythic quest

happy ending in the previous season really didn't last long

I haven't seen the new season yet. So excited

[Hiro Protagonist]

The Book of Boba Fett. Struggled to get through this and the only good thing about this series was near the end with the Mandalorian and Luke.

[InsaneCommander]

Better Call Saul 6.10
 

Spoiler

I guess they finished the story in the past. Nothing much more to talk about.

They could have shifted from the black and white to color after some time, if the show will take place only in the "future" now.

 

[Raithe]

 

 

Also:

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Raithe

[majestic]

Caught up on The Boys. Expectations can really make a major difference in enjoyment. Based on earlier comments I expected season two to be not really great and season three to be fantastic, and found it was the other way around for me. Season three managed a very impressive feat: It feels like the writers crammed everything but the kitchen sink of contemporary issues into it, but it still feels like it is running on a treadmill for most of its runtime.

Dunno. Didn't like Kimiko's musical interludes, nor Black Noir's cartoons, also didn't like Seth Rogen's cameo and I'm not sure what I expected from Herogasm, but certainly not the tame little episode that it actually ended up being. Soldier Boy was mostly meh, as was the resolution at the end of the season.

Hughie and Starlight have a conflict is also really getting old, as is the on and off infighting with Butcher.

Guess my opinion would be better if I hadn't binged seasons two and three back to back. It just makes it way too obvious how everything stays just the same in just the right way to keep on churning out seasons. Not entirely sure if that's the fault of the comics as I don't know them. So no commentary on the adaptation. The pacing problem might be there too, I don't know.

Edited July 27, 2022 by majestic