The TV and Streaming Thread: Summer Re-reruns (it's always summer somewhere)

[LadyCrimson]

...most of the time with single-arc narrative series that go on for multiple seasons, I stop after the first season, maybe 2.5 seasons at most. I find they just do not hold up most of the time, or devolve into 80% padded filler and constant over the top cliffhangers - which can work in shorter movies but for 5+ seasons I rapidly stop caring. Breaking Bad is one of the few exceptions, for me (although I grew pretty weary of Jessie's chr eventually).

...I still vastly prefer a one-main-arc per season format, whether it's a multiple season show or once and done. Maybe because I grew up when mini-series on networks were frequent/king for a while. Long enough to explore a plot more thoroughly than a 2hr movie, but not long enough to wear out its welcome or for writers to run out of ideas on how to keep extending it.

[ShadySands]

My wife was watching the Best Man series and Morris Chestnut has only aged about 3-5 years in the past 25 or so years.

[Raithe]

https://www.inverse.com/culture/babylon-5-leaving-hbo-max-january-2023

[Amentep]

 

[Amentep]

For those of us watching it, a reminder that Magnum has jumped to NBC...

 

[LadyCrimson]

^ I didn't even know (or forgot) there was a Magnum P.I. reboot. I remember watching the one in the 80's for maybe a season's worth. Didn't take long before the main reason I was watching was because of Jonathan Hillerman. He cracked me up. RIP

Edited January 21, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[uuuhhii]

tried to watch 2 episode and give up

like the hawaii setting but little else

[kanisatha]

Looking forward to the return of Magnum P.I. My #1 show on TV these days and the only show I'm excited about watching.

[Gfted1]

Vox Machina S2 E1-3. Hilarious.

[LadyCrimson]

Since we both loved That 70's Show, hubby and I gave That 90's Show a chance. Growing up with laugh tracks and sitcoms, such doesn't bother me even now (although I understand why it does bother some/many these days), and I adored seeing the chr's of Red and Kitty again. I guess they are going to be in the whole series, while the other chrs from 70's Show are largely cameos.

Anyway, I think the feeling of the original show was mostly captured, the jokes were at least lightly amusing for the most part, and it's going to largely hinge on whether you like the new set of teen-age characters that hang out in the basement, among other things. But it almost, perhaps, follows 70's Show too closely. Each kid is a lot like the original kids in archetype. eg, outside of Red and Kitty, hubby and I weren't very interested and turned it off after a couple episodes. It's not terrible, but it doesn't feel fresh/revitalized/different in any way, and we lost interest. If you really miss that type of sitcom tho, it might scratch an itch.

[Amentep]

 

[LadyCrimson]

Well, since two episodes were stacked up and I had nothing better to do last night, I watched eps. 2 and 3 of Last of Us.

Production quality held up. Acting (mostly) held up. Story held up - well, y'know, for a parasitic fungus post-apoc theme. I personally thought eps 3 was a very nice piece of story-telling, if a tad predictable - but very well done. I like the balance of chr, slower moments, action, emotion, small bits of humor. Anyway, I don't think I'd gush over it like some, but the time just flies by and I never have an urge to turn it off or even FFWD, which at least for me, these days, is something.

[ShadySands]

So, in a fit of alcohol withdrawal I watched the first some amount of episodes of Strange New Worlds and I gotta say, I didn't outright hate it like I did Picard and Discovery. I don't think it's great and I have a bunch of gripes but I think it's good enough that I may eventually finish the first season. I don't think anyone has broken down into tears or solved anything with fisticuffs yet so that's nice but they're also somewhat unable to get away from the stuff I don't the most about the other shows. Does everyone need a tragic back story and also do they all need to be so quippy? A little of both goes a long way.

[Zoraptor]

Yes, I think everyone does have to have a tragic backstory in nutrek. Indeed, not only does everyone have a tragic backstory (or its close relative; dark secret) but of course Pike has tragic foreshadowing as well...

[Gfted1]

 

[Malcador]

https://deadline.com/2023/01/king-of-the-hill-revival-hulu-original-cast-returning-1235245072/

Wingo

[LadyCrimson]

Watched a few episodes of Warrior via HBOMax. I guess it was a Cinemax series (inspired by something Bruce Lee wanted to do?) that was cancelled when they decided to halt original content or something, but it's become popular enough that HBO is going to make a 3rd season. My main motivation to try it was: martial arts (late 1800's/US period), and the actor who was playing the Father in Bullet Train had made a bit of an impression so I was curious.

Anyway ... the first few minutes was a nice opening, making me hope for some fun hijinks. Then it would alternate between boring chr. drama, mildly interesting or amusing chr. drama, lotsa nekkid women, mobster/faction politics and conflict, 20 seconds of fun hijinks action, rinse and repeat etc.  My issue was I kept waiting for the fun action hijinks but it was few and far between. Also, there were way way too many different characters introduced in those 3 episodes, sometimes just for one or two short scenes. There's a lead chr. but so far it's really more of an ensemble. Maybe it all comes together eventually but so far it's more Chinese gang/mobster/drama conflict (which I find dull) then the kung-fu-ey hijinks I was hoping for.

Edited February 1, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Zoraptor]

Warrior isn't really a hijinks show. There are certainly, hmm, hijinks adjacent episodes but the context is pretty much entirely political/ ethnic/ gang conflicts, all the time.

Personally I liked it a lot overall, and the 2nd to last episode of S2 was outright great in part because there was so much build up to it. Definitely more of a 'Spartacus' (minus stylised action) than a 'Banshee' though, due to the historical context.

[LadyCrimson]

It was of decent quality, so I can understand some praise, but I was expecting more action from descriptions. I'm not someone who generally likes political or mobster/gang melodrama intrigue series if that's the top focus. Sometimes it's ok for a movie length but often not even then. I'm not sure why, I can like plenty of melodrama or drama or dialogue heavy films but ... I just find those settings/plots boring or something.

Edited February 1, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Zoraptor]

There is a lot of action, but it isn't very evenly distributed. Some episodes have a lot, and many have very little.

I'd suggest at least watching until episode 5, since that's a more hijinks adjacent and action orientated episode.

[bugarup]

Dark. Very obviously inspired by Lost, too bad that inspiration came mostly from last season aka nadir of all things TV. Season 1 was pretty fine, even if some creator's ticks (like catapult nightmare) got a little irritating after a while. Seasons two and especially three went more laughable with each elevation of time travel shenanigans.  I think if you want "What is time" stuff, you either go hard sci-fi, pure comedy or - if you want to leave dangling storylines and unanswered questions - leave that to David Lynch, because only him can pull sh†t like that in more or less satisfactory way. Now what I understood from it, is that time is like one of those Scotch tapes that are so gluey you can't find the end no matter how thoroughly you search for it so you just start splintering it randomly and ruin the whole roll. 

Still, I was entertained enough to start 1899 now when it's done already. Creator's ticks are there, and I'm particularly amused for this one:  

Character 1: ...blah?

....

...pause

....

long

needlessly long

pause...

Character 2: ...yadda (= cryptic bullsh†t that does not answer Char 1's question at all, but somehow they accept it instead of going "Dude that's not what I asked!")

I'm also not a fan of magical creepy kid trope, even less so after Mass Effect 3, but so far that's outweighed by my undying love for ghost ship stories. 

[BruceVC]

Im really enjoying Last of Us, I havent played the games so I dont know the lore or  what happens in the narrative 

The  last episode got some criticism, for me it  was sincere  and emotional but I am watching this series to see fungus creatures get killed and life in this post-apocalyptic world.  I dont want to see 50 minutes of relationships when it can be condensed into 20 minutes 

Spoiler

The critique about episode 3 being woke is unfounded because Bill and Frank are a gay couple in the game and this episode  is important because the letter from Bill changes Joels view on believing Ellie offers hope for  a cure. So it is significant and you get to experience how people could survive in small groups outside the cities 

 

[BruceVC]

26 minutes ago, bugarup said:

Dark. Very obviously inspired by Lost, too bad that inspiration came mostly from last season aka nadir of all things TV. Season 1 was pretty fine, even if some creator's ticks (like catapult nightmare) got a little irritating after a while. Seasons two and especially three went more laughable with each elevation of time travel shenanigans.  I think if you want "What is time" stuff, you either go hard sci-fi, pure comedy or - if you want to leave dangling storylines and unanswered questions - leave that to David Lynch, because only him can pull sh†t like that in more or less satisfactory way. Now what I understood from it, is that time is like one of those Scotch tapes that are so gluey you can't find the end no matter how thoroughly you search for it so you just start splintering it randomly and ruin the whole roll. 

Still, I was entertained enough to start 1899 now when it's done already. Creator's ticks are there, and I'm particularly amused for this one:  

Character 1: ...blah?

....

...pause

....

long

needlessly long

pause...

Character 2: ...yadda (= cryptic bullsh†t that does not answer Char 1's question at all, but somehow they accept it instead of going "Dude that's not what I asked!")

I'm also not a fan of magical creepy kid trope, even less so after Mass Effect 3, but so far that's outweighed by my undying love for ghost ship stories. 

Dark for me became too hard to believe and understand with all the time travel paradoxes, I watched it halfway through season 2 and then stopped

But Im hooked on 1899 and season 2 ......sadly I see season 2 has been cancelled 

https://readysteadycut.com/2023/01/02/will-there-be-a-1899-season-2/

 

 

[bugarup]

9 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

Dark for me became too hard to believe and understand with all the time travel paradoxes, I watched it halfway through season 2 and then stopped

But Im hooked on 1899 and season 2 ......sadly I see season 2 has been cancelled 

https://readysteadycut.com/2023/01/02/will-there-be-a-1899-season-2/

 

Yeah I know, but -- seeing where Dark went in S2 and S3 -- it may not necessarily be a bad thing? Oh, and forgot to mention that music in Dark was quite good and 1899's ending titles songs are fantastic  

[LadyCrimson]

10 hours ago, BruceVC said:

The  last episode got some criticism, for me it  was sincere  and emotional but I am watching this series to see fungus creatures get killed and life in this post-apocalyptic world.  I dont want to see 50 minutes of relationships when it can be condensed into 20 minutes 

Yeah, I can understand criticism from that viewpoint of where eps 3 seems like too much filler.
While I'm familiar with the big plot beats/spoilers of the game, I do not have any details/lore or exact game moments in my head/memorized nor any large attachment to specific chr. beats. I wonder if this might be one of the more ideal places to watch the show from, heh.

I did find ep3 a bit of a surprise as that relationship segment went on and on, but it was so well done I simply enjoyed it. Plus I understood the different tonal direction they wanted to take vs. the game, re: how the bottom line of how one chr. reaches a motivational place from influence of a minor chr. To me it kind of reminded me of how, in STTNG, after the exciting Picard/Borg episodes, there was that lull episode of Picard at his brother's farm. That could be seen as "filler" too but it was important re: Picard's character. It's not an exact parallel, I know, since the Picard on farm was still focused on ... well, Picard ... but it felt similar in concept.

Edit: The one thing re: game vs. show that I've noticed is that Ellie feels a lot more - brash/bold, almost to the negative "stupid horror chr. actions" archetype - at times. They changed that dynamic a bit. It's made me not like Ellie as much, at least initially.

Edited February 2, 2023 by LadyCrimson