I have found it alright but not sure why everyone is calling for Bella Ramsay to win awards for that last episode. It wasn't especially stand out for me.
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I have found it alright but not sure why everyone is calling for Bella Ramsay to win awards for that last episode. It wasn't especially stand out for me.
Final episode watched. It definitely needed a longer season to flesh it out for me. Joel and Ellie in this kind of felt like acquaintances rather than the father/daughter relationship from the game, until this episode. It felt like the only real time they connected well.
It's been a pretty good and true adaptation of the game so far. Though Pedros' Joel seems to be more of a broken good man trying to keep his shit together, rather than the more morally ambiguous man trying to make the best of it in a world gone to shit, like in the game.
Some more spoilery thoughts:
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Joel is a very bad man indeed and that reputation follows him through both games.
The Rise and Fall on 4 is The Traitors on steroids.
Last of Us:
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It's a decent show but I've no idea where some of the adoration it's getting is coming from.
Cutting her mushroom head open in the game without any MRI scans or tests is dumb. The way her immunity is implied in the series gives them an easy out.
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The game barely touched on the cause of the outbreak to focus on the people. The series has to explain stuff like the roundtable cordyceps discussion or Ellie's infection. Maybe that's the product of being on TV for a broader audience but it's not like TV can't be smarter than that.
Is there a reason that mandalorian season 3 isn’t receiving even half the attention the other two did?
I’m just on episode 1 and it seems to be of the same quality as the other seasons.
The TLDR is that Disney have fucked the franchise so much no one cares about any of it anymore.
I think, aside from The Drinker fishing for sweet views, Disney didn't help by mixing it up with Boba Fett. The Mandalorian is one of the strongest shows they have, I'd argue stronger than the Marvel shows because MCU stuff needs you to have seen the other stuff to grasp what is going on, but a lot of SW stuff is happening in far removed sections of the time line to the films and other series so you don't need to know too much.
The Last of Us having the same lead and only just finishing likely adds to the less tangible reaction so far.
I do say this from a position of ignorance given I've not actually watched any of the later Star Wars stuff that's come out, but, I get the feeling Alec Guinness was right in that clip from Parkinson when he said people are going to read too much into it all.
Andor made up for all the other latter guff.
The new Waco documentary on Netflix doesn't present anything new, however, it really reinforces the fact that both sides were fucking mental. The cops are fucking idiots and the people inside are fucking loopy paedos.
Finished The Last of Us over the weekend. I enjoyed it. It's not the best show ever but it was pretty good. I haven't played the games so don't know the storyline from them or care if it sticks to that or not.
Nothing (other than Succession obvs) is going to be the best show ever on the current model of TV production, so it's usually the needless marketing hype that does for these things.
I also watched all of the Last of us recently (right after the last episode aired, whenever that was) and echo what Boyd has said. It's good but people are also massively overrating it at the same time. Particularly the episode with Nick Offerman. I'm not saying it wasn't good, it was a good episode. But all the "best episode of television EVER!" talk that flooded the internet straight after it aired? No.
I watched both seasons of White Lotus very quickly afterwards too. The first season was excellent. The second season not so much. Still pretty good, but more of a 7/10 affair. It just felt like they were trying to recreate lightning in a bottle after season one. They shouldn't have brought the Jennifer Coolidge character back either. She was brilliant in season one and annoying as fuck in season two.
Anyway, the undisputed cream of the crop (Succession) has now returned to make all other television obsolete for a couple of months. :cool:
I think I actually preferred season two to season one of white lotus but I can see why you'd like it the other way round.
I started season two of The White Lotus a while ago but decided I couldn't be arsed with it. The first one was alright but I didn't really get the massive fuss about it.
Season 1 is about as good as it gets.
Greg was in top form in the Succession premiere. :cool:
I started Power and am impressed, late to the party I know. As said above makes you laugh that TLOU is being hailed as the best TV show ever with a copy paste of a game plot whilst a show like Power really sticks the landing with multiple plot threads in season one.
Just rewatched the finale of season 3. :drool:
Also, Soccer AM has been cancelled. Final episode is 27th May.
Three episodes into Blue Lights and absolutely loving it.
My favourite aspect of Waco is how thick Koresh sounds.
After what I thought was a weak start, Picard has been a huge improvement on the previous 2 series. I hope they don’t fuck it up with a stupid ending.
Workaholics aside, I really do not rate American comedy shows at all but I’m really really enjoying I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson on Netflix.
Mandalorian with some unexpected A List cameos this week.
How are C4 getting away with a show similar to Naked Attraction but instead they’re getting their kit off to kids? What the fuck :lol:
Sounds fairly standard for the times we live in.
I don't know if there are any Race Across the World watchers but after 2 very good series set across Asia and South America, their latest offering has them merely criss-crossing across Canada. Now ignoring the stereotypes of them all being dull people in a dull country, they've managed to remove all the language and cultural interest points that were fundamental to the show's success and it's now just a montage of gammons car-sharing with gammons. So fucking pointless.
I still enjoy the Race show and it's nice seeing places I've been but the single country format where everyone can speak your language does mean it suffers compared to the other series. Hiring cars should be banned for future series too, fuck that.
I was chatting with a mate last night on Skype while he was watching it and his biggest complaint is that it just wasn't a race. Things like "it's been 22 hours since we last moved on". I mean, why?
We're told every 5 mins "in a country with little public transport..." to ominous music so presumably it's some third world out there and me having to watch some old absent father be a cunt to his now adult daughter for the 4th time as some sort of filler is neccessary.
I saw a bit of that the other night. Honestly, it was quite good. They're teens in the show, like, and there's nothing sexual about it. It's just like "this is what normal people's bodies look like" and is probably a necessary corrective to porn (which they're absolutely watching already) and social media influencers.
The last line slightly muffled being bundled into a police car.
Henry, GS, now Boyd. Why are all the board nonces from Northern Ireland?
Pavel's also from Top Ireland.
We need a Dispatches episode on this, and on how noncey Vicars and Priests are to blame, immediately.
It's basically a PSHE lesson, you freaks.
*rapes a toddler*
"They have to learn about the birds and the bee's somehow".
The backlash against all this woke paedo shite is encouraging.
All this talk about a TV show about the human body is making me SICK. Can't imagine anything more unnatural than a human body.
You can’t go on with this kind of shite because some cunt with a nose ring thinks they want things their own way.
Subscription only Giggs, but I'm sure it's fine as long as it's natural. Children shouldn't be treated like, erm, children.
I haven't seen this paed fest tv show, or even an advert for it, but lol at the idea of Channel 4 doing something like that for educational reasons.
It was basically teaching 12 year olds what rimming and Cleveland steamers were as part of the curriculum in an attempt to be woke, but normality has prevailed.
.
Channel 4's always been that kind of PROGRESSIVE shambles. Remember the live autopsy? Remember the reality show that was Dermot O'Leary trying to keep people awake?
Haven't they got one now where people have to live entirely in the dark [I sort of think this has been done before but as some sort of experiment on some poor hardman character who ended up being reduced to ruin by it]?
Channel 4's remit when it was created was to create programming for minority groups, hence it's always been a bit left field
You wouldn't get away with writing 'monkey tennis' today, it's no longer implausible enough.
That live autopsy show was really good tbh.
Wait what’s Lizzo in? :drool:
That is not The Way.
Logan's "I love you, but you are not serious people" was such a top-drawer put down to the kids in that episode. They're really not.
He's an asshole, but he's right.
An advert has just alerted me to the fact that some bright spark at ITV has designed to green light a dramatisation of "The Hunt for Raoul Moat'.
I'll just be honest, if there's a scene that depicts Gazza bringing him a KFC mega bucket and a fishing rod then I will probably watch.
He's absolutely right. I imagine in real life being in a situation where you're a self made man to the sort of level Logan is and having children must be strange. Surely a large part of you is always going to think they're entitled little cunts.
The highlight of that episode though was Connor banging on all the time about wanting to go to a karaoke bar and when he finally gets to one singing "Famous Blue Raincoat". :D
I’d rather watch a series about Gazza taking him a KFC and a fishing rod.
Still surprised the police didn't go for the Gazza + Mega Bucket + Fishing Rod tactic.
Moat was clearly a Proper Football Man and as such, there's no way he would have unloaded his sweet shells into Paul Gascoigne.
Whilst being accompanied by Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse.
2nd and 3rd episodes of Succession has to be up there with the peak of Breaking Bad or so.
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I haven’t started series 4 yet but even still, Succession is in that top tier already.
As much as I love succession, season 4 for me has felt a bit greatest hits so far. Great one liners but aren't we still doing the same thing over and over again?
Yeah I've just been reading elsewhere it's stunning.
Oh. Fuck.
I went round my cousins yesterday and his lad was watching a cartoon on Netflix called Oddballs. Couldn't stop laughing at it.
As children’s cartoons go, it’s no Teen Titans Go, but it’s pretty funny.
Started Rabbit Hole last night. Typical batshit 100mph American stuff but it's enjoyable.
Anyone watched Raised By Wolves?
Finished Sandman. It's alright, isn't it? Has wildly variable episode-to-episode quality but when it's bad it's not much worse than a bit weird and dull and when it's good it's really good.
Might finally make a start on Succession next since everybody's banging on about it again.
I watched the first season and liked it. It had some elements of really good sci-fi in there, and one particularly memorable section of the opening episode that very much hooked me in. It got a bit mental and convoluted as the season went on but it was still worthwhile.
I then waited until season two was done with the plan to watch them all in quick succession and it got fucking cancelled so I've not yet bothered as I don't imagine it got a proper ending.
(@ Ian) You won't regret it. If you can get through the Greg-induced cringe of the first 3 or 4 episodes then a treasure trove of pure gold awaits.
I thought the same about Sandman. It jumped up and down quality wise but overall I still liked it. The best episode was definitely (for me anyway) the one withToggle Spoiler, I loved that one.
Also, is it just me or did the entire cast of Goodness Gracious Me turn up in it at some point? It had a very strong cast of British talent in general, to be honest.
On the latter point, get on it. You can't make a start soon enough.
Do it @Ian.
Did you ever watch those Taskmaskers?
Oh yes I did. Well, up tom series 2. Haven't given 3 a bash. I didn't think NZ2 was among my favourite serieseses but it was really good and David Correos had some excellent moments in it.
Beef has appeared on Netflix and seems to have good reviews, can anyone confirm if it's worth a watch?
Picard episode 9 nostalgia horn :drool:
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We like to try the Walter Presents stuff to be all fancy and that, last few we watched were Torn, a French show with stunning scenery where a woman returns to her old home town and her old boyfriend immediately throws his existing life away to jump on her, someone dies but not all is as it seems and one of the characters is a Michelin star chef.
Just followed that with A Deadly Union, a French show with stunning scenery where a woman returns to her old home town and her old boyfriend immediately throws his existing life away to jump on her, a few people die but not all is as it seems and one of the characters is a Michelin star chef.
It's the variety we love most.
It's just the lived experience of literally every French person tbf.
Started Westworld recently - just getting into the 2nd series now. First one was great but I kinda wish they'd stayed a bit more in the "before" than jump quite quickly to the "after". The world was great and I loved the setting and how the humans acted within the world, more than the other stuff.
I kinda feel like it hits a bit different in a world with ChatGPT seemingly getting ready to turn into Skynet any day
How many series did they make of Westworld in the end? Think I started out on 3 [or the last one if there was a 4th] when it appeared, but it was so long after I'd seen the first two/three that I had insufficient recollection to piece together the frankly baffling plot.
I watched series 1 of Westworld and thought it was good but a lot less good than aot of people thought. Then series 2 happened and Christ almighty it was boring. Couldn't see that one through.
I have a pretty high tolerance level for things containing copious nudity and robots, so I'm still working through it. There are four seasons from what I can see. Apparently Aaron Paul is in the next one so I assume it'll be him mooching about calling robots "Bitch" quite a lot
Episode four of The Wire has hooked me in, with the scene where McNulty and Bunk are figuring out the shooting in the kitchen. Excellent television.
Big fan of Bunk and the lesbian who I think is called Keema.
:nod: I need to give it a rewatch.
Love the Bunk. Wendell Pierce probably the most underrated actor in it.
Theyre all pretty good.
The drunk old cop whose partner got finished for injury probably the absolute peak. When he was about to chuck himself downstairs as the others arrived and he did a little twirl, I was howling.
The guy with the polish name (prez?) who figured out the pager codes is also absolutely excellent.
Only bad actor is the judge who McNulty knows and, kinda, McNulty.
(Based on 5 episodes in season 1)
Oh wow Johnny Weeks is Telly from Kids! Didn’t realise til he cut his hair.
The virgin surgeon, baby!
2 months free Apple TV for new and existing customers: https://redeem.apple.com/appletvjennifer-gb
You can cancel it straight away in your Subscriptions and still get the 2 months free.
I'm in the mood for something wild and came across Kingdom. Any good?
That Roaul Moat thing is predictably a bit bollocks. Does a good job of showing the retarded, "Cop killers, yay!" mentality swimming around but they've made a 3-parter out of a manhunt that lasted less than a week. So the episodes go as thus:
1. Moat shoots people.
2. Police find the village he's in.
3. Chicken and fish.
All his accomplices act thick as fuck.
I watched the first two episodes last night.
First problem was the actor playing Moat looks like a RADA approximation of him rather than the utterly terrifying beast the real man was. Secondly, and as you say, the story does not warrant a three hour dramatisation and thirdly, I was left feeling what is the point of this?
True crime stuff is good, but if the well has run dry just leave it for a bit.
Only Gazza and his fishing rod can save it now.
He wasn't that much of a beast, to be honest. They do seem to slice in how much favour he had with the tinpot communities he lived in. At the end of the day, he was a twat that went to prison for battering a 9 year-old.
He may well not have been, but he certainly looked like he was.
That's probably because the one photo the coppers had on file had him in good shape. What else can an actor go off? There's even a line in the script where the coppers say, "He's lost the beef."
No problem with the actor's performance, he just doesn't look as threatening as he did in real life, or at least from the wealth of photos available. Ergo, they should have cast someone else.
The Mandalorian needs to go away and never come back now.
:D What's it done?
That ending.
Can confirm the Raoul Moat thing was a load of shite.
Didn't even have Gazza in it.
They couldn't even get Ray Mears. A man actually involved in the manhunt.
I've watched half of the Boston Marathon bombing documentary on Netflix and it's pretty good. Not far off the part that became one of the greatest nights in TTH history.
Was that on this board? If so, what thread is it in?
As someone who waited for all the episodes. Cannot understand what people were so angry about. I assume a bunch of the far-right weirdos were annoyed about Lizzo turning up for 10 minutes but the ending seemed perfectly Star Wars and returned it to being able to go back to what it was originally, a Monster of the Week show.
I thought Mando was pretty up and down this series but I don't really know what's wound a load of people up about the finale. Not as good as series 2 but that was a very high bar they set. I thought it was decent fun and tying off a load of loose ends to go back to being more episodic stories as Phonics says isn't a bad thing.
I just finished the last two episodes of The Mandalorian and didn't have a problem with it. I thought it was rather good.
I thought this Mandalorian season was less consistent than before. I still enjoyed it, but there were a few points of irritation in it.
Biggest one for me:
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Season 2 of The Wire done. Certainly won’t be watching that again.
Good job season 1 was so good, otherwise I’d think this was the longest prank in internet history.
Mike gave me his seasons best to worst as ‘4,1,2,3,5 - Maybe switch 2 and 3’ so I’m not looking forward to 5, but 4 should be a corker. Will start 3 tonight.
2 is 1000% better in hindsight than it is on first watch. It's a jarring gear change at the time but once you've watched the rest it makes so much more sense.
3 and 4 are largely more like 1.
Hopefully.
Had a good think about it and the worst part about season two is the police woman who is basically just reading her lines.
Plex was down yesterday so couldn't watch the Wire, and instead finished season 2 of Clarksons Farm. It did not reflect well on the council.
Really shows what you can do with unlimited money, doesn't it.
Silo. Apple TV+. Get on it.
Severance vibes.
Looking forward to that, I really enjoyed the books.
I've picked up Deutschland 83 again. Scintillating stuff.
Anyone watched Bupkis with Pete Davidson? Meant to be Entouragey.
Succession e7 insanely good. Most of the series has been good but this was another level.
Ridiculously good? If so I agree. 'We ain't gotta dream no more' one of the best scenes ever in TV.
I'd take it as a meditation on what would happen if somebody tried to make an idealistic change to the system, rather than anything that would necessarily happen in reality. I bet some cops have tried it somewhere, mind.
I think it was suggested in real life Baltimore at whatever point, but only very briefly without being given any serious consideration past that.
I've been ploughing through The Last Kingdom recently. It's solid, but it feels a bit like the Writers of Merlin had a go at writing Game of Thrones.
Going to give Vikings: Valhalla a go afterwards.
Yeah I still haven't watched the film either.
I'll chuck in an obligatory UHTRED SON OF UHTRED.
It's very good. Not in comparison to actual films but if you want more Last Kingdom, it does what it says on the tin. A series of events where Utred goes 'Don't do X or bad things will happen' and then they do X and somehow its Utreds fault that bad things happen.
Also btw @Alex new mini series of Justified this summer.
I enjoyed The Last Kingdom and that kind of thing is very not my bag.
Yeah, The Last Kingdom, while clunky in places and definitely past its peak in the last season, maintained its quality better than Vikings, I thought. With the latter there were several points during seasons 5 & 6 when I almost quit watching.
Yet to watch the TLK film, though.
Although only at the start of season four, I'm keen to hear peoples opinions on The Wire's best-to-worst season order. Please no spoilery discussion, just some numbers would suffice. I think I'll end up 14532 but that's based on being four episodes into 4, and obviously seeing nothing of 5.
2 as the best is the hill I'll die on, 5 worst. Can't remember which of the rest I like most
It's been a long time since I watched and my order would probably change if I watched again. But off the top of my head it would be 4-3-5-1-2. I didn't have a hatred for season 2 like you have, it was good but didn't have the great finale like subsequent seasons did.
1, 2, 3 and 4 are all Great with a capital G. 5 is merely good. That's my take. I can't order the first four as it's different on each rewatch.
4 has an added emotional heft with the kids that nudges it to the top for me.
43125
31245
41225. Maybe swap 2 and 3. Maybe swap 4 and 1
I believe my ranking was always 4, 1, 2, 3, 5.
4 was definitely my favourite with 5 as the worst.
Worrying seeing everyone say 5 is worse than 2. :uhoh:
2 is brilliant. Frank Sobotka is a legend. You've just got shit taste.
2 is disorienting on first watch because it seems like a different show to what you were watching in 1, but once you've seen the rest it makes total sense. The key is that it isn't a cop show, it's a show about urban decay.
5 is more of a parable and so fans of gritty realism look away now.
Yeah, the second time you watch 2, it’s brilliant, it was just such a change that it was rough the first time around.
5 is a good season of a normal show, it just had such a high bar set by the other seasons. And it helped us all understand the correct use of evacuate.
I came into this thinking you were ranking Last Kingdom-seasons and was very confused all the way up to Frank Sobotka.
The crossover series we all want to see
The docks is a Kingdom of lost products.
The 4th and most recent rewatch I did (last year, I think, or maybe 2021) was one of the most rewarding TV experiences I've ever had. Got far more out of it certainly than the first couple of times. I think that speaks partly to familiarity with who's who and what's happening (which is hard to follow first time especially if you're a Brit and not in with the lingo), and partly to the fact that I'm older and know more about life.
Gus:
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I tolerated 4 because of how good 1-3 were and the less said about 5 the better, annoying from start to finish.
I don't think any show has let me down more than The Newsroom. It thought it was so important while being so full of shit that, in a way, it almost perfectly captured why the media became irrelevant to the zeitgeist over night. Just watch this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypsQO3dFiB8
Also on the sly probably the most sexist, anti-woman show never to be criticsed for it.
Nobody gave that a pass and thought, "Why would the disruptive passenger be allowed to see the pilot?" Or, "There's a plane full of people reading the news? All at the same time?"
Speaking of foreign TV
Just started Vanished by the Lake, a French show with stunning scenery where a woman returns to her old home town and her old boyfriend immediately throws his existing life away to jump on her, however it appears someone has disappeared rather than died and nobody's yet a Michelin chef so it's a real breath of fresh air.
It was even further up it's own arse than the West Wing but without any of the charm, huge suits, or Martin Sheen.
I think I'm just over halfway through the first season of Succession now and (hot take) I am quite liking it. It's full of detestable cunts of course, all being unrelentingly awful to each other, but the writing and performances are good enough to get over that hump (I don't always get on with shows where the characters have so few redeeming features.)
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I think that no-confidence episode was the point when it went (in my mind) from 'yeah, not bad' to 'fucking hell this is amazing' and it basically maintains that quality relentlessly from then until the penultimate episode which has just aired.
Yeah, the only real dip is early to mid S3, where they are spinning their wheels a bit, but at worst that is around where it was at early S1. The consistency and payoff of this last season is ridiculous.
Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is absolutely fantastic (so far anyway, I've watched two of five episodes now).
Is it well balanced? A mate mentioned this yesterday and I'll probably give it a go at the weekend.
Yeah, it's got people from all sides in it. There's been republicans, loyalists, British soldiers, victims. All just telling their own stories. It's not an easy watch though.
It is indeed a horrible accent.
More Justified? I completely missed that post before.
Series finale of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel tomorrow. Thank you to whoever in this thread convinced me to watch it. I'm not ready for it to end... I'm going to miss all these characters.
Which funeral's that? I've probably seen most of the footage before. It's the people telling their own stories that gets to me. That woman whose brother was killed on Bloody Sunday and her father was also shot (but survived) trying to help her brother in the first episode and Michael McConville in the second episode had me in bits.
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Ah right, yeah. I thought of the second one when you mentioned funeral. Had forgotten about the first one.
What was the extent of your exposure to this shit growing up Boyd? Any relatives directly involved / affected, etc?
Obviously if you don't feel comfortable answering that, then no worries like.
Nah, no relatives actually involved in anything. As far as I know anyway.
One uncle was in the RUC but I think he had a relatively cushy job in it. Although I think he was at the drumcree stand-off in the 90s (which was pretty mental, I remember my tiny little village having the road burnt from petrol bombs/barriers being erected and two shops in the village that were owned by Catholics being targeted). I vaguely remember a Catholic family on my estate being targeted and possibly burnt out around the same time as well.
I think another uncle was in the UDR but I've never asked about it.
But no one ever actually in paramilitaries or caught up in bombs, thankfully. North Antrim was a relatively quiet area of the country.
With the benefits of hindsight, partition should have been accompanied by massive population transfers. Bottom Ireland successfully cleansed itself of potentially restive elements by becoming a Catholic theocracy, but we just sat there like wallies and let them move around. Something to bear in mind for the future, but equally weird in period considering that the British delegation to the Paris Peace Conference warned against putting millions of Germans behind new borders because it was a recipe for aggro down the line.
Started on Letterkenny last night and polished off the first season today.
It's incredible, I sometimes find it a little hard to understand them (mainly because of the Canadian slang) but I'm loving it. Wayne in particular is a real highlight.
Also, Katy :drool:
Finished succession tonight. One of the best series ever easily.
I thought the ending was perfect.
I managed to scroll past quickly enough in case but if that was spoilery can we pop it in tags for the slowcoaches who are still early in the show?
EDIT: Mostly the video, I can scroll past anything that appears to be a comment but the embeds are a bit more obvious.
I can't believe Roman and Kendall both died. :(
Watched that One Upon a Time in Northern Ireland this week. Not much else to say beyond how fucking dirty the whole conflict felt. Really frank interviews as well.
New I Think You Should Leave is fantastic.
I've been lolling every time I think of the Driving Crooner.
Me too :D
Think I might have been the OG cheerleader for this (via my wife).
Finished it today. The last series was great overall I thought. Really interesting to see things evolve and some of the subplots (Zelda and the kids) were well done. Easily one of the best shows I've seen, across almost every dimension. One of the only ones where it's a joy to watch the camera work.
YouTube is doing that thing where it decides I should be exclusively watching clips from some old telly show. I enjoyed the run of the algorithm getting me to practically rewatch the entirety of the sopranos, this time it's The Thick of It.
Loved the show at the time, but watching scenes back now...hmmm. I dunno. Bit overwritten for me, Clive. Especially Malcolm, and especially latter seasons Malcolm. It's a bit how I feel about later Peep Show - it's sorta trying to do the bleak, dry hyperrealistic thing, while also having a very zingery, unrealistic script. Still very funny at times, like late era prep show, but it just feels a bit off to me. Nicola isn't an amazing character either.
Not gonna lie, season 5 of The Wire feels up there.
Only 4 episodes in though so I’ll reserve judgement.
I just finished series 1 of Succession. That final episode was not at all what I expected. And that final scene. Crikey
Is there no love for Stath Lets Flats? I searched and saw RL say it was shit, and nothing else. I watched all 3 seasons over the past few weeks and I laughed more than I have at any sitcom. It's childish, silly and relies on a lot of physical comedy, but aren't comedies meant to make us laugh?
I loved it - and I reckon it'll have plenty of rewatch appeal, too.
I think I watched three episodes and wasn't having a terrible time but it didn't hook me enough to stick with it.
I really liked it, the incredibly stupid little world they created.
seen any more?
TBF, after wanking on about why it's shit with @Jimmy Floyd and co the other day, I've actually reached S5 on my current rewatch and I'm enjoying far more than I've ever done before. The pacing is all over the place, but it does make the episodes quite fun. Plot strands that would have taken half a season previously are introduced and resolved in a fucking episode.
Let 5 settle and you'll come round.
Succession:
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The new series of Black Mirror is a mixed bag. Not too much of a fan of the slide into supernatural rather than technology. I also feel that the later stuff with the increased budget has been more an excuse for Brooker to just recreate the British High Street circa 1980.
Black Mirror jumped the shark as soon as Netflix got its hands on it, as usual.
It's main problem - and it has been for some time, but this series is worse than ever - is predictability. I saw most storylines coming a mile off.
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I thought Joan is Awful was good because it was actually quite funny, and not just build up for an attempted “emotional gut punch” ending.
Finished Succession last night. What an ending. That musical motif is used across the whole series, but never feels dated.
Have also been following along on Black Mirror. I thought Loch Henry was excellent television.
I've read too much of Charlie Brooker over the years to ever really get on with him. He's always had the hint of the gimp on the back page of PC Zone writing, "Pissy poo piss." as every punchline.
I enjoyed Black Mirror at first but when they took it to Netflix and bloated the episode length it put me off, looking at the episode list I only watched one of the 2017 series and that's as recent as it got. Stranger Things having a 2.5 hour episode can fuck off as well
As an aside, I've just ready Brooker's System Shock review from 1994. Hey, I know getting a six page review for a 90s PC game is a rough ask but I can't have him cramming jokes in (and then explaining said joke) to boost his word count.
Maybe that's why Netflix bloats their episodes. For engagement and advertising space.
Netflix is a strange beast. Everything on there, whilst often enjoyable, is just... saccharine? I don't know. There's never anything with a real intellectual heft to it. It's all painting by numbers. I probably sound like a cunt saying that, but fuck it.
It's a strange mix of virtue signalling and whatever straight to tv/dvd shite was going cheap. Every platform having their own streaming service doesn't help in the quality stakes, unfortunately.
I only subscribe to Netflix for the period when Stranger Things is released. Nothing anyone has told me about in between those times has sounded worth it.
I think it's hard not to conclude that the eponymous golden age of television might finally be grinding towards its conclusion. All good things get swallowed by corporate avarice.
Only two episodes into Black Mirror's lastest season, and I think both have been good so far. Loch Kenny was brilliant, actually.
Beyond the Sea is good too. Then it declines.
I suspect part of Brooker's problem may be that having made it and become a very successful and very rich individual, he's lost his edge.
The TV licence guy came to my door today. I just told him I play the PlayStation and I don't need one. :harold:
They'll be getting the door closed on them next time.
I always thought I’d suppport the tv license. How times change.
Apparently it really is that easy to get away with not paying for one too. I sort of feel like a mug that I still do.
Do you know what I didn’t appreciate at the time but now think is absolutely brilliant, and should be regarded as one of the best “one man shows” ever? If you’ve got fifteen minutes spare, watch this episode of Bodger and Badger and I won’t believe you if you say you didn’t lol out loud at least once:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNV7beaAghQ
They did student nights for a while, my mate was ejected from the student union for 'posing a threat to Badger' as he was trying to nick him.
Throughly enjoying Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy on iPlayer. He travels to each region in Italy and talks to people about the unique food and culture of the area. It’s basically food porn with a silky-voiced narrator and beautiful scenery.
Serious question, am I in for a nostalgic but perhaps eventually unfulfilling trip down memory lane at 10pm on BBC2, where the listing is Big Train, or am I set for some seethe inducing modern re-imagining of said locomotive?
It's the thing you want. :drool:
I forgot Graham Linehan was involved in that.
The Bear season 2 crept up on me. I rely on you useless wankers for this shit.
Never did get round to finishing S1. Loved the aesthetic, but couldn't tolerate the brother.
Started The Bear last night, it’s pretty great. We watched 5 episodes in one sitting.
Season 2 is dogshit, I had to give up halfway through episode 2.
Lol you what
It's better then season 1. The episode 6 + 7 double whammy is better TV than even Succession managed this year.
That's really not what I wanted to hear. 1.5 episodes were shite, make no doubt about it. May return to it at some point.
Speaking of which, I’m finally watching season 4 of Succession. :drool:
Watched all of the new Series of Black Mirror this weekend. My take was:
Joan is Awful - Started well and a decent enough idea, but it ran out of steam and the ending was nonsense.
Loch Henry - Probably my favourite episode of the lot. Nothing new here and as Spikey said it was pretty predictable but I still enjoyed it.
Beyond the Sea - Stylistically I really liked it, but the premise wasn't good enough to support the length of the episode and it just meandered along before abruptly ending.
Mazey Dazey - Just awful.
Demon 79 - Decent idea, but again not enough to sustain nearly an hour and a half and it just petered out.
Overall I'd say it was watchable but not much more.
Both were exceptional but given episode 6 had a full hour and more to work with, episode 7 is probably the bigger achievement. I'll rewatch both seasons B2B once I'm done as the gap between seasons wasn't ideal for my Alzheimer's and these 2 episodes are making me want to do it ASAP.
Finally getting round to The Wire. My review: it's pretty good.
About five episodes into season 2. I had been told it's the weakest season but it's not dropped off imo. Enjoying the shameless get the gang back together routine. Does need more Omar though.
Yeah I think people just want more Stringer Bell/Omar and go hard on the season for that reason. It's a great season and one that holds up more than the rest upon rewatch in my experience.
Already looking forward to lolling at your daft ‘best to worst’ rankings when you’re done.
I need to rewatch it but I would be hard pressed to put any series down as 'worst'.
2
I admire Black Mirror deeply in providing a commentary of the homogenisation of content and the unending appetite for it by mindless viewers by getting me to watch completely unoriginal drivel. Those last 2 seasons and that movie shite have now ruined the legacy of what should have remained an outstanding show.
Stringer is probably the archetypal character that I care about less and less on each re-watch. It's probably unfair to judge based on a frankly excessive 7 (?) watch throughs, but on the last couple I was actually starting to think Idris Elba's performance wasn't actually that great. Bit over the top and hammy, somehow.
The more you rewatch the more you come to realise that Slim Charles is the main character.
So is season 3 of Succession considered to be the least good one? It's still good but it doesn't feel like much is actually happening. Two episodes to go so maybe something mind-blowing will happen but it feels like a lot of them all fucking each other over, as per, but to no real end at this point.
From memory, the last two eps are amazing. Especially the last one.
It definitely peaks at the right time.
Well that's good to know at least.
Wasn't the tech conference episode in S3? I did love that. I can't remember much of the plot though so you might be right about it being the least strong series.
Yes it was, and the one I just watched was Kendall's birthday.
It obviously isn't a bad series by any means but (to this point) it doesn't feel like the overall situation has changed a great deal since the end of season 2, at least compared to some of the big events in the prior seasons.
Still very much enjoying it though and I wouldn't have thought I'll be too long getting through the remaining 12 episodes or whatever it is.
Also I only just noticed in the last episode or two that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are in the opening credits.
They produced Eastbound & Down previously so Succession was obviously a sure hit from the off. :cool:
Oh god, Kendall's birthday was perfection. But it's still more of a stand alone character thing rather than advancing the overall story a great deal. That comes in the last couple of eps.
I think I preferred S3 to S4 kinda. But I think the overall thing should just be considered a whole, rather than massively delineated. It's great
Guys. Stranger Things. I've just started watching it, seen two episodes now and it's been... okay. Is it worth sticking with?
I didn't mind it, but it's another Netflix thing where long episodes just keep getting longer, the last one was over two hours. Fuck that
I've enjoyed it on the whole over the years but I'm not sure I'd feel the same if I watched it all back to back as I assume you'll do if you go for it Baz.
Its principle problems are; repetition of story arcs, far too many characters and increasingly long episodes. That said, one of the bits in the last season was the best thing they've ever done so I'd probably say stick with it until you're not enjoying it then bin it.
It's an okay watch, but nothing more than that. As Yev says there's a lot of repetition and it relies way too heavily on 80s nostalgia, but I don't think you'll regret watching it.
Definitely a case of diminishing returns with it for me.
I would say the first season was very good and the best one by an absolute mile. It captured the eighties nostalgia really well and also mixed it with some really good sci-fi, mystery and actually (in my opinion anyway) quite legitimately good horror.
It's gone steadily downhill since and I gave up on it during the last season because I can't be bothered fucking about with multiple film-length episodes per season. It just got a bit tedious. I think when they released the second half of season four (or whatever) and one of the episodes was over two and a half hours long I just fucked it off immediately.
I think the last series was very good, long episodes aside. There were some irritations, a couple of characters that just need to fuck off and as Yev said, it's very formulaic, but it's definitely worthy watching.
I thought the bit before the break was pretty good, but not so much when it came back. I get there were reasons for that (getting the actors together etc.) but I didn't feel they dealt with it particularly well.
Succession
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The Sixth Commandment (on Iplayer) is watchable fare, with a pretty decent performance from the lead.
Almost done with a Rome re-watch. Hell of a show.
“Forks” in season 2 of The Bear may be the pinnacle. Flawless television, had Taylor Swift in my head all day.
Watched series 2 + 3 of The Witcher in the last few days. Really liked it and the overall story coming together has been great. There's been a load of neckbeard complaints on Reddit which put me off a bit but that seems like it's just it's just internet wankers and book nerds complaining about a woman being in charge.
One episode into The Bear and I think I'm going to like it.
The Bear really is spectacular.
Succession
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Yeah I had some doubt over whether or not it was for real for most of the episode. Was brilliantly executed.
Just watched new series of Black Mirror - the first two were fun, Mazey Day was dogshit but I liked the angle on Demon 79, even if the concept is a bit naff.
I've recently finished up the the perennially overlooked Snowfall and it was a great ending. If anybody is looking for something new I would highly recommend it, one of the most underrated shows on television in recent years. I think anyway!
Possibly a bit of a shaky start (I can't remember, it's a while since I originally watched season one) but it all quickly settles in and comes together really well. Great characters and a cracking cast. It's sort of like Boyz N the Hood meets The Wire meets Narcos. They recently added the final season to iPlayer so it's all on there.
I'm up to the series 1 finale of The Bear. It's really good but as someone who has experienced a working kitchen before, it's giving me PTSD.
Working our way through the second series of Your Honour, which I don't think I've seen mentioned before. It's brilliantly gripping - well paced, certainly well acted. Well worth a watch but annoyingly only on Paramount+.
Had no idea they’d made a season 2. It felt like it didn’t need one with how the first ended. Should be worth binging through 10 episodes on a 7 day trial though.
See your point about not needing a second series, but it's definitely worthwhile - all the plot points feel organic, not forced. It's like the next layer surrounding the story from series 1.
Ted Lasso Season 3 is appalling. A bukkake of sentimentality, none of it touching any of the right notes. It's exactly as bad as I thought the show was going to be in season 1 when I heard about the premise.
Strange New Worlds is the tits. Two class, and hugely different episodes in a row. And I say that before the musical bollocks to come.
All done with Succession.
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Great show though.
Dunno what'll be next. I'll finish The Sixth Commandment then find something more substantial to make a start on. Might give Justified a go.
I started Succession last night. Watched two episodes. It's funnier than I expected it to be. Roman is my favourite so far.
Most episodes have at least one properly belting joke.
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The Sixth Commandment was indeed excellent.
Me and the Mrs have begun to watch Sharp Objects. Yet to really get going, but the director & cast combo is superb.
One of the best mini-series I've watched. It's a slow burn as you said but the whole ensemble is so good.
Yeah, it's brill. Really good from start to finish.
Has to be one of the sweatiest tv shows ever made also, if such a category exists.
Hijack was alright but think people are going a bit overboard on the praise because Idris is a don.
So many stupid things throughout
I've not seen the last episode yet, but up to now it's been no better than "watchable shit".
Missus made me watch Special Ops: Lioness with her.
Unrealistic feminist nonsense.
Watched the last episode of Hijack. It was mostly crap overall, but Max Beesley was the best thing in it by miles. I can only assume he hasn't had a more high profile career due to being a bit short as he's always good value in everything I've seen him in.
I also watched nearly all of Detectorists. Seen bits before, but been through all of 1 and 2 and most of 3 now and have to say that it's delightful.
Watched Silo this weekend. Knew nothing about it but loved it. Excited for a second season.
Ended up watching the remaining three episodes of The Sixth Commandment last night, they hooked me far more than the first episode did. Really liked it.
Also spotted that the first series of Manhunt is now available on demand on Sky so I'll be getting on that next, really enjoyed the second one.
It’s good and very unsettling isn’t it. Thought the lead was great.
I ended up sticking with Stranger Things and have watched the first three series. I really enjoyed, it's very different from what I usually watch but it's had me gripped throughout and some of the acting has been genuinely excellent. David Harbour is so much better here than in Quantum Of Solace.
The problem now is that the end of series 3 seemed like the perfect time to end everything and yet there's another series to go. I got a feeling this is going to be a problem as series 4 progresses.
I'd say if you were ok with the 3rd season, you will probably be ok with the 4th one, long episodes aside.
Ended up watching all three episodes of this in the one sitting last night.
Your maverick cops with a terrible personal life and enormous character flaws are all well and good but I do also have a lot of time for shows where it's just honest, decent coppers working hard to nail a bastard (in the first series it's Levi Bellfield) and Martin Clunes is always very watchable.
Not sure if anyone is watching Reservation Dogs but the latest episode is incredibly powerful.
Loved the Manhunt stuff too. Martin Clunes is great.
I’m looking forward to watching this tonight:
https://occ-0-179-299.1.nflxso.net/d...HlvYfUaXWQ.jpg
I'm not.
Just watched the Manziel one. He had some time of it.
I've no idea what else would be on such a list but it'd fit on a "best things no cunt talked about" ranking somewhere.
Similar to Sixth Commandment, it manages to achieve tension when you already know how it pans out. And yeah, Clunes is just top viewing all the time.
Watched two (well, one in its entirety and one episode of the other) "behind the scenes" football shows over the last couple of days.
The first, which I saw all of last night on Sky was charting Burnley's appointment of Kompany and promotion to the Premier League and it was pretty good, offering a decent insight into what actually happens.
The second, which I've just finished the first episode of now, about the Newcastle takeover on Amazon is deeply sinister, with the only takeaways being that in no way shape or form have Newcastle, or will Newcastle ever breach FFP and the other that Charlotte Trippier didn't really like Spain.
I want to say our owner (as in Staveley's fella) has given one interview since taking over and they just sprinkle that throughout. Does he show off his back-and-white lined suit jacket?
He does. :D
There's a scene where they go to a board meeting that begins with him showing off his silly jacket.
It's pure unadulterated sports washing that Newcastle one.
We're loving season 5(?) of Taskmaster. Bob Mortimer is brilliant as always.
That is indeed season 5 (which is my favourite) and Bob is perfect.
The next season is the worst though, by a big margin. Fuck Russell Howard and Tim Vine.
The blend is great as well. Sally Phillips and Aisling are brilliantly crazy, Nish is desperately shit and Mark Watson similarly tragic at times (phobia of balloons ffs). Great TV.
Nish is great because he finds everyone else so funny.
Nish is great.
Bit harsh on series 6, I think it's got its moments. Though it is the first series which has a very obvious winner from the first couple of episodes and they can't quite be arsed with the whole thing. The first lockdown series is if not worse at least weirder.
I love Tim Vine despite him being rubbish but Russell Howard is one of those who are unpleasantly competitive, Iain Stirling and Ed Gamble the two other standouts
The Iain Stirling series he's quite obnoxious right up until he sees that particular team task and is horrified by himself and for the studio bits afterwards he's a lot better because he's self-conscious about what a cock he was being.
It's a fine art, being the Taskmaster studio-stuff agitator while still being funny.
On Nish I meant desperately shit at the tasks rather than anything else. It's great how he clearly is loving every minute.
Finished the third season of The Witcher last night.
Massive step down from the previous outings for me, although that might be due to me not feeling it as much due to Cavill stepping down.
The penultimate episode in particular was a real snooze-fest.
Fight scenes were class though as always.
Nicole Kidman is in this series I'm watching. So has had some crazy plastic surgery. Her face basically doesn't move, just a little tiny mouth chirping away.
Been watching Detectorists, half way through series 3 currently. Interesting how wife and I take different sides in Andy/Becky’s relationship :D
Watched all of Painkiller on Netflix yesterday. Bar a few dramatic license choices that were a bit silly it was pretty good.
Second that. Keaton is great.
Cheers gents, I'll have a look.
I've watched the first 2 episodes of Painkiller tonight and it's The Untouchables to Dopesick's Goodfellas. It's alright, but it's a straight-to-dvd version of what's already been done far better.
I will third the motion that Dopesick is indeed very good.
I'm re-watching Deadwood at the moment. It must be over a decade since I watched it originally and I never watched the movie, so a full run through seemed to be in order. I know it's been said to death but the dialogue really is unparalleled.
Finished watching the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time season 2.
It seems to be moving further away from the books (and I'm not sure why they've chosen to do some things as they have) but I'm enjoying it. The third episode in particular was very good.
Top Boy S3 looking tasty.
New Justified blows.
Top Boy 3 (5) feels rushed. It's decent enough but underwhelming. A poor way to end it, really.
In terms of the original run - all of it is fantastic. It might take a little bit of time to find it's feet in season one (it's a long time since I watched it) but it basically gets very good very quickly and stays that way throughout.
I do, to some extent, agree with this though. I thought Raylan in a "fish out of water" setting would be something I would really enjoy but I don't know, it misses a lot of the background context of the original and the interplay with all those other characters.
I think Olyphant is generally still doing a really good job with the material he is given. And I actually don't mind the bad guy, in his "crazy, over the top villain" sort of way. But something about the whole thing just feels off.
The fucking daughter too. My god. She's terrible! It is his (Olyphant's) real life daughter too. Very much a case of neopitism gone wrong. Why does she fucking talk like that? In that weird baby voice.
It's just shot completely differently, the lighting is so ott, the colour grading is like a knockoff Michael Bay and then the cameras moving about like a shit Jason Bourne. The setting has absolutely no character and everyone outside Olyphant and the bad guy are the most nothing boring characters ever conceived. That baby voice is very creepy.
It seems the Wrexham thing is back. Or at least, there’s the first episode of season 2 on Disney. Unfortunately while checking, Netflix flashed up the new series of Virgin River so she wants to watch that. World of Warcraft it is; at least I’ll be able to binge a few episodes when I get chance to watch it.
New Married at first sight tomorrow. Proper tv gold!
Finished Justified: City Primeval. I thought it was alright. Not up to the standards of the original but decent enough viewing.
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There's a programme on Channel 4 currently, which I've never come across before and looks like it was made in about 1970 called Popmaster or something. Anyway, there's an old woman on it currently who appears to know literally everything about popular music spanning pretty much the whole of pop music history. It's amazing. The two guys up against her are lambs to the slaughter.
Wheel of Time season 2 really has been top quality, a huge improvement from the first season.
They've absolutely nailed the bastard Seanchan.
Still not entirely convinced by some of the changes they've made from the books but hopefully they can do them justice.
I think Channel 4 are going to regret giving him a repeat booking as he was apparently previously on some shit dating show doing the same 'I love big tits here is a list of the words I use for boobs' schtick, their core viewing demographic of housewives are not impressed.
+1 for Wheel Of Time. I've not read the books but the story is shaping up nicely. Really annoying that it's still episodic and not all out at once.
They’ve done that with Welcome To Wrexham season two as well. Annoying.
I'm rewatching Lost :cool:
I’m only 3 episodes in so can’t tell really. Did laugh that literally the second line in the whole show was Michael shouting ‘Walt!’
I've never rewatched it because I assume it will be horrible. Just thinking about meeting characters like Charlie and that Australian again makes me cringe.
Ben Linus was a boss though.
Bet Locke is still mega
I have tried to watch it again a couple of times and I always tap out somewhere around the start to middle of Season 2, that and season 1 just meander so much the cumulative weight of all the meandering when you know what's going to happen was just too much to take.
The ending being so shit is what has stopped me doing a re-watch.
So far Wrexham season two is nowhere near as engaging. Episode 2 is skippable, and 3 is just okay.
Hopefully Ben Foster turns up soon.
Think I only ever made it midway through season 2 of Lost in the first place, and always wanted to go back and watch the whole thing, but it feels like that moment has long since gone. I also don't watch anywhere near enough tv to justify or sustain that commitment.
It was a rare example of a show that actually benefited from the weekly episodic release to build up the tension.
I've been watching Line of Duty and finished series 2 yesterday. It's very moreish, if a bit uneven, and I'm not sure I've cared much for either series finale and the John Hughes endings.
Sex Education has always been a bit out there, but series 3 does feel like it's trying a bit hard. Not enough sex yet either.
Only Murders in the Building is definitely running it's course, still enjoying it but this needs to be the end.
I presume it’s a kids show but Little Lunch on Netflix is amusing.
Realised I'd only seen the first season of Top Boy so watched it again, and the second season this weekend. Its class, if quite contrived. Some solid acting though and the whole road man shtick is awesome and cringe. Some proper fucked scenes in it.
Just watched the final episode of Wheel of Time season 2.
It was cracking. I actually liked the first season but this season has been a massive step up in class.
Really excited for the next one.
I finally got around to watching season 3 of The Witcher, and oh boy is it trash. It's not like the first two were amazing, but they were still a decent watch. This one is amateur levels of writing at certain points.
Actual JordInc. on Big Brother.
Wait, what?
Not really, but pretty much.
Oh never mind he’s just turned up. :D
Steve Coogan is great as the older Jimmy Savile, but his old face and voice is too distracting as the younger model. Also the wider programme is a bit crap.
Top Boy rinsed.
I'd watched the first season on Channel 4, then dropped off for some reason.
It definitely goes a bit more 'Hollywood' with the three Netflix seasons and loses a little bit of that realness, but its a fantastic story from start to finish. Phenomenal performances (although I found Dave as Modie a bit too cartoonish). Proper cliffhangers. Real investment.
Enters my top 10 series of all time, easily. Doesn't touch that top 5 but its so so good. Major downside to me is Series 5 felt rushed a bit.
S1 is quintessential C4.
Yeah one and two stand out a little more as they feel like 'home' kinda stories. Netflix 3 through 5 ratchet it up to UK Wire levels. It still hits but it goes madly OTT at points.
It's one of the rare Netflix series that hasn't been ruined by crowbaring in a dump-truck full of identity politics. I mean, it was there, but it actually felt like it fit the storyline.
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Your top 3 is the same as mine. Mr. Inbetween is great as well although I don't think it can touch the top.
MindHunter and Chernobyl are disgraceful omissions from that list.
Big big fan of the Wes Anderson Roald Dahl efforts that have been dumped on Netflix. Would argue they are more TV than film due to short runtime.
I'd bring in Ozark and Mad Men into my top ten.
Fuck Wendy.
She brings Ozark down.
Yeah Ozark is a good shout. I also really loved the Americans and I reckon it's very rewatchable.
The sheer amount of Nu Metal always catches me off guard during a Shield rewatch.
Let's have your top 10 then DS
What about your top 10 though?
Anyone else watching Big Brother? So far it’s been surprisingly excellent.
Seen two episodes (including the opener). Shite I think.
Yeah it's great. Farida will surely be the first gone.
Also lol at the mega producer meddling to keep Olivia in with that "task". I wouldn't last five minutes in a room with her.
She’s a favourite at work cos her name sounds like The Reader, which is a lads local pub where women aren’t wanted. Unfortunately she’s absolutely dreadful.
Shame Hallie will be in for a while because of #transrights or whatever but she’s the only other deplorable one, really, for reasons unrelated to her pronouns.
'Women aren't wanted' :D is that explicit or just implied? There was a working man's club in Barrow still banning women not too long ago but I think they may have finally given up that stance in the face of the law.
There was a ‘no women allowed’ sign up outside until at least 2017, if not later. Whether it was strictly adhered too, I couldn’t say.
Bronze age of television.
Can you lot make a thread for this shite.
Actually, just use the wordle thread.
Same. Made my wife turn whatever shit morning TV the kids had accidentally put on when it was showing spoilers of the eviction announcements. Then I watched last nights episode recording and it wasn't even on there. I'm not committing to the dreaded Aftersun equivalent, no chance.
Watched all of the Savile thing. Coogan gives a chilling performance and there was more of a point to it than I thought there'd be thanks to it being interspersed with interviews with four of his victims, but there's nothing new there and ultimately it does little more than serve as a reminder that this really shouldn't have happened.
The Detectives on the Beeb is fucking wild. Get it watched.
I was thinking down that route as well.
Just seen that they've announced that the upcoming season of Letterkenny will be its last :(
Shoresy S2 doesn't hold a candle to the first one either, shame.
Really enjoyed the second series of Wheel of Time, I think it was an improvement on the first in most ways and I'm not even grumpy about any of the changes really.
Just finished a rewatch of Sopranos and barring some questionable production in the early seasons, it remains an incredible piece of work.
Watched the entirety of Wheel of Time in a weekend. Fantastic fantasy slop.
I think it might only be Mahow other than me who's read any of the Wheel of Time books, to those who've seen it and hadn't read any did you feel it managed to avoid not either doing tedious loredumps or failing to explain the right things? My feeling was that it balances that stuff quite well but that's me trying to judge it when I know more of the background shit so I'm curious about that.
Seemed pretty straightforwards to me (for fantasy gubbins) and I've not read the books. If you've seen LOTR/GoT then it's treading worn tracks in that regard
I thought they were both good. I'm not sure what the narrative is on quality of the seasons is so not sure how to react to the question.
On the subject of lore dumps I mean it's pretty easy to understand. There's goodies and baddies and goodies pretending to be baddies and some of them feel bad about being baddies so help the goodies.
Blue Eye Samurai was fantastic.
Is Dopesick good?
Highly recommend.
Well worth watching The Pharmacist on a similar note.
Ehh sacked off plans to watch that and I’ve restarted Peep Show.
New Invincible has been good. Shame there's a big gap, I'm assuming due to the strikes?
Reacher series 2 coming in a few days and it's already been commissioned for a 3rd :cool:
Reacher was great, I didn't know season two was on the horizon. I'm well in for more of that. That lad was perfectly cast as him.
I finished the first (and so far only) season of Interview with the Vampire last night and thought it was mostly really good. I like how they have updated and adapted the story a little bit without losing what made the source material work.
World War II From The Frontlines is new on Netflix today and it's nothing groundbreaking, but the digitalisation of the old war footage is really good. It looks like it was filmed in the 90's.
It's nuts how good the old stuff can be upscaled. I used to get high and just watch the old Pathe News stuff of old Cup finals.
Convince me to watch You, plz
It can give you a lot of useful tools to use when interacting with your colleague.
It's good the first few series but really pushes the suspension of disbelief of an already fanciful concept too far by the end.
Squid Game Reality TV show was gokd and they are casting a new series.
One episode of You down and it does not seem good. Can’t be arsed with this man’s opinionated arsehole American personality. And it seems very far fetched, like Lofty said.
He's a dick but the show knows it, once it gets going it does have a nice Prison Break style 'how is he going to get out of this one' rhythm going for a while.
A true master of disguise in his baseball cap.
I've not seen it, but until now the only people I've heard talking about it have been women aged 25 - 40.
That is how I was exposed to it.
Aka Baz’s side bit.
I shall not be watching it. Back to Peep Show. I think it was especially jarring that I watched two episodes of Peep Show (with Gog and Darrel) before it, which has a similar internal-monologue style, but one is laugh out loud British commentary and one is an American wanker.
Also I do not have a side bit. :dc:
But you want one.
Nah
I know its pathetic to be annoyed by it but this sort of stuff in American TV always pisses me off.
https://i.imgur.com/4adSYnP.png
What am I looking for here?
Charlton and West Ham fan...
Reacher is back :cool:
Truly incredible that they handed the film role to Cruise.
I’ve started The Detectorists
Enjoy, it's brilliant.
It does seem it.
I was worried it would have “Back” vibes which I enjoyed purely for the fact it’s Mitchell and Webb, but this actually seems laugh out loud funny quite regularly.
Something is very off, but I won’t comment until I’m a few more episodes in.
Toby Jones is great in it.
Toby Jones is great in everything he's in.
It is indeed very good. Plex says three series and a special? Where does the special slot in please? No spoilers.
There are two specials.
One just after series 2 and the second is after series 3.
:lewis:
Liam Neeson would have been perfect.
I saw a clip of it on Youtube yesterday involving the lead foiling a car jacking with no subtlety whatsoever, resulting in numerous breaks and fractures for the perp. Must admit, tempted me to get involved.
I'm watching Warrior. It's great. Boardwalk Empire with kung fu and tits.
My main issue with season 2 of Reacher is I preferred it when he was an unknown quantity to everyone around him rather then a little squad all giving him a blowjob. Still, it's quite good. The action is always brutal.
Most of the other books are him going solo and sorting shit out. Usually with a (hot female) sidekick.
Series 6 of The Crown wasn't anything close to as bad as all the reviews said.
It really suffers from being pulled into the Diana black hole so can't live up to the quality of earlier seasons where they neatly married a wider national historical event with an internal Royal issue that often mirrored each other in some way. That seemed to have all gone out the window once the Diana show started.
Is it actually worse, or do people just remember the actual events covered in the latest series, so they've suddenly realised how much they exaggerate/make things up?
Another show I've only heard women aged 30-50 talking about until now.
:D
I was going to chip in that this was one of the most tragic exchanges I've seen on here.
And I include recommend me a hoover talk in that.
It may surprise you to learn some of us are married to women aged 30-50. My Steam deck can only block some of it out.
I've finally started watching Black Mirror. Refreshing in that it isn't (yet) American, I cannot swallow that accent at the moment. First two editions not bad, I presume there is better to come.
Not all episodes are the same quality, but that show still has some of the most interesting concepts to be put on television. Nothing really compares.
I watched some Reacher season 1 the other night, it’s crap.
Giggles liking The Crown while I think it's embarrassing pap is certainly an interesting dynamic.
I'd have that as pretty normal. It's mindless entertainment, whereas I'd have you down for more of a documentary type thing on them.
I don't really want to know anything about them, accurate or otherwise, except that they're still there and the reds haven't taken over.
So you're a royalist that doesn't care about the Royal Family? That's an interesting position.
Believes in the institution, doesn't care about the gossip. Makes sense to me.
I want to know when they're gone and the reds have taken over. But I will lol at the embarrassing nonce stories and so on along the way.
I like The Crown too @Giggles, and am also not watching it under any female duress. I didn't think it was that odd a thing to enjoy, to be honest.
Although thinking about it the only other person I know in real life who likes it is my 63 year old mother. :D
All the boring people at work like The Crown so I’m surprised by its fan base on here.
First two seasons of The Crown are immense. Lithgow as Churchill is also fantastic.
Never seen a second of The Crown, I thought it was for old women.
I did recently watch Bodies on Netflix which is alright. Lot of plot holes and the ending lets it down though.
Been watching a lot of Horrible Histories recently which must be one of our greatest televisual exports.
Then noticed one of them pop up in the Here We Go Christmas special, a show I have never heard of, which was really quite good for a prime time BBC1 comedy effort.
And there was another one, albeit a more famous one, in that Wonka film as well, two if you include Rowan Atkinson.
You may well enjoy Ghosts then, niko.
HH has gone to shit since the original cast left.
Yeah, seen a bit of Ghosts and it's alright, again noticing all the HH folk.
Think I must be on a terminal loop of the original cast editions on iplayer.
I've just seen they're bringing Little Britain back. Why?
What's the point? It wasn't funny the first time around and they won't be allowed to do any of the shit they were doing back then anyway. Blacking up and playing OTT American Black women? A Trans-woman asking for moustache dye? Fat Fighters? A disabled woman licking people and shouting "EHHH EHHH EHHH". Even Vicky Pollard would get the mob going.
It's just going to be dull sketches about safe topics. What's the point?
The only positive that can come from this is hopefully the younger generation will find some of the old clips and get David Walliams cancelled.
Because it's existing IP and you'll get at least 7 people watching as opposed to the churned-out gunk on netflix.
Speaking of which, has anyone bothered with the new Ricky Gervais standup?
I haven't watched a stand up comedian for atlest a couple of years.
They all just have podcasts now.
I could tell you the 5 jokes Gervais makes in his newest show without watching it.
I watched the Gervais thing last night and SvN's basically nailed it with that comment. There are a couple of interesting points he makes, but so much of it is a rehash of a rehash and I didn't laugh much.
It was better than his last one but leaned too heavily on the offensive to some = funny, rubbish.
And he had a pair of socks down his crotch for some reason.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67826592
Amazon is set to introduce adverts to its Prime Video streaming service from 5 February 2024.
Customers in the UK and Germany will see "limited" ads unless they pay £2.99 per month to remove them.
Absolute horseshit.
The cunts already put ads for their own tripe at the start of stuff. Like Now TV wanting you to pay to use their streaming service then they bang a load of ads in when you start watching something. They'll cry about piracy though.
Haven't Amazon made something stupid like $50bn cumulative net profit during the past 20yr? How fucking greedy are they? That said, I did read that is your remove the AWS business, the e-commerce business still isn't profitable :/
The thread may need a rebrand at this point.
I'm thinking: "Oh, TV is shit too now".
Now they are in competition with a load of crazed Chinese drop shipping scams, I imagine they will be really stressed for cashflow soon. All empires fall.
Capitalism is capitalsm.
I made a similar point at work recently (as I was pointing out we were making shit loads of profit but intent on doing a load of not-done-before stuff to try and make it a little bit better) and the leader person I was speaking to was a bit taken back I think. I think at higher levels they must get it droned into you daily that whatever number you bring isn’t good enough.
Does anyone actually watch much on Prime? I’m probably spoiled by being on a top Plex server, but it seems like Netflix and Disney are far more popular. Primes app UI is absolute garbage too.
I have Prime TV twice, once with my TV provider and the other from the Prime delivery, and I think I've only ever found 3 things to watch on it, maybe 4.
Disney
Apple
Netflix
Paramount
Prime
In that order for me.
I have Prime but more for the delivery shit.
I use it quite a bit, I've watched the following on there:
The Boys, Gen V, Wheel of Time, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Handmaid's Tale, Clarkson's Farm, James May shit and Invincible. Oh and football when it's on.
Definitely behind Disney and Netflix for me. I'd absolutely just pirate the stuff I wanted to watch if I didn't happen to have Prime. I might even do so in order to escape the ads.
We don't get the EPL stuff on it here because Premier Sport have the Amazon and TNT rights sewn up.
They'll be leaving Amazon anyway as they didn't bid.
In the UK the games will only be on Sky and TNT.
I have this regularly with customers, especially in places like Spain and Portugal. They are often family-run businesses who just want to make their money so that the family continues to live well. The same profit every year is fine for them. We on the other hand must grow eternally, and if the customer isn't doing 10% more than last year they need to be assaulted until they do.
I think it's partly a Protestant-Catholic cultural thing, with US and UK very much beholden to the former, while the latter involves a distinct lack of personal freedom and a lot of touching kids so I think on balance I'll stick with us, but still, you know what I mean.
Can’t believe they’ve brought on some disabled lass from the audience on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year. She can barely even speak
Isn't that Channel 4's main thing?
:D
I was going to post yesterday wondering is it bad that I can't watch anything with Rosie Jones on or in it.
It’s unwatchable. Mel and Katherine Ryan on it as well to top it off
My friend works for a mortgage company and they managed to lose half of their staff inside a month last April, when they announced 2 things:
1) a reduced annual bonus owing to the cost of living crisis and the expectation of the business struggling over the coming year.
2) An increase in the dividend payment for shareholders.
Top, top capitalism. *chefs kiss*
The people who pity her, probably.
I prefer her to Katherine Ryan tbf.
Fuck off with the Katherine Ryan slander.
The Rosie Jones thing I find quite an interesting conundrum. A huge part of comedy is timing and delivery - I'm not going to say it's impossible to achieve those things while speaking like she does, but I'd say it's incredibly difficult, especially when you're in something like a panel show setting where there's loads of back and forth, and everybody else is on a completely different rhythm to you. I'd say that with the way she speaks she is by definition bad at panel shows. Her own stand-up, more possible to make work I think.
Is that fair? No, but life isn't fair. I can't be a pro basketballer or painter because I'm too short and lack talent. Rosie Jones can be a great comedy writer and, with difficulty, could I suppose in theory be a comedy performer but I don't think she can ever be good on panel shows.
She would probably say fuck you putting up barriers in front of me. I think that's how a lot of people think because of all the race and gender stuff that's drummed into us. You can't do it with every minority position.
It's 2023. Inclusivity matters above everything, including the enjoyment of entertainment. Yay.
It will have gone great as all the people in attendance are there in some sort of performative arsehole capacity. Or they suffer from the same thing and find it empowering/entertaining/whatever. Or, alternatively, all sorts of terrible comedians seem to go down well with the masses so there is always the chance that tastes are generally poor.
I can understand everything she says but I just don't find her funny. As Jim says it's about timing and delivery which she doesn't have.
Lost voice guy is a much better disabled comic.
Comedy- as with society - has just been ruined by everything being polarised. As such, everything either has to be "woke", which is just unfunny people talking about how they're massive victims, on a stage, earning a fortune, bless 'em. Or the performatively "unwoke" (asleep?) like Gervais who is just making a living saying "we're not allowed to say that anymore" whilst, you know, saying the shit he's apparently not allowed to say.
It's all very boring. Creativity is completely dead at the moment. Mainstream Music, film, TV, comedy, is all dross.
There's lots of creativity but none of it gets made because the money doesn't like to take risks.
It won’t matter anyway as having seen ABBA Voyage recently I glimpsed a dystopian future where nothing new will ever break through again.
I'm off to watch Basic Lee at the start of February so am hopeful all comedy isn't dead. His last show was a bit of a game of two halves though.
It will be resurrected at some point. This stuff always comes in waves. It wasn't long ago - as per the tread title - that we were enjoying ground breaking stuff, it's just that the industry leaders got their hands on "the formula", made it safe and ruined it like they always do. The same happened with Rock, Punk, Hip Hop, Grime, etc. Something new and interesting will pop up at some point.
When there's dozens of actually good stand-ups with shows online, I have no idea why anyone who isn't an idiot would choose to watch a Gervais show. He was never a good stand-up, and he's not even made a good tv show since extras, and that's being quite kind to the pretty shit second season of that.
I reckon he got quite lucky with The Office. I can't really explain why, since I revere it as one of the best couple of sitcoms ever made and has stood up to countless rewatches, but everything in his career since then points to the Office being his luck / someone else's judgement. Either that or he just ran really hot for a year.
Afterlife is complete, and I mean complete shite.
It's all down to Merchant.
He's the real genius.
What genius stuff has Stephen Merchant done since The Office?
That Christmas thing he did was alright.
Wasn't the office just a perfect collision of cast and concept?
Everyone peaked on the 11 o'clock show. Downhill from there.
Merchant isn't a genius. It's just possible that at a certain time and place in certain circumstances, that combination of people came up with something quite briiliant and the chances of that happening twice for the same people are remote. Also I think Martin Freeman's Tim did a huge amount of heavy lifting at times, without that character it's basically some zany jokes.
Gervais's success in America (in that he has made shit tons of money there) is a bit of a mystery to me. I suppose he must have an outsider thing going on that we can't see.
The Americans probably felt they owed Gervais something after going and improving the Office. Not a difficult one in fairness.
The American Office isn't a patch on the UK one.
Never watched it, but I would imagine it's more watchable in a light entertainment sense. The Office is just relentlessly excruciating.
The Office US seasons 2-6 are fantastic. After Michael leaves it drops off a hell of a lot.
Aye, I know people just have shit taste, but i can't work out why people like it so much. Especially when you hear that it helps grieving people and how 'relatable ' Ricky's terrible two dimensional self-insert protagonist is - like, sorry to gatekeep your own grief there, guys, but are you a fucking spaz? I don't think it's an overstatement to say that these idiots deserved whatever horrible tragedy they suffered in their personal life.
:D
My ex also said she thought Derek was really relatable because she was a nurse, which was possibly even more baffling.
Being a victim is the fashion accessory of the decade. The beauty of Afterlife was that it gave anyone that's ever lost a loved one a chance to tweet / insta / Facebook post about thenlmselves, their loss and how they're the biggest victim in the world ever.
All those "hope ur OK hun?" replies flowing in? Beautiful.
I've liked Gervais stand up in the past and he can deliver some decent jokes but the last two Netflix clips I've seen seem to suggest he just likes to take the easiest path and punch down. I've never really liked anything he's done sitcom wise -the bits of extras I've wasted are ok, Derek not seen and afterlife was unbelievable garbage.
Karl going abroad was excellent though
Karl going abroad was "punching down" too.
I think when I'm King of the Universe that might me one of the first terms I throw in the bin. This mindset of not being able to challenge ridiculousness because it's coming from a Trans-person or a "person of colour" is half the reason the world is such a festering shithole at the moment.
He should stop punching down against everything that every major institution believes and do more jokes about starving kids and the religions I don't like.
He needs some new material desperately. The last 2 I watched were basically just him reliving his Twitter E-victories against Trans-people and repeatedly bringing up Caitlyn Jenner. I don't care if he's punching up, down or doing windmills, there's only so many times you can trott out the same tired bollocks before even your fans get bored of it.
His award show trolling was amusing.
He's not even challenging trans people but more the ludicrous group of people who think JK Rowling is the worst person in the World. It's clear as day that's where he's coming from so it's disingenuous to claim he's punching down.
The Office was brilliant, Extras very good (but probably of its time) and After Life was alright until Season 3 where it turned into a saccharine mess. His stand up has been pretty good, up until the last two which have been shit and as you say, in desperate need of new material.
He's made a load of money in the US because he's a genuinely funny individual. His Golden Globe performances were great and I still maintain (when introducing Sir Mel) "I like a drink as much as the next man, unless the next man is Mel Gibson" is a line that's up there with the very best.
Meet Ricky Gervais was mega as well (or was when I saw them years and years ago) to say him and Merchant seem to be ashamed of it.
Nah, you've changed my mind.
The main problem with shit comedians (Rosie Jones included) is that they pop up everywhere. Cooking shows, podcasts, book clubs, quizzes (hosting or contesting), late night talk shows. It's fucking relentless.
Saw this on the RickyGervais subreddit and it genuinely made me lol. You'll need to be an Extras fan to understand it.
Quote:
I met Ricky and asked him about After Life. He sounded like Patrick Stewart...
Ricky - "So I play this guy who's wife is dead and I run into these street thugs and I hit one with a tin of dog food but before they run off, I've called them c**ts."
Me - "OK. It's a comedy, is it?
Ricky - "No…… It's about what would happen if my power fantasies were possible".
Me - "What's the story though, what's the....?
Ricky - "Well, I do other stuff like there are these other street thugs riding their bike and I grab their hammer but before they ride off, I've called them c**ts."
Me - So it's mainly you going around calling people c**ts?"
Ricky - "Mainly..................And I do other stuff like I play squash with my brother in law and he's 20 years younger and 10 stone lighter and I wish I was able to beat him and suddenly I am. And I score the winning point, and I'm drinking and vomiting and my brother in law starts having a heart attack but before the ambulance comes...."
Me - "You call him a c**t?
Ricky - "Instantly"
Me - "Sure"
Ricky - "And he doesn't know what's happening but I've called....."
Me - ....."him a c**t...."
Ricky - "Again"
Me - "Good....is there a narrative at all, is there like a story in the show, or is it just...."
Ricky - "Well I'm a sort of James Bond figure...."
Me - "Right..."
Ricky - "And I have to walk around my town because everyone loves me and they're all women telling me I'm amazing, even though everything I say and do is horrible. And one of them is on a bench calling me an angel, two are in the office saying they love the story about my dead wife"
Me - "They've turned lunatic"
Ricky - "Yeah because I've been talking about her for so long"
Me - "That can happen. Well good luck with that. I've just written a sitcom. I wondered if you could give it to anyone you know?"
Ricky - "Is there any swearing in it?"
Me - "Not really"
Ricky - "Oh...." (looks downcast)
Me - "Well there could be"
Ricky - "C**ts or f**ks?
Me - "Either"
Ricky - "Errh..." (looks downcast)
Me - "Well, just c**ts"
Ricky - "RIght" (beaming smile)
S5 of Fargo is brilliant.
'Why is he here, is the war over?'
'Fool Me Once' on Netflix. Absolute tripe, but strangely enjoyable, and I could watch Adeel Akhtar in anything.
And Michelle keegan.
Joanna Lumley not so much
Joanna Lumley's scenes are all in one room and clearly done in a single afternoon after about 10 sherries. A magnificent turn from her. Michelle Keegan keeps saying WHYYY in that Karl Pilkington Manc way and leaning over tables to show her cleavage. Ep 4 sees a Chinese shrink called 'Dr Wu' (I swear every Chinese person on TV is called Dr Wu) pointlessly introduced to complete all the major ethnicities. It's pure Netflix.
The show just feels like every other Harlan Coben show. Utter shite but alright to binge over an evening or two
Finished season 3 of Slow Horses. It's so good. Gary Oldman is brilliant.
My dad was raving about that. He’s watched it through twice now. Might give it a go.
We're just onto the last episode of series 1. Agreed it's great, Gary Oldman is magic.
I've wanted to watch that for a while but there are only so many monthly subscriptions that can be justified.
I thought the recent season was the weakest to date (too many bangs, too little spy craft for my taste), but still very easy watching.
Almost finished The Crown, just four episodes to go. I think the critics are right that the final season is not as strong in terms of storylines, but it's still a good watch.
Yeah I feel like they got a bigger budget and went a bit Spooks with it, hopefully the next storyline goes back to it's roots a bit.
I recently got a three month free trial of it by signing up for "Currys Perks", which itself was free to sign up to. I assume it's some sort of reward scheme for the store in question. I just immediately opted out of the emails a soon as I had got the Apple trial though, which came through after a couple of days.
https://www.currys.co.uk/perks.html
It would appear they are still doing it.
I've watched the first episode of Fool Me Once, based on how much the Irish chap has been in it as a cheery friend he's got to be the big baddie. I've not seen or read any Harlan Coben stuff before so I hope it's just the schlocky nonsense I'm expecting rather than stupid supernatural stuff based on the weird cult bit at the very start.
Mr Bates vs. the Post Office is excellent and the story truly horrifying. All involved from the Post Office senior management should be in prison.
It's mental they don't have to involve the police in prosecutions.
At some point they need an accuser to come forward before they can do owt.
I'm midway through 7 now, it's almost like there are two concurrent shows going on with Adeel absolutely acting himself off the screen, and everyone else putting in the most wooden turns imaginable.
The intermittent car product placement gets the biggest laughs.
Still don’t get the point of the Irishman in it all.
I wouldn't mind being wrapped around Michelle Keegan's little finger tbh.
1 episode down for me and absolutely with the absolute tripe but enjoyable take.
There's something about Harlan Coben adaptations that mean they're always littered with characters who don't seem real and not in the unbelievable sense (as that's a given) but more that they're being played by aliens or robots pretending to be humans.
The irony of this miscarriage of justice being brought to the forefront is that, isn’t this exactly the same period where that postman managed to nick like 6 million quid from the post office to bet on under 16 Taiwanese tennis?
The 8th and final episode is absolute pure nonsense. I got to the end though so I suppose that is to its credit.
I'd assumed it was 10 episodes, so 8 is excellent news. On the final straight.
Why you all watching it if it’s no good?
Because it's strangely gripping.
As mentioned earlier it is / they are the purest distillation of the Netflix drama model. Gripping plot with more holes than a moth-eaten Emmenthal. One big name, a couple of recognisable faces phoning it in and a few fit birds/hunks dressed in upper-mid range fashions. Every ethnicity and sexuality represented to make sure no viewer feels excluded (no lesbian in this one, though could have missed one). Vast amounts of product placement. Quick cuts and vast cuboid houses in pastel colours. Kitchen islands the size of Sicily. Crucially - and this is the most important bit in many ways - fictitious and generic world-building. You cannot afford to establish a realistic sense of place, as this will only serve to alienate some viewers. You're not going for the relevant national market here, you're going for generic viewer from generic country because Netflix is everywhere and Netflix is everything. Stay indoors, glued to your sofa. You are a unit of humanity, you are a potential statistic, and you must retreat unto yourself.
Oh so much lol at episode 7.
Has anyone watched Loudermilk. Saw a clip on Instagram and it looked okay.
The eighth episode :lol:
Oooh, there's a new series of the Tourist out. I quite enjoyed the first one and loved how dark as fuck it was.
+1 for Slow Horses is fantastic. Ripped through 2 seasons in 48 hours.
I can't get past how much Jackson would stink.
Top, top spycraft.
It's staggering how much good (and rightfully so) this Post Office tv drama is going to do, to the point where I'm struggling to recall anything similar that's had as big an impact.
With the newspaper industry having been whittled down to a grotesque husk of itself, and TV news lacking the patience for nuanced and detailed stories like this, ones concerning ordinary people like this that lack the eyeball hook of a famous name, is there any other way of holding the powerful to account other than making drama or very accessible TV docs about their wrongdoings? Especially in an era when people are not going out and reading or finding things out for themselves and require their entertainment to be shovelled into their homes for them.
Obviously even then you have to be able to convince a massive network to put your show on the air, which must stack the power games against you as well.
Especially when one of the Royal Mail culprits now works for ITV.
It's genuinely disgusting that it took a TV programme to make the police do something about this considering it's been non stop reported on for ten years (especially by PE). What a disgrace of a situation.
Can someone get on with making an ITV Drama about Epstein Island please?
And yes, It is some rage inducing TV. Unbelievable that they are STILL using the same system, too. How could anyone have any faith in it?
I think the most refreshing thing about it was that in a World where almost everything made these days comes with a MESSAGE, the directors/producers/actors in this had clearly kept at the front of their minds that first and foremost they were making a piece of entertainment and that the more people were entertained, the more the message would land. Many others could take note of this.
It's good to see a bit of heat coming on to Crozier, a man who has failed upwards his entire life and is pretty much a poster boy for everything that is wrong with the way the executive world works in Britain. Jobs for the boys. I remember lolling about his role at Royal Mail to someone seconded there in the early 2000s when they were still in their ludicrously lavish Unilever Building riverside offices in the wake of whatever shitshow he'd just overseen at the FA. Taxpayer value for money and all.
Also lol at Gillian Keegan's husband being CEO/Chairman of Fujitsu for some of the latter period. Absolutely mired.
Apparently there is also some stuff going around that internal policies stated certain 'types' were more likely to be dishonest.
Will be interesting if any of the professional standards bodies, chiefly the SRA, end up doing anything about the people they are apparently investigating or have had referred to them. Self-reg probably says no, but there has clearly been some industrial malfeasance by quite a lot of people along the way, so it would be good to see at least a few sacrificial lambs up against Boydy's Wall.
Although, on the subject of the programme, as good as it was, it did seem a bit naughty that most of the central legal actions where made to appear as if they were contemporaneous with the general timeline of the piece, ie from the formation of the action group/the computer weekly piece etc in around 2009/10, and therefore under the stewardship of this hapless Vennells character, when they were mostly from the early/mid-2000s when she was probably shilling hard somewhere else. Also interesting that both central evil characters are women and at one point it is commented "aren't there any men at the post office?" or some such. Interesting narrative choice, unless there weren't.
For fans of all things miscarriage of justice:
On that post office tv show, Radio 4 did a great podcast series on it a couple of years ago with recent updates. Definitely worth a listen.
The Great Post Office Trial - BBC Radio 4
Yeah, it's all completely batshit, along with some of the other stuff getting ranted about on twitter. The unfairness of the bottomless pockets of the state versus no help for, essentially, victims. Institutionalised abuse of process, institutionalised arse covering.
One of the interesting things about the post office thing is that the early period of it clearly demarcates the transition between the ability of a large body to effectively cover something up and the reality of the modern information age which makes it all but impossible. Broadband becoming commonplace in the early 2000s and then the growth of social media in the latter part of the decade made it impossible to isolate indivudals form each other. They had a means to know they weren't the only ones. I wonder, if in a similar way, the growth of the whole crowd funding thing hasn't taken another string from the bow of those who seek to surpress and cover up by legal means. The sub-postmater mob could probably raise tens of millions of pounds to cover legal costs on the back of this latest round of publicity. In a similar vein a reasonably small youtube channel [c.1m subs] was instrumental in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help with this case, although it was all for nought in the end as the government always has the power to not just change the rules of the game but deny participation in it entirely if they want. For all the shit that social media has inflicted on the world, and in balance it probably is still a bad thing, it has done some good things too.
Unfortunately I suspect the unfettered wild west of an internet which evened the playing field somewhat is probably going to be degraded over the next 10 years or so, if it hasn't already been, meaning we'll never get to a point where simply trying to lie and delay and cover something up isn't the go to option for most organisations.
BBC should commission a show about the commissioning of the Mr Bates show and cast Crozier as the central bad guy making sure he isn't in any of it.
The conspiracy-sympathising part of my brain, a very small part, has often wondered if the Musk twitter takeover wasn't mainly about closing it off as a democratic avenue. It certainly hasn't made much business sense, let's put it that way.
Ironically on the crowdfunding point professional internet clown Man Behaving Dadly tried to piggy back onto this by setting up a GoFundMe campaign independent of the main one for some reason and was rounded on so quickly he deleted his entire internet prescence :D
LegalGengar is killing some real grifters - it's heartwarming.
Re: Musk / Twitter. I think he wanted to use it for the big data opportunities (for his shitty AI) and then also relive his dream of having a payments platform while also having a place where everyone thinks he's cool. Unfortunately he's failed on all of them and X is now a spam bot and porn ridden website.
The right to compensation thing is crazy as it asks you to prove you're innocent which is a very high burden to prove without doubt (and completely swings the justice system after you've been exonerated.)
Under the system every person on the planet is presumed guilty unless they have an ironclad/evidence-able alibi. :happycry:
And for what? To save a few million quid a year?
He’s admitted as much no? Which may well be arse covering given how it’s gone.
@Jim
It's interesting to me that even though Musk has managed to almost single-handedly kill twitter/X, as far as I can see the userbase hasn't shifted anywhere. It looks like Threads isn't catching on, and nothing else has risen to take it's place.
At the end of the day, the whole thing just seems superfluous? What did we need this particular platform for anyway?
Connecting / information sharing. I find it very useful / interesting because I can read in one place what all kinds of different people are thinking and saying about different subjects.
Real-time information dissemination fuelled by memes means it's engaging enough to withstand most bs criticisms, it'd need a big change like charging users for them to move to another place. These things presumably only die when they stop getting the new generations to engage.
I've got access to BBC again for the first time in 2½ years. Richard Osman has really changed.
Its absolutely useless as a community now because the first 45 replies are ChatGPT replies trying to make 0.000000003 cents per impression or porno bots. Every post looks like this within 3 seconds of it being made
https://i.imgur.com/iHR4lRY.png
We need a posting moratorium on Richard Osman, I feel like penning a 3,000 word hit piece every time anyone mentions his name.
Raced through The English in recent days. Without a doubt one of the best shows the BBC has ever made.
I can't see the problem with that Phonics.
Liked and followed.
Finished Fool Me Once and agree with everyone saying it's addictive nonsense. Do all the other Harlan Coben things follow the same pattern of endless cliffhangers and twists that eventually render the previous episodes pointless?
Pretty much. Some are okay and some are beyond bad
This new Gladiators is gonna be a bit shit if regular people don't stand a chance against these roided up freaks.
The old gladiators weren't that bad, were they?
Mattdoesfitness :cool:
Yeah, they were as bad, but there was always Wolf to even it up.
Diamond. :drool:
Not sure the early evening softcore element of the original is so much of a draw in 2024.
From a quick google image search reminder, the old ones look as big if not bigger on average.
One of them comes in my shop all the time. She is massive.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/944xn/p0h2t5pj.jpg
Yeah, had a look too and so they were. Fair enough.
I think it was mostly that game at the start where the guy got knocked off the podium after two seconds that made me think it was gonna be shit. The rest has been alright.
I like the gladiator who was described as moody in his little video and just spends the whole time putting a mean face on.
Is there a disabled and a trans-gladiator?
Have they made the eliminator much smaller or am I just bigger now?
I have to say I enjoyed Gladiators there. They got the vibe right and basically just made it a lot like the original barring some new events.
Hopefully they bring back The Wall.
Not sure Bradley Walsh's son should be there, rabbit in headlights look about him
They've done amazingly well with it when you think what must be involved in getting a show commissioned and produced these days. All the slightly camp fun of yesteryear.
Have you not took your shot at seeing her cigar cutter?
Walsh's son is the ultimate nepo kid, his entire existence is defined as son of Bradley, no solo achievements to his name.
Was there any shithousery tonight? The leg greasing controversy in the original was top tier.
One of the gladiators cheated on one of the events and got disqualified, but it felt a bit contrived.
He was the mean one with the face on, although one of the other ones seemed to be playing the villain in the interview as well. Can't have two, if they're going proper old school there can only be one Wolf.
I'll give this a watch, certainly after that Phonics linkage.
Into S3 of Lupin, enjoying it so far although it does still have that Netflix silliness. The lead is so good though that it seems to be able to power through even the silliest plot points.
Oh I didn't know a third one was out. Lovely.
How lupin can be a man who creeps around unnoticed when he's a fucking Wall of a human is another one of those things that's hard to suspend for.
Meanwhile I'm onto Season 2 of Reacher I am in love with Dixon/Serinda Swan. I would die for her.
Funny thing is I genuinely remember from the time how the people I knew who also liked Gladiators talking about Shadow looking so intense when staring people down at the start of doing Duel. Then we learned why he never fucking blinked. :D
Elba in Luther sort of situation? A show that's probably naff on its merits propped up by a charismatic lead?
I wouldn't say it's naff. It's a heist show though so you just have to suspend your disbelief the odd time, but it definitely wouldn't be anywhere near as fun without him.
If you haven't watched any of it I would definitely give S1 a go.
I went to a recording of itm and I remember not understanding why it felt like fucking forever between events when it was so quick on the telly. I think it got to about eleven when my parents had the bright idea of lying to me and my brother that they filmed the Eliminator another time and we only had tickets for that night.
I've never watched Love Island but I might have to start:
:drool:
She is incredible.
Some meaty tackles in Powerball (the best event) here.
There was a decent Rock Bottom at the start too.
"I'm a one trick pony!.. No, wait..."
You're meant to say you're a whole field of ponies, mate.
(RIP Baggs the Brand.)
She's made up for it with a reverse worm.
Scotty 2 Hotty would be proud.
A coal carrying champion?
Also, Sabre, Diamond and Fury :wub:
Do you think they specifically don't pick contestants who are absolute units? They must apply. Would love to see a Jonah Lomu type in powerball. Would just absolutely wreck the Gladiators.
https://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/showt...diators-thread
This deserves it's own thread.
Started True Detective Night Country having not seen anything since the first series and whilst it sets up a strong premise it has been infected with this new trend of using slowed down covers of songs as the soundtrack (also see The Traitors) and it is very distracting. Given the perma night Alaska setting they could have just Bear McCreary-ed it to better effect.
Fargo S5 is great. I found Juno Temple incredibly annoying in Ted Lasso but she's amazing in this.
Jennifer Jason Leigh stole the show imo.
Not John Lewis back in the mists of time [or even Donnie Darko/Gary Jules]?
I've never understood how the music industry manages to recruit so many sub 5 stone female singer-songwriters, all called things like Ainsley Luche and Patty Guedes, all wearing woolly hats regardless of the prevailing climatic conditions, who all have identical weak and breathy singing voices that without being within 1mm of professional sound recording equipment could probably only be heard by bats.
Game trailers still trade heavily in slow cover versions. Just Cause 3 (or was it 4?) coming out to a country version of Firestarter was probably the worst/best.
I really like the slowed down acoustic versions. Don't know anyone would be perturbed by it.
Feels like we've been waiting decades for it. Wait, because we have?
Finally out tomorrow!
Good documentary on channel 4 tonight about the miners strike. Two more parts to come.
My old man, as a young man, briefly policed during the miners' strike. The story I always remember him telling me about it was when they were in some town in Derbyshire, maybe Heanor or Matlock or somewhere like that, and in a particular few streets of terraced housing, where all the miners lived, there was just one old boy who wanted to carry on. In order to go to work every morning, he had to walk from the housing area about half a mile across a park, to where the pit was. He did this every day - half a mile in, half a mile back - and, being a strike breaker, was absolutely despised by the striking majority. At first he just got dirty looks, then after a while spat at and shouted at, and eventually a whole load of them would take their dogs and follow him to work every morning and follow him back. The police, under orders to stop any intimidation of those breaking the picket line, ended up securing the entire park every morning and afternoon, deploying about 30 officers, just so that this one guy could get to and from work hassle-free.
I always thought that to be a perfect microcosm of the whole era in British politics, no matter where your sympathies lie. State power deployed to undermine the solidarity of the workers and enshrine the freedom of the individual. I find it quite moving. Many probably find it chilling.
Now onto Slow Horses. Utterly sublime.
We powered through it in about a week. Gary Oldman is absolutely tremendous, obviously.
Started Kin last night as we're down to the bare bones on the watchlist (only Lupin remains, but the wife wasn't in a "concentratey" mood).
I think slow horses gets progressively worse but obviously still enjoyable.
Masters of the Air is as epic as expected :drool:
Phonics, son of Phonics is back. Second rewatch of Last Kingdom. What a stupid show, I love it.
Are there still only two out?
Episode 3 out yesterday. It was brilliant.
The top of the pops archive is so good that the BBC really ought to have a channel entirely dedicated to it 24/7.
Ted :cool:
Giving Masters of the Air a go (1 ep down). Hadn't previously appreciated how absolutely insufferable it must have been having all these yank servicemen in the country. Nearly makes you yearn for the Reich's sweet embrace.
In a desperate attempt to fill my time I've decided to rewatch (never finished) TWD. S1 already has me regretting my choice. Does the pace pick up in S2?
That Jimmy post has me feeling like the dead-behind-the-eyes coupled-up guy on the department store escalator meme holding an electrical kitchen gadget whilst longingly looking at the single guy on the opposite escalator holding a PS5.
Unfortunately, I can't locate the meme but just replace the air fryer with One Day. About 6 episodes in and yet to have one worthwhile line of dialogue or character of any redeeming value. Fucking tragic waste of time. Stylish on the eye, two up-and-coming leads and looks to hit every possible life event in sub-30 minute episodes in a desperate attempt to strike a bond with the modern thicko viewer.
Deep into series 2 of Kin now (on iPlayer). It's pretty gripping despite being fairly basic in terms of storylines. Some great acting too, I don't watch DC/Marvel/whatever so this is my introduction to Charlie Cox.
Michael Kinsella :cool:
Toggle Spoiler
Last season of Discovery on the way @Giggles
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=js3-j-iLwDs
I haven't watched it from maybe Season 3. Got lost in the storyline to pick it back up.
It's so bad. I did get around to catching up on it eventually but wouldn't be an 'as soon as I get home' weekly watch like SNW.
I wonder how much emotional whispering there will be in the big finale.
Anyone watching the Mr and Mrs Smith series with Donald Glover on Prime?
I've seen the first few episodes and quite liked it so far.
The “on this season of Mafs Australia” bit before episode one started already has me hooked!!!
Did anyone else get into Tim Heidecker and Greg Turkingtons on cinema at the cinema? It's a truly remarkable thing, although I mostly admire it more than enjoy watching it. Except for the oscar specials.
Question for all of you that has been bugging me for years.
Can anyone remember the name of a British 90s, maybe early-2000s, gameshow that – I think – featured three players, one red, one blue and one green. The set up was, I think, on the floor and there were sort of coloured nodes joined by coloured lines. I can't for the life of me remember the premise of it, what the objectives were, whether there were questions, or anything. I just remember the visual aesthetic – definitely three core colours with laser-precise lines and nodes doing something or other.
Vague af, but any solutions would really scratch an itch. Would have been BBC or ITV, probs ITV I suspect. And def a daytime one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLg6AHYpLmE
?
Doesn't completely match the description and maybe a bit early.
Shogun is good so far, never read the book or saw the original series.
Over the last few weeks I've watched Schitt's Creek, absolutely brilliant.
David is a quality character.
I’ve only ever seen Pointless at my parents house (I hardly watch TV at home) but someone on Reddit has removed all the fluffy stuff and trimmed a 45 minute episode down to 11 minutes and I’m not sure how to feel about it. What a waste of time.
My mum and dad also watch The Chase a lot and that feels much faster, the odd bit of banter from Bradley Walsh but nothing too grating. I imagine you’d only shave a few minutes off that if you did the same. Maybe? Kind of annoying how much of my life has probably been purposely wasted to fill airtime by producers and presenters. Twats. I want it all back.
https://y.yarn.co/44b5f653-91b2-4ce0...99928_text.gif
I listened to a few eps of that podcast Richard Osman does with Marina Hyde (think of it as research) and in one of them I swear he was going on full guns about how viewers don't want the fluff around the edges of programmes and want to go straight into the content. I thought hang on, Richard, your quiz show, which is a really good format incidentally, is literally just fluff for hours.
When you listen to him talk across various subjects what you realise is that he has today's manifestation of the evil genius mind, i.e. doesn't give a single fuck about the artistic merit of anything, just in whether or not it will 'do numbers'. He then reverse-engineers his brain to decide that anything that has 'done numbers' must therefore be good and have artistic merit. It's amazing really.
I don't know if it was only meant to be on for a few weeks or was dropped swiftly but Stephen Fry hosted another UK go at Jeopardy recently. Incredibly dry but I enjoyed that as it felt like what quiz shows used to be with incredibly awkward contestants who have no place being on TV other than answering trivia, rather than bubbly or camera-friendly thickos you get as a rule on Tipping Point and nearly everything else.
I loved Jeopardy and hope it comes back, I'll definitely be applying. The available prize fund for that time slot of tv quiz show was great, even though compared to the US it was miserly - I think some teacher managed 5 day champion with 30k and someone worked it out he'd have had 120k on the US equivalent. I'd definitely apply if they do a second series.
Osman seems to have repeated the trick with his novels, I've only heard people slate them yet he keeps churning out best sellers.
The fluff thing is amusing, saw it on The Wheel the other week and the thicko girl missed the memo and interrupted the 'expert' with the right answer. Adam Kay alluded it to it on the latest episode where he turned to McIntyre and essentially said 'do you want me to go through them all or just say the correct answer?' But it everyone did that it would be a 15 minute show.
The goat of course:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7w4Jfa8uvE
Look at how hard the questions are as well. People used to know stuff.
100% was good for that until that one bloke won it for a year straight or whatever.
I’m rewatching Friday Night Dinner. Some of it is extremely funny.
Shogun is mint.
It really is, Cosmo Jarvis giving me Toby Stephens from Black Sails vibes.
Enjoyed the first 7 eps of Masters of the Air, but 8 was, quite suddenly, one of the worst episodes of TV I've ever seen. The pacing, the going from one place to another, the rushing, all completely pathetic. Clearly what happened is that somebody decided they needed black faces in the show at literally any cost, so they decided to torpedo the narrative arc completely and do a rubbish, rushed insertion of a completely separate story that deserves far better, while in the process skipping through Normandy of all things. Our (well, their) culture is diseased.
I should have said black faces and a woman, because unless it's going to come off in the last episode somehow, the SOE person's storyline is both fictitious and completely pointless.
I've been watching that Gentlemen which is based off the Guy Ritchie flick. It's good fun. Proper actors doing proper acting in something that's not really that serious.
The Dick Turpin thing isn't bad. There's a small amount of Fielding wackery, keeping it watchable, and there's a good cast of central/one-off/recurring (? maybe, who knows, only been three episodes) characters.
6 new episodes of How to with John Wilson on iPlayer. Just caught two on BBC2 now, peak TV.
Tapping out of The Gentlemen four episodes in. Loved the film but the series is crap.
Clarkson's Millionaire is just great telly.
All the contestants were shit today though. Maybe not the last one, that was bastard question about opening lines. Only two novels really merit inclusion in the pantheon of known for their first lines famedom, A Tale of Two Cities and The Catcher in the Rye.
I dunno, I knew it before the options came up. I would have thought either the contestant, their phone a friend or Jez would know the answer when one like that comes up. If she'd spent more than half a second thinking about the question at 1k she'd have got through the Knebworth question as well.
Ahab is the only name from Moby Dick that anyone who hasn't read it would know. Not an 8 grand question. The Lady Chatterley's one was similarly tough, although the lady saying she'd never read it or seen the film and then nailing the answer was a bit suss. :sherlock:
She was too young for Knebworth to make sense and the audience are generally retarded unless it's a soap question.
Props to Jeremy for knowing about the world economic forum. The absolute hallmark of someone who has been skiing in Europe and has been reduced to watching CNN.
I haven't read Moby Dick. :shrug:
I thought Belgrade being in Yugoslavia being worth 4 grand was extremely soft but then I'd have been completely lost on the Lady Chatterley one. Real shame she didn't go for Bellatrix after she'd sussed it, probably one of those that's hard to sell to yourself in the studio.
Big lol at the Doctor and his mate earlier on as well.
I think football knowledge gives you a disproportionate advantage with European geography questions like that. My wife thought it was between Yugoslavia and the USSR. :face:
Bellatrix was a Harry Potter guess, surely, but she talked herself out of it. Also, Rigel 7 [/kodos and kang]. Don't call it 'wriggle'. Quite a lot of bad pronunciation. The junior doctor winced when Jeremy tried to say echinacea.
There's a clip going round at the moment of the US version where it's the $500k question and it's basic Pokémon knowledge. You don't know what you don't know, as the wankers say.
That one is less about the Pokemon knowledge and more about the LOTR knowledge, but your point still stands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nq6PHwjQtA&ab_channel=GarryMooreFan
I don't think my mum would get that one right, or she'd have to have a 1 in 4 guess. Anyone born after 1985 should get it easily though.
She doesn't know who Frodo is?
Old people are strange like that. She could tell you every character in Tolstoy, but she was unable when pushed to identify the French flag, despite having been there about 50 times in her life and speaking the language well.
There was an Irish guy on Millionaire who breezed his way to £250k cool as you like last week, he was great. The only question he struggled with before cashing out was a late one 'who is the only author to have more than one published novel?', as soon as Harper Lee came up I got it, seemed easy as it was in the news fairly recently but he used up his lifelines on it. Felt a little cocky until he then got a question about Greek terms for dinosaurs or something without even breaking a sweat.
I did exactly the same as he hid. I had no idea on the book, but I got the dinosaur one instantly. Having a 6 year old son was a bit of a cheat code there, mind.
In the same week I also got every question right on the 1% club. What a rush.
Did you phone a friend too?
I have no idea who Frodo is. I'm guessing Lord of the Rings, by process of elimination.
:D
This.
Although anything with paleo in it was a bit of a giveaway with the ancient life Greek info.
The worst doing over anyone's had on that show recently was some poor non-English guy who just got bombarded with questions about idiomatic phrases. Think he got through two before a third one took him down.
It's such a good format that all you need is a host with a bit of a sense of humour so Clarkson was a good choice.
The tweaks to the rules are a rare example of good changes too. The Clarkson lifeline is so hit and miss unless you know for a fact that he knows about something that it's just a bit of a laugh and having them set their own second safety net adds an extra bit of jeopardy too.
The wife has just asked me about Succession, so the rewatch starts tonight!
Fucking hell, that loss on Millionaire.
I didn't realise. I hadn't seen it before.
X-Men '97 is pure nostalgia bait, but that damn theme song has me hooked so I don't care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa9o_1p-F2U
Been rinsing Constellation last night and today. Its both very enjoyable and utter trash, like all these things it doesn't really know what it is but it's filled with enough the fuck is that to make it fly by.
It's also yet another example that child actors need binning off. Just CGI the cunts.
24.
Just banging through the first series now. It’s not aged brilliantly and half the time seems to just be Kim and Terri finding numerous ways to get themselves abducted.
But, you can see why 20 years ago it was seen as so cutting edge.
The first two X-Men episodes were good and made me want to revisit the original series and the films, although I do think the close ups on the eyes unintentionally show off the simplicity of the animation compared to the original.
Glad Invincible is back and going hard as fuck still, not been as replused by animation since Akira.
It really was game changing. I remember watching Season 3 from start to finish with my brother over the course of about 18 hours and it remains one of the televisual highlights. Season 1 was peak mind - the first 12 hours of that remain top tv.
There's definitely an art to the weekly cliffhanger from that era which has been lost - and I say lost, because Lost was another great exponent of it. Every episode had to give the viewer something to bother coming back for the following week.
Nowadays, far too many of these shows have absolute fluff episodes with no value which only exist to drag the content out into more episodes and more hours of TV / hours spent on the streaming platform of choice, as that's how they keep the viewer thinking they need to keep paying for it.
Been watching Loudermilk on Netflix (haven't watched anything decent on there for ages) thinking it was new, turns out its from 2017. Still, a good watch and Ron Livingstone does the 'tough love' grump thing well.
David Morrissey the glue holding S3 of TWD together. Presumably it's all downhill from here?
The main problem with weekly cliffhangers now is the content farms that are social media outlets reveal/spoil/generally milk them to death.
It's been a long time because I watched them as they aired but actually I remember season's four through about six being my favourite of The Walking Dead. Rick just reaches peak "big lad" status at a certain point around then and it's a lot of fun to watch. He descends back into being a fanny at some point after that and it lost a lot of its appeal for me then. :D
I can't remember seasons now, it just became a steaming pile of turd that I actively hated for a while that it tainted the good bits of the show for me.
@Boydy (Or anyone else, I just remember talking about the book a little bit with you)
The Netflix adaptation of 3 Body Problem is out today. Have you watched any of it?
I've seen the first episode and it's alright to be fair. Obviously the characters and setting has changed quite considerably. But it was decent.
The flashback bits with young Ye Wenjie are the best bits by far from what I've seen. I still think they should have kept the whole thing set in China to be honest. I don't think it really needed "westernising". Although I know a Chinese television version of it does exist also, to I suppose that mitigates that to some extent.
Everything needs westernising. I've never 'ad sesame prawn toast and my 'ouse doesn't 'ave paper walls, TV's not relatable unless it's all about ME.
I liked the look of the trailer when I was scrolling Netflix last night and then I saw it was made by the GOT twats which has put me off a little.
Is the book series finished? Or will they be cobbling together some bullshit ending to ruin it all?
Is the whole trilogy being done in one series or are they doing a series per book, do you know @Alex?
Were you a big fan of the books?
I read the first one recently and it left me very, very cold. The central mystery just didn't hook me enough for the fact that most of the characters just went about announcing their character traits and blerping exposition. First book since Blood Meridien I considered just sacking off altogether. And I'm an absolute sucker for a series normally but have no interest in reading the follow ups to Three Body Problem so I can't decide whether to try the show or not.
I did laugh at seeing the GOT twats running the show and hearing 'So imagine the books but they rewrite all the main characters you liked and changed what happens'.
Absolute hacks.
I think the plan is that there will be more than one series of it, but also I read something saying the first season draws on elements of all three books. Do things happen in the different books that basically happen concurrently in the timeline though? I can't remember. I've not actually read the final one yet.
The main thing I want from season one isToggle Spoiler, give me a successful visual adaptation of that and I'll be happy.
I liked the first a book a lot, yeah. I know what you mean in that the writing wasn't always the most engaging (I think some of it is maybe lost in translation - this is a bigger problem with the second one I found) but the central plot and the idea of the whole thing was just fascinating to me, to the point where I couldn't put it down.
I did enjoy the second one to some extent too too but I found it a lot more clunky and difficult to get into the flow of. So book-wise you're definitely right giving the rest of them a wide berth if the first one didn't click with you.
The first episode definitely shows some promise though. I would say give it a go. I do worry that it might start to get a bit daft when they introduce "the game" on screen. There was like a "coming up this season" segment at the end of the first episode that had glimpses of it and it definitely looked like it had the potential to look a bit silly.
I'll maybe give it a go at some point. Having finished Mr and Mrs Smith (who was it asked about that in here? @Baz ? Whoever it was I really liked it overall) I've now gone onto Shogun so Three Body Problem will have to wait until at least after that.
First episode of Shogun was really good and yer man Cosmo Jarvis has a cracking voice.
I liked Mr and Mrs Smith too. The actually plot/story wasn't always the best (I mean it's a fake married couple who are spies, what do you want I guess) but I feel like it was secondary to how good Glover and the leading lady were just interacting together. The chemistry and dialogue was great. They had some cracking guest stars too.
Mr & Mrs Smith was a weird watch because the entire time I was watching it I couldn't tell if I was enjoying it or it was complete shit.
Also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csSaSrJJPRs
Now you're talking. Might need to rewatch the first series.
I did enjoy them together but I did say to a friend that Bezos should have put his money to work and kept continually reshooting the show with new couples until they stumbled upon a pairing that actually got off in real life. I rewatched the original movie after finishing the show and every scene has an aura of 'these two just had an absolutely depraved shag in the makeup room 5 minutes before the cameras were rolling'
New series of Invincible has been great so far
Watched the first two episodes of 3 Body Problem and really enjoyed them. The stuff with young Ye Wenjie could easily be its own show.
I was forced to watch that 1% quiz show at my in laws and realised my brain is built for it (unless it was a particular easy episode) so someone please @ me when they open applications so I can go and win it.
I rarely fail to get to the bit where they can take the £1000 and scarper, but I've only got the last question right once.
The first few, as with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire are always piss easy and it's a damning indictment of the national IQ that a third of our population are taken out by them.
My Mum was telling me about this today:
He came unstuck on the £1,000 question: "Which of these is a thick omelette made with fried onion and potatoes, popular in Spain? A: Tortilla B: Churros C: Croquetas and D: Gazpacho."
He apparently asked the audience and then went for Croquetas.
The anti-intellectual streak that runs through our culture is quite bizarre when you think about it. Anyone who tried genuinely hard at school was at best considered a bit odd, and at worst, mercilessly bullied. Absolutely no general desire for standards. Most of us, including me, are falling back on pure natural gifts / the fruits of what we were forced to do in adult life, because there was no social incentive to lift a finger at school.
Not knowing what a poncey Spanish omelette is called does not remotely diminish a man's worth.
Calling tortilla "poncey" is pretty lol.
I bet you even do the gay "torteeya" thing too.
To most people a tortilla is a wrap. That's actually quite difficult by £1000 question standards. In fact, the only reason I knew the answer was because I had been confused by it previously.
It wouldn't take much to know it's not the other 3 though.
Even I say tor-tee-ah and I grew up in an Essex council flat.
Spanish omelette. Or omelette if already in Spain.
It's fine to not know what a tortilla is but at least know SOMETHING and take pride in it.
I can see how you would answer crocketters for that boring question. I doubt the average Spaniard could answer an equivalent question about our food, and trivial knowledge seems like a matter of perspective.
Since it isn't 1975, our shops are absolutely rammed full of foreign food and my old man has to look hard for his pilchards and luncheon meat.
Tell you what, though. How much fucking shit ham is there in our supermarkets? Blows my mind that people eat that stuff, yet there are rows and rows of it in every shop.
What's a Barm Cake?
Like I said before, some poor Eastern European sounding sod got three questions about raining cats and dogs or other such idomatic language and got downed by the third.
I suppose in fairness to the tortilla person that word has other meanings in English.
Taz has lived here his whole life and only know Sheperd's Pie tbf.
That's not true, I tried some jellied eels the other month too, what a fucking disgrace they are. And there's the countless other dishes based around lazy useless council estate women sticking disgusting meat on a plate like frog in the hole, etc.
I'm only one Episode in, but "3 Body Problem" on Netflix is looking promising.
Watched the first two over the weekend. It's good so far but I've been in physics departments and the female lead is way too hot to be some sort of nanotechnology genius.
Also the scene in the bar where the two Very Smart Women coat off some bloke for trying to talk to them made me cringe deeply.
The scene where they introduce Samwell Tarley and immediately made it clear that his mate is gay, despite it being completely irrelevant to anything, had me cringing similarly. You just have to see past it these days.
Crowbaring minorities and identity politics into your story, even when it's irrelevant, is the only way to get past the Netflix exec's.
I watched one episode after seeing the hype on here. Certainly not for me.
Finnish Who Wants to be a Millionaire with the really tough questions.
I love the "hmmm" at the end. :D
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/20...d-eastern-asia
Eastern Asia and little in the way of useless crowbarred diversity quota couples judging from the picture. We're cooking :cool:
5 episodes in and I am enjoying 3 Body Problem, though I could see why someone might find it terrible. If you can turn off your inner critic then it's a fun watch with some interesting ideas.
Finished Loudermilk, bit gutted it's ended there as I've read about the plans for a fourth season that I can see working. Might still happen.
Picked Invincible up again as well - fucked off with shows who do massive mid season breaks. I've forgotten what's happened with a lot of the characters.
For those who enjoyed season one of Tokyo Vice, season two is nearly complete, and it's even better. It's really just one long continuous story, which didn't need to be split into two "seasons", so it picks up exactly where it left off.
Watched the Netflix live action Avatar a few weeks ago (which I loved) and I've dipped my toe into the animated series having never seen it.
I've come across a spectacular cameo, one of the best ever, in an episode today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6c1hyFGY3Y
Voiced by Mick Foley :cool:
I think Serena Williams also did a cameo in that show.
@Baz
So I'm nearly halfway through Shogun now. It's great stuff, and the end to episode 4. :drool:
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Discovery is back, they're still whispering and emotional.
Latest episode of X-Men 97 went hard as fuck.
Fallout tv show is great.
So pleasing to hear. Is it all available now?
As of today I believe.
I'll be getting on that once I'm done with Shogun.
Can’t wait to get started
Is it worth bothering with if you haven't played the game?
I've read a couple of reviews from people who also have no knowledge/experience of the games and the reviews were very positive.
It's not a big concept to grasp, really. World (well, possibly just America) gets nuked in the (strangely technically advanced) 50's. The world is knackered but there's no shortage of leather jackets.
It doesn’t get nuked in the 50s.
5 minutes in, what an opening.
I gave it about an hour, not for me.
Something quite wholesome about seeing Coop on my screen though.
The fifth X-Men episode took it from "wow this is surprisingly good for a nostalgia bait reboot" to "holy shit this might be better than the original run".
Watched the first episode of Fallout, it's a big thumbs up from me.
Will knock out a few episodes tomorrow.
It's incredibly bloody. The missus isn't enjoying it much but I think it's done a great job of capturing Fallout 3/4.
I think that's the main divide. The classic fallout nerds are all up in arms but it wasn't never going to be that.
I loved it, it’s not amazing but very enjoyable, a solid 6.7/7 out of 10 for sure. Looking forward to season two.
I enjoyed all the little nods to the games without needing to have played them to enjoy it.
I highly recommend Bottom Exposed that was recently on GOLD to any fans of Bottom.
Finished up Fallout last night and started on Baby Reindeer.
Pretty wild to think it's based on a true story as it's pretty nutty how many shitty decisions the guy made. R
Is Mr Robot any good? I’d not heard of it before today but the reviews suggest it’s great.
I noticed that after the grim fourth episode, which was a real showcase of lunacy from him.
Edit: The fifth episode... I'm struggling for words.
A bit bonkers might be an understatement. Great show, but at the same time it's so unique and weird that I would understand if it's not everybody's cup of tea.
Anyone watched Dark? Loving how complex and strange it is.
I really enjoyed it, but it's another one of those that will not be for everyone, especially with how easy it is to get lost.
It's brilliant.
Finished it. Wish I hadn’t bothered.
Back to Malcolm in the Middle.
Not bothered with Baby Reindeer yet, doing a complete watch of Dexter having never seen it before. Just starting Season 4.
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The excellent Shogun done and onto Fallout. It's decent innit?
5 and, I think, 7 were good. But the ending of 4 is a really great way to sign off if you so wish.
The recent one was terrible.
I haven't bothered with the recent Dexter, I was burned too much with the OG ending. Fuck it was bad.
Fallout is mega. Really enjoyed it
You know what's worse than this weather @Waffdon ? Jurassic World: Dominion.
Impressive they managed to make a film that bad, with a cast that good.
Is it really any worse than any of the sequel spin-off films? They're all variously wank/funny so it seems surprising that they'd have managed to make a genuinely bad one unless they've cut the dinos or something.
Dominion is the one where the film is actually about locusts isn't it?
That manage to fly whilst being on fire. Yeah.
There have been some bad Jurassic Park/World films, but this is much worse than the others.
Lost World is good, fight me.
The original was great, 2nd is OK, 3rd is poor. The first Jurassic World was decent, 2nd was poor and Dominion is absolute shite.
I haven't seen Dominion but Spikey has nailed the others.
Freeman delivering another masterclass in S2 of The Responder.
The start of this Joe Lycett thing seems like they should have just called it TFI Friday.
Hammered through Clarkson's farm S3 last weekend, still a really good watch.
Yeah really enjoyed it as well. Said to my missus it’s the best thing he’s done for years.
I didn't realise the second half was out until you lot started talking about it.
Started and finished the season today.
Absolutely class.
In a rare occurrence these days I didn’t realise any of it was out. Was just browsing last Saturday in the morning, saw it and thought that’ll do pig that’ll do.
8 hours later I was not disappointed.
Jack Dee and Rosie Jones cast for the next series of Taskmaster, the lord giveth and the lord taketh away.
I can't think of a worse format for Rosie Jones than that.
Six Feet Under is awesome. Late 90s and early 00s HBO really was something else.
God I sound like such a Gammon here - But, the problem is not only is she distinctly unfunny she also can’t fucking speak properly.
Proper Channel 4 thing to do to stick her on there. I suppose one of the issues is that they are running out of people to put on there now.
I'm sure she's funnier than the average person but just be a writer. We all have limitations, you can't pretend you don't.
My wife put on Britain's Got Talent last night, and it's just a freak show these days.
An autistic "comedian" with Tourettes and a blind couple performing You'll Never Walk Alone being the highlights.
https://youtu.be/uyAFYrrPT0I?si=n0dz5FyJUte5uto_
If he wins, it'll be a genuine shame that Prince Philip isn't alive to be there for it.
I saw a bit of it the other day and there was a terrible comedy sketch about various British accents or something.
Better than a Rosie Jones improv mind.
That'll be one of the only decent things on TV reduced to completely unwatchable. Pure C4 move though.
I’m rewatching Malcolm in the Middle and absolutely loving it… except the clip show episodes. Really takes the wind out of your sails, rewatching clips of episodes I’ve recently watched. Just sat through the second one, hopefully there are no more.
Still better than Rosie Jones though.
Rewatching Dexter, up to season four with John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer. He’s a fantastic as I remembered.
I'll always remember him as the dad from Harry and the Hendersons. Or the guy in the barbershop in The Day After that lays down the horrible truths about nuclear war.
He gets around.
Feels like Magic is talking about Michael C Hall, seeing as I don't think John Lithgow was in Six Feet Under.
John Lithgow is fantastic as Winston Churchill in The Crown.
I finally succumbed to IPTV (well, sort of, without the first sick) and my god I’ve been missing out. I won’t miss the dodgy streams
I was thinking the other day... I'm thinking of setting up a dodgy scheme... whereby, people in the UK pay me £xx a month, and I set up Vietnam TV Premier League subscription packages that you can log into from the UK (all games, Eng comms).. but you would need a VPN to access. 1) sound viable? 2) Is it this much cheaper than a normal sports package in the UK? Do most people in the UK have VPN's?
You could package in a VPN with it. I use Surfshark and it allows UNLIMITED connections/devices so I share it with loads of people. It’s good cos you don’t have to give out the email and password, they can select ‘login with code’ and send me a code, that I type into the app on my phone and wa-lah they’re logged in.
Package could be the Vietnamese login details and access to your Surfshark subscription, for the tidy sum of £xx a year. Surfshark has Vietnam on there as an option.
If you do this, please use my referral? https://surfshark.club/friend/3vF6RtTP
If you wanna test it out, you can login to mine if you want?
My guy uses a proxy so regardless of VPN he's protected. However, I also use ExpressVPN on my FireStick to protect myself.
How do you all go about actually paying for IPTV? I don't really want my details being in some dodgy seller's database.
By not being a paranoid weirdo.
He was the operator though. That's who they go after, not the end user.
Been nice knowing you, @Dark Soldier.
Tenner a month for me but never gone down and ultra-reliable.
PayPal for me. I pay for mine, Baz’s, our Dads and Baz’s father in laws. They then send me the money. I’ve not got a crimes.txt file though.
Bank transfer for me. I've also bought drugs that way and I still got a couple of mortgages and no visits from the bill.
As long as the reference isn't "IPTV" or "cocaine" then nobody is batting an eyelid. The suppliers might get themselves in the shit through being careless but that's their problem.
Even if it's cocaine, your bank probably isn't going to care about £50 in the grand scheme of things.*
*Not legal advice
The range of the man :drool:
Starting season 3 of Clarksons Farm but why is Prime showing me adverts? Gonna watch it illegally on Plex instead. :rolleyes:
Ah, sod that. Plex it is.
FFS though, dead pigs episode. :(
Watching 99 about United’s treble. Surprising to see so many of the squad involved.