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What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]

Maniac (second review) (on Netflix)

Jonah Hill f'ing sucks.

Or maybe Emma Stone just so outshines him that she makes him look like he can't act his way out of a wet paper bag.

I liked this series at first. Hill does do a good job playing a depressed loser. But when required to play anything but that, he's almost physically painful to watch.

Between his performance and Stone's, it's like walking with one foot in sloshy mud and the other on firm ground.

The supporting cast is good and the subplots are fun, which makes Hill's acting even all the more hateable.

I couldn't finish the series, but if you like quirky sci-fi and can slog through Hill's parts, you'll like this series.
 
Cannonball Run 2001, Was on USA network in 2001, 1 season of 5 episodes. On Tubi now.
Like "The Amazing Race", in cars. Even had daily 'challenges'.
Unlike the original cannonball where the teams brought their own supped-up cars, this cannonball supplied the cars.
The cars looked nice. And interesting, a hearse, a pink Caddy, a truck, etc. But they were junkers. 3 of the 6 had 'car troubles' on the first day.
Two even had to be towed to the pit stop checkpoint. (One hour penalty the next day) And each had a big 'Cannonball' logo on the sides, that any cop could spot from a mile away.
The first leg was just from NYC to Maryland. Second leg was Maryland to Georga. Yicks, are they even gonna make it to California in only 5 episodes?
In the second leg teams got saddled with a new driver. Some of whom didn't seem to care that they were in a race. One going 40 MPH in a 55 zone.
How is that fair, or even a race if the teams are just passengers? Two more breakdowns.
I rate it 4/10. And probably won't finish it.
 
The Rookie. (2018) 5.1/10

Saccharine copaganda. It's nothing you haven't seen before in a procedural cop drama. But still fun to watch so long as you don't take it seriously. What's hilarious about the show was the hard turn it took after Chauvin murdered George Floyd. The LAPD is heavily involved with the production of the show and it definitely gives off Buscemi's, "how do you do fellow kids", vibe.

The Ark (2023) 5/10

I've mentioned it before and decided to give it another go. I came in with the wrong expectations first time around. It's an okay show to watch in the background whilst doing something else. Watch it whilst doing the ironing or something and it's not bad.

Fallout (2024) Fuck yes/10

I feel as though this entire post is a lesson on managing one's expectations before watching a show - something I'm fucking terrible at. No matter what, I was going to watch at least the first couple of episodes, but like most people on the planet have learned to caveat emptor whenever Bethesda is involved in general and certainly Todd fucking Howard in particular. And I was wrong. This show is so well made and well received even my Mum knows about it from an article she read in the Sunday Telegraph. I binge watched this with my housemate who has never played any of the games and he was up to speed with all of season 1. Because I've played all the games I pretty much picked up all the Easter egg references, but they weren't so obvious my housemate never once asked me, "what the fuck is that all about?". So from a sample size of 2 I can affirm that the show is enjoyable for fans and non fans alike - pretty fucking rare in this day and age.


I really hope Michael Dorn is in Season 2, but like I said, I'm going to try and manage my expectations

 
Douglas is Cancelled.

4 episodes.

If you ever worked in a male dominated environment in the 70s, 80s or 90s, this will remind you of those times, then make you cheer. Karen Gillan plays a character with a good understanding of how the world works and no intention of putting up with it.
 
Grand Star 2007, 1 season, 26 episodes, I rate it 3/10. Saw it on Tubi.
Mediocre sci-fi. But there is one great scene.
Set in a future where the Sun went nova and the earth is in an ice-age.
(ignore that for a minute)
People are hold-up in a large train station where several train lines connect. No other buildings, the station is the town.
One day the protagonist (age about 20) is on the train platform when a beam of light suddenly pierces the cloud cover.
Shines on him and an old man, and gives him a sunburn. He doesn't know what it is but the old man is saying "It's the Sun"
And it shuts off as suddenly as it started. Minutes later the cops show up and drags the old man and a few other witnesses away. Never to be seen again.
The cops didn't see our protagonist.
Later he's telling a friend:
Cal: "She saw the Sun."
Friend: "There is no Sun."
Cal: "I saw it."
Friend: "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
Cal: "I've seen electrical storms before. This was not one."
Friend: "Yeah, and there is no Sun, not anymore."
Cal: "She saw something. I'm gonna find out what it was."
(pause)
Friend: "Cal... What if she is telling the truth?
Cal: "The truth? No big deal. I mean if she is telling the truth it's just that, anything that our parents told us is a lie.
And the government has told us is a lie. Everything that we've been taught in those government education centers is garbage.
Our history, who we are now, is all crap."

Yes, yes, yes. I know that feeling.
When, in high school, I was the only one in town who could see that religion and the afterlife was a scam.
I stopped watching soon after this. It wasn't very good, and I was afraid they might turn the re-discovery of the Sun into an analogy of discovering religion.
 
American Primeval, 8/10; I'm two episodes in to this six part mini series. It starts with a true bloody event in America's history, The Mountain Meadows Massacre. This happened in 1857 when settlers and their militias, native Americans and federal government were all beefing about land. The violence can be quite graphic but there is plenty of action and it is well filmed and directed.
 
Supernatural. We started watching it like three times in the past, and just couldn't get into it. The abysmal washed out lighting where you just can't see much, and really pretty cardboard acting made us lose interest after just a handful of episodes. Finally had a friend tell us to stick it out to season 3, and it gets much better. Can confirm - we're in season 5 now and it's far more enjoyable now.

Also Suits off and on. The acting is fantastic and engaging... and Gina Torres makes me think lesbian thoughts. The only downside is that I really struggle to get past "but you actually are a criminal and a fraud, and every single decision you and everyone else makes is horrible". The premise itself is so incredibly unlikely it really strains my willing suspension of disbelief. I make it through a few episodes, then need a break because I end up focused on the appalling decision making skills of the people in charge.
 
Patooka said:
The Rookie. (2018) 5.1/10

Saccharine copaganda. It's nothing you haven't seen before in a procedural cop drama. But still fun to watch so long as you don't take it seriously. What's hilarious about the show was the hard turn it took after Chauvin murdered George Floyd. The LAPD is heavily involved with the production of the show and it definitely gives off Buscemi's, "how do you do fellow kids", vibe.
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That's about where we stopped watching it. It was really good in the beginning, but it got to where every single episode was trying to cram some social message down my throat. I'm very plebian - I don't read literature, I don't watch cinema. I read and watch tv and movies for pure entertainment, and as a break from thinking. If your show comes with a force-feeding agenda, I'm not going to watch it very long.

Blacklist got voted off the island for the same reason - one of the seasons got really political and we just stopped watching. Someone recently told me it fixed itself in the next season, maybe some day I'll give it another go.
Patooka said:
Fallout (2024) Fuck yes/10

I feel as though this entire post is a lesson on managing one's expectations before watching a show - something I'm fucking terrible at. No matter what, I was going to watch at least the first couple of episodes, but like most people on the planet have learned to caveat emptor whenever Bethesda is involved in general and certainly Todd fucking Howard in particular. And I was wrong. This show is so well made and well received even my Mum knows about it from an article she read in the Sunday Telegraph. I binge watched this with my housemate who has never played any of the games and he was up to speed with all of season 1. Because I've played all the games I pretty much picked up all the Easter egg references, but they weren't so obvious my housemate never once asked me, "what the fuck is that all about?". So from a sample size of 2 I can affirm that the show is enjoyable for fans and non fans alike - pretty fucking rare in this day and age.
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I enjoyed Fallout sooo much more than I expected to. I was prepared for it to be a major miss, and it wasn't. The only minor complaint I had was with their portrayal of the BoS as being so overly zealous and rigid, which doesn't really fit with my recollection of the games. Seemed like they're setting up a bit of a role reversal with BoS and Enclave, where Enclave are the "good guys" and BoS is the "nutjobs". Maybe I'm just misremembering their respective behaviors in FO-NV and FO3.
 
Emily Lake said:
Supernatural. We started watching it like three times in the past, and just couldn't get into it. The abysmal washed out lighting where you just can't see much, and really pretty cardboard acting made us lose interest after just a handful of episodes. Finally had a friend tell us to stick it out to season 3, and it gets much better. Can confirm - we're in season 5 now and it's far more enjoyable now.
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Can confirm. My wife was hooked on it so I caught it while she was watching. I got hooked too.

There's still talk of bringing it back.
 
Emily Lake said:
The only minor complaint I had was with their portrayal of the BoS as being so overly zealous and rigid, which doesn't really fit with my recollection of the games. Seemed like they're setting up a bit of a role reversal with BoS and Enclave, where Enclave are the "good guys" and BoS is the "nutjobs". Maybe I'm just misremembering their respective behaviors in FO-NV and FO3.
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Yeah, I think your recollection is a bit off. The BoS is the most inconsistent faction in the Fallout universe. FO1 had them portrayed as a militia, 2 had them on the verge of extinction. 3 had them portrayed as pretty much the East Coast version of the NCR (ironically the Outcasts acted more like traditional BoS) and New Vegas has them as isolationist bigots on the verge of extinction again. And fallout 4 definitely had them as purity fanatics where anything outside their version of the ideal human should be exterminated.

And I know Fallout tactics isn't canon, but in that game even ghouls and super mutants joined the Brotherhood. To be fair I would say the only thing that is consistent with the Brotherhood of Steel is their use of power armour in each iteration.
 
Patooka said:
Emily Lake said:
The only minor complaint I had was with their portrayal of the BoS as being so overly zealous and rigid, which doesn't really fit with my recollection of the games. Seemed like they're setting up a bit of a role reversal with BoS and Enclave, where Enclave are the "good guys" and BoS is the "nutjobs". Maybe I'm just misremembering their respective behaviors in FO-NV and FO3.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think your recollection is a bit off. The BoS is the most inconsistent faction in the Fallout universe. FO1 had them portrayed as a militia, 2 had them on the verge of extinction. 3 had them portrayed as pretty much the East Coast version of the NCR (ironically the Outcasts acted more like traditional BoS) and New Vegas has them as isolationist bigots on the verge of extinction again. And fallout 4 definitely had them as purity fanatics where anything outside their version of the ideal human should be exterminated.

And I know Fallout tactics isn't canon, but in that game even ghouls and super mutants joined the Brotherhood. To be fair I would say the only thing that is consistent with the Brotherhood of Steel is their use of power armour in each iteration.
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I never played FO1 or FO2. They were definitely "pure human" focused in FO4, but the weird religious aspect that the TV show has didn't seem to be there - but like I said, I really never joined the faction so maybe I missed it. I think what struck me was that most of the TV show seems to be FO3 based. Maybe not the locale, but the general storyline seems to run closer to the Dad leaves the vault for mysterious purpose so protagonist has to leave/escape from vault in chaos, goes to cobbled-together town (Megaton) and starts following clues that involve a conflict between Brotherhood and Enclave. But in FO3, Enclave were the borderline cult, whereas the TV show seems to be positioning Enclave as the noble-sciency-dudes.

I have to confess, I really disliked FO3 on the whole, so there are definitely bits with BoS vs Outcast that I really never got into. I've played it twice. The first time, I don't think I ever finished the main quest, and I mostly played the DLCs. The second time, I stuck to the main quest, but I was so irritated by the dinginess and dirt that I don't think I did more than one or two side quests.

Never even heard of Fallout Tactics. Tried Fallout Shelter... but it's totally not my style of game at all.
 
Severance 10/10
Just finished binge watching season one in preparation for starting in on season two. Being able to watch season one in its entirety helps me of piss poor memory. This is my new #1 show. It's a bad time to be an Apple hater right now, let me tell you. I just needed a breather after that final episode. I hope season two doesn't disappoint or I'll have to reconsider bumping Deadwood.
 
I started Euphoria and am up to Episode 3. My summary is
Wow!!​
Present-day TV makes the TV I watched as a child in the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960's seem extremely timid, tame and tedious.
But Euphoria exceeds even 21st-century standards. The star is the young award-winning Zendaya, who also played Chani in Dune 1 & 2.

I do have a question for any biochemists reading this. She takes fentanyl involuntarily (it does make her very happy). I'm so ignorant that I Googled "fentanyl" and learned it's an opiate 50 times more potent than heroin. I had naively assumed that heroin was a good agonist for "heroin receptors"; what gives fentanyl its high potency? Google quickly tells me that 1 milligram of fentanyl might be LESS than a lethal dose. Does that mean 50 mg of pure heroin might not be lethal? Why do none of the Google hits want to describe heroin lethality quantitatively?

I'll probably keep watching the exciting(?) Euphoria if only because it's so ... different.
 
Swammerdami said:
I do have a question for any biochemists reading this. She takes fentanyl involuntarily (it does make her very happy). I'm so ignorant that I Googled "fentanyl" and learned it's an opiate 50 times more potent than heroin. I had naively assumed that heroin was a good agonist for "heroin receptors"; what gives fentanyl its high potency? Google quickly tells me that 1 milligram of fentanyl might be LESS than a lethal dose. Does that mean 50 mg of pure heroin might not be lethal? Why do none of the Google hits want to describe heroin lethality quantitatively?
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Not a biochemist... but I would guess it's because there's no clinical data on heroin, seeing as it's never been used clinically? Most lethality in prescription drugs is measured as LD50 - the dose that results in death for 50% of subjects.

LD50 for morphine is 400 mg/kg in rats. Oxycodone is 320 mg/kg. LD50 for fentanyl is 3.1 mg/kg in rats.

Fentanyl is some diabolical stuff, and NOBODY should take it outside of a monitored clinical setting ever.
 
Emily Lake said:
I would guess it's because there's no clinical data on heroin, seeing as it's never been used clinically?
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Heroin is a TRADE NAME. it was developed specifically for clinical use (By Bayer), who marketed it extensively as a wonder drug for pain control.

Only when its addictive qualities and recreational use became known did it cease to be widely used in clinical settings.

It is still used clinically for palliative care patients, in whom addiction is not considered a relevant concern.
 
Do none of ya's watch Shoresy?

Huh?

Yeah so, if you love hockey or are from Canada (loving hockey being implied) this series on Hulu is absolutely hilarious. Season 4 comes out in a month in the US - already available in Canada on Crave.

aa
 
bilby said:
Emily Lake said:
I would guess it's because there's no clinical data on heroin, seeing as it's never been used clinically?
Click to expand...
Heroin is a TRADE NAME. it was developed specifically for clinical use (By Bayer), who marketed it extensively as a wonder drug for pain control.

Only when its addictive qualities and recreational use became known did it cease to be widely used in clinical settings.

It is still used clinically for palliative care patients, in whom addiction is not considered a relevant concern.
Click to expand...
Didn't know that.

Given that, I have no idea why I can't find LD50 for heroin online. Like, at all.
 
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