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

[unapologetic]

First Television Broadcast NBC/RCA July 7, 1936 - 1/10
This was before video TAPE. So the actual vidio was not saved. We are seeing it here as FILMED from a film camera in the back of the room. The LIVE VIDEO camera is in front blocking our view.
Part 1) 20 min. (BORING)

part 2) 25 min. (BORING)

my rateing is 1/10, but it's historic.
NBC/RCA were RADIO broadcasters, so their experiance with filming anything was lame.

 

[Patooka]

The US version is too snarky for me.

In the UK they call that irony.

In Australia, saying the US version of HIGNFY is more snarky is pretty fucking wild. Ian Hilsop almost punched on with piers fucking morgan for fucks sake.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

That was funny, but it's a direct descendant of Dara O'Briain's Mock the Week, which was funnier.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Task HBO Crime

I'm only two episodes in. Looks like HBO did it again. Story's looking really good. It only lists seven episodes. Seven episodes is a crime in itself. It may still be running though.

 

[Swammerdami]

The Diplomat Season 1 got rave reviews. It was a fun political thriller. I posted about it 2½ years ago.
(2½ years ago!!! I guess time flies when you're having fun.)

I'm watching The Diplomat on Netflix. I love it! The lead is Keri Russell, who starred on The Americans.

Lots of series have been made about White House or other high U.S. office. West Wing was good, but took itself a bit too seriously. Some of the other shows were almost just slapstick. The Diplomat is a perfect compromise. Cerebral and humorous. Enjoy!

Yes. Liked the Night Agent. Well done show. Now watching The Diplomat. Very good

Hehe. I, too, moved on to The Diplomat. Enjoying it so far.

The Diplomat.

It's great! There are eight episodes so far. I binged them, which is rare for me. What's unheard of is that my wife binged them with me and we sometimes watched more than one episode a night.

Just watched episode 1. It depicted serious events in a serious tone, but also caused me to burst out laughing several times. So far, well written and acted; we’re looking forward to episode 2, hopefully tonight.

I think I was the only one to comment on Season 2:

But I was disappointed with The Diplomat Season 2.
... Another disappointment was that it almost "Jumped the Shark." I'm sure there was much in Season 1 that was implausible, but that helped the fun and the humor. For me, the twists in Season 2 just jerked the story too much. Of course I want to watch Season 3, but I'm not nearly as eager for it as I was for Season 2.

Season 3 is now available. (The actors playing Josh Lyman and C.J. Cregg from Bartlett's West Wing appear in some episodes. Spoiler:they are Potus and First Lady.)

I loved the political thriller of Season 1 with its elegant humor. But by Season 3 this show has degenerated into almost an X-rated situation-comedy with zero comedy. And with occasional detours into marital counseling. Ugh! I still enjoy it, but it does NOT (and perhaps COULD not) live up to its initial promise.

(Surely there are other Diplomat viewers here. Am I wrong?)

OR ... Do the cliff-hangers in the final five minutes of the final S3 episode save the series for another season? !!!!

 

[Shadowy Man]

I’m only on ep3 of diplomat season 3. Still enjoying songs but i agree it seems the plot is drifting.

 

[Swammerdami]

I watched Season 1 of The Sinner and have just started Season 2. Each Season is a different case, with a smart, compassionate and troubled detective as the recurring character. Dozens of witnesses and the viewer see the murder in Episode 1, so it is more of a Whydunnit than a Whodunnit. Wikipedia calls it "an American police procedural anthology television series" but I might describe it as "a low-keyed detective/psychology drama with a touch of noir." This suits my taste; others may enjoy it less. By "low-keyed" I mean it presents its story calmly without excess thrills or excitement.

A critical consensus shows "Smartly unpredictable and led by powerful performances from a talented cast, the darkly compelling The Sinner sinks its hooks in fast and doesn't let go." It gets 7.8 IMDB and 92% Tomatoes: -- Slightly too high perhaps, but it's still one of the best series I've watched for a while.

 

[Swammerdami]

Something that annoys me slightly about The Sinner and about some other films these days is a plethora of brief flash-backs. The female lead in Season 1 is always hand-cuffed in the present, so when she appears without handcuffs I deduce it's a flashback. I'm sure it's a clever way to tell a complex story and to build suspense, but I prefer a simple chronological narrative. (I was reminded of this complaint just now, watching S2E2.)

Looking at my list of very favorite movies, I see that almost NONE of them have any flashbacks at all! Casablanca has one very long flashback (to two lovers in Paris) but that back-story is VERY clearly delineated. Amadeus is presented as almost all a long flashback by a very old Salieri but that "flashback" is all in order, and never jumps back to the "present". With a very small number of exceptions similar to these, All my favorite movies use no flash-backs at all! Even Deja Vu, a time-travel movie, is presented in the protagonist's perceived chronological order.

 

[unapologetic]

my list of very favorite movies, I see that almost NONE of them have any flashbacks at all!

You will hate 'Memento'

 

[Swammerdami]

my list of very favorite movies, I see that almost NONE of them have any flashbacks at all!

You will hate 'Memento'

Instead Memento is one of my VERY favorite movies!! (Its only drawback is that, like many movies with twist endings, it's not fun to rewatch often.)

I'll leave it as an exercise to decipher my feelings about flashbacks and to help me rephrase my claim more carefully.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Just watched first episode of Pluribus (from the creator of Breaking Bad). I don’t know what to think yet. Will keep watching to see where it is headed.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

On the road, looking for something to watch, and stumbled upon “The Americans”, which I should have watched years ago, but didn’t expect my wife to be interested. I was hoping she would give it a chance because she likes Keri Russell in “The Diplomat”. We’ll
be watching more. The first episode gets a 9/10.

 

[Shadowy Man]

On the road, looking for something to watch, and stumbled upon “The Americans”, which I should have watched years ago, but didn’t expect my wife to be interested. I was hoping she would give it a chance because she likes Keri Russell in “The Diplomat”. We’ll
be watching more. The first episode gets a 9/10.

It’s good but it’s a slow burn compared to The Diplomat

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

On the road, looking for something to watch, and stumbled upon “The Americans”, which I should have watched years ago, but didn’t expect my wife to be interested. I was hoping she would give it a chance because she likes Keri Russell in “The Diplomat”. We’ll
be watching more. The first episode gets a 9/10.

It’s good but it’s a slow burn compared to The Diplomat

The Diplomat is burning it at both ends and up the middle. We’re not liking this season nearly as much as the first two.

 

[Swammerdami]

On the road, looking for something to watch, and stumbled upon “The Americans”, which I should have watched years ago, but didn’t expect my wife to be interested. I was hoping she would give it a chance because she likes Keri Russell in “The Diplomat”. We’ll
be watching more. The first episode gets a 9/10.

It’s good but it’s a slow burn compared to The Diplomat

The Diplomat is burning it at both ends and up the middle. We’re not liking this season nearly as much as the first two.

I agree that The Diplomat's Season 1 and 2 were much better than 3, though I couldn't articulate why. (Perhaps your "burning it at both ends and up the middle" sums it up well!) I liked The Americans but would rate it closer to 7¾ than 8½.

Much better than either is Big Little Lies; I'm glad to read that a Season 3 is in development. "Dark comedy" is one of my favorite genres.

 

[TV and credit cards]

my list of very favorite movies, I see that almost NONE of them have any flashbacks at all!

You will hate 'Memento'

Not flashbacks but there is a series called Counterpart which is similarly maddening. It took me all of the first season to train myself to first recognize which world they were in.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Just watched first episode of Pluribus (from the creator of Breaking Bad). I don’t know what to think yet. Will keep watching to see where it is headed.

I watched the first two episodes. Given Apple's track record so far, I worry about everything they offer up. But it's Vince Gilligan so the leash is long. I hope the characters are better developed moving forward. So far, I'm not impressed with the six people and how they are responding.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

my list of very favorite movies, I see that almost NONE of them have any flashbacks at all!

You will hate 'Memento'

Not flashbacks but there is a series called Counterpart which is similarly maddening. It took me all of the first season to train myself to first recognize which world they were in.

I would like to watch Counterpart but I’m not prepared to pay Amazon any more money.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Just watched first episode of Pluribus (from the creator of Breaking Bad). I don’t know what to think yet. Will keep watching to see where it is headed.

I watched the first two episodes. Given Apple's track record so far, I worry about everything they offer up. But it's Vince Gilligan so the leash is long. I hope the characters are better developed moving forward. So far, I'm not impressed with the six people and how they are responding.

In a show concept like this it will only succeed if the writers have really thought it through.

 

[Swammerdami]

Let me repeat a recommendation.

I watched Season 1 of The Sinner and have just started Season 2. Each Season is a different case, with a smart, compassionate and troubled detective

Spoiler: VERY troubled (Bill Pullman is a multi-talented award-winner, though I'd never heard of him.)

as the recurring character. Dozens of witnesses and the viewer see the murder in Episode 1, so it is more of a Whydunnit than a Whodunnit. Wikipedia calls it "an American police procedural anthology television series" but I might describe it as "a low-keyed detective/psychology drama with a touch of noir." This suits my taste; others may enjoy it less. By "low-keyed" I mean it presents its story calmly without excess thrills or excitement.

A critical consensus shows "Smartly unpredictable and led by powerful performances from a talented cast, the darkly compelling The Sinner sinks its hooks in fast and doesn't let go." It gets 7.8 IMDB and 92% Tomatoes: -- Slightly too high perhaps, but it's still one of the best series I've watched for a while.

The ratings I quoted probably included more seasons than just 1. I've watched Season 2 now -- much better than Season 1 -- so let me revise "Slightly too high" to be "Too low." There are Seasons 3 & 4 also, but I won't watch them soon. The show is too superlative to binge quickly.

I shouldn't have complained about the flashbacks. The stories are complex, and revelations ordered to maximize suspense (and sometimes to anticipate detective's growing understanding).

I don't know if others will like this very weird complex (overly complex?) detective drama -- Try it and tell me. (Elsewhere I say "dark comedy is one of my favorite genres": But there is zero comedy here.)