The amazing thing to me is that they keep finding places to go with the show, the first season premise would seem to have boxed the show into a corner after the big reveal but they just keep surprising me.
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What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]
- Thread starter Narapoia
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The amazing thing to me is that they keep finding places to go with the show, the first season premise would seem to have boxed the show into a corner after the big reveal but they just keep surprising me.
Opoponax
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Project Blue Book
This is new dramatic sci-fi show about the U.S. government's official investigation into the UFO phenomenon. The atmosphere and story lines are good, and the events are intriguing. However, what should be a really fun guilty pleasure is constantly shanked in the back by one poorly written character who, for lack of a better word, is just a completely unbelievable dick-bag. The other characters are written with varying degrees of competency, but none are what you'd think of as good. And that's the show's biggest problem. It hits all the right notes except that, which is a pretty damn big problem.
But I'll keep watching in the hopes that it gets better. It just needs someone to come in and clean up the crap parts and this could be a good show.
Oh, it's very X-Files-y, but it's all UFO stuff, and utterly lacks the chemistry that existed between Mulder and Scully.
This is new dramatic sci-fi show about the U.S. government's official investigation into the UFO phenomenon. The atmosphere and story lines are good, and the events are intriguing. However, what should be a really fun guilty pleasure is constantly shanked in the back by one poorly written character who, for lack of a better word, is just a completely unbelievable dick-bag. The other characters are written with varying degrees of competency, but none are what you'd think of as good. And that's the show's biggest problem. It hits all the right notes except that, which is a pretty damn big problem.
But I'll keep watching in the hopes that it gets better. It just needs someone to come in and clean up the crap parts and this could be a good show.
Oh, it's very X-Files-y, but it's all UFO stuff, and utterly lacks the chemistry that existed between Mulder and Scully.
hurtinbuckaroo
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Great show. Shockingly good for network TV.
KeepTalking
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Deadly Class 7/10
This series on SyFy is based on a comic book by one of my current favorite comic book writers, Rick Remender. Although this series is based on a comic book, it is not about super heroes. In fact, although he has done a considerable amount of work for Marvel, none of Remender's independent work involves super heroes at all. Deadly Class is about a prep school for assassins, King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts. Given that premise, you might think that this would be a John Wick style of action show. Deadly Class isn't that. Of course there is some action, but it is more about the characters, who are far from one the dimensional caricatures that action flicks like John Wick seem to demand. Most of the kids at King's Dominion are the children of mob bosses and other wealthy criminals, but the protagonist, Marcus, is a homeless kid recruited by the Headmaster (Benedict Wong) because of his reputation. Henry Rollins has a role as one of the teachers, the Poison Lab instructor Mr. Denke. Other than Ryan Robbins, who has a fairly small role, most of the other actors/actresses are relatively unknown, but so far they are all putting in good performances.
So far I am only 2 episodes in (the third episode aired Wed night and I haven't seen it yet), and I like how it visually emulates the comics in a number of ways. Given the style of the artwork, this is not necessarily the easiest feat to pull off, but one way they do it is by animating students back stories in the same style of the comics, when those back stories are presented (so far they have done one in each of the first two episodes). If they continue to follow the story from the comics, there should be a huge swerve in the series in a few episodes but I am not confident that will happen. I think it is more likely that if they make the shift at all, it will come at the end of the season. If they do it, I will rate this series a point higher. Yes, I am being a bit cagey, as I don't want to spoil it for those who have not read the comics, and I kind of doubt that there are very many Rick Remender fans reading this.
One other thing I have to say is regarding the SyFy channel. When they changed their name a decade ago, and made a shift in their programming away from good science fiction TV, I stopped watching the channel entirely. For a while they had nothing going for them, they started doing wrestling, and cooking shows ffs, and of course there were all of those terrible monster movies starring C-list celebrities and has beens. In the past few years, though, they have really started redeeming themselves with quality TV shows. I have high hopes that Deadly Class will continue this new tradition. SyFy is winning my eyeballs back.
This series on SyFy is based on a comic book by one of my current favorite comic book writers, Rick Remender. Although this series is based on a comic book, it is not about super heroes. In fact, although he has done a considerable amount of work for Marvel, none of Remender's independent work involves super heroes at all. Deadly Class is about a prep school for assassins, King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts. Given that premise, you might think that this would be a John Wick style of action show. Deadly Class isn't that. Of course there is some action, but it is more about the characters, who are far from one the dimensional caricatures that action flicks like John Wick seem to demand. Most of the kids at King's Dominion are the children of mob bosses and other wealthy criminals, but the protagonist, Marcus, is a homeless kid recruited by the Headmaster (Benedict Wong) because of his reputation. Henry Rollins has a role as one of the teachers, the Poison Lab instructor Mr. Denke. Other than Ryan Robbins, who has a fairly small role, most of the other actors/actresses are relatively unknown, but so far they are all putting in good performances.
So far I am only 2 episodes in (the third episode aired Wed night and I haven't seen it yet), and I like how it visually emulates the comics in a number of ways. Given the style of the artwork, this is not necessarily the easiest feat to pull off, but one way they do it is by animating students back stories in the same style of the comics, when those back stories are presented (so far they have done one in each of the first two episodes). If they continue to follow the story from the comics, there should be a huge swerve in the series in a few episodes but I am not confident that will happen. I think it is more likely that if they make the shift at all, it will come at the end of the season. If they do it, I will rate this series a point higher. Yes, I am being a bit cagey, as I don't want to spoil it for those who have not read the comics, and I kind of doubt that there are very many Rick Remender fans reading this.
One other thing I have to say is regarding the SyFy channel. When they changed their name a decade ago, and made a shift in their programming away from good science fiction TV, I stopped watching the channel entirely. For a while they had nothing going for them, they started doing wrestling, and cooking shows ffs, and of course there were all of those terrible monster movies starring C-list celebrities and has beens. In the past few years, though, they have really started redeeming themselves with quality TV shows. I have high hopes that Deadly Class will continue this new tradition. SyFy is winning my eyeballs back.
Fake or Fortune on BBC 4. Experts try to determine if paintings are real and the proper connections can be made to prove it. The forensics are a neat part of the show. Very interesting histories. By the end I often feel engaged and either happy or sorry for the owners. Which is funny, because they are usually trying to prove their Monet or Rembrandt is real so they can sell it for millions and fix up the west wing of the castle they inherited along with the paintings....and I live in a trailer and feel sorry for them...lol
Good show thought...7/10
Good show thought...7/10
prideandfall
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Russian Doll: 2/10
so imagine if a bunch of 2nd year film school students wrote a Groundhog's Day ripoff while stoned at an avant garde art show with their hipster social clique in New York, somehow managed to trick a distribution service and a bunch of actors into making it, and then imagine it's somehow even worse than that.
it's like Groundhog's Day (or in a lot of ways more like Edge of Tomorrow) but without any of the charm, or the humor, or likeable characters, or any of it being believable or relatable, and everyone is both an idiot and an asshole, and the ending is a ridiculously schmaltzy spielburgian pile of bullshit.
so imagine if a bunch of 2nd year film school students wrote a Groundhog's Day ripoff while stoned at an avant garde art show with their hipster social clique in New York, somehow managed to trick a distribution service and a bunch of actors into making it, and then imagine it's somehow even worse than that.
it's like Groundhog's Day (or in a lot of ways more like Edge of Tomorrow) but without any of the charm, or the humor, or likeable characters, or any of it being believable or relatable, and everyone is both an idiot and an asshole, and the ending is a ridiculously schmaltzy spielburgian pile of bullshit.
Opoponax
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Yeah. We watched the first episode, and it was hipster douche TV. At times it felt like it was going somewhere, but just became blah.
Future Man
Exclusively on HULU, this one starts off kind of rough, but if you hang with it, it really grows on you. It's about a video gamer who's pretty dorky. He finally beats a level on a video game, which triggers post apocalyptic warriors from the future to show up at his house because they sent the video game back in time as a would-be training aid for a potential warrior. Vulgarity, gore, action, and hilarity ensues. It really is a pretty fun show.
ronburgundy
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The Orville 7/10 (that's high for me, gotta leave room for perfection)
Season 1 was very good, and I think Season 2 has been even better so far, despite some occasional moments of smarmy smiles and googly eyes as the crew tries to hard to how much they care about each other. In tone, characters, and storylines it's arguably closer to a blend of the original Star Trek and The Next Generation than any Trek variant since, although with some of of MacFarlane's boundary pushing silliness and sense of humor. A good example is the season premiere where the crew join one of the members (an obvious homage to Worf) to his home planet to watch him engage in his annual sacred ritual of pissing off a cliff. Another episode deals with relationship damaging porn addiction due to use of the holodeck to have fake sex (those are plot lines obvious from the start of the episode, so not really spoilers).
The show also features some good tunes, due to MacFarlane's taste in emotive music. An episode where he bonds with a female Krill (who are kinda analogous to Klingons), has a great use of Billy Joel's "She's always a woman to me."
Although I am a long time fan of Family Guy and American Dad, I have seen reviews by people who hate those shows giving high praise to Orville and doing a 180 on it.
There was a lot of a priori bias against the show. It's Rotten Tomato meter is 31% for Season 1, with most critic reviews given after a single episode, but it's at 100% for Season 2, closer to the audience score of 93% for both seasons.
Season 1 was very good, and I think Season 2 has been even better so far, despite some occasional moments of smarmy smiles and googly eyes as the crew tries to hard to how much they care about each other. In tone, characters, and storylines it's arguably closer to a blend of the original Star Trek and The Next Generation than any Trek variant since, although with some of of MacFarlane's boundary pushing silliness and sense of humor. A good example is the season premiere where the crew join one of the members (an obvious homage to Worf) to his home planet to watch him engage in his annual sacred ritual of pissing off a cliff. Another episode deals with relationship damaging porn addiction due to use of the holodeck to have fake sex (those are plot lines obvious from the start of the episode, so not really spoilers).
The show also features some good tunes, due to MacFarlane's taste in emotive music. An episode where he bonds with a female Krill (who are kinda analogous to Klingons), has a great use of Billy Joel's "She's always a woman to me."
Although I am a long time fan of Family Guy and American Dad, I have seen reviews by people who hate those shows giving high praise to Orville and doing a 180 on it.
There was a lot of a priori bias against the show. It's Rotten Tomato meter is 31% for Season 1, with most critic reviews given after a single episode, but it's at 100% for Season 2, closer to the audience score of 93% for both seasons.
spikepipsqueak
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Yeah, I am spitting chips that I didn't find this until well into the first season. Loving it.
Ford
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DBT
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Watching 'Weeds' ...which portrays an incredibly dissolute social order, or more to the point, social disorder. Hopefully it doesn't portray life in America as it actually is.
DrZoidberg
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Handmaid's tale season 1 & 2 (6/10)
It's a kind of what if scenario if the Iranian revolution had happened in USA. To make it more believable they throw in an affliction that have left most people sterile. So "fallen" fertile women are forced by the religious elite to be surrogate mothers for their sterile wives. Well, acted and beautifully filmed. It's slow. Which I like. One great thing about it is that it's largely seen from the perspective of the main character, who is a surrogate mother. So the audience is lacking a lot of information about what is going on. Makes it more surreal, which is good. It's touted as a feminist series. The book certainly was. But I'm not seeing it for the series. I see it more as an example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of the gender of who is in power.
I binge watched both seasons. I initially loved it, but grew out of love. It doesn't really go anywhere. The last episodes of the second seasons they're just milking it IMHO. It's now renewed for a third season. Not sure if I'll watch it.
It was based on a novel which spanned the first season. But not the second. The shift is noticeable in a drop in consistency of the characters.
It's a kind of what if scenario if the Iranian revolution had happened in USA. To make it more believable they throw in an affliction that have left most people sterile. So "fallen" fertile women are forced by the religious elite to be surrogate mothers for their sterile wives. Well, acted and beautifully filmed. It's slow. Which I like. One great thing about it is that it's largely seen from the perspective of the main character, who is a surrogate mother. So the audience is lacking a lot of information about what is going on. Makes it more surreal, which is good. It's touted as a feminist series. The book certainly was. But I'm not seeing it for the series. I see it more as an example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of the gender of who is in power.
I binge watched both seasons. I initially loved it, but grew out of love. It doesn't really go anywhere. The last episodes of the second seasons they're just milking it IMHO. It's now renewed for a third season. Not sure if I'll watch it.
It was based on a novel which spanned the first season. But not the second. The shift is noticeable in a drop in consistency of the characters.
Teen Wolf - 6/10
Standard teen drama about this high school kid who gets bitten by a werewolf and has to deal with all that bullshit while finding out that the cute girl in class he just fell in love with is a member of a family of werewolf hunters who are in town to hunt down and kill the pack he's now a part of. It's actually way better written than most similar types of shows and interesting characters and surprisingly clever dialogue.
The main problem with it is that they try and do way too much. For instance, in the second season they had thirteen episodes and four completely different sets of bad guys with four completely different storylines, so something happens and then they get back to it two or three episodes later. Also, they keep recycling the main villains and they continuously come back and ... don't really do anything. As an example, they resurrected the main bad guy from the first season at the start of the second and then had him randomly wander onscreen every few episodes for a while before inconclusively wrapping up his new storyline at the end of the fourth season and that wasn't a unique reuse of old bad guys.
Also, they put together a two or three season story arc for this series when they started it and it went on for six seasons and in the last ones, they clearly had no idea where to go with the show.
Also also, at no point in the entire show did anybody ask for a keg of beer. Da fuck was with that? That's like having a Hulk movie where he never opines about how he should perhaps smash something.
Standard teen drama about this high school kid who gets bitten by a werewolf and has to deal with all that bullshit while finding out that the cute girl in class he just fell in love with is a member of a family of werewolf hunters who are in town to hunt down and kill the pack he's now a part of. It's actually way better written than most similar types of shows and interesting characters and surprisingly clever dialogue.
The main problem with it is that they try and do way too much. For instance, in the second season they had thirteen episodes and four completely different sets of bad guys with four completely different storylines, so something happens and then they get back to it two or three episodes later. Also, they keep recycling the main villains and they continuously come back and ... don't really do anything. As an example, they resurrected the main bad guy from the first season at the start of the second and then had him randomly wander onscreen every few episodes for a while before inconclusively wrapping up his new storyline at the end of the fourth season and that wasn't a unique reuse of old bad guys.
Also, they put together a two or three season story arc for this series when they started it and it went on for six seasons and in the last ones, they clearly had no idea where to go with the show.
Also also, at no point in the entire show did anybody ask for a keg of beer. Da fuck was with that? That's like having a Hulk movie where he never opines about how he should perhaps smash something.
Jimmy Higgins
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Cow and Chicken - Yeah, I saw this was available on demand via Sling TV. Watching some of the first season material, before they got more serious with the Terran plot line.
I AM WEASEL! of 4
I AM WEASEL! of 4
Opoponax
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Future Man
I mentioned this in an earlier post, but wanted to mention it again. This is one of the best shows on Hulu. If you like sci-fi time travel stuff, nostalgia, and humor, you'll dig this show. I can't recommend it enough. It's clever as hell and the characters develop really well. Because time travel plays such a large role in the show, there are a million plot holes, but that's okay because the show is just supposed to be fun. Also though, in the final episode of the second season, they do actually address the severe problems created by so much time travel.
8.75/10
Brittania (Amazon Prime)
I've only watched one episode, but "tedious" comes to mind. It has potential though, so I'll give it a few more episodes.
I mentioned this in an earlier post, but wanted to mention it again. This is one of the best shows on Hulu. If you like sci-fi time travel stuff, nostalgia, and humor, you'll dig this show. I can't recommend it enough. It's clever as hell and the characters develop really well. Because time travel plays such a large role in the show, there are a million plot holes, but that's okay because the show is just supposed to be fun. Also though, in the final episode of the second season, they do actually address the severe problems created by so much time travel.
8.75/10
Brittania (Amazon Prime)
I've only watched one episode, but "tedious" comes to mind. It has potential though, so I'll give it a few more episodes.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
I felt the same but I wonder if part of that was because of binge watching. Sometimes the dialogue between characters became excruciatingly slow.
Watched the first episode of Miracle Workers, pretty funny show so far. Based on clips of future episodes I'm not sure how well I'll like some plotlines (God visiting his parents?) but it seems solid enough that I'll give it a go for a good while at least.
DrZoidberg
Contributor
Regarding the slowness. This is what I think. What makes the Handmaid's tale a great book is that fact that it's told from Ofred's point of view. The reader of the book doesn't know anything that Ofred doesn't know. The fascist government mostly comes across as strange, random of frightening. Which is how totalitarianism is seen from people under it. So for conversations with those above in the power pyramid it will make even the most mundane conversation tense and interesting. They used this to great effect in the beginning of the TV series. But as the story unfolds we are made privy to more and more information. So towards the end of the second season it's, pretty much, much like any other drama TV series. At that point the slowness doesn't add tension. It just becomes a bore.
Another thing I've thought about. I really like Ofred's acting. She has to be stonefaced to the people around her, but still convey emotion to the audience. That must be very difficult. That's done masterfully IMHO. Also adds tension.
Just watched the 60 Minutes Australia's investigation of Shelley Miscavige and Scientology. Very well done. Everyone should watch it.
Of course, there's tons of books, TV, and movies people should watch about Scientology, but Leah Remini's show with Mike Rinder exposing the cult has really upped the game of late. I'm guardedly hopeful. I've learned from twenty years of being out of the cult and following news and critics that every time it seems like curtains for the cult, nothing significant happens to stop their fraud and other crimes including imprisoning and enslaving people. Who knows how long an utterly conscienceless cult run by utterly conscienceless people will last, given that they have no real boundaries on what they are willing to do to critics.
There's also a lot of parallels to the Trump administration. When the only principle guiding your decisions is loyalty to the authority and any pain and suffering caused in the pursuit of protecting and feeding that authority is just not important compared to that grand goal, a whole universe of options open up to you in regard to the evil you can commit. Scientology, like Christianity, is a machine that produces right wing authoritarian followers. Questioning is a mortal sin.
Of course, there's tons of books, TV, and movies people should watch about Scientology, but Leah Remini's show with Mike Rinder exposing the cult has really upped the game of late. I'm guardedly hopeful. I've learned from twenty years of being out of the cult and following news and critics that every time it seems like curtains for the cult, nothing significant happens to stop their fraud and other crimes including imprisoning and enslaving people. Who knows how long an utterly conscienceless cult run by utterly conscienceless people will last, given that they have no real boundaries on what they are willing to do to critics.
There's also a lot of parallels to the Trump administration. When the only principle guiding your decisions is loyalty to the authority and any pain and suffering caused in the pursuit of protecting and feeding that authority is just not important compared to that grand goal, a whole universe of options open up to you in regard to the evil you can commit. Scientology, like Christianity, is a machine that produces right wing authoritarian followers. Questioning is a mortal sin.