TV - What's your passion (NON-sports)?

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Started watching The Endgame (NBC) with my wife. Seems like a bit of a Blacklist clone at the start of the series but I'm not sure how it will play out story-wise. I've always liked Morena Baccarin, so that's a plus. The acting and dialogue isn't necessarily *quite* as top notch as some other shows, but it has been entertaining enough to keep us interested through 2 episodes. Let's see how it goes once it gets into the full swing of things. A mild recommendation at this point.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Also started watching In from the Cold (Netflix) on a whim while donating blood yesterday. The story lines are a bit over the top, the daughter is a bit too teenager-y, the dialogue could use some help here and there, and the fact that she is the only surviving ex-Russian spy that can shape-shift and yet "Russia just lost track of her" (yet the CIA tracked her down somehow) is almost mind-blowingly silly.

I only caught about an episode and a half so far, but it is fairly entertaining. Just don't take it too seriously.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
I


I think it’s also possible he didn’t initially get the joke. Based on the quick shot of Jada I saw she looked irritated but more eye roll annoyed than knock this **** out
I think it's also also possible that it was one of those sorts of laughs that precedes violence: one of those, "Oh, you think you funny?" type of laughs.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Also started watching In from the Cold (Netflix) on a whim while donating blood yesterday. The story lines are a bit over the top, the daughter is a bit too teenager-y, the dialogue could use some help here and there, and the fact that she is the only surviving ex-Russian spy that can shape-shift and yet "Russia just lost track of her" (yet the CIA tracked her down somehow) is almost mind-blowingly silly.

I only caught about an episode and a half so far, but it is fairly entertaining. Just don't take it too seriously.
Finished season 1, and while the above still hold true, it is fairly entertaining throughout and there is definitely a twist or two in the last couple episodes (last few minutes of the season finale, in particular) that will keep me watching if they release season 2.
 
If you watched and liked Dopesick on Hulu, it was great, another series that is pretty good and educational is The Dropout about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Amanda Seyfried does a great job in this and getting to watch this story unfold is pretty unbelievable as I didn’t know anything about it.
 
Watching
Tokyo Vice….gets better and better with each episode. I think it’s solid

Just started Outer Range on Prime….after 1 episode, I’m wondering what exactly this is…..seems like there is going to be a little sci-fi? Brolin is in it and he’s always awesome.

Plugging away on Justified, in middle of season 4 now. Great show.

Better Call Saul is back tonight and I can’t wait to see how it all ends. An all-time great series.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Severance had possibly the best first season of TV I’ve ever seen.

Slow Horses is another slow burn but Gary Oldman remains another international acting treasure.

Both are on AppleTV+
The Afterparty
is another great little genre-bending comedy to watch while you’re there.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Also caught the first episode of Moon Knight (Disney+), and while I have no previous knowledge about the character, I'm all in on this show as well. Well done, and incredible acting by Oscar Issac.
Forgot to say that I finished this one a while back....Oscar Issac is fantastic. I understand as an "origin story" they had to delve deep into the multiple personality thing, but I was hoping for more Moon Knight and less of that (kind of like Mr. Robot, you don't need to keep beating a dead horse to establish what's going on inside their heads - that part can be shortened up considerably without losing anything in the story). Still, I'm sure as the characters in this are incorporated into the overall MCU we'll get some more of the superhero bits.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Forgot to say that I finished this one a while back....Oscar Issac is fantastic. I understand as an "origin story" they had to delve deep into the multiple personality thing, but I was hoping for more Moon Knight and less of that (kind of like Mr. Robot, you don't need to keep beating a dead horse to establish what's going on inside their heads - that part can be shortened up considerably without losing anything in the story). Still, I'm sure as the characters in this are incorporated into the overall MCU we'll get some more of the superhero bits.
I beg to differ. I think that we need to see more series that explore not merely different genres, but also spend more time showing us what these characters get into, when they're not dressed up in spandex, and whatnot. While I refuse to use the 'c-word' that is often thrown around as invective online, to describe superhero TV and movies, I will say that I enjoy watching shows that are set in a universe where amazing things happen, but the amazing things are not the point of the show. Like, one of the reasons why Jessica Jones remains one of my favorite superhero TV series is because it's not really a superhero show: it's a Private Eye show, where the Private Eye just happens to have super strength.

One of the things in these "street level" series that we haven't seen nearly enough of, in my opinion, is people with superpowers dealing with problems that their powers can't necessarily get them out of. I, for one, want to see more of that. And, in order to see more of that, we're going to have to see more of these characters when they're not in costume. I've very intrigued by the upcoming She-Hulk series, because I want to see which direction they take it in. I have long been of the opinion that the best version of a She-Hulk TV series would be based on the Dan Slott comic run, which would make the show a kind of cross between Sex and the City and Boston Legal, but with super powers. I also want to say that, so far, I am a big fan of the most recent comic run of She-Hulk, written by Rainbow Rowell, and think that it'd make for a good TV series as well, but the character would need to be way more established in the MCU for this run to work.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
I beg to differ. I think that we need to see more series that explore not merely different genres, but also spend more time showing us what these characters get into, when they're not dressed up in spandex, and whatnot. While I refuse to use the 'c-word' that is often thrown around as invective online, to describe superhero TV and movies, I will say that I enjoy watching shows that are set in a universe where amazing things happen, but the amazing things are not the point of the show. Like, one of the reasons why Jessica Jones remains one of my favorite superhero TV series is because it's not really a superhero show: it's a Private Eye show, where the Private Eye just happens to have super strength.

One of the things in these "street level" series that we haven't seen nearly enough of, in my opinion, is people with superpowers dealing with problems that their powers can't necessarily get them out of. I, for one, want to see more of that. And, in order to see more of that, we're going to have to see more of these characters when they're not in costume. I've very intrigued by the upcoming She-Hulk series, because I want to see which direction they take it in. I have long been of the opinion that the best version of a She-Hulk TV series would be based on the Dan Slott comic run, which would make the show a kind of cross between Sex and the City and Boston Legal, but with super powers. I also want to say that, so far, I am a big fan of the most recent comic run of She-Hulk, written by Rainbow Rowell, and think that it'd make for a good TV series as well, but the character would need to be way more established in the MCU for this run to work.
I agree with 95% of this - I loved the Jessica Jones/Daredevil/Luke Cage shows (go back and check what I said about them at the time, if you are interested), but Mr. Robot and Moon Knight, IMHO, just went a bit too far repeating the same thing over and over. To me, the Netflix Marvel series generally did a much better job of when they weren't in costume of mixing it up and showing the variety of issues in their lives - there was still some of the non-superhero repetitiveness (and I may have commented on it in one or two series?), but not as much where it felt quite as repetitive, if that makes any sense.

In any case, I still really enjoyed those two shows as well but I just thought they could have trimmed out a little content and not lost any of the story being told. Obviously, you feel otherwise. And I've got no problem with that. :)

Edit - and maybe part of this is due to Mr. Robot and Moon Knight having the same kind of repetitive issue (multiple personalities, dream sequences, etc.) that I'm feeling that? Maybe that's why this is sticking in my head a bit more because it is also repetitive from show to show?
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
We're probably splitting hairs over how much is "too much." Based on my familiarity with the comics, I'm inclined to feel like it's just about the right amount. But I've also never seen a minute of Mr. Robot, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
We're probably splitting hairs over how much is "too much." Based on my familiarity with the comics, I'm inclined to feel like it's just about the right amount. But I've also never seen a minute of Mr. Robot, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Mr. Robot is a pretty darn good show, but season 2 is just too much of his multiple personality stuff (for my taste). You should watch it.

I'm in the beginning of the 4th (and last) season of Mr. Robot right now. Season 2 was just hard to watch. I liked the setup in Season 1, and Season 3 and 4 (so far) have also been very good. Season 2 could have been cut down to 1/4 the length, if that, and still been just fine. I don't need a super long extended dive into his
mental illness.
It's...superfluous and unnecessary. Still, the show is highly recommended so far and I should finish it up this week sometime.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Started digging into Wheel of Time (Prime) and overall, not bad. Given the sheer volume of material they are working with they trimmed out a lot of the superfluous stuff and are keeping the story moving. The acting, etc., isn't quite as good as, say, GoT or some other other excellent shows, but I'm enjoying the show so far.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
My wife started a trial of Apple TV, and while we don't plan to pay for it once the trial ends, I'm definitely going to watch some things while we have the trial.

I started Foundation today. Production values are high, the acting is great, and the first episode has been pretty enjoyable so far (I'm not quite finished yet). But it seems like (from watching most of the first show, and then being curious due to what I'd seen so far) that there are going to be a LOT of changes from the book (and a quick google search verifies that: How Apple TV's 'Foundation' is different from the books | Mashable). While I'm happy that Asimov's overall "story arc" from the book is being brought to the screen, it is to a certain extent the Foundation story "in name only" and not in execution, which is frustrating and disappointing. You can make intelligent shows about challenging topics without dumbing it down and completely changing vast portions of the story. I'm not talking about some gender-swapping or some insertion of narrative or background to make characters more fleshed out. They are making some wholesale changes to vast portions of the book's themes, characters, and plot. And it's completely unnecessary.

While I recommend the show based on what I've seen so far, I wish they had either followed the story more closely or just made their own show without using the Foundation name and characters.
 
Teej asked if we could watch Winning Time, we started it. As a lifetime Laker hater I am dismayed at how likeable JCR's Jerry Buss is.

edit: Buss. I'm actually pleased as punch at how unlikeable West is portrayed.
 
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