TV recommendation thread

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Watching Travellers, which looks OK so far, although they pretty much revealed everything straightaway, which was odd. Unless, of course, there are secrets within secrets, agendas within agendas and wheels within wheels.

Eh, probably not in the way you mean. The first episode takes its time revealing what the Travelers are, but after that they become the protagonists and you mostly know everything they know. Of course, there are a number of things they don't know.
 
Watched The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. An adaptation of the Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba comic that treats an X-Men like clan of superheroes as a dysfunctional family. Quite fun, strong cast and with some nice twists. The only issue I had was with some music cues that felt off but it gets stronger as it progresses and ends well although clearly with a big cliffhanger to set up another season.

I'm a big fa of Ba and his brother Fabio Moon's comic work in Casanova, Daytripper and Two Brothers. This is a more conventional superhero comic but strikes enough new notes to feel fresh to me.

 
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I've been slowly making my way through the 800+ episodes of One Piece. I haven't gotten very far, but I can see why this is considered the gold standard of shonen anime.

It's affected my life in several ways:

  • I wear a straw hat now. Everywhere. I get looks.
  • In the past, my superpower of choice was invisibility. Now, I want elastic powers.
  • Anytime I do anything noteworthy, I give it a special name and announce it loudly just before doing it.
  • I'm eating a hell of a lot more fruit now. 'Cause you never know.
  • I've decided on a career change: I'm now going to be a pirate. I've already booked a trip to Somalia. I'll let you guys know how that works out once I get there and get settled in.
  • I'm now resolved to be annoyingly cheerful in the face of adversity or certain death.
  • I've never thought much of tattoos on a woman. Nami has changed my mind about that.
  • I'll admit that my kenjutsu is weak, but my skill has improved by my adopting a three sword technique: one in each hand and one in my mouth. I'm also typing this one-handed from the hospital.
  • I wear a green bandanna around my head whenever I'm about to get serious.
  • A good chef is a higher priority than a good doctor.
  • I've decided that if I ever run a country, I'm going to force my marines to wear sleeveless sailor shirts with baseball caps with the word "MARINE" printed on the cap. Also, all ships, planes, etc. will have MARINE printed on the sides. Our enemies will be laughing so hard, they'll be easy pickings.
 
Watching Travellers, which looks OK so far, although they pretty much revealed everything straightaway, which was odd. Unless, of course, there are secrets within secrets, agendas within agendas and wheels within wheels.

Finished 3 series of Travellers, pretty good, but lost its way a bit in the middle. Watched Umbrella Academy, sort-of enjoyed it, not sure if it's any good. Am currently watching Titans and it's OK.
 
Started watching Russian Doll on Netflix. We're in two episodes and it's quite hilarious so far.

Also, the new season of The Big Family Cooking Showdown is now on Netflix. This makes for great tacky zero-effort watching during afternoon coffee. :shade:
 
Wiseguy. Just started watching this again. It's 80s TV, sure, but it's miles ahead of many of its contemporaries. If multi-episode story arcs are your thing, this is the show for you. I'm really surprised this show doesn't get brought up more often in discussions of great 1980s crime shows. Ken Wahl plays Vinnie Terranova an undercover Fed who goes to prison to establish a criminal identity, and then goes to work. Gritty, gripping and not to be missed.

 
Watched The Umbrella Academy on Netflix.
Just watched it last weekend, and read this comics this week. The show wasn't perfect, but I actually like it more than the comic. The comic has that kind of jaunty nihilism that was popular in the 90's, and I'm really tired of that sort of thing. That ruined the Preacher TV adaptation for me. The comic has a bit more retro-futurism and pulpiness, and I think they were right to leave most of that behind for the TV show. Also, the Apocalypse Suite storyline in the comics was a lot more comic booky. Honestly, the comic reeks of the kind of self-satisfied post-modernism that just doesn't do anything for me.
 
I'm really surprised this show doesn't get brought up more often in discussions of great 1980s crime shows.
That's because there weren't that many great 80's crime shows...IMO of course. Wiseguy was waaaaay ahead of its time with a strongly serial narrative stretching across each season. The problem is that it was very difficult to follow in the days of reruns, before the triumvirate of DVR/DVD/Netflix solved that problem for us. Also, Kevin Spacey was a riveting antagonist on this show long before Kaiser Sose and the rest of his, ahem, storied career.
 
I've been slowly making my way through the 800+ episodes of One Piece.
I've been vaguely interested but the length has put me off a bit. Naruto was long enough and then some. Does One Piece have crappy filler episodes that nearly derail the series from time-to-time?
 
I've been vaguely interested but the length has put me off a bit. Naruto was long enough and then some. Does One Piece have crappy filler episodes that nearly derail the series from time-to-time?

Not so far. There are some episodes which deviate from the current storyline and detail the backstory of the character(s) involved. This is common in anime and it's either great or annoying. So far, I've found it great.

I went into this thinking it'd be a shallow pirate story. What i'm getting is gradual, measured, and very well done world building.
 
Just watched it last weekend, and read this comics this week. The show wasn't perfect, but I actually like it more than the comic. The comic has that kind of jaunty nihilism that was popular in the 90's, and I'm really tired of that sort of thing. That ruined the Preacher TV adaptation for me. The comic has a bit more retro-futurism and pulpiness, and I think they were right to leave most of that behind for the TV show. Also, the Apocalypse Suite storyline in the comics was a lot more comic booky. Honestly, the comic reeks of the kind of self-satisfied post-modernism that just doesn't do anything for me.

Could see that, apparently the new TPB shows greater maturity.
 
Rewatching the first season of Law & Order. With all the spin-offs it can be easy to forget that this series was the beginning of the 'golden age of tv' with a level of craft, sophistication and great acting that lifted the standards of the form just as Hill Street Blues had previously.

Perhaps not surprisingly Wolf talks on the extras about how difficult it was to get the series made over the protests of the Network Executives.



Still looking for a game that helps capture the tone and structure of a great police procedural.
 
You know it's One Piece when the ship's cook kicks a t-rex in the face and the captain is having a friendly lunch with a giant while the swordsman is dueling a triceratops.

I...I think I may have found peak anime.
 
Watching sci-fi. Finished Altered Carbon and the Expanse. Both recommended. Altered Carbon is a detective story in a cyberpunk setting. Good, although not groundbreaking. The Expanse is the first sci-fi show that comes close to Battlestar to me. It's good, but a bit slow. I started getting into it from episode 5 or 6 in the first season. The main plot of an ice hauler getting shot isn't the strongest way to set up a story, but it gets better after that.
 
Finished Titans, enjoyed it but wasn't challenged.

Watched Russian Doll, very weird indeed, enjoyed it but cannot see it working as another series, unless with different people.

Currently watching Sense8 and it seems odd. My wife's comment was "Why are you watching a sex programme?", based on 3 raunchy scenes. I hope it improves when the main characters get together. It reminds me of Heroes, but drawn out far longer.
 
Currently watching Sense8 and it seems odd.
It is odd. I liked the series very much, until the end. A lot of people remarked that it took a little while to click. I enjoyed it from the jump, but I can understand that sentiment. At its best, the series really sang, but the end was truly terrible. And that wasn't their fault; Netflix cancelled the show, but after fan pressure, allowed the creators to make an impromptu double-episode to try to wrap things up. It was a nice thought. but it brought out all of the show's worst instincts when they were forced to rush to a pat resolution.
 
I'm about halfway through The Umbrella Academy right now. I like it, especially Klaus.
 
I finished Umbrella Academy. I was into Episode 5 and kind of stalled. I liked it, but it wasn't grabbing me. Since I'm off today, I was finishing Episode 5, went into 6, and it started to grab me. So I binged the rest of the season. Klaus is still my favorite character.

That ending...I hate Netflix for that lol.
 
I liked it, but it wasn't grabbing me.
I feel the same way, a bit. For me, the core problem is that the dialog is, as written, a little flat. The actor who plays Klaus is given the most to work with, and he actually does a really good job with it.

Cha-cha and Hazel also get some nice lines and character interaction. The show actually uses them so much better than the original comic.
 
Your Mother of Dragons:

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My Mother of Dragons:

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Top: Game of Thrones; Bottom: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
 
Your dragons:

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My dragons:

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Top: Game of Thrones; Bottom: Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
 
I had to work a half shift on Monday. Since I am normally asleep around that time, I had to find a way to stay up all night. So I did a mini-binge of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS All Access. About 4 - 6 episodes. It's my favorite of the 3 NCIS shows, probably because it's more action oriented than the other two. I think I'm going to start on Season 2 of The Gifted this week, as I think it's wrapped (unless they did more than 13 episodes this season)
 
It is odd. I liked the series very much, until the end. A lot of people remarked that it took a little while to click. I enjoyed it from the jump, but I can understand that sentiment. At its best, the series really sang, but the end was truly terrible. And that wasn't their fault; Netflix cancelled the show, but after fan pressure, allowed the creators to make an impromptu double-episode to try to wrap things up. It was a nice thought. but it brought out all of the show's worst instincts when they were forced to rush to a pat resolution.

Sense8 - I didn't mind the ending, to be honest. Sure, it was a bit 80s Action hero, but worked OK in the grand scheme of things. I'd have preferred them to link to more people rather than going all guns blazing, though.
Some of the ensemble scenes where everyone was connecting went on for a bit too long, though, and some of the backstories were either unresolved or dropped, which was irritating as they had spent a lot of time on them.
But, overall I enjoyed it.

Now watching The Order, which seems to be another Teen Urban Fantasy, set in a not so mysterious University. Nothing out of the ordinary, but has some nice ideas.
 
Started watching Russian Doll on Netflix. We're in two episodes and it's quite hilarious so far.

Also, the new season of The Big Family Cooking Showdown is now on Netflix. This makes for great tacky zero-effort watching during afternoon coffee. :shade:

We just finished Russian Doll. Liked it a lot!

Also watched the finale of The Big Family Cooking Showdown. :goof:
The Mistry family won
but it was a very close call.
 
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After putting it off for a long time. I'm finally finishing up the last season of Person of Interest. Love how the show went from a sort of procedural show with a minor sci-fi element to a dystopian sci-fi show. The action quota went up as well (including the bad guys using a mini-gun during a chase on a street in NYC)
 
The end of Person of Interest was bittersweet. Some live, some die, and good barely triumphed over evil. Given they showed that the machine had other groups working to help people (made up of people the original cast had helped in the past), they could easily bring this back some day. I doubt they will, but if they did, I'd be watching.
 
Finished Nightflyers, OK as SciFi, a bit disjointed but I enjoyed it.

Also finished Immortals, which is Street Yobs vs Vampires in Istanbul and was very enjoyable.

Now watching Knightfall, which is set around the end of the Knights Templar, enjoyable so far.

Series 3 of Resurrection Ertugrul is beckoning, but it's 93 episodes, so would take me well over a month to binge, so am looking for some one-series programmes to watch beforehand.
 
Now watching Knightfall, which is set around the end of the Knights Templar, enjoyable so far.

Knightfall isn't too bad. Worth a watch. Getting a 2nd season, I understand.
 
There's new episodes up on Netflix of Terrace House: Opening New Doors! :shade:

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A.P. Bio = hysterical. I want t start my classes the way he does: "Okay class, time to begin to shut up now, now we're shutting up and sitting down ... " :grin:
 
Finished Nightflyers, OK as SciFi, a bit disjointed but I enjoyed it.

I watched the first episode and it seemed to have way too much happening all at the same time for one episode. The original novella by George R. Martin is a gem of effective suspense and horror plotting, why this and the previous film adaptation feel the need to ignore its obvious strengths and add a bunch of extra nonsense is beyond me.
 
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Watched Series 4 of Van Helsing, improved as it went along, but stopped at a mid-scene cliffhanger, which I hate.

Not sure what to watch next, but Season 3 of Resurrection:Ertugrul is shouting louder and louder.
 
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