The TV Shows Thread
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I started watching season 1 of Succession, which launched in 2018. It's actually pretty damn good so far, I just hope there isn't any 'wokeness' in the following seasons. Wouldn't be the first time.
It managed to keep a lid on it for the most part, in later seasons there's a bit of pearl-clutching over right-wing politics but it was tolerable. Well-written and entertaining show albeit with a very dark view of humanity. Hard to find material that is well-written, entertaining AND spiritually uplifting these days...
StanWildman
Orthodox
We made it through most of season 1 I think. I have a low tolerance for the aesthetic stylings of a certain Eastern Mediterranean tribe and after the 2nd or 3rd gratuitously disgusting moment, I just said "that was kind of nasty" and we moved on to something else. But it was otherwise well-done and seemed to be an interesting story.
I watched a Swedish series recently called Quicksand.
I thought it was pretty well written and had a very realistic view of the life in Sweden for many who are able to shelter from the current troubles (which is most, still). The main actress was very good and the director did a good job bringing the whole story out during the shows entire run.
I would say its worth a watch.
I thought it was pretty well written and had a very realistic view of the life in Sweden for many who are able to shelter from the current troubles (which is most, still). The main actress was very good and the director did a good job bringing the whole story out during the shows entire run.
I would say its worth a watch.
There is a Spanish comedy series called Alpha Males I've been watching lately that I have a love/hate relationship with.
It's about 4 middle-aged men trying to deal with relationships and fatherhood in this turbulent day and age where women's rights in Spain are constantly being promoted. The buddy aspect of the show reminds me a lot of the US series, Men Of A Certain Age, which was about middle-aged guys dealing with growing older/family stuff/women. This show is similar, although with the feminist aspect added in, unfortunately.
Most of the male characters are very likable...except for one guy who buys into the feminist nonsense in their society. This guy lets his daughter set him up on Tinder dates and does nothing to curb her feminist tendencies.
Another guy is married to a woman he doesn't want to have sex with anymore which causes problems in their marriage.
The third guy is one of the more alpha dogs in the group and he's in a relationship with a beautiful woman he's faithful to, even though she wants an open relationship so she can sleep around (ugh).
The fourth guy is the most alpha in that he can't stand feminism and is happily married to a woman who is a social media influencer.
Let me start with the hate part. More than a few of the minor female characters in this show are militant feminists. The other main female characters are swayed by current times where women have more choices which results in them challenging their boyfriends and husbands to wear the pants in the relationship.
What I love about the show is that most of the men push back...which causes all the conflict and comedy. Well, that and the buddy aspect which we don't get a lot these days in TV series. It's interesting to watch the lives of these Spanish guys, plus be in a unique local that's not in the US.
It would be an even better show if they just eased up on the Leftist crap coming out of the mouths of a few of these women. There is a great chemistry between the men here. I almost wish they were all on another show.
It's about 4 middle-aged men trying to deal with relationships and fatherhood in this turbulent day and age where women's rights in Spain are constantly being promoted. The buddy aspect of the show reminds me a lot of the US series, Men Of A Certain Age, which was about middle-aged guys dealing with growing older/family stuff/women. This show is similar, although with the feminist aspect added in, unfortunately.
Most of the male characters are very likable...except for one guy who buys into the feminist nonsense in their society. This guy lets his daughter set him up on Tinder dates and does nothing to curb her feminist tendencies.
Another guy is married to a woman he doesn't want to have sex with anymore which causes problems in their marriage.
The third guy is one of the more alpha dogs in the group and he's in a relationship with a beautiful woman he's faithful to, even though she wants an open relationship so she can sleep around (ugh).
The fourth guy is the most alpha in that he can't stand feminism and is happily married to a woman who is a social media influencer.
Let me start with the hate part. More than a few of the minor female characters in this show are militant feminists. The other main female characters are swayed by current times where women have more choices which results in them challenging their boyfriends and husbands to wear the pants in the relationship.
What I love about the show is that most of the men push back...which causes all the conflict and comedy. Well, that and the buddy aspect which we don't get a lot these days in TV series. It's interesting to watch the lives of these Spanish guys, plus be in a unique local that's not in the US.
It would be an even better show if they just eased up on the Leftist crap coming out of the mouths of a few of these women. There is a great chemistry between the men here. I almost wish they were all on another show.
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I think I saw a preview of it while looking for something to watch months ago. I saw the word "machista" and that was too much of a red flag for me. Spain is probably the most feminist country in the world at this point.
I watched Boardwalk Empire this past year. It was so good that I had to rewatch it immediately after. Almost as good as The Sopranos.
I'm watching this show now called Match Me Abroad. It's about 7 American men and women who have given up on dating in the US and decided to use a matchmaker to find love in another country.
Not surprisingly, a couple of the women are the epitome of what is wrong with the dating scene. One of them is annoying and laughs at her own jokes while the other is 50-something and has a checklist a mile long for men courting her.
The show is pretty interesting as you go on dates with these people while getting a peep at places like Morocco, Columbia, and the Czech Republic.
You can find "annoying girl" at 0:15 and "entitled girl" at 1:51 in the video below.
Not surprisingly, a couple of the women are the epitome of what is wrong with the dating scene. One of them is annoying and laughs at her own jokes while the other is 50-something and has a checklist a mile long for men courting her.
The show is pretty interesting as you go on dates with these people while getting a peep at places like Morocco, Columbia, and the Czech Republic.
You can find "annoying girl" at 0:15 and "entitled girl" at 1:51 in the video below.
Has anyone been watching Blackberry on AMC? It's a 3-part series on the rise and fall of the world's first smartphone. It's way better than I thought it would be and a fascinating look at the company's challenges to sell the product initially, deal with a hostile takeover from PalmPilot, and finally go head to head with the Apple iPhone in 2007.
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I don't watch TV or movies much. Recently, I heard about "Return to Wrexham" documentary series so I downloaded the season 1 episodes. After watching the first couple of episodes, I thought it wasn't too bad. Very good storytelling. It focuses mostly on the history of the town of Wrexham in Wales, its community, and its football club organization as well as other topics (i.e., football hooligans, football transfer period, football pyramid, Welsh culture, Welsh food, etc.). The town loves their football club, Wrexham AFC, which is the third-oldest professional football team in the world despite years of struggle (in a lower league) to move up in the English football league system (aka football pyramid). Their stadium was falling apart. The football club organization had money problems for years. Past owners who happened to be greedy with hidden agenda until the town took over the organization via donations and fundraising.
The new owners that bought the team are from Hollywood. Their mission is to help the team move up in the English football system and to improve the town's community and economy. Below is an example of England's football pyramid, which I thought is very interesting.
"Welcome to Wrexham" trailer. Each episode average about 25 minutes long (without ads).
The new owners that bought the team are from Hollywood. Their mission is to help the team move up in the English football system and to improve the town's community and economy. Below is an example of England's football pyramid, which I thought is very interesting.
"Welcome to Wrexham" trailer. Each episode average about 25 minutes long (without ads).
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So I just finished watching the Louie CK series, Louie, which ran from 2010 to 2015 until it abruptly stopped due to the comedian getting hit with sexual misconduct accusations.
The show somewhat resembles early Seinfeld in that most of the episodes would begin with Louie doing a minute of his stand-up routine from a club followed by the actual story for that episode. While I thought his stand-up routine was a turn-off due to the low-brow bathroom humor, the stories built around his stand-up act were actually quite good.
I'd say the 1st season is not quite up to par with the last 4, however, it has a very good episode near the end when Louie is harassed by a high school bully while out on a date. It's an incredibly well-done episode and a glimpse of how good the series would get starting in season 2. The other episodes that really stuck out were the ones when he flashes back to his days in high school as a goofy kid with few friends. But even watching a slice of Louie's adult life where he deals with romantic prospects, his rebellious daughters, or an odd character who comes into his world, I was always entertained.
I'd rate the series an 8/10.
The show somewhat resembles early Seinfeld in that most of the episodes would begin with Louie doing a minute of his stand-up routine from a club followed by the actual story for that episode. While I thought his stand-up routine was a turn-off due to the low-brow bathroom humor, the stories built around his stand-up act were actually quite good.
I'd say the 1st season is not quite up to par with the last 4, however, it has a very good episode near the end when Louie is harassed by a high school bully while out on a date. It's an incredibly well-done episode and a glimpse of how good the series would get starting in season 2. The other episodes that really stuck out were the ones when he flashes back to his days in high school as a goofy kid with few friends. But even watching a slice of Louie's adult life where he deals with romantic prospects, his rebellious daughters, or an odd character who comes into his world, I was always entertained.
I'd rate the series an 8/10.
I've not seen the series but have watched plenty of the clips on YouTube. The scene with Matthew Broderick "You're Father's dead" is a really great comedy sketch.
Louie's a pretty good writer and producer. Baskets is all really good, though he's not acting, his fingerprints are all over it. Though the other Louie absolutely steals the show in that series.
That's a big call. I've not seen Boardwalk Empire but The Sopranos is the best TV show i've ever seen.
I think i'll begin watching Peaky Blinders soon. Need a good drama after watching too much reality tv - Alone - which is entertaining but ends up being quite repetitive in its nature (pun not intended)
Many of the writers and producers from The Sopranos went on to create Boardwalk Empire. There's a lot of shared DNA.
I loved The Sopranos right out of the gate. The pilot was so good and still feels fresh today. Boardwalk Empire actually came with a pedigree that The Sopranos only could've wished it had when it premiered (creator David Chase was unknown, a writer for "good for you" TV drama or dramedy like I'll Fly Away and Northern Exposure whereas Boardwalk Empire's creators already had The Sopranos under their belt and the pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese) — the actors might not have been household names but were known from acclaimed movies or TV. It's somewhat difficult to imagine that the biggest name in the original Sopranos cast was Lorraine Bracco, who was an Oscar nominee for Goodfellas.
Having said that, I found it pretty hard to get into Boardwalk Empire. The feature-length pilot felt like a slog. It seemed all the ingredients were combined with greatness expected rather than earned. Buscemi, who was of course on The Sopranos himself, was no Gandolfini, and for me, that's a fatal error — the star needs to be larger than life. By that I don't mean they need to be some big movie star — Gandolfini wasn't, Bryan Cranston wasn't, Bob Odenkirk wasn't. I found featured actors (Vincent Piazza's Lucky Luciano, Jack Huston's Richard Harrow, among others) more compelling than the main players. Never experienced that with The Sopranos, even though it was a show where actors with even bit parts managed to do a lot with their roles. I don't think I ever made it to the second season, although I remember reading that the show improved as it went on. Upon its premiere, BE was expected to be a big hit and HBO's flagship series, but it was eclipsed by another show that debuted that same TV season, at the time a fairly unknown and obscure fantasy series based on a cycle of novels called Game of Thrones.
Having said that, I found it pretty hard to get into Boardwalk Empire. The feature-length pilot felt like a slog. It seemed all the ingredients were combined with greatness expected rather than earned. Buscemi, who was of course on The Sopranos himself, was no Gandolfini, and for me, that's a fatal error — the star needs to be larger than life. By that I don't mean they need to be some big movie star — Gandolfini wasn't, Bryan Cranston wasn't, Bob Odenkirk wasn't. I found featured actors (Vincent Piazza's Lucky Luciano, Jack Huston's Richard Harrow, among others) more compelling than the main players. Never experienced that with The Sopranos, even though it was a show where actors with even bit parts managed to do a lot with their roles. I don't think I ever made it to the second season, although I remember reading that the show improved as it went on. Upon its premiere, BE was expected to be a big hit and HBO's flagship series, but it was eclipsed by another show that debuted that same TV season, at the time a fairly unknown and obscure fantasy series based on a cycle of novels called Game of Thrones.
Finally got around to watching Better Call Saul again. I watched the first 4 seasons years ago, but waited until the last 2 were out before rewatching again. Crazy it took until '22 to finish the story.
The first couple seasons are really slow and a bit boring but things reallllllly pick up and become interesting starting around season 4. It's a phenomenal show.
The first couple seasons are really slow and a bit boring but things reallllllly pick up and become interesting starting around season 4. It's a phenomenal show.
Yeah it really rewards people that stick with it. I'm glad I stuck till the end after being such a massive fan of Breaking Bad. The acting by Kim and Saul are top notch, but Lalo Salamanca is one of the best TV characters I can remember watching.
Why did you think the first 2 seasons were slow and boring? As I remember, there wasn't a weak season in the bunch.