What TV Shows Are You Watching? The 9th Is - Excuse Me - A Damn Fine Cup Of Coffee

[warpus]

Just making sure, but you do know who the ghoul is, right?

Spoiler :

He's the actor who filmed the commercials, right? If he's anything more than that please don't tell me, it would be better to be surprised in season 2

I'd be interested in what instances you are referring to here. Most things made sense to me.

Things made sense, but you have all these characters walking around at times aimlessly (sometimes with a tracker but usually without) through what I thought was a relatively large wasteland, and there's been more than you'd expect unexpected encounters between key characters. It just makes the wasteland feel smaller. If it's done too much it also starts feeling like it's a bit lazy writing to just have key characters stumbling into each other at plot-opportune moments.

I do like that the show doesn't assume that the audience is stupid, there's multiple connected storylines and interwoven subplots going on, throughout different time periods even. and the characters filled in their shoes. Maybe season 2 will shed more light on the parts of the story and presentation that I viewed a bit negatively during this s1 watchthrough

 

[lymond]

Spoiler :

He's the actor who filmed the commercials, right? If he's anything more than that please don't tell me, it would be better to be surprised in season 2

Ha...well, I only know as much as you would know, but yeah He's the cowboy actor, basically the first character you see in the show so his story is playing out pre and post-war, and it gets more interesting with each episode. I think there is much to learn there like how he became a ghoul and has lived for over 200 years. There was a key discussion on this a bit in one later episode from a pre-war scene.

Things made sense, but you have all these characters walking around at times aimlessly (sometimes with a tracker but usually without) through what I thought was a relatively large wasteland, and there's been more than you'd expect unexpected encounters between key characters. It just makes the wasteland feel smaller. If it's done too much it also starts feeling like it's a bit lazy writing to just have key characters stumbling into each other at plot-opportune moments.

At one point early, I felt a bit like you but then started to figure out why as the severed head was doing a lot of the guiding and the ghoul is a tracker/hunter himself so he knows how to get around easily in an area he has explored and tracked for 200 years. And everyone was heading toward that lady's place at the end.

 

[lymond]

I finished the first season of 1923, which apparently will get a second season though much delayed due to that strike. The first season is definitely geared toward having another season as tons of stuff is left unresolved and plots have not yet converged. 1883 closed things off nicely, and sadly, but it would have been cool to have another series around the turn of the century - like 1903. I did a little research on Montana during the 1923 timeframe. Montana experienced the Depression far earlier than the rest of the US and was hit with locusts, some of which are reflected in the show. The Native American plotline is the darkest aspect of the show. Many of yall have probably read recently about the horror stories at the Native American schools, which went well into the 20th century. You see some of it here. Paramount + - highly recommended if ya like Westerns.

 

[EvaDK]

Fallout is fine; perhaps too reminiscent of Jonathan Nolan's own Westworld. It's Walter Goggin's character that carries the show imo.

Also watching Franklin on AppleTV+. Beautifully made. Perhaps a bit too dry and slow paced in places.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Under the Bridge (2024) is pretty good so far. The 'elevator pitch' is well-worn: Two women investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl in a small town. Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & The Six) is the reporter and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) is the police officer. This year's True Detective: Night Country took a swing at the same story, as did the aforementioned Mare of Easttown and The Killing. The twist here is that this one is based on a true story. Keough plays the woman who wrote the book the show is based on. Unlike Night Country, Mare of Easttown and The Killing, it focuses more on the central mystery, and doesn't give us too many other characters and sideplots that it will never resolve. For better and for worse, I guess. I loved all of the side characters and small-town dramas in those other shows. Night couldn't stick the landing, but I thought Mare did. The Killing gave itself multiple seasons. Under the Bridge does lean heavily on flashbacks, which always makes me nervous, but I see why they're doing it that way, and it's working well so far.

Anyway, if you liked those other shows I mentioned, this one's definitely worth giving a shot.

---

Meanwhile, in Deadwood, Ian McShane continues to be a [tool], Robin Weigert continues to be hilarious, Molly Parker continues to be gorgeous, and Timothy Olyphant continues to be Timothy Olyphant. Don't ever change, Timothy Olyphant. I don't know the history of Deadwood, and I'm avoiding reading about it. If this were strictly a scripted tv drama, I'd expect Swearengen to get his comeuppance eventually. Maybe not this season, unless the writers wanted to introduce a new Big Bad with each season. But since it's based on a true story, and real life doesn't always see the villains get what they deserve, I really have no idea whether somebody's gonna put a round in him - and if so, who - which sort of makes it more thrilling.

Ep 4:

Spoiler :

I actually didn't know what became of Bill Hickok, so that took me by surprise. As he sat down, I was thinking it was surprising that he'd sit with his back to the door. On his Wikipedia page, it says he actually did try to trade seats with someone, but nobody would give up their spot. I don't remember that from this scene in the show, but maybe I blinked and missed it. The moment where Carradine kind of twitches and slides onto the floor was a nice touch, I wonder whose idea that was.

---

Oh, also,

‘Fallout’ Officially Renewed for Season 2 by Amazon

Prime Video has picked up the acclaimed sci-fi series, which is expected to shift production to California for its second season.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[warpus]

I started watching season 5 of Discovery, since that apparently has started coming out a couple weeks ago. It's the last season of the show, it got cancelled, and it's not my favourite.. but I grew to like some of the characters, so I wanted to see how it all wraps up. Plus the setting - the far future - is interesting.. if a bit clunky in execution..

I'm 4 episodes in and at first it was looking like they were doing one season-long arc that's going to dominate the season.. it also looked like the season was going to be a case of "We need to find artifact A to get to artifact B so we can find place C and person D, who knows about artifact E".. which can get boring fast... but in episode 4 I was pleasantly surprised that we basically got a more classic Trek episode.. all wrapped up in the overall story, but it worked well, even though it was a time loop episode.. and those can be hit/miss. This one was good though, we got to see some cool connections to season 1. I don't want to spoil anything but there were some scenes worth seeing, if you've stuck with the show until now at least.

At one point though the captain went around and introduced everyone on the bridge to an officer who recently came over from another ship. It was a bit jarring to me that I did not know any of these people! It sort of reminded you that the show did not do a very good job fleshing out many of the senior officers on the ship, like other Trek shows usually do. It reminded me that the majority of the focus of the show was on several key characters, and a bunch of characters who were so promising in season 1 sort of got left behind and forgotten. Proper character development seems key for a Trek show for me, and this is something I wish they did better on Discovery.

At first I wasn't really that excited about the story for this season, but now after 4 episodes I think it's alright. I like that they tied it all into a classic TNG episode that I always wanted more resolution to. I dig this connection, but at first the "let's find the artifacts" story setup was boring me a bit.. If they can manage to give us stories that follow this overall plot but are sort of also one-off episodes at the same time.. that could work very well for the rest of the season.

One thing I noticed is that one of the antagonists this season is the exact same actress who played a very similar antagonist on the show Night Agent. She put in a great performance on that show and I think that's why they cast her for this. On both shows she basically goes around causing problems for the protagonists, accompanied by a male partner. She does this sort of thing well, it's almost like she's now being typecast to that sort of role.. although tbf she's probably been in a whole bunch of stuff I've never seen. It was good to see her face though, as I know she can play that sort of character very well.

 

[lymond]

As I've been PBSing it for the past weeks, catching up on some Brit and International offerings (mainly period pieces), I came across what I think to be a little gem of a show called "Funny Woman" (A Sky Original) The subject mildly interested me when reading the summary, but I almost wrote it off until scanning IMDB reviews and realizing it was rated rather highly.

The series stars the beautiful Gemma Arterton (Exec Prod'd too), Tom Bateman, Rupert Everett, and a few other familiar faces. It centers on a "young" Blackpudlian beauty queen of modest origins who moves to London to seek success as an actress/comedian circa the mid-1960's. A natural talent, she faces challenges related to the "times", her gender, naivete, and her northern accent.

Overall, the show was a very pleasing watch. The 6 epis I ended up binging fairly fast. A lot of good chuckles and laugh-out-loud moments, but keep in mind it is a comedy-drama with humor geared toward the setting. Of course, the setting is before my time but I felt the creators did a good job of giving us the feel and atmosphere of that period in 60's England. The music - 60's pop and r&b standards mostly - is fantastic and well-placed. Also, a scene where "Interstellar Overdrive" and "White Rabbit" figure prominently, though I believe the timeframe of the show is before those songs were released - at least by a couple of years.

Gemma, who I think is a natural beauty , is glammed up a bit here. For some reason, I thought she was older than she actually is since it seems like she's been around forever. I kept thinking to myself that she was too old for the role, even though she does look fantastic. Gemma is still in her thirties, but I figured she was well into her forties. Though no age given, I took the role of Barbara to be around mid-20s. Anyway, Gemma is awesome in most aspects of this role, though I'm not sure she is the most natural of comedic actresses - the role is much more than just that though.

The closest comparable I can come up with is Ms. Maisel, but Funny Woman is a very very different show in most respects nor would I put it on the same level since Maisel was practically a masterpiece of a series, and should have absolutely won an Emmy. Regardless, IMO Funny Woman is most worth your time if you are up for retro-like tv watchin', with a nice plot and interesting characters. I figured this is limited series, but it appears that another season is possible and I'd be up for more Sophie Straw (Barbara). (Note that the show always begins with a "mature viewing" message, but besides just a couple of themes maybe, there is really nothing objectionable.
(edit: Season 2 is indeed in production with a 2025 release)

Note: In the US, you can stream PBS shows via a direct subscription (donation) to PBS (PBS does have a streaming app) or a subscription via Amazon Prime (~$5). Some shows may also stream separately through other streaming services like Acorn or Britbox.

 

[tjs282]

Based on a book? I'm sure I read one relatively recently (within the last 5 years or so) with a very similar premise, but it was called Funny Girl.
*Googles*
Ah, yes, it was. Book was by Nick Hornby

Funny Girl (novel) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[lymond]

^^^ yes, thank you. I meant to mention that as well. I'm not familiar with the book.

(edit: Ah...Hornby wrote High Fidelity(adapted thrice), and he has two Academy Awards noms for adapted screenplays for An Education and Brooklyn, both of which were fantastic films)

 

[warpus]

I started watching Halo and it's pretty good so far. Am only 2 episodes in. The annoying thing though is that they expect you to turn on subtitles to a special setting if you want to understand what the aliens are saying.. but they don't tell you this and you have to figure it out yourself. Shouldn't the standard here be that any internal subtitles like that show up no matter what your setting is? Who is watching this show not wanting to understand what the aliens are saying? Why is this the default? At first I thought we're not supposed to understand what they're saying.. but halfway through episode 2 there's a long convo and I was like.. wait a second.. there's no way we're just supposed to guess what they're saying here. Turns out there's a special subtitle option that only shows you subtitles for alien talk, and none for English.. but.. it's not labelled at all. Instead you just see two "English subtitles" options. Who's the idiot who made this decision?

I also started watching Key & Peele. I've only ever seen clips from this show posted on social media, but now finally thanks to Paramount+ I have access to all the episodes for streaming purposes. It's a good skit show, but.. and this might not be a popular opinion.. I feel it focuses too much on jokes related to race. They can do what they want of course, but I wish they mixed it up a bit more. "Black Americans walk like this, white Americans walk like that" humour just gets old quick, you know? Especially if you're not American. And of course it's an American show fronted by two African-Americans, so I get it, but some more variety would be welcome. It seems that these 2 guys are pretty talented and don't always need to go for the low hanging fruit. Maybe it's just me but my fav skits are the ones that have nothing to do with race whatsoever.. but skits like that are in the minority, at least so far in season 1. Maybe this will change going forward. Either way, I'm digging the skits and can't wait to see more. It's also cool to see the connection to their love of the horror genre. The way certain skits are filmed sort of reminds me of the movies Us, and Nope.

 

[JohannaK]

Watching 1980's Shogun, this IS cinema.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I finished watching Fallout. It was better than I expected, but I was kind of expecting something like a bad attempt at a post-apocalypic Evil Dead.

Spoiler :

A lot of the reveals in the last few episodes weren't entirely surprising as these reveals are found in the game lore. The one thing that the show did that the games never did (except for the tutorial for Fallout 4) was the flashbacks to just before the Great War of 2077. We actually get to see how Vault-Tec and the other big corporations operate before the war.

The games hint but never flat out say that the one of the causes of the war was corporate interests. The other big cause is growing American reactionary nationalism, with the US government before the war fleeing to hide in an oil rig out in the Pacific Ocean and becoming the Enclave. I don't think the show makes it clear but America's enemy in the war is China.

The way that Lucy's storyline ended reminded me of Fallout 4 except done better (Fallout 4's twist can be guessed within the first ten minutes of playing). In Fallout 4 the quest is the player character searching for their son, only to discover that their son is the villain. The vault that the player emerges from in Fallout 4, Vault 111, is a cryogenic vault.

The only big contradiction in the TV series with the games is the destruction of Shady Sands being in 2277. Fallout 3 and 4 are set on the east coast so that's understandable that there would be no mention, but New Vegas takes place in 2281 and the New California Republic is one of the main factions in the game and you get to meet cattle ranchers from Shady Sands.

One thing I did like his how not everything from the games was forced into the series. Apart from a single line or an easter egg, there's no super mutants, no deathclaws, no rad scorpions, no rogue robots, no aliens, no power fists, no laser or plasma weapons, no Forced Evolutionary Virus, no Followers of the Apocalypse, no mention of any other big settlements or cities that exist in the American South West (except for the ending that shows New Vegas).[/spoilers]

 

[warpus]

3 episodes into Halo I realized that I've already seen it! I must have been half-watching it, distracted by something else. Maybe I was engaged with something else during the first 2 episodes? One particular scene in e3 really sticks out to me as something I've definitely seen.. But the thing is.. I don't remember how much I watched. I am 98% sure I didn't watch season 2 though, and I don't remember what else happens in s1, so I'll just keep watching. Production values are high, the characters are interesting enough.. although Master Chief feels like a Mando clone of sorts, and some of the sci-fi tropes in use are a bit cliche.. The villains also seem a bit cartoony and the subtitle issues are actually even worse now - every episode i have to manually find the right subtitle option to turn on.. and in some episodes I need to turn them off completely (otherwise everything said on the show will get subtitles, which I want to avoid). But I mean, it's a sort of mindless sci-fi action show with at times interesting storylines, so that has enough of my attention to keep watching, if I'm in the right mood. I admit would probably appreciate this show a bit more had I played any of the games

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Fallout. Fourth episode. First and second episodes were meh, a bit nonsensical, but third was better, with some pretty funny moments.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Shogun ended well! Now I will go back and reread the book.

 

[lymond]

Shogun ended well! Now I will go back and reread the book.

Yes! The show was really well done. Also, it was an international production. At some point, it is not hard to get a little lost in all the machinations.

What I found, a little too late, is that you can find these podcasts right there in Shogun - a separate tab. One for each episode. I did not notice them until Episode 8. A producer speaks to some of the actors, producers, creators, and historians to discuss the show. I wished I had watched them all along, as they provided more insight into the backgrounds and motivations of the characters. The Epi 9 podcast was especially good as there was a discussion about Mariko, and Anna Sawai spoke some. Mariko obviously = best character . Last night the last podcast even had James Clavell's daughter.

Caught the first epi of Special Ops: Lioness last night with Zoe Saldana. I'm intrigued. Kind of a Homeland vibe. At least based on the first epi, the writing and production values seem strong. (Paramount+ shows...seems Taylor Sheridan writes all the shows for them..ha)

 

[EgonSpengler]

Caught the first epi of Special Ops: Lioness last night with Zoe Saldana. I'm intrigued. Kind of a Homeland vibe. At least based on the first epi, the writing and production values seem strong. (Paramount+ shows...seems Taylor Sheridan writes all the shows for them..ha)

Paramount+ is Taylor Sheridan, Star Treks, and Evil, which I also recommend. They also have A Gentleman in Moscow, based on a novel I really liked. I haven't seen the series yet, so I can't vouch for it, but it's gotten decent reviews (90% Rotten Tomatoes, 74 Metacritic). I'll probably resub when the next (and last ) season of Evil premieres at the end of May/beginning of June. They also have Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023).

---

Elsewhere...

'Severance' Season 2 Wraps Filming

Filming has wrapped on Season 2 of Severance, the Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller series starring Adam Scott.

collider.com

Superman & Lois Season 4 Gets Bittersweet Update From Lois Lane Actor

Superman & Lois actor Elizabeth Tulloch shares an exciting, albeit sad, production update on the final season of The CW superhero drama series.

www.cbr.com

 

[warpus]

I have been watching Sugar, on AppleTV+. I really dig it so far! It seems like a fresh new take on a detective/private investigator sort of story. It's got film noir vibes and an interesting plot that continues to expand with each episode. The art direction is great and maybe my favourite part so far. It's also got a great cast with many familiar faces. Interesting characters well executed by those playing them. There's many tie-ins to the film industry, and the story sort of revolves around that. There's also been enough mystery in each episode to keep you wanting to see more, but at the same time it doesn't feel overwhelming.

 

[lymond]

I have been watching Sugar, on AppleTV+. I really dig it so far! It seems like a fresh new take on a detective/private investigator sort of story. It's got film noir vibes and an interesting plot that continues to expand with each episode. The art direction is great and maybe my favourite part so far. It's also got a great cast with many familiar faces. Interesting characters well executed by those playing them. There's many tie-ins to the film industry, and the story sort of revolves around that. There's also been enough mystery in each episode to keep you wanting to see more, but at the same time it doesn't feel overwhelming.

I've been planning to watch that one and the reviews are strong

 

[Narz]

Baby Reindeer
Really well done series about the complexities of abusive relationships & the shame that comes with them

Almost didn't get thru first episode, it's hard show to watch