Which television shows are you watching? β'

[Valka D'Ur]

Since it's alt-universe - and there is NOTHING that's been done so far that can convince me otherwise - who cares? It's not a real prequel to TOS. They lost me the moment the "Klingons" and those incredibly annoying subtitles showed up. If I wanted to watch Doctor Who-styled monsters, I'd watch Doctor Who. And I still haven't bothered with Capaldi's last season.

If I were doing a new Star Trek series, it would have been one of these:

1. Captain Sulu (George Takei could have pulled this off quite nicely when he was younger)

2. A series about the Department of Temporal Investigations (based on the time ship Relativity, that we saw in Voyager)

3. Post-Nemesis, based on the epilogue of the TOS/TNG novel Federation, by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

 

[Arakhor]

You don't, clearly, but I imagine that Synsensa does, given that he asked the question in the first place...

 

[Synobun]

I always ask questions I don't want answers to.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I have now caught up on Discovery, and I think I need to revise my previous comments on the show. I still don't like what they did with the Klingons but the actual storyline really buffed out as the season progressed and the mirror arc actually wasn't bad.

The finale was not good, but most aren't. I think this show has the potential to be like TNG and DS9 where the first season or two is its worst and then gets better as it finds its footing. Will season 2 be a continuation of the story or is it skipping ahead? I remember whisperings of the show being an anthology before it aired...

It had a weak start. Not horrible, not quite bad, but not quite good either until around the middle of the season when the story really came together and the show improved dramatically.
And then it had a bad season finale that felt really stupid and rushed.
The first season is traditionally and notoriously bad in Star Trek. Discovery was overall far less bad than the other other shows.

 

[Arakhor]

I like a heartwarming ending probably more than most people, but yes, that episode resolved itself far too easily.

 

[Synobun]

I like a heartwarming ending probably more than most people, but yes, that episode resolved itself far too easily.

My biggest complaint about the finale is that it didn't actually solve anything but they presented it as though it did.

 

[Kyriakos]

Westword season2 is collapsing. Not surprising at all, but still bad.

For a show that clearly costs a huge amount of money to make, they very wrongly opted to go the 90s comedy sideshow way.
'Sad!'

 

[EgonSpengler]

Westworld does have a great cast, I'll give it that. If you'd told me a few years ago there'd be a tv show with Wood, Hopkins, Harris, Newton, and Wright, I wouldn't have believed you. Still, I couldn't get into it. I watched the first 3 episodes 2 or 3 weeks ago and got distracted and haven't gone back.

Well, Agents of SHIELD backed down from driving straight up the highway into Avengers: Infinity War like The Night Rider at the beginning of Mad Max. Oh well. I can't blame them. I wasn't _really_ expecting them to do it, but I was still a little disappointed when they didn't. Those last couple of episodes, it looked like they might actually go for it. It would've been ballsy as heck.

 

[civvver]

I finished Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. The whole series is on netflix, as is Full Metal Alchemist. The regular one came out in early 2000s and it quickly surpassed the source material (it's based off a manga) and became some original show in the end. I never watched the whole thing, only the first ~20 or so episodes. After the manga was finished Brotherhood was released. It followed the original material. Most people say Brotherhood is better with a more satisfying ending, though I can't compare obviously.

Anyway, it's a really good show. It's the only anime I've watched so I can't say how it compares to other anime. It sometimes does the anime thing like someone getting really happy and they show their eyes all huge and twinkly with a backdrop of rainbows, or they'll use Japanese text to describe someones emotion. But nothing too over the top. The characters are pretty well fleshed out, though by the end there are maybe a few too many. The show is based on the premise of what's essentially magic called alchemy. People study it and can transmute stuff like change elements in the earth to make a rock wall for example, or this one guy can control fire. It's very pseudo science, more like a mystic practice, almost like the force in star wars. The only part that bugged me a little about the show sometimes is they'll use the alchemy as a total crutch to further the story. It almost seems like a kid making up the rules to a game as he goes along at points, like Ed (the main protagonist) will just say hey I observed this so I think if I do x then y and z will happen and you're thinking huh? that makes no sense. But since it's basically magic, why not? It sort of reminds me of x-men cus all these alchemist and other creatures have their own styles or powers.

It's also a lot shorter than it seems. 65 episodes divided into 5 parts/seasons but each episode is only ~23 minutes long and that includes ~3 minutes of intro and credits music which I skip. So it's really only like 20 game of thrones or other hbo series episodes in length.

 

[Synobun]

I've been poking at the second season of 13 Reasons Why. The first episode was mindnumbingly boring. It's getting a little better but there is a moment of hesitance before clicking Next Episode each time. Just barely holding my interest.

 

[civvver]

I finished the final episode of The Terror last night.

It was a really different show. I'm not exactly sure how I felt about it.

There is a ton of symbolism and it makes you think about a lot of stuff, more like a movie in that way than typical tv shows. Ultimately it was very well acted, a good story and themes, but a little slow overall and the visuals just plain sucked. So dreary! It's not really the shows fault but there's only so much monochrome arctic rocky landscape you can take. It was really just depressing but again that's one of the themes. The end was pretty fantastic though.

 

[Kyriakos]

I finished the final episode of The Terror last night.

It was a really different show. I'm not exactly sure how I felt about it.

There is a ton of symbolism and it makes you think about a lot of stuff, more like a movie in that way than typical tv shows. Ultimately it was very well acted, a good story and themes, but a little slow overall and the visuals just plain sucked. So dreary! It's not really the shows fault but there's only so much monochrome arctic rocky landscape you can take. It was really just depressing but again that's one of the themes. The end was pretty fantastic though.

I liked it Great actors, nice cinematography, ok story. Not at all the usual ploy/trope-ridden series.
The Francis actor shined in this one.

 

[Synobun]

I've been poking at the second season of 13 Reasons Why. The first episode was mindnumbingly boring. It's getting a little better but there is a moment of hesitance before clicking Next Episode each time. Just barely holding my interest.

Quality became much better around the 4/5 episode mark, gradually increasing towards the season climax.

I think they were building up to a very different ending than the one they went with which is understandable given the recent politics surrounding the implied path they wanted to take.

I'd recommend rewatching season 1 before jumping into season 2 as I think that's why the beginning was so rough for me. It really is a continuation of everything from before so the year's separation, even with the recap, puts a damper on immersion.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I always ask questions I don't want answers to.

Why?

Spoiler :

Just asking, but I don't really want to know.

On topic, I started watching Krypton last night.

 

[Synobun]

Why?

They made me do it. I had no choice.

Wait, you're not @Cutlass.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Conversation about Westworld:

1) I have this great take on that old movie, Westworld.
2) Let's see what you've got... ... ... ...oh, man, this is great.
1) Let's put together a pitch.

Movie Exec) This is great fellas, but there's no way it works. You've got way too much stuff that's plot critical. You can't fit it in a movie, and if you leave anything out the plot doesn't hang together.
1) But...
Exec) Can't do it.
2) There's got to be...
Exec) Mini-series. You should pitch it for TV.
1) Raping the robots is a critical plot element though.
2) Hey! Maybe HBO...

HBO Exec) Fellas, that was great. The reveal at the end shocked! Awesome stuff! The way you guys tied up every loose end...incredible. Total completion.
1) Thanks!
HBO Exec) Yeah, I can't wait for season two.
2) Season two?
1) What?

 

[Snerk]

Catching up on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Some of the episodes aren't that good but the best ones are pure gold.

I'm enjoying Westworld season 2 more than I thought I would. I was initially disappointed that it didn't end in the awesome s1 finale. But imo they are keeping it interesting. Don't get me wrong, the most interesting aspects of the plot are over and done with now, but it's still kinda enigmatic and entertaining. And the production value is still high.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Curb is likely the best comedy series ever created, surpassing even brilliant ones like Arrested Development, Seinfeld and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Larry David is a sadist through and through, but that's what I love him for.

 

[civvver]

Curb is like seinfeld without the constraints of network tv. Hbo so they can do/say whatever they want. That's why it's better. Seinfeld was a very funny and clever show but I always felt like it was holding its punches just a bit.

I love curb and need to rewatch it. I watched only the first few seasons I think.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I was going to post a top 5 recently-cancelled or -concluded shows that I'll miss the most, but honestly I could only come up with three:

1. Halt and Catch Fire
2. Orphan Black
3. The Americans

Halt would be my pick for most underappreciated show of the decade. I don't think it was quirky enough to become a cult favorite in its afterlife, a la Twin Peaks or Firefly. It was "just" a character drama. The second season was its best, although I thought the 4th picked up a bit from the 3rd, and it ended on such a hopeful note that it left me wishing for more. I suppose that's a good thing. Go out at on a high note, rather than slink away after you've stumbled.

I still wonder if I even understand what Tatiana Maslany did with Orphan Black. I mean, I swear to god, there were times I forgot I was watching one woman. If you've ever played a sport at any level, have you ever had the opportunity to see the pro players up close? Not on television, I mean, but from the front row, right up in it. You play a sport as a kid, maybe on your high school team, maybe with the guys in the park. Maybe you were even pretty good. Then you see a top-level athlete, in person, from 20 feet away, and you realize that you never even knew what real skill was, what real power, size, or speed was. I'm not an actor, so maybe Maslany was just using common tricks of the trade, doing what any top-shelf actor could do, and I fell for it. Or maybe she was Pedro Martinez.

The Americans ranks only 3rd mainly because I never got really attached to the main characters. I could relate to Philip more, especially in the last couple of seasons, but I never really felt a lot of affection for Elizabeth. I think Stan was my favorite character on the show.

The Expanse would certainly have been #4, if it hadn't been rescued. I thought about Agents of SHIELD, but honestly, if it hadn't been renewed, I'd be fine with its ending. I wanted to like Lucifer more than I ultimately did. Once Upon a Time similarly. I haven't watched that since its first or second season and was a little surprised to learn it was still on. The interchangeable, undistinguished mystery-dramas never got me. Designated Survivor. Quantico. They looked like interesting ideas, but I couldn't tell if they were bad or if I was just over that type of show.