Which television shows are you watching? Part III

[Takhisis]

Acceptance speeches must be banned. They're just a butt-kissing demonstration that the audience cares nothing about. Speech after speech = snore after snore.

Oh come on, Joe Pesci's Oscar speech was a jewel.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

American Factory is hilarious. Sadly only one episode though.

It was a feature length documentary, not a series.

What was funny about it?

 

[MaryKB]

This Is Us returns tonight !!!

 

[shadowplay]

That's the show where the main characters die in every episode?

 

[Synobun]

I'm watching season 9 of my favorite series, The Walking Dead. I expect many things for the tenth season, the trailers are very promising.

This almost guarantees you're a bot that's gonna start sneaking in hidden links in a few posts.

 

[Broken_Erika]

This almost guarantees you're a bot that's gonna start sneaking in hidden links in a few posts.

I believe the proper response is "Will you be my spambot?"

 

[tjs282]

Now nearly through Daredevil S1, which has (as @EgonSpengler promised! ) got better with each episode. And Vincent d'Onofrio is just awesome as Wilson Fisk

Spoiler :

...to the extent that I'm even a little sad that he's apparently not going to be in S2 (according to the NetFlix episode plot-synopses, which I couldn't avoid seeing when I wanted to check how close I was to the end of S1).

Also decided to continue with iZombie (now watched up to Ep.5). The eat-the-murder-victim's-brains-to-solve-the-crime thing is a cute little hook, though it's increasingly clear that it's not really the point of the show. But I like the characters, and a season story-arc is clearly starting to develop, so I'm happy to see where they go with it.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The Great Hack on Netflix is a great documentary on Cambridge Analytica and their impact on Brexit and Trump's election.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Does anyone feel that Joey's character in Friends was flanderized? Flanderization refers to the character of Ned Flanders in the Simpsons who started as religious, but normal character. Over time, the most extreme aspects of his personality (namely, his religiosity) was brought forward until it came to dominate all aspects of his character. I've read complaints that this happened Joey - that over time his stupidity came to dominate his character. I have to say that I just don't see it but only because he was always that stupid. I don't really feel that this was exaggerated in later seasons to an extent that we could say he was flanderized. I'm nearing the end of my third of forth re-watch of the show and I just don't see it.

 

[Takhisis]

I've done a 25th-anniversary binge myself. Joey does get stupider and some of his features/flaws are more exaggerated as the series progresses, but as he is part of the group and he moves with the group the character is not a complete caricature as Ned Flanders actually has ended up being.

 

[Synobun]

That happened with all the characters, and it happens with all sitcoms.

The issue, I think, is that the people who "don't see it" or don't care think the exaggeration is a feature and not a bug. Other people who expect more "rigor" don't like it because it feels like a caricature otherwise. In more serious shows I agree, but with what amounts to comfort food for the brain I just couldn't really care less myself.

What happens with a sitcom is that the audience responds to certain characteristics more than others in a character, and so the character represents that trait more and more. You don't have to play it cautiously or experiment with different ideas anymore because you know what that character's biggest draw is. You see it with most first seasons that have a robust familial cast; all the characters are unsteady, uncertain, until the producers and writers know exactly what was appreciated and what wasn't. That a sitcom character becomes representative of a specific trait is intended, not a failure of writing.

Don't get me wrong, if that approach was taken with serious shows I'd be peeved. For me, it's only appropriate for a very specific setting/genre. And I totally recognize that this can backfire; for example, Andy and Erin in The Office were honestly no different from the other characters and how they became caricatures. Yet I disliked those two characters strongly, and it's because the caricature they were was just something I don't enjoy.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Now nearly through Daredevil S1, which has (as @EgonSpengler promised! ) got better with each episode. And Vincent d'Onofrio is just awesome as Wilson Fisk

Spoiler :

...to the extent that I'm even a little sad that he's apparently not going to be in S2 (according to the NetFlix episode plot-synopses, which I couldn't avoid seeing when I wanted to check how close I was to the end of S1).

D'Onofrio is one of the main reasons I'd like to see Disney+ produce a fourth season with the current cast, rather than reboot Daredevil down the road. I don't really expect that to happen, but never say never, I guess.

Also decided to continue with iZombie (now watched up to Ep.5). The eat-the-murder-victim's-brains-to-solve-the-crime thing is a cute little hook, though it's increasingly clear that it's not really the point of the show. But I like the characters, and a season story-arc is clearly starting to develop, so I'm happy to see where they go with it.

I've never seen McIver in anything else, but iZombie was, for her, almost a sketch show. I'm certainly curious to see where she lands next.

 

[Zardnaar]

Better Than Us on Netflix.

It's Russian, sci fi human replica bots.

And

The Boys and Married With Children on Amazon. The Boys is R18 subverted super hero show.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I've never seen McIver in anything else, but iZombie was, for her, almost a sketch show. I'm certainly curious to see where she lands next.

Also, shoutout to Malcolm Goodwin, whose eyerolls and "WTH?" facial expressions never stopped making me laugh, even after 5 seasons. The straight-man role is often a thankless one, and Goodwin played Dean Martin to McIver's Jerry Lewis with aplomb (see? some people don't even know that Dean Martin was a comedian, and only think of him as a singer). Goodwin's ability to keep a straight face reminded me of Tim Kang in The Mentalist.

The Boys is R18 subverted super hero show.

The Boys will almost certainly be on my "favorites of 2019" list, if I make one. While I'm talking about Malcolm Goodwin, another unsung hero(ine) is Erin Moriarty, who I think has been not mentioned even once in any of the reviews of The Boys that I've heard or read (except maybe as the victim, in that scene, but I can't remember if the actress was given any credit for it). When I Google "The Boys cast", her name doesn't even appear, but I thought she had the most interesting character arc and the most nuanced performance.

 

[Zardnaar]

I thought The Boys was great as well. Better Than Us is also really good.

The actor who plays Homelander is from New Zealand and he was in Banshee and a NZ show called Outrageous Fortune.

 

[Synobun]

Burning through the CW shows as quickly as I can. Seasons 1 and 2 of Arrow down. Stands up surprisingly well after so many years.

But now I'm entering the chronological nightmare zone. Season 3 runs alongside season 1 of Flash, season 1 of Constantine, and season 1 of Vixen. The latter is pointless to worry about, though, since I can't find Vixen anywhere to watch it legally here in Canada, and it's my understanding that it's not actually relevant to... anything.

I haven't seen Constantine, so that'll be new. I hear it was good but cancelled prematurely.

 

[Synobun]

I haven't seen Constantine, so that'll be new. I hear it was good but cancelled prematurely.

Watched the first episode of this and boy did it suck! Hope the rest of the season is in better shape.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Re-watching Silicon Valley because the final season is almost upon us.
I had forgotten how many of the most memorable moments came from season one. On the other hand, the later seasons have much more Gavin Belson who has to be one of the greatest comedy antagonists of our time.

Burning through the CW shows as quickly as I can. Seasons 1 and 2 of Arrow down. Stands up surprisingly well after so many years.

Arrow was great, but the show lost me when it started to include more and more fantastical/comic booky elements and crossovers with tonally incompatible and chronologically confusing spin offs. If you have a shared universe, don't run more than two shows concurrently or watching some of them will feel like a chore and I'll drop them all.
Flash was still good, but Legends of Tomorrow was a bridge too far. Imagine season 1 Oliver Queen being told about an immortal called 'Vandal Savage'.
Also, they totally mishandled Vandal Savage, one of the most interesting DC villains. Didn't like the actor, didn't like the Egypt backstory. Keep the caveman background and get somebody more imposing and brutish looking like Jason Momoa.

Constantine was decent for the most part. Had some good and some bad episodes and I liked the protagonist/actor. A shame it didn't get the chance to mature to actually good.

 

[mitsho]

The Good Place is back on for its final season. I just love the guts of the show producers to really tell a story to its logical end and not prolong (practically every show with more than 4 seasons) or cut it short (looking at you, Game of Thrones). Just a really good show.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Some Fall pilots: Prodigal Son was boring, but Emergence and Evil were both pretty good.