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Post by Jeremy on Sept 8, 2020 15:46:01 GMT -8
It's true that each of Kripke's five Supernatural seasons improves on the one before it. That said, S1 of The Boys is much better than S1 of Supernatural, so there's a higher bar of quality to clear.
I think I could make the case for a solid Top 10 this year - and there are still a number of buzzy shows I still want to catch up on (or haven't yet premiered - I'm looking forward to seeing how the forthcoming seasons of Fargo and The Mandalorian shape up). I feel like 2021 may end up getting hit harder by a lack of quality TV than 2020 is.
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Post by guttersnipe on Sept 12, 2020 6:28:51 GMT -8
One of the channels here is currently repeating Doctor Who right from the reboot, so I'm watching Torchwood as we're right at the point where the Harkness story bisects from the parent programme. It's my second attempt at it as I very quickly abandoned it back when it first premiered, but I figured this time I'd give it a fair hearing - and Christ, it's hard going at the moment. Considering that it sometimes dips its toes into the rich vein of olde worlde British mythology (ley lines, pagan rituals, the photographing fairies hoax), the speed at which it descends from promising to moronic damn-near gave me whiplash. Even aside from the adolescent scripts and barely-amiable characters, the visuals don't help - cheap digital handheld, aggressive editing, an overwhelming amount of dark brown and grey in the colour palette, nondescript locations, etc. Basically I'm doing my old trick of bingeing it so I don't give up early doors, and taking a more measured, respectful approach (or if) it gets better down the line, especially as the third and fourth series sound more focused.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Sept 12, 2020 8:24:02 GMT -8
One of the channels here is currently repeating Doctor Who right from the reboot, so I'm watching Torchwood as we're right at the point where the Harkness story bisects from the parent programme. It's my second attempt at it as I very quickly abandoned it back when it first premiered, but I figured this time I'd give it a fair hearing - and Christ, it's hard going at the moment. Considering that it sometimes dips its toes into the rich vein of olde worlde British mythology (ley lines, pagan rituals, the photographing fairies hoax), the speed at which it descends from promising to moronic damn-near gave me whiplash. Even aside from the adolescent scripts and barely-amiable characters, the visuals don't help - cheap digital handheld, aggressive editing, an overwhelming amount of dark brown and grey in the colour palette, nondescript locations, etc. Basically I'm doing my old trick of bingeing it so I don't give up early doors, and taking a more measured, respectful approach (or if) it gets better down the line, especially as the third and fourth series sound more focused. By my count, there's about 2 good episodes in S1, 4 good ones in S2, and then there's S3, which is one of the best seasons of British tv ever produced. Russell T Davies took all of the strengths of his Doctor Who masterpiece "Midnight", and stretched it out to 5 hours. Enjoy. Don't bother with Miracle Day.
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Post by guttersnipe on Sept 14, 2020 9:51:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sceptical right now about your claim that it yields one of the best British series ever, but that's largely down to a) having done quite a bit of homework in that field (particularly with more esoteric stuff) and b) having my faith/patience sorely tested by the episode I watched the other day where a woman in a bikini made from washing machine parts has a punch-up with a poorly-CGI'd pterodactyl. I'm coming towards the end of the first run now and it is getting better, but very much in baby steps.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Sept 14, 2020 11:37:53 GMT -8
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sceptical right now about your claim that it yields one of the best British series ever, but that's largely down to a) having done quite a bit of homework in that field (particularly with more esoteric stuff) and b) having my faith/patience sorely tested by the episode I watched the other day where a woman in a bikini made from washing machine parts has a punch-up with a poorly-CGI'd pterodactyl. I'm coming towards the end of the first run now and it is getting better, but very much in baby steps. The second season has James Marsters in it, and he livens up every scene he's in, as usual. In fact, S2 gets off to a terrific start....and mostly peters out until he returns. If they had locked him down more....who knows. Well, ok. It might be hyperbole. But it is great science fiction nonetheless.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 17, 2020 18:32:29 GMT -8
Maya Rudolph just won an Emmy for her performance as The Hormone Monstress on Big Mouth. Guess I'm not the only one who thinks she's really good on that show.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 17, 2020 20:36:15 GMT -8
Yes, but will she defeat herself in the Guest Actress in a Comedy category?
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 17, 2020 23:05:19 GMT -8
I'd say she stands a pretty good chance of cancelling herself out, to be honest.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 19, 2020 17:53:32 GMT -8
Well, I guess I was wrong about that. She won for her performance as Kamala Harris on SNL.
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Post by Jay on Sept 19, 2020 20:07:42 GMT -8
Happy Rosh Hashanah to Jeremy and to both him and the rest of you, I just watched James Marsters playing a reverend in a guest spot on Northern Exposure, and speaking with an American accent no less
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 20, 2020 17:42:34 GMT -8
Thanks, Jay! It's always weird when James Marsters uses an American accent. He should just fake a British voice forever. Well, I guess I was wrong about that. She won for her performance as Kamala Harris on SNL. That one seemed pretty obvious. Emmy voters clearly love Rudolph, and when faced with a choice of voting for Kamala Harris or a nameless goofy Judge... there ain't gonna be a lot of vote-splitting.
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Post by otherscott on Sept 21, 2020 19:50:08 GMT -8
Chiming in on a couple of shows I haven't touched on yet:
I May Destroy You is one of the most uneven shows I've seen, some episodes are just downright awful. There are two episodes early in the season which I expect to hold up as the worst I've watched this year, though for completely different reasons. That being said there's a lot of really good things here being done, and attempted. The nice thing about TV as opposed to Twitter or Facebook regarding social justice issues such as racism, feminism, etc. is that it is an exploration rather than an exclamation. The show asks the very difficult questions of how much bad behaviour should a victim of horrible things be permitted? Can people change? Is all rape on the same level? I like ambitious shows, and this show is one of the most ambitious on air, despite the guise of being something the critics would be cheering on, and despite what I'd call a heavy social left lean. But man, when it's bad it is bad.
Raised by Wolves is filling the gap Westworld left this year, due to Westworld being generally crappy. This may also be the closest thing I've felt to LOST since LOST ended. It fully understands the best way to tell expansive stories is to start very narrow and slowly branch out, and slowly raise questions. It's also tremendously paced for a long running TV series, too many shows I think try to move too quick through plot to satisfy increasingly impatient viewers. The show is mostly about the formation and inevitability of belief systems, and the consequences of that, though it has a much greater emphasis on character than a show like Devs would.
Feel Good is perfectly fine, but it starts to make me question the limitations of the singular perspective dramedy that has become all the rage recently. Single perspective is naturally limited in the story depth it can tell, because it's generally limited to one character and their issues. It's a good show, but it's hard for it to be groundbreaking when there's so much else like it on TV, particularly shows like Bojack where there is so much more being offered there.
Doom Patrol season 2 is a major step down from the excellent first season. I don't know if the production was affected by the DC Universe to HBO Max transfer that was happening, and the rush to make this one of the day 1 HBO Max premieres, but the show really didn't have interesting stories to tell this time around. It also felt like it was wheel spinning, which is a surprise for a show that felt so fresh and full of life in its opening season.
Lovecraft Country is getting the "topical" critic bump, maybe the best TV example of this that I've ever seen. The show is not really up my alley, as I'm not a fan of pulpiness for the sake of pulpiness, which is a lot of what the show is built on. I actually think the ideas behind the show are pretty great, it does feel like a cool take on 40s-50s racism. The writing and particularly the pacing at times is probably sub-par for a show of the quality that Lovecraft Country is trying to be. Perry Mason may have been somewhat pointless and unoriginal, but it at least did television basics better than Lovecraft Country is currently doing. I'll stick with it though, there's a show that's quite good here if the writers sort things out, even if I can't ever see myself being a big fan.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 22, 2020 18:49:53 GMT -8
Scott, I feel like you're again trying to convince me to subscribe to HBO. I still haven't caught up on most of their recent shows, though their recent spate of buzzable dramas is tempting.
Mostly I've spent the last couple of weeks (finally) catching up on The Good Fight - nearly finished the second season. While not as fresh or engrossing as its parent show, I like the way they've carried over some of the characters and peripheral storylines from that series and establish a new tone that can be uniquely funny and engaging on its own level. Certainly a great step up from those last two Good Wife seasons, and takes some of the better characters from those later years (notably Marissa and Lucca) and lets them come into their own. the political commentary isn't even... slightly subtle, but I guess the Kings want to draw a contrast to the era of their earlier series. And the running commentary on modern politics (a fatal move in TGW's seventh season) can be pretty amusing, though at times unintentionally so.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Sept 22, 2020 20:54:06 GMT -8
Scott, I feel like you're again trying to convince me to subscribe to HBO. I still haven't caught up on most of their recent shows, though their recent spate of buzzable dramas is tempting. Mostly I've spent the last couple of weeks (finally) catching up on The Good Fight - nearly finished the second season. While not as fresh or engrossing as its parent show, I like the way they've carried over some of the characters and peripheral storylines from that series and establish a new tone that can be uniquely funny and engaging on its own level. Certainly a great step up from those last two Good Wife seasons, and takes some of the better characters from those later years (notably Marissa and Lucca) and lets them come into their own. the political commentary isn't even... slightly subtle, but I guess the Kings want to draw a contrast to the era of their earlier series. And the running commentary on modern politics (a fatal move in TGW's seventh season) can be pretty amusing, though at times unintentionally so. Ok, so, everything I have heard about The Good Fight makes it sound like loopy fanfiction that has abandoned L&O "ripped from the headlines" in favor of episodes like "The Gang Discovers Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein." (Note: I am not spoiling anything, this is the actual title of an actual episode of The Good Fight.)
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Post by otherscott on Sept 23, 2020 5:09:55 GMT -8
Actually, this time I'm not really. The two HBO shows on my list I'm not actually sure how much you'd like (particularly I May Destroy You). HBO shows have kind of ranged from good to very much not good so far this year, with nothing actually hitting the heights of "fantastic". The Plot Against America is the best of them, but I would understand if that show is a little too close to home.
That's kind of exactly what the show becomes as it progresses. It's quite enjoyable in its own weird way.
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