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Post by Jeremy on Jan 3, 2019 6:09:01 GMT -8
Welcome to a new year, and a new TV thread!
First question: Will True Detective earn back the respect it once had?
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Post by otherscott on Jan 3, 2019 6:48:43 GMT -8
We should have monthly questions like this.
I think the big uphill battle True Detective faces is that I'm not convinced that Nic Pizzolatto is as strong a writer/ showrunner as many others who are working in TV right now, so that's always going to give the show a bit of a ceiling. Season 1 hit the absolute top of that ceiling because it was Cary Fukunaga and Matthew McConaughey at their absolute peak.
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (I'll call him by his full name because it's the most entertaining name in the bible) is probably about on par with McConaughey as an actor, but I don't know we're going to get anything other than a copy of Fukunaga's vision for the first season, I can't see it reaching quite that height again.
So I'll go with a) return to respectability? It's possible but no guarantee b) return to the form it showed in Season 1? Doubtful
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 3, 2019 7:05:50 GMT -8
Early reviews seems favorable, if not quite over-the-moon. It's pretty tough to recover after a second-season slump, even for an anthology series. (Though, full disclosure: I've never watched either season of the show myself.) Also, I find it interesting that Mahershala Ali's career started to take off right after he shortened his name. That's Hollywood for ya. We should have monthly questions like this. Duly noted.
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Post by otherscott on Jan 3, 2019 8:23:27 GMT -8
I'm taking advantage of getting Crave, which is a Canadian streaming service with the HBO backcatalogue and current shows, among a bunch of other stuff.
So early in the new year I'm watching Deadwood S1 for the first time, which I'm looking forward to a lot even though I'm not usually much of a Western person.
Also going on is Travelers S2 and S3 with my TV watching buddy, which is an underrated show, or at least the first season was, and I'll watch True Detective as it airs.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 3, 2019 9:13:13 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Amazon Prime still carries the HBO library, although they haven't updated it in several years. (Only have the first two seasons of Veep.) But maybe I'll get back to watching some of their miniseries, even if I was kind of bored by Band of Brothers.
I'd also like to get caught up on Jane the Virgin before the final season premieres, since I sadly fell behind on Season Four.
Right now, I'm burning through Marvelous Mrs. Maisel S2. Still a very entertaining show, even if it can get too quirky for its own good.
Oh, and I'm hoping that Deadwood movie airs soon. I might get HBO briefly for that.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 3, 2019 17:52:07 GMT -8
I'm surprised that Amazon Prime still carries the HBO library, although they haven't updated it in several years. (Only have the first two seasons of Veep.) But maybe I'll get back to watching some of their miniseries, even if I was kind of bored by Band of Brothers. Blasphemy! Also, congratulations on getting around to Deadwood, Scott. It's probably the best show I've ever seen. Definitely not my favorite, but probably the objective best, if such a thing exists. For the most part, the stuff I've seen on FX ( Justified, The Shield, Fargo, Terriers) have easily been better and more enjoyable the the HBO shows that are generally considered masterpieces. Deadwood is the exception. It's easily the best HBO drama in my opinion (not counting miniseries).
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 9, 2019 16:09:26 GMT -8
So, the question is: will Jeremy watch Netflix's Sex Education?
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 9, 2019 16:48:31 GMT -8
And the answer is... nope.
I've learned enough through trial-and-error over the years as to which raunchy TV comedies sound like they would ultimately appeal to me. Everything I've read about Sex Education tells me that it would not appeal to me at all, and would probably annoy the heck out of me. So I'll be Guttersniping it.
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Post by otherscott on Jan 10, 2019 6:32:41 GMT -8
I will probably try an episode or so of Sex Education. I never could make it through an episode of Big Mouth, and this has been compared to that, so we'll see if it hits or exceeds my tolerance level. It sounds like this is being played more straight than Big Mouth was which will probably help, but the awkwardness of it may be too much to deal with.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 10, 2019 7:38:10 GMT -8
I'm probably alone here, but I'm more interested in the other drama premiering on Netflix tomorrow. Yeah, Titans got some pretty bad reviews, but I'm curious to see how DC pulls off the "dark and gritty streaming drama," especially since it's been such a mixed bag for Marvel.
(I'm also guessing future seasons won't pop up on Netflix - DC is just doing some cross-promotion for its own streaming service.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 10, 2019 9:13:11 GMT -8
I'm nearly through Season 2 of Big Mouth, and I've actually had a great time with it. The characters (male and female) are actually rendered with a good deal of complexity, and once it introduces Maya Rudolph's Hormone Monstress (honestly, probably the funniest and most go-for-broke performance of her career), it's frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Add David Thewliss's Shame Wizard in Season 2, and it's firing on all cylinders right now. I took a while to get on board with the somewhat-forced Coach Steve character, but even he's working for me at this point.
And to me, the vulgarity is very purposeful, as a stream-of-consciousness rendering of the pubescent mindset.
About the only character I could take or leave is Richard Kind's, but I generally feel that way about him.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 10, 2019 20:26:59 GMT -8
The You're The Worst S5 premiere was quite charming and creative, and far less jarring than it would've been had we not experienced the stalker-Gretchen episode a few seasons back. I gather Sepinwall's seen all 13 Season 5 episodes, and gives the final year, and finale, a thumbs-up. I've liked all of the seasons, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 10, 2019 20:45:55 GMT -8
I kind of lost track of You're the Worst during Season Four. Fell behind early while catching up on other stuff, then read some pretty lackluster reviews (not uncommon, for penultimate seasons of serialized shows), and didn't feel motivated enough to pick it back up.
Season Five does seem to be getting a warmer reception, though, so I may jump back in. If I'm in a particularly daring/lazy mood, I might just skip ahead to the S5 premiere.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 11, 2019 13:09:29 GMT -8
I'm probably alone here, but I'm more interested in the other drama premiering on Netflix tomorrow. Yeah, Titans got some pretty bad reviews, but I'm curious to see how DC pulls off the "dark and gritty streaming drama," especially since it's been such a mixed bag for Marvel. (I'm also guessing future seasons won't pop up on Netflix - DC is just doing some cross-promotion for its own streaming service.) Looks like I've made my annual mistake - Titans is not on Netflix, at least not in the US. It's just being released internationally (since DC Universe is a US-only service). Scott and J.C. can watch it on Netflix, but I'll have to spend my weekend without any gratuitous violence or "F*** Batman" quotes.
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Post by otherscott on Jan 11, 2019 14:11:30 GMT -8
There's a lot of upsides to the many of the streaming networks popping up being US only. Occasionally it means there will be something that you can't find in Canada at all, but it's pretty rare. Mostly it means that there is more content in fewer subscriptions in Canada, since things are less spread out.
I'm not sure about how much that carries over internationally, I think at some point with a lot of countries there's more content that you can't get that makes not being in the US a great inconvenience for TV watching instead, rather than an advantage.
Going back to an earlier conversation, I did watch half an episode of Sex Education this morning before work, and I think I'll be able to tolerate it well enough. I'm not convinced it's good yet, but it's a different degree of awkwardness and in-your-face about stuff that doesn't quite do the same trick of tuning me out immediately that Big Mouth did.
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