teevee sucks

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Originally Posted by Hazir

Interesting how you manage to watch these old shows. I have the experience that almost without fail these old shows look too silly to even bother.

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You sound like my kids, who think anything made in B & W is old and boring. Not enough action or CGI special effects to hold their attention, or something. :haha: I like to watch for the social cues, everything from fashion trends to gender roles; it's like comparative literature meets modern theater, just on the small screen, compressed into 60 minute plots. Plus, there's really no new theme at all, it's just Shakespeare in different clothes and back-drops....simply entertainment ;)

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Originally Posted by Nessus

This explains many things!

And yet also perplexes!

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How did I miss him saying that? Welcome to the B5 club, Aimless! The 5-season boxed set was the very next thing I purchased when I got my first DVD player in college back in the early 00s.

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Originally Posted by Aimless

gave up after a few episodes

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What? No! Keep going. It gets better, I promise.

finally got around to seeing Only Murders in the Building and I wanna know why people investigating a murder—in a building they share with a murderer—never look through the peephole before opening the door

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Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy

What? No! Keep going. It gets better, I promise.

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I'm gonna check out the highlights at 1.5x speed :o

The Last of Us is pretty good, but since I never played the game it better amp up pretty fast or I may lose interest. :donkey:

David Attenborough narrating nature series never fails. Love love love his voice. And the photography/videography is always amazing and stupendous. :up:

Been watching Picard s3 for awhile now.
I'm really happy with this show. :)

Considering how much TNG and Star Trek has meant for me during the decades I really wish I could meet Patrick Stewart some day.

I don't really like Picard. Not only don't all those old faces make me feel nostalgic, but I also get a feeling like they're trying too hard. I don't like this predictable fanboy writing. I knew it was Q before they showed the actor, the last episode I knew the next thing I'd see would be a Borg cube.

Succession on the other hand is writing television history. Season 4 so far is epic. I doubt there are enough awards in the world to do that show justice.

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Originally Posted by rille

Been watching Picard s3 for awhile now.
I'm really happy with this show. :)

Considering how much TNG and Star Trek has meant for me during the decades I really wish I could meet Patrick Stewart some day.

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The first two seasons had better storylines, but I've enjoyed season 3 the most (despite the season 3 curse manifested in Jack). I'm not really one for Star Trek nostalgia—I just like seeing these actors do their thing. Just saw the finale, not too keen on the final scene tbh.

https://deadline.com/2023/04/harry-p...st-1235323284/

I can hear the screeching already :0

You really owned the libs there, Lewk.

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Originally Posted by Wraith

You really owned the libs there, Lewk.

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Actually TV is good now

https://abcnews.go.com/US/tucker-car...ry?id=98801613

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Originally Posted by Wraith

You really owned the libs there, Lewk.

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I am a bit surprised they're making it though. I also wonder how they're gonna bridge the chasm between woke hate for Rowling and trying to be more inclusive. That being more inclusive worries me a bit, because on average 'better representation' also leads to bland content.

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Originally Posted by Nessus

You might find the character arc of a certain mister Garibaldi amusing given everything that happened after mister Trump's wild escalator ride, but that would entail actually investing time and we already know how that works out

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Amusing how? Just in a "this has tangentially relevant themes" way, or is there something more; it's been a long while since I last did a re-watch.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, for a teevee show old enough that most of the cast has died by now:

Mister Garibaldi gets used and abused by a supremacist group, specifically to play with his paranoias and fears in order to subvert his actual persona and make him a caricature of what he was presented as earlier in the show. You can read it as a generic "this is what fascism does" kind of allegory, but I think, just personally, that it gained a whole new salience with all the stupidity around mister Trump.

But you are right in your criticism, everything in a show that old has tangentially relevant themes and that's about it, no one really expected a science fiction show from the 90's to predict the future, right?

Honestly, I never read that part that way; likely due to being delivered via obstinately magical mind control powers. Though the way it's described as a subtle adjustment seems to line up with this interpretation, will need to keep it in the back of my mind whenever I decide to go through watching it all again.

It is shown as a kind of rape. Mister Garibaldi absolutely loses it when mister Bester shows him what happened. Uh, SPOILER ALERT again. But it is sort of believable what he does, to us the viewers, isn't it? He helps that nice family get back together, he tells Sheridan to piss right off with his righteousness and he's not wrong there, etc.

From the start, mister Garibaldi was presented as someone who distrusts authority. His character arc is very painful, since he gets mind-assaulted by mister Bester, but we also have G'Kar, who undergoes a lot of SPOILER ALERT physical torture to become a better person than he was at the opening of the series. And Londo SPOILER WARNINGS does the opposite, he becomes his worst self by the end, because he did not stop himself.

Strangely enough I know all the characters but forgot most of what they did.

I can't believe nobody here recommended 'Righteous Gemstones'. Really y'all?

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Originally Posted by Hazir

I am a bit surprised they're making it though. I also wonder how they're gonna bridge the chasm between woke hate for Rowling and trying to be more inclusive. That being more inclusive worries me a bit, because on average 'better representation' also leads to bland content.

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I wonder do other countries have this problem? Does India worry about not having enough white actors? Does the African movie industry worry about not having enough Asians in roles? Does Japan worry about not having enough Indigenous representation? Or is this just a uniquely American and European nonsense?

India runs circles around the West when it comes to colorism. And then they even blame this on the Brits. As if the British were the only cultural influence in their millenia of history.

You should worry less though about the fact that people want non-white actors to get a shot than about the tendency to cast people in roles that are reflecting their lived experiences. As a gay man, it is my almost consistent experience that gay men playing the roles of gay men in movies strangely lack. Straight actors do a better job at playing gay men almost without fail. At least they can't afford to phone it in. I think I can say that a gay themed movie, made by gay movie makers almost immediately will drop to the absolute bottom of movies i will watch. And that's saying something for someone who before covid would be in an actual cinema several times a week.

The Outlaws. :up:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11646832/

A few teaser clips were released today—as individual frames to fans on twitter—to whet our appetite before the trailer drops tomorrow.

Damane being mean to the wonder-girls:

Twitter Link

https://twitter.com/GradeKangusBeef/...83617165926400

Higher-res version of one of the stills show a braided column of fire (and, I guess, air) striking the ground.

A big moment for Swedish nerds:

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2593507097/

And: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AFVhvJqDos

aaand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpZcKoXn7eE

I'm holding off on the trailers.

Jury duty is hilarious.

Just binged the first three eps of season 2 of WoT, with my wife and baby doing the same on the tablet. Enjoyed it immensely, changes and all. Approve of Prison Break Rand's fucked-up toxic relationship. The direction and cinematography etc. will never feel as stylish as eg. Disney's Star Wars shows, but jfc did they (mostly) nail the casting and the character portrayals. Feels very cohesive, and, for attentive viewers, there are many clear signs that showrunner & actors have a good idea of where they're going and how they'll get there. Plot has more room to breathe. Every aspect of the production has improved. I honestly feel like they fumbled the Accepted test a little wrt the storytelling; they should've been able to much better with the first parts. Some of the channeling is still marred by Pike's initial choreography choices. Idk how to feel abt the changes to Perrin's abilities, but I def. enjoyed Rutherford's scenes much more in these eps than I did in s1. Idec, very psyched abt ep4.

I don't know if I liked all changes. The story line switch between Matt and Perrin seems superfluous. And the changes to the Seanchan reduces them a bit to your typical imperialist power, which they weren't in the books. I do like the casting, and I think I should say Meera Syal as Verin was a golden find.

Overal satisfying.

Just binged 'blocco 181' on Skyshowtime. Good old fashioned Italian hard crime show mixed in with a traditional Romeo and Juliette situation, with the twist of there being one Juliette but two Romeo's.

The only bad thing I have to say about this show is that there only is a single season. And no chance for a second.

Wheel of time gave us a decent 4th episode in season 2, though I was kind of thrown off by Moraine 's actions. I didn't really like it. Even though I understand how they used it to move the story ahead.

Never seen the anime, but, apart from the protagonist being the most annoying character I've ever seen, I really enjoyed One Piece. They should make a show with just the supporting cast.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

Jury duty is hilarious.

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It was surprisingly good! But such an elaborate "prank" left me feeling bad for the guy. Using schadenfreude for entertainment isn't such a good thing, really.

A rainy day and Netflix. Incredible how bad season 4 of sex education became. Somehow they made it a representation bingo with half of the characters merely being pegs to hang ridiculous decisions on. Decisions that in no way relate to what they say.

Like: young man fresh from a a one time hookup says he has no interest in meeting his date from the night before because... He isn't interested in one night stands. And he said all that with his outside voice so that we all understand that he's a serious young man who respects women (if we forget he doesn't want to see a one night stand for the reason that she was a one night stand after having sex one night and he doesn't want
. OMFJ.

Sad to know I'm going to waste time watching it :(

Fares Fares deserves an award for this. Beautiful performance

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from beginning to (apparent?) end

. I practically ran home from work to see the finale, and was left thoroughly satisfied - straight up yelled with joy at some points, which I haven't done in... probably years? But Fares Fares was the highlight in so many ways, from his Old Tongue delivery to

Spoiler:

his very last words

. I also loved Lanfear

Spoiler:

ribbing him about his waffling personality. With those two, and now Laia Costa's Moghedien, I think it's fair to say the show has done an absolutely stellar job with the villains

. I hear they're expected to finish principal photography for s3 before the end of the year, so it's possible we won't have to wait a full two years for the next season. And there are some hints that an official s4 announcement is likely around the corner. I wish the idjits at Amazon would just give the show the 10-episode seasons it clearly needs, but I'll take 8 episodes if they give us a full run.

Just finished Mandalorian s3. Baby Yoda best character in history of TV. Finale made me think of Tribes 2. Whole season much, much more enjoyable than Ahsoka.

Finally finished Loki. Crazy how good Loki was allowed to be when the rest of Marvel's line up has become so mid.

Thank you. :o

TV sucks but streaming "The Americans" is pretty entertaining. I especially like seeing the times before computers, cell phones, and CCTV cameras were everywhere. Those spies really had to work at their "craft" back then. Plus, the soundtrack is really good :up:

Just finished True Detective season 4. Strong start, horrible final episode. Just terrible ending. Garbage writing.

Watched season 1-3 of Fargo. Loved it all, really good overall, though Season 3 is easily the weakest.

Been watching Parks and Recreation - again - and I just love that show. Fun and smart. (after Season 1, which was painful)

Finished Barry, on HBO MAX whatever, and wow I LOVED that show - all of it - and the final season was a great wrap up. I want to re-watch from the beginning. Really great.

Been juggling so much lately that I haven't been able to just sit down and watch even a single episode of a TV-show. But, yesterday, I watched the first four eps of Halo s2. Good old-fashioned scifi fun. Eps are more well-made than in s1, even though the plot moves at a slower pace. I like it.