What TV series are you currently watching?

Started by Wakefield, April 26, 2015, 06:16:35 PM

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Todd




Netflix has devoted a ton of money to comedy specials, and I've tried several of them, but I usually make it about ten or fifteen minutes before turning them off because I'm not laughing, which indicates failure for a comedy special.  Louis CK's newest one is excellent, though, starting off with a long segment about abortion, and some bits are wonderfully dark.  But maybe not dark enough.  I hope Netflix airs new specials from Anthony Jeselnik and Doug Stanhope.  In the meantime, this one is solid.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

George

Quote from: Todd on July 18, 2017, 06:04:19 AM
I hope Netflix airs new specials from Anthony Jeselnik and Doug Stanhope.  In the meantime, this one is solid.

Although I thought his last special was at least a step down (maybe two) from his prior work, I'd love to get more from Jeselnik. What has he been up to anyway?
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya


SimonNZ

#704


and half way through the sixth season of Homeland, which is shaping up to be the weakest season so far and completely unfocused. A pity after season five, which I thought the strongest.


Cato

Quote from: SimonNZ on July 25, 2017, 03:51:56 PM

and half way through the sixth season of Homeland, which is shaping up to be the weakest season so far and completely unfocused. A pity after season five, which I thought the strongest.



Completely on target!  We stopped watching after about Episode 3 or so.  It just was not compelling any more: Carrie working for a tax-exempt foundation as a bureaucrat...and it isn't a cover job?  Yawn!

Right now one of the greatest comedies ever...which of course was canceled after Season I !

[asin]B01M2UD5JS[/asin]
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

George

"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Todd




Ozark.  Part Breaking Bad, part Justified, and part original while still influenced by other ideas and reliant on stereotypes, Ozark is a curiously satisfying drama.  Almost entirely laugh free, the very dark show follows Jason Bateman as his money laundering ways end up putting his family in mortal danger.  The show starts in Chicago but moves immediately to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and it turns out there's a lot of danger and smart-ish and mean rednecks there.  (It also turns out that there are some critical differences between rednecks and hillbillies.)  The show is filled with bad guys and danger.  Sometimes it seems a bit too overstuffed with storylines, the last two episodes twist and turn too much, and there's one early, pretty heavy-duty throwaway line that may or may not serve as fodder for more backstory or even current timeline development in a future season.  (It smacks of AHS season one is all I will write.)  Jason Bateman sheds his comic persona completely here, but maintains his sharp, manipulative traits, and he proves to be a solid dramatic actor.  Laura Linney is in her element as a not entirely innocent wife.  (The flashback episode sheds more light on both characters.)  Esai Morales does splendid work as one of the main heavies, never overacting and always adding an element of menace.  Julia Garner, who has a small but important role in The Americans, gets a lot of screen time and takes advantage of it.  The show is equivalent to a hard-R movie, so people averse to profanity, violence and its gruesome aftermath, and gratuitous (though plot-driven) nudity may not be so keen on it.  The show is shot in what appears to a be a 2:1 ratio and is generally very cinematic visually, and this appears to be a Bateman passion project as he also executive produces the show and directs four episodes.  Unexpectedly, my wife liked the show even more than I did, and she tends to dislike dark shows. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Karl Henning

Well, and only 50-ish years late, Star Trek.

Watched "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" & "Court-Martial" last night, and dadgummit, I've become a fan.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Crudblud

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 31, 2017, 05:56:06 AM
Well, and only 50-ish years late, Star Trek.

Watched "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" & "Court-Martial" last night, and dadgummit, I've become a fan.

Can we expect 32 Variations on the Theme from Star Trek any time soon?

Parsifal

Quote from: Todd on July 31, 2017, 05:42:22 AMOzark.  Part Breaking Bad, part Justified, and part original while still influenced by other ideas and reliant on stereotypes, Ozark is a curiously satisfying drama.  Almost entirely laugh free, the very dark show follows Jason Bateman as his money laundering ways end up putting his family in mortal danger.

I got 15 minutes into the first episode before deciding it's not for me (despite being a big "breaking bad" fan). I've grown fatigued of the "middle class family life is a thin veneer covering desperation" genre. Decided to devote limited time to listening to Hindemith instead.

kishnevi

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 31, 2017, 05:56:06 AM
Well, and only 50-ish years late, Star Trek.

Watched "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" & "Court-Martial" last night, and dadgummit, I've become a fan.

I must admit that the only original ST episode  I have watched as an adult* in its entirety was the "Trouble with Tribbles".


*as opposed to those I saw when they originally aired, when I was a 7-9 year old kid whose favorite set of pajamas was a Star Trek outfit.  Yes, kiddies, they had cross-merchandising back then.  But I have no actual memory of those shows now.

Todd

Quote from: Scarpia on July 31, 2017, 08:36:46 AMI got 15 minutes into the first episode before deciding it's not for me (despite being a big "breaking bad" fan).


Without giving much away, the show takes a significant turn in the first episode, and fifteen minutes may not be far enough in to get to that point, and then the flashback episode (eight) reveals more of the true nature of the two main characters.  It's not as good as the first four seasons of Breaking Bad, but it's better than the last two seasons.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Rick and Morty season three. So far the episodes have been more connected together, which is off-putting to me. I tend to find it difficult to engage with series-long story arcs.

Cato

Quote from: jessop on July 31, 2017, 03:44:51 PM
Rick and Morty season three. So far the episodes have been more connected together, which is off-putting to me. I tend to find it difficult to engage with series-long story arcs.

Is it funny?  8)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Hollywood

"There are far worse things awaiting man than death."

A Hollywood born SoCal gal living in Beethoven's Heiligenstadt (Vienna, Austria).


Cato

Quote from: jessop on July 31, 2017, 03:44:51 PM
Rick and Morty season three. So far the episodes have been more connected together, which is off-putting to me. I tend to find it difficult to engage with series-long story arcs.


Quote from: Cato on July 31, 2017, 05:18:33 PM
Is it funny?  8)


Quote from: jessop on August 01, 2017, 12:50:03 AM
I'd say so :)

Glad to hear it!   ;D   My youngest son and I (Mrs. Cato does not find it amusing, and is rather appalled to hear us laughing at it!) thought Season II lost a little drive vs. Season I.  Perhaps not enough wit and too many gross-out scenes?   Nevertheless, we will be watching Season III this weekend!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Quote from: Cato on August 01, 2017, 04:09:09 AM


Glad to hear it!   ;D   My youngest son and I (Mrs. Cato does not find it amusing, and is rather appalled to hear us laughing at it!) thought Season II lost a little drive vs. Season I.  Perhaps not enough wit and too many gross-out scenes?   Nevertheless, we will be watching Season III this weekend!
I would also equally say that Season 3 so far is more on the serious side. Still funny, but the humour is laced with the sadness of spoiler alerts for those who don't know what happened in episode 1 of the current season.

Karl Henning

More Trek.

"Return of the Archons" last night.  I'm not sure I understand why O'Neil and McCoy had to be taken to a special location in order to be "absorbed," while Sulu appeared to have been "absorbed" right out there on the street, and just before he was transported back to the Enterprise.  Nor am I certain how, when one of the first bits of exposition about the society is a "Festival" which involves looting and lasciviousness, Landru can later claim that he has created a society with no evil and none of "the ancient vices."  Those cavils notwithstanding, great fun to watch.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot