What TV series are you currently watching?

[Sydney Nova Scotia]

Reruns of Skippy

https://youtu.be/r3HkUKoGoc4

[milk]

My memory of The Young Pope was that it was good but not great. I was thinking of watching it again. What did people think here about that series?

[shirime]

Currently on season 16 and 37 at the same time. Season 16 isn't as strong as season 37 so far, but I enjoy the premise of searching for the six segments of the Key to Time as a story arc. The regulars are fun and the guest casts in each serial I've seen have been quite good too. Season 37 is shaping up to be incredibly strong with excellent main characters and a wide variety of settings and adventures, more than what we've seen in the episodes since the continuation of the show. Haven't seen the latest episode yet, but it's about an intergalactic retailer called Kerblam! (sort of like a space Amazon) so it would be interesting to see the angle the show takes on companies such as that.

Kerblam! was yet another reminder for me of why I will never use amazon. It wasn't too bad an episode, it was a fun adventure with exactly the right balance of scary and funny, but the plot and the themes were rather incoherent. Was it about workers rights and welfare? Was it about the flaws in automated systems in the workplace? Was it about the difference between violent and non-violent activism? Was it about the benefits of demographic quotas in employment? It was a bit of all these things, presenting them half completed one after another with an anti-climactic villain reveal in the last ten minutes. I think it could have either focussed on just one or two of these themes and presented them more coherently and that would have made it an episode on par with something like The Sun Makers. 

[Todd]

Homecoming.  Erstwhile bona fide movie star Julia Roberts relegated to a streaming series in which she plays a pseudo-shrink assigned to help returning veterans.  The show no doubt has allusions to other recent entertainments that I don't know about, and it has a vaguely Twilight Zone feel at times.  In what appears to be an increasingly common trait of movies and shows set in the contemporary world, I really didn't care much for most of the characters, and certainly not for two of the three main characters, including the one played by Roberts.  Only Shea Whigam as a DOD Compliance Officer and Stephan James as a returning vet appealed to me.  The show uses the now way too familiar and rather tired device of non-linear timelines and jumping back and forth in timelines.  This is a case where a linear story would have definitely worked better.  Also, the use of different formats for filming, including a cell phone camera perspective, was just annoying (including in the hokey quasi-reveal where the formats merge), as was the multi-image split screen in the last episode.  Music is used in way too heavy handed a way, though I do confess to chuckling when the orchestrated Handel Sarabande used throughout Barry Lyndon appears.  I know the main creative force behind Mr Robot directed the series.  I've not watched that show, and if this show in any way reflects the quality of that one, I won't.  I'll skip it just to be safe.  Fortunately, the episodes of this series are short, and it is very hard to see how there could be a meaningful second season, though if enough money is involved, there could be one.

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Season two of The Crown.

Still very good, if a little too obsessed with anything involving infidelity, and I was surprised to be particularly impressed by the handling of the Princess Margaret / Lord Snowdon story.

[Ken B]

Finished:



Season two of The Crown.

Still very good, if a little too obsessed with anything involving infidelity, and I was surprised to be particularly impressed by the handling of the Princess Margaret / Lord Snowdon story.

It looks — production values — astounding. I hear they spent 100mm on this series ...

[George]

Via Netflix.

Anyone know if they will get the other seasons?

[Omicron9]

I was tempted to post this in the movie thread, as the following series is really a 4-hour movie.

New Netflix series "The Kominsky Method."   I binged the whole series; it was essentially a 4-hour movie broken into 1/2-hr episodes.  The two lead characters are played by Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas.  I think Netflix has classified it as a comedy, but I'd take slight issue with that.  There are very funny  lines spread throughout, but it has plenty of dark topics and deeply sad subplots.  Very, very well-done.  Great writing and performances.  I'll probably go back and watch it again at some point.  Heavily recommended.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7255502/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Regards,
-09

[SimonNZ]

Americans, season six

Sorry to see it finished, but thought they wrapped it up well.

[shirime]

Kerblam! was yet another reminder for me of why I will never use amazon. It wasn't too bad an episode, it was a fun adventure with exactly the right balance of scary and funny, but the plot and the themes were rather incoherent. Was it about workers rights and welfare? Was it about the flaws in automated systems in the workplace? Was it about the difference between violent and non-violent activism? Was it about the benefits of demographic quotas in employment? It was a bit of all these things, presenting them half completed one after another with an anti-climactic villain reveal in the last ten minutes. I think it could have either focussed on just one or two of these themes and presented them more coherently and that would have made it an episode on par with something like The Sun Makers. 

Enjoyed the latest two episodes: The Witchfinders and It Takes You Away; the latter was especially good. A portal to a sentient universe whose laws are so incompatible with ours that it poses a threat to reality was a marvellous idea, and the execution of that idea was original, intriguing and actually very surprising. There's a certain scene with a frog that a number of Facebook and YouTube 'critics' seem to have an issue with, but personally I thought it amazing how emotionally moving such a potentially ridiculous scene turned out being.

[Daverz]

Dead Like Me.  Light fun, sort of like Buffy meets Reaper, though Reaper came a few years later.

[asin]B00GT4NCHY[/asin]

Miss Sherlock (Japanese with subtitles on Amazon Prime).  Yet another gender-swapping, modern-day Sherlock Holmes reboot.  Here the sidekick is Dr. Wato, or using the honorific, Wato-san.

[George]

Finishing up the series (again) today, such a great show. Rip Torn did such a great job!

[Omicron9]

Dead Like Me.  Light fun, sort of like Buffy meets Reaper, though Reaper came a few years later.

[asin]B00GT4NCHY[/asin]

Miss Sherlock (Japanese with subtitles on Amazon Prime).  Yet another gender-swapping, modern-day Sherlock Holmes reboot.  Here the sidekick is Dr. Wato, or using the honorific, Wato-san.

I really liked S1 of "Dead Like Me," but I thought S2 went down hill.

-09

[vandermolen]

It looks — production values — astounding. I hear they spent 100mm on this series ...

This was a fabulous series with great acting.

Thread duty.

I'm watching 'Anne with an E'. I know, I know but I think it is really good and I'm constantly looking for programmes that my wife and I can enjoy together as, otherwise, she does not share my choice of classic horror films, film noir, or 2001: A Space Odyssey watched over and over again. 

[George]

Now enjoying F is for Family - Season 3!

[drogulus]

     I've watched the first 2 episodes of Heimat - A Chronicle of Germany, a massive production for German TV from 1984, influenced by the Neuer Deutscher Film movement.

[George]

Loving seasons 1 and 2 of this show!

[mc ukrneal]

Dead Like Me.  Light fun, sort of like Buffy meets Reaper, though Reaper came a few years later.

[asin]B00GT4NCHY[/asin]

I do love this show. Some very clever ideas and very oddball at times, but strangely life affirming for a show that revolves around death.

[milk]

Loving seasons 1 and 2 of this show!

The one with Gary Shandling is great.

[George]

The one with Gary Shandling is great.

Indeed, I saw that one tonight for the second time!