What TV series are you currently watching?

[Fëanor]

Finally getting to this. And it is immediately addictive.

Yes, a great show that's won several awards.

I'll be watching CNN's The Murdochs: Empire of Influence tonight.  It seems pretty obvious that the Succession series was inspired by the real-life Murdoch sage.

[Fëanor]

As a J.R.R. Tolkien fan, I've be drawn to watch Amazon's Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.

Amazon paid USD 250 million for rights that included the Lord of the Rings trilogy including appendices, and The Hobbit, certain other fragments of Tolkien's writings, but, significantly, NOT The Silmarillion.  (Basically the same rights Peter Jackson obtained for his LoTR and Hobbit films.)

To this point, (Episode 5), the series is dramatically mediocre, IMO.  However as a long-time, (but non-obsessive), Tolkien fan I have numerous objections to the "historicity" of series on account of its departure for Tolkien's timelines and character portrayals.

The series' story is set in the "2nd Age", three thousand years before the events of the Lord of the Rings proper.  The 2nd Age itself was over three thousand years in duration but the series telescopes this interval in important respects.  So for example, the Elf lord, Celebrimbor is portrayed as alive at the same time the Numinorien king, Tar-Palantir, though he was slain about 1500 years earlier according to the LoTR appendices.
 
The leading character, based the renown Elf lady-ruler, Galadriel, prominent in the LoTR, is an Amazon fabrication as far as 2nd Age events is concerned because Tolkien provides essentially no details of her activities in the 2nd Age.  (This sort of plot fabrication was permitted according to the terms of Amazon agreement with the Tolkien Trust.)  Beyond that, the Amazon characterization of Galadriel projects little of the gravitas of Tolkien's characterization -- for one thing, the actor (actress) Morfydd Clark is rather short whereas Tolkien's authentic Galadriel was very tall for female.

Hobbit progenitors, the Stoors, are major secondary characters in the RoP, but Tokien essentially makes no mention of Hobbits in the 2nd Age.

What I'm most waiting for is Amazon's treatment of the "Rings of Power" themselves, not mention up to Episode 5.  That includes the timeline:  The Rings were "historically" created more that 1500 years before the main events of the series.

OK, I could go, but enough boring talk about authenticity to Tolkien.  Perhaps it only matter to true Tolkien fans, but you get the message.

[George]

My girlfriend and I enjoy this sometimes serious, often hilarious show.

[Karl Henning]

Well, I finished the 90's revival of Dark Shadows. Overall, I enjoyed it very well (I also watched the original series through the same storylines more or less in tandem.) It's a pity that external circs (more than anything in the show's production itself apparently) put the kybosh on't

[Irons]

Blimey, a weekend viewing off the scale. BBC 4 warned of scenes of a sexual nature in the German series KaDeWe set in 1920's Berlin. A warning not to be ignored!

From Berlin to Milwaukee. A Netflix series based on the true story of the serial killer Dahmer is scary dark. The lead is brilliantly played, too realistic for comfort. 

[George]

[SimonNZ]

[Karl Henning]

Arguably a niche interest for Rod Serling enthusiasts (and I may be one) I've started his Western series, The Loner, starring Lloyd Bridges.

[j winter]

Nothing but the most intellectually refined fare for my TV viewing, nosiree...



Serious nostalgia-fest here, since I haven't watched these since I was a kid... as cool as modern television is, with it's complex characterizations and plotlines running over multiple seasons, there's something to be said for the simplicity of good guy vs bad guy, wrap it up in a hour, back again next week... excellent way to de-stress after work for those of a certain generation in the US.  The early episodes at least have a very heavy James Bond influence, even including a few minor actors from Bond films as guest stars.  Great fun!

[Karl Henning]

Nothing but the most intellectually refined fare for my TV viewing, nosiree...



Serious nostalgia-fest here, since I haven't watched these since I was a kid... as cool as modern television is, with it's complex characterizations and plotlines running over multiple seasons, there's something to be said for the simplicity of good guy vs bad guy, wrap it up in a hour, back again next week... excellent way to de-stress after work for those of a certain generation in the US.  The early episodes at least have a very heavy James Bond influence, even including a few minor actors from Bond films as guest stars.  Great fun!

My best friend in high school band played trombone, and his name was Steve Austin.

[Papy Oli]

To be transfixed, as I was last night, by the first episode of a series where nothing happens on the surface is some achievement by the writer (Stefan Golaszewski) of Marriage and the main cast members of Sean Bean and Nicola Walker. The scene in the cemetery contains some of the finest acting I have witnessed with the pair just sitting on a bench.
Story is the wrong word, so is action, but whatever, revolves around a couple married for thirty years or so, with the husband newly retired and his wife still in employment. The writing is very clever as sans signposts the viewer has to workout for themselves the past and driving force of  a coupling of two people over such a long period. At times unnerving as their life is too like ours for comfort.
Not for everyone but I found it unique as well as brilliant.       

Finally completed BBC's Marriage following a long hiatus after the first episode, really unsure of what to make of it at the time. We then ended up watching the last 2 1/2 episodes in one sitting last night. I guess we got drawn in after all 

It is so radically different in its set up, like Lol mentioned above, that it indeed takes some getting used to. The cemetery scene is gut wrenching, the conference/hotel room scenes so incredibly tense. The dad/daughter letter scene heart-warming.

The one that really got to me though was seeing the daughter's reactions to (finally!) being treated nicely and feel her worth by the restaurant waiter. The range of emotions running through the actress' face and eyes in those scenes (particularly on the street corner) was so impressive.

The mirror held to us via the couple's everyday life was cringey, funny, uncomfortable (cue numerous thoughts like "shoot I do do that... haha my beloved does that... oh god we do that... it IS like that with our parents" etc etc).

The last scene is beautiful in its utter anti-climatic simplicity. It is ultimately what it is all about and where the worth and the strength of it all lies.

(NB: No idea if a second series is commissioned? Not actually sure it needs one. It is perfect as it is)
(NB: Sean Bean doesn't die...it's a change!  )

[Todd]

Nothing but the most intellectually refined fare for my TV viewing, nosiree...

Andre the Giant's finest acting came in that show.  It is nothing to be sneezed at.

[Irons]

Finally completed BBC's Marriage following a long hiatus after the first episode, really unsure of what to make of it at the time. We then ended up watching the last 2 1/2 episodes in one sitting last night. I guess we got drawn in after all 

It is so radically different in its set up, like Lol mentioned above, that it indeed takes some getting used to. The cemetery scene is gut wrenching, the conference/hotel room scenes so incredibly tense. The dad/daughter letter scene heart-warming.

The one that really got to me though was seeing the daughter's reactions to (finally!) being treated nicely and feel her worth by the restaurant waiter. The range of emotions running through the actress' face and eyes in those scenes (particularly on the street corner) was so impressive.

The mirror held to us via the couple's everyday life was cringey, funny, uncomfortable (cue numerous thoughts like "shoot I do do that... haha my beloved does that... oh god we do that... it IS like that with our parents" etc etc).

The last scene is beautiful in its utter anti-climatic simplicity. It is ultimately what it is all about and where the worth and the strength of it all lies.

(NB: No idea if a second series is commissioned? Not actually sure it needs one. It is perfect as it is)
(NB: Sean Bean doesn't die...it's a change!  )

A series that divided opinion for sure, Olivier. You are right to bring up the daughter, an acting masterclass as she read (silently) a letter written by her step-father to her when a child and then put away in a cardboard box. 

[SimonNZ]

[milk]

I don't know how many times I've seen this but it's the second time for my wife and she forgot most of it. I just love a show that so much dwells on what people can't see about themselves. The only extraordinary thing about this is the sweep of time: the 60s. Otherwise it's just about people. But it's more like literature than any other show I can think of. And it's very real.
There's a scene we were watching last night where Peggy tells her mother she's moving into the city. She tries to smooth it over by buying her mother a new TV. Her mother is so nasty and cruel, she tells Peggy that she's going to be raped. But I had to laugh because I know so many people in my family who acted exactly like that: no filter, no compassion, no self-awareness. In a way I'd miss those times when people were like that if it weren't so awful just because there were a lot more characters back then. Nowadays, I suspect people are so much more aware of themselves. Anyway, Mad Men is a lot of fun too and often very funny (John Slattery).

[TheGSMoeller]

Here's a list of what I'm currently watching, or re-watching...

House of the Dragon (Game of Thrones prequel) - HBO
The Patient - Hulu
Lego Masters - Hulu
Great British Baking Show - Netflix
My Hero Academia - anime on Crunchyroll

(re-watch) Tales from the Loop - Amazon

[SonicMan46]

Voyage of Darwin's Beagle: On the Future of Species - an 8-episode series described in the quote below - watching HERE for free by air playing to my Apple TV - the 8-month journey took place in 2009 on the clipper ship Stad Amsterdam (pic below); Sarah Darwin, a great great granddaughter was involved - a re-tracing of the HMS Beagle's trip (which was 5 years!) and an update of currents issues.  I'm enjoying more that Susan - however, highly recommended to Darwin admirers!  Dave

Almost 180 years after Charles Darwin's journey around the world, his great granddaughter and a crew of authors, artists, and scientists follow in his footsteps. The first leg of their journey takes them from Tenerife to the rainforests of the Amazon. (Source)

 

[KevinP]

Recently watched Amazon's Night Sky and liked it a lot. Extremely well acted, which is not something I usually notice. Alas, I heard Amazon didn't renew it. Maybe too understated and not enough explosions--the very things we liked about it.

Also, while the main characters have a few years on us, their dealing with their advancing years was something we could relate to.  Also it was just plain good to see an aged couple front and centre in a tv show that wasn't another stupid fountain-of-youth storyline.

If you can watch a good show knowing it won't be completed, I recommend it.

[George]

[SimonNZ]