What TV series are you currently watching?

[Karl Henning]

I see that the new series didn't last long. 

....

PD

It really lasted only two seasons; they produced a third season for syndication. The classic observation by Creative Consultant Harlan Ellison was on the lines of: You know you're sunk if you can't beat Webster in the ratings.

[Karl Henning]

It really lasted only two seasons; they produced a third season for syndication. The classic observation by Creative Consultant Harlan Ellison was on the lines of: You know you're sunk if you can't beat Webster in the ratings.

Episode 17 is one of my favorites, consisting of two stories.

There were several shows in the original series in which Death is a character. "Welcome to Winfield" may be the first such in the new series, although Griffin St-George tells us that he is only an agent, chasing down some open accounts left unresolved by his predecessor (who keeps hanging up on him.) I've given away that this is a comic episode, as it really ought to be, with Henry Gibson playing the Mayor of Winfield.

"Quarantine" is cerebral and futuristic, set in a post-apocalyptic Earth in which there are no longer machines, and mostly they aren't needed, as people have developed marvelous mental and emotional powers. An irony is, they un-freeze a chap from our era (300 years earlier), and heal him physically because something has turned up, and they need an old-school "mechanic."

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Starting:

[Karl Henning]

Episode 17 is one of my favorites, consisting of two stories.

There were several shows in the original series in which Death is a character. "Welcome to Winfield" may be the first such in the new series, although Griffin St-George tells us that he is only an agent, chasing down some open accounts left unresolved by his predecessor (who keeps hanging up on him.) I've given away that this is a comic episode, as it really ought to be, with Henry Gibson playing the Mayor of Winfield.

"Quarantine" is cerebral and futuristic, set in a post-apocalyptic Earth in which there are no longer machines, and mostly they aren't needed, as people have developed marvelous mental and emotional powers. An irony is, they un-freeze a chap from our era (300 years earlier), and heal him physically because something has turned up, and they need an old-school "mechanic."

Episode 18 begins with a bang: "Gramma," teleplay by Harlan Ellison, based on a Stephen King story. That tone continues with "Personal Demons," starring Martin Balsam. And, to conclude, the partly comic "Cold Reading."

[George]

Resident alien- season 3 - just started

[Papy Oli]

Blue Lights (BBC) - Season 2 - Raw, gritty police drama, full of humanity. Even better than season 1 in some of the continuing story arcs.

The Fall (BBC, Netflix) - That was properly chilling and gripping throughout seasons 1 & 2. Season 3 is so sloooooooooow and disjointed in comparison. Giving up.

...and just for fun: a second watch as and when of the full Ted Lasso series (Apple TV). Picking up on so many new details and subtle hints of what's coming up in the various characters. Even better this time round.

Beyond Paradise (BBC) - Season 2 concludes last night. I found Death in Paradise lost its way and its charm in the last 2 seasons. This spin-off more than makes up for it. Easing viewing, yes, but a well-made one and some lovable characters to boot. Kris Marshall is a hoot (as he was all those years ago in My Family) 

[DavidW]

The Fall (BBC, Netflix) - That was properly chilling and gripping throughout seasons 1 & 2. Season 3 is so sloooooooooow and disjointed in comparison. Giving up.

That is also when I gave up on the show.

Beyond Paradise (BBC) - Season 2 concludes last night. I found Death in Paradise lost its way and its charm in the last 2 seasons. This spin-off more than makes up for it. Easing viewing, yes, but a well-made one and some lovable characters to boot. Kris Marshall is a hoot (as he was all those years ago in My Family) 

I feel the same way about Death in Paradise so I will give this a shot!

[krummholz]

Odds and ends from my recent viewing of The New Twilight Zone. The "Christmas Show" is fun: "But Can She Type" is probably my favorite of that triptych, with a brief appearance by Jno Frakes as a superficial dude at a cocktail party. The remake of "Night of the Meek" is passable. Even allowing for the original suffering the disadvantage of having been shot on tape rather than film (in retrospect, an ill-considered "cost save" that season. It hadn't registered, the first time I watched "The Star" that it featured Fritz Weaver. Weaver played across Leslie Nielsen in the Night Gallery episode "A Question of Fear. As to other New TZ stories, John Carradine (and son?) appear in "Still Life," a fun riff on the "natives think that the camera steals their soul" motif. Kenneth Mars is the Tooth Fairy in "Tooth and Consequences," whose plot germ bears a passing familiarity to "The Chaser" from the original series. "Monsters" is a fun, and suitably unconventional vampire story. "The Elevator" is a creepy Ray Bradbury story. Bradbury was an important (generally offstage) personality for Serling's original series, a mentor to Beaumont and Matheson, although the way things fell into place (or didn't) there was only one direct Bradbury contribution to the original show.

This sounds like the series from the 1980s... rather than the short-lived 2019 revival.

Of that series my favorite was "Wordplay", a very chilling tale about someone for whom the meanings of words gradually shift, for some unknown reason until he can no longer understand what is being said. A few years ago I learned that there is a type of stroke that can cause this, which makes this story even scarier.

[Karl Henning]

This sounds like the series from the 1980s... rather than the short-lived 2019 revival.

Yes. I know nothing of the 2019 revival. And Robt Klein is perfect in "Wordplay."

[Todd]

Somehow or other, the YouTube algorithm calculated that I would like Kentucky Ballistics.  It was right.  (Perhaps it was selected as counterprogramming to Neutrality Studies.)  The channel is devoted to exotic firearms, especially those that fire larger than .50 BMG rounds.  The punt gun series where a 7000-grain lead slug is fired at things like a truck engine and gun safe are a hoot.  The host apparently almost died in an accident filming an episode, so he has real dedication.  If ever I target shoot again, I'll cap out at .308. 

[Iota]

Blue Lights (BBC) - Season 2 - Raw, gritty police drama, full of humanity. Even better than season 1 in some of the continuing story arcs.

Yes, just finished this. Pretty involving, with some interesting insights into some of the labyrinthine repercussions of The Troubles, and how nobody comes out a winner. I agree it's a step up on season 1.

[Karl Henning]

Episode 18 begins with a bang: "Gramma," teleplay by Harlan Ellison, based on a Stephen King story. That tone continues with "Personal Demons," starring Martin Balsam. And, to conclude, the partly comic "Cold Reading."

Martin Balsam is a highly experienced TV writer who is afraid that he just keeps recycling ideas and has no more original notions, and who finds himself plagued by the titular imps. Balsam's character's name is Rockne O'Bannon, who is both the author of the screenplay and Story Consultant for the series. Ellison's commentary on "Gramma" is highly illuming. Ellison co-directed the show with series D.P. Bradford May. Wm Friedkin was originally going to direct, and it was at Friedkin's request that a special (and expensive) crane was rented for the show. The titular character (bed-bound) was played by a male actor with some prosthetics, and voiced by Piper Laurie, except for screams, which she did not do to Ellison's satisfaction, so he did them himself, after treating his vocal chords with Brie and half and half. Ellison reports that Stephen King thought well of the adaptation.

[Papy Oli]

Yes, just finished this. Pretty involving, with some interesting insights into some of the labyrinthine repercussions of The Troubles, and how nobody comes out a winner. I agree it's a step up on season 1.

Quite. That Troubles story arc with "Happy" was quite something, particularly as he was a minor character in the 1st series.

[Karl Henning]

There is only one thing which is the violation of the three laws of robotics.  I do know that the last robot in the books adhered to the zeroth law which allowed him to do that, but that has not been addressed in the show.

I don't remember the laws of robotics figuring in the books. But, when I read them, there were only three (books, that is.) and now I vaguely wonder if he went on to write more.

[DavidW]

I don't remember the laws of robotics figuring in the books. But, when I read them, there were only three (books, that is.) and now I vaguely wonder if he went on to write more.

Despite me reading them in middle school I still remember.  Daneel Olivaw (who was in the robot novels) at the end of that series gained the powers of telepathy from another robot, and those two created the zeroth law of robotics that superseded the three.

"A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm."

He set himself up to guide the galactic empire, and secretly ruled it for thousands of years in the emperor's shadow.  All was revealed in Foundation and Earth.

[Madiel]

I finally finished the last season of The Americans.

Hell of a good TV show. More than anything, some of the best writing of conversations anywhere. Not just what characters say, but what they don't say. Sometimes for years.

[krummholz]

I don't remember the laws of robotics figuring in the books. But, when I read them, there were only three (books, that is.) and now I vaguely wonder if he went on to write more.

He did - two sequels and two prequels. See the Wikipedia article on the series.

[DavidW]

He did - two sequels and two prequels. See the Wikipedia article on the series.

I was such a big fan back then that not only did I read all of Asimov's fiction... but I read the second Foundation trilogy written by the killer B's (Benford, Bear and Brin). 

Foundations' Edge (the fourth book) incorporates the End of Eternity... and I am wondering if the tv show is going to include the eternals.  So far they are really going for it.  The Mule is there, the second foundation... all that crazy fantasy stuff.

[Karl Henning]

Martin Balsam is a highly experienced TV writer who is afraid that he just keeps recycling ideas and has no more original notions, and who finds himself plagued by the titular mps. Balsam's character's name is Rockne O'Bannon, who is both the author of the screenplay and Story Consultant for the series. Ellison's commentary on "Gramma" is highly illuming. Ellison co-directed the show with series D.P. Bradford May. Wm Friedkin was originally going to direct, and it was at Friedkin's request that a special (and expensive) crane was rented for the show. The titular character (bed-bound) was played by a male actor with some prosthetics, and voiced by Piper Laurie, except for screams, which she did not do to Ellison's satisfaction, so he did them himself, after treating his vocal chords with Brie and half and half. Ellison reports that Stephen King thought well of the adaptation.

Something else I learnt from Ellison's commentary: the principal actor in "Gramma" is Barret Oliver, whom I've now at last seen in The Never-Ending Story. 

[George]

Baby Reindeer - Incredible show!!