What TV series are you currently watching?

[Spotted Horses]

Arguably a journey I ought to have undertaken sooner: M*A*S*H.

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

[Karl Henning]

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

Nice!

[Brian]

Kristen Bell plays a woman who is killed in a freak accident and arrives in an afterlife hosted by an "architect," played by Ted Danson. He assures her she is in "The Good Place." Problem is, when he praises her for her virtuous life on earth, it seems to be a case of mistaken identity, perhaps she is supposed to be in "The Bad Place." Dark comedy and musings on moral philosophy ensue.

This is a show that I think could have ended after a perfect first season. I found the second season a let down and declined to watch the third. There are four seasons overall.

Agreed. I made it maybe one or two episodes into the third season, but by that point, the tone of the show had clearly shifted from the satirical comedy of the beginning to a soft-hearted "let's find the good in all these people and teach the audience a lesson." No thanks.

[SimonNZ]

I haven't watched M*A*S*H since it was on network television. Time for a revisit. I have the complete series on DVD, maybe time to revisit. The DVD set gives the option of watching with or without the laugh track.

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

[KevinP]

It's been a long time since I watch the MASH DVDs, but I remember it differently, that the option merely changed the audio track. And that took me out of it too, as there were moments were actors were waiting for the laugh to die down (the laugh that, from their point of view, hadn't even been added yet), which is potentially even worse.

Perhaps I'm mis-remembering, or maybe some episodes were one way and some the other.

[Mister Sharpe]

Mythic as much as it is murderous (even the Erlkönig has a cameo), lurid and lugubrious as it is alluring, my wife and I were held captive by the Dublin Murders and its two leads, Killian Scott and Sarah Greene. Not for everyone; the twisty-turny complexities of the narrative and the grievous loss of children can be double whammies. For those who can deal, it's a memorable and powerful experience. 

[Karl Henning]

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

Thanks to @Spotted Horses for the alert. I switched audio tracks after the first laugh-track incident in my current episode. Heaven!

[Spotted Horses]

The very heavyhanded laugh track is what has put me off a full rewatch whenever I've dipped into a scene.

As I understand it the "without" option isn't so much a remix as a reedit where they snip out that second or two from the scene after every punchline. I've heard people complain that it changes the rhythm of the conversations in strange or unnatural ways.

I'd be interested to know if that's your take if you watch some.

There's nothing clipped out. The soundtrack is altered to suppress the canned laughter, resulting in moments of silence. (I don't know how it was implemented, if they had the laughter on a separate track that they could omit, if if they had to do some digital editing of the audio to suppress it.)

It has an effect on the comedic timing, and the result is less jokey, more acerbic or surreal. I rather like it, based on the little I've watched so far.

[SimonNZ]

Thanks. That's good to know.

[KevinP]

If you guys fail to laugh at something funny, it's entirely on you.

[Roy Bland]

[Spotted Horses]

There's nothing clipped out. The soundtrack is altered to suppress the canned laughter, resulting in moments of silence. (I don't know how it was implemented, if they had the laughter on a separate track that they could omit, if if they had to do some digital editing of the audio to suppress it.)

It has an effect on the comedic timing, and the result is less jokey, more acerbic or surreal. I rather like it, based on the little I've watched so far.

Having watched the first (pilot) episode without the laugh track, I found it a marginally better experience, and didn't find that the space left by the missing laughs caused any awkwardness. In those days people would feel that sitting alone and laughing at a comedy would be somewhat pathetic, the laugh track alleviated that feeling. Now that everyone walks around with earbuds in and looking at screens it seems normal.

Who was it who defined television as a system where a million people laugh at the same joke at the same time and feel lonely?

[hopefullytrusting]

Came across this show trough Ethan Embry, and I was not expecting to like it because it stars Jack McCoy - a character I revile, but I was in for quite a surprise, as Waterston is easily the highlight reel of the show for me: Grace and Frankie



Honestly, the weakest part of the show is Grace and Frankie, neither of whom I find funny or interesting. I love the kids, love Sheen, and I love how earnest the love between Sheen and Waterston is - especially the very real trajectory of a mature relationship.

Well worth a watch - I was very pleasantly surprised.

[George]

Came across this show trough Ethan Embry, and I was not expecting to like it because it stars Jack McCoy - a character I revile, but I was in for quite a surprise, as Waterston is easily the highlight reel of the show for me: Grace and Frankie



Honestly, the weakest part of the show is Grace and Frankie, neither of whom I find funny or interesting. I love the kids, love Sheen, and I love how earnest the love between Sheen and Waterston is - especially the very real trajectory of a mature relationship.

Well worth a watch - I was very pleasantly surprised.

Yeah, a very fun show!

[hopefullytrusting]

This show is so much fun: Deadwood - with easily the angriest man put to script - Seth Bullock, lol



I think this is the show that really got me to start paying attention to television as a serious medium. Yes, I know The Wire came out first, but I came to The Wire very late in the game.

I still like Deadwood more.

[AnotherSpin]

Black Rabbit is devastating and unflinchingly sad. What begins as a tale of success and reconciliation becomes an emotional collapse, a slow descent into the ruins of family and self. Jake's carefully managed life, all polish and control, is built on denial, and Vince's return tears through it like a storm. Together they spiral into a shared abyss of guilt, addiction, and the grief they've spent years trying to bury.

There is something mythic in the way it unfolds, a story stripped of hope and light. The rabbit hole is not escape but reckoning, and each step downward feels like surrender to what cannot be undone. By the end, Black Rabbit leaves you raw and hollow, its quiet devastation lingering long after the screen fades to black.

[drogulus]

    Next up is the BBC series Anna Karenina from 1977 with Nicola Pagett, Stuart Gordon and Eric Porter. I haven't seen it in a very long time, though I do remember it's excellent.

[SimonNZ]