What TV series are you currently watching?

[The new erato]

Icelandic police procedural. Small port town in the middle of nowhere, snowed in, stranded ferry, headless limbless corpse, murderer on the loose. Few episodes in, looks very good.

It is. I've just fished watching all 10 episodes on Norwegian TV.

[drogulus]

    Get your ill-fitting wigs and oversized glasses on...film in the Minox?....just making sure, for tonight is the first 2 episodes of The Americans new season.

   

     Yes, you can get one on the Bay for $800.

     I read that when the series began ratings were poor and have declined ever since. You'll be sorry, all of you. Other than Better Call Saul it's the best.

[George]

Is Better Call Saul a comedy, a drama, a drama with some comedy or a comedy with some drama?

I haven't seen it yet.

[Brian]

Is Better Call Saul a comedy, a drama, a drama with some comedy or a comedy with some drama?

I haven't seen it yet.

It weaves between all of those things with such dexterity that I'm not sure it deserves to be slapped with a label. Its most basic/naked story arc is tragic - lawyer with good intentions trying to redeem himself becomes, well, you saw BB right? - but for whole episodes at a time it's so entertaining that you forget where it inevitably must go.

All of which is to say that I've laughed at a lot of stuff, like a gallery of incompetent white-collar crooks or a brilliant montage where Odenkirk tries to take on a series of deranged wackjob clients, but then season 1 episode 9 hits you hard right in the feelings.

If you are a BB fan thinking of taking the plunge, the only expectation-management thing that I'd say to you, actually, is that Mike Ehrmantraut does not become a main character immediately.

[George]

Thanks, Brian. I have never seen Breaking Bad. Could Saul still be enjoyable/understandable for someone who hasn't seen Breaking Bad?

[Cato]

Thanks, Brian. I have never seen Breaking Bad. Could Saul still be enjoyable/understandable for someone who hasn't seen Breaking Bad?

Yes, although it starts out with Saul in Iowa in witness protection, in a purgatorial Cinnabon store in the airport.

[Brian]

Thanks, Brian. I have never seen Breaking Bad. Could Saul still be enjoyable/understandable for someone who hasn't seen Breaking Bad?

I agree with Cato. There is a scene at the very start of the season which takes place after BB is over, but it shouldn't be incomprehensible - it's just the setup/framing device showing how low he falls in the end. Otherwise, there are a couple of inside jokes you won't get but that is the only thing.

[drogulus]

    I agree Saul stands on its own. I think the decision to make Ehrmantraut as important as he is was a natural development. Initially he was supposed to be a minor character in BB, and when they saw what they had with the character and Jonathan Banks they gave him more room. When he first showed up in Saul I knew they'd have to do the same, though I figured that had to have been the plan all along this time.

[George]

Thanks, guys! I plan to get going with Saul once Baskets and Horace and Pete finish for the season.

[Todd]

Started watching Documentary Now!  I have a couple episodes down, and the The Hunt for El Chingon is first rate entertainment.  Apparently, it satirizes HBO's Vice, which I've never seen, but everything in this episode is just perfect.  Bill Hader and Fred Armisen play three sets of reporters (two sets get killed) on the search for a Mexican drug lord.  It was made before Sean Penn's adventures, but it has an edge because of that real world bit of "journalism".  Steven Michael Quezada (Gomez from Breaking Bad) plays the drug lord.  Helen Mirren's intros for the special "50th season" are delightful.  I look forward to more episodes.

[Sef]

     Next week I'll start watching The Night Manager, from the John Le Carre novel. I thought it was going to be a movie but now I see it's going to be a series on AMC. The reviews are very good.

I watched the first three episodes last week on the plane and have downloaded the final 3 from iPlayer for my next trip at the weekend. Really enjoying it. Apparently starts on AMC on April 19th in the US.

[drogulus]

     I read the novel in the "90s and hoped it would get filmed. Then I saw it would be a series with Laurie as Roper and Hollander as Corkoran and that was it. It had to be good.

[SonicMan46]

Bosch - watching w/ wife and both enjoying - on season two - Dave

[George]

Thanks, guys! I plan to get going with Saul once Baskets and Horace and Pete finish for the season.

Well, I couldn't wait. Already burned through S01 of Better Call Saul and almost up to date with S02. What an incredible show!!

If I love Saul, would it seem logical that I'll like Breaking Bad (yep, I have never seen the show. Its popularity turned me off of it.)

[Todd]

Always a year behind, I watched season five of GOT.  More of the same, and while I appreciate how the series knocks off big characters every season, the show is getting a bit long in the tooth.  At least this season there was a little White Walker action - tweaking Skynyrd roadies brandishing weapons is bound to look cool.

[Bogey]

Bosch - watching w/ wife and both enjoying - on season two - Dave

Wonderful series, Dave. The books are great as well.

[SimonNZ]

Always a year behind, I watched season five of GOT.  More of the same, and while I appreciate how the series knocks off big characters every season, the show is getting a bit long in the tooth.  At least this season there was a little White Walker action - tweaking Skynyrd roadies brandishing weapons is bound to look cool.

Saw that recently. It had one powerful and disturbing sequence I was completely unprepared for ("Shame...shame...").

Nice to see that face-changing guy back as well. And yeah, one particular white walker sequence was done very well.

[SonicMan46]

Always a year behind, I watched season five of GOT.  More of the same, and while I appreciate how the series knocks off big characters every season, the show is getting a bit long in the tooth.  At least this season there was a little White Walker action - tweaking Skynyrd roadies brandishing weapons is bound to look cool.

Re-watching Game of Thrones for a second time - now on mid-season 3 - believe another season or so has come out that I've not seen, so felt the need to start over just to get the characters straight!    Dave

[Sergeant Rock]

Finished seasons of two shows last weekend: Life in Pieces, a single camera sitcom which, like Modern Family, interweaves the stories of three related families. The difference: each episode is divided into four short stories. Sophia is my favorite character. I haven't decided whether I'd have loved to have had a daughter like that...or been terrified The other show: the final season of Justified. The last episode/season was very satisfying, no favorite characters dead (well, except poor dumb Dewey), everyone getting what they deserved (arguably).

Tonight we began season two of Black Sails (which has one of my favorite theme songs. Love that hurdy gurdy  )

https://www.youtube.com/v/XFTcA4QLHw0


Sarge

[Brian]

Currently dividing my time between Jane the Virgin, Worst Cooks in America, and Archer, but now that Animaniacs have been added to Netflix, that might rise to the top of the list.