What TV series are you currently watching?

[George]

Watching old KILL TONY episodes on YouTube.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

@Karl Henning Are you watching them in chronological order?

PD

[Karl Henning]

@Karl Henning Are you watching them in chronological order?

PD

I am, so I started from when it was largely crime drama.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I am, so I started from when it was largely crime drama.

Have you watched "Lethal Ladies" yet?  I watched the first segment with Ida Lupino.  Hadn't heard of her before now, but I was very impressed with her acting.  Also interesting to read (via Wiki) about her life and being one of the first women directors.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Have you watched "Lethal Ladies" yet?  I watched the first segment with Ida Lupino.  Hadn't heard of her before now, but I was very impressed with her acting.  Also interesting to read (via Wiki) about her life and being one of the first women directors.

PD

I've not yet watched "Lethal Ladies," though I have seen perhaps four episodes which she directed. I first heard of her just because her name was in a line of the Firesign Theatre album, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers. She is the only person to act in one Twilight Zone episode ("The Sixteen-millimeter Shrine") and direct another ("The Masks") both of them Serling scripts.

[Karl Henning]

I've not yet watched "Lethal Ladies," though I have seen perhaps four episodes which she directed. I first heard of her just because her name was in a line of the Firesign Theatre album, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers. She is the only person to act in one Twilight Zone episode ("The Sixteen-millimeter Shrine") and direct another ("The Masks") both of them Serling scripts.

Tangentially, she appeared in two Columbo episodes. 

[AnotherSpin]

[George]

Resident Alien

[Wendell_E]

Resident Alien

Me, too.

[drogulus]

    Ida Lupino directed On Dangerous Ground, a film scored by Bernard Herrmann. During the '50s and '60s she directed episodes of many TV shows including 8 episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel.

[Todd]

Shōgun.  I have only the vaguest recollections of the version starring Richard Chamberlain, and given the different cultural world of today, I figured I'd try the new take on this tale.  I've watched three episodes so far.  The first episode is blah, and the second and third are OK.  But I shall watch more, basically for the cinematography.  The show uses custom lenses that, appropriately enough, generate gobs o' boke-aji.  Many images are clearly taken at the maximum T-stop and have pronounced focus fall-off, with some background looks reminiscent of what can be achieved with Petzval or Helios lenses - and that's with projected backgrounds in many scenes.  Too, the barrel distortion is so severe in some scenes that it simultaneously distracts and draws the viewer in.  The light fall-off and vignetting have similar effects.  I know Dune 2 used rebuilt and repurposed Soviet-made Tair lenses to obtain a specific look, so this approach is kind of in right now, but I don't know if this show uses repurposed vintage glass or custom made and ground new glass.  Given the comparative lack of contemporary levels of resolution, I lean toward the former, but I could be wrong.  The consistent use of Japanese by the Japanese actors and swapping out of English for Portuguese are nice enough touches, and Néstor Carbonell obviously relishes chewing the scenery in his supporting role, so more than just wonderful imagery can be enjoyed while viewing.

[Karl Henning]

Ida Lupino directed On Dangerous Ground, a film scored by Bernard Herrmann. During the '50s and '60s she directed episodes of many TV shows including 8 episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel.

I knew she played the female lead, but shame on me for failing to note that she co-directed with Nicholas Ray (who also directed In a Lonely Place.) Oh, imdb.com suggests that Lupino's direction was uncredited, so no shame need attach to me. Were directorial duties really shared, or was it simply Lupino?

TD: I've just finished the 1981 Nero Wolfe series. Overall, I enjoyed it very much (my feeling seems to be "the more Nero Wolfe, the better.") I'm already on record as preferring the stylish later series with Timothy Hutton & Maury Chaykin, so let me add a few details. in the later series, Theodore the orchid man is always offstage. In the 1981 series, he's part of the ensemble, but he's rather buffoonish, which has me feeling that offstage is preferable. The opening credit sequence also ritually includes Saul Panzer, who actually appears less frequently in the series than does Theodore. In two of Saul's appearances, he's depicted as rather a peasant, in a derisory light. In the Hutton/Chaykin ensemble Panzer is perhaps salt of the earth, but a man of even keener talents than Archie, so that I cannot help feeling that the 1981 series does him a disservice. These cavils notwithstanding, as stated, I enjoy the 1981 series.

[drogulus]

   

I knew she played the female lead, but shame on me for failing to note that she co-directed with Nicholas Ray (who also directed In a Lonely Place.) Oh, imdb.com suggests that Lupino's direction was uncredited, so no shame need attach to me. Were directorial duties really shared, or was it simply Lupino?

     Nicholas Ray suffered a nervous breakdown during the filming of On Dangerous ground and Lupino took over. She was already an experienced producer, director and screenwriter.

[George]

More Resident Alien

[Karl Henning]

Nicholas Ray suffered a nervous breakdown during the filming of On Dangerous ground and Lupino took over. She was already an experienced producer, director and screenwriter.

Thanks for the added color. 

[Roy Bland]

[DavidW]

I finished S6 of Doctor Who.  Writing is a bit overly clever but messy, but not as rage inducing to 2024 me (as opposed to 2011 me).

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I finished S6 of Doctor Who.  Writing is a bit overly clever but messy, but not as rage inducing to 2024 me (as opposed to 2011 me).

I'm trying to recall as to who played the Doctor then?  I don't recognize the actor on the cover.

PD

[DavidW]

I'm trying to recall as to who played the Doctor then?  I don't recognize the actor on the cover.

PD

Matt Smith.  The youngest actor to ever play him.  He was even younger than Pete Davidson was.

[Karl Henning]

Matt Smith.  The youngest actor to ever play him.  He was even younger than Pete Davidson was.

Kid Who!