What TV series are you currently watching?

[AnotherSpin]

With some Wagner too.

[BWV 1080]

Rewatching Haunting of Bly Manor in anticipation for Fall of the House of Usher

[ando]

A few episodes from the first season of Hawaii Five-0. (The original series.)

On Paramount+ too! Thanks.

Edit: the '68 original, of course

[LKB]

I am reminded that in 1969, my school's band concert included the theme from Hawaii Five-0. I wonder how many other parents had to endure that bit of programming...

[Spotted Horses]

I am reminded that in 1969, my school's band concert included the theme from Hawaii Five-0. I wonder how many other parents had to endure that bit of programming...

When I was an adolescent I remember loving the theme music and the show.

Revisiting, I find Hawaii Five-O less attractive than, for instance, Columbo, because McGarret, the central character in Hawaii Five-O is portrayed as a sort of superman, whereas Columbo is the unassuming, self depreciating guy who takes advantage of the fact that everyone tends to underestimate him.

I remember another show with a non-pompous lead, The Rockford Files, I might try going through that series. And I'm curious about how "The Streets of San Francisco" holds up.

[ando]

I remember another show with a non-pompous lead, The Rockford Files, I might try going through that series. And I'm curious about how "The Streets of San Francisco" holds up.

Streets held up for me when I revisited it on P+ a few months ago; particularly a young Michael Douglas, who played the anxious Pit Bull to partner, Karl Marlden's Spaniel. 


And speaking of the mild but witty Garner, I've been meaning to watch the short lived Nichols series, which I haven't found streaming anywhere. So it looks like a purchase may be in order, though GetTv is apparently on Hulu.

Edit: Just found 6 eps on the Tube... Episode 1

[Brian]

I remember another show with a non-pompous lead, The Rockford Files, I might try going through that series. And I'm curious about how "The Streets of San Francisco" holds up.

I watched the first two seasons of Rockford Files about 10 years ago and thought they were tremendously fun. A little bit repetitive - you can always count on a car chase - but fun. Garner is one of those people I'd probably watch doing anything.

[DavidW]

I finished Shetland season 6.  I didn't like the season.  It was way too complex, and too many nasty melodramatic plot twists.  It was definitely a low point for the show.

[Brian]

I finished Shetland season 6.  I didn't like the season.  It was way too complex, and too many nasty melodramatic plot twists.  It was definitely a low point for the show.

Thanks for the reminder, we only watched season 1. Maybe we'll resume but stop at 5.

[Iota]

Just bought (very excited):

As I consider The Wire to be one of the best things I've ever seen on TV, I really should get around to that someday.

[DavidW]

Thanks for the reminder, we only watched season 1. Maybe we'll resume but stop at 5.

The first two seasons follow the novels with shorter mysteries and then seasons 3+ each have one mystery per season.  When watching those, I recommend getting through each season fairly quickly.  If you don't, you might lose details that turn out to be important.

[Iota]

I view this as better than The Wire. I also view The Corner, another Simon work, as better than The Wire.

Interesting. I did watch some of The Corner and though very good it didn't quite capture my imagination in quite the way The Wire did.
One of the things about that impressed me so much about The Wire was the sheer scope of it, and how it sustained the fascination and interest throughout the very different seasons. Still, it's a long time since I saw either of them, and a revisit would be very welcome, along with a first viewing of Homicide Life on the Street.

[Iota]

.. For me, The Wire, which I also love, is too grand and sweeping, so many of the characters don't feel like real characters - they feel like roles, to me.

From a distance of about fifteen years I shouldn't be too bold about any recollections, but certainly at the time most of the characters came across as pretty convincing to me, many etched themselves into my memory banks and have stayed there. And I found the 'grand and sweeping' quality visionary, displaying a virtuosic ability to keep an eye the beating heart throughout its myriad narrative shifts.
The only thing I remember not being particularly impressed by, was the chess board scene which was always shown on trailers and held up as 'iconic', where one of the drug dealers explains the rules of chess to some younger gang members, in terms of the power structures in the drug gangs, I just found it a bit cliched, which was decidedly not what what I felt about the rest of it.
But as I say, what my feelings now would be were I to watch it fifteen years on, isn't certain. 

[Spotted Horses]

Just bought (very excited):

I've been meaning to consistently watch Homicide, Life on the Streets for decades. I watched NYPD Blue as it was released and loved it, although I felt it went on too long, particularly after Bobby Simone and Lt Fancy left.

[Spotted Horses]

I feel you; I think we are just coming at the show from different directions. For me, The Wire is like an ancient Greek tragedy, so all the characters are archetypal, by which I mean I'd never run into any of them on an actual street encounter, whilst The Corner is full of folks I know, have met, talked to in my life.

I can't say I have experience in the social environment in which The Wire unfolds, but I also found the characters to be exaggerated archetypes, sort of like characters in a Faulkner novel.

[SimonNZ]

Band Of Brothers

Second viewing, last seen 10 or 12 years ago. Just as impressed as I was the first time.

And how the hell had I forgotten the D-Day flight in and jump scene? And how is that not as talked about as the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan?

[VonStupp]

The Wheel of Time, Season 2 (2023)
Rosamund Pike

Never read Robert Jordan's famously extended fantasy series.

Season 2 needed a better recap of the first; it took a good 2-3 episodes to feel like I was totally on firm footing. The show has really has come into its own, though, pushing ever so slightly into GoT territory.
VS

[ando]

The Wheel of Time, Season 2 (2023)
Rosamund Pike

Never read Robert Jordan's famously extended fantasy series.

Season 2 needed a better recap of the first; it took a good 2-3 episodes to feel like I was totally on firm footing. The show has really has come into its own, though, pushing ever so slightly into GoT territory.
VS

The Wheel of Time, Season 2 (2023)
Rosamund Pike

Never read Robert Jordan's famously extended fantasy series.

Season 2 needed a better recap of the first; it took a good 2-3 episodes to feel like I was totally on firm footing. The show has really has come into its own, though, pushing ever so slightly into GoT territory.
VS

Well, you had me til I read the Game of Thromes reference.  I'll give it whirl, anyway. Thanks.

[VonStupp]

Well, you had me til I read the Game of Thromes reference.  I'll give it whirl, anyway. Thanks.

I think it is more of a feeling than overt. I was less sure about the series in Season 1, but it seems to be making positive strides.

If you like fantasy, it should go well.
VS

[ando]

All 7 Seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents are currently streaming free on The Roku Channel. A simple blocker will take care of the ads. Peackcock has 'em programmed in.  I keep getting this series mixed with The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, which is pretty hit-or-miss in terms of writing (though Hitch's people were great at casting).