What TV series are you currently watching?

[SimonNZ]

Second viewing.

[VonStupp]

I am amidst several series. The one aspect I like about modern 'television' is their season lengths don't overstay their welcome at around 8-10 episodes, as opposed to the old school 20-30. On the other hand, I would never take back any old show's lengths, even if there was the occasional padding or irrelevancy.

I suppose it makes modern viewing more disposable, convenient, and efficient over soulfully dedicated. It could be me though, as I don't watch many new series. These are the ones I have been streaming lately:

Night Sky (2022)
Sissy Spacek & J.K. Simmons
I love the slow pace of this one. I get tired of a constant breakneck pace in storytelling, and this seems realistic to the focus of two elderly characters and the issues they face amidst a light sci-fi tale. A favorite, for sure, not the least for Spacek and Simmons.

The Wheel of Time (2021)
Rosamund Pike
My wife had read some of Robert Jordan's epic series. I never did, but this was interesting enough for a fantasy story.

LotR: The Rings of Power (2022)
Morfydd Clark
Depends how you feel about the LOTR appendix stories being expanded for the screen.

GoT: House of the Dragon (2022)
Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans
I always felt the Game of Thrones universe was a more intense version of The McLaughlin Group.



VS

[Brian]

Hey George, I once asked one of my lawyer friends what his favorite TV show about lawyers is, and his answer was Boston Legal. (Though that might be because he hasn't started Better Call Saul...)

[Fëanor]

LotR: The Rings of Power (2022)
Morfydd Clark
Depends how you feel about the LOTR appendix stories being expanded for the screen.

GoT: House of the Dragon (2022)
Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans
I always felt the Game of Thrones universe was a more intense version of The McLaughlin Group.

IMO, of the two, House of the Dragon is much the better dramatically and in terms of plot momentum.  (I always avoided the McLaughlin Group as stomach churningly Right-wing.)

I've been a big Tolkien fan for 50+ years so I suppose that's why I have and will continue to watch LoTR: Rings of Power.  But as well as being dramatically weak, (IMO), the Amazon effort is pretty dismal tribute to Tolkien.

Apparently Amazon paid US$250 million for right to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (including Appendices), and The Hobbit.  (Same rights as Peter Jackson, I believe.)  Conditions stipulated by the Tolkien estate dictated that there should be no contradictions of the Tolkien narrative but that Amazon writers could introduce new material and characters and also compress timelines.  If Amazon observed these conditions then the barely did so, perhaps especially in case of the timelines.

... But I suppose you have to be a pretty big Tolkien fan to care.

[George]

Hey George, I once asked one of my lawyer friends what his favorite TV show about lawyers is, and his answer was Boston Legal. (Though that might be because he hasn't started Better Call Saul...)

Hey Brian,

It's a great show, they balance humor with serious issues quite well. 

[VonStupp]

IMO, of the two, House of the Dragon is much the better dramatically and in terms of plot momentum.  (I always avoided the McLaughlin Group as stomach churningly Right-wing.)

I've been a big Tolkien fan for 50+ years so I suppose that's why I have and will continue to watch LoTR: Rings of Power.  But as well as being dramatically weak, (IMO), the Amazon effort is pretty dismal tribute to Tolkien.

... But I suppose you have to be a pretty big Tolkien fan to care.

Your GMG handle gives you away as a Tolkien fan!   I would consider myself a casual fan. I have read The Hobbit and LotR several times; and I have but a few feet away from me The Silmarillion, two volumes of The Book of Lost Tales and the Unfinished Tales which I have leafed through over the years, so perhaps more than casual.

While I have read Karl's experience with the extended edition films with interest, comparing an adaptation to its source is always going to be a losing battle for me. I tend to not compare and rest happily with both pieces of media as separate entities. I can't remember when I preferred a movie adaptation over its book origins.

As far as Rings of Power, it has been fine, but not much more. My oldest daughter who did read The Hobbit, but hasn't read LotR or seen any of the movies associated with Middle-Earth, has found the series rather dull, minus anything to do with Durian and Elrond and maybe the Hobbit story line.

Quite frankly, much of what I remember of The McLaughlin Group comes from the SNL Dana Carvey skit. For me, GoT is a lot of people discussing politics around a table, so the comparison is apt from my view. I am behind in that series though, so I will report later.

VS

[KevinP]

As I finish each episode of Rings of Power, I want to know what happens next. I don't watch the next one right away--we're not binge-watchers of anything--but I'm looking forward to it.

Which is more than I can say about The Hobbit. I couldn't bring myself to watch the third movie. The first two were just that awful.

[Daverz]

I've been a big Tolkien fan for 50+ years so I suppose that's why I have and will continue to watch LoTR: Rings of Power.  But as well as being dramatically weak, (IMO), the Amazon effort is pretty dismal tribute to Tolkien.

Yes, I'd call it Tolkien-flavored fantasy product.  Still, I watched all 8 episodes and moderately enjoyed it for its own sake.

[SimonNZ]

[SimonNZ]

Was excited to see this was to be eight episodes, that meaning the book could be adapted with some thoroughness and faith. Turns out each episode is 25 minutes, the overall running time that of a long movie.

Particularly interesting for me in the unexpected idea of having Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay played by the same actor. Has this been done before? It makes some sense given a certain plot development (no, for once in Dickens they don't turn out to be related), and Paul Shelley clearly enjoyed the task of playing two very distinct personalities.


These last two viewings from this 12-disc set I found recently:

[Karl Henning]

As I finish each episode of Rings of Power, I want to know what happens next. I don't watch the next one right away--we're not binge-watchers of anything--but I'm looking forward to it.

Which is more than I can say about The Hobbit. I couldn't bring myself to watch the third movie. The first two were just that awful.

I watched the first (he says, unsure as to whether he actually made it to the end even of that one) and I was done.

[George]

[Karl Henning]

Just watched "Widow on the Evening Stage" from The Loner. Did any other TV writer take on prejudice, bigotry and mob mentality with the passion and eloquence of Rod Serling? Wow!

[Valentino]

Just binged on Band of Brothers on HBO. Saw it on linear TV 20 years ago. It has aged well.

[SonicMan46]

Mandalorian on the Disney+ Channel w/ Pedro Pascal in the lead role - only 2 seasons of 8 episodes each, just 3 to go and enjoying - Season 3  is set to premiere in February 2023 (Source).  Dave

 

[vandermolen]

Babylon Berlin Series 4 (love this series)

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started:



Not "slow", as I can imagine some calling it, but rather "slow burning". Lots of good attention to detail in its panorama of local community.


Also started season 1 of Yellowstone, but really don't know if I can be bothered with it.

[George]

[SimonNZ]

Also, with a friend watching a couple of episodes each weekend of this eight-part documentary on the history of oil, "The Prize":



That label on the cover seems to say "Based on Daniel Yergin's Pulitzer Prize winning novel". It wasn't a novel.

[Karl Henning]

Fans of Rod Serling's Night Gallery may be interested to know that Scott Skelton &  Jim Benson, authors of Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour, have greatly expanded this for a second edition. The Kickstarter for this is here.