What TV series are you currently watching?

[Fëanor]

The Rings of Power, season 2. First three episodes aired yesterday. I re-watched the first season throughout last week in preparation and re-watched the last episode of season 1 together with the new ones yesterday. Excellent work by all involved and it's very nice to catch minutiae coming from several of Tolkien's writings being referenced throughout the series. Stunning visuals, great acting, excellent music (the introduction sequence alone is the most inspired music I've listened to on TV in a very long time). Looking forward to the rest of the season's episodes with much interest.

I can't agree.  So far I've watch only the first episode so to be far I might watch another or two.

A few references to Tolkien's material don't make up for the stupid shit inventions that the producers and screen writers have concocted.

For example who is the 'elf' cum Uruk-hai is Adar?  He doesn't exist in any original Tolkien works.  For that matter I don't see much reason he should exist in 'Rings of Power' either -- quite peripheral to the Elfs' struggle with Sauron in that age.

The "real" characters such as Galadriel does things not mentioned or implied in actual Tolkien works.  Her portrait in RoP as a battle field warrior is nowhere implied by Tolkien.  Not to mention, of course, that whole RoP timeline is extremely compressed and some event are out of proper order.

The Tolkien Estate giving access to Amazon to make the series strikes me a  shameless money-grab.  I wonder if they are already regretting it, (they ought to be).

[DavidW]

A few references to Tolkien's material don't make up for the stupid shit inventions that the producers and screen writers have concocted.

I think the lowest point for me was the Rue Goldberg machine to create Mordor and then having the very cheezy reveal with the Mordor title slide appearing (at least not in Comic Sans!)

The only thing I liked about S1 was this guy:

I thought he was an interesting character.

I was very disappointed with Rings of Power, and I had no expectations coming in.

[ShineyMcShineShine]

I didn't watch RoP and have no interest in doing so. I just remember when Amazon introduced Prime. I thought, "You want me to pay for free shipping? No, I don't think so." Then Amazon started offering "free" video as part of Prime. I thought, "Now you're using money intended to pay for shipping to buy video nobody asked for? The price of Prime will inevitably increase now." And now Amazon is spending $1B producing Tolkien fan fiction.

[DavidW]

I didn't watch RoP and have no interest in doing so. I just remember when Amazon introduced Prime. I thought, "You want me to pay for free shipping? No, I don't think so." Then Amazon started offering "free" video as part of Prime. I thought, "Now you're using money intended to pay for shipping to buy video nobody asked for? The price of Prime will inevitably increase now." And now Amazon is spending $1B producing Tolkien fan fiction.

Oh prime is spread so far. They have uber eats, pharmacy, whole foods, music, movies, shipping, ebooks,... I can't think of all the nonsense they have. Amazon just wants to insert themselves into every facet of your life.

[Karl Henning]

I think the lowest point for me was the Rue Goldberg machine to create Mordor and then having the very cheezy reveal with the Mordor title slide appearing (at least not in Comic Sans!)

The only thing I liked about S1 was this guy:

I thought he was an interesting character.

I was very disappointed with Rings of Power, and I had no expectations coming in.

You gents are making me very pleased that I've not bothered with it!

[JBS]

I can't agree.  So far I've watch only the first episode so to be far I might watch another or two.

A few references to Tolkien's material don't make up for the stupid shit inventions that the producers and screen writers have concocted.

For example who is the 'elf' cum Uruk-hai is Adar?  He doesn't exist in any original Tolkien works.  For that matter I don't see much reason he should exist in 'Rings of Power' either -- quite peripheral to the Elfs' struggle with Sauron in that age.

The "real" characters such as Galadriel does things not mentioned or implied in actual Tolkien works.  Her portrait in RoP as a battle field warrior is nowhere implied by Tolkien.  Not to mention, of course, that whole RoP timeline is extremely compressed and some event are out of proper order.

The Tolkien Estate giving access to Amazon to make the series strikes me a  shameless money-grab.  I wonder if they are already regretting it, (they ought to be).

I'm don't have Prime so I haven't seen even a second of RoP, but it was my understanding that RoP was purposely created to fill out and add on to the things Tolkien either referred to very briefly or left out completely. So there should be plenty of characters like Adar that never appear in the books and topics like the history and organization of orc society which JRRT mentioned only in the most superficial way.

But given how the Estate keeps churning out volume after volume of Tolkienian musings of the most mundane variety I doubt they're embarrassed by any money-grabs.

[AnotherSpin]

Among my favorite TV series. I occasionally rewatch one or couple of the seasons.

[Irons]

Oh prime is spread so far. They have uber eats, pharmacy, whole foods, music, movies, shipping, ebooks,... I can't think of all the nonsense they have. Amazon just wants to insert themselves into every facet of your life.

So true. Resistance is futile.

[VonStupp]

House of the Dragon: Season 2 (2024)
Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith

I forgot I finished this season a while back.

With series' whose seasons are separated by many years, such as this one, I find I need a rather healthy reminder of what happened previously.

Not so with this GoT iteration. I am not sure if this is because not much happens in lieu of endless knowing conversations, or the machinations have just stuck with me for some reason.
VS

[Fëanor]

I'm don't have Prime so I haven't seen even a second of RoP, but it was my understanding that RoP was purposely created to fill out and add on to the things Tolkien either referred to very briefly or left out completely. So there should be plenty of characters like Adar that never appear in the books and topics like the history and organization of orc society which JRRT mentioned only in the most superficial way.

But given how the Estate keeps churning out volume after volume of Tolkienian musings of the most mundane variety I doubt they're embarrassed by any money-grabs.

Yes, it's true the Tolkien Estate explicitly permitted Amazon to fill material to the basic Tolkien outline and also to permitted telescoping of Tolkien's (extremely long) timeline.  I don't know that these permission were even "purposeful" on the Estate part;  their only discernable "purpose" was to be paid a lot of money.

Tolkien fan that I am, I can't say I've made much effort to labour through the huge pile of Tolkien musing that have been published.  Still, I think there's material in those works that would be a better source for those Amazon producers and writers than their imaginations -- they are not better story tellers than Tolkien.

[DavidW]

I used to love 24, but, for me, the storylines became so tired (I find that to be true for most pieces of copaganda though).

I liked it back in the day, but in my rewatch, I think the first two seasons are fine. It wears thin after a while.

[DavidW]

but it was my understanding that RoP was purposely created to fill out and add on to the things Tolkien either referred to very briefly or left out completely.

Amazon only managed to get license agreements for the appendices for Lord of the Rings, which sticks the story in the second age. Unfortunately, most of that backstory is still highly dependent on The Silmarillion, which Amazon does not have the rights to.

But that is not the problem. You can write a good story using that material. The problem is that the showrunners are too inexperienced to write something entertaining and satisfying. I think a lot of people didn't realize that this is still the best we could expect. The other streaming platforms were trying to win the rights from the Tolkien estate over an Aragorn show or a Gandalf show, which shows no interest or respect for the source material whatsoever.

I think that any showrunner in the 2020s using an expensive TV show to tell a JJ Abrams-esque puzzle box story just doesn't have the chops for their profession.

[DavidW]

The only season I can sometimes watch is Season 5, the only once Vince Flynn wrote, I believe, but it also has Julian Sands, David Dayan Fisher (aka Trent Kort aka one of the few good things from NCIS, although, I think now he is a bit of a loon), Sean Astin, and Peter Weller - maybe their best season for guest stars.

Poor Julian Sands. RIP.

[AnotherSpin]

I used to love 24, but, for me, the storylines became so tired (I find that to be true for most pieces of copaganda though).

Of course, in Obama/Biden's America, Jack Bauer's methods should not be understood or approved. For me, the interest is not in the plot, but in the way this problem is shown. And it's always nice to see Jack smashing Ruzzians.

[George]

Just finished this last night (I am watching through the series for the second time) and will continue with season 6 tonight.

A far from perfect show, but I like a lot of the characters, especially Luis.

[Todd]

Rachel is easily one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen on screen

[Roasted Swan]

An annotated version of this for foreign audiences would be lovely. I think 20-40% of the jokes go over my head because I'm not British and yet it's still one of my top five favorite comedies.

Utterly utterly brilliant - Malcolm Tucker is one of the great satirical creations.  But role back from that and check out Christopher Morris' equally brilliant "The Day Today" (this was the series where Alan Partridge first appeared as a Sports Reporter - and in its original version was a BBC Radio Show called "On the Hour" - broadcast at 6.30 pm.........)

[George]

I sort of wish that show had ended in the 5th season. That felt like a perfect resolution. Luis is a great character, I will agree, and Rachel is easily one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen on screen, and I wish Diana has never been on the show (she felt like a Mad Men character to me - like a parody, a bad one, in my opinion.

Diana?

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1632701/fullcredits/cast

[ShineyMcShineShine]

Of course, in Obama/Biden's America, Jack Bauer's methods should not be understood or approved. For me, the interest is not in the plot, but in the way this problem is shown. And it's always nice to see Jack smashing Ruzzians.

Not just Obama/Biden's America: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-18-oe-brooks18-story.html

[LKB]

You gents are making me very pleased that I've not bothered with it!

Yup, same here.