What TV series are you currently watching?

[George]

30 Rock

[Kalevala]

I'm trying a new one (for me):  Archangel with Daniel Craig.  In the midst of Season 1, Episode One.  Craig plays a professor who is a specialist on Russian/Soviet History and is lecturing in Moscow (during Putin's time).  He's approached by an older man who tries to tell him that he knows nothing about Stalin.  I won't say more than that.

By the way, it was filmed in Kiev.

K

[AnotherSpin]

I'm trying a new one (for me):  Archangel with Daniel Craig.  In the midst of Season 1, Episode One.  Craig plays a professor who is a specialist on Russian/Soviet History and is lecturing in Moscow (during Putin's time).  He's approached by an older man who tries to tell him that he knows nothing about Stalin.  I won't say more than that.

By the way, it was filmed in Kiev.

K

Thank you for mentioning it; I hadn't heard about this film before, even though I usually keep a close eye on Craig's roles. And now there's also a Soviet storyline. I'll try to find it and watch it.

[Kalevala]

Thank you for mentioning it; I hadn't heard about this film before, even though I usually keep a close eye on Craig's roles. And now there's also a Soviet storyline. I'll try to find it and watch it.

It's actually a t.v. series.  I didn't check to see how many episodes/seasons.  I found it on Amazon Prime.  I swore that the opening credits said that it was filmed in Kiev, but when I did a bit of cursory scanning (not to know too much about what happens), Wiki entries said it was filmed in Riga...maybe they used different locations?  I'll double check when I'm done with the first episode.  In any event, I hope that you find it to be interesting!

K

[AnotherSpin]

It's actually a t.v. series.  I didn't check to see how many episodes/seasons.  I found it on Amazon Prime.  I swore that the opening credits said that it was filmed in Kiev, but when I did a bit of cursory scanning (not to know too much about what happens), Wiki entries said it was filmed in Riga...maybe they used different locations?  I'll double check when I'm done with the first episode.  In any event, I hope that you find it to be interesting!

K

I also did a little research: Archangel was released in two formats, either as a 2+ hour TV film or as three 40+ minute episodes. I'm guessing it's essentially the same thing.

As for the filming location, I don't think Kiev is a very suitable place to portray Moscow, let alone Arkhangelsk. Kiev is a beautiful city, full of greenery, with a cosy old streets of human proportions, excellent for long walks, while Stalin-era Moscow is a monstrous conglomerate of mercantile gaudiness and totalitarian grandiosity of un-human scale. Arkhangelsk, on the other hand, is not even worth mentioning - it is a city beyond the Arctic Circle, uninhabitable. I've never been to Riga, so I can't say anything about it, but I also doubt there's much similarity. Well, let's see what the film makers got out of it.

Added: IMDB says it was filmed in Riga.

[AnotherSpin]

It's actually a t.v. series.  I didn't check to see how many episodes/seasons.  I found it on Amazon Prime.  I swore that the opening credits said that it was filmed in Kiev, but when I did a bit of cursory scanning (not to know too much about what happens), Wiki entries said it was filmed in Riga...maybe they used different locations?  I'll double check when I'm done with the first episode.  In any event, I hope that you find it to be interesting!

K

The first episode was filmed in Moscow, and part of the second episode was possibly filmed in Riga. The credits include many Latvian surnames among the crew. There's not much to say about the film itself — it's too simplistic. However, the idea that Stalinism, with all its horrors, has never truly disappeared from Russia is absolutely correct and accurate.

[hopefullytrusting]

Finished series:
Ray Donovan
An absolutely stellar first season, and I love that it ended without a cliffhanger. This is how first seasons should be made. By the end, I loved all the characters, and Liev and Jon are brilliant co-leads. The freedom that Jon brings to the role is astonishing, and his dialogue is some of the funniest I've ever heard. I won't comment beyond that, as it heads off into quite explicit territory. It also handles race better (or as good as any) show I've ever seen. It is  the only show that I think understands what it means to say that "I don't see color," which has nothing to do with not seeing color. I will likely watch the second season.

The Americans
The two co-leads are quite striking, but the show, at least in the first season, feels very loose and therefore weak. The show is tense, and it is far better than Homeland, for example. The show is incredibly violent, for a network program, and it has too much sex for my sake, especially for a show which is supposed to be about espionage (one of the most boring activities known to man). The "antagonists" are all excellent, but the FBI is a caricature to the point that they are essentially rabid dogs - everything is so indiscriminate and unplanned. I will not continue this series.

In-progress:
Painkiller Jane
Think the X-Files with no budget, and you have Painkiller Jane. The lead in the show is incredibly charming, and she makes the show watchable. The rest of the characters are forgettable. The storylines are insane. This is a show for the lovers of corny sci-fi. I will most definitely be watching the next season of this show.

When I can emotionally allow it:
Judging Amy (I normally have to watch this by skipping sections that I cannot emotionally handle at the time.)
I don't normally go for life lessons shows, but I like this one a lot. There's something about Vincent that I like a lot - he gives me a similar feeling to Anthony on Blossom. I wonder if there is a correlation there.

[hopefullytrusting]

Just finished Judging Amy again, and it is easily one of my favorite shows. It has a perfect arc, at least for a romantic like myself, and ends with a heavy focus on interracial relationships. The only other show I can think of that is similar is Once and Again, which also has its last episode focused, in part, on interracial relationships.

I get to see myself so rarely on screen that I definitely value the few times it happens.

Sadly, there are still offers of the world, including the USA, where I am considered an abomination, so it is nice to feel nice.

:-)

[Kalevala]

Working on Season One of Midsomer Murders.  I've caught some of them randomly on PBS.  Really enjoy them!

K

[Mookalafalas]

Series? Only one episode each 7 years, but I bingewatched most of "7 UP!" over the weekend.

[Kalevala]

Series? Only one episode each 7 years, but I bingewatched most of "7 UP!" over the weekend.

The soda commercials?   

K

[Papy Oli]

I hope that you enjoy them--seriously.

K

Re Gilmore girls: 38 episodes done in 3 weeks    properly hooked 

[Kalevala]

Re Gilmore girls: 38 episodes done in 3 weeks    properly hooked 

So glad that you are enjoying them! 

K

[SimonNZ]

Series? Only one episode each 7 years, but I bingewatched most of "7 UP!" over the weekend.

I'm reminded of an exchange I had with another member a while back in response to this post of mine:

I seem to be the sole dissenter in my dislike of the 7up series. Not the participants, who are lovely, but in every aspect of the methodology, in the deafness towards the complaints of the participants most of whom feel they're getting a "poison pill" every seven years and are constantly having their noses rubbed in throwaway remarks they made when they were children. And in proceeding with their foundation assumptions of "show me the child and I'll show you the adult", which has proven demonstrably false to everyone but Apted, and such a rigid class system was already changing when the project began. The real value of the project may be to discuss how much these peoples lives were or were not changed through an uncaring and parasitic act of defiantly observing them despite their protests.

I like the people, but there would have been a way of doing this where they were continually glad to be involved and in every installment it pains me to see how unhappy they are with this thing they can never get away from.

[VonStupp]

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 (2024)
Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez
Jane Lynch, Meryl Streep, Eugene Levy, Richard Kind

My joy in this show comes from nostalgia for the leads and a love for a murder mystery.

This season contains a host of celebrity guests as well. How wonderful to see comedian Richard Kind is still around and working!
VS

[SimonNZ]

Three superb tv-films written and directed by David Hare, with an astonishingly deep bench of big name actors and recognizable supporting casts.

The second installment I found particularly impressive, and I wonder if it isn't the best work Helena Bonham Carter has done.

[George]

The Old Man

[LKB]

This past weekend, I discovered The Deadliest Catch.

While I've yet to decide whether this is a positive development, I must admit that I am probably hooked ( or, if you like, " potted " ).

[hopefullytrusting]

Just finished Painkiller Jane, and man the last four episodes were pumping. Sadly, it ended on a sort of cliffhanger, but I was more than satisfied with the season, overall. Loken is a genuine charmer (and a genuine badass), and the entire show rests on her shoulders, and she carries it. The makes are all replaceable, although, the "macho" male, Connor, is the most interesting. It is a more action-packed, b-level, X-Files. I recommend to any tv sci-fi fan.

Next up for me is Witchblade:

[foxandpeng]

I started watching Lost for the first time. Season 1 in the bag, but having read a couple of spoilers around the rest of the seasons, I am pretty much done, I think.