What TV series are you currently watching?

DavidW · June 21, 2025, 07:47:50 AM

I've finished season 3 of X-Files and season 5 of Vera. The S6 premiere was the darkest I've seen. It is also the highest rated on IMDb. The two parter between S3 and S4 of the X-Files starts to unravel the mystery behind the central plot.

nico1616 · June 21, 2025, 08:19:15 AM

Just finished Mad Men, second time around. I think I watch the whole series from 2007 to 2012 so I had forgotten a lot. I started at season 5 and then all the way to the end of season 4 where everything fell into place.
It is weird to watch a series after 15 years, how much differently you interpret things.
Although Mad Men is on a constant high level, it takes a while to lift off, I think somewhere around season 2 things get really compelling and I think my favorites are season 4 and 5.
I will always love the image of a time sketched here in which I never lived myself. The psychological development of the main characters is just amazing and it is all brought with much subtlety and humor.
It grieves me a bit now that this journey ended again.

Mister Sharpe · June 23, 2025, 09:09:18 AM

The scene from Mad Men that most impressed me - for its accuracy - was the family picnic where the detritus of the outing was left for all of nature to clean up, best it can. I'm old enough to remember when Americans needed to be told "Don't Be a Litterbug!"

drogulus · June 23, 2025, 10:55:34 AM

I just finished the 9th season of Shetland. Calder and Tosh are like actual people with funny accents. Also, Tosh is potato shaped, which from an American perspective is very wonderful as we don't get much of that here.

DavidW · June 23, 2025, 11:39:54 AM

Quote from: drogulus on June 23, 2025, 10:55:34 AMI just finished the 9th season of Shetland. Calder and Tosh are like actual people with funny accents. Also, Tosh is potato shaped, which from an American perspective is very wonderful as we don't get much of that here.

I still have to watch it. I was thinking next week.

I've been watching Death Valley which is a funny cozy mystery.

nico1616 · June 23, 2025, 12:07:12 PM

Quote from: Mister Sharpe on June 23, 2025, 09:09:18 AMThe scene from Mad Men that most impressed me - for its accuracy - was the family picnic where the detritus of the outing was left for all of nature to clean up, best it can. I'm old enough to remember when Americans needed to be told "Don't Be a Litterbug!"

Yeah that was a great scene, but there are so many. My favorite scene remains the Carousel presentation by Don, I mean there was a time when some ads were like artworks.

Mister Sharpe · June 23, 2025, 02:04:45 PM

I confess I wasn't expecting much from Babylon 5 (1993-98) and the first episode of Season One was hardly reassuring. But perservere my wife and I did and we do not regret it. We just finished Season 4 of the 5 Season run. Yes, the acting talents of those concerned ranges from brilliant to amateurish, editing is sometimes clumsy and the special effects dated, but the story arc is compelling, often thrilling, and oddly prophetic of current political developments. Harlan Ellison, who served as consultant to the series, was likely responsible for much that is interesting therein. Easily recommendable esp. for "space opera" fans. There's also a cartoon series voiced by many of the same actors, but we haven't seen that.

DavidW · June 23, 2025, 03:35:04 PM

Quote from: Mister Sharpe on June 23, 2025, 02:04:45 PMI confess I wasn't expecting much from Babylon 5 (1993-98) and the first episode of Season One was hardly reassuring. But perservere my wife and I did and we do not regret it. We just finished Season 4 of the 5 Season run. Yes, the acting talents of those concerned ranges from brilliant to amateurish, editing is sometimes clumsy and the special effects dated, but the story arc is compelling, often thrilling, and oddly prophetic of current political developments. Harlan Ellison, who served as consultant to the series, was likely responsible for much that is interesting therein. Easily recommendable esp. for "space opera" fans. There's also a cartoon series voiced by many of the same actors, but we haven't seen that.

I love that series. They also have a series of movies and a spinoff show.

Daverz · June 23, 2025, 05:39:35 PM

Quote from: Der lächelnde Schatten on May 25, 2025, 07:41:25 AMI've been rewatching some Seinfeld via Netflix (I own all nine seasons on DVD but it's easier to just stream it sometimes). Anyway, one of my 'Top 3' sitcoms without question (my other two are Frasier and Wings).

It used to bug me that the Seinfeld monologs that opened each episode were so desperately unfunny. Then it occurred to me that this is part of the joke: Seinfeld is the least funny person on his own show.

Der lächelnde Schatten · June 23, 2025, 07:56:16 PM

Quote from: Daverz on June 23, 2025, 05:39:35 PMIt used to bug me that the Seinfeld monologs that opened each episode were so desperately unfunny. Then it occurred to me that this is part of the joke: Seinfeld is the least funny person on his own show.

I've never been too fond of Jerry Seinfeld's own comedy (i. e. stand-up), but his true brilliance is allowing people around him to be funny and never hogging the spotlight or really even caring about it. Of course, Jerry Seinfeld couldn't have done it without Larry David.

Karl Henning · June 23, 2025, 08:40:32 PM

I've allowed myself to be lured into revisiting The Avengers.

Wendell_E · **Today** at 12:32:49 AM

Quote from: Mister Sharpe on June 23, 2025, 09:09:18 AMI'm old enough to remember when Americans needed to be told "Don't Be a Litterbug!"

Judging from what I see on the side of the road as I take my morning walks, we still very much need to be told that.

Iota · **Today** at 01:15:43 AM

Quote from: Daverz on June 23, 2025, 05:39:35 PMIt used to bug me that the Seinfeld monologs that opened each episode were so desperately unfunny. Then it occurred to me that this is part of the joke: Seinfeld is the least funny person on his own show.

Quote from: Der lächelnde Schatten on June 23, 2025, 07:56:16 PMI've never been too fond of Jerry Seinfeld's own comedy (i. e. stand-up), but his true brilliance is allowing people around him to be funny and never hogging the spotlight or really even caring about it. Of course, Jerry Seinfeld couldn't have done it without Larry David.

Ah yes, I watched quite a few Seinfeld episodes on the BBC when they aired in the 90s (around the same time as the Larry Sanders Show which I also enjoyed very much), and just wanted to say how much your statements struck a chord with me, not having seen any of them since back then.
And, @Der lächelnde Schatten, yes, I also really liked the way Seinfeld just seemed to hang back and let others get on with their thing. The chemistry between all the actors seemed great too with Cosmo just drifting in like a sort of lovable alien from time to time.