Topic: The TV Show Thread

So... Did anyone see Doctor Who? 😂😂

I was prepared for some filler given the big reveals last week, but I'm not sure I was quite prepared the killer pathogen attracted to microplastics line 😂

The on the nose environmental line, a few poor characterisations among the jam packed roster, some significant unresolved plot holes topped off with a totally ignored death surpassing even poor old Barb from Stranger Things season 1 - and we have an episode every hit as bad as the orphan planet one.

Not sure if the extra media coverage of the past week has helped the viewing figures or not, but Who can't really survive like this.

@Th3solution Yup, my initial concern about the MCU TV series was the production quality but those scenes in trailers looked pretty good.

@WanderingBullet I think the production quality will be quite good, and you’re right, the trailers do bear that out. Part of my issue with the Netflix attempts at Marvel was the drastic difference in production quality. They seemed definitely more ‘budget’ in that regard. Some people may prefer it, but I typically like my superhero shows to reflect high end production. I just hope they can keep the storylines fresh and congruent with the cinema outings. Like, given reports of some of WandaVision taking place in the 1950’s, I hope it doesn’t come across as ridiculously outlandish. In other words, hopefully not bizarre and progressive just for the sake of being different. The Falcon and Loki shows are more likely to be traditional MCU fare, I would guess.

@Th3solution Honestly, I hope WandaVision is outlandish. They've got a great premiere to do some really interesting stuff with. I've grown increasingly tired of the Marvel formula over the years, and I'd be very happy if they switched it up with this one. Falcon & Winter Soldier I have absolutely no interest in because it seems to just be your typical Marvel fare. I'd say the most interesting Marvel project of the last few years was Legion. Great show that reveled in its weirdness. That's really the kind of show I want comic book adaptations to be. DC seems to be a bit more reliable in that aspect though. Doom Patrol, the Harley Quinn animated show and Watchmen are all great TV shows for example.

@Th3solution I definitely hope Wandavision goes down the weird route. The MCU made awful mistakes when it came to Scarlet Witch because of her powers being derived from the Reality stone. I understand that because of legal thingys they couldn’t make her a mutant but her powers have barely been explained and just seems to be red energy stuff coming out her hands. This should hopefully fix some of the confusion about Scarlet Witch and show off how powerful she is if the whole Vision tv show angle has been created with her reality powers.

@Tjuz I agree. Towards the end of the current MCU run the formula was getting a bit tired to watch. Legion was amazing, quite hard to reccomend to anyone that you don't know of their personal tastes, but definitely a unique take on a Marvel property.

Hi all,
I'm sure Crisis on Infinite Earths is a bit old hat by now but I am wondering if anyone can tell me what shows and films apart from the main arrowverse ones cross over with it. Finally going to watch it in the next few weeks once I've caught up with Batwoman and Black Lightning. I need to catch up on Titans, Doom Patrol and Swamp thing too so if there is any crossover with them, even a tiny picosecond of Brenton thwaites swirling in a red mist then I might as well watch that lot first too....

This is what I think crosses over, if you've seen it then please confirm or deny but without any spoilers! I'll spoiler tag the list:

This is what might cross over

Is there any other show or film (even if it is a tiny cameo) that I'm missing? Please no other details apart from if the reference exists, Just trying to make sure I am up to date on current shows and might be up for rewatching a few films even if they are only relevant in the smallest way.

Thanks, sorry for the long post!

I apologize if this has been discussed earlier, but I don’t feel inclined to pore through the whole thread in search of subject — has anyone been watching The Expanse? I thought I heard it was good, so just wanted to confirm.

In a moment contrary to my nature, I started watching it randomly tonight. My usual approach to TV shows is to sit down, think that I want to watch something, then pull up Netflix, then Disney+, then Amazon Prime, see about 10 shows on each service that I’m interested in, which means 30ish shows, each with an average of 3-4 seasons, about 8-10 episodes per season, so as I calculate the sheer number of entertainment hours in my head (about 1000 hours or so if my ballpark math is correct) and it just overwhelms me and I end up switching it off and playing a video game, or I put on a favorite movie for a rewatch. Well tonight the uncharacteristic spontaneity kicked in and I started The Expanse for no other reason than it was there to be clicked on and it looked like something I should like. Well, after watching 30 min. of it, despite it being eye catchingly lovely to look at from an art direction and visual effects standpoint, it was kinda boring. Very Cyberpunk-esque feeling, but the characters were boring me. I turned it off because I’m tired and I can’t be bothered to try to concentrate to learn new names, places, lore, and plot lines right now, but I’m willing to go back to it if someone gives it a resounding endorsement. Or should I save myself the effort and time and move on to one of the other 29 shows that seemed appealing. 😅

@Th3solution @LN78
Absolutely loved the first season of The Expanse. Best 'proper' sci-fi show since Babylon 5 for my money.

Never got around to watching the rest. I should really.

@LN78 It;s an easy thing to miss if you weren't hooked in to it.

B5 was very much one of those 'you had to be there' sort of things I think. I'd always recommend giving it a go - but very much in the context of when it aired.

It is still I think a relatively unique show since it was planned out to run for 5 seasons and did so (with extras). It did what the BSG remake did - present a serious sci-fi drama - but earlier, and for my money, a lot better.

@LN78 Good call!

Cards on the table though - I dislike new BSG. I'd probably appreciate it more now, but I wasn't interested in the political mire and the eventual religious bent they lead the story in to. As for the ending...
Blood and Chrome was the BSG remake I wanted - that was great.

Also, BSG remake really started the ruination of American sci-fi television. Every studio wanted to emulate it to the point of having almost nothing around that wasn't in 'gritty BAFTA' territory - even Stargate!

@LN78 I don't think 9/11 was the catalyst for the sci-fi though. Enterprise was running and just going in to its best season, Stargate was going strong and even launched the arguably hokier Atlantis spin off and even Farscape returned with the great coda of The Peacekeeper Wars.

The mid-2000s were pretty good. Near the end of BSG's run, things started to change.

@LN78 Stargate Universe, Sanctuary, the V remake, Fringe, Falling Skies, Terra Nova, Revolution and the majority of American sci fi since the end of BSGs run has shared similar characteristics, largely that of heavy drama and multi-episode/season long arcs.
After Stargate, I can't think of anything that was in a similar vein to it, or Star Trek on TV - very little hokeyness, even less joviality and the notion of a 'monster/villain of the week', self-contained episode was all but dead.

Enterprise was cancelled near the start of BSGs second season - for as different it had started from the TNG era shows, by it's last and best season - it was very Star Trek.

There has certainly been somewhat of a resurgence in lighter sci-fi television in recent years, but the effects of BSG remain.

EDIT: @RogerRoger yeah. Stargate Universe is the veritable poster child for post BSG sensibilities.

The impression is that everyone must now see the likes of SG1 and Atlantis like the silly 'Wormhole Xtreme' parody - 'the concept still has merit so let's continue to exploit the brand but in a 'modern' (ie. BSG) way'.
And the resulting show was, like BSG, mostly entirely morose.

Thanks @RogerRoger, I know they're trash but I just love them, they are like crack. I'm super excited for the crossover, probably got a few weeks before I'm caught up enough on the missing shows to watch it though!

@LN78 If you're familiar with SG1, watch an(y) episode of Stargate Universe. You'll see what I mean 😊

@RogerRoger cripes, that will be a lot when it's all over! I think by the end of this TV season there will be something like 29 seasons and 2 web series to catch up on already...not to mention seasons to come. I think Star Trek is currently at 33 seasons and 13 movies and 6 shorts so the arrowverse is catching up! It should pass it too because there are like 5 shows a year in the arrowverse

@RogerRoger I'm happy to go on record and say that SG1 is fantastic. It middles a bit here and there in later seasons, but even the lows are decent television.
It's one of the few shows that I'd say is just really fun to watch. It also gets some great performers in for guest spots and recurring side characters.

I'm not all that keen on Atlantis on the whole. The main villains look like reused Morlocks from that awful Time Machine remake with Guy Pearce and the team feel like iterations and amalgams of the SG1 core characters in one way or another. Add to that that half of them are just terrible on screen. Paul McGillion, Jason Momoa and Rachel Luttrell are painful to watch. I have all the time in the world for Jewel Staite though, and Joe Flanigan's Colonel Shepherd is great - since he's basically Nathan Drake in space 😂

@RogerRoger
On the Arrowverse, just to repeat stuff I've probably written before 😜
Arrow is... Bad, and gloomy and not at all like the comic character (apart from bits of one Mike Grell run), and is structured like Lost for the majority of the run.
It never really improved either. Amell is awful. But, it is easily the most 'Batman' of the Arrowverse shows.
Supergirl started really well, as did The Flash, but both became mind-numbingly formulaic as time went on. The Flash was easier to bear, the effects budget and the willingness of the producers to throw up any of the DC universe nonsense bonkers stuff help it greatly.
One of the biggest issues across the Arrowverse is something pretty common to a lot of epic fantasy I've read; you're often left with the sense that the writer never wants the protagonist(s) to succeed, or to have any lasting joy. It's pretty draining.

Legends started badly, but with Arthur Darvill's departure soon became pretty self-indulgent with farce - and all the better for it!

Black Lightning is probably the best show for the 'capes', though it tends to suffer from the common issue of inconsistent power/ability levels of the heroes. But performances and writing are usually great and tends to feel like a somewhat lighter take on black characters than (the excellent) Luke Cage.

The sadly cancelled Swamp thing is easily the better show from the DC TV shows.

The crossovers are mostly OK. Buts of fun that are handled pretty well on the whole considering the inherent limitations of being TV shows.

Crisis ended up being a bit... 'meh', but did have some truly brilliant moments of fan service throughout.

As for Batwoman. It is genuinely one of the worst productions I've seen in a while. Possibly ever.
Top to bottom, of the 7 or 8 episodes I watched, I really can't think of anything actually good about it. If you get through the entire series, I'll give you a tenner! 😂

@RogerRoger See, those things - while much maligned - all have some redeeming qualities, however small (OK, that's a pretty hard sell for the Gungans - but in a film with incredible music and lightsaber action).

It's not that I don't 'like' Batwoman, and I don't, but more that it is objectively bad; in all areas. The scripts, the plotting, the porformances, the characterisations, the relationships, the editing, the rudimentary at-best politics, the production values, the direction. It is all bad.

I and anyone else can easily take pot-shots at the Arrowverse shows for plenty of shortcomings, but none of the rest feel so very half-arsed in all things.

It's a shame more than anything. This time they've taken a pretty good character and built a crap show around her, at the same time reducing Kate Kane a shallow, selfish brat with all the nuance of character of a teenage lad's idea of what lesbians are like.

@KALofKRYPTON Batwoman seems to have gotten OK reviews, at least compared to other DC ventures. I’m really not a fan of Ruby Rose so wouldn’t go near that show at all but it’s always interesting when critics like a show, especially a fantasy (sort of) show but it’s seemingly terrible.