Topic: The TV Show Thread

@JohnnyShoulder uh oh, I assumed. That's my bad 😅 I would have thought someone that had ended up watching the trilogy every Christmas might actually be a mega fan, or something like that.

The adverts are no too bad. In something like a Clarkson show they will have, say, one advert in the middle. But I'm pretty sure RoP was sponsered by Warcraft so it just had that one advert at the very start, pre titles, and the rest was uninterrupted. I'm pretty sure that is right, anyway 😬

I think I only ended up watching the first season because I happened to have Prime at the time and I'll try out any fantasy tv show. Wasn't that into it, but it was alright enough to warrant a casual watch. But this year it has had me wanting to go back and watch some more LotR stuff that I probably didn't appreciate at the time, despite having seen the trilogy. Other than a general idea of who is in it and the story overall, it doesn't resonate with my memories enough to geek out about it in any way. I kind of regret passing on the Mordor games, but doubt I'll go back to them. And we all know what happened with the Gollum game 💩

@Ravix Oh I've not wathced the trilogy for ages as i gave most of my DVD's away when I got my PS4.

I did try out watching stuff on Prime, and some progammes and film have adverts a few times during the run time. They did start only at the start, but that soon changed. Unless it depends on what you are watching.

Anyone been watching Uzumaki by any chance? It is genuinely one of the most bat---- crazy shows I have ever has the fortune(?) of watching. I can't say it's good in the slightest. The pacing is absolutely horrible, the plotting is all over the place, the story is mostly nonsensical and doesn't seem to be going anywhere and the characters are rather undeveloped caricatures. That said, it manages to be highly entertaining in spite of all of that simply by how it's throwing so much crazy stuff in your face. It just... never stops escalating. When you think you've seen it all after you saw snail people snuggling up together, you see some weird lovestruck tornado the next episode. By all accounts the manga is great, but then this anime must be a genuinely terrible adaptation of it. The only value this has is that it enters "so bad it's good"-territory, as well as some great sense of style with its artwork. And so, if you'd enjoy watching something that is just incomprehensible in its constant need for upping the ante (badly), do give it a try.

@LtSarge
The Wire is often difficult to follow for most people even if English is your first language. The dialogue uses a lot of street slang and vernacular that's both common in urban African American circles as well as the Baltimore area in general and the show doesn't hold your hand or explain any of this to you. This is one of the reasons why fans of the show lament that it's so hard for newcomer fans to get into it.

The Penguin is just getting better and better with each episode, this weeks episode was phenomenal for me and I appreciate the total change in character focus.
@Tjuz
I watched the first episode of Uzumaki and it was pretty nutty. Usually I like weird Japanese s--t but this was just...off putting. The pacing was disjointed, the writing was nonsensical and every character's behavior has just been so uncomfortable to watch. Cool black and white art style but boy does that art style deserve a better show.

@PegasusActual93 Yep, it is getting better and better! I really hope they do not ruin it somehow

Cobblepot is so despicable and likable He ruined that kid from the inside ... corruption on another level and it is somehow fun to watch!

Also, Mark Strong was not a bad Falcone in this episode

@PegasusActual93 Yeah, completely agree. I imagine the main problem here is that for some reason they only have four episodes to adapt the story in. Maybe with a longer episode count they'd have had more time to flesh out each supernatural occurrence instead of just shoving five ones in an episode in the most over the top way possble to get the point across as quickly as they can. I don't know if that would've helped the writing much since it's already such a lot to begin with, but it definitely could've made the pacing a lot easier to digest. I'd love to see more animation in this type of art style with a better... everything else to support it.

@LN78 Going only by the first episode, aside from a small bit of exposition regarding the end of Reeves' Batman it feels like a standalone thing. The problem I'm having is well, I didn't enjoy the Batman movie either so it's hard to feel invested when I'm not sure it's as disconnected as it may seem. How can it be?

Also, imo, the Sopranos comparisons seems only accurate in regards to the Penguin's behavior imo. Like, the guy isn't exactly trying to raise a family in New Jersey whilst balancing his underworld dealings. Cobblepot is simply an Italianish-coded, impulsive, and manipulative guy with mommy issues, that's pretty much it.

Don't get me wrong though, first episode was fine but by the end I couldn't be bothered to care where it was all going because isn't it all leading to the guy in the cape anyway?

@LN78 For me "The Batman" was ok. Not spectacular but ok.

In The Penguin they just mention the Bat at the start just to tie in the story and that is it. It is all about the rise of Penguin to one of Gotham's crime bosses

@LN78
Other than like 2 minutes of exposition at the beginning of the first episode it's pretty disconnected from the movie. I'm sure there's references and character setups and stuff for the next movie that people more knowledgeable about Batman lore than myself will pick up on but the two are pretty different in terms of story and pacing as Reeves didn't seem to have very much involvement in this one and it looks like he didn't even direct any of the episodes. If you like crime dramas I would say it's a high recommendation. Colin Farrell and Christin Milioti are absolutely killing their roles and I imagine some Emmy nominations for them are in the near future.
@Tjuz
I am curious to check out the manga just to see how it compares. I am pretty sure I remember seeing that they have all the volumes at my nearest library.

Started re-watching Fallout tonight. I think when the nights get darker earlier then tv shows and movies just become so much more appealing. And this is definitely something that feels like it can be watched multiple times

Watched the first 2/3 of Season One of The Boondocks so far. Still greatly enjoying it. One character appears to be the sole voice of reason in the family, whilst the other two are more morally dubious, with one of the latter two being a sort of morally ambiguous kind of person. It's like the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in other words.🤣 I'm not sure if that analogy works entirely, but, hey, if I'm wrong, like the 'bad' character would say, "You can sue me!"

Looks like I'll need to get Apple TV again next month. If it releases weekly I'll probably wait until it's nearly complete and just get it for one month.

I'm also looking forward to the second season of The Diplomat on Netflix soon. I had a go at watching the Lara Croft show the other night in bed but fell asleep. It looks quite cheaply made to me, especially after watching such great animations like Arcane and Blue Eyed Samurai. I'll give it another try when I'm more awake but I'm not optimistic.

@BearsEatBeets I had the same experience with that Lara Croft Tomb Raider show. It was a bit cheap and boring compared to the latest Netflix animated shows, as you mention. Blur Eyed Samurai and Arcane are cream of the crop, but even Cyberpunk and Castlevania seemed so much better produced than this TR show. I was quite disappointed since I really adore the franchise. I might try the second episode but the first one didn’t really leave me wanting.

@BearsEatBeets nice, looking forward to season 2, hopefully we’ll get a season 2 of Severance soon too.

@colonelkilgore
Severance season 2 is January 17th. Announced a while ago.

@PegasusActual93 awesome, feels like forever since I watched season 1

@BearsEatBeets looking forward to more Silo but worried about what revealing more of the unknowns will do for my interest. I'm kinda one of those weirdos that likes getting left with a sense of mystery - which is probably why I stand by Lost because I enjoy not getting ALL the answers. We'll see though. Rebecca Ferguson has been great and I've enjoyed the claustrophobic setting and the art direction and production generally (another thing that may change) so I'm optimistic.

Until then there's Arcane and before I know it Severance. A lot of great stuff to look forward to.

@zupertramp If the show continues to follow the books, there will be plenty of mystery for a while yet, if my memory is correct

@FuriousMachine oooh, it's a book series? Again, failed to consider this possibility. Even still the first season finale would have been an awesome conclusion imo. Sometimes in widening and expanding the world things go... awry for me. The Passage is a good example of this. A stellar and engrossing novel that gets sullied by the follow up to the point that I pretend it's a standalone thing instead of a trilogy lol.

Anyway, be there day one watching it regardless. Curious about the books now but I'll have to wait until the series concludes I suppose.