Topic: The TV Show Thread

@Th3solution Likewise I have a fondness for the franchise so wanted it to be good. I'll give it another chance but my expectations are low.

@colonelkilgore I never got around to checking Severance when I had Apple so I'll try and squeeze that in as well when I resub.

@zupertramp yeah some shows are better at building mysteries than finding satisfying conclusions to them. The fact they are based on books and the overall quality of the first season give me hope.
@FuriousMachine Are the books finished with a complete story or are they still ongoing? We don't want another Game of Thrones scenario.

@zupertramp @BearsEatBeets It's a trilogy by Hugh Howey and season 1 ends about halfway into the first book. The second book is set in a different time period with different characters and the third brings us back to the original time period. Curious to see if they will go from book one directly to three and tell book two via interspersed flashbacks (think that may work better than spending entire seasons away from Juliette & co). The books have a satisfying ending, but there are always more stories to tell in this world, so if Hugh Howey continues to be involved in the production, they may be able to pull off more seasons (though they do potentially have 5 or 6 seasons of material from the books alone, so that may be plenty).

And I disagree about "The Passage", I think the entire trilogy was brilliant and is one of my favourite series ever (I'll agree that the first book was best, though), I thought the short-lives Fox series was pretty good, too

Yeah, I don't begrudge anyone liking them. My wife and daughter love the books. I'm too picky probably. And didn't even try the show. Just couldn't see Fox doing the story justice, it's more of an Apple TV or HBO thing, plus my daughter and I agree any Wolgast that isn't Michael Shannon isn't Wolgast.

@FuriousMachine your comments about the second book going back in time is giving me deja vu, as if you may have told me this back when I commented about thoroughly enjoying the first season and I forgot. Regardless, knowing there is a satisfying ending to work towards is very reassuring. Only using half a book for a season is a good sign also. Too often when books are adapted to films a lot of nuance and subtlety is lost whereas tv shows can give it the time it needs. Could make for a compelling 4/5 seasons then.

@zupertramp If Shannon is your Wolgast, then Gosselaar would fit very poorly, yes. As it happened, I started reading the books when the series were announced and I believe Gosselaar was already cast, so he was pretty much in my mind's eye while reading. I think he did an excellent job with the character in the show, too. The show took quite a few liberties with the story and characters, if memory serves, but I thought it worked pretty well nonetheless and I enjoyed it and was sad that it never got another season (which was a long shot, as Disney were acquiring Fox at the time, so most of the Fox slate was expected to be cancelled). I can only imagine what Apple TV+ could have done with the material, though. Hopefully we'll see something like that one day.

@BearsEatBeets hehehe, if so, I've forgotten it, too
But, yeah, they're doing a fine job of pacing the series and if they maintain the pace and quality, we should have a solid run on our hands.

Don’t know how accurate this is but rumours abound online that Sony have tapped Ronald D Moore to take over showrunning the God of War tv show. As a huge fan of both Deep Space Nine and BSG I’m really hoping this is true.

@colonelkilgore Agreed! Deadline reports it as fact so no reason to believe it isn't

@colonelkilgore @FuriousMachine I've not seen those shows. Has he done anything more recent?

@JohnnyShoulder yeah Outlander and For All Mankind, both of which have been well received. I watched a season of the former and while it’s obviously well-made didn’t seem my thing. Still trying to convince the missus to give the latter a go.

@colonelkilgore I've not seen those either! 😂 For all Mankind is supposed to be good though.

@JohnnyShoulder as far as his work on DS9 & BSG goes, his main strength is operating in the shades of grey between good and evil… which could be perfect for God of War the more I think about it.

Dunno if anyone has mentioned this already, but the season 2 trailer for Severance dropped the other day...

I'm one of the few people that didn't gel with Season 1, and I don't currently have Apple TV+. I do have either 3 or 6 months free waiting to use, so will have it soonish.

@JohnnyShoulder As not watching season 2 has never been an option after season 1, which I loved, I'm steering clear of trailers this time. Love the show! Exactly my kind of quirky and weird

@JohnnyShoulder feels like an eternity since I finished season 1, can’t wait!

Watched the first three episodes of the new Yakuza show. I'm enjoying it so far, but it's hard not to be disappointed by certain aspects. My main gripe is the characters as some of them are really different from the games. I feel a lack of respect for the source material by the show makers. Also, jumping between time periods is rather annoying. I get that they have to tell the backstory of the characters while maintaining a focus on the "main" story. But the Yakuza series is known for telling long stories, so trying to narrow down entire games into six episodes is not a good idea at all.

I'm still going to watch it as I just love Yakuza and Japanese TV shows in general. But it could've been so much better handled.

@LtSarge I was going to check it out this weekend, but the review on this very site has me hesitant. Question is, if you divorce it from the games, would it be worth watching in its own right? From the PushSquare review, it seems the answer is "no", but what would you say?

Interview with the Vampire is just so good. One of the best examples of an adaptation changing certain things while remaining totally true to the spirit of the book. Really loving season 2 now it’s finally dropped in the UK.

@FuriousMachine Considering my gripes are about the differences between the show and the games and that I'm enjoying it overall, I'd say that it's worth watching on its own right. It's not a terrible show by any means, it's just different.

@LtSarge Sounds good; then I'll still give it a try. I've played the games up until (and including) "Yakuza 3" and love them, but I am perfectly fine with the show not managing to channel the games properly as long as it is entertaining in and of itself