Topic: The TV Show Thread

For those worried that Arcane season 2 will be the end of stories set in the League of Legends universe, co-creator Christian Linke shared the following update while chatting with Screen Rant (article here)

[...]Arcane is just the first one. We're working on a bunch of new projects, a bunch of new stories from across the different regions and characters of our IP, and some of them are actually continuations of character stories from Arcane. So, definitely, there are some character stories that we want to continue. So, really, Arcane is the true first. This is the first rite that we had to survive and figure out, "Can we do this?" And now, we can kind of dream bigger, which is really awesome.

I'll come along with them as long as they maintain the level of quality they had with "Arcane" season 1.

This was waiting for me when I got home this morning:

New episodes next week!!

Just finished watching Dragon Age Absolution for the second time as I was preparing myself for DA The Veilguard. All I'm gonna say is that I hope I see some of these characters in the game and also the big surprise in the end. - DA2 fans will relate -

Overall it's quite enjoyable on it's own.

@colonelkilgore Glad to see you gave For All Mankind a proper chance! I had the exact same experience as you when it came to the first season. Tried it out when it first premiered and didn't get past episode two. Came back later to try again and it completely gripped me with episode three only to binge the rest of the season. It's a fantastic show. I have my issues with the second season, but I enjoyed the third season quite a bit. I haven't actually gotten around to watching the latest one yet... that's stuck in my backlog next to the latest season of Fargo and the like which came around the same time. Keep us updated on what you think of the show as it progresses! If it knows how to do one thing especially good, it's gonna be every season finale. Get your seatbelts ready.

@nessisonett Happy to hear you're enjoying the second season of Interview with the Vampire! I just got around to watching it last month, and I agree with you completely. Probably the best season of TV I've seen this year. It's just incredible. The dialogue, the plotting, the cinematography, the acting... it's all just of the highest calibre. The trial episode is bound to stick with me for a long time. Excited to see where the show goes from here with the tease for the next season they released as well as its cliffhanger. Seems like it's gonna take quite the turn!

I saw ths pop up the other week on Netflix, and did not pay any attention to it. It is a documentary about the ZX Spectrum and inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair. It's from the makers of From Bedrooms To Billions too.

@Tjuz we just finished season 1 tonight and… I’m pretty blown away by it tbh. I’m a big fan of most of Apple+’s original shows and I think this is probably my favourite. Don’t think the missus is gonna wanna roll straight into season 2 but I know I’d be more than happy to.

After rewatching the first series of The Diplomat, ready for the second series, I thought it was even better than I remember. I ended up watching the entire second season over 2 nights it was so good. Beginning to wish maybe they released them weekly like old tv so it lasted longer. Another long wait for them to film the next season and release it. At least it is popular and is getting renewed.
Time to start the Arcane season 1 rewatch ready for the rapidly approaching new season.
@LN78 Looked that up after seeing your post. Another pricey set like the Andor one. I'll hold off and hope for a complete set for both 2 season shows in the future.

Discovered they have finally done a Bluray set for The West Wing recently but stay waiting on word of a UK release.

Also finally got around to starting Fallout. I've only seen the first 2 episodes as I'm watching with my mum so it might take a while to complete the whole thing. Seems quite good so far, will see how it pans out.

Just finished season 2 of For All Mankind and after a fairly slow first half (& a bit) to the second season it really picked up and culminated with the season finale that is… possibly influenced by recency-bias I’ll give you… up there with the greatest episodes of tv I’ve seen!

When discussing the show-runner Ronald D. Moore with @JohnnyShoulder a couple of weeks ago, I suggested that he’s a guy who operates best in the shades of grey that lay between good and evil. Well… the season 2 finale was ironically called The Grey… and the guy is honestly… just a genius long-form story-teller imho. His stuff won’t appeal to everyone as his raison d’ etre is to earn the viewers emotional response, not pander to it. He understands that you can’t achieve that from cheap thrills every episode. You have to graft with episodes full of his characters delving into their psychological and emotional depths, so that when they re-emerge to reach the stars (figuratively and literally 😉) the punch to the audiences core is all the more powerful. This method inevitably… and unfortunately loses a large percentage of the viewers before the ultimate crescendo but it is what it is in this age of instant gratification. Moores the pity.

So… while already a huge fan of the showrunner, For All Mankind has actually exceeded my expectations so far. But having said that, I do see a potential issue with him taking God of War forward. Moore’s story-telling is extremely patient and without the flair modern audiences are used to… and I’m just not sure he’ll get the amount of episodes that the project will need for him to win them over. I hope I’m wrong though, as if the audience will stick with it… it will be incredible.

RIP the Stevenses 🫡

@BearsEatBeets Arcane was so amazing when I first watched it. It has to be one of the best animated shows I’ve seen. I remember binge watching it with my family until it was late at night, such a good time! Don’t have Netflix anymore, so I unfortunately can’t watch the second season, but from what I’ve seen from official trailers, posters, and clips they released for it, it looks so exciting and stunning. Although I won’t be watching it, I really hope that I hear a lot of good things about season 2!

@colonelkilgore I will try to watch it next time I have Apple TV+!

@JohnnyShoulder it might not be for you but if/when you do start it, try and give it 3 or 4 episodes before you tap out.

@colonelkilgore Yeah I always try give stuff a good go before ditching them.

So, we were warned that N7 day would pass in relative silence, but Amazon MGM Studios wanted in on the celebration and announced an update to their long dormant Mass Effect TV series.
While this would normally have me extremely excited, my excitement is very tempered by seeing who's involved. Writing and producing is Daniel Casey, who's only major writing credit is for "F9 - The Fast Saga". Now, I'm unapologetically a huge fan of the silliness, stupidity and brashness of the Fast & Furious franchise, but that doesn't mean I want any of that in my Mass Effect show.
Other producers are Karim Zreik, who was involved with the Netflix Marvel shows, Ari Arad (who produced "Iron Man" and, uh... "Borderlands") and EA's Michael Gamble.

I don't know, maybe I'm just exceptionally jaded and deflated from recent events, but even as a die-hard Mass Effect fan (owning no less than four Mass Effect hoodies), I can't muster up much excitement for this. I hope they'll prove me wrong.

@FuriousMachine As a fellow ME fan, none of those creatives involved do anything to get me excited for the project but will keep an open mind and see what comes. I'm curious what story and time frame they are intending. I don't think trying to tell the story of the games themselves with their differing possible events would be a good idea. The first contact war could be cool to see.
I wonder if they are going to try and tie the release date for the project to be at least close to the release of the next game.

I finished rewatching season 1 of Arcane Friday night ready for season 2 and watched all 3 episodes in one go yesterday. Off to a strong start and the trailer for the next 3 looks very promising. I quite like them spacing it out over 3 dates as I know I'd probably binge it all too quick otherwise. I just hope it all ties up by the end of the series and doesn't leave any major plot points for the supposed spin off series.

@BearsEatBeets I mentioned this in a comment on the PS article, but I think that in order for this to have a chance to succeed with the fans, they need to avoid telling Shepard's story again. As mentioned pretty much everywhere, everyone's story for Shepard is slightly different and there's no way they could tell that story without it feeling like they're "forcing" a canon on us.

A better idea would be to make it Shepard adjacent; taking place in the same timeline but with other characters doing other things, but affected by what's going on in the universe. There can be ambiguous mentions of Shepard and maybe even a cameo from some of the characters of the game.
Make it animated and bring back the voice talent for any crossover characters and they'd be golden (provided they can crack the story, of course).

Haven't had time to check out the new eps of Arcane, yet, but will make an attempt today. Want to make sure I can fit all three in one go, as well

Finished The Penguin and that ending was ... sublime.

@FuriousMachine Honestly, I personally wouldn't mind if they told Shepard's story in the show. I feel like the issue of making one specific narrative feel canon shouldn't be a problem. If anything, the knowledge of the games having a more open-ended approach to how the story can evolve might even entice people to check out the games for those who haven't given it a shot previously after possibly enjoying the show. That said, I understand the thought process of those against it, but I think it would not be hard to look at it as anything but just the TV writers' version of events. However... with that team of creatives, I too am not all that hopeful about it turning out well.

Something I would love that they would never do unless the show maybe turns out to be some mega-hit is to give a bigger spotlight to the supporting characters of the trilogy. I used to be a huge nerd when it came to Hollywood simulation type games and often made my own in-game adaptations of the Mass Effect trilogy. Something I did one time was create a spin-off series of movies which I called "Mass Effect Profiles" which would take one of the supporting characters and flesh out a part of their story that was unseen within the main narrative of the trilogy. Think an adaptation of Lair of the Shadow Broker in particular for Liara's profile or an in-depth look of Wrex's rise to becoming the Urdnot clan leader in the missing time between ME1 and ME2. Not something that's going to happen in reality, but a man can dream!

@Tjuz I'd watch either of those An anthology type affair with each season telling a different story in the universe would be cool, but I don't expect them to go that route. In fact, I don't expect them to go any route that's remotely interesting at all.

Sure, Shepard's story can be told (and most likely will), and it can have a degree of success, but I'll honestly say that such a project holds little to no interest for me (which is why I'm almost certain that's what it's going to be ). I've seen that story already, and multiple permutations of it to boot. I'm ready for something new and if I get nostalgic, I can always play the games again (which I most definitely will before the next one's out)

After waiting on the last ep airing, the missus and I just powered through The Penguin and thought it as good (if not better) than all the praise we’ve been hearing these past 2 months. An incredible delve into the mind of a psychopath as the show’s protagonist… and with some performance from Farrell, doing a note-perfect mix between Tony Soprano and Robert DeNiro. You can’t help but empathise with the anti-villain lead, even though it becomes more and more apparent that he’s a proper wrong-un as the show progresses. Milioti is also very good as the show’s antagonist… another interesting spin on traditional storytelling actually. She is quite clearly an anti-hero type, who I found myself rooting against even though she’s the closest the show has to a moral compass.

@colonelkilgore Completely agree and you put your finger on why I loved the show so much re.: Sofia. I also thought it really stuck the landing; not much wrong with this one, to be sure. Excellent stuff!