Topic: The TV Show Thread

@Th3solution I say perfect just because there really isn't anything lacking about it. The new films and a lot of other adaptations, sequels, reboots etc these days are either obvious cynical cash-ins with little merit or just leave me wishing they hadn't bothered. Even some of fan service dialogue and locations in later episodes are handled well enough that it feels like someone behind the camera just enjoys all of this stuff as much as I do, rather than it being some arse with an agenda to sidestep royalty fees or 'subvert my expectations'.

The Mandalorian just works in a way that I wasn't expecting it to. As I say, it feels like it could have come from Timothy Zahn or some of the Dark Horse comics. The new elements are welcome additions and feel like they're in place to fleece me or delude the audience, and the continuity elements sit well in the story and visual language of Star Wars.

I do like a western, and the western in space presentation is a very smart move I think. It lends a nice roaming cadence to the episodes that feel more singular as well just being cool AF! 😂 (and I really miss Firefly)

Also, the art cards at the end of the episodes along with the theme are worth the ride on their own 😁

ALSO(!) 😂 there's a bit in episode 7 that takes a well know but of Star Wars hardware and does something physical with it that I just didn't see coming. It's a tiny, kind of insignificant part of a central shot that just made me smile.

@KALofKRYPTON Yes, the art at the end is fantastic! And as I said in my earlier post, the art design in general is my favorite aspect so far.

I haven’t read much of the extended universe stuff, and I think I was expecting more spectacle, but I can see the value of keeping things simple. It’s a fine line to walk between making the show a big budget extravaganza and keeping it bite sized for consumption by the masses, including the casual and the hardcore. I think I went in expecting the complex character interactions and political intrigue of Game of Thrones or the creative twists and mystery of Stranger Things, when in fact it’s not trying to be either of those. That’s why I say that expectations need to be appropriately tempered. The Mandalorian should not be anticipated by the average TV series consumer to be akin to the high profile TV series that have been pumped out by HBO and Netflix. After watching the first episode I was a little perplexed as to why character interactions weren’t explored more and there was a lot of time spent on the action but you really didn’t have a feel for the “whys” and the “whos” of the narrative. Part of this is the shorter 30-40 minute run times, which necessitate being quick with the transition of events. Part of it also is just the simpler, “spaghetti western” Clint Eastwood flavor of the whole thing. And really, after I accepted that, it was more enjoyable watching the second episode. It is more like the original trilogy (Epi 4-6) and Rogue One in that regard, which is going to be why it is resonating with so many people now. We know that Lucas was highly inspired by Kurosawa and the old Westerns he grew up with so this is a return to form.

I realize that I’m speaking in ignorance since I’m only 1/4 of the way through it. 😅 Perhaps the narrative will become a sophisticated and deep tapestry of branching character arcs and political intrigue by the end. Which at this point, although I was expecting such a thing at first, it might disappoint me if it does become another Netflix-like winding path of perpetual carrot dangling character parade until the inevitable “jumping of the shark” when it has exhausted all novelty. I purposefully have waited to watch it until I could binge on 2-4 episodes at a time, but now with the Christmas hullabaloo, I am having trouble finding a quiet 2 hours to savor it. I don’t want to run the risk of being distracted so I can give it a true fair shake.

Started watching season 2 of Lost in Space. I thought the first season was excelent and I have very little recollection of the original show. You certainly can't accuse this if being boring or too slow. Not 15 minutes seem to go by without some sort of peril or drama happening.

@Th3solution
I think the lack of convoluted politicking and intrigue beyond the core character and his story helps it ascend above a lot of current and past shows. The overall story arc elements are there to cement the episodes that are slightly off track - but politicking and 'depth' aren't really things that seems to work when applied to Star Wars live action so far.
I don't need twists or subversion, just a nicely laid out story with a compelling scene to scene production is fine.

@JohnnyShoulder I'd forgotten about that! Quite enjoyed the first season!

@KALofKRYPTON
“So this is how Liberty dies ... with thunderous applause.” 😜

I finished up season 2 of Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories the other day on Netflix.

Set in a little hole in the wall eatery in a back street alley in Tokyo, it's an episodic series that follows the various people who stop in to dine (usually the chef's dishes ignite something in them, such as nostalgia, and it has a big impact on whatever is going on in their life), with each episode following a different person.

It's a unique series, and I had given up hope of a second season materializing as I think it had been 3 years or so, but it just popped up one day a couple months ago.

Anyhow, now I've started on The Witcher.

Not sure it has been mentioned on these pages before, but I know some of you showed interest in the Batman: The Animated Series collection that was released previously. Well the follow up , Batman Beyond: The Complete Series is released in the UK on 30 December 2019.

@RogerRoger Yeah shame about Return of the Joker only being on DVD. Still yet to get round to The Animated Series, I've got far too much to watch on all the streaming services. If I were too get it would probably be sitting there gathering dust, and things like that really bug me. I loved that show as a kid, but don't recall Batman Beyond. It may have come at a time I had stopped watching to that stuff. All I know is the things in Arkham Knight, the bits The New 52 Batman rub alludes to and the back of the box!

@RogerRoger Hmmmm, maybe not too long in the distant future when I'm next in the mood for some animated Batman and I've finished some streaming stuff, I'll treat myself to it! There is also a series of Spider-Man which I remember fondly too.

@RogerRoger Oh I tend not to binge watch much anyway, even half hour episodes it will only be 3 or 4 a week. But thanks for the heads up!

Sky are asking for 3 quid a week to upgrade to HD on NOW TV. No not 4K uhd, 1080p HD. What a ripp off. They seriously need to up their game with Disney+ around the corner.

I've only watched one episode of The netflix Witcher series so far.

The only thing I can give it is a great big EH personally.

The wig look better but still a bit off and Cavill's eyes don't look right either. The writing is a bit naff too.

Honestly the production as a whole feels rather wonky to me, especially when compared to the Dark Crystal series earlier in the year that was MUCH more polished (Seriously why no second season confirmation for Dark Crystal?!)

Don't love the casting choices either if I'm honest (I've only played the third Witcher and think it's a solid but not an earth shattering title so I don't hold it in the highest light) but... Yeah I'm not liking any of the cast really. Even Cavill (... I don't really rate him as an actor anyway if I'm honest)

I might watch some more but... Ehhhh I'm not not expecting my opinion to change. I'm not gonna bother with the second season at all if I make it any further in the first!

-EDIT- Second episode down and I don't feel any different about it really. Pass for me.

I... did however come across The Mandalorian...

For someone who had considered herself officially done with Star Wars and doesn't like Westerns either really... I weirdly really liked this.

Well I found the first three episodes great. 4th was a plotline I'd seen a million times before and rather dull. 5th was a bit better in my opinion but not as good as the first three episodes. Gonna watch the other three some point soon.

Pedro Pascal was pretty darn good in the lead. Though I'm really not up on my Star Wars knowledge so the whole "he's a Mandalorian" that everyone brings up felt a bit like character shilling (Or whatever the equivalent is) to me.

I think you'll quite like it @RogerRoger

Watched the last three episodes of The Mandalorian.

Was pretty good.

... Can't really say anymore cus of all the spoilers! But I think there's a bunch of things that passed me by and easter eggs that fans will get a kick out or understand the significance of more so then me.

Wouldn't want you to get too over hyped and not enjoy it @RogerRoger so I'll definitely say again that I thought episodes 4 (definitely so to me), 5 and maybe 6 aren't as good as the rest and this is me being quite causual saying I enjoyed it (Especially being able to binge watch it...)

But to me it was a good time, with some funny moments, good lines, some neat characters and nice set peices even if it's a bit tropey at times and I hope it's everything you want 😁

I want to like The Mandalorian. I've watched the entire season now, and it's... decent? Some poor writing here and there, but it's refreshingly grounded compared to the Disney trilogy.

I think what it's really lacking for me are interesting characters. I don't really care about anyone. It's a polished, frequently gorgeous affair. It looks and sounds right. But the whole experience was a bit hollow for me.

I finished The Mandalorian. Some very good moments for the last episode, but a really weak start with one particular scene that was just a bit too 'Taika Waititi'. Tried way too hard for a passage of dialogue that just didn't need to be there and came across as a fan-film (because fan-films have already done similar several times over). The episode does improve dramatically after this though as TW's influence seems more constrained by the story at hand.
All told though - an excellent series! Really looking forward to more.

New Doctor Who - was alright. More of the same for 13 really, but the production values have had another bump and it was a good episode with a surprise that I genuinely didn't see coming (that is also a bit of a shame). Looks to be the start of one of the leaked plot arcs for the series.

Dracula - well, it's very Gatiss. As loose and self-indulgent an adaptation as you'd expect from him and Moffat. It is a good enough take on the source for the most part and the practical effects work is commendable; however, too much of the dialogue is cringe-worthy and written from a modern perspective - right from the start. It makes a nice looking period production feel unnecessarily clunky when the rest of the script is more period.

@KALofKRYPTON on Doctor Who i have to kinda disagree a little, i thought that one episode was better than the whole of the last series put together, the writing was better, the acting was better and the overall feel was better, it felt more "Who" than the series has in a while

of course it could be due to the fact Chibnall isn't in sole control anymore, i know he wrote it but did you notice in the opening and ending credits the new executive producers, i think those rumours about the BBC bring in new people to "help" him were true because we know for a fact it wasn't his idea to bring that person back or any classic monsters in fact because he said he would never do that, if i remember correctly he once said that he wanted nothing to do with the old Who and wanted to do it his way and look how well that turned out

@FullbringIchigo Really? It felt supremely samey to me. My assumption on the aliens (cybermen) may not bear out - but the retread is a bit of a shame and what is going to set up what Chibnall wants to do with the mythos.
Moffat was the same when he started, he didn't want to use any original monsters either...

I think the behind the scenes production rumours were bogus to be honest, just look at the slate of writers that have bought on board, they're all very much Chibnall choices and it very much seems like it may be JW's call on working with only Tennant for a crossover episode - so I think it's still very much Chibnall's show.
Not using Michelle Gomez is also testament to that. .

@KALofKRYPTON well to be fair on that last one her version of the Master died so it makes sense for her not to be there, now how she regenerated into this new one is something i want to know because i'm pretty sure she was completely dead at the end of series 10

as for Jodi only wanting to work with Tennant well i'm pretty sure she said Smith and Tennant not just Tennant but then again she has worked with them before AND taking into account most are too old now plus Eccleston doesn't ever want to come back who else could she do a team up with McGann,, Tennant, Smith and Capaldi are all that's left so there ain't many options anymore (sadly)

unless they do a animated series, which would be awesome

also writers are different to producers, the producers are the ones in charge and Chibnall isn't sole producer anymore and he was last series so i think BBC bringing in some new people to sort it out might be true

@FullbringIchigo Chibnall is the showrunner, like Moffat and Davies before him. He dictates the overall look, feel and direction for the show. He's still front and center. The rumours of production strife also had Chibnall and Whittaker out the door - which would at the very least, be supremely embarrassing for the BBC.

Nope, just Tennant. Apparently Smith and Capaldi were approached but declined; Smith on the basis of the story and Capaldi due to scheduling.