2023 TV

[Stefan Fredriksson]

I am late to this show, but on Netflix you have "Better call Saul". I never got into Breaking Bad, and had semi-low hopes for BCS, but it is absolutely fantastic. I am on season 2 and totally invested, and "they" say it keeps getting better.

[Ssnake]

Yeah, I saw no real decline till the end; and the end was sorta consequential/satisfying too. Those weren't wasted hours (unless you consider any TV time wasted, of course).

[DB]

Perhaps there is simply too much volume, and the quality is diluted as a consequence. Alternatively, your standards have been set high because of the outliers. A lot of TV content has always been "meh" at best, and awful at worst.

This is not to mention how studios often interfere with the writing out of fear.

[Harold Jones]

I just dropped netflix for paramount, will probably drop apple when ted lasso is done.  I have access to Disney+ through a friends and family code that a friend gave my wife.  I'm not really a star wars or marvel fan so I don't find anything to watch on it, but it's free.  Prime streaming has some stuff that I watch from time to time like the Inspector Morse series and Hulu is where I get my 70s-80s sitcom fix.  All together with internet access included I spend less than half of what I used to spend on cable 5 years ago when I cut the cord.  I imagine cable hasn't gotten any cheaper so I'm money ahead.

[NickM]

So then. What all the "fornication" is this Bridgeport stuff I keep hearing about?

[sunday]

24 minutes ago, NickM said:

So then. What all the "fornication" is this Bridgeport stuff I keep hearing about?

Perhaps this?

[NickM]

1 hour ago, sunday said:

Perhaps this?

I don't think Shonda Rhymes would be involved in that.

[DB]

This should allow you to answer the question.

https://www.vulture.com/article/shonda-rhimes-bridgerton-and-queen-charlotte-interview.html

It's "Bridgerton", notable for being set in the UK in the Regency period but having a "refreshingly multi-racial cast", with a prequel that promises to retconn history in a way to put so many people of colour in those dresses. (Hint: Queen Charlotte is "black".)

[NickM]

3 hours ago, DB said:

This should allow you to answer the question.

https://www.vulture.com/article/shonda-rhimes-bridgerton-and-queen-charlotte-interview.html

It's "Bridgerton", notable for being set in the UK in the Regency period but having a "refreshingly multi-racial cast", with a prequel that promises to retconn history in a way to put so many people of colour in those dresses. (Hint: Queen Charlotte is "black".)

Ah, an "alternate" history, recast for "modern audiences".  More Wakanda nonsense 

[TrustMe]

Finished watch S1 of The Last of Us. It was really good ...

 

SPOILERS

 

 

 

 

In the last episode, Joel had to make a decision between two bad choices. Either save Elllie and the world dies or kill Ellie and the world lives. What  a mind fuck. Can't wait for season 2.

 

[bojan]

While series was good, game, even watching someone else play still felt better.

S2, if the follow game will be... cringe.

[Sardaukar]

Funnily...Last of Us had about same story as Mandalorian...and both are (AFAIK) based on "Lone Wolf and Cub".

[DB]

So, finally I know where all those baby cart clips came from back when Ch4 used to show them without context in a clip show!

[NickM]

2 hours ago, Sardaukar said:

Funnily...Last of Us had about same story as Mandalorian...and both are (AFAIK) based on "Lone Wolf and Cub".

Even had the same actor...

Edited May 10, 2023 by NickM
Darned spellcheck!

[NickM]

2 hours ago, bojan said:

While series was good, game, even watching someone else play still felt better.

S2, if the follow game will be... cringe.

You mean a post apocalyptic world that had resources for gender reassignment?

[Skywalkre]

Over the last few weeks tried to watch Mandalorian... and I can't fathom why this show was as popular as it was (I say was because between the various critics on YT that keep popping up on my feed and some leaked data it sounds like quality and viewership for it has been sliding quite a bit in s3).

Forced myself to finish the first episode and stopped about 10m into the 2nd.  Went and watched the Luke episode (finale of s2?) and was a little bit insulted how terrible it was.  Four women just walking through an Imperial ship loaded with troopers, firing from the hip, never taking cover... and they obliterate the opposition without a scratch.  I haven't seen action scenes that bad since I watched the 4th Matrix film.  (Luke's scenes at the end were pretty epic, though.)

The only thing I can think of as to why it took off was Star Wars fans were desperate for anything to be even remotely average after the debacle that was the new trilogy... and Mando was definitely that.  Just remarkable how Disney killed that IP...

[Soren Ras]

Mandslorian was halfway decent in season 1, which as you note was apparently such a relief to the fan base that they elevated it beyond what it warranted. Season 2 was uneven, with som good moments here and there, but overall a decline. Season 3 appears to be universally considered bad (have not seen it and do not intend to).

Andor, on the other hand is actually a good and solid story, that is much better than it had any right to be. Recommended.
 

Soren

[DB]

If you look at the absolute quality of the original Star Wars movie with the level of criticism that's being applied to most of the more recent efforts, you'd come up short too.

The fact that The Mandalorian did not follow the trend of the recent movies was enough for most fans to grasp it as a miracle. Its relative success potentially allows for more and better content with less overt socio-political agendas, as financiers push back against Disney's "woke" agenda.

The sacking of Gina Carano gave the financial side a clear measure of the fan reaction to bullshit wokeness. Eventually they interfere to protect their investments, but it's always a fight against those who confuse socio-political activism for art.

[Skywalkre]

On 6/6/2023 at 4:54 AM, DB said:

If you look at the absolute quality of the original Star Wars movie with the level of criticism that's being applied to most of the more recent efforts, you'd come up short too.

I don't really think that's true for two reasons. 

First, since getting Disney+ a few weeks ago I went back to rewatch the original trilogy.  It still holds up pretty well (unfortunately it's the updated versions of all three).  It's not atop the throne it used to hold but that has more to do with more great movies being made in the 4 decades since then with any problem inherent with those movies (what's really surprising is how well a lot of the sfx have held up over the years... contrasted with how bad some of the prequel trilogy sfx comes across).

For shits and giggles a few weeks ago I went back to the prequel trilogy to give it another go.  "Maybe I was being too harsh" I told myself... I didn't make it past 10m with any of them.  They're bad.  They're bad for very good reasons (that have been covered to death by the rise of YT critics like RLM).  You can see some of these same issues in the weakest of the original trilogy - Ep IV.  That's likely because out of the original trilogy that's the one Lucas had the most control over.

Second, when folks bring up criticisms of the original trilogy from experience it's their memory being faulty after not having seen the movies in... decades in some instances.

[Skywalkre]

On 6/5/2023 at 11:24 PM, Soren Ras said:

Mandslorian was halfway decent in season 1, which as you note was apparently such a relief to the fan base that they elevated it beyond what it warranted. Season 2 was uneven, with som good moments here and there, but overall a decline. Season 3 appears to be universally considered bad (have not seen it and do not intend to).

Andor, on the other hand is actually a good and solid story, that is much better than it had any right to be. Recommended.
 

Soren

Yep, Andor was phenomenal.  The beginning was a little slow (still good... but really slow).  So glad I went back to finish it because I'd now say it's the best series I've ever seen.  I'm a little worried S2 won't be able to hold up to the high bar set.  I mean... they made Mon Mothma cool... a running meme on reddit over the course of the series were folks screaming "I can't wait for another Mon Mothma scene!"  😆

In my world there are only 3 things that are canon Star Wars - Andor, Rogue One, and the Original Trilogy.  Some day when I have kids I'm going to show them just those and tell them "and that's where Star Wars ended."  I'll be doing them a massive favor.

[Stuart Galbraith]

I didnt hate the follow ups (or prequals if you will), but I remember thinking all through it. 'Isnt it fairly freaking obvious who the bad guy is here? Do they really need to be goddamn Poirot to work it out?'. Despite being Jedi Masters, despite being in tune with the Universe, they also seemed to be thick as 2 short planks.

 

 

[seahawk]

10 hours ago, Skywalkre said:

Yep, Andor was phenomenal.  The beginning was a little slow (still good... but really slow).  So glad I went back to finish it because I'd now say it's the best series I've ever seen.  I'm a little worried S2 won't be able to hold up to the high bar set.  I mean... they made Mon Mothma cool... a running meme on reddit over the course of the series were folks screaming "I can't wait for another Mon Mothma scene!"  😆

In my world there are only 3 things that are canon Star Wars - Andor, Rogue One, and the Original Trilogy.  Some day when I have kids I'm going to show them just those and tell them "and that's where Star Wars ended."  I'll be doing them a massive favor.

Andor was woke bullshit.

[bojan]

CD is not a fan of woke (to say at least), but he liked Andor:

 

[TrustMe]

My thinking of Andor was "Where's the Jedi's?".

[bojan]

And thanks god there were none, why would you need to spoil good show with random space wizards?