What are the TV series you're enjoying, current or past?

Virginia Tech, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills

 

I watched it all in 2 days lol

 

We haven't gotten back to it. Crazy busy; and with football, there's already too many couch time hours!

 

Just finished watching "Only Murders in the Building" and I would recommend it and probably enjoyed it more than I expected. It was good to see Steve Martin and Martin Short again and Selena Gomez was better than I expected and showed good chemistry with the old guys.

 

We were outside the US for most of the run of Friends. Just finished it.

 

There is a new show on NBC called La Brea. NBC usually has a new "mystery box" show every fall season (last year was Debris, which was terrible). After being screwed by the finale of Lost, I'm a mystery-box show skeptic, but so far this seems pretty entertaining. Maybe because they've given away a lost of the mystery all ready.

 

I'll keep at it then... I've watched a couple of episodes, but it hasn't really grabbed me yet.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying Apple's new series 'Invasion'.

 

Lets see, quite a few. Squid Game, You, Rick and Morty, Black Mirror, The Witcher, The Mandalorian, and Watchmen.

 

I started watching Squid Game. I'm in the middle of Episode 4. Quite horrific. It's very well done, but I wonder if it's worth continuing; it's stuff for nightmares rather than for entertainment. Do you think I should continue until the end?

 

I think the end will be several series away yet and ultimately disappointing.

 

Are you saying this in general, or have you watched it? Because as far as I know, this is a one-season only 9-episode season with a beginning and an end, no?

 

Yes, it is absolutely worth continuing until the end. The ending has some big twists, and the games that come up are absolutely great.

 

You think anything this successful isn't getting a season 2?

 

I don't know. The best show on TV I've watched in recent memory, Fleabag, had two very short seasons, 12 episodes in total (6 each season) of 23 to 28 minutes each. So the total duration of one of the most acclaimed and successful series in contemporary television had a total duration of less than 6 hours. So, Squid Game lasts 9 hours. Just like, despite the huge success, Phoebe Waller-Bridge did not want to continue the series, maybe the writers of Squid Game won't want to continue it either.

 

For some reason I have missed this thread. When I get some time I'll do a comprehensive 'catch up' post of all the good stuff I've watched during COVID (lockdown is a great time to catch up on TV), but for the moment I'll throw out a few recent good ones.

Des: David Tennant (Dr Who) is remarkable playing real life serial killer Dennis Nilsen. Unlike a lot of similar shows this doesn't have lots of grisly recreations, but just a character study of one very sick man.

Its a Sin: keeping with the Dr Who theme, this mini series is the latest creation from Russell T Davies and by far his most personal. This is a semi-autobiographical story, inspired by Davies experiences as a young, gay Welshman in early 80s London. It starts off very upbeat and takes a turn once AIDS turns up. Davies said that he wanted to make this to remember his friends who died. Having had no children, and with their families ageing & dying, he wanted people to see them as they were then. This is beautiful and sad.

Physical: is a good if not entirely successful satire on 80s America. It focuses on a bored housewife who finds purpose through aerobics. This would have worked better if the internal monologue of the main character was toned down a bit.

Vigil: This is one for fans of British thrillers, I beleive it is from the makers of Line of Duty. A man is murdered on a nuclear sub and a police detective has to go onboard to uncover the killer. This is absolute top shelf stuff, from the first rate cast, to the sets, to the twists & turns. Watch it.

Brand New Cherry Flavour: is a very strange horror thriller set in 90s LA. Once you get into the weirdness of this it is fun, though I can see that not everyone would enjoy it.

Muhammad Ali: is an 8 hour Ken Burns documentary on the great boxer. There were no grea tsurprises here, though Burns does delve further into the unpleasant side of Ali than I was expecting. This will become the definitive video history of Ali.

OK, best for last. Pose is a show I suspect a lot of people here won't like, but it is perhaps the best TV I've seen recently. This is set in the 80s New York 'ballroom' subculture of mainly black & hispanic gay & trans people (remember Madonna's 'vogue'?). This slides from high camp fantasy to hard edged drama and back again. It has big flaws, but what sold it for me was the genuineness of the performances. This is a story that hasn't really been told before, and the passion of those telling it is clear through the flaws. It has now finished its 3 seasons and is worth a look.

 

OK, I watched until the end. All things considered, I didn't like it. I thought some characters made stupid decisions that are unrealistic (including the very last scene - I mean, what's the rush? What he was about to do but didn't, was also very important to him, and there was no need to call and act on it then and there; he could have called on his way back from what he was about to do - so he disappoints again the person he loves the most, to go on some wild goose chase??? He did the whole thing for her... and then just decides to fail her again??? It's just not credible... I'm being a bit enigmatic because I don't want to say too many spoilers) and at times out of character.

The twists failed to impress me. I thought the series was bleak, dark, and depressing, and adopted as its hallmark for cheap thrills and chills, extreme violence. I dispute the entertainment value of this series. Sure, it is interesting and has its moments but ultimately it is turn-offish more than entertaining (at least for me). I am quite surprised that 110 million Netflix households have watched it. Humankind disappoints me somewhat, in the fact that the extreme violence seems to be popular.

Another series with a somewhat similar theme, 3%, I consider to be far superior (at least in its first season; of course when you start extending seasons, quality drops).

3% has its violence too but it's not the main point, not as frequent, and not as extreme. It is also way more realistic (well, as far as a sci-fi show can be), with the characters acting in logical ways that would actually be possible in the kind of dystopian future that it depicts. Sure, it's science fiction so you do need some suspension of disbelief, but if you accept the premise, then there is some internal consistency and actions make sense. I didn't feel that Squid Game had the same internal consistency - e.g., a character acts like a sociopath and selfish jerk for 8 and a half episodes... then suddenly repents and becomes altruistic? This kind of thing just doesn't happen. Sociopaths don't have a consciousness. They couldn't care less for other people. They just want to prevail regardless of what it costs to others, whom they use and exploit. That's what the guy does throughout the whole thing, then, bam, seems like the series developed the sudden cure for sociopathy (such cure doesn't exist). I just can't buy it.

Oh, and the last scene was an obvious opening for a second season - which, fortunately, now that I know better, I won't watch.

It's not that original either. It's a cross of Hunger Games, Eyes Wide Shut, and 3%.

Frankly, the only positive I got from having watched this series, is that now I know what everybody is talking about. But if I had not seen it, I wouldn't have missed much.

I'll respect other people's opinions; it's so popular, it must be good for most people. Maybe I'm just the odd guy who doesn't share the same enthusiasm. But the bottom line is, this series wasn't for me.

 

This is the one that interested me the most, in your post. Is it available in America?
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I googled and it seems like it streams on Peacock in America, a service I fortunately do subscribe to, so I'll definitely watch it; this is the kind of thing I like - for example, I loved Bodyguard. Thanks for the tip.

 

@bigfela
Or not. I saw googled references that this would be on Peacock or Hulu. I subscribe to both. Explored both, searched, no trace of this Vigil show. Some of the googled pages do say it will stream on Peacock "later in the year" so hopefully it will still come. If you know of any information on how/when to stream this in America, please let me know.

 

I am afraid I am in Australia, so I can't help you with info on access to shows in the US. I am also one of those morally reprehensible folk who go online to....find....TV shows that they can't easily access via streaming. Plus I'm poorish, so I only have limted subscriptions.

I...found....this on a site with origins in Sweden but a name that evokes the Carribbean of old, if you get my drift.

Good luck finding it. If you liked Bodyguard you will like this.

Oh, and the @ function doesn't work if you misspell my name.

 

They haven't yet given one to Queen's Gambit

 

I didn't think I was going to like an animated Star Trek, but turns out Star Trek: The Lower Decks on Paramount+, made by the same folks who made Rick and Morty, is quite good. More laughs than I've had in a long time. I went into it thinking it was either Star Trek for kids or a parody, but its neither. Anxiously awaiting more seasons.

 

Seinfeld is my go too for comedy

 

Thanks, and oops for the typo.

 

That was a fully complete story. There is no way to milk a second season out of that. But I agree with you that many successful shows don't keep going (thankfully, because often subsequent seasons aren't as good). Squid Game, though, is clearly aiming for a second season, which is evident from the last scene.