The TV Thread

CavemanGrogg

Tried the Green Arrow last night.  The girlfriend called it ''Robinson Crusoe the super hero'', we couldn't even last a single episode before we called it quits and added it to our, shame/waste of money list.

It was all her fault, she picked it, we ended up starting Contimuum again which if you liked the series Travellers, you would really enjoy.

Timcito

I'm now into the third season of Vikings Valhalla on Netflix. Excellent stuff!

sinbaadi

sinbaadi said:

Terminator : Zero.  Netflix

I'm 4 episodes in to this and it feels like a good old fashioned manga from the 80s/90s to me.  Real Akira and Ghost in the Shell feel to it.  The Terminator lore is all there, there is a lot of violence and blood, but it also tries to acknowledge the time travel paradox in some way, which at least makes it feel a little more intelligent even if much of the action is just as you'd expect. 

It's good.

Just to reiterate, this is really good. 

The paradoxes are addressed in more detail in later episodes.  There is a lot of violence but as said, that's exactly what you would expect. 

Only negative is (much like Ghost in the Shell) there are some lengthy deep exposition scenes where characters talk about the meaning of everything in a way which is meant to be profound.  Not that it isn't at all profound, but it lays it on very thick.

8.5/10

CaseOfAce

Apollo 13: Survival on Netflix.

Found this really interesting. I can barely remember the Ron Howard flick but this was fascinating to see the actual archive footage. It's a little light on the technical detail but the visuals draw you in.
Not as good as the Space Shuttle / Columbia / BBC 2 4-parter earlier this year but still worth a view.

TimmyO

Saw the first episode of the latest series of Slow Horses - looks to be as good as ever. 

"...the next sound you hear will be an expression of my confidence..." :-) 

Timcito

Vikings Valhalla was over all too fast - just 8 episodes. (I'm used to the never-ending seasons of Lost!) 

Never mind. Not to give anything away, the door has been left open for another great season.

boogieman

Timcito said:

Vikings Valhalla was over all too fast - just 8 episodes. (I'm used to the never-ending seasons of Lost!) 

Never mind. Not to give anything away, the door has been left open for another great season.

I think there’s probably room for another two series…. there’s certainly enough storylines to comfortably go up to Stamford Bridge / Battle of Hastings. 

Valhalla isn’t as good as the original Vikings series IMO, although even that petered out a bit towards the end, but it’s decent enough. 

Timcito

boogieman said:

Timcito said:

Vikings Valhalla was over all too fast - just 8 episodes. (I'm used to the never-ending seasons of Lost!) 

Never mind. Not to give anything away, the door has been left open for another great season.

I think there’s probably room for another two series…. there’s certainly enough storylines to comfortably go up to Stamford Bridge / Battle of Hastings. 

Valhalla isn’t as good as the original Vikings series IMO, although even that petered out a bit towards the end, but it’s decent enough. 

Both great, in my view.

thumpingrug

TimmyO said:

Saw the first episode of the latest series of Slow Horses - looks to be as good as ever. 

"...the next sound you hear will be an expression of my confidence..." :-) 

Slow Horses is fabulous.  Gary Oldman plays the part superbly.  

rze99

Slow Horses Episode one. Excellent stuff so far, I treat it as a a black comedy. I laughed more watching the latest first episode than at anything else including "comedy". The script is brilliant. Oldman is brilliant. 

Kurtis

Started watching "brassic" and really enjoying it so far. Pretty funny. 

Bit like a mix between the gentlemen and shameless. 

Group of friends, and small time crooks, keep getting in over their heads.





Incidentally, when I switched off Netflix the other night my tv was on some random channel that was showing "'till death us do part" (or one of the spin offs). 
I remember seeing it on TV when I was a kid but never paid it any attention.
I was intrigued though so watched it to the end.

I have heard people say, in recent years, that it's all about laughing at the old bigot and mocking Alfs ridiculous views...

That's not exactly how it came across to me.

Yes, his totally ott rants were supposed to be humorous, but it seemed a bit like a cockney Victor Meldrew, and like there was supposed to be an element of sympathy for him.
In one scene he's in a shop looking at new TVs, and between alf and the snobby salesman it's obvious alf is meant to be the "hero".
Well unless you're a snobby salesman, I suppose. 

Timcito

Kurtis said:

Incidentally, when I switched off Netflix the other night my tv was on some random channel that was showing "'till death us do part" (or one of the spin offs). 
I remember seeing it on TV when I was a kid but never paid it any attention.
I was intrigued though so watched it to the end.

I have heard people say, in recent years, that it's all about laughing at the old bigot and mocking Alfs ridiculous views...

That's not exactly how it came across to me.

Yes, his totally ott rants were supposed to be humorous, but it seemed a bit like a cockney Victor Meldrew, and like there was supposed to be an element of sympathy for him.
In one scene he's in a shop looking at new TVs, and between alf and the snobby salesman it's obvious alf is meant to be the "hero".
Well unless you're a snobby salesman, I suppose. 

Interesting observation. Yes, I think those 'ogre'-type men in sitcoms, Eddie was another in 'Love Thy Neighbour,' had to be awful but not so awful that the audience wouldn't, at times, think, 'Well, he's just telling it how it is.' I have to say I didn't get that too often from Alf, however. Maybe that's down the episodes I remember, which were always set in the living room and had him pitched against the downtrodden silly moo and the groovy young kids! 
 

Kurtis

Timcito said:

Kurtis said:

Incidentally, when I switched off Netflix the other night my tv was on some random channel that was showing "'till death us do part" (or one of the spin offs). 
I remember seeing it on TV when I was a kid but never paid it any attention.
I was intrigued though so watched it to the end.

I have heard people say, in recent years, that it's all about laughing at the old bigot and mocking Alfs ridiculous views...

That's not exactly how it came across to me.

Yes, his totally ott rants were supposed to be humorous, but it seemed a bit like a cockney Victor Meldrew, and like there was supposed to be an element of sympathy for him.
In one scene he's in a shop looking at new TVs, and between alf and the snobby salesman it's obvious alf is meant to be the "hero".
Well unless you're a snobby salesman, I suppose. 

Interesting observation. Yes, I think those 'ogre'-type men in sitcoms, Eddie was another in 'Love Thy Neighbour,' had to be awful but not so awful that the audience wouldn't, at times, think, 'Well, he's just telling it how it is.' I have to say I didn't get that too often from Alf, however. Maybe that's down the episodes I remember, which were always set in the living room and had him pitched against the downtrodden silly moo and the groovy young kids! 
 

Funnily enough that's exactly how I've always remembered/imagined it too.

I was a bit surprised. 

Timcito

Kurtis said:

Timcito said:

Kurtis said:

Incidentally, when I switched off Netflix the other night my tv was on some random channel that was showing "'till death us do part" (or one of the spin offs). 
I remember seeing it on TV when I was a kid but never paid it any attention.
I was intrigued though so watched it to the end.

I have heard people say, in recent years, that it's all about laughing at the old bigot and mocking Alfs ridiculous views...

That's not exactly how it came across to me.

Yes, his totally ott rants were supposed to be humorous, but it seemed a bit like a cockney Victor Meldrew, and like there was supposed to be an element of sympathy for him.
In one scene he's in a shop looking at new TVs, and between alf and the snobby salesman it's obvious alf is meant to be the "hero".
Well unless you're a snobby salesman, I suppose. 

Interesting observation. Yes, I think those 'ogre'-type men in sitcoms, Eddie was another in 'Love Thy Neighbour,' had to be awful but not so awful that the audience wouldn't, at times, think, 'Well, he's just telling it how it is.' I have to say I didn't get that too often from Alf, however. Maybe that's down the episodes I remember, which were always set in the living room and had him pitched against the downtrodden silly moo and the groovy young kids! 
 

Funnily enough that's exactly how I've always remembered/imagined it too.

I was a bit surprised. 

A rare moment of grace, perhaps!

Kurtis

If anyone starts watching "Brassic" and they're not sure after the first couple of episodes, keep going it keeps on getting better. 

Don't know his name but you might know the wee guy with the bowl cut in plebs? He's great in this. The character is really funny, and he plays it spot on. 
I don't often use the term lol, but there's been a few. 
The doctor too.

Although, while I like him, I could imagine the lead character might be a bit marmite. 

Haych

Just finished A Perfect Couple on Netflix.  A six part whodunit with Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber.

They are the "perfect couple" from the outside looking in.  A wealthy family living on Nantucket Island, she's a successful author and he comes from old money (I think).  On the eve before their son's wedding the bride's maid of honour is murdered and found floating near the beach.

Obviously the veneer starts to slip from the image of perfection and many in the family seem to have a good enough motive to be the murderer.

I thought it was quite good, enjoyed it enough to binge over two nights and it's clever enough to leave little time bombs in the plot ready to go off and send you thinking in a different direction.

If there's a moral in the story it's just that even the uber rich don't have all their ducks in a row and are susceptible to the same flaws as the rest of us, although I doubt it's written with that in mind.

Kurtis

Kaos (Netflix) looks interesting?

 Going to give that a go next I think.

breakstuff

Just watching the HBO documentary on Sky about David Chase and the making of the Sopranos. Really interesting stuff for anyone who's a fan.

Been meaning to binge watch The Sopranos again for a while and this has spurred me on to do just that. Can't wait.

BigBearKris

breakstuff said:

Just watching the HBO documentary on Sky about David Chase and the making of the Sopranos. Really interesting stuff for anyone who's a fan.

Been meaning to binge watch The Sopranos again for a while and this has spurred me on to do just that. Can't wait.

Yes. I think I'm due a re-watch again. 

Currently halfway through (3rd season) Better Call Saul. I meant to watch it for ages and finally got around to do it. It's pretty good, but not sure if better than BB. Unless the best is yet to come

boogieman

BigBearKris said:

breakstuff said:

Just watching the HBO documentary on Sky about David Chase and the making of the Sopranos. Really interesting stuff for anyone who's a fan.

Been meaning to binge watch The Sopranos again for a while and this has spurred me on to do just that. Can't wait.

Yes. I think I'm due a re-watch again. 

Currently halfway through (3rd season) Better Call Saul. I meant to watch it for ages and finally got around to do it. It's pretty good, but not sure if better than BB. Unless the best is yet to come

It is. BCS is excellent, I didn’t think they could top Breaking Bad but they managed it.