What show are you watching now?

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by Warrior, Aug 7, 2018.

  1. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    De nada...

    I'd love to watch LINE OF DUTY (very high rating on imdb.com)--but it seems rather complicated for non-Amazon Prime subscribers like me (in US, NY State):
    • Researched BBC TV, but they don't even list the show
    • It's on AcornTV, but if you don't have Amazon Prime, apparently the only way I can get it is via the Roku app that came on my OLED (need to research that)
    • But can't find anywhere on AcornTV's website any info about what resolution it streams at
    ie, they make it difficult
     
  2. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Damn--can only get this on Amazon Prime here. There's a ton of quality TV I just can't get w/o signing up for multiple other streaming services.

    Shouldn't complain about a 1st world problem like this. But the fact remains that my Netflix list is immense, many fine shows I probably won't live long enough to see. So signing up for Amazon Prime and/or AcornTV seems foolish.

    Then again, I can do foolish (all day long)...
     
  3. Tchoupitoulas

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    Line of Duty should be on Netflix now, I think. I hear you about the nuisance of having to sign up for multiple streaming services and keep track of what's where. Spiral is on Hulu now (as is the classic show Prime Suspect), but I've had to follow its seasons on several services over the years (and get the DVDs when that failed). I have a colleague who cancels her streaming subscriptions and resumes them at a later date when enough new stuff has come out. Maybe that's something I'll attempt as a new year's resolution?
     
  4. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    It isn't a real show. It is an imaginary one in which each episode stands alone, with a Witcher type character going after a different monster each episode.
     
  5. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Just checked Netflix...no LINE OF DUTY (damn!). Of course, that could happen at any time. They bring in new stuff & get rid of old stuff all the time. One of my all-time favorite "guilty pleasure" films, BULLET TO THE HEAD (a Sly Stallone vehicle...the plot is exactly how it sounds) was on Netflix over a year, then suddenly, poof!

    Your colleague's idea is very smart. Wonder why streaming services don't make it difficult or impossible to do that. Have to think about doing that myself...
     
  6. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    Good Omens on Amazon Prime. It's a hoot, I think it is wonderfully cast and a great watch.

    You can buy Line of Duty on Amazon Prime BTW. Thanks for the tip! I will check out the first season.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2019
  7. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    Good Omens - loved the book. Hope it will come to Netflix someday.
     
  8. Tchoupitoulas

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    I’m very sorry, I was mistaken - I live in the US (NY state, too, as it happens) but I’m traveling abroad right now and didn’t notice the url for www.justwatch.com had shifted to the local domain on my web browser when I checked the show’s availability for you. My apologies (I'll shuffle off shamefacedly and go back to lurking after this post).

    I recently checked out Four Seasons of Havana, which is available on Netflix (I promise this time, it’s one of their Originals), and while it could have done without the soulful cop and writer clichés, or the cheeseball saxophone scene, it’s refreshingly slow-burning and endearing. It also has the advantage of revealing its nature fairly quickly. If you don’t like it after the first 15 minutes, pull the ripcord. I wish I could have said the same for Criminal - UK, which was a bit of letdown after reviewers gushed over its premise (namely that the episode took place in one room and the entire story could be laid out in a single police interrogation). Still, it was good enough to warrant watching the other episodes in the anthology.
     
  9. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Please don't shuffle off shamefacedly on my behalf. But sometimes it feels good to shuffle off shamefacedly for no particular reason (not that I would know).

    (seriously) I'll check out HAVANA. And it's interesting to read your comments about CRIMINAL - UK. I saw very high ratings for all the variants of CRIMINAL, so added 3 or 4 to my Netflix list. I happened to start watching CRIMINAL - SPAIN 1st. I've tried at least 3 times to get through Episode-1, but can't. It's quite static, centering on intense character acting by suspect & cops (think interrogation of Matthew McConaughey by 2 cops in TRUE DETECTIVE, but not nearly as well written & layered).

    Am I crazy, or does this show suck?
     
  10. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Interesting that you bring up BSG. That's one of my favorite shows, despite its issues. However, I may like BSG for reasons that others dislike it, and am more fond of how it wrapped up than most.

    I remember finding S1 of BSG to be a real slog...plot didn't seem to be going anywhere, didn't care for the episodic stuff, acting was hit or miss, etc. And while the show still suffered its fair share of pacing issues, namely due to the 20+ episode nature of television seasons back then (meaning filler episodes), there came a point where the big picture clicked, and the story used it as a launching pad.

    Well, that, and Bear McCreary took off the gloves and stopped going for a percussion-only soundtrack. Fuuuuck. (I do legitimately wonder if the music was so good that it made me ignore bad parts of the show.)

    Anyway, I started reading The Expanse books right around the time the 3rd book had just come out, because I read an article saying it was a BSG-like space opera, for those that pined for the show, in book form. I was intrigued, of course, and needed something to fill my time for the one or two weeks a year I'd have to travel for business. I like reading in airports and on planes, it would seem.

    Now, that's not to say The Expanse, from a story-telling perspective, is necessarily like BSG. I mean, you could argue BSG isn't sci-fi at all, but a drama set in space. The Expanse is certainly sci-fi, not as much drama, and definitely fun as hell with lots of action. And it's also been compared to Game of Thrones, though that's not quite accurate either. The Expanse certainly doesn't take itself too seriously, but isn't Star Wars-level light-hearted.

    But, at least in the books, it does capture a lot of character building, some drama, nail-biting scenarios, high stakes, and has a large story arc going on, which I suppose you can get from BSG too.

    If anyone is wondering if it's at all like Star Trek, nope. Dune? Nope. It's not Disney-ready Sci-Fi, nor too heady and boring.

    If anything, I'd say The Expanse has a little more in common with the sort of large-scale, alien-based lore of the Halo series. It certainly evokes a similar sense of exploration and wonder, for those that played the original. Couple that with some BSG-like stuff, and maybe there's something there.

    What the books are surprisingly good at is reading like you could imagine scenes in a TV show. Vivid, but readable, world building, short chapters that you could see leading to a commercial break (with something to make you want more!), plenty of action, and so on.


    OK, so, The Expanse gets turned into an actual TV show. Now, I'm not one to hate on book-to-screen adaptations, because I can appreciate what each brings to the table, and don't think a screen adaptation inherently means something lesser. But there are some legitimate problems with The Expanse, the TV show:

    1. The first and second season try to introduce characters before you know of them in the books. Essentially, they're trying to take this new storytelling opportunity to fill in the blanks.

    Thing is, there was no real need to fill in the blanks. When a character comes into play in the books, there aren't any real gaps that necessitate knowing more about their backstory.

    Fact is, the characters and their stories are all at their weakest in the TV show when dealing with material that isn't in the books. It's more forced than purposeful. It really messes up the pacing of what would have been the core story. It detracts focus from the true main characters, thus watering down their importance.

    2. Some of the acting is OK at best. For side characters and extras, yeah, probably expected being on SyFy originally. For main characters, its still hit or miss.

    As a whole, the main cast becomes noticeably more comfortable as the show goes on. They seem more like the character they're meant to portray. And the writing seems to get better too.

    3. Pacing is off. This ties back into point one. They try to course correct this about half-way through season 3, which is around the time shit gets wild.

    Season 1 is entirely too slow as a whole. Season 2 tries to fix this initially, but slows back down. Season 3 gets things back on track.

    4. The first half of book 1 is definitely a bit slow. And season 1, mistakenly, covers about half of the first book (plus other non-book material). As such, it's not super engaging.

    Book 2 is easily my least favorite. I found the whole villain(s) and motive stuff weak. It introduced some good characters and had some good political stuff, but as a whole was not very interesting to me. And I think some of this is evident in the show.

    Season 1 tries to expand on the villainous and political angle, leading up to what story is told in book 2, with only partial success.

    5. Doesn't have Bear McCreary composing the score.


    So, answering your initial question...Should you give it a chance?

    Well, it's definitely a slow burn. No way around it. And it had some major growing pains, many of which start to smooth out.

    But it's also the sort of story where the first 3 seasons are really just the tip of the iceberg. Having read the books thus far, it takes a while for the fans to turn on, and then it's like a slow drip of shit hitting the fans until suddenly there's more shit than the fan can handle.

    If you keep up with it, you'll notice a distinct shift partway through season 3 when they get to the book 3 story. It feels like a new season, and one where they finally buckled down and got to work. (And I've heard even better things about S4, which I have not yet watched.)

    This is also the part of the story arc where you get an initial glimpse of what's truly to come.

    Is it worth getting to that point if you don't enjoy it regardless? Hell if I know. I felt more compelled to read once I had an idea of what was going to happen, so maybe that might help. Or maybe not. But I wouldn't have kept on reading if I couldn't make it through the first book.

    Now, if the story seems appealing to you, but you can't get into the show, the books are good. Not as time consuming as you'd think. Coming back to the show after may be more enjoyable afterwards.

    And there you have it: plenty of rambling that concludes with a non-answer.
     
  11. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    I wish the protomolecule stuff in the first book was grittier in the show, vomit zombies and all that. I thought it was a little too pretty, perhaps. I'm looking forward to the Nemesis Games storyline in season 5
     
  12. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    Seems I have been spending more time on Prime Video than Netflix lately. There is exclusive content on Prime Video like Bosch you can't get elsewhere. I shop a lot on Amazon so subscription to Amazon Prime is worth it even after they increased the price.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2019
  13. Boops

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    LOL. All the best recommendations on SBAF follow this formula in my experience.

    Thanks for sharing your perspective.
     
  14. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    True, I imagined a lot of things as grittier in the books than they portrayed on the show.

    Actually, a lot of things I imagined as grimy, dingy, dirty, or gritty in the books came out sort of pretty in the show. But a lot of things I imagined more as bright, clean, smooth, and more utopian sort of futuristic turned out the opposite!

    But, you know, they had enough scenes that captured something almost exactly as I imagined it, like Julie on Eros, that I felt pretty good about it overall. Moments like that or the slingshot dude in S3 are pretty killer!
     
  15. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    If you have a work commute, you could always pick the books up on Audible. It took me many months to realize I could do that for the latest book rather than find time for it at home... :oops:

    Anyway, the show is backed by a really great series, and one that so far looks like it will not fizzle in the end. It's got that going for it, and despite its issues, I think still very well worth watching if you're into Sci-Fi. I don't think it hits amazing high points as often as something like BSG, but I wouldn't put it anywhere near B-class Sci-Fi, if that makes sense.
     
  16. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    Slingshot guy was dead on.
     
  17. Pharmaboy

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    For the past year I've been plugging away fitfully at DARK MIRROR. I found this series wildly inconsistent, going from a brilliant episode to another I can't tolerate beyond just 5"-10". It doesn't help that Netflix' customary rational/orderly presentation of Seasons & Episodes is completely upended in DM, for some reason:
    • I began watching the 1st listed episode and am 1/2-way through the last listed
    • Only realized last night that this meant I started watching Season-5, and am ending in Year-1
    • Each Season is 3 to 6 episodes, so I'm out of one Season & into another w/o even realizing it
    This show has often been compared to THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and I suppose that's true in genre terms. Yet each show is sui generis, specific to its time; TZ is vibrantly black & white with '50s/'60s low-tech production values, while DM is (w/1 exception) is very high-tech 4K color & featuring topics (incessant video advertising, avatars, self-aggrandizement via social networking) that didn't yet exist for TZ.

    Having said all that, the high points of DM (which IMO are "Hang the DJ" [Season-5] & "Fifteen Million Merits" [Season-1])--are stunning in their scope & execution. Most Episodes--these 2 in particular--don't reveal or foreshadow the denouement. There's no explanation or plot "wrap-up," leaving the viewer very much on his/her own to figure out what just happened. I mean this as high praise: the lack of explication adds to the mystery & depth of each story.

    A thing that only happens to me w/the best video or film content happened w/several Episodes: I can't stop thinking about them, and in a couple cases, actually dreamed about them. Last night I heard that haunting song from "Fifteen Million Merits" (Irma Thomas' "Anyone Who Knows What Loved Is Will Understand") running through all my dreams.

    When I tell people how Netflix has enriched my experience of television, I usually mention shows like DARK MIRROR and MANIAC.
     
  18. Ringingears

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    Coneheads. SNL production, that is to say Lorne Michaels. You decide. I like it.
     
  19. squishware

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    24. There are serious plot holes often and I usually scream at the laptop for Jack to get a rifle already or at least a carbine. On the plus side he kills bad guys instead of them coming back later and the audio is especially good for a TV show. I am early into season 5.
     
  20. Boops

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    Finished up the Mandalorian season 1. For me it's at most a B- show overall. There are some good sequences, but I was bored way to often. For a short eight episode season there was a lot of filler. Hiding the main character's face was a risky decision and is not paying off in my opinion.

    Some good points: Yodito is a home run. It's shot beautifully. Production design is consistently great. The concept art in the end credit sequence is very cool. The score is memorable.

    I will watch the next season. I hope they come up with a way to relax the helmet-on-all-the-time rules.
     

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