TV Series or Show You're Watching

[Hobbit]

Thanks for the share, Vince.

And how interesting it is to see grudging support for The Orville, a series that is actually doing quite well...

 

[Vince W]

I liked The Orville initially, but the terrible humour put me off and I gave up on it.

 

[Hobbit]

I liked The Orville initially, but the terrible humour put me off and I gave up on it.

For me, the humour's not been quite as in-your-face as I expected. But I know what you mean.

 

[Vince W]

Looking forward to Red Dwarf: The Promised Land on 9 April.

 

[fluffy bunny]

Season finale or not, I got bored with episode 10 of Picard and couldn't get past 15 mins.

For those in the UK, Torchwood got uploaded to the BBC iPlayer. I'd agree that a lot of seasons 1 and 2 is not so great. The season 3 miniseries however (Children of Earth) still stands out as a brilliant piece of SF storytelling over 10 yrs later.

 

[Hobbit]

The season 3 miniseries however (Children of Earth) still stands out as a brilliant piece of SF storytelling over 10 yrs later.

Not for me, I'm afraid. I watched when it was first shown. I remember it starting with such potential but I struggled with it at the end. I never quite got over Torchwood being a secret organisation with its cars with flashing blue lights. Dead Ringers also didn't help.

 

[fluffy bunny]

Not for me, I'm afraid. I watched when it was first shown. I remember it starting with such potential but I struggled with it at the end.

I agree that Torchwood went in a weird direction. I was hoping it was going darker with the "outside the government, beyond the police" thing. People doing what it takes to neutralise the threat and possibly abusing power. Instead, the writers used the higher age rating it to inject sexual innuendo into the script.

I still stand by what I said about season 3- the darker themes in those 5 episodes still strike a chord when I rewatch them. And on the rewatch- Capaldi before he became Dr Who.

 

[Hobbit]

And on the rewatch- Capaldi before he became Dr Who.

I do remember that and thinking that he was quite good. What a shame the scripts did not do him justice during his tenure! (Although the last episode wasn't bad.)

 

[Av Demeisen]

Season 1 of Ozark was very good! On to season 2 and 3.

 

[Westy]

Season 1 of Ozark was very good! On to season 2 and 3.

Just watched 3 more episodes of Season 3 tonight!

 

[ArtNJ]

Maybe wife and I will give Ozark another try. Wife recalls me vetoing it after episode 1, but I think my reaction was more like ho hum, another slow boil show, how do people get into these things? I had the same problem with True Detectives. It just put me to sleep. Something like Breaking Bad, yeah it started slow, but it somehow managed to suck me in a bit even in the first episode. Still, I don't remember disliking Ozark per se, and I always found Jason Bateman easy to watch.

On the subject of starting so slow you give up: maybe don't try the TV show War of the Worlds. First episode *screams* DULL:

"Pattern here"

"Hmmm....satellite?"

"I checked the satellite orbits"

"Hrrrn...um, maybe check them again."

"I did. Twice."

"Oh."

Delivered in *monotone*. It didn't get any more exciting than that...

 

[Hobbit]

I preferred that version to the recent BBC version though, Art.

 

[Westy]

Maybe wife and I will give Ozark another try. Wife recalls me vetoing it after episode 1, but I think my reaction was more like ho hum, another slow boil show

That's just happened to me with Devs - the first episode was good, but it's so slow now that I stopped after Episode 5. Re Ozark, I'd be surprised if you found it slow, hopefully the retry works!

 

[Av Demeisen]

Maybe wife and I will give Ozark another try. Wife recalls me vetoing it after episode 1, but I think my reaction was more like ho hum, another slow boil show, how do people get into these things? I had the same problem with True Detectives. It just put me to sleep. Something like Breaking Bad, yeah it started slow, but it somehow managed to suck me in a bit even in the first episode. Still, I don't remember disliking Ozark per se, and I always found Jason Bateman easy to watch.

What originally put me off Ozark was the opening monologue of the main character. Quite misleading. And Ozark's first season is anything but slow. Builds up to quite a climax.

 

[Vince W]

Watched Red Dwarf: The Promised Land. I loved it. It was funny and a lot of fun. There were a couple of clunky and awkward moments, but they didn't detract from my overall enjoyment. The Boys were in great form and the guest cast did a terrific job. There were a couple of truly gutbusting laugh out loud moments along with a couple of really deep and emotional moments. This will bear many viewings.

 

[ArtNJ]

Saw the first episode of Netflix's Letter To The King, which seems to be a stereotypical fantasy in every way. A clumsy adopted boy is forced to be a knight by his noble adopted father. Midway through his trial, he suddenly has to deliver a crucial letter to the king warning of a dark and evil plan and can trust no one. The first episode was surprisingly well done! Unfortunately, I then consulted IMDB, and the remaining six episodes are progressively more poorly rated (by people that liked the first episode enough to continue, meaning that other things being equal, the ratings would be higher).

A shame, really. The plot may be stereotypical, but the first episode had very high production values and made me hopeful.

 

[Hobbit]

Saw the first episode of Netflix's Letter To The King, which seems to be a stereotypical fantasy in every way.

Fair point, although the book it is based on was published first in 1962. Putting that in perspective, that's only 8 years after LotR and the year before the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone was released. I'm reminded of that argument that the movie John Carter ripped off Star Wars.

I don't know how close the TV series is to the book, though.

 

[ArtNJ]

Fair point, although the book it is based on was published first in 1962. Putting that in perspective, that's only 8 years after LotR and the year before the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone was released. I'm reminded of that argument that the movie John Carter ripped off Star Wars.

I don't know how close the TV series is to the book, though.

We are looking through different lenses my friend. I used stereotypical as a shorthand descriptor, adding some flavor to my one sentence plot summary for people that might consider watching. It *feels* stereotypical. Which is not necessarily a bad thing of course. Familiar patterns can be comforting. Or a bit cloying, which it was in spots. Still, I rather liked episode one. Just kind of depressing to see that it got 7.2 on imdb, which is fine, and that the further episodes decline in the 6s, with the most recent one being 5 something . . . which is reason to avoid I think, given that those are people that liked the first episode enough to continue.

 

[Hobbit]

It *feels* stereotypical. Which is not necessarily a bad thing of course. Familiar patterns can be comforting. Or a bit cloying, which it was in spots.

Thanks for your clarification, Art. The original book is a children's book, which might explain that as well. Sometimes a return to basics can be a good thing, and I'm always conscious that whilst things may be stereotypical to old fans like me, someone somewhere will be seeing this for the first time.

I'm quite tempted to try this, now. My opinion often differs to others!

 

[Prairie_Dog]

I’ve been watching Amazon’s Tales From the Loop, which is based on a series of paintings by Swedish Artist Simon Stålenhag. That in itself makes it pretty unique in terms of Science Fiction on TV.

The premise is that there is an underground research facility called The Loop. The stories take place in the town above it. The time period appears to be the 1980’s. There are strange science fictional things interspersed with the mundane, just like in Stålenhag’s art. The beauty of the show is that there is no attempt to explain any of this.

The episodes are loosely related. Most involve members of a nuclear family of researchers who work at The Loop. However, some others are only peripherally connected, and deal with stories that happen to other characters not members of this family. So it’s not quite an anthology show, but the episodes are really independent.

It is surreal and atmospheric, which I really like. It is probably the best adaptation of its source material to TV that I could imagine. The pacing is slow, which I appreciate. Others find this undesirable, but I don’t need lots of action to engage me. There’s lots of time to absorb the ramifications of events. It reminds me of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits.

If you are interested in idea-based science fiction, and a surreal dystopian setting, you may enjoy Tales From the Loop.