TV Series or Show You're Watching

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I just started watching Stranger Things Season 4, and it’s off to a strong start. The kids from Hawkins have grown up a lot, and are occupied with the dramas that come with being teenagers. Unfortunately, they are not finished with incursions from the Upside Down. We have a creepy new Big Bad that has a D&D-inspired name, and it’s looking to harm humans. This formula has worked three times before, so why not try it again?
 
Blitzed Moon Knight Ep 1 and 2, Obi Wan Ep. 1, and Book of Bobba Fet, Ep. 1 in the last few days. Not sure about any of them yet, but all seemed good enough to continue. Bobba Fet in particular caught my eye -- felt a lot like The Mandalorian without the wandering. I'm least sure about Moon Knight -- this type of MC isn't my favorite, but he did get a bit of agency in ep 2.
 
AtramentousFlux said:
For this evening:

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Dark Winds (2022) . Episode 1.
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I, and even more so my spouse, Miz Pogo, are fierce lovers of the Tony Hillerman opus and of its continuation by his daughter Anne Hillerman. Met the two of them for a reading and signing years ago.
A couple of years ago I gave Miz Pogo a Navaho Rug, to be purchased at the monthly rug auction held at an elementary school in Crownpoint, New Mexico, mentioned in one of the books. The proceeds go to the actual weavers who bring (it is reported) more than a hundred rugs to each auction. Now the only problem is driving to New Mexico from Ohio. The idea being to visit the landscape and country - as well as getting a rug.

The several reviews that I have seen of the series, including the above link (Thanks AF!) may cause me to take an unprecedented step, subscribing to a new streaming service, rather than waiting for it to come to CD/the library.

Here is another LINK about the series.
And one about the Auction

edit: I did not speak to what we love about the Hillermans. It is the love of the people and the love of the land where they live. And it extends beyond the Dineh (Navaho) people in the stories. The various Pueblo (Zuni, Acoma and other) peoples are also also prominent in many of the stories. Good mysteries, but even better profiles of peoples and land.
Hillerman received a "Special Friend of the Dineh" award, which is even more impressive than it sounds as he was the only non native American ever voted the award by the Dineh Tribal Council.
 
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I decided to give old Doctor Who a fair shake. Although I believe that I have probably viewed all of the series in dribs and drabs over the years, I fairly arbitrarily picked the first series of the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, to watch, Time and the Rani. I have always liked McCoy better than is the case of many Whovians, certainly liked him better than I did most of the early Doctors.
It was a mess. Perhaps I should have viewed later series , after the writers gave him a more serious character rather than making him a bumbling idiot performing pratfalls, trying to play spoons, and generally acting as an incompetent figure of fun. The alien beasties were ridiculous to the point of absurdity (which to be fair is the case of many Whovian ETs over the years) and the real baddie, The Rani, was so incompetent that even McCoy & Mel could dispose of her.
I remember McCoy's silliness as an adjunct to a certain level of shrewdness and competence. Not evident here. I also liked his later interaction with Ace, the last companion in the original series.
I was forcefully reminded of the piece of Who lore that BBC executives viewed an episode of the last series in conjunction with watching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, were appalled by the difference in quality and immediately cancelled Who. Perhaps they did not actually watch the last series, but instead saw Rani?
If so I could understand their reaction.
 
Yeah I could too, but this is comparing apples to Philips screws. I mean, Doctor Who was originally - all through its "classic" incarnation - aimed at kids and really seen as a bit of fun, nothing serious, nothing adults would watch. BBC production values for shows such as this have were always bad in the twentieth century - look at Blake's Seven or even their version of The Tripods, or The Tomorrow People. Brits just never did science fiction well, not on TV. America, totally different story. Never mind TNG: TOS's production values, effects, acting, stories, costumes and just about any other aspect would knock classic Who, or any British science fiction show of the time into a hat, cocked or not, your choice.

Consider the budget difference too. Season one of Doctor Who was budgeted at approx £2,000 per episode. Even allowing for a tenfold increase by the time it ended (unlikely, but let's assume) that's £20,000 per episode. TNG, on the other hand, kicked off with a cool one million dollars per episode! So if our figures were right (and they probably aren't; probably much lower, as the BBC were never known for pouring money into their shows) then one episode of TNG could pay for the entire series, or close to it. No wonder TNG looked so much better.

Also TNG was aimed at adults, with adult storylines, premises and had some pretty top guest stars. Doctor Who, well, didn't. It was stupid and unfair of the BBC to look at TNG and think, we can't compete. You might as well envisage something like the makers of the Sopwith Camel or the Spitfire looking at a Tornado jet and saying ah here, we give up. Idiots.
 
I watched the first three episodes of Ms. Marvel on Disney Plus because daughter reported enjoying it and its nice to have things to talk about. There is a lot of very good and bad mixed in here. Some charm, some well done Muslim culture, a very likeable MC with a likeable family and friends, and a cool power. On the other hand, the young adult/high school stuff becomes a little much at times. Another annoyance is that even though we are supposedly in the Marvel universe, there is a government agency called the Department of Damage Control that is a big bag of dicks. This is the first time in the Marvel Universe that a government agency has been clear villains . . . and it feels cliche as hell, as well as not fitting in too well with the existing lore. In ep. 3 we get some actual villains, and their intro was seriously dumb. Overall, I can't really recommend it per se based on the 3 episodes -- well unless your a Muslim young adult -- but there is enough about it that is very well done that I'll watch a bit more.
 
Just started watching an interesting thing on Channel 4. Called The Bridge (no, not that one) it involves 12 people who have to build a bridge, by hand, to an island where 100 grand awaits. Nobody has any experience building bridges, and various twists have already occurred. Think I'm gonna like this one.
 
Trollheart said:
Just started watching an interesting thing on Channel 4. Called The Bridge (no, not that one) it involves 12 people who have to build a bridge, by hand, to an island where 100 grand awaits.
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Reminds me of the scene early on in James Blish's Cities in Flight where they are building a bridge on Jupiter... :)
 
Halo

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Watched the first episode screened on Channel 5 here in the UK, I guess in an attempt to drum up some custom for the rest of the series shown on Paramount. Anyway, it looked good and they've clearly chucked some money its way and, though I only ever played one of the games for an hour or so, fans of the franchise should get a kick out of the series. Personally, I felt the Spartan soldiers were a bit RoboCop-ish and the yells of 'Go! Go! Go!' and 'Elite Squad!' overly clichéd, but it's far, far better than the rather lacklustre film versions. Even so, I don't feel the urge to renew my Paramount subscription.
 
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I recently watched Blade Runner Black Lotus which is a Japanese–American CGI anime television series set in the Blade Runner Universe. It originally aired from November 2021 to February 2022. It was a co-production between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. Let me first state that I rarely watch any anime, but the Blade Runner connection made me curious.

In general, I liked the story and execution. It seems like something that could clearly fit into the world of Blade Runner. It was dark and gritty, and fit into the established stories.

I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the CGI animation and violence. It seemed excessively gory. However, maybe that wouldn’t bother others.

Overall, it was interesting and I don’t regret watching it. Blade Runner fans would certainly find something worthwhile here.
 
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