What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Marvel's What if... continues to deliver. My son is learning the hard way that yah gotta wait a week just like the old days

Ep2 is a wonderful riff off of GOTG with a bit of Black Panther. It's so upbeat and fun. It definitely helps to have a good level of familiarity with at least GOTG1, less so for GOTG2 and BP.

Ep3 is the worst of the bunch, but is so damned shocking it still has enough momentum to get through to the end. The tone here ought to be much more adult, the content pushed though a kid filter is just off. But I just applaud Marvel for letting it happen.

I'm mixed on letting the real actors do their own VO. Some are good, others much less so. The art style sometimes nails an actors likeness, sometimes it's just off enough that paired with a middling VO from that actor it triggers an uncanny valley effect to the point where I wish they just got a real VO actor instead. Still, it is a great way to continue on with some favorite characters so I'll take what I can get.

The boy latched on to The Bad Batch quite a bit. This is basically a direct continuation of Clone Wars with Tarkin flushing out the old system and ushering in the Empire. Don't know where they are going with it but I expect it will drive straight into Rebels and Rogue One. While I applaud the design team sticking with that wooden marionette look they used waaaaaaaay back when for the first Clone Wars characters, I kinda wish they would update it with a new look to match all the fantastic background stuff they can do now. Still, it is fluid and a timeless look so I guess it works.

While I've enjoyed the other MCU shows to various degrees (I thought Wandavision was spectacular), What If has really bored me. I get why people enjoy it, but it has stakes that are even lower than the franchise's already incredibly low norm.

It feels more like a lark or joke than something substantial or compelling.

charlest wrote: While I've enjoyed the other MCU shows to various degrees (I thought Wandavision was spectacular), What If has really bored me. I get why people enjoy it, but it has stakes that are even lower than the franchise's already incredibly low norm.

It feels more like a lark or joke than something substantial or compelling.

As a long-term comic fan, I gradually came to admit that the vast majority of comic book stories are not worth translating into movies. For example, Iron Man is clearly one of my favorites, but in 58 years of comics, he has had maybe 3 great storylines. His origin story, Demon in a Bottle, and Armor Wars. Some of the other stuff is good, but not great. And unfortunately his best villain is now an unfortunate example of the racist Yellow Peril stereotype.

I loved the idea of What If? when Marvel first started publishing it in the mid-'70s. But the reality is that there were less than a handful of good issues and the rest of it was dreck. After a while, I jokingly called the series Who Dies? due to its cavalier attitude about death. I haven't this show, but I know that they are seriously lacking in great source material in the original comics.

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote:

DarthJoJo wrote: Depends on what you liked about the first season, I guess. If it was the characters and general tone of positivity, those are all still there and strong. If it was those things pushed against real conflicts and storylines that lasted more than one episode, less so.

Season two so far feels a lot like the last season of Parks and Rec: everyone gets what they want with no struggle. I still like the characters well enough, but what made it superior is lacking.

I liked the positivity and fun, with everyone becoming better people through knowing Ted, while still being real. Ted's marriage collapsing and the surprise of the finale were really good.

But then season 2 began and Roy Kent and Keely were still main characters who should have been written out and a new character was introduced to create the conflict missing after Ted and Rebecca worked things out. It all felt forced and missing the natural flow of the previous season.

I think the focus expanding away from Ted and onto the supporting characters for the first half of S2 has definitely made for a different show. I didn't think the first couple were on par with the high points of S1 (but nothing is ever going to be better than the darts scene anyway). It feels to me like this first batch were written independently as "character focus" episodes, without a firmer hand in overall story. For example, the effects of the end of ep3 have yet to be even mentioned for two more episodes. That feels sloppy when you step back and look at it.

However, I totally disagree that Roy+Keeley should have been pushed off to the side. The show is basically about toxic masculinity, and Roy (and to an extent Jamie) is the growth case here. His character's slow redemption from "angry thug" to something more is pretty key to the whole premise. He's a much fuller character than Coach Beard, for example, or even Nate.

I thought things turned around a bit in the last few episodes, and the show's still got a lot of goodwill it can burn before I walk away.

Not Sure wrote: However, I totally disagree that Roy+Keeley should have been pushed off to the side. The show is basically about toxic masculinity, and Roy (and to an extent Jamie) is the growth case here. His character's slow redemption from "angry thug" to something more is pretty key to the whole premise. He's a much fuller character than Coach Beard, for example, or even Nate.

Absolutely. Roy and his niece, Roy in the TV studio, that's solid gold (to me).

Roy in the studio reminds me of the great days of Gordon Strachan:

Reporter: "So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today?"
Strachan: "What areas? Mainly that big green one out there..."

Reporter: "This might sound like a daft question, but you'll be happy to get your first win under your belt, won't you?"
Strachan: "You're right. It is a daft question. I'm not even going to bother answering that one. It is a daft question, you're spot on there."

Shellhead wrote:

charlest wrote: ... , but it has stakes that are even lower than the franchise's already incredibly low norm.

It feels more like a lark or joke than something substantial or compelling.

After a while, I jokingly called the series Who Dies? due to its cavalier attitude about death. I haven't this show, but I know that they are seriously lacking in great source material in the original comics.

These are legit criticisms. I think the short, unconnected format of the show helps mitigate this. They are somewhat whimsical bits of fan service, not really trying to explore deep social or moral issues within the MCU. So far at least any moral grandstanding has been pretty light and feels earned in universe. Ep3 is probably the worst in this regard as I didn't feel the "big bad" of that ep was really acting in character but it was also the one that showed the least amount of the "what if" branch point that lead that individual to take those extreme actions.

Not Sure wrote: Roy in the studio reminds me of the great days of Gordon Strachan:

Ha. Those are excellent, especially the first one, since it reminds me of the great John McKay's (supposed) famous quote after a game with his Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when asked: "Coach, what do you think of your team's execution today?"

His response: "I'm in favor of it."

Everyone I know of raves about Ted Lasso. I'm a huge soccer/football fan, so I know I'd probably like it. I just haven't been willing to start up yet another streaming service, since I already have four (YouTubeTV, ESPN, Peacock, Paramount+) just to watch Liverpool (Premier League, FA and League Cups, Premier League, and Champions League, respectively), plus Netflix and Hulu. We watch a fair amount of TV, but there are limits to all things.

Oh wait, Ted Lasso is THAT show, ok, interesting.

My brother in law got insulted by Gordon Strachan once... some claim to fame (better than most of mine!).

I've been watching 15 Storeys High which is all on youtube - someone posted a link in a Sean Lock obituary. I'd never seen it before, and I don't know why, as it's pretty good. Some nice dark humour under a slightly surreal oddball kind of thing - they were getting churned out in the UK back then (early 2000s), I guess. Worth a look perhaps.

Sean Lock - I've been watching clips and episodes of 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on YouTube, and he's one of the regulars. I don't get to use the phrase "witty repartee" very often, but it's a good description.

British panel shows are just the best.

Some negative comments above held me back from starting White Lotus, but I am now three episodes in and am really liking it. There are some bizarre things that have stuck with me and will make me chuckle later on.

Example: one scene has a son snorkeling with his father in a forced bonding activity, and he sees his dad peering down at his genitals. Son: “dad, why do you keep looking at your dick”. Dad: “I’m not! I’m looking at my balls!” as if this is perfectly normal and 100% better.

Some media has a shelf life long after you’ve finished it, and White Lotus seems to work for me.

I really liked the first three episodes. I wasn't a fan of the last three.

New season/epi of See dropped. It is a pretty worthy post-apoc drama with a nicely realized world.

RobertB wrote: Brand New Cherry Flavor - Definitely not for the squeamish. Body horror in spades. Not for the kids. Heck, maybe not for the grownups. It takes a while to get rolling, and the first couple of episodes was, "WTF am I watching?" But once it gets going it's pretty good.

So far I have watched 5 of the 8 episodes. It is uncomfortable as fuck, and while I can't say I'm enjoying myself, I do want to see where it goes.