What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Y doesn't lean into sexism really at all (so far anyway). There is very little bemoaning of "if only there was a man to deal with this" other than to acknowledge the very real fact that certain critical jobs (coal mining, nuclear power engineering, transport, etc) are overwhelmingly male dominated and thus redistributing the female workforce to cover down is gonna take time. There is a very nice scene where now-President Diane Lane has to convince one of the few female nuclear power engineers they have easy access to to stop grieving for her lost sons and get back to work. In a male led show this would probably involve some threats and a heavy "get off your ass, swallow your pain, and get to work" vibe. And that approach would have probably failed spectacularly since most everyone is about 1 straw from giving up and resigning to suicide anyway. Instead Lane resorts to what I would consider a more "feminine approach" which is really just using emotional intelligence to appeal to what matters to that specific engineer and it works.

So that sort of stuff is actually pretty good. But there is a lot of political bullshit drama that just really off-putting. I wanted this to be a "how does humanity come together to solve this existential crisis" show featuring lots of smart and capable women pulling weight, but instead it looks to be mostly relationship drama with a lot of artificial obstacles thrown in to give characters a chance to made a low brow political point.

They do have a few trans characters. I'm actually surprised they didn't have a pre-existing lesbian couple to show the contrast between every other woman who lost a partner and this couple that got to remain together. That seemed like such an easy narrative element to put in that I'm shocked it didn't happen.

Anyway, my wife spoiled the comics for me (thanks sweetie) though what she told me seems so ridiculous she is either getting some incredibly reductive version or I think the show will alter it significantly.

If I keep watching it is 100% for the agent lady. That actress is fantastic and they give her wonderful material to work with. I'm kinda ok if she just drains Y of his blood and semen and dumps him on an island never to be hear from again while she goes on to pursue whatever agenda she has.

Hulu has "The Premise" coming in a few days which looks to maybe be fun. I like Bernthal a lot and this looks to be sort of a Punisher dark comedy. It will probably veer into the weeds but I'll give it a shot. Hopefully it does a 3 ep dump like the other shows have been doing.

I'm doing a rewatch of The Queen's Gambit, because we can't have too much sax and violins because of the mother-in-law. Still a great show. If you haven't watched it, you should.

After she goes to bed, we've been watching Boardwalk Empire. So far it's Nucky Thompson's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Actors are top-notch. I smile every time Michael Shannon shows up and chews the scenery.

Michael Shannon is great in everything he's in. He's the best part of Nine Perfect Strangers.

I'm going to propose that, given the fractured nature of TV, we all include the "channel" the show is on whenever we bring a new title to the thread.

Example --

I've been watching No Offence (AcornTV) which has been a really good blend of police drama and comedy. It's not truly either one of those, but manages both nicely. Just finished season 1. Fair warning you may have to put on English subtitles because it is recorded in, ahem, English. But it's "northern" English, set in Manchester, and everyone speaks at 100mph. Great characters, a lot of entertainment. The story cooks along too.

The thread is way easier to read if you reference the show title and its channel to lead off when you respond as well.

Sagrilarus wrote: I'm going to propose that, given the fractured nature of TV, we all include the "channel" the show is on whenever we bring a new title to the thread.

Great suggestion. I've never even heard of Acorn TV until now, but $5.99 per month is pretty reasonable.

Shellhead wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: I'm going to propose that, given the fractured nature of TV, we all include the "channel" the show is on whenever we bring a new title to the thread.

Great suggestion. I've never even heard of Acorn TV until now, but $5.99 per month is pretty reasonable.

Acorn TV is great value. Considering how expensive Hulu and Netflix have become it's a great replacement, especially if you've watched most of what you're interested in on those other two channels. We've been watching shows from Ireland, UK, New Zealand and Australia on it that are great quality and show how other parts of the world live.

Our recent hits --

The Heart Guy
Hidden
No Offence
Upper Middle Bogan
Striking Out
Newton's Law
Dead Still

I had to go watch Michael Shannon read that sorority letter again. (Warining: Strong language)

Up to ep5 of Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) and it has hit its stride and reached the "over already?!?" mark. Short DESTROYS in this role, national treasure that one. The running gag of trying to record everything is genius!

I think it is a few years old but Warrior on Hbomax (I think Cinemax as well) is the tawdry action show I've been looking for since Banshee, Strike Back, and Spartacus ended. Basically a Chinese gangs in 1890s San Francisco story. It leans a bit too heavily on racist Irish stereotypes but they are mostly true and we own up to them anyway Most of this cast is unknowns but they are doing good work. I can only hope some form of Wu from Deadwood shows up with a "c@cksucker!" joke

I have heard brooklyn 99 is incredible so I started watching it... it has that thing where it starts with a miserable pilot. Big "we gave them too much Andy Samberg sketch comedy" vibes. Given how how people I trust talk about it I'm sure it'll get better but the pilot was ugh as fuck.

I keep forgetting to rave about Primal in here. It’s an animated show available on HBOMax created and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, of Samurai Jack fame.

It’s completely dialog-free, and if follows the adventures of a caveman and his doglike dinosaur pal. But that description way undersells it. The duo start off as enemies, grow to need each other, then to trust, and finally to rely. The world building is pretty awesome in a Conan-ish way; there are apes with tools and rituals, smart pack-hunting predators, and zombie plagues. The animation is fantastic, as is the storytelling. I just love it.

I was burning through episodes with delight when I discovered it a couple of months ago, but I got distracted and forgot about it. Now I’m back in, but I’m savoring each one to make it last.

Primal is really great. I'm about halfway through.

Foundation - The first couple episodes are great. It's not like the books but its still really interesting. Beautiful space elevator that takes 14 hours down to the top-layer of Trantor.

See - I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. Mostly the world-building makes it interesting. Civilization long gone and pretty much everyone is blind. Jason Momoa occasionally slaughtering people like a video game is cool too.

It should be noted that Primal is ludicrously violent. So over-the-top that some will find it funny, whereas others will be disgusted.

I'm glad that someone else has checked out See. I has been a surprisingly good show.

My wife and I watched Midnight Mass, a limited run series on Netflix. It was not exactly what I was expecting and is a as much a profile of a small, isolated town as it is a supernatural drama. It is well acted and has an interesting riff on a familiar mythology. You will see where the plot is headed, but that doesn't detract from the journey at all.

Episode one of the anime star wars Visions series is goddamn LEGIT!

Grainy Samurai action plus lightsabers turns out to be peanut butter and chocolate. A whole lotta cosplayers are gonna be trying to figure out that katana lightsaber thing.

The rest looks to be in some radically different styles so hopefully this wasn't the gem of the bunch.

Party Thor episide of "What If..." was amusing but that series is really all fluff, no meat. Dr. Strange one was the only really character focused ep.

Gary Sax wrote: I have heard brooklyn 99 is incredible so I started watching it... it has that thing where it starts with a miserable pilot. Big "we gave them too much Andy Samberg sketch comedy" vibes. Given how how people I trust talk about it I'm sure it'll get better but the pilot was ugh as fuck.

I lasted three episodes when it debuted. I detest smug-ass lead characters.