I watched my first full episode of This is Us. It was alright. I won’t be back though.

Feb 5, 2018 11:10:33 GMT mikec said:

I watched my first full episode of This is Us. It was alright. I won’t be back though.

I don't watch it , but I've heard so much about it that I recommended it to my wife (to watch when I was at work at night) and she loves it. Burned through the first season pretty quickly and tries talking to me about it but I zone out. 

Anyways on to a great show , what did you think of The Good Place finale? I really enjoyed it , I think the show is brilliant in that it almost paints itself into corners with certain premises and gets out of it on the other side smelling like roses - it also doesn't hurt the overall premise allows some absurdity. Either way though it's a fun change up to see the gang with some optimism going forward and I am really looking forward to season three. 

I love This is Us. It hits all the right notes for me.

Been doing some Netflix binging (which I always pronounce as "bing-ing" in my head when I read "binging")...

Rewatched the three-episode Our World War, which covers three different aspects of World War I from the British perspective. I thought they did a pretty decent job (clearly, since I bothered to watch the series twice) and was actually OK with the modern stylistic flairs that might put others off. Favorite of the three episodes was probably the first, but I did like the swerve ending for the third episode. None of which is to say that the middle episode was a slouch.

Also watched Generation War, which I think was another three-episode series... this time covering World War II from the German perspective. Stuck with the same characters throughout the war, and was very interesting. As an American, I've never really stopped to think about what it must've been like for the "enemy". The show did a good job IMO of humanizing people who I've been taught all my life to view as mindless, soulless monsters. The main roles were well acted, plenty of intense war scenes, and some good story arcs. Definitely recommend folks check this out if they're into history, war, or even really just the human experience.

Wife has been into Syfy's Magicians series. She's obsessed. She'd read the book series, and started watching the TV series, and is now re-reading the books because she's that excited about it all. She actually likes how the TV series takes elements from the books, strays from the books, but then comes back to the books. She even said that the Penny character is done better in the TV series than in the books. For whatever that's worth.

Since I'm not really following Wife down the Magicians path, I decided to check out the Punisher series to supplement all our Marvel movie binging (read: binjing). It's OK but not great so far. Jon Bernthal or whatever his name is, is tough to look at sometimes with his busted mug. And he seems to go back and forth from overacting to underacting... and his Bale Batman voice isn't doing him a lot of favors. The story feels confusing and slow so far, and the violence is over the top... which is both awesome and tiresome. I try to give it slack since it is based on a comic book superhero after all. But we'll see. After Episode 3 last night, I had this feeling like I could put the series down and never be bothered by not seeing the rest.

Started watching Altered Carbon on Netflix, only seen the first episode so far, off to a decent start, but we'll see how it goes after a few more episodes. Once I finish Altered Carbon, I plan on checking out Electric Dreams.

I really enjoy the Magicians, which is weird because I really can't stand any of the characters, since they're all kind of mopey hipsters. But the show itself is just damn entertaining. Dark, funny, brutal. Just a good series.

I can't believe celeb big brother actually got Shannon Elizabeth. I mean I get that she's hardly the big timer she was in the american pie days but it just seems odd.  But then again she seems like a real fan of the show and just wanted to do it. The rest of the cast I could totally see it or don't even know who they are. I mean a guy from Big Time Rush? That is taking some liberties with the word "celebrity". It was a bummer to see Chuck Liddel go out first. Much like the tail end of his fight career, he was knocked out early.

I've been watching old shows lately, my latest one is That 70's Show, i'm on the last season and my god this thing is limping to the barn.

My wife and I just started watching “This is Us” this week and we already binged through all of season 1 and are half way through Season 2. Almost caught up with the show.

I noticed the guys not liking it here, but man, that show is amazing. Our hearts have different strings on it that get pulled for several emotions. Happy, sad, situational pain, etc. This show manages to pull each string, sometimes more then one simultaneously. Not to mention, this show makes me want to be a better person. Great show.

Parenthood and Brothers & Sisters, are better shows

I’ve only watched one episode of This is Us so I can’t compare the two, but if you like This is Us I think you’ll love Parenthood. Unless you just like the mystery part of how the guy died and stuff.

I need to try parenthood because I love this is us and not just for the mystery angle which is already revealed and I'm still into it. It is a show I would suggest watching from the jump though and not just diving in on some random episode. I did try one episode of parenthood and wasn't feeling it but that could have been for multiple reasons at the time so I haven't gave it a fair shake.

Still loving 911. My crush on Connie Britton just keeps growing. The show has a surprising amount of depth and to me is filling that void that Third Watch left in me but I actually think this is funner than Third Watch.

I've also really enjoyed Chicago PD this season. I was kind of in and out on it last season but this season has been pretty enjoyable even though they lost a main cast member in the off season. f

Watched End of the Fxxxing World, really enjoyable show if you can get into the melancholy tone, say, if you enjoyed something like the Lobster (minus all the absurdism of that world, just the general tone) I'd say definitely give it a go. Did well at telling a story that's just believable enough, and the characters develop well along the way. Left me wanting more, damn cliffhangers.

Got through the second season of Black Mirror, episodes 2 and 4 had what the rest of the episodes were missing for me, memorable endings. Without an ending you kind of just have a meandering tale, not bad episodes (the Waldo episode was kind of shite), just nothing for me to go back to. But White Bear and White Christmas delivered both solid premises and suitable finales.

So midway through the final season of Leftovers and thus far it's been kind of hit and miss for me. More in line with season 1 as far as quality goes.

I just digested the first season of Hulu's original series Chance. I am not one normally for dramas but this one sucked me and compelled me to watch it all quickly.

Well I finally got through That 70's show, man those last episodes were a tough slog. Should've just ended in season 7 really.

Feb 19, 2018 7:59:46 GMT Call said:

Well I finally got through That 70's show, man those last episodes were a tough slog. Should've just ended in season 7 really.

Yeah, Foreman was the heart and sole of that series, getting the less talented Meyers brother certainly didn't help any. But without Eric the chemistry was just all off, they should have thought of a way to wrap the series with Topher deciding to bow out.

Seasons 3 and 4 of Black Mirror pretty much assuage my early criticism entirely, pretty well rounded episodes top to bottom in these season. My favorite episode was probably "White Bear" from season 2, though there's also a couple I could chuck up there ("Shut Up and Dance," "USS Callister," "White Christmas"); but no questions asked, "the Waldo Moment" is the absolute worst episode of the series...just absolutely nothing to offer. Wastes Tobias Mensies entirely.

Feb 19, 2018 7:59:46 GMT Call said:

Well I finally got through That 70's show, man those last episodes were a tough slog. Should've just ended in season 7 really.

Your a saint for even having the courage to plow through the horrors of the final season.  No Kelso and no Eric...how the fuck did they think that would work?  I mean I felt more and more as the series went on that they could of easily chopped off fes's fucking head and threw it in the river and the show would have worked better for it because he got insufferable as the series went along but to continue on without those two was very ill conceived.  The final episode was also pretty lame aside from Eric and Donna meeting back up only to leave their relationship status unresolved.  Oh fuck you.  Those two needed to end up together and the viewers deserved to see that whole thing resolve itself, not that up in the air bull shit.  It really kind of felt like Topher Grace wanted as little to do with the show as possible towards the end, I think he probably just showed up probably for the fans and some degree of loyalty for the show that made him.  With that said though, I read in an interview somewhere that he'd love to be a apart of a That 70's Reunion which i'm sure is the case as i'm sure it kind of stings him that of all the kids on the show, he was perceived as the one who would be the break out star and Kutcher, Kunis, and Prepon all found success in movies or other tv shows and Grace just kind of got fucked right out of the shoot with Venom.  I guess he's still one up on Masterson and Fez.

1 episode in on the Frankenstein Chronicles on Netflix and I'm highly interested. Loads of potential. It's starring Sean Bean, so I'm expecting him to die at any moment.

Finally finished up The Leftovers and while it certainly didn't ruin the series for me, it also didn't quite meet my expectations. It felt like so much was just kind of glossed over and really when it wasn't centered around Kevin and Nora, I was a bit bored. With that said though, anything Kevin/Nora was gold I thought and the finale episode with them was a pretty beautiful tie up...only thing I would have liked for them to do is when Nora is telling her story to Kevin that they showed flashbacks of her time where the others went, that would of put it over the top for me and got the water works going. All in all though, a beautiful series that i'm sure i'll revisit at some point.

Now time to move on to the Twin Peaks reboot! I'm both excited and worried for how this will go.

Feb 24, 2018 20:23:33 GMT vendrell said:

Finally finished up The Leftovers and while it certainly didn't ruin the series for me, it also didn't quite meet my expectations. It felt like so much was just kind of glossed over and really when it wasn't centered around Kevin and Nora, I was a bit bored. With that said though, anything Kevin/Nora was gold I thought and the finale episode with them was a pretty beautiful tie up...only thing I would have liked for them to do is when Nora is telling her story to Kevin that they showed flashbacks of her time where the others went, that would of put it over the top for me and got the water works going. All in all though, a beautiful series that i'm sure i'll revisit at some point.

Now time to move on to the Twin Peaks reboot! I'm both excited and worried for how this will go.

Since it doesn’t seem like you’re considering this possibility: was she telling the truth in the finale?

Feb 25, 2018 3:00:17 GMT mikec said:

Feb 24, 2018 20:23:33 GMT vendrell said:

Finally finished up The Leftovers and while it certainly didn't ruin the series for me, it also didn't quite meet my expectations. It felt like so much was just kind of glossed over and really when it wasn't centered around Kevin and Nora, I was a bit bored. With that said though, anything Kevin/Nora was gold I thought and the finale episode with them was a pretty beautiful tie up...only thing I would have liked for them to do is when Nora is telling her story to Kevin that they showed flashbacks of her time where the others went, that would of put it over the top for me and got the water works going. All in all though, a beautiful series that i'm sure i'll revisit at some point.

Now time to move on to the Twin Peaks reboot! I'm both excited and worried for how this will go.

Since it doesn’t seem like you’re considering this possibility: was she telling the truth in the finale?

I thought she was but yeah I didn't really consider that as a possibility.Is that to say you thought she was lying to kevin about it?    What bugged me was how Meg and the rest of the GR were just killed by some fucking drone strike for...reasons I guess?  No clue, no real set up to the deaths it was just boom and it's over.  I also felt that way about Holy Wayne who I thought they were building something huge for and nope.  I never understood what the deal was with all the babies either.  Still though, I loved it.  Max Richter did an amazing job with the music of the series and created so much atmosphere for the show.

I thought she was telling the truth when I watched it, but then someone suggested that she didn’t and it makes sense. We see her starting to gasp and then it cuts to the future. If you take the whichnis easier to believe line of thinking, you either believe her crazy ass story or you think she panicked and then couldn’t face anyone out of embarrassment for being weak. The finale shows people lying frequently, funny lies like the obituary mad libs and the nun fucking or serious ones like whatever Kevin was going for, and Nora lied all the time and then tried to say she wouldn’t lie at the end.

Anyway, bummed you didn’t like season 3 as much. I didn’t much care for Holy Wayne so I was happy when he was written off the show and I really didn’t understand the missile strike short of its impact on the girls dad, but from “the beard fits” on, I loved season 3.

If nothing else, you surely got a laugh out of the penis scan.

Watched Everything Sucks, not great, think I'm just too old to feel a show dealing heavily with children and sexuality, probably why I enjoyed the principal's arc the most. That, and Luke's mom.

Started with Santa Clarita Diet, some good laughs so far just a few episodes in.

Feb 25, 2018 6:00:53 GMT mikec said:

I thought she was telling the truth when I watched it, but then someone suggested that she didn’t and it makes sense. We see her starting to gasp and then it cuts to the future. If you take the whichnis easier to believe line of thinking, you either believe her crazy ass story or you think she panicked and then couldn’t face anyone out of embarrassment for being weak. The finale shows people lying frequently, funny lies like the obituary mad libs and the nun fucking or serious ones like whatever Kevin was going for, and Nora lied all the time and then tried to say she wouldn’t lie at the end.

Anyway, bummed you didn’t like season 3 as much. I didn’t much care for Holy Wayne so I was happy when he was written off the show and I really didn’t understand the missile strike short of its impact on the girls dad, but from “the beard fits” on, I loved season 3.

If nothing else, you surely got a laugh out of the penis scan.

Penis scan was great. haha.  Again, not saying I disliked season 3, it was fine but for me personally, I thought S2 was the best.  They could have ended it with Kevin homeward bounding right to his house and getting his family back and I would have been content with that as the final shot.  I would of liked more on why the drone hit the GR.  The nature of Kevins immortality, what the fuck the shit was with the dogs which seemingly went nowhere....and now that you bring it up, Did Nora go through with it?  I guess maybe I was expecting too much resolution from one of the guys who created Lost.  Still though it was nothing that ruined the series for me.

Plowed through the first two eps of the Twin Peaks reboot and...there was a lot going on. With that said, I was interested with all of it and a lot of it actually did tie together. Just as trippy as I remember it being while maybe backing off some of the soap opera style that the original sometimes leaned to heavily on. So far so good.

I'm up to Episode 6 of Altered Carbon and I'm absolutely hooked. It's easily the best piece of cyberpunk on camera since the original Bladerunner.

Probably finished watching ER now. I might go back from time to time, but I hit most the highlights like major characters being introduced or leaving. The pilot was a bit of a surprise as one I’d never seen just for how different Benton was.

Feb 26, 2018 23:05:45 GMT mikec said:

Probably finished watching ER now. I might go back from time to time, but I hit most the highlights like major characters being introduced or leaving. The pilot was a bit of a surprise as one I’d never seen just for how different Benton was.

I revisited the pilot for ER not too long ago.  In it, Carol, who wasn't billed as a main character at that time, had a drug overdose.  According to the book, The Platnum Age of Television, the original script called for Carol to die of the overdose.  But when the show was picked up for the season, they changed it to her surviving it, because they liked Juliana Marguiles' portrayal of her, and they wanted her to continue it.

Feb 26, 2018 23:12:41 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Feb 26, 2018 23:05:45 GMT mikec said:

Probably finished watching ER now. I might go back from time to time, but I hit most the highlights like major characters being introduced or leaving. The pilot was a bit of a surprise as one I’d never seen just for how different Benton was.

I revisited the pilot for ER not too long ago.  In it, Carol, who wasn't billed as a main character at that time, had a drug overdose.  According to the book, The Platnum Age of Television, the original script called for Carol to die of the overdose.  But when the show was picked up for the season, they changed it to her surviving it, because they liked Juliana Marguiles' portrayal of her, and they wanted her to continue it.

Isn't it funny how that works in tv.  I remember that Mike from Breaking Bad and now Better Call Saul was originally just supposed to be a one shot deal but they liked what he did so much that they wrote him in as a critical character for the next couple seasons.