What was the last TV show you watched?

[Fading Fast]

This is still the best line, showing how out of touch the upper class was!

My girlfriend and I still laugh about that line - agreed, best line of the show. And she delivered it with a great combination of confusion and disdain.

 

[Doctor Strange]

The latest episode of the CBS Supergirl series. As I've said here before, there are plenty of things the show does that I'm not crazy about, but it has a dead-on understanding of who its heroine is and why she's heroic, and the actress is excellent.

This episode used the classic Red Kryptonite-brings-out-her-nasty-side-and-endangers-everyone plot - and did it well - but the moment that killed me was a 45-second, nearly throwaway scene near the start that again establishes Supergirl's essential kindness. Not even a full scene, it's intercut with another scene, but I was immensely charmed by it:

Some fourth or fifth grade mean girls are taunting a younger girl who's wearing a S-logo shirt and a red towel for a cape (I must plead guilty to doing this myself as a kid, way back in the George Reeves rerun era!) Supergirl is flying over the city, and overhears them with her super-hearing. As the bullying mean girl declares, "That's why you have no friends!", Supergirl swoops down and says, "Sure she does." She quickly X-ray-visions the girl's pack, sees the girl's name atop a homework or test page, and uses it. She puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and says, "I'm friends with all the cool girls." and flies off, leaving everyone amazed.​

This little sequence demonstrates what this show gets spectacularly right about the heroic goodness of Supergirl as a character, and how she functions as a positive example to ordinary folks... And this is exactly the thing that Man of Steel and its forthcoming sort-of sequel, Batman V. a Cast of Thousands, seemingly doesn't have any interest in portraying.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The latest episode of the CBS Supergirl series. As I've said here before, there are plenty of things the show does that I'm not crazy about, but it has a dead-on understanding of who its heroine is and why she's heroic, and the actress is excellent.

This episode used the classic Red Kryptonite-brings-out-her-nasty-side-and-endangers-everyone plot - and did it well - but the moment that killed me was a 45-second, nearly throwaway scene near the start that again establishes Supergirl's essential kindness. Not even a full scene, it's intercut with another scene, but I was immensely charmed by it:

Some fourth or fifth grade mean girls are taunting a younger girl who's wearing a S-logo shirt and a red towel for a cape (I must plead guilty to doing this myself as a kid, way back in the George Reeves rerun era!) Supergirl is flying over the city, and overhears them with her super-hearing. As the bullying mean girl declares, "That's why you have no friends!", Supergirl swoops down and says, "Sure she does." She quickly X-ray-visions the girl's pack, sees the girl's name atop a homework or test page, and uses it. She puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and says, "I'm friends with all the cool girls." and flies off, leaving everyone amazed.​

View attachment 46360

This little sequence demonstrates what this show gets spectacularly right about the heroic goodness of Supergirl as a character, and how she functions as a positive example to ordinary folks... And this is exactly the thing that Man of Steel and its forthcoming sort-of sequel, Batman V. a Cast of Thousands, seemingly doesn't have any interest in portraying.

I know. It seems as though the entire superhero genre, once it Became Respectable and not just thought of as something to entertain kids, underwent this Dark Evolution. Good as Henry Cavill is, I still prefer the Christopher Reeve version of the iconic character. The '70s films had suspense and humor, and Superman comes off as somebody you'd like to know. I can't stand the old ABC TV series of Batman; it's far too silly for someone like me who grew up with Batman as a Sherlock Holmes in a cape and mask. But at least it was cheerful. The most recent trilogy of Batman films with Christopher Bale have gone with this Obsessed Dark Avenger character who strikes me as only marginally more sane than the Joker et al. Too gloomy.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Well, the Batman-is-nearly-as-crazy-as-his-Rogue's-Gallery trope is pretty well established at this point. However, the detective angle can still be applied, as in Batman: The Animated Series, which kept the darkness under control, giving you a brilliant investigator as well as a skilled fighter... and less of a borderline psycho. But then, B:TAS is probably destined to remain The. Best. Batman. Adaptation. Ever.

But Superman has always been the light counterpoint to Batman's darkness, and the unrelenting grimness of Man of Steel was a mistake. I agree that Cavill is excellent in the role (far better than Brandon Routh's Chris Reeve impersonation), and Amy Adams was born to play Lois Lane. My hope was that the second Superman film would pedal back the grim aspect and focus more on the positive side of the character, allegedly a "leader who will inspire humanity", picking up on Superman's original Moses template. But in Warner Bros./DC's lust to get their own Justice League series going - without taking the time to build carefully like the Marvel films did in the lead-up to The Avengers - they've seemingly gone even darker, and shoehorned in a new Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Lex Luthor, etc., without giving the Supes story adequate time to develop. (As I've said before: if I were Amy Adams and had been signed to "star" in three Superman films, I'd be annoyed that I'm probably only going to get about 15 minutes of screentime in this one!)

All of which makes DC TV series The Flash and Supergirl (but NOT Arrow or Gotham) a largely welcome return to the older upbeat superhero approach, one that embraces all the Silver Age goofiness that had us reading and loving this stuff way back when!

 

[Worf]

This is still the best line, showing how out of touch the upper class was!

Dammit Stearmen... I'd forgotten all about that line... I'm dying here! She might as well have said:

"Job? What's a Job?"

Worf

 

[Worf]

Well, the Batman-is-nearly-as-crazy-as-his-Rogue's-Gallery trope is pretty well established at this point. However, the detective angle can still be applied, as in Batman: The Animated Series, which kept the darkness under control, giving you a brilliant investigator as well as a skilled fighter... and less of a borderline psycho. But then, B:TAS is probably destined to remain The. Best. Batman. Adaptation. Ever.

But Superman has always been the light counterpoint to Batman's darkness, and the unrelenting grimness of Man of Steel was a mistake. I agree that Cavill is excellent in the role (far better than Brandon Routh's Chris Reeve impersonation), and Amy Adams was born to play Lois Lane. My hope was that the second Superman film would pedal back the grim aspect and focus more on the positive side of the character, allegedly a "leader who will inspire humanity", picking up on Superman's original Moses template. But in Warner Bros./DC's lust to get their own Justice League series going - without taking the time to build carefully like the Marvel films did in the lead-up to The Avengers - they've seemingly gone even darker, and shoehorned in a new Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Lex Luthor, etc., without giving the Supes story adequate time to develop. (As I've said before: if I were Amy Adams and had been signed to "star" in three Superman films, I'd be annoyed that I'm probably only going to get about 15 minutes of screentime in this one!)

All of which makes DC TV series The Flash and Supergirl (but NOT Arrow or Gotham) a largely welcome return to the older upbeat superhero approach, one that embraces all the Silver Age goofiness that had us reading and loving this stuff way back when!

Well I watch all the above mentioned shows EXCEPT "Supergirl". I'm up to my eyeballs in superhero television and movies. There's not enough room on my mental plate for another show. While I like the goofyness of "The Flash" I prefer when humor and light are used VERY sparingly in Superhero films and T.V. I KNOW how dark and unrelenting the "real" world can be. Except for super villains I know the mean streets of "Gotham" like the back of my hand. Bruce going off with Selina to learn what he truly needs to learn struck me as absolutely brilliant and logical. Alfred knows that world real well but couldn't/wouldn't teach Master B the real deal. What parent would willingly expose their child to such unrelenting terror, misery and pain? But in his heart, he knows that if Bruce is to grow and evolve he MUST learn these things and fast!

Worf

 

[Worf]

"The Family" - Well I'm well and truly hooked. Catch this if you can, don't know if it'll get renewed. In a nutshell a would be female politician has her son stolen. Ten years later he or someone pretending to be him, wanders into a police station with a harrowing tale of imprisonment, rape and torture. Problem is, they convicted a man for his murder ten years earlier. Along with that core nugget are a thousand other mysteries and herrings of all color's of the rainbow. Everybody's got some ulterior motive and nobody's what they seem. You could do worse.

Worf

 

[Doctor Strange]

Worf, I liked last night's Gotham episode a lot - which isn't always the case - and I agree with you right down the line. I don't have a problem with Batman stories being dark, the Batman world it IS dark.

But Superman (or his distaff cousin) is the yin to Batman's yang, and I prefer to see more optimism, hope, and a sense of power being used for good rather than massive destruction. Man of Steel made a mess of this, and I'm dreading Batman V... Maybe Zack Snyder - whose work on 300 and Watchmen I loved - just can't pull off the lighter stuff. Or maybe it's a mandate he's getting from WB/DC management in the wake of following Nolan's Batman films to avoid the humor/fun that punctuates even the darkest plotted Marvel Studios films. To enure that people don't confuse the DC and Marvel films. Of course, many will anyway!

 

[Zombie_61]

This is still the best line, showing how out of touch the upper class was!

What do you mean "was"?

Well, the Batman-is-nearly-as-crazy-as-his-Rogue's-Gallery trope is pretty well established at this point. However, the detective angle can still be applied, as in Batman: The Animated Series, which kept the darkness under control, giving you a brilliant investigator as well as a skilled fighter...

The "detective angle" is one of the things that has been largely missing from almost every one of the live-action theatrical releases, and it makes Wayne/Batman appear to be not much more than a rich thug who uses violence and gadgets to defeat the "villains". If Warner/DC were to treat these as "detective" stories with some occasionally necessary physical altercations rather than "action" stories with little intelligence, I think they would be better movies. On the other hand, the "kids" these movies are being produced for these days would probably find that boring and Warner wouldn't bring in as many "big blockbuster bucks", so what do I know?

 

[Vera Godfrey]

Hockey game

 

[Vera Godfrey]

Another episode of Miss Fisher

 

[Stearmen]

Another episode of Daniel Boone. Even though he never even carried his Kentucky Long Rifle once in this one, just the opening credits made me have a hankering to build another flintlock rifle!

 

[Fading Fast]

... But then, B:TAS is probably destined to remain The. Best. Batman. Adaptation. Ever....

I vaguely remember seeing a few episodes back in the '90s and being impressed, but your and Worf's comments motivated me to see if I could find them on line - legally - yesterday. Surprise, surprise, my Amazon Prime offering includes the entire series free to stream so I watched the first episode and was impressed. I like the dark, but not nihilistically dark, mood and, as noted, the Batman-as-detective angle is respected. I'm looking forward to watching more episodes.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Oh, how I envy you watching B:TAS for the first time! This series being produced as a kiddie-show tie-in was the best thing that came out of Tim Burton's Batman features. Let me count the ways:

1 - The overall concept and writing: Taking the best ideas from 50+ years of Batman stories and coming up with a grand synthesis, you get a Batman who is a detective as well as a brawler, and though his obsession often drives him right up to the line, he never crosses it. While grim and determined, he isn't humorless, and he PLAYs Bruce Wayne, not the other way around. The writing, spearheaded by the great Paul Dini (every episode with his name on it is brilliant) is at a shockingly sophisticated level for an afternoon kids show - particularly in its psychological astuteness. (E.g., its handling of Mr. Freeze and Two-Face finds levels of understanding/pathos never before seen in these gimmick-based villains) And while it's not arc-driven, with over a hundred episodes, there's time for plenty of detail and continuity.

2 - The look: One of the last animated shows done on painted cells before everything was computer-produced, it's got a handmade feel. While the show was animated by several cheap Asian animation houses (and is sometimes clunky or off-model), the designs and key poses were done by a very skilled American team headed by the great Bruce Timm. The "dark deco" look - partly achieved by painting the backgrounds on black rather than white - and retro styling (big cars, b/w TVs, fedoras, tommy guns... plus unique old-school title cards for each episode) - works like gangbusters with the clean character designs. It's frequently just gorgeous. (The show's last-season redesign, which streamlines and simplifies the characters, is less successful for me, but the writing/performances remain excellent.)

3 - The voices and music: Voice director Andrea Romano cast "voices with character", and they're all fantastic. I will never prefer anyone else's Batman to Kevin Conroy, or Joker to Mark Hamill, but right down the line (Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Dick/Robin, Barbara/Batgirl, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Leslie Thompkins, etc.), they're definitive. And EVERY episode has a completely original score, played by a 29-piece orchestra - it was nearly the last animated show to do this before it was all done with synthesizers. The music, much of it composed by the late Shirley Walker, is outstanding.

And what other series - animated or live-action - has an opening sequence so classy that it doesn't even show a title? It doesn't have to, because it gives you the perfect Batman intro!

I have nothing against the assorted live-action Batman adaptations or earlier/later cartoon series - they've all got good points - but B:TAS will always be my fave!

Excellent site about the show - http://anbat.toonzone.net/

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ Wow, that is an impressive analysis and only makes me more excited to watch them. I'll report back after I have a few more episodes under my belt.

 

[AmateisGal]

Fit to Fat to Fit. The only reason I watched this is because it was midnight and I had taken a four-hour nap (largely due to taking an allergy pill that knocked me out) and wasn't even tired and I wasn't in the mood for a Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin movie on TCM. Oh dear. The premise of this A&E series is that a professional fitness trainer gains 50 pounds or so in four months so that they can empathize with their clients and lose the weight together in another four months. There are so many things wrong with it I don't know where to begin. Yet, like a train wreck, I couldn't look away.

 

[Benzadmiral]

What do you mean "was"?

The "detective angle" is one of the things that has been largely missing from almost every one of the live-action theatrical releases, and it makes Wayne/Batman appear to be not much more than a rich thug who uses violence and gadgets to defeat the "villains". If Warner/DC were to treat these as "detective" stories with some occasionally necessary physical altercations rather than "action" stories with little intelligence, I think they would be better movies. . . .

Batman, as I knew him in the comics of the early Sixties, is Sherlock Holmes in a cape and mask. I recall one comics story that features a crook who's come to Gotham, offering (for big bucks) to change a person's fingerprints. If this is true, it would change law enforcement forever. To find out, Batman goes undercover as a criminal on the lam -- and discovers that the whole thing is a scam; the new fingerprints dissolve after a couple of weeks. When he reveals this, the criminal world turns on the enterprising scam artist. That I'd pay money to see in a new film.

Also, in all the Batman films to date, we have a push me-pull you technique: The villain makes a move, Batman counters it; the villain makes a move, Batman counters it, etc., until a big counter at the end. It would be a logical variation, and much more fun, if Batman were to set up the criminal and lead him into a sting operation, a la the TV Mission: Impossible. Can't Batman be proactive instead of reactive?

 

[Benzadmiral]

I vaguely remember seeing a few episodes back in the '90s and being impressed, but your and Worf's comments motivated me to see if I could find them on line - legally - yesterday. Surprise, surprise, my Amazon Prime offering includes the entire series free to stream so I watched the first episode and was impressed. I like the dark, but not nihilistically dark, mood and, as noted, the Batman-as-detective angle is respected. I'm looking forward to watching more episodes.

The detail I recall from B:TAS was a snippet in one of the title sequences in which, at night, the Joker fires a machine gun, and the flashes light his face like a stroboscope. I haven't been able to locate that on YouTube, and I'm beginning to wonder if my memory is playing tricks on me. Let us know if you run across that snippet -- and if you could post it, that would be great!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

The Americans returns tonight

 

[Fading Fast]

The detail I recall from B:TAS was a snippet in one of the title sequences in which, at night, the Joker fires a machine gun, and the flashes light his face like a stroboscope. I haven't been able to locate that on YouTube, and I'm beginning to wonder if my memory is playing tricks on me. Let us know if you run across that snippet -- and if you could post it, that would be great!

I will gladly keep an eye out for the snippet and post if / when I see it.