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What was the last TV show you watched?

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,247
Location
Midwest
Better Things. season finale. another beautiful episode. Someone (Adlon?) has a precise sense of what they are doing. The final sequence, which would normally be ho-hum for me, was perfectly imperfect. I watched it twice. As if these are home movies. Possibly the best season of TV since Mad Men? An entirely different animal, but such a clear, and successful, execution of what they're doing. I'm not ready for it to be over until next year. They nailed so much this season that it is uncanny. Witnessing greatness and genius.
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
"Cupid's Dagger," last week's episode of The Orville. Disappointing and cringe-inducing. For some reason, every attempt to redo the original Star Trek's "The Naked Time," in which the main characters' innermost desires are revealed, has been embarrassing (even ST: TNG's "The Naked Now" was pretty bad). This one did have the saving grace of Rob Lowe playing a charming blue-skinned alien. But that got erased by a plot development in which Seth Macfarlane's Captain Ed *falls for Lowe's alien* and *competes with his ex-wife for him*, and another involving the ship's doctor and a blob of protoplasm who is also an officer on the ship. Yes. Really.

Family Guy in space, indeed.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Stuck in living-in quarters, catching up on "have not seen that in ages" shows - so the first two episodes of season one of Heroes.

High five if you remember when that show was all that and a bag of chips...


I remember really enjoying the first series, then getting lost very quickly with the second. I think I just lost interest; it wasn't bad as such, but.... For my money, though, UK Channel 4's Misfits covered the same territory rather better - and without the pretentious voiceover from the Indian doctor character, which I always found detracted from the show.
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
"Cupid's Dagger," last week's episode of The Orville. Disappointing and cringe-inducing. For some reason, every attempt to redo the original Star Trek's "The Naked Time," in which the main characters' innermost desires are revealed, has been embarrassing (even ST: TNG's "The Naked Now" was pretty bad). This one did have the saving grace of Rob Lowe playing a charming blue-skinned alien. But that got erased by a plot development in which Seth Macfarlane's Captain Ed *falls for Lowe's alien* and *competes with his ex-wife for him*, and another involving the ship's doctor and a blob of protoplasm who is also an officer on the ship. Yes. Really.

Family Guy in space, indeed.

Actually there's an even more recent rip-off. On ST-DS9 there's an episode where Laxwana Troi is in the early stages of Betasoid menopause. One of the side effects being people who come in contact with her fall madly in love with anyone in proximity. As a result some very unusual pairings take place. All in all a well done comedy episode. The Orville episode is absolutely taken from this.

Worf
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
We finished season 4 (in the US, which I think is season 7 in the UK - according to the web anyway - and I have no idea why it's so confusing) of "The Great British Baking Show."

We've now seen them all, now what do we do?

And since we've seen US 1 - 4 which is UK 4 - 7, why are UK seasons 1 - 3 not available in the US? What's up with that?

I demand our right to watch incredibly impressive amateur English bakers create beautiful and complex pastries, pies and cakes inside a white tent pitched on the rolling lawn of an English Manor house all done under intense pressure and harsh judging.
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
We finished season 4 (in the US, which I think is season 7 in the UK - according to the web anyway - and I have no idea why it's so confusing) of "The Great British Baking Show."

We've now seen them all, now what do we do?

And since we've seen US 1 - 4 which is UK 4 - 7, why are UK seasons 1 - 3 not available in the US? What's up with that?
My guess is it has something to do with legalities and the show's name. According to IMDb, in 2014 they changed the name to "The Great British Baking Show". Before that it was known as "The Great British Bake Off", but in the U.S. "Bake Off" is a registered trademark owned by the Pillsbury company. :rolleyes:
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
My guess is it has something to do with legalities and the show's name. According to IMDb, in 2014 they changed the name to "The Great British Baking Show". Before that it was known as "The Great British Bake Off", but in the U.S. "Bake Off" is a registered trademark owned by the Pillsbury company. :rolleyes:

I'm sure you are right. But come on - it's a silly show about baking, they should get over the legal wrangling and give me my three extra seasons (in return for, what I am sure are, decent streaming revenues form the US market).

My cooking and baking skills are one teeny tiny step up from boiling water, but that doesn't mean I don't want to watch someone wrap butter (must be chilled or it will break up) inside pastry dough several times (covering the edges completely so that the butter doesn't leak out when baking) to make puff pastry.

I don't ask much from life anymore (I'm happy if there isn't a new pain or twitch from some part of my body in the morning), but darn it, I want my baking show. :)
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
Longmire, season 6, episodes 1 and 2. In the previous season or two they began dealing primarily with the personal problems of the main characters, and solving the crime-of-the-week seemed to be added as an afterthought if they dealt with that aspect of the show at all. As such, the show got a little too "soap opera-ish" for my tastes. So far, in season 6 they've returned to that balance between "problems" and "crime-of-the-week" that was present in the first three seasons, so I'm hoping they'll continue to do that.
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
"Firestorm," last week's installment of The Orville. In contrast to the previous episode (see my post at 15446), this one was well-done and quite creepy, with a rational explanation at the end. Of course Macfarlane's writers are riffing on Next Generation; with character name changes, this could have been a 2nd-season or later episode of that show. (And yes, there is still some silly humor in the wrong spots.) But it was entertaining and effectively filmed. When super-strong alien security officer Alana (Halston Sage) moves into action in the last act of the episode, the scene really worked.

Also last week's Riverdale, which is becoming darker all the time. Forget the cute teenagers of the Archie Comics. With drug dealers, attempted date rape (by a guest character, now!), and Veronica's father painted as a sort of Godfather, this is a modern world story for sure.
 
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AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
Season 3 finale of Poldark. ARGH. I read the book so I knew what was coming, but I was still furious. I won't put any spoilers here, but let's just say my high regard for Demelza dropped rather significantly.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
she earned her time to play

Nope. Not after all the stuff she said to Ross about being true. She did exactly what he did and felt justified in doing so. That's not how marriage vows work in my world. My ex cheated on me, but that didn't mean I turned around and did the same to him. I divorced him instead and kept my integrity intact.

Just my two cents.
 

Desert dog

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,291
Location
California
Longmire, season 6, episodes 1 and 2. In the previous season or two they began dealing primarily with the personal problems of the main characters, and solving the crime-of-the-week seemed to be added as an afterthought if they dealt with that aspect of the show at all. As such, the show got a little too "soap opera-ish" for my tastes. So far, in season 6 they've returned to that balance between "problems" and "crime-of-the-week" that was present in the first three seasons, so I'm hoping they'll continue to do that.
Since I had only seen the occasional episode, I have started at season one and am watching it all the way through. Currently halfway through season two. Very enjoyable!



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,247
Location
Midwest
Nope. Not after all the stuff she said to Ross about being true. She did exactly what he did and felt justified in doing so. That's not how marriage vows work in my world. My ex cheated on me, but that didn't mean I turned around and did the same to him. I divorced him instead and kept my integrity intact.

Just my two cents.
I hear you. I shouldn't have been so flippant, because I do agree with your sense of ethics and behavior. However, at that time, she wasn't going to divorce or leave him. She couldn't. I'm relatively certain the law was in full favor of the man, let alone a respected landowner (isn't Ross a nobleman as well?). She had no realistic "out" of their marriage. She couldn't even accuse him without hard proof of x, y, or z. Accusations could have gotten her thrown in prison for slander or whatever other nonsense the laws supported. The best she could do was to live a secret life and hope she didn't get caught. I also believe the laws would have come down very hard on her if she was caught with other men. Even without proof, someone like Ross could have possibly had her imprisoned for adultery. All he had to do is make the right accusations (if adultery wasn't enough to get her locked up). Of course, that isn't the type of relationship they have insofar as Ross being that vindictive. Also unrealistically, Ross possesses some level of self-awareness, which I would assume was not common at all in that time. It's one thing to be an ethical, idealistic person, but it is quite another to be self-aware. That's a whole other level of luxury to a person and to a relationship. He knows how much he sucks at the marriage game, and he knows she knows, too. He reeks of guilt.

She's guilty of being young and theoretical in her youth and immaturity in her preachiness. One of the ways her character is growing, even if it feels in a negative direction, is that maturing into less theoretical and more pragmatic...and also coming circle to honor who she is. Sure, she could live a puritanical life of unhappiness, but that would be going backwards into the household of her youth. As a young girl, she wasn't capable of that. She ran from her father and that life. She couldn't be a caged wild animal. She still cannot be. I think she would be willing to try harder and longer if the cost/benefit calculated. Do I applaud her for adultery? No, but given the time, her make-up, and Ross's behavior, she hasn't harmed any of my expectations of her. I have no less respect for her. A great person once said, "Everything's a situation." I haven't read the books, and because so much of this story isn't true to the period, for most of this season, I've expected them to adopt a "don't ask. don't tell." verbal agreement. An open marriage in the 18th century? As if. I really have. It's one of the luxuries of being willy-nilly anachronistic, as this story is. In such chaos, morality becomes relative.
 
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