What was the last TV show you watched?

[Benzadmiral]

Caught up on this week's episode of Westworld. I remain completely unengaged. Yes, it's opulent, classy, well acted, and determined to keep up the surprises and mysteries. I'm watching because it is well done, allegedly important TV. But I honestly don't care at all about a single character or situation. It's all just robots spinning their wheels, even the biologically human characters.

I know Worf likes it, but does anyone else here?

I've just begun watching the first season. It's a quiet kind of entertainment, and you have to pay attention to what everyone is saying (which are good things). My only objection is in the presentation, a flaw it shares with most films/TV shows these days. At the end the credits list the small roles and the actors' names, but there is nothing like that for the major actors. I know Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins, and I suppose Evan Rachel Wood plays Dolores the "oldest" robot. But what are the other credits? Who plays Theresa, the QA director, for example?

I know; you can look them up on IMDb, and I have. But we shouldn't have to. The credits should be there somewhere in the product itself.

Aside from that, it's not yet a show I would rave about and tell people to watch, as I once did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But of course it's different kind of storytelling altogether.

 

[Benzadmiral]

It's weird, some of you may recall that for years I railed against Gotham, finding it confused, redundant, overdone, and - most significantly - an unacceptable backstory that didn't jibe with the basics of every version of Batman. Not with Bruce and Selina knowing each other as kids, the classic villains emerging BEFORE Bruce is an adult, Gordon having done so many terrible/illegal things rather than being the lone honest man in the GCPD...

Lots of folks here told me to forget about its changes to the Bat-canon, accept it as an Elseworlds origin story, and just enjoy it for its utter craziness. It took me years... but it finally happened. . . .

I once had a creative writing professor who insisted that you couldn't be a good writer without having your own personal oddities and stylistic eccentricities; he used to say, "You must have the courage of your kinks." Gotham has that courage in spades. It's a completely nuts, whacko riff on Batman that - to me, anyway - has improved as it's figured itself out. Maybe if I had liked it more at first I'd be fed up with it now... but I really enjoyed this season and am looking forward to seeing Bruce become the Dark Knight in next year's shorter final season.

I had the same reaction to the comedy soap-opera satire Soap when it first appeared. People I knew raved about it, but I didn't get it . . . until years afterward. One night, bored, I watched an episode in syndication -- and I realized. It was a comic strip! If you replaced Burt with a penguin (a la Bloom County), the stories would have been pretty much the same. Now, when an episode shows up, it's fun to revisit the '70s.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Could not agree more with both points: not really sure why we enjoy this show so much, but really hope it comes back.

One reason we like it is because our current "Golden Age" of TV does angst, apocalypse, depression, period drama and prime-time soap operas very well, but good, solid, lighter and funny shows seem a challenge. TMMM does light comedy well which is a relief from all the other smart brutal, angry, depressing, dystopian shows that dominate modern TV.

Mrs. Maisel was created and is helmed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (I suspect with help from her husband Daniel), the creator and producer of another machine-gun dialogue series, Gilmore Girls.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

My only objection is in the presentation, a flaw it shares with most films/TV shows these days. At the end the credits list the small roles and the actors' names, but there is nothing like that for the major actors. I know Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins, and I suppose Evan Rachel Wood plays Dolores the "oldest" robot. But what are the other credits? Who plays Theresa, the QA director, for example?

I know; you can look them up on IMDb, and I have. But we shouldn't have to. The credits should be there somewhere in the product itself.

Aren't they at the beginning of the show? Most main characters get credited at the beginning, or at least after the opening sequence. I do agree, though. A lot of TV shows are guilty of not sharing information, but I think that is more due to the networks and time restraints (not something HBO, Showtime, Starz, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube should commit). I often have to hunt down songs and music because they aren't to be found in the credits. I've even had to write networks (and never once received a response). I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous that someone is doing work and contributing to a production, yet you cannot find any information about them or it. That kind of thing is often not at IMDB either. It's nowhere. Really, really frustrates me. I'm more into music than I am any visual medium, so I HAVE TO know that stuff.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Aren't they at the beginning of the show? Most main characters get credited at the beginning, or at least after the opening sequence. I do agree, though. A lot of TV shows are guilty of not sharing information, but I think that is more due to the networks and time restraints (not something HBO, Showtime, Starz, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube should commit). I often have to hunt down songs and music because they aren't to be found in the credits. I've even had to write networks (and never once received a response). I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous that someone is doing work and contributing to a production, yet you cannot find any information about them or it. That kind of thing is often not at IMDB either. It's nowhere. Really, really frustrates me. I'm more into music than I am any visual medium, so I HAVE TO know that stuff.

The Westworld episodes display the names of the actors (in tiny print), but not the roles they play. In contrast, take the ancient and venerable Have Gun - Will Travel. Richard Boone's name is prominently displayed along with the title in the opening credits; and then, at the end, his name appears again: "Paladin . . . . Richard Boone," and the other speaking roles are also shown, with [Character Name] . . . . [Actor name].

If only we had some kind of useful road map to TV like, oh, what was it? Oh, yes -- TV Guide!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

The Americans. series finale. They left just enough things just enough open. Otherwise, yeah, just great. a solid ending, and I'm satisfied with that. The one thing about this series that I don't think it has in common with my other all-time favorites is that I'm not sure when I'll ever want to watch it again. My other favorites, I watch over and over again. To feel that feels strange.

Imposters. scripted on Bravo. I'm telling you. This show is very good and very fun.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Dipping in and out on the marathon screening of the "classic series" episodes of Doctor Who on the "Twitch" website. I can only watch this at work, given the computer requirements, but it's an engaging thing to have going in the background while I do office work. They're deep into the tenure of William Hartnell as the First Doctor, and the terrifying insectoid Zarbi are on the rampage. "Dear dear, this is very distressing, hm?" The episodes look much better than the woebegone 16mm prints my local PBS station screened decades ago, and I'm finding them a lot easier to watch than I did the first time around.

I'm amazed by the programming philosophy of "Twitch." Earlier this year they had a smash success with their marathoning of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," and they have an ongoing deal to show Bob Ross's "The Joy of Painting." 1980s PBS lives on thanks to a weird website for gamers. Who knew?

Wish they could get "The French Chef," "Book Beat" and the "Dick Cavett Show," and I'd have no need to ever watch any other channel.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Dipping in and out on the marathon screening of the "classic series" episodes of Doctor Who on the "Twitch" website. I can only watch this at work, given the computer requirements, but it's an engaging thing to have going in the background while I do office work. They're deep into the tenure of William Hartnell as the First Doctor, and the terrifying insectoid Zarbi are on the rampage. "Dear dear, this is very distressing, hm?" The episodes look much better than the woebegone 16mm prints my local PBS station screened decades ago, and I'm finding them a lot easier to watch than I did the first time around.

I'm amazed by the programming philosophy of "Twitch." Earlier this year they had a smash success with their marathoning of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," and they have an ongoing deal to show Bob Ross's "The Joy of Painting." 1980s PBS lives on thanks to a weird website for gamers. Who knew?

Wish they could get "The French Chef," "Book Beat" and the "Dick Cavett Show," and I'd have no need to ever watch any other channel.

This sounds wonderful! I miss classic Who. My local PBS used to show it late on Saturdays, but pushed it past midnight and then to near 2am. It was impossible for me to watch. They were never so kind as to show the Hartnell episodes.

Bob Ross? I would definitely watch these again!

How do I do this?

 

[LizzieMaine]

You'll find the basic site at www.twitch.tv. The Who stream is at https://www.twitch.tv/twitchpresents. It usually runs three complete serials a day starting at 11am Pacific time (2pm Eastern), and then repeats them in the evening. You'll find Brother Ross at https://www.twitch.tv/bobross/videos/all.

The Who stream seems to be skipping a few serials as it goes along -- both the incomplete ones and certain Dalek stories for which rights are in abeyance -- but most of the series is to be shown over a span of about seven weeks. They should hit the Second Doctor around the middle of this week, and on into the Third Doctor by early next week.

The chat feature running alongside the stream is something that depends on your tolerance for memes -- but I will say that some of the Who commentary has been hilarious. "LONDON 1965!"

 

[Formeruser012523]

Oh boy, Doctor Who memes. Many of those I have seen over the years. Not all great. I can suffer through. Thank you for the links.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I watched Westworld Season 2 episode 4 Riddle of the Sphinx. I’m really enjoying this series on HBO. Great cast and stories in multiple timelines. My favorite clip from episode 4 “death is always true”. Anti-hero Ed Harris as the Man in Black delivers justice to robots that have taken over a town in the park. A resurrected soldier/robot is forcing a woman to make her husband drink a shot glass of nitroglycerin.

What a great hat Ed Harris wears. It’s perfect for his character.

Steven

From your description, it sounds like Season Two is an improvement over One. Miss Linda and I finished the first season this weekend, and despite good surprises (when they arrive), fairly clued I suspect, and some decent action scenes (when they arrive), I found it kind of slow and talky. Maybe it was all too subtle for my childlike mind.

Right after it ended, I switched back to TV, and one of the channels was running Jurassic World with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. A vast improvement in tension and excitement over WW. It's true, you can't really compare them, a 2-hr. movie vs. a 7-8 hr. TV series. But even knowing what was to come, I found JW more exciting.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Right after it ended, I switched back to TV, and one of the channels was running Jurassic World with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. A vast improvement in tension and excitement over WW. It's true, you can't really compare them a 2-hr. movie vs. a 7-8 hr. TV series. But even knowing what was to come, I found JW more exciting.

You found Jurassic World better? Wow. With all the hype from the series (haven't seen it) figured it'd be better. My favorite part of JW has to be the guy that saves his two giant margaritas during the attack.

 

[Benzadmiral]

You found Jurassic World better? Wow. With all the hype from the series (haven't seen it) figured it'd be better. My favorite part of JW has to be the guy that saves his two giant margaritas during the attack.

It might just be that JW is more familiar to me. WW has Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins, fine performances by a lot of actors and actresses I'm not familiar with (though it's a shame that a couple of potentially interesting characters get bumped off early), and is a very thoughtful kind of series . . . but the crisp dialogue and neat-o action of JW is still a winner.

Gray: [referring to the raptors] What are their names?

Owen (Chris Pratt's character): This is Echo, this one's Charlie, this is Delta, and this one's Blue. Blue's the beta.

Gray: Who's the alpha?

Owen: You're lookin' at him, kid.

 

[MisterCairo]

The last episode of the last (third) season of Millennium and the follow-up episode "Millennium" from the X-Files.

There is a reason I had no memories of season three of my favourite show.

It was not good.

Except for the episode that co-starred the original line up of KISS.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Another episode of Mr. and Mrs. Murder, off of Acorn TV. There was only one season of the Australian series, so we are trying to eke it out as long as we can.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Babylon Berlin" Season 1, Episode 8

Yup, still outstanding TV. (Spoiler Alert) When living in a country of anomie with a violent underworld and surrounded by enemies, one needs a different morality standard than in a society where the rule of law, usually, applies. Hence, DON'T BURN THE FILMS that can be used as leverage against all those enemies despite some moral conscience about doing the right thing.

 

[Worf]

Sigh... Back on Deep Space 9... again. Funny, my heart is pure Klingon... but my soul is Ferengi to the core. And of course the two races despised each other most of the time. Quark was/is hella funny.

Worf

 

[LizzieMaine]

 

[Edward]

Quark and Odo wre the best Trek double act since the original series played off Spock and McCoy for light relief.

 

[MisterCairo]

Jeeves and Wooster, series one. I simply love that show.

I even have fun tracking the multiple actors playing the same role over the course of the series!