What was the last TV show you watched?

[Edward]

The Witcher - sword and sorcery kitsch with a somewhat wooden performance by Henry Cavill in the lead. He intones his dialogue in a deep, sepulchral manner that sounds like he's been processed post-sync. It's irritating and has a kind of "I'm Batman" quality to it. There's barely a genuine moment to be found here and although the show is as hokey as hell there is just enough charm peaking through the CGI cracks to get you through.

I've yet to see it myself, but suffice it to say that yours is the most positive reviews I've read of it to date.....

I'm currently working my way through the original (UK) Life on Mars again. Still holds up. THis time round (and with the benefit of where it's going) it's interesting seeing the clues and foreshadows in Gene and the gang. The evolution of the Hunt character from dinosaur to, well, hardly new man, but enlightened dinosaur at least, is wodnerfulyl portrayed. Gelnnister in particular is an actor who can say an awful lot with a nod and a look.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Brilliant show Edward! Loved it and the sequel with Keeley Hawes Ashes to Ashes.

 

[Edward]

Brilliant show Edward! Loved it and the sequel with Keeley Hawes Ashes to Ashes.

Ashes was interesting. I don't have the nostalgia for the Eighties that I do for the seventies (I think because I remember the eighties too well!), but it really won me over. The gag about the Blue Peter garden was genius. It didn't have as much to draw on in some ways by comparison to the fact that eighties police dramas in the UK weren't as definitive a thing - they existed, but not in the way that the seventies had the likes of The Sweeney, which, if you've ever seen any of it, you'll recognise as a huge part of what LoM riffs off (one reason the US version had to be so different - as with the pop culture far more generally, the US 70s cop shows were a whole nother beast entirely). For all that, Ashes really hit the mark. In particular I thougtht it was clever taking Gene Hunt from having been a man of his time into an era when the age of men like him was beginning to pass.

I also loved how Ashes manage to give the show the ending that LoM didn't get. Alex's narrative arc and the ultimate ending in A2A series 3 was what was originally planned for Sam, but John Simm had a young family and didn't want to spend the time away from home to do another series, so they came up with the idea of Ashes to Ashes to continue the narrative. Series 1 was establishing Alex, Series 2 was a bit of fun while they waited to see if the next would be the last, then when they got the go-ahead, they took series 3 to the end they wanted.

It was recently reported that they are working on a final ending to the whole thing - bringing back a lot of characters for a conclusion to Gene Hunt's World that will be partly in the 70s, partly the 80s, and partly an alternate "now", which will fill in the gaps with what happened to Sam and Annie and so on. I hope it's as good as the others, though they must be pretty sure it will be to revive it after ten years. No idea when we'll see it, as the Beeb currently isn't filming new dramas until the Covid-Crisis passes.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I did get the Sweeney connection as my parents used to watch it in the 70s. I'd like to see more in the vein of Life on Mars, provided the producers get the feel right as with the first two series.

 

[MisterCairo]

Watching Season 3 of "Marcella"...the most dysfunctional detective on TV but highly watchable if only to see what she screws up next.

I need to recap, and catch up the new season. Gripping stuff, and I adore Keeley Hawes. Watch the BBC CBC mini series Our Mutual Friend from 1998 to get a completely different take on her.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Downton Abbey. PBS. I've wondered how long they could constantly air this series, and now I know. PBS airing rights end on June 30.

 

[Touchofevil]

Alone on Netflix. It would be fun to see Les Stroud (Survivorman) competing with this group.

 

[belfastboy]

My wife and I are doing a "Polish TV" phase. Netflix...."Plagues of Breslau", "The Mire" and now "The Woods". All detective/crime dramas with stellar acting. The plot lines tend to be European in that they tend to be convoluted messes but still it is fun to watch something from somewhere else. So far the best is The Woods. Great characters, nice slow pace with believable back story and with just two episodes to go the plot is pretty straightforward with no real head slapping moments.

 

[Touchofevil]

The Andy Griffith Show and UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

We watched four of the Agents of SHIELD: Final Mission episodes that had stacked up on the dvr and really enjoyed the time travel twist. The noir episode, with agent Coulson narrating in voice-over, was especially well-done. The 70s era, with its Quinn Martin intro and vibe was hilarious.

 

[MisterCairo]

I am on season five of Longmire, and loving every second of it.

I have the family now watching Fear the Walking Dead, to catch up in anticipation of the new season starting up in August. I bought all five seasons, curiously only the first two seasons were available on Blu-ray, the last three I had to get on dvd. We are now into season two, and the girls are looking forward to more!

 

[ChazfromCali]

Watched the debut of (new) Perry Mason last Monday, looking forward to the next episode tomorrow. I do like Matthew Rhys. I think casting him in the role was somewhat 'out of left field' but it's inspired, I totally get it.

Quibbles: I have a problem with the extra's in this new Perry Mason. I've worked on 2 TV series and several movies as an extra, on Grimm I worked 3 1/2 seasons as a recurring extra, so I notice these things, ;-)

The daytime scene at Angels Flight where Perry chats with the cop drove me crazy, the crosses and movement by the extra's was LOUSY. Far too camera conscious. And the "man & wife" coming back the other way immediately after they had went the down the street was horrible. Whoever the A.D. was on that should be replaced.

The other thing: the CGI and lighting was not convincing enough for me. Kind of took me out of the story, altho' I already was out of the story after that Angels Flight scene.

Those things aside, lol, I enjoyed it.

 

[Zombie_61]

I am on season five of Longmire, and loving every second of it...

We started re-watching Longmire on Saturday night; up to the fourth episode so far. This is the second or third time watching it for my wife, and the fifth time for me.

...Quibbles: I have a problem with the extra's in this new Perry Mason. I've worked on 2 TV series and several movies as an extra, on Grimm I worked 3 1/2 seasons as a recurring extra, so I notice these things, ;-)...

When you really understand the "nuts and bolts" of how TV series and movies are made you lose a certain "innocence" that can never be regained. Even if I'm enjoying whatever I'm watching, I can tell they've lost me if I start to notice things like this.

 

[EngProf]

Watched the debut of (new) Perry Mason last Monday, looking forward to the next episode tomorrow. I do like Matthew Rhys. I think casting him in the role was somewhat 'out of left field' but it's inspired, I totally get it.

Quibbles: I have a problem with the extra's in this new Perry Mason. I've worked on 2 TV series and several movies as an extra, on Grimm I worked 3 1/2 seasons as a recurring extra, so I notice these things, ;-)

The daytime scene at Angels Flight where Perry chats with the cop drove me crazy, the crosses and movement by the extra's was LOUSY. Far too camera conscious. And the "man & wife" coming back the other way immediately after they had went the down the street was horrible. Whoever the A.D. was on that should be replaced.

The other thing: the CGI and lighting was not convincing enough for me. Kind of took me out of the story, altho' I already was out of the story after that Angels Flight scene.
I have never been anywhere near a movie or TV production set myself, but I agree with your comments about the "extras" and their unrealistic movement/walking in too many shows or movies. It's subtle and hard to describe, but like the Supreme Court judge's description of pornography, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."
It's particularly present in old Westerns - those people walking down the street are not really going anywhere.
Once you notice it the first time it's hard not to see it a lot.


Those things aside, lol, I enjoyed it.

 

[ChazfromCali]

Watched the 2nd episode of this new Perry Mason. As a fan, I'm enjoying it. although the theme seems a bit dark. Maybe that's what they're going for, 1932 height of the Depression, desperate people, etc.

As a critic, lol...... this episode seemed better. I thought the WW1 scenes were very well done, more realistic than they needed to be. By that I mean the set dressing, it "looked like a battlefield." Probably cost a lot of money to do those scenes.

It'll be interesting to see Perry's transition into being a lawyer. I'm assuming that will happen at some point? Unless the entire series is about him being a low-rent P.I.? We saw in episode 1 he was expressing his dissatisfaction with his lawyer to Della when they were standing in the hallway. I'm guessing that was his moment where he realized, "Hey I can do this better than them."

John Lithgow is perfect as E.B.

Also I want to see how Perry eventually hooks up with Paul Drake, who in this series is a black beat cop. In 1932 Los Angeles Drake is not going to have the access to certain parts of the society that Drake did in the Raymond Burr TV series. In this series maybe Drake enables Mason to have access to certain parts of the society that a white P.I. / Lawyer would not normally have?

Della? I'm kinda on the fence about the actress playing this role.

Matthew Rhys is an actor I want to root for. But he's a stoneface at times. The ending scene where he's listening to the street preacher I wanted to see some facial gestures, a tic ;-) Something!

Don't get me wrong. I'm in for the duration on this one, I do like it a lot.

 

[Edward]

I have the family now watching Fear the Walking Dead, to catch up in anticipation of the new season starting up in August. I bought all five seasons, curiously only the first two seasons were available on Blu-ray, the last three I had to get on dvd. We are now into season two, and the girls are looking forward to more!

I found it a real slow burn. Took me longer to get behind any of the characters than on the "main" show, but I like the different "feel". I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but this one somehow seems more "real world" than TWD - maybe because it's still so much earlier in the apocalypse timeline? Any case, I like it a lot. It's also a different viewer experience for me as a reader of the source material. TWD is like a sort of Chinese whispers version of the comic book - same key story arcs, similar group of characters, but different people in different roles in the group - Andrea in particular very different than in the comic book, as is Carol (in some ways, their roles are almost reversed). I think with the TV show they made a conscious effort to creatre more stronger, female leads. Rick also lost a hand to the Governor in the comic book. Lots of little variations like that. With FTWD, I have no idea where the story arcs are going, which brings in a nice element of surprise. If TWD keeping going, I have a feeling there are three or four series worth of story arc still left in the source material, though they may decide to cut the final one (which would be a shame, but...). The ultimate ending in the comic book cannot happen as written given changes in the fate of key characters, but a variation thereon is viable.

 

[MisterCairo]

I am on season five of Longmire, and loving every second of it.

I have the family now watching Fear the Walking Dead, to catch up in anticipation of the new season starting up in August. I bought all five seasons, curiously only the first two seasons were available on Blu-ray, the last three I had to get on dvd. We are now into season two, and the girls are looking forward to more!

Correction, the first three seasons I have are blu-ray.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Beecham House. PBS. I'm still not sure about this one. I like it, but I wanted to love it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Beecham House. PBS. I'm still not sure about this one. I like it, but I wanted to love it.

We wanted to like it too, but after two episodes, we've bagged. It was just too inconsistent and too sloppy about period norms (and trying too hard to virtue signal all its modern political correctness / identity politics) that we gave up.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

We wanted to like it too, but after two episodes, we've bagged. It was just too inconsistent and too sloppy about period norms (and trying too hard to virtue signal all its modern political correctness / identity politics) that we gave up.

I understand these shows need to include elements of romance, but they're so haphazard about it. Why are these people obsessed with each other? When did that happen? And then last night's episode had a huge jump in plot that pretty much came out of nowhere because of one of these unexplained, undeveloped obsessions. This show is similar to Poldark in how it wastes too much time on Teen Beat poster posing moments or riding a horse on a trail or another grandiose carriage arrival at a palace. And then they're following up the episodes with interviews with the creator, crew, and actors. The sales pitch is "she's the most creative person I've ever met" or "she's a genius", and I'm thinking, "That rubber never hits the road."