What was the last TV show you watched?

[BobHufford]

Watched the first season of "Fargo" after my 29-year-old daughter left her Hulu account signed on to our TV. That should mess with her "recommendations" (and teach her to use our bandwidth while we are gone). We are enjoying the series so far.

 

[Benzadmiral]

If any of you have MeTV ("Memorable Entertainment" Television), this week at 11:30 pm Central they are running episodes of the old Banacek series from the '70s -- one of the NBC Mystery Movie group that also featured McCloud and Columbo. George Peppard's Banacek is a Boston insurance investigator, and in each 90-minute story he runs across an impossible theft or disappearance. A football player on national TV vanishes from the middle of a pileup on the field; an experimental and valuable car vanishes from the middle of a train that never stopped; and more.

This was the John Dickson Carr "locked room" technique brought to TV, never an easy thing to write, but done superbly, as I recall.

Caught the first regular episode of Banacek, "Let's Hear It for a Living Legend," in which the "football player vanishes" scenario I mentioned above plays out. It was quite good, almost like an entire mystery novel in the details and red herrings; and the solution was elegant and astonishingly simple -- rather like the explanation of a stage magician's disappearing trick. Looking forward to "Project Phoenix," about the vanishing experimental car.

 

[Stearmen]

Wheeler Dealers: Rover P5. Never realized what a nice looking car they were. Two tone, blue and silver makes a big difference in looks!

 

[Stearmen]

American Pickers. Not enough memory bleach, or Psychiatric help in the world to get rid of that episode! Spoiler alert, and public health warning! A Harley Knucklehead with sidecar, ridden by a 70+ year old man, wearing a white cloth helmet and googles, with a yellow Speedo.

 

[Worf]

^^^^THIS.

Also, I would definitely dispute the definition of "evil" being bandied about here. We all know what true evil looks like - Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Himmler - and using "evil" to describe Mary is just flat wrong, IMO.

Most of us in this country have never met the face of evil with a big "E"... That's reserved for the folks you mention and rightly so. But we've all had some dealings with evil people with a small "e". Racist cops, nasty petty bosses and supervisors, petty lying relatives, repugnant parents, children or siblings... psychotic coaches. Mary falls into this latter category. Her evil was/is up close and personal, kiss Edith whilst putting the knife between her ribs. I've seen evil with a small "e" many times... up close and personal, maybe that's why I feel as strongly as a do. Stalin, Hitler et. al. I know of in the abstract in books, films and histories... The Mary's of this world we meet.... face to face....

Worf

 

[Worf]

Let's not forget, Edith fired off one massive howitzer blast when she notified the Turkish Embassy of Mary's involvement with Mr. Pamuk which had the potential to destroy Mary's reputation and future - that was a big deal in those days and in that society. Maybe that was deserved for the constant beatdown she took from Mary, but that was a major escalation in the scope of battle. My point, Edith took part in the war, she wasn't just a civilian huddling in a bomb shelter.

True enough and Mary STILL didn't pay the price for her sins... Edith couldn't even get that right... She's never won, never beaten her in ANYTHING and probably never will.... But I'm probably too close to this subject... I've lived too long... seen too much.

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

Has anyone watched a sitcom called "Younger?" The premise is a 40 year old divorce presents herself as a 26 year old because no one will hire a 40 year old intern. She moves out of the suburbs, gets a job in publishing in NYC, moves into Brooklyn with a girlfriend and, effectively, starts a new life, but can't completely disassociate from her old one.

It's a silly show that hits on all the angles the premise inspires: a young boyfriend who, initially, doesn't know she's forty, a college-age daughter who has to adjust to her mom playing in her age bracket, old friends both bemused and jealous, a man of her age whom she likes, but she can't approach honestly because he believes she's 26. It's silly, gimmicky and fluff, but darn it, I enjoy it. There, I said it. I like this stupid show. Anyone else?

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

A few more thoughts on Mine Wars on PBS. The West likes to think it fundamentally superior to the East (more specifically, China of today), but if you took away organized labor and regulation, you'd have unbridled capitalism (we're getting close again). Capitalism does not have an inherent component of conscience or ethic. Corporate culture would devour our environment. They'd treat lives as labor commodity. In other words, we'd function much like China does now. All the libertarians, and some other types of conservatives, who think the market would react quickly enough to protect things like environment, ourselves, our children...well, we have no track record of that being the case. We give a corporation an inch, and they take a mile. It's not even necessarily about greed, but more about power. Walmart doesn't want to beat the competition. They want to destroy it. There's a huge difference. And to beat on Walmart a little more, I think of how they have government programs worked into their strategy for wages. Part-time the heck out of your employees. Have pamphlet stands in the break rooms how to apply for food stamps and health care. It's control and servitude of a contemporary color.

Sorry for the diatribe. It amazes me that a program like The Mine Wars can be perceived as something of the past, because that kind of thinking and process is very much alive today. Not a whole lot has changed, and if we don't keep our heads straight, nothing will have changed.

 

[Edward]

Let's just be careful to steer the discussion away from contemporary politics.

 

[Stearmen]

Wheeler Dealers: Fiat Panda. I really like the little car. The aggressive tires and snorkel, if they just would have put a tubular brush guard out front.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Spread out over the dvr and the streaming service this week was Downtown Abbey, Agent Carter, and then Flash for the Missus and Youngest Shellhammer. We finished the Christy series on dvd (watching a tv show on dvd is acceptable, right?) and started Road to Avonlea, S1E1. Got the box set with all seven seasons for my wife for Christmas.

 

[Touchofevil]

Some UFC (nice ko, Wonderboy) and a few episodes of Ripper Street.

 

[Touchofevil]

Super Bowl 50: too stressful!

 

[William G.]

I'm not into football so I've been watching Mad Men on Netflix all day. I'm halfway through season 6 now, about to fall asleep.

 

[AmateisGal]

Downton Abbey. Gosh, is it possible that I actually feel sorry for Mr. Barrow after all the harm he has done to others? Yet I do.

 

[Stearmen]

MythBusters! So which is the best way to kill zombies? Guns, ax, or chain saw?

 

[Worf]

"Mercy Street" - Kinda like "Downton Abbey" lite as it follows the other. Not GREAT but not entirely awful. Lots of cardboard characters, brutal slavers, kind, wonderful whites... not a lot of greys... The requisite "evil" nurse and martinet doctor. Morphine addiction easily licked in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it'll get a little more interesting as time goes on.

Worf

 

[MisterCairo]

MythBusters! So which is the best way to kill zombies? Guns, ax, or chain saw?

Yes.

 

[MisterCairo]

As I have season two of Penny Dreadful blu ray on order, I thought I'd catch up on where season one left off, so while my wife prepped for her new semester of teaching, I watched the last three episodes again. Great stuff and looking forward to the next season!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Downton Abbey. Gosh, is it possible that I actually feel sorry for Mr. Barrow after all the harm he has done to others? Yet I do.

Thanks to good writing, both story and character, and character development. In my opinion, the mark of a timeless series and piece of art. People can and do change, and as a writer, why not take advantage of that expanse? Why writers imprison their characters is baffling to me, particularly when they come way of a series. You've got the time and space. Why not use it? It's like watching Castle and watching Becket make the same mistakes and decisions for 8 seasons. Why? What's the point of that? And as an audience, why do I put up with it?