What was the last TV show you watched?

[Fading Fast]

"The Best Thing I Ever Ate"

Which is like about half the other shows on the Food or Cooking Channel where some food "celebrity," in this particular series, tells us about one dish in some category - appetizers, crunchy, cheesy, etc. - that is the "best" one "ever" that they've had.

This show - and several similar ones - are like popcorn, you enjoy it at first, but can't consume too much in one sitting or have it too often.

The real money moment of these shows are when they highlight a place or dish you've been to, which happens quite often with NYC restaurants. Then you get to compare how you feel about the place or dish versus the "expert."

The other money moment is whey they show you a dish you really, really, really want to try and it's from a place in your city. We've tried pizza, french fries, ice-cream and cake from places based on this show.

 

[Touchofevil]

An episode of Preacher this week and some news and weather.
This morning I got caught up in a Rockford Files Marathon on The Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel. I hope this becomes a regular on this channel.

 

[MisterCairo]

Last week's Preacher, as we were camping in Algonquin Park.

Wow.

And even backwards - woW.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Marvel maniac that I am, I binged The Defenders minseries across two nights. Before my review, a recap of how I liked the earlier Marvel Netflix series leading to the team-up:

Daredevil - *** first season, ** second season
Jessica Jones - ****
Luke Cage - ***
Iron Fist - **

The Defenders is a lot of fun, and doesn't have nearly as much of the not-enough-story dragged-out feeling that hurt the earlier series. Part of that is due to only being 8 episodes rather than 13, and part is the large cast: two or three supporting characters from each earlier series also figure in this story. This doesn't mean the pacing isn't still uneven, but it's a less glaring problem than in the previous shows. The show is beautifully designed and shot, and manages to keep the distinctive looks and sounds of the earlier series when highlighting each character. (Ambient lighting from streetlights and neon signs cleverly provides their signature colors: reds for Matt, blues for Jessica, golds for Luke, greens for Danny.)

The strongest aspect of the show are the character interactions. It's a lot of fun watching these loner heroes coming to understand and trust each other. This being a Marvel production, there are plenty of comic moments, with Jessica Jones going to town as snarker-in-chief. Even Danny Rand/Iron Fist - who's insufferably dumb in his own series - comes off a bit better here. And while most of the important villains return from the earlier series, having a real movie star - Sigourney Weaver - as the big bad is inspired casting. Unsurprisingly, she's excellent.

As expected, most of the fight scenes are great, and when the team is finally assembled (which takes just a little too long), it's fascinating to watch them together. You've got super-strong brawlers Cage and Jones (who like Superman, depend on brute strength and have no martial arts technique) and world-class martial arts fighters Iron Fist and Daredevil (who like Batman, are superbly trained). If there's nothing here quite as astounding as that hallway fight early in the first season of Daredevil, there's solid action. That said, after Daredevil's second season and Iron Fist, I am really tired of endless waves of interchangeable ninjas as the opposition.

The writing... is uneven. As above, on the character level, it's very good. On the plot level, there are some really questionable choices. For me, it really went off the rails in the third act, with a series of decisions and revelations - and resolutions - that make no sense. (Of course, it takes a boatload of suspension of disbelief to accept a show about blind vigilantes, not to mention unbreakable-skinned and immortal-Iron-Fist-wielding dudes. But as far as it happening in New York City - not some bogus Gotham - with a feint towards making the legal and financial ramifications believable, there's a lot that rings false.) I was disappointed by the ending, but I can't explain why without getting into major spoilers.

Anyway, if you liked the earlier Marvel Netflix shows, you'll dig The Defenders.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Halt and Catch Fire. 2-hour season opener. The relationships are tired, but when I think about it, going through the history of computers isn't exactly new territory or greatly exciting. Just another story about relationships because it has to be, and a relatively average one at that. Another series that is smart to call it quits before it really outstays its welcome. I really appreciate this newish tendency to not just cancel a show after a disappointing season, but to give it a final season to close it all up. I think we were on the phone for maybe 45 minutes tonight? That's what I call: filler.

 

[MisterCairo]

Last night's Game of Thrones. One of the top three episodes ever in our view (wife and self). Really bummed out that this is a shortened season, it has been one of the best in our view.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Don't know that I'd call it one of the top episodes ever, but it was riveting (*), and a real game changer. A zombie dragon?!? Wasn't expecting that!

Kudos to director Alan Taylor, returning after having helmed some of the best episodes back in the first season that established the show (e.g., Ned's execution).

Anyway, the faster storytelling of the shortened season, the now completely ignoring believable travel times (**), the consistently outstanding effects work, and the show FINALLY being in its last-act endgame has made for some darn outstanding television.

(* Except for the Sansa and Arya plot, which is wheel-spinning bushwa. Even if less-mature-and-more-twisted Arya is taken in, Sansa KNOWS that Littlefinger lives to manipulate EVERYONE to his own ends, and should recognize his backstage machinations.)

(** How far is Eastwatch from Dragonstone? Even assuming a straight-line air route, neither ravens nor dragons fly fast enough to make this dues ex dragon rescue believable, unless they were stuck in the middle of that frozen lake for DAYS.)

 

[MisterCairo]

Monday's Preacher, before heading off for TD at Camp Borden, Ontario (six months of being away from home during the week, "visiting" on the weekends...).

Man, what a wacky ride that was!

"Humperdoo".

Enough said!

 

[Touchofevil]

Monday's Preacher, before heading off for TD at Camp Borden, Ontario (six months of being away from home during the week, "visiting" on the weekends...).

Man, what a wacky ride that was!

"Humperdoo".

Enough said!

That was an interesting/entertaining episode from moment one. Insane also comes to mind.

 

[Touchofevil]

A few episodes of Manhunt:Unabomber. Better done than I thought it would be.

 

[Touchofevil]

Last night's Game of Thrones. One of the top three episodes ever in our view (wife and self). Really bummed out that this is a shortened season, it has been one of the best in our view.

Good to hear. We are waiting until the season is over before we jump into the season.

 

[DesertDan]

Working my way through Twin Peaks on Netflix.
"The owls are not what they seem."

 

[Fading Fast]

Watched the first three episodes of Amazon's "The Last Tycoon."

• Gets better with each episode as the characters and plots are developing complexity; whereas, the first one (the pilot) tried too hard to do too much
• It's visually attractive with wonderful period details, but should have been shot in a "softer" color - it's very bright - which would have matched the feel better
• Fact and fiction are all mixed up (intentionally, this is billed as a period drama, not history), but it does bug me a bit to see history so distorted (and shows like this ultimately mess up my memory as I get confused about what really happened)
• Overall, I'm enjoying it, but am not sure if it will continue to improve or go downhill quickly - we'll see

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Insecure. As a white man, I'm finding this interesting and worthwhile in similar ways to Girls. I don't feel it is anywhere near as solid or as clever as Girls, but I have to acknowledge the likely possibility that I'm oblivious to half the referencing and culture in the show. I missed some of Girls, but it felt less foreign as well. I like this show, and I like most of the characters.

Phones make this new world a really strange landscape. The sky is blue.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I agree. I'm also watching Insecure as a 62-year-old white dude, just as I watched (and loved) Girls. I'm always interested in seeing different viewpoints and lifestyles, and as you indicated, Issa and her gang have a life that's quite different from my experience.

Full disclosure: I have to keep the closed captioning on so I don't miss a lot of the dialog, and all of the soundtrack lyrics that comment on the action.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Two more weeks to avoid the world. Enough time to avoid the Thrones storm? It's good that the world moves so quickly and doesn't loiter. At least in this case.

 

[Touchofevil]

More Manhunt:Unabomber, Preacher and an episode of The Andy Griffith Show.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Two made-for-tv movies, off the Hallmark Channel: Autumn in the Vineyard: attractive young folks both claim ownership to a vineyard, and relational highjacks ensue. Then, Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room, the one about the real estate agent trying to move a historic mansion.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Srugim" via Amazon streaming (you end up watching some quirky ones when you just pick something by scrolling around Amazon Prime's free streaming options)

• And this is one of those quirky ones, it's an Israeli production of a soap opera / drama centered on very religious young adults who live in a insular community in Israeli where their main goal - owing to their religious beliefs and customs - is to find someone to marry and start a family

• It's funny to see young adults who have most of the same issues as all young adults - starting or finding career paths / adjusting to taking on adult responsibilities / dealing with family and evolving friendships - not have casual sex (the truly don't) and be singularly focused on dating to get married (the opposite of how most twenty year olds date today)

• We've seen enough episode now that we're engaged with both the characters, who are well drawn, and the plot lines, which, overall, have a good arc, but are sometimes sacrificed for a quick conflict-climax-conclusion cycle

• For those of us not familiar with the specifics of the Jewish religion, it's both educational and different to see this religious world
  • Which is shown to be a subset of the broader Israeli society: Being "religious" or "not-religious" clearly puts you in different cultural spheres in Israel itself as the two worlds interact in business, but seem to keep pretty separate when socializing

 

[Benzadmiral]

A rerun of part 1 of Secrets of the Six Wives, a rather tabloid-ish visit to the court of Henry VIII. Some of you may have seen it last year. Each segment focuses primarily on one of Henry's six spouses. Part One, of course, is Catherine of Aragon. The actress, Paola Bontempi, is Spanish, so her accent (Catherine, as we all know, was from Spain) is very effective, as was she. I'm just not sure that having little blonde TV presenter and former building curator Lucy Worsley actually dress in period outfits, and take part in various dramatic scenes, is the right thing to do. But it makes for interesting TV, which is why I say it's "tabloid-ish."