What was the last TV show you watched?

[scottyrocks]

As for series television, the only one I have been watching recently is Ray Donovan. I enjoy it, but if I suddenly couldn't watch it anymore I wouldn't be disappointed.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Caught a few episodes of Burke's Law and of its spinoff, Honey West, from the Sixties.

Burke's Law had style, good mystery plotting, eccentric characters, and decent solutions to the mysteries. ONe story featured a magician, who (a la Houdini's escape tricks) submerges in a coffin in a pool. He doesn't come up. The coffin is hauled out . . . and Mr. Magician is dead -- of a gunshot wound, not drowning. John Dickson Carr would have approved. It's a shame the producers decided to revamp the series and jump on the James Bond wagon by turning BL into Amos Burke: Secret Agent. (I saw the first episode last year. It looked like an inexpensive Eurospy knockoff.)

Honey West had style too, and had to move fast, as it was only 30 min. long. Honey, as played by Anne Francis, was more than competent, did not depend on her partner Sam for everything (nor did he depend solely on her), and was way ahead of her time. Anne had a neat ability to make her characters look like they were really thinking -- Honey, here, her villainess Gervaise Ravel on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and anything else she was in. And she really sold the character; there was a clip shown on Decades with Honey leveling her revolver at the firing range, and she looked like a pro.

HW had a too-cute opening montage and theme; the noir-ish, jazzy end theme would have been better suited to open the show. Still, it managed to rack up an entire season at a time when nearly all crime shows were going to color and to 60-minute lengths.

 

[Zombie_61]

The pilot episode of The Orville. Created by Seth MacFarlane, the show is a loose parody of, and homage to, Star Trek. As pilot episodes go, it did what it was supposed to do--establish the premise and the characters--but not much more. Occasionally blending a watered-down version of MacFarlane's usual sarcastic/bathroom humor with action sequences, if they were going for "semi-humorous by-the-numbers sci-fi dramedy series", they've succeeded. It's difficult to "telegraph" in a single episode what a television series might become, but if this is the best they can do I'll be surprised if it lasts a full season. It wasn't horrible, but there was nothing special about it.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Honey West had style too, and had to move fast, as it was only 30 min. long. Honey, as played by Anne Francis, was more than competent, did not depend on her partner Sam for everything (nor did he depend solely on her), and was way ahead of her time. Anne had a neat ability to make her characters look like they were really thinking -- Honey, here, her villainess Gervaise Ravel on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and anything else she was in. And she really sold the character; there was a clip shown on Decades with Honey leveling her revolver at the firing range, and she looked like a pro.

HW had a too-cute opening montage and theme; the noir-ish, jazzy end theme would have been better suited to open the show. Still, it managed to rack up an entire season at a time when nearly all crime shows were going to color and to 60-minute lengths.

I've been aware of "Honey West" forever, but don't remember ever seeing an episode; so, based on your comments, I streamed the pilot yesterday.

It struck me as very similar to other '60s shows like "The Saint," early "The Avengers" and "Peter Gunn." All are very stylish in a '60s cool way with attractive, fresh-to-the-period stars, "faster" plots and, IMHO, more style over substance - you either buy into the cool vibe (theme music and "artsy" intro included) or not as the stories (with some individual episode exceptions) were lather-rinse-repeat.

I enjoy these shows for the style as noted and the time travel, but find, most of the time, I'm a bit bored with the plots as they are, overall, two dimensional and too similar. That said, it was fun to see a female lead (cute as heck Anne Francis) with, for that time, a strong, I-can-handle-myself-with-the-boys-thank-you-very-much attitude, which echoed Emma Peel.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I've been aware of "Honey West" forever, but don't remember ever seeing an episode; so, based on your comments, I streamed the pilot yesterday.

It struck me as very similar to other '60s shows like "The Saint," early "The Avengers" and "Peter Gunn." All are very stylish in a '60s cool way with attractive, fresh-to-the-period stars, "faster" plots and, IMHO, more style over substance - you either buy into the cool vibe (theme music and "artsy" intro included) or not as the stories (with some individual episode exceptions) were lather-rinse-repeat.

I enjoy these shows for the style as noted and the time travel, but find, most of the time, I'm a bit bored with the plots as they are, overall, two dimensional and too similar. That said, it was fun to see a female lead (cute as heck Anne Francis) with, for that time, a strong, I-can-handle-myself-with-the-boys-thank-you-very-much attitude, which echoed Emma Peel.

That's usually the problem with 30-min. drama/cop shows; they have no time for in-depth characterization and major plot twists. Peter Gunn managed it to a degree, not so much with Gunn himself but with the eccentric characters he meets in the course of each story, and with Herschel Bernardi (the original voice of Charlie the Tuna!) as his long-suffering cop contact/friend. But otherwise, the scripts are quite a bit alike.

The same was true, literally, on some Westerns. An early Trackdown with Robert Culp featured his character, Hoby Gilman, escorting a wagonload of criminals to prison, while being trailed by the brother of one of their victims, intent on revenge. Then Wanted Dead or Alive did the same script a year or two later -- written by the same people. Trackdown featured a tale where Hoby rescues the only survivor of a stagecoach robbery, a baby; an earlier Cheyenne, an hour show, started off with the same premise. You ain't lived, I tell ya, until you've seen clean-shaven bear of a man Clint Walker holding a baby in swaddling clothes in his arms --!

 

[Benzadmiral]

The pilot episode of The Orville. Created by Seth MacFarlane, the show is a loose parody of, and homage to, Star Trek. As pilot episodes go, it did what it was supposed to do--establish the premise and the characters--but not much more. Occasionally blending a watered-down version of MacFarlane's usual sarcastic/bathroom humor with action sequences, if they were going for "semi-humorous by-the-numbers sci-fi dramedy series", they've succeeded. It's difficult to "telegraph" in a single episode what a television series might become, but if this is the best they can do I'll be surprised if it lasts a full season. It wasn't horrible, but there was nothing special about it.

I admire Seth MacFarlane; he's got one of the best TV/radio voices I've ever heard. But his usual humor isn't my style. There have been episodes of Family Guy that I liked; their Star Wars parodies, for example. Far too often, though, his writers go the route of "Look how outrageous/transgressive we're being" without actually being very funny.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Hate to hear this about The Deuce. They've been giving such great interviews and background on the show. I could very easily see it going way of Boardwalk Empire though. For me, that is. Super into the first couple of episodes, and then find neither the story nor the characters are sticking to the wall. Where a couple quirks take the place of substance or someone actually interesting or charismatic.

 

[MisterCairo]

An episode (they are tv movies essentially) of Dalziel and Pascoe. Fourth series, episode one "On Beulah Height".

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Better Things. season opener. good episode. love the way she handled Max in the laundry room. "I told you so." is never the smart option. Make it about you...and it will be about you.

 

[Touchofevil]

The finale to Manhunt:Unabomber

 

[Zombie_61]

I admire Seth MacFarlane; he's got one of the best TV/radio voices I've ever heard. But his usual humor isn't my style. There have been episodes of Family Guy that I liked; their Star Wars parodies, for example. Far too often, though, his writers go the route of "Look how outrageous/transgressive we're being" without actually being very funny.

For me, much of the time Seth MacFarlane's humor works not so much because of what's being said, but because of the way it's presented--the deadpan/sarcastic delivery and the timing of the rapid-fire banter between characters. When he's working with actors, directors, and editors who understand this, even a line that isn't particularly funny can seem to be comedy gold. One brief example of this in The Orville's pilot episode was between Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) during the demonstration of the "temporal field" device:

Ed Mercer: So, it's an anti-banana ray?
Kelly Grayson: It's really interesting.
Ed Mercer: We need no longer fear the banana.
Kelly Grayson: Does it work on all fruit?
Ed Mercer: What about salads?

Reading those lines as I've typed them, it seems like an uninteresting conversation. But between the delivery and the way it's edited with MacFarlane and Palicki nearly stepping on each other's lines, to me it's possibly the funniest five seconds of the episode. Of course, for people who don't understand or like sarcasm, it probably wasn't.

 

[Touchofevil]

UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch
I really miss the days when martial arts fighters were humble and showed respect for their opponents. There is way too much angry trash talking nowadays.

 

[Fading Fast]

For me, much of the time Seth MacFarlane's humor works not so much because of what's being said, but because of the way it's presented--the deadpan/sarcastic delivery and the timing of the rapid-fire banter between characters. When he's working with actors, directors, and editors who understand this, even a line that isn't particularly funny can seem to be comedy gold. One brief example of this in The Orville's pilot episode was between Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) during the demonstration of the "temporal field" device:

Ed Mercer: So, it's an anti-banana ray?
Kelly Grayson: It's really interesting.
Ed Mercer: We need no longer fear the banana.
Kelly Grayson: Does it work on all fruit?
Ed Mercer: What about salads?

Reading those lines as I've typed them, it seems like an uninteresting conversation. But between the delivery and the way it's edited with MacFarlane and Palicki nearly stepping on each other's lines, to me it's possibly the funniest five seconds of the episode. Of course, for people who don't understand or like sarcasm, it probably wasn't.

Get it and agreed.

For my money (I know Macfarelane birthed "Family Guy" and while I don't know if he wrote this specific scene, it's in his style), the "Cool Whip" scene in "Family Guy" is one of the best ever in that style. I can laugh about it just remember it in my head.

 

[Touchofevil]

A couple of episodes of Fear the Walking Dead.

 

[MisterCairo]

The return of Fear The Walking Dead, double episode (awesome!!!), and the last two episodes from season two of Peaky Blinders because OH MY GOD NETFLIX CANADA FINALLY HAS IT AND! AND! AND! THEY HAVE SEASON THREE WHICH FOR SOME DAMNED REASON IS NOT AVAILABLE IN NORTH AMERICAN BLU-RAY FORMAT YET!

 

[Zombie_61]

...For my money (I know Macfarelane birthed "Family Guy" and while I don't know if he wrote this specific scene, it's in his style), the "Cool Whip" scene in "Family Guy" is one of the best ever in that style. I can laugh about it just remember it in my head.

That was one of those great "non sequitur" moments in the show's history, and it always reminds me of a clip from an entirely different show. Years ago actor Tony Randall was on one of those game shows where the goal is to get your partner to guess a specific word; in this case the word was "weather". Mr. Randall used the word "whether" in his clues, and the penalty buzzer sounded. After his turn Mr. Randall questioned the penalty, argued his use of "whether" and not "weather", and when the judges reviewed the recording they discovered he had indeed pronounced "whether" with the emphasis on the "h". They conceded, and he and his partner were awarded the point.

 

[Fading Fast]

That was one of those great "non sequitur" moments in the show's history, and it always reminds me of a clip from an entirely different show. Years ago actor Tony Randall was on one of those game shows where the goal is to get your partner to guess a specific word; in this case the word was "weather". Mr. Randall used the word "whether" in his clues, and the penalty buzzer sounded. After his turn Mr. Randall questioned the penalty, argued his use of "whether" and not "weather", and when the judges reviewed the recording they discovered he had indeed pronounced "whether" with the emphasis on the "h". They conceded, and he and his partner were awarded the point.

Something I have learned from FL is that nothing is entirely original or first. I have no idea if Macfarlane saw that episode of "The Odd Couple" (I bet he did) or if it influenced his "Cool Whip" scene, but it was "out there" forty or so years prior.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I watched the first episode of Ken Burns' massive Vietnam doc series on PBS. Not surprisingly, it was very well done. It pulled me in, even though I had no intention of watching it.

I'd planned to watch the second episode of The Orville to see if it's still worthless, but the ball game ran long and as of 8:30 it hadn't started yet.

I also watched a little of the Emmy Awards, but I wasn't especially interested this year. However, in looking over the winners list today, I saw some things I am happy about. Most notably that the single best-written and executed half-hour episode of anything I watched last year - Master of None's "Thanksgiving" - won Best Writing in a Comedy Series.

 

[Fading Fast]

I watched the first episode of Ken Burns' massive Vietnam doc series on PBS. Not surprisingly, it was very well done. It pulled me in, even though I had no intention of watching it.

I'd planned to watch the second episode of The Orville to see if it's still worthless, but the ball game ran long and as of 8:30 it hadn't started yet.

I also watched a little of the Emmy Awards, but I wasn't especially interested this year. However, in looking over the winners list today, I saw some things I am happy about. Most notably that the single best-written and executed half-hour episode of anything I watched last year - Master of None's "Thanksgiving" - won Best Writing in a Comedy Series.

I recorded and plan to watch only because it's Burns. Like so many of us, I have too many personal touches to the war to have any real desire to watch a documentary on it, but his work is so good, that I'm going to make an exception and watch it. That said, I wish he had chosen another subject as now I'll have to wait half a decade or more to get a doc from him on a subject that doesn't make me very sad.

I was never a big fan of award shows, but ever since Hollywood decided to turn them into political self-aggrandizement obnoxiousness, I've completely stopped watching and only pay peripheral attention to the results. I don't even know if it was nominated, but I saw that "The Man in the High Castle" didn't win any major awards .

 

[Benzadmiral]

The 2nd episode of The Untouchables, focusing on Eliot Ness's battle with Ma Barker and her boys. It starts with Ness and his Feds cornering Ma and two of her boys in a house in Florida; lots of machine gun bursts ensue. Then, flashback to show how it all got started, with Ma encouraging her boys in lawlessness. Ma was played by Claire Trevor of Key Largo fame, and the hatcheck-girlfriend of one of the sons was played by . . . Louise Fletcher, who was a major hottie in 1959. I always get her mixed up with Ellen Burstyn, whom I've seen on a couple of old Perry Masons and who was pretty scalding herself back then.

I've also taped (I hope) the 2nd episode of The Fugitive, and plan to watch it this week and report.