What was the last TV show you watched?

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Trust. FX series. This one was difficult to gauge. I didn't care about any of the characters or the situation, yet it yielded a couple of really good episodes in the final half of the season. Very Godfather-esque, and they didn't fail to live up to that quality. The Italian actors were really good, and Hilary Swank was fantastic. I don't know whether I'd recommend this to anyone or not. Oddly, they finished the kidnapping at the end of the ninth episode. The tenth and final episode appears to be dedicated to the situation the kidnapping created for Italy and the world? Prematurely, I'm liking how they did this. We'll see.

Little Women. PBS mini-series. It was fine. It wasn't great. If I have any opinion, it felt rushed.

 

[Edward]

I've been watching a bunch of downloaded Netflix content while here in Beijing again. First couple of episodes of the television series Romper Stomper, about the Australian far right. Chilling stuff, all too realistic. They made a good decision to focus not only on the far right characters in this (the series is a loose sequel to the 1992 film of the same name) or I think it would be unwatchable. Very well made indeed, high quality drama, but very few sympathetic characters in it. I'm hoping for some serious retribution to be suffered as it goes on!

Also been watching series 1 of Timeless -it's quite fun. Has something of the feel of Sliders(?) or Quantum Leap about it.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I like Timeless. It is not quite a great show, but it has an appealing cast, good production values, and is sometimes as clever as it thinks it is. The series was retooled a bit in the second season, but it's not really an improvement.

But I like it enough that I hope it gets another season. Last time I checked it wasn't yet renewed OR canceled.

 

[Doctor Strange]

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?

 

[Formeruser012523]

I love Timeless. Hope the fans can pull off the miracle they pulled off last year of rescuing the uncancellation of the show. They actually changed NBC's mind. Read something recently that showed that William Shatner is watching this with close eyes because this is the same thing the fans did for Star Trek over 50 years ago. There's so much love for the show. Here's hoping.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I was one of those from-day-one Trek fans who wrote to NBC in 1968, but my similar efforts since (e.g., My So-Called Life, Agent Carter) haven't worked as well!

I wish Timeless was just a little better, it's close to being an excellent show, but the plotting is so variable. There are things about it that are really clever... and some that are distressingly dumb (like its love triangle: I expect and put up with that sort of thing on CW superhero series, but it doesn't belong here). It is in many ways a pretty classic old-fashioned network series, an updated Time Tunnel (though unlike that show, it doesn't entirely rely on footage from the Fox film library to recreate historical events!) - a bit stolid and old-school despite its high tech setting. Where it's most clever are the ways in which it slightly changes history that only those on the time machines notice. But geez, the whole overarching Rittenhouse Illuminati plot has been done to death.

But I do hope it survives, it's a cool little SF show with a charming cast. I have been enjoying it more than uber-hyped stuff like Legion and Westworld.

 

[Formeruser012523]

I do suspect something different with Flynn and have surprised myself with how much I have grown to love the character in the 2nd season. His sympathetic villain makes me think that his connection to Lucy is something different than the possible red herring of the love triangle that I so hate.

Don't want to throw out in public what I think for those who've yet to see season 2.

 

[Doctor Strange]

You are probably correct. The final scene (*) of the season finale apparently hints at major developments. And yes, Flynn has proven to be a much more shaded and interesting character than expected.

Agreed we should keep it vague, since folks like Edward are still on the first season.

(* Due to an usual DVR snafu, I missed the last ten minutes! So I only know what I've read in recaps. I will catch up with it when this episode shows up on demand... but on demand broadcast shows - at least on my cable system - cannot be fast-forwarded, so I'll have to start this two-hour episode and walk away for around 100 minutes!)

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Game of Thrones talk...I just heard about a deleted scene where Sansa had gone to Bran, to use his visions, to understand Arya's motives etc, which is why she had a change of heart about Arya, which then is why she accused and executed Little Finger. Um...does anyone else think that would have been a great scene to have included in the final edit? Personally, I thought the way they did it seemed like a cheap "We fooled ya, audience. Arya and Sansa weren't ever at odds." Yes, there were situations where Bran proved his visions, like when talking about Arya's list at the tree, but I don't feel those hints were enough to earn Sansa believing in Arya. I hated how the entire Sansa/Arya relationship was told and unfolded in season 7. It felt like a dupe, and with a couple of key scenes, one of which appeared to be filmed, it didn't have to feel like they were manipulating the audience is a shoddy way.

 

[Formeruser012523]

You are probably correct. The final scene (*) of the season finale apparently hints at major developments. And yes, Flynn has proven to be a much more shaded and interesting character than expected.

Agreed we should keep it vague, since folks like Edward are still on the first season.

(* Due to an usual DVR snafu, I missed the last ten minutes! So I only know what I've read in recaps. I will catch up with it when this episode shows up on demand... but on demand broadcast shows - at least on my cable system - cannot be fast-forwarded, so I'll have to start this two-hour episode and walk away for around 100 minutes!)

It was Golf! GOLF that made it go over by 13 minutes or some such. I kept looking at the clock and wondering what was going on. Not a fan. Found out later that that's what was happening. Stressed to say the least.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Totally agree, Ernest. The handling of the Sansa/Arya/Bran reunion was sloppy and less than satisfying, and the misdirection regarding Littlefinger's manipulations was unnecessarily, uh, manipulative. Though it did yield a fun surprise when he went down unexpectedly.

Still, GoT is legitimate must-see TV, an instant classic that will have an honored place on best-of lists for years. I've already made my disappointment in HBO's wannabe successor top dog - Westworld - clear.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Right Mae, it was golf. I didn't see last night's Supergirl episode for a similar reason: though it's a CW channel, WPIX-NYC has to carry live Yankee games for their traditional fanbase.

To somebody as completely disinterested in all sports as me, it's really annoying.

 

[Bushman]

I too love "Timeless." It's a fun show, and great for history buffs like ourselves. Like you guys said, some things can be horridly obvious, but others can be a real surprise. It keeps the show interesting enough to keep me hooked, and I really hope it gets a third season.

 

[Worf]

The season finale of "Gotham" - Why in heaven's name do I keep watching this show? Still if it's been renewed I'll probably watch it again next year. What a mess.

Worf

 

[Formeruser012523]

The season finale of "Gotham" - Why in heaven's name do I keep watching this show? Still if it's been renewed I'll probably watch it again next year. What a mess.

Worf

You're still watching this? LOL! Guess it's like a slow motion car crash that you can't look away from. But I had to. Last year.

 

[Worf]

You're still watching this? LOL! Guess it's like a slow motion car crash that you can't look away from. But I had to. Last year.

As I suspected you're a stronger, better person than I.... Oh my dyin' brain cells!

Worf

 

[Formeruser012523]

As I suspected you're a stronger, better person than I.... Oh my dyin' brain cells!

Worf

Doubt that. More the fact that I got sick of Gordon's angst and then reading that Harley Quinn would never be on the show. That pretty much sealed it for me.

 

[Doctor Strange]

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. The show's nutso everything-including-the-kitchen-sink approach, outstanding production quality, and good actors won me over. I don't claim that it's good: it's a total mess that careens from one thing to another, there's no storytelling logic, it's insanely overwrought... but you know, it's true to its own crazy story. For example, while I dearly miss the B:TAS Dr. Leslie Thompkins who's a kind old lady, watching Lee's character evolution on this show from blah ME/love interest to mob wife to ruler of the Narrows has been pretty interesting.

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.

 

[Formeruser012523]

I'll be too busy watching what will most likely be the final season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Courage of your kinks." Did Stephen King say that? Heard that before. One among many writing quotes.

 

[Doctor Strange]

No idea. All I know is I heard from my prof in around 1975.

Re SHIELD, am I the only one disappointed that this season ended without the finale impact from Infinity War shown affecting the team? Sure, they are already down a couple of regular characters, but I expected at least one to be blown away.

Both Gotham and SHIELD have 13-ep final seasons coming up, probably both starting mid-season rather than the fall.