What was the last TV show you watched?

[Ernest P Shackleton]

How do you folks with Netflix do it? I watch a site that announces every new season and premiere date, and the Netflix schedule is staggering. They must have one hell of an advertising method on log-in. I don't know how you users would know everything they're offering. But really, how do you do it?

 

[belfastboy]

How do you folks with Netflix do it? I watch a site that announces every new season and premiere date, and the Netflix schedule is staggering. They must have one hell of an advertising method on log-in. I don't know how you users would know everything they're offering. But really, how do you do it?

With Netflix the offering is huge so I never have to search too far to find something worthwhile to watch. However, once a month or so when I have time, or when bored I will spend 30 minutes just perusing the site looking for hidden gems and add them to my "List".

 

[belfastboy]

I have been away for two months so missed all the "tryouts" but started to watch the new season of "So You Think You Can Dance" last night This is my absolute favourite reality competition TV show. The dancers are amazing and invariably accept decisions with such grace and aplomb. I love dance but as a 6'1" 220lb clumsy ex football playing male alas it was not in my stars......so I vicariously watch this show.

 

[Zombie_61]

How do you folks with Netflix do it? I watch a site that announces every new season and premiere date, and the Netflix schedule is staggering. They must have one hell of an advertising method on log-in. I don't know how you users would know everything they're offering. But really, how do you do it?

Netflix has a search feature that viewers can use to attempt to locate a specific show, movie, or production featuring a specific actor. They also "categorize" everything they offer, so viewers can use that to narrow down the number of offerings they have to search through.

My wife and I like having Netflix as an alternative but, for us, it's really not much different from cable/satellite television--a vast wasteland of rubbish with a few gems here and there.

 

[3fingers]

My wife and I like having Netflix as an alternative but, for us, it's really not much different from cable/satellite television--a vast wasteland of rubbish with a few gems here and there.

Exactly. It's good that their library is so large, because 90% of it is garbage.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Well, remember that great oft repeated Theodore Sturgeon quote - 90% of everything is crap.

 

[Zombie_61]

Speaking of Netflix, last night we watched the first three episodes of their reboot of the 1960s series Lost in Space. The pilot episode does a fairly decent job of establishing the primary characters and getting them lost, but not as good a job of explaining why they're going to Alpha Centauri in the first place. These Robinsons are somewhat dysfunctional (like in the 1998 theatrical movie) and the writers have once again tinkered with the family history, but unlike that movie these Robinsons have a bit more of a sense of family unity. These episodes also suffer from being a little heavy-handed with Murphy's Law, but I suppose that's how things would go from a real-world perspective given the circumstances.

That being said, there's enough there to make me want to watch at least another episode or two. In my opinion the cast has just the right chemistry for this version of the tale, and the visual effects are quite good. Not great, but not horrible, so I'll probably keep watching until they lose me.

 

[Touchofevil]

Yellowstone
I am already annoyed enough by a few to hope for their exit from the show.
Still entertaining enough to keep us watching.

 

[Touchofevil]

UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Ivanov
How can anyone not like Sage Northcutt?
Such a nice kid and a positive role model.

 

[3fingers]

The first episode of The Winds of War.
I hadn't watched it probably since it was on the first time. It was great then and still is, though Robert Mitchum still needs to tape Polly Bergen's mouth shut. What an annoying character she is.

 

[Fading Fast]

The first episode of The Winds of War.
I hadn't watched it probably since it was on the first time. It was great then and still is, though Robert Mitchum still needs to tape Polly Bergen's mouth shut. What an annoying character she is.

Love the novel and love the mini-series (one of the best of the '70s-early '80s miniseries craze).

My girlfriend (whose parents have been married for over 50 years and who has little give for infidelity) has said she, too, would have left that woman if she was Pug. And Pamela Tudsbury is such an awesome - gets the joke and is no nonsense - woman, that it made his wife looks even more out of touch and selfish - especially with a war raging and a husband and sons in combat.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

American Experience. The Great War parts 1 & 2. I need to stop watching this series. The Chinese Exclusion Act was difficult enough. I was taught nothing about WWI and the period in school. Nadda. We have a rich history of having our heads completely up our asses. We're a REALLY stupid, shallow, and ugly citizenry who chirps about the Constitution while knowing nothing about it or its spirit. The more I know, the clearer that is. In 1916, 33% of the US population was first generation immigrants. They had to publish conscription and propaganda in 42 languages (because it's natural for people to collect around their culture. how many people will only travel to places that speak English? etc). Wilson passed the Espionage Act, and then the Sedition Act, to force people to be American. A whole lot of tyranny was happening in the USA. People ratting on friends, neighbors, co-workers for nothing. A real beautiful time. But hey, that 15th Regiment was something else. Amazing group of men.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I watched all the parts when it aired a few weeks ago and was very impressed. Not the best general WWI documentary ever, but for its specific US-in-WWI approach it's loaded with great info, and stunning film footage (*). Definitely all kinds of interesting: I was riveted. But you know, I kind of stumbled on it originally - it wasn't massively hyped beforehand: this was just another American Experience presentation, no super-duper Ken Burns level promotion... though just as impressive!

(* I really wish old film footage was always shown in its original aspect ratio, with side letterboxing and without chopping the top and bottom. Full detail, no truncation, no distortion. But I've given up hope, because everything's widescreen format now, and the producers prefer the bigger-but-cropped image because: 1- it's easy. 2 - it lends a sense of somehow being IN the frame rather than removed from the action in a smaller image. Still, I ALWAYS prefer to see anything reproduced in the correct aspect ratio!)

 

[Fading Fast]

Yesterday, I watched the World Cup Final followed by the Yankees-Indians game.

While I played some soccer growing up, other than Pele' here and there, I never watched it on TV as a kid. As an adult, once every four years or eight years (sometimes I miss a World Cup), I watch a few games. Yesterday, I was bored as heck during a, for soccer, high-scoring game, but not during the low-scoring (until the bottom of 8th) baseball game and I think I know why.

It is not because I am an anti-soccer American, but it is because (1) I don't know the nuances of soccer, so unless something obvious is going on, it's just a bunch of guys standing or running around a field to me and (2) I have no since-I-was-a-kid connection to the teams (a team) or the sport in general.

When I was watching the Yankees' game (notice it was, for me, a "Yankees'" game), I was engaged on almost every pitch because it mattered if the pitcher fell behind on the count, etc. - nuances like that make a slow game interesting and it's just that nuance that I don't have to truly appreciate soccer. Another example, I am endlessly fascinated with the way teams are now shifting their infields; whereas, I couldn't explain what even causes an off-sides penalty in soccer. Hence, "slow" games of baseball are still engaging for me, but in soccer my mind wanders and I lose interest.

And, as noted, while I, off course, can root for this or that country or - in any given World Cup - be impressed with this or that team, I have no ingrained connection to any of the teams / no "history" with them. Whereas, with the Yankees, for better or worse, we've been "together" for almost fifty years now.

And after all that sports, SGF and I watched "The Great British Baking Show" which is sports of another kind - fun competition and (overall) beautiful looking, hunger-inducing baked goods.

 

[Touchofevil]

Call the Midwife and The Crown over the past couple of nights. Quality quality quality entertainment.

 

[Fading Fast]

Call the Midwife and The Crown over the past couple of nights. Quality quality quality entertainment.

"Call the Midwife -" enjoyable, calm period TV that becomes a bit too wash-rinse-repeat, but still engaging enough as the characters are appealing (Sister Julienne is a personal hero).

"The Crown -" stunningly beautiful, smart dialogue, but too fast and lose with history (sincere question: was Phillip really as horrible, selfish and boorish as he is portrayed?).

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I find it interesting that sports fanatics who watch a substantial amount of sports TV have a difficult time enjoying the game if their team isn't involved. I'm sure there have been psychology books written on that. Very much related to our previous exchange about needing characters in our shows and TV to root for, and if not present, the series falls short for such. Except for some who only tune in for playoff/championship rounds. They wouldn't want to be left out of the cultural deal. FOMO.

Having moved a lot, and with free agency, I feel I was thrown from team loyalty. One or two franchise players isn't enough. Ever-rotating rosters and money over all else. My interpretation is that I'm left cheering for a jersey (uh, like our politics). That's not very satisfying in my opinion. Nevertheless, I still love watching me some baseball, hockey, tennis, and the more fringe, collegiate and olympic sports. I'm not superior for it. Don't want to communicate such nonsense. But I do feel my life is better for it. I can watch a game and respect and enjoy it without anxiety, aggression, and other reactions I feel are ultimately negative. I don't care who is playing, or who wins, as long as the game is quality.

 

[Fading Fast]

I find it interesting that sports fanatics who watch a substantial amount of sports TV have a difficult time enjoying the game if their team isn't involved. I'm sure there have been psychology books written on that. Very much related to our previous exchange about needing characters in our shows and TV to root for, and if not present, the series falls short for such. Except for some who only tune in for playoff/championship rounds. They wouldn't want to be left out of the cultural deal. FOMO.

Having moved a lot, and with free agency, I feel I was thrown from team loyalty. One or two franchise players isn't enough. Ever-rotating rosters and money over all else. My interpretation is that I'm left cheering for a jersey (uh, like our politics). That's not very satisfying in my opinion. Nevertheless, I still love watching me some baseball, hockey, tennis, and the more fringe, collegiate and olympic sports. I'm not superior for it. Don't want to communicate such nonsense. But I do feel my life is better for it. I can watch a game and respect and enjoy it without anxiety, aggression, and other reactions I feel are ultimately negative. I don't care who is playing, or who wins, as long as the game is quality.

Over time, as free agency, scandals and the general obnoxiousness of so many involved in the sport business - owners, players, media - eroded my enthusiasm and as I, like most, realized I was rooting for a jersey, I have (I think like you, if I'm interpreting your post correctly) come to enjoy sports in a much more calm, almost detached, way.

Sure, I like it when the Yankees win, but if they don't (as they didn't Sunday), it doesn't bother me or upset my day. I still enjoyed the elegance of the game, the insane skill level of the players and the "atmosphere" of summer baseball. That's what I like and that's almost always there. I don't see any greater meaning in it / it doesn't make me a bigger or better person / it's just another version of entertainment (like the "Great British Baking Show").

I think the thing that still draws me to the teams I grew up with is the connect to my father and my past and - and how reinforcing is this - since I follow those teams, I know their players, strengths, weaknesses and strategies better which makes the games they play more interesting to me than two random teams.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Devil's Carnival," a late 1964 episode of The Fugitive. Kimble hitches a ride with one Hanes McClure, career outlaw, heading back home to Corona (South Carolina? Somewhere in the south, anyway). Everybody in this stereotypical Southern small town is terrified of him. He and Kimble are both scooped up by the local law, Sheriff Shafter, known as "Charles Edward." (You know this is 1960s TV about a small Southern town, because half the people call the other half by two first names.) The sheriff jails Kimble, having recognized him, and wires Lt. Gerard. But Kimble has a teenage boy as a potential ally. . . .

Good stuff: Warren Oates as Hanes and Philip Abbott, later of The FBI series, as the sheriff. The rest of the characters are so annoying, thanks to good work by reliable character actors Strother Martin and Woodrow Parfrey, that you completely understand why Kimble's ally, Tad, wants to leave!

 

[Touchofevil]

"Call the Midwife -" enjoyable, calm period TV that becomes a bit too wash-rinse-repeat, but still engaging enough as the characters are appealing (Sister Julienne is a personal hero).

"The Crown -" stunningly beautiful, smart dialogue, but too fast and lose with history (sincere question: was Phillip really as horrible, selfish and boorish as he is portrayed?).

Yep. That is how we feel as well.

The Crown we enjoy for the story and the visuals. As with most historical productions, fiction is most often a part of it and we accept that.

We enjoy Call the Midwife for its visuals, acting, cast, and atmosphere. It is a show filled with characters who are such good people. While watching, we wish for a world with more genuinely good people like the shows delivers.

For us, both are imperfect as you have stated, but as also stated, enjoyable.