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What was the last TV show you watched?

Messages
12,734
Location
Northern California
Like I am sure with many here, the first two episodes of Ken Burn’s documentary on Ernest Hemingway. At first, I kept thinking of Dumb and Dumberer every time I heard Jeff Daniels speaking as Hemingway, but I got over it. As with everything I have seen of Burn’s, it is entertaining.
:D
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
We watched Shetland up until it moved to BritBox (or is it Acorn?). It is a nice show. At some point I will most likely subscribe to whichever it is site currently on. The same goes for Doc Martin.
:D

We have Britbox, but I saw it on Canadian Netflix. I know the various regions have different programming. My daughters were devasted when they heard NF was getting rid of Friends, until they realized it was the US NF that was doing so, the Canadian site keeping it.

Until the Canadian version cancelled it!

We bought them the complete series on blu-ray for Christmas, so now they don't care either way!
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Wife and I have continued with Mayans. We record it on Tuesdays, and watch on Wednesdays so we can skip through the commercials (God bless the US of A, but man, we do not care about your prescription drugs, cajun chicken joints or insurance plans we cannot get!!!). Looking forward to last night's episode tonight!
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
The first 4 episodes of "invincible" on Amazon Prime. Even puddin' likes it and she hates Japanese Anime but feels that the domestic product makes more sense. Not "The Boys" but not "Astro Boy" either.... rugged in some spots.

Worf
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
Like I am sure with many here, the first two episodes of Ken Burn’s documentary on Ernest Hemingway. At first, I kept thinking of Dumb and Dumberer every time I heard Jeff Daniels speaking as Hemingway, but I got over it. As with everything I have seen of Burn’s, it is entertaining.
:D

Didntnowzeboutdiz. Lived in Oak Park, Illinois while in college and recall walking past his boyhood home
and high school after reading comments he wrote down about his early formative writing experiences.
He said he learned simple declarative sentence construct at Oak Park-River Forest High School, so he
never felt the need to pursue any adult education semi-pro writing classes. Fascinating guy, Ernest.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
The first two episodes of the Hemingway documentary. I've never been a huge fan of Hemingway; like most people, I was required to read The Old Man and the Sea in college lit and wasn't impressed. I'm not a fan of his style of writing. BUT, I have enjoyed the documentary and learning a bit more about him. His mother was an awful woman - no wonder he had problems with women and marriages over the years. (No excuse for his infidelity and abuse, of course).

I think Hemingway as a person was complicated, and at times, he was rather awful.

As a writer, watching the documentary has actually inspired me to work on my novel, so there's a bonus. I do love listening to the literary scholars discuss his work.
 

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,246
Location
Midwest
His mother was an awful woman - no wonder he had problems with women and marriages over the years. (No excuse for his infidelity and abuse, of course).
I always find this sort of thing interesting. Is it an excuse? A reason? Can it not be an excuse for socially pragmatic reasons? Is it relative to the USA and our obsession with the individual that it can't be an excuse? It's understandable that faith and religion is handed down for generations, no questions asked, but dysfunction and vices can't be and cannot be excused? We have the strangest, and most inconsistent, relationships with learned behavior, indoctrination, etc.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
I always find this sort of thing interesting. Is it an excuse? A reason? Can it not be an excuse for socially pragmatic reasons? Is it relative to the USA and our obsession with the individual that it can't be an excuse? It's understandable that faith and religion is handed down for generations, no questions asked, but dysfunction and vices can't be and cannot be excused? We have the strangest, and most inconsistent, relationships with learned behavior, indoctrination, etc.

Horseshit psychobabble.:p
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I always find this sort of thing interesting. Is it an excuse? A reason? Can it not be an excuse for socially pragmatic reasons? Is it relative to the USA and our obsession with the individual that it can't be an excuse? It's understandable that faith and religion is handed down for generations, no questions asked, but dysfunction and vices can't be and cannot be excused? We have the strangest, and most inconsistent, relationships with learned behavior, indoctrination, etc.

I think if we are *aware* of the behavior, and we do not want to repeat the behavior, but we do anyway, it's not an excuse, but a choice. I'm not saying it's easy to break free from that behavior, and yes, much of it does appear to be inherited because if you don't know any different, how will you act different, BUT, neither do we live in a bubble.

My ex-husband had a terrible father, but my ex was pretty great with our kids for the most part. He made a conscious decision not to be like his dad.
 

Bushman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,138
Location
Joliet
The first two episodes of the Hemingway documentary. I've never been a huge fan of Hemingway; like most people, I was required to read The Old Man and the Sea in college lit and wasn't impressed. I'm not a fan of his style of writing. BUT, I have enjoyed the documentary and learning a bit more about him. His mother was an awful woman - no wonder he had problems with women and marriages over the years. (No excuse for his infidelity and abuse, of course).

I think Hemingway as a person was complicated, and at times, he was rather awful.

As a writer, watching the documentary has actually inspired me to work on my novel, so there's a bonus. I do love listening to the literary scholars discuss his work.
I've always admired Hemingway simply for the fact that he was a man with confidence. He simply did things, and laughed it off whenever somebody told him to knock it off. Who needs the US Army when you have a box of hand grenades and a fishing boat? ;)

I think Hemingway was, like you said, a complicated man. He was a good person with undiagnosed mental health issues, living in a time where mental health care amounted to imprisoning people and then electrocuting them. This documentary really affirmed that for me. The fact that his kids also struggled with mental health issues suggests, to me, that it was a genetic thing that he really had little control over. Though, I'm sure the repeated concussions greatly impacted his temperament and tendency towards abusing others and himself in his older years.

I'd say it's comparable to a retired football player nowadays. Hemingway was not only built like a lineman, he aged like one. Repeated head injuries coupled with a genetic history of mental health issues turned him to the bottle, much to the expense of his family and friends. Anyway, I could write a book here about the pros and cons of Ernest Hemingway. In fact, books have been written, and I even own a few of them.

The documentary itself was well done, as we've come to expect of Ken Burns. It told us everything about the man without embellishment, despite Hemingway's own attempts at greatly embellishing his own legacy. In the end, I don't think Hemingway's legacy requires embellishment. The man was large in both stature and life. You cannot say he did not live a full life, as unpleasant as it may have been at times.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I've always admired Hemingway simply for the fact that he was a man with confidence. He simply did things, and laughed it off whenever somebody told him to knock it off. Who needs the US Army when you have a box of hand grenades and a fishing boat? ;)

I think Hemingway was, like you said, a complicated man. He was a good person with undiagnosed mental health issues, living in a time where mental health care amounted to imprisoning people and then electrocuting them. This documentary really affirmed that for me. The fact that his kids also struggled with mental health issues suggests, to me, that it was a genetic thing that he really had little control over. Though, I'm sure the repeated concussions greatly impacted his temperament and tendency towards abusing others and himself in his older years.

I'd say it's comparable to a retired football player nowadays. Hemingway was not only built like a lineman, he aged like one. Repeated head injuries coupled with a genetic history of mental health issues turned him to the bottle, much to the expense of his family and friends. Anyway, I could write a book here about the pros and cons of Ernest Hemingway. In fact, books have been written, and I even own a few of them.

The documentary itself was well done, as we've come to expect of Ken Burns. It told us everything about the man without embellishment, despite Hemingway's own attempts at greatly embellishing his own legacy. In the end, I don't think Hemingway's legacy requires embellishment. The man was large in both stature and life. You cannot say he did not live a full life, as unpleasant as it may have been at times.

The amount of suicides in the Hemingway family is absolutely indicative of some inherited mental health issues, and it's very sad. My own family has some of the same issues. Two great-uncles killed themselves and so did their mother, my great-grandmother. Three in one family is a lot, and it is a tragedy. Thankfully, my family has done better since those days in seeking help when necessary. I myself struggle with mental health issues and have since middle school. I've been seeing a therapist on and off since then and have been on antidepressants since college.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I've always admired Hemingway simply for the fact that he was a man with confidence. He simply did things, and laughed it off whenever somebody told him to knock it off. Who needs the US Army when you have a box of hand grenades and a fishing boat? ;)

I think Hemingway was, like you said, a complicated man. He was a good person with undiagnosed mental health issues, living in a time where mental health care amounted to imprisoning people and then electrocuting them. This documentary really affirmed that for me. The fact that his kids also struggled with mental health issues suggests, to me, that it was a genetic thing that he really had little control over. Though, I'm sure the repeated concussions greatly impacted his temperament and tendency towards abusing others and himself in his older years.

I'd say it's comparable to a retired football player nowadays. Hemingway was not only built like a lineman, he aged like one. Repeated head injuries coupled with a genetic history of mental health issues turned him to the bottle, much to the expense of his family and friends. Anyway, I could write a book here about the pros and cons of Ernest Hemingway. In fact, books have been written, and I even own a few of them.

The documentary itself was well done, as we've come to expect of Ken Burns. It told us everything about the man without embellishment, despite Hemingway's own attempts at greatly embellishing his own legacy. In the end, I don't think Hemingway's legacy requires embellishment. The man was large in both stature and life. You cannot say he did not live a full life, as unpleasant as it may have been at times.

The amount of suicides in the Hemingway family is absolutely indicative of some inherited mental health issues, and it's very sad. My own family has some of the same issues. Two great-uncles killed themselves and so did their mother, my great-grandmother. Three in one family is a lot, and it is a tragedy. Thankfully, my family has done better since those days in seeking help when necessary. I myself struggle with mental health issues and have since middle school. I've been seeing a therapist on and off since then and have been on antidepressants since college.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Bates Motel - I've been binging this online recently. A sort-of prequel to Psycho, but set across five series (with, I'm told, the final series covering the events of the original film, more or less), and updated to the present day. I find it works rather well. Putting the Bates in the context of a town effectively run by organised crime is also an interesting move.

Line of Duty - the final series of this Beeb classic is just getting better and better. Three episodes left to run, and we're at the 'more and more and bigger questions' stage. Excellent stuff. Rewatched the previous five series in preparation for this one, and they still hold up even knowing the full narrative.

Pennyworth series 2 - consistently the best thing on TV right now. I'm loving this alternate-history angle on Alfred's back story. It's also the best looking TV show since, possibly, Mad Men or Man in the High Castle.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
I was a Bates Motel viewer from day one, and own the series on blu-ray. Some one asked me why they set it "in the present" unlike the movie.

I wish I could describe the figurative head explosion when I pointed out that the movie was set in its present.

Massive fan of Line of Duty. In fact I did the same thing, rewatching while on the treadmill the entire run before seeing the recent series.

Still cannot access Pennyworth and it pisses me off!


Bates Motel - I've been binging this online recently. A sort-of prequel to Psycho, but set across five series (with, I'm told, the final series covering the events of the original film, more or less), and updated to the present day. I find it works rather well. Putting the Bates in the context of a town effectively run by organised crime is also an interesting move.

Line of Duty - the final series of this Beeb classic is just getting better and better. Three episodes left to run, and we're at the 'more and more and bigger questions' stage. Excellent stuff. Rewatched the previous five series in preparation for this one, and they still hold up even knowing the full narrative.

Pennyworth series 2 - consistently the best thing on TV right now. I'm loving this alternate-history angle on Alfred's back story. It's also the best looking TV show since, possibly, Mad Men or Man in the High Castle.
 
Messages
10,847
Location
vancouver, canada
Prime TV offering..."4 Blocks". Set in Berlin it is at its base a German/Arab remake of the Sopranos. The lead's name is even Toni.....finished season one last night and it is good TV. Decent writing, good performances, cartoonish villains but we will venture on to season 2
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Have now caught the girls up on season 11 of Supernatural (the season with Amara), now on season 3 of Parks and Recreation, and am introducing the wife to Frontier, a now sadly cancelled show with Jason Momoa set in Hudson's Bay-era colonial Canada.
 

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