TV Tuesdays Free Talk

I just wanted to add one little thing. I was actually an extra on a TV show. It’s from Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder currently titled The Curse. It stars Emma Stone.

I wasn’t actually expecting to see any of them, but to my surprise I got to see all of them. I was waiting outside the make-up trailer and then Stone just popped out. It wasn’t my first time seeing a celebrity in person but man was it shocking. When we were taken to set I saw Safdie and Fielder doing stuff, I got to see Stone and some local actors perform a scene. Seeing Fielder and Safdie directing live was really fascinating.

I know people say their first time on a film set was like a magical experience, but honestly it just felt like being around someone’s workplace. I was also in holding for six hours. Was there from 5am to 7pm. It was mostly pretty boring. I kind of wanted to go home half way through. Still though, I got to see Emma Stone.

About 14 years ago, I was sitting in my freshman dorm room scrolling around on iTunes and came across an interesting looking show about a chemistry teacher who cooks meth, played by none other than Tim Whatley/the dad from Malcom in the Middle. Halfway through the first episode, I realized I had stumbled across something incredible. For years, I begged people to watch this phenomenal show called Breaking Bad, and if it weren't for Netflix, most people would have missed it.

Last night, Breaking Bad's prequel/sequel, Better Call Saul, finished its final season with a brilliant episode that was just as good as any Breaking Bad episode. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone else who watched it. I feel like I did back in 2009/2010 when no one knew about Breaking Bad, except this time people know what it is and all the episodes are already available on Netflix. Enough with this chicanery. If you are reading this and haven't seen Better Call Saul, do yourself a favor and start watching as soon as possible. It's more of a slow burn, similar to Mad Men or The Wire, but it really picks up in later seasons and adds so much more depth to the Breaking Bad story. Not to mention, it has some of the best story telling and acting performances I have ever seen.

As silly as it sounds, I feel sad that I am not going to spend any more time in the seedy underworld of Albuquerque. I'm in my mid-30s and these shows have been around for my entire adult life. Still, I'm glad I got to watch it all unfold week to week and I'm looking forward to when more people get around to watching it.

I've been watching Hannibal about ten years after the fact. It's hard to imagine it aired on NBC. Given how violent it is, it's not the sort of thing I'd usually be interested in, but I find the imagery and especially the dialogue absolutely mesmerizing. Every few episodes has a line that ends up having a strange and self-consciously obscure poetic beauty to it that I just adore.

Since they can really occur at any time, the context isn't too important. One that I wrote down and which comes to mind is the lead character Will Graham saying: "It feels as if I'm talking to his shadow suspended on dust." Another: "I stared at [him] and the space opposite me assumed the shape of a man filled with dark and swarming flies." It's worth noting that, on a visual level, neither of these things happened. The character isn't recounting anything. Hannibal's imagery shows a lot of "out there" stuff, but from what I remember we never saw that particular character as a mass of flies. So when Will suddenly rattles one off like that in the same sedate way he says everything, it's spellbinding for me.

All the performances are great, but Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and Hugh Dancy (Will) are on another level. It always seems to me like they're exploring unknown territory in terms of television acting, as their characters have an intimacy with each other that's hard to describe. It's at times erotic, but to say that's all that it is would be an injustice to their performances. It's better described as a level of closeness between two people that just doesn't normally happen. When paired with all the intrigue and murder investigations, it's something totally arresting to watch play out.

So I watched all of Seinfeld. I saw some of it back in late 2019 but my Hulu was a mess and I could never remember what episode I left on. But now that it’s on Netflix I watched it all. It was really good. It’s like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia where the characters are terrible, selfish, people who ruin the lives of the people around them. That’s not what I was expecting.

Also saw a show called Kim’s Convinience. Only reason I saw it is because it was Simu Liu’s (Shang-Chi) first major acting role. I thought the first three season were light and funny fluff. Nothing great, but solid. And the last seasons ended up being pretty poorly written, with tonal and character inconsistencies. I think the broader legacy of this show will be “this was Simu Liu’s first break.”

I finished watching The Wire last night. Boy howdy, what a show.

Light & Magic is worth a watch for anybody with an interest in Industrial Light and Magic, special effects, or anything Lucas has been involved with. If you're all, 'oh tomf, I've seen all the bts footage' --- you are wrong! There's a lot of new stuff... or at least I think so. Its just great.

Hard Knocks is back with the Detroit Lions. This series is always great. On with sports, Formula 2 has a series called Chasing the Dream that is worth a watch, if you like F2 or F1. Its a lot like Drive to Survive but without the manufactured drama.

Its been a great week for TV between Westworld and BCS.

I feel that I shouldn't like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but I really, really do. The episode was less than half an hour of pure, unadulterated fun. Yes, the CGI is not stellar but, apart from one specific shot, it is good enough, and this is not a serious show, so I'm okay with the goofiness. Because it's 2022, there will be the Disney talks about social issues moment, but honestly, the way they did it was quite legitimate and relevant to the plot. When a flimsy 30-something attorney becomes a 2-meter green Hulk, it is only natural for issues regarding gender expectations to arise.

I'm not sure if the show would work without Tatiana Maslany, though. She's so good and crazy charismatic, and her acting alone overcomes many weaknesses of the screenplay -- mainly the lacking, expedited exposition.

There was some breaking the fourth wall comedy, but a lot less than in the 80s comics. Hopefully, things will get progressively wackier in the upcoming episodes.

If you love goofy strong women, She-Hulk is a slum dunk.

Also, I love that they're releasing one episode at a time. That way I can talk about it with my friends right away, instead of waiting for everyone to finish binging the entire season.

So I'm watching Star Trek - Strange New Worlds and it's a fine show, but I gotta ask, where is everyone? Apart from the people at the bridge, it's as if the ship was deserted. There's also no constant calls to engineering. Star Trek ships are always so rich, full, and alive, brimming with crew from different species. I miss the colorful background! Without it, Star Trek feel sad. That was probably a consequence of COVID restrictions, though.

Overall, I can't say I appreciate the overwhelming seriousness of this show. Everyone is so contained and introspective. I miss Kirk's impulsiveness, McCoy's irritability and sense of humor, Worf's anger, Picard's intensity and austerity. IDK, maybe I'll get used to it.

I finished The Orville, which has no trouble being colorful. The episodes which concludes previous arcs were honestly pretty boring. They felt predictable and lacking in novelty. The non-arc episodes were great, but I think they were not the majority. That was a transitional season, hopefully the seeds planted now will make for a great 4th season.