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TV Tuesdays Free Talk
Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
My wife has discovered her latest reality TV show that I watch by proxy: 90 Day Fiance. ~5 couples are followed each season wherein a person is courted or courting someone from outside the US, they travel here, and then each couple has 90 days to wed before the visas expire and the partner must return home.
Let me just disclaim: both I and my wife are aware most reality TV shows aren't reality. I'm a film grad myself and have worked as an assistant on a couple reality TV show episodes-- my friend works on an MTV reality show and has tons of stories. I'm constantly (to an almost involuntary degree) aware of how much reaction shots, pauses, etc. are edited in, and that subjects are often asked leading questions or asked to repeat or adjust something they'd said earlier (e.g. "I'm sad!" "Hey, Dianne, can you say what you're said about?" "I'm said you're leaving me the day before the wedding!").
That said... my god, this show has so many moments that could've been ripped from a Christopher Guest movie. We're in season three and there's this 50-something guy dating a super young lady and, when asked what her father had to say about them getting married, responded "I don't know, it uh... was lost in translation." And she interrupted "What? No, he said to treat me as you would your daughter." Cut to a close up of his face and him visibly uncomfortable.
It is the cringiest, most uncomfortable I've felt watching a show in a long time, and the most interesting part to me is that the dynamics don't always play out as you might expect them to, and a lot of the couples-- as much as the title or premise might have you believe-- are actually in love and are still together well after the show's wrapped.
...anyways, that's what uh... she's watching.
...I'm still making my way through The Dark Crystal TV series. We're a very high-brow house, you see.
We're not big on "reality TV" but we just finished watching the latest season of Making It, Amy Pohler and Nick Offerman's arts and crafts competition in the vein of The Great British Bake-Off. It's enjoyable enough and the creations are a treat to behold.
I feel weirdly self-aware when watching it though... it's so saccharine and "wholesome," with its twee ukulele/glockenspiel/whistling soundtrack, endless group hugs, and cheesy pun-offs. Not that I'd want it to be yet another cutthroat or grimdark series, I appreciate lightness in TV shows these days (see also: The Good Place). But where the Bake-Off feels earnest, Making It feels contrived. There's a giant, all caps disclaimer card before the end credits that I find really jarring:
I'm extremely aware of reaction shots and artificial "oh no they're not going to finish in time" drama as I watch the show. Some contestants' smiles seem so forced at times I can't help but wonder if a producer off-camera called cut and demanded a second take, but this time happier. Maybe I'm too cynical.
Pohler and Offerman are really entertaining as hosts, and they come across as genuine. The two judges, Simon Doonan and Dayna Isom Johnson, seem like they're only there to pad their resumes and promote their employers (Barneys and Etsy, respectively). Ultimately, the crafts are all so wildly different apples and oranges, there's no fair way to compare them. It's not a matter of underproved or overbaked or soggy-bottomed; winners are chosen by the judges arbitrarily. My SO and I found ourselves legitimately frustrated when our least-favorite craft won the $100,000 grand prize after the judges had (seemed to have) been repeatedly giving that contestant favorable treatment — and the other two crafts in the final were more technically demanding and better executed.
Not to be too harsh on the show, honestly it's still fun to watch and more good than bad... but your comments about the sausage-making behind reality TV prompted me to get that off my chest.
My SO and I just got started with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. We're a few episodes into the first season. So far we like it a lot. From a technical standpoint it's fantastic — the writing is smart, the characters are believable, the set and costume design is meticulous, the music is deftly chosen, and the camerawork is lively and draws you in. I've always been a fan of long takes and there are plenty to enjoy here.
In some ways it reminds me of Mad Men, with its immersive sense of place and time. Though I enjoyed that aspect of Mad Men I just couldn't keep watching it because all of the characters were so reprehensible. Seemed like everybody was trying to screw over everybody else and there weren't any relatable people for me to cheer for. (So far) Mrs. Maisel doesn't suffer from the same problem. It feels very grounded and human to me.
I took a few elective standup and comedy classes in college and it's fun to watch Midge's very realistic struggles to make it as a comedienne. The show is lavish with references to real-world 1950s comedy/showbiz personalities and scene. The show alternates between heartfelt drama and laugh-out-loud comedy, but the transitions between flow organically. It feels like a window into a different era; it offers some commentary on race, gender politics, and religion in New York at that time, without being preachy.
No idea what's in store over the next few seasons since we're latecomers to this show. Hope it manages to remain as consistently good as the part we've seen so far.
I need to come around and just watch this show. I don't know if it was the marketing, as I didn't care for the commercials, and Amazon really jammed it in your face everywhere you went-- but I was just put off for it for so long when it launched; that and I've yet to find an Amazon show that's gotten me excited (I've tried Man in the High Castle, Patroit, and One Mississippi) but this one and The Boys are both the ones everyone says are worth it.
I finished another LOST rewatch (including all extras and commentaries --- but I didn't read Gary Troup's Bad Twin). I love LOST, and I think it gets better with time.
A kind soul has recreated Chronologically LOST using the Blu-rays, so I'll probably do that in a few months.
I'm trying to find another series to work through. I've been thinking of Miami Vice.
I'm still slowly going through the following series
edit: I'm going to rewatch Bored to Death and also tuck into the escapades of Philip Marlowe by Raymond Chandler :)