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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.
I gave up on Babylon 5. I just don't like most of the characters, the CGI is unbearable, and ultimately, the show is just not enjoyable enough to endure that transfer.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is perfect this season. Even if you haven't watched any, you should tune in to this season.
Narcos: Mexico is back and in good form so far. This Narcos franchise has really found its footing with 'cool' -- from the voiceovers to the overall aesthetic, everything and everybody is pure cool.
Homeland has been excellent so far. If you ditched the series around season two or three, it'd be worth getting back into it.
McMillions is a fun little series about the McDonald's Monopoly game and how it was essentially rigged. This six (I believe) part series covers everybody involved, how they did it, and the unbelievable security they had to get around to get the prized pieces. It's a fairly standard interview, interview, interview documentary, but it's still entertaining.
Picard is great. It is not without some issues, but overall, I'm really enjoying it. Just when I think the pace is a little off -- Bam! Excitement! For this new breed of Trek, I think Picard is a fine addition.
The Flash --- new plan, team: kill off Iris, switch the entire show to be a noir detective story that follows Ralph. This is not a great show, but I can't stop watching it. Same with Legends of Tomorrow (which is more consistent)... I want to stop, but I just can't.
Lastly, STRIKEBACK is back for its third final season --- yes, you read that right. This series has had THREE final seasons! This show has a strict format: get mission, do mission, blow shit up, mild in-team drama (optional), blow more shit up, CREDITS! I love STRIKEBACK (always in caps with as much energy as you can muster.) If you've never watched the series and want to, start at S02 and please go in knowing that, while there is a story, it doesn't really matter. The earlier seasons have a different format --- meet the hot woman who was kidnapped or something (irrelevant), blow shit up, save the girl, then the one guy and the girl go at it... then there's time for some more guns and blowing shit up. With the second crew, they de-sexed it.
Likes Picard and dislikes the characters in Babylon 5 (Not even G'kar or Londo?)? O_o I'm sorry but we can't be friends anymore, tomf! :P
Also... wait... Curb Your Enthusiasm is still running!? TIL. One of these days I am going to have to stop putting it off and actually watch it.
man, I've tried so hard with B5. I think I'll go back to it. here's the list of episodes I am intending on watching.
The list of episodes I'm watching. The last episode I watched in bold
It's not like I'm hating B5. I have even accepted Danielle Rousseau as anybody but Danielle Rousseau. The CGI and such is so bad. I'd love to get my hands on the original 4:3. My TV club is all about it, too, though, so I'll finish it off eventually.
Curb is totally back after a few years off and it's unbelievably solid. The last few seasons were good, but not nearly as lean. This is incredible.
Picard was fantastic tonight! Some good continuity, too, which is nice. I like that they've got Stewart in the writers' room and Frakes directing a good portion of it. I don't care about Disco -- I think they ruined what could be a great series by rushing through a lot of the arc. But if Picard is the feel for the new wave of Trek, I'll be happy with it. It's got a hint of the cinematic TNG, which is great. The CGI is really nice and they're including minor details for those of us who have been into it.
Now... all this said, my joy is within the context of the absolute slaughter Star Wars went through with the ST and the other crap. I liked the Mandalorian and am glad that they're shifting their focus to the small screen. So to see a series that I love, like Trek, I'm just glad they didn't totally fuck it up like I thought they were going to after that Disco finale.
FWIW, I watched B5 when it originally aired. I watched and episode or two of the first season and gave up. It seemed really boring, frankly. A few years later, I caught an episode of season 3 and was like, "Wow, this is so good!" I ended up watching the rest of the season and the next one. Maybe just skip ahead and see if you like it better? (Season 5 and the various TV Movies were like season 1. Just couldn't make myself care about them.)
This seems to be a common trend. I went with an 'essentials' list of episodes after I watched/suffered through the initial movie. During the next TV slump I'll tuck back into it... then spend the entire time complaining about it... much like Jack Torrance.
Heh, no need to force yourself to watch it on my account, I was just giving you a hard time as a joke. ;) Even though B5 is one of my favorite shows, I totally get why it's not for everyone. Even for me, who has loads of nostalgia for it, it's painful to watch at times because of the oldschool TV pacing, low budget, Soap opera quality to the whole affair, the terribly dated CGI, and the God awful transfer. And TBH none of that really gets all that much better as the seasons go on, so if you didn't already enjoy it by the end of S2 where you left off, you probably won't magically start to anywhere further down the line either.
It's got a hint of the cinematic TNG, which is
great.exactly why I hate it. RedLetterMedia perfectly summed up my feelings on the whole show and I am in 100% agreement with them regarding new Trek in general as well:Star Trek: Picard - re:View
Star Trek: Picard Episodes 2 and 3 - re:View
ha. It's funny that you don't like the cinematic TNG feel -- but I totally know why. Basically, I don't want them to try to redo TNG or anything like it... I could watch TNG on loop for the rest of my life and be satisfied.
This RLM video is great. I really hope we have Data and Picard's daughter. That would be toooooo perfect.
Okay, here's my view on Star Trek:
I view TOS, TAS (criminally underrated!), TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT (minus the finale) as TREK. The movies are all TREK (second level), there is no Kelvin crap, then we have Disco, Picard, and the books (third level.) This third level can be good and can be bad -- but I view it more as EU than the true stuff.
I've never really formulated this before... but this is my approach with the new stuff especially. I'm over Disco unless they really get their shit together. That last season wasn't very good and I wish they had spent far more time in the Mirror than they did.
Picard is entertaining so far -- but it's not normal TREK. It's nice to see some familiar faces, some decent action, etc... but for me, TREK is predominantly episodic, which Picard and Disco are not.
Honestly, they could make an Imzadi series and I'd watch up to three episodes... but I doubt I could manage any more than that.
So in the end, I think we're on a similar page, but with a different approach to the series... if any of this crazed rant makes a lick of sense.
For me, Star Trek is not just about the veneer, it's about the substance and the depth to which it was explored... and everything outside of TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY completely lacks that, including all the movies based on them. The new shit is even worse though and just feels like Star Wars cosplaying as Star Trek, and I hate everything about it.
At least Discovery I can sort of detach myself from the past, since it's so different from the others that I can pretend to be watching a show taking place in a completely difference Universe. However Picard is the worst of all for me, since the veneer is so much closer to the original shows, especially due to including beloved characters from them... but then it completely disregards everything established in those previous shows (including the character of Picard himself IMO), and now The Federation, Earth and Starfleet are not something we can look up to and try to aspire to anymore. They have completely corrupted the intent of Star Trek and its established Universe in the name of easy, brainless action and "drama".
But to be clear, I don't blame anyone (other than CBS) nor do I look down on anyone who enjoys the new stuff... I just personally hate it and don't enjoy it at all... it just makes me angry and sad. Ah well, at least I have The Orville to keep me company now. ;)
The Orville is a godsend. I think I'd be harsher on Trek without the Orville, to be honest. Bortus is perfection ('500 cigarettes').
I really liked the first season of Discovery until I described it to a friend... then I was like, 'hold up -- what did I even watch?' I really like that RLM pointed out the newfound blood lust that comes with the S31 fans.
Would you say it's fair to sum up old Trek vs new Trek as a shift from morality to manipulation (emotionally)?
Yes, that is an incredibly apt description! I'm 100% stealing that (with a slight tweak), to compare the new vs old shows from now on. :P
The old Star Trek shows were deep and intellectually stimulating, whereas the new are shallow and emotionally manipulative.
It's a shame that we most likely won't see Darmok-level Picard again. I really make an effort to not watch TNG on loop. I don't want to ever spoil it or fall out of love with Kellogg :)
Shaka, when the walls fell! God, I love that episode so much. And yeah, it really, really bums me out that Picard likely won't have any episodes like that in it. :(
I watched an interesting show on Showtime recently called "Back to Life." It's about a British woman who gets out of jail 20 years after an incident when she was 18. She's living with her parents and attempting to get a job, but nobody wants to hire an ex-convict. It's very funny, though the ending is dramatic rather than comedic. I highly recommend it.