Television

[physicsfactor]

Oh come on. The scene in the restaurant was fantastic.

 

[CK86]

Oh come on. The scene in the restaurant was fantastic.

Thus far it's the only redeeming part of the storyline.

 

[DurhamSon]

I've heard the quality on Sling and similar services is inconsistent. That's what stops it from being more popular. My computer savvier friend who cut the cord uses something called TVMC or Kodi which can be Googled and downloaded for free.

I've already got that. They don't help with live sports and the video quality is always hit-or-miss.

FYI this has come a long way since this post was made. I literally get the same quality NBA streams from the ProSports addon that I do with league pass, for instance. And Mobro's live TV feeds are pretty damn good, IMO.

 

[aiw]

I'm liking Taboo a lot so far, even though it takes subtitles for me to understand 80% of what Tom Hardy says.

I'm really enjoying this show.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Taboo has been excellent,

Spoiler

although I hope it turns out that his half-sister he was fucking isn't really his half-sister. I know it's the title but, come on...

The cast is some of my favorite British character actors. On the negative side, because it's a British show and Brits are retarded about these things, there are only eight episodes in the season. Hopefully it will hold me over at least until Peaky Blinders' season starts.

So, since it looks like I'm going to have a couple of extra hours open every week in my schedule now that Duke basketball's season is over, what's everyone watching on TV?

 

[aiw]

Despite some middling reviews, I think The Young Pope is great through 3 episodes.

 

[deepdarkblue]

TIL Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister, GoT) is in fact from New Jersey and is not British.

 

[aiw]

His horrible accent didn't give it away?

 

[deepdarkblue]

It would take an actor with the talents of a David Hasselhoff or Steven Segal for me to really notice a bad English accent.

 

[dkst0426]

So if any of you read Archie comics growing up, check out Riverdale. I'm only about 15 minutes into the pilot, but it's got an interesting feel to it.

 

[aiw]

The intro/credits to The Young Pope is excellent.

 

[Pantone287]

The Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events is easily the best thing Netflix has made.

Rome, I'm wrapping up episode two. I've never seen/read any versions of A Series of Unfortunate Events before, so was not sure to expect - it's definitely engrossing, but has been a bit frustrating so far due to it being (as advertised) a series of horrible things happening to the kids.

My question is - does it ever get more satisfying and less cringey? It's so well done, but I kind of just find myself feeling bad for the kids and not a lot else so far, which isn't very fun.

 

[rome8180]

No. It doesn't. The theme song and the narration do warn you though.

In retrospect, my biggest criticism is that it's too repetitive/formulaic. My initial enthusiasm may have been a bit overstated. I still think they captured a really precise tone very well. I also appreciate how many levels of jokes there are. I can imagine watching it with a kid and he/she missing half of the jokes, but both of us still enjoying it.

 

[rome8180]

Pantone, actually there's some slight relief about 3/4 of the way through. I made that same complaint to my girlfriend. I was sick of watching these kids get thwarted with no success. The stupidity/obliviousness of certain well-meaning characters is particularly frustrating -- especially the guy from the bank.

 

[deepdarkblue]

No. It doesn't. The theme song and the narration do warn you though.

In retrospect, my biggest criticism is that it's too repetitive/formulaic. My initial enthusiasm may have been a bit overstated. I still think they captured a really precise tone very well. I also appreciate how many levels of jokes there are. I can imagine watching it with a kid and he/she missing half of the jokes, but both of us still enjoying it.

This is the key to most successful kid's shows. Stuff I used to watch with my kids - Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - were all full of subtle jokes that were clearly aimed at adults, and were pretty damned good.
Of course, you have to go back to the 80's to find the King of the Adult Humor in a Kid's Show, PeeWee's Playhouse. Every other line in that one was a sex joke. Alas, Paul Reubens took his character research a little too seriously, and killed his career for about 20 years.

 

[CK86]

Really like "The Magicians" on syfy/netflix. Interesting characters with a couple looming overall villains. Reminds me in terms of character like ability of Buffy (which is one of my all-time favorite shows.

 

[rome8180]

Fairly good book series too. Sort of like if Harry Potter started with Harry as a post-pubescent.

 

[CK86]

Have mild celeb crush on Margo and Alice but mostly Margo. Good show regardless.

 

[dkst0426]

Watched the premiere of Big Little Lies last night, then went ahead and spoiled myself and read the book plot. Figures it panned out the way it looks like it will.

Reese Witherspoon was really good in that role of hers. The rest of the upper-crust moms...........urgh. Reminded me of sitting around while my daughters are at dance class.

 

[Topher]

Really like "The Magicians" on syfy/netflix. Interesting characters with a couple looming overall villains. Reminds me in terms of character like ability of Buffy (which is one of my all-time favorite shows.

We've been watching it a lot lately (binged the 1st season before S2 started) and have really liked it. The "final questions" before they could be crowned had me dying.