What is the last Television series you watched?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

On 20/01/2023 at 9:52 AM, AC1 said:

 The Patient

 

 

Good TV series about a serial killer who keeps his psychiatrist (Steve Carell) chained in his basement. It's from the same people who brought you The Americans. 

 

Criminal Minds did it first. 

[Bespin 8,480]

So after having read the first two novels from the Mayfair Witches "Trilogy" by Anne Rice, I started the new TV series.

 

I would say that the work of "simplifying" the original story is of the scale of The Lord of The Ring.

 

These huuuuuuuuuuuge stories just need to be simplified to get adapted on the screen, that's inevitable.

 

Having sayed that, I saw the two first episodes of The Mayfair Witches and got hooked. The tone is right, that's witchy!!!

 

Some characters have been merged into one new character, some others that would normally be dead, are still alive, just to be able to tell their part of the story, etc, etc.  That's life.

 

For those who doesn't know Anne Rice's Witches Saga, let's say it's very different than her Vampire Chronicles... The Vampires.... the vampire men, particularly, that's a romantic concept... you know, that idea of seduction, of immortality, sucking blood from the victims... that's so tragic, but can be also so sexy. But you know, Vampires can't have natural child, they transform the people they chose...

 

It's still about seduction, but the world of the Witches is more about "family" issues. It's a story of powerfull women, about the genealogy of an old family, the Mayfair, and about his descendants.

 

I understand very well why this series got less attention than the "Interview with a Vampire" series. But it's not less good.

 

So, imagine everything you know about witches... Anne Rice included it in her novels. I doubt that the TV series will go as far as the novels did, because we are dealing about light subjects like rape, incest and pedophilia... you know those little "family" subjects.... remember, we are in the world of witches, the same witches who where burned alive in the XVII century... while in the XXI century we would probably try to sample their DNA instead...

 

So I stop there. If you plan to watch the series, keep in mind that it's about sorcery and it goes fast... there are MANY characters and MANY flashbacks going from the XVII century to the present one.

 

Are you ready?

[Jay 37,346]

We've seen the first 6 episodes.  It's pretty bad.

 

I love Alexandra Daddario but she was miscast

[Bespin 8,480]

12 minutes ago, Jay said:

We've seen the first 6 episodes.  It's pretty bad.

 

I love Alexandra Daddario but she was miscast

 

Like I tried to explain, that's a complex story, and so, the setting is slow. The novels are like this too (x 1 000).

 

I can assure you, everything will be explained.

 

Rowan is a complex character, is she the heroine of this story? Not really... The first season is about her learning about where she comes from. That's a lost person. I think she's been cast very well!

 

Then Aunt Carla (Carlotta), I think they made it the "villain" of the first season... and that's right... but we can't yet understand why she did all she did for this family... 

[Jay 37,346]

Nah Carlotta's only in the first 5 episodes

[Bespin 8,480]

In the first two novels Carlotta is very important, she lived over 90 years.

 

Well, in the Mayfair family you usually live very long, unless you are the "heiress"... hehe.

[Bespin 8,480]

I just saw Episode 5.... and it's a total failure. I had to watch the "Insider" Episode to understand it... ewww... That's exactly how you lose people in a TV series.

 

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

The Bear

 

Wooooow, this is fantastic. A comedy drama that almost fully plays out in a restaurant.

Jeremy Allen White plays a chef who worked in the best restaurant in the world but gets left his brother restaurant after he dies. The whole series is about how he tries to get restaurant back in shape with the people who work there. To tell more would be a waste.

 

The whole cast is great. As are the direction and writing. As someone who has worked in a number of kitchens, a lot of things in this show where very relatable. That was cool but also a bit weird to see actual events unfold on screen.

 

It's 8 half hour episodes, so it's an easy watch and I highly recommend it.

[Bespin 8,480]

The Bear? I stopped this series half the first episode, all the characters seems to be on coke on that show, it's completely annoying for a guy who is naturally anxious like me. Way too much intense!

[LSH 968]

I loved that show! I am, too, somebody who used to work in kitchens (and the bar/restaurant industry as a whole) so this one hit very close to home.

 

If you haven't already seen it, watch the British film Boiling Point; another intense study of the industry headlined by the superb Stephen Graham. 

[Jay 37,346]

I saw that movie recently - it's intense!

[LSH 968]

The BBC are making a follow-up TV series with some of the original cast.

[Bespin 8,480]

So I watched the final episode of The Mayfair Witches yesterday. They saved the series a bit by bringing some action, at last.

 

Then I was happy that they revealed who was the true father of Rowan.

 

Spoiler

It's still his own grand father after all (scandal !!!!) 

 

I will not say that some actor or actresses were miscast in this series, but it's clear that they were not always well directed...

 

And some special effects were VERY cheap!

 

Then the current episodes are clearly edited for TV and it shows, because there are numerous fade-out/fade-in which cut some key scenes and that's very annoying.

 

They really should recut a "Special Edition" before releasing the 2nd season...

[Jay 37,346]

Wait episode 8 is already out?  We just watched episode 7 last night and I thought it aired on Sundays?

 

EDIT: Ah, I see.  You're a pirate.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

Has anybody been watching THE GOLD on BBC 1, on Sunday nights?

[Bespin 8,480]

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

Wait episode 8 is already out?  We just watched episode 7 last night and I thought it aired on Sundays?

 

I watched Episode 8 yesterday...somewhere... on the net...

[Jay 37,346]

Yea, I updated my post

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

I'm currently watching The Dropout on Disney+. Wow this is good.

 

I'm completely unfamiliar with the story of Elizabeth Holmes and I love stories about business, so this is right up my alley.

What this woman has done is incredible (not in the good sense of the word), but it's so fascinating to watch this all unfold. And each episode when I think she does the worst thing possible, the next episode she does it all over again or even worse.

 

I've been a fan of Amanda Seyfried for a long time and I've always felt bad that was kind of stuck playing the 'blonde' trope in many films. So I'm incredibly happy she's getting more nuanced roles the last couple years. This is my far her strongest role yet and she is incredible in it. She deserved all the awards she got.

 

Still got 3 episodes to go, but I can already say I love this show.

[Jay 37,346]

We watched that a few months ago.  I loved it!  Great cast.

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

I was happily surprised seeing Stephen Fry  and heartbroken how his story ended. And only after I felt bad that Stephen Fry was gone I realized this actually happened. It's insane

[Jay 37,346]

He was TERRIFIC in this show!

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

Pam & Tommy

 

I wasn't sure about this show, but I thought it was great. I feel it had a lot of nuance and really showed what this whole thing did to 2 people, especially Anderson. She got quite a bit of agency in the way this series told her story. And the episode where she is getting a deposition is very well done. It was hard to watch what kind of questions she got asked.

 

Both Lily James & Sebastian Stan were amazing in their roles. They didn't play Pamela & Tommy as charicatures but as real people. Very well done.

And Seth Rogen was also really good. I haven't always been a fan of his, but the last few years he's done some great work and he's also a very strong producer.

 

I would recommend a watch, it's very interesting.

[Jay 37,346]

Great show, I liked it a lot!

[Jay 37,346]

 

Cunk on Earth

 

Holy shit, this was great!  I was completely unfamiliar with this character, as well as her actress (Diane Morgan), but everything this show did really clicked for me!  Not only several big laugh-out-loud moments each episode, but a steady level of amusement the entire time as well, a rare feat (often comedic shows I watch have one or the other).

 

I see now this has been a long-running series in Britain covering many different topics, I must see if I can seek them out!

 

It's on Netflix

[Jay 37,346]

On 23/02/2023 at 9:40 AM, Bespin said:

So I watched the final episode of The Mayfair Witches yesterday. They saved the series a bit by bringing some action, at last.

 

Then I was happy that they revealed who was the true father of Rowan.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

It's still his own grand father after all (scandal !!!!) 

 

I will not say that some actor or actresses were miscast in this series, but it's clear that they were not always well directed...

 

And some special effects were VERY cheap!

 

We watched it the other night - pretty terrible.  The whole season was pretty bad.  I doubt we'll watch the second season.

 

In Jojo trans in the books?  I couldn't figure out if the character in the show was supposed to be trans, or if it was just the actor that was.

 

Yea, the special effects were bad at times, especially the fireball stuff.  Yikes.

 

I liked some of the basic world-building like how the witches powers work and how there's a secret group that tracks magic stuff, etc, but most of the actual storytelling was subpar and I didn't find myself attached to any of the characters whatsoever

 

Was Rowan's baby at the end not black at all because Cip never actually impregnated her and it was always lasher magic or something, or did lasher literally replace the baby her and Cip made?

 

On 23/02/2023 at 9:40 AM, Bespin said:

Then the current episodes are clearly edited for TV and it shows, because there are numerous fade-out/fade-in which cut some key scenes and that's very annoying.

 

They really should recut a "Special Edition" before releasing the 2nd season...

 

What?

[Bespin 8,480]

Overall it was a pretty bad adaptation. 

 

Jojo is a fictive character to represent a dozen of Mayfair cousins, Sip also is a new fictive character, it's a mix between a Talamasca influent agent, Aaron Lightner, and Michael Curry, the actual boyfriend of Rowan, who was white in the book.

 

In the book, Rowan never met his true mother nor his true father. They made Cortland live a bit longer in the tv series to tell a bit of his own father's story, Julien. But at the end, in the series very few details are given about the extraordinary life of Julien... 

 

Anyway... all they want us to understand in this series is that Rowan and Sip, they seems to have a special DNA to conceive a kind of powerfull super-human... and yes Lasher choose the body of this child to incarnate himself.

 

Rowan have a special DNA because she's a Mayfair... and Sip, well, it will be told later... The Mayfair witches is a story about powers passed through bloodline, so what do you think?

[Jay 37,346]

Alrighty then!

 

I read somewhere that they are going to do a crossover between this show and AMC's Interview w/ the Vampire next season(s)

[Bespin 8,480]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

Alrighty then!

 

I read somewhere that they are going to do a crossover between this show and AMC's Interview w/ the Vampire next season(s)

 

The Talamasca was first introduced in the Vampires Chronicles. They are aware of the co-existence of Vampires, Witches, Demons and everything between it, like fairies, elves and leprechauns, etc.

[Jay 37,346]

Perry Mason 2x01 Chapter Nine

 

Wow the 3 years off made me forget so much about this show; Even the lengthy recap couldn't jog my memory on a lot of stuff.  Luckily the episode itself did a decent enough job of re-iterating anything important, at least I think so!

 

The McCutcheon family subplot was predictable; It was obvious to both of us the son would be dead by episode end.  The only person with any motivation shown for murdering him so far was his father (and whoever owned the boat I guess), but since this will surely be the entire season's case, I suppose the real culprits haven't been introduced yet.

 

The courtroom case where Mason helps out a bigger grocery store chain squash a young upstart was depressing, but at least Mason himself is depressed about it.  I can't imagine they hired Sean Austin unless they have more for that character in mind; Maybe something major will happen in his store?

 

Drake getting hired by Strickland to spy one some people in a hotel also seemed detached from everything else, but will surely connect in with the main story as the season goes on too.  Not much to say about it yet.

 

Della being tempted to away from her girlfriend with a new character also felt detached from everything else.  If it's just character development, that's fine, but I wonder if they are going to do something more with it.

 

Not much else to say!

 

What did you think, @bruce marshall?

 

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

Perry Mason 2x01 Chapter Nine

 

Wow the 3 years off made me forget so much about this show; Even the lengthy recap couldn't jog my memory on a lot of stuff.  Luckily the episode itself did a decent enough job of re-iterating anything important, at least I think so!

 

The McCutcheon family subplot was predictable; It was obvious to both of us the son would be dead by episode end.  The only person with any motivation shown for murdering him so far was his father (and whoever owned the boat I guess), but since this will surely be the entire season's case, I suppose the real culprits haven't been introduced yet.

 

The courtroom case where Mason helps out a bigger grocery store chain squash a young upstart was depressing, but at least Mason himself is depressed about it.  I can't imagine they hired Sean Austin unless they have more for that character in mind; Maybe something major will happen in his store?

 

Drake getting hired by Strickland to spy one some people in a hotel also seemed detached from everything else, but will surely connect in with the main story as the season goes on too.  Not much to say about it yet.

 

Della being tempted to away from her girlfriend with a new character also felt detached from everything else.  If it's just character development, that's fine, but I wonder if they are going to do something more with it.

 

Not much else to say!

 

What did you think, @bruce marshall?

 

How is the first season? 

[Jay 37,346]

Ehhhhhh it was OK.  A bit dark and depressing, not much levity.  Really good acting, really good period re-creation, top HBO budget for that.  Story was OK if you like a dark murder mystery that takes an entire season to solve.

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

Finished Dopesick

 

I loved it!! It was soo good.

Incredible acting. Terrific writing. Great directing. Absolutely phenomenal.

 

There are so many moments I loved, too much to go over.

 

I do want to say that I was shocked about this story. I don't live in America and I was too young when this all happened to remember anything from the news. So this was fully new to me and I actually can't believe that it really happened. And as I understand it, it's still sorta going on. Insane!

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

Ted Lasso - Season 3, Ep. 1

 

I really love this show and it's great to be back.

It was great to see Ted give the team another lesson in an unconventional way. It cracks me up every time.

 

And Nathan is such an interesting character. It's weird, I kinda really hate him but at the same time you feel sorry for him. He is just so insecure and it comes out in not the best way. It'll be curiojs to see if at the end of the season he kind of 'redeems' himself or not.

 

The conversation between Keely, Roy and his niece was interesting. It showed how a child looks differently at situations. And when they both couldn't really answer why they broke up, I immediatly thought that by the end they'll be back together.

 

Hannah Waddingham as always is great. I'm such a fan of hers so it's always great to see.

 

I am surprised that Apple decided to air S3 on wednesdays opposite The Mandalorian. I would've chosen either Tuesday or Thursday.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Anyone else watching Shrinking?

[Jay 37,346]

No but we just got Apple TV yesterday and will check it out after we check out Severance

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Severance is incredible. Enjoy!

[A24 4,331]

Can't wait for S2!

[LSH 968]

On 14/03/2023 at 10:56 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

Finished Dopesick

 

I loved it!! It was soo good.

Incredible acting. Terrific writing. Great directing. Absolutely phenomenal.

 

There are so many moments I loved, too much to go over.

 

I do want to say that I was shocked about this story. I don't live in America and I was too young when this all happened to remember anything from the news. So this was fully new to me and I actually can't believe that it really happened. And as I understand it, it's still sorta going on. Insane!

 

I just started this tonight and I'm a couple of episodes in. Gripping stuff.

[Tallguy 3,385]

15 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

And Nathan is such an interesting character. It's weird, I kinda really hate him but at the same time you feel sorry for him. He is just so insecure and it comes out in not the best way. It'll be curiojs to see if at the end of the season he kind of 'redeems' himself or not.

 

I'm assuming that there will be redemption. (They could pull a fast one on me.) Rupert is SOOOOO terrible. No matter how bad Nate has been, I'm afraid for him. Surely I'm not the only one who had tears when Ted's boy had him move the Nate Lego back?

 

15 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Hannah Waddingham as always is great. I'm such a fan of hers so it's always great to see.

 

She was really good. They're letting her still be at odds with Ted without just hitting the reset button and moving her back to season 1.

 

The show just feels so DEFT.

 

Also, I just saw the clip about the Great Stink on QI the other day.

[LSH 968]

10 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Severance is incredible. Enjoy!

 

Severance is one of the most original, gripping and aesthetically absorbing shows I've seen in years. I simply cannot wait for season 2.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

16 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Anyone else watching Shrinking?

 

Been watching it with my mom and it's been a joy. The perfect thing for us to both watch and maybe equally enjoy for different reasons. Never knew Harrison Ford could be this fucking funny. What have you thought of it?

[Jay 37,346]

We watched the trailers for that in the Apple TV app last night before watching the Ted Lasso season premiere and we're definitely going to start watching it right away

[LSH 968]

Ted Lasso is still one that I haven't quite got round to starting yet, despite hearing overwhelmingly positive things about it online and from my friends/family.

 

It's on the list but I have soooo much to catch up on. Will probably finish Dopesick tonight, after dinner.

[Jay 37,346]

Perry Mason 2x02 Chapter Ten

 

Oh wow, that was really good, I'm totally hooked into this season's stories now!  Some times these kinds of things just take 2 episodes to set everything up well.

 

I thought it was interesting that whoever is behind the episode 1 murder framed 2 Mexican kids to take the fall, and the LA District Attorneys are happy to assume they did it (someone from inside probably helped with the framing).  I liked a lot that both Perry and Della kind of separately investigated things on their own and then came together at the end to take the case - really cool.

 

I liked the way they brought back Sean Astin's grocery store owner, and Della's new potential mistress story was a little more interesting too (still the weakest storyline of the season so far)

 

Drake getting used by Strickland to put away Perkins was an interesting mini story, and I'm glad he now gets to work for Perry instead.  Their adventure on the boat was really fun, especially when Perry used his quick wits with that speech to get them out of trouble.

I'm in for the season for sure!

 

The footage at the end of the high-diving horse was kinda nuts.  Especially since I remember this shit still happening in the 80s

[Jay 37,346]

Ted Lasso 3x01 Smells Like Mean Spirit

 

Well that was nice; Happy to have the show back.  One that that annoyed me was that the episode did not start with a recap; We clicked around the Apple TV interface looking for one and couldn't find one there either, so begrudging started watching without one and were non-surprisingly playing catch-up at a few times that a recap could have easily solved.  Like when Roy and Keely tell Phoebe that they are breaking up, is that a new development or something that happened at the end of last season?  Neither one of us could recall.

 

I liked kind of resetting Rebecca and Ted to be a bit at odds again; It's not back to early season 1 at all, which would have been bad, but nicely handled by Rebecca's hatred of Rupert and the circumstances of him owning the rival team now and Nate managing that.

Speaking of Nate, I enjoyed following his storyline as well, and not only seeing it through the main character's eyes.  It's going to be interesting watching him, I assume, eventually reconciling with Ted by the end of the season.

 

Keely's new PR firm was a somewhat less interesting story, but it definitely has potential.  The team's trek to the sewers was fun.

Glad to have it back!

[Jay 37,346]

Severance 1x01 Good News About Hell

 

Well, I can't say I was blown away by this episode at all.  However, that is likely because I already knew the show's premise before watching it, and much of this episode is dedicated to slowly unveiling the premise.

 

I liked the way it started with just a minute of Mark's real life before he goes inside, and following his work life for the bulk of the episode.  It was so funny that the new female employee that becomes his first candidate to go through the process was was the same actress that played his wife in Ghosted; They have a fun chemistry.  I wonder if a work romance will happen - that will be a weird scenario since they can literally only hook up at work!

 

Once we get to the outside world, the show got kinda sad for a while.  Learning that his wife died (I'm already bracing for a late season reveal that Lumen had her killed so he'd be willing to work in the severed division), seeing his sad dark apartment, and that he really hasn't finishing (maybe not properly started) grieving her, and as his sister points out, spending 8 hours a day literally forgetting her isn't how to go about that.  I liked the bit of interest near the end, where the Petey we heard about all episode (or at least, someone claiming to be him) claims to have undone the severance and needs Mark's help to take them down.  I was hoping he'd go to the address this episode, but surely he will next week.

Oh, and Patricia Arquette being the neighbor was a nice extra twist; the inside Arquette said he mother was an atheist (why would anyone inside remember a mother anyway?), while the outside Arquette said she was catholic, so is she severed too, or is she acting in one of the two places?  Looking forward to finding out!

 

BTW, I saw Christopher Walken's name in the credits, but didn't see him in the episode.  Did I miss him, or does he just get credited all season whether he appears that week or not?

 

 

 

I'm expecting the show to eventually cover all of these possibilities:

 

-Someone inside who is acting severed, but isn't

-A severed area within a severed area situation

-The project or whatever that the severed people are working on adversely affecting their outside lives in some way, without them realizing it

-A hint that the severance procedure isn't 100% perfect (someone remembers something they shouldn't), OR someone finding a way to sneak into a severed section without being severed, and having to pretend to be their severed self while in there

 

Good stuff, looking forward to seeing where season 1 goes!

[JNHFan2000 2,957]

14 hours ago, Jay said:

Perry Mason 2x02 Chapter Ten

 

I'm want to watch 2 other series first, but after that I'm gonna start this. To see that it's getting better makes me excited. I love things with a courtroom.

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Jay said:

Severance 1x01 Good News About Hell

 

The thing that this show does best is it's tension building throughout the entire season. Layer after layer gets peeled back until everything is clear. It's soo cool.

The finale is incredible!! I can't wait for you to get there.

 

 

[LSH 968]

Just finished Dopesick. My god that was incredible. One of the most eye-opening things I've ever seen.

 

First of all... fantastic direction... it almost had that contemplative Fincher-esque aesthetic, which I really enjoyed. The non-linear format (constantly flicking forward and backward) worked so much better than I thought it would.

 

All the acting talent involved deserve kudos. Michael Stuhlbarg (evil bastard!), Rosario Dawson, Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter and Mare Whittingham play very great parts... but Michael Keaton and Kaitlyn Dever portray the most incredibly realistic, terrifying and poignant depictions of addiction I have ever seen on screen. That stuff really threw me back.

 

Sincerely one of the finest things I've seen on screen in ages. It really moved me... and angered me in equal measure.

[Jay 37,346]

We'll have to check out Dopesick once we've seen everything in the Apple app we wanna watch

I swear we added like 5 shows and 3 movies to our watch list in there this week

[A24 4,331]

13 hours ago, LSH said:

Just finished Dopesick. My god that was incredible. One of the most eye-opening things I've ever seen.

 

First of all... fantastic direction... it almost had that contemplative Fincher-esque aesthetic, which I really enjoyed. The non-linear format (constantly flicking forward and backward) worked so much better than I thought it would.

 

All the acting talent involved deserve kudos. Michael Stuhlbarg (evil bastard!), Rosario Dawson, Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter and Mare Whittingham play very great parts... but Michael Keaton and Kaitlyn Dever portray the most incredibly realistic, terrifying and poignant depictions of addiction I have ever seen on screen. That stuff really threw me back.

 

Sincerely one of the finest things I've seen on screen in ages. It really moved me... and angered me in equal measure.

 

Thanks for the tip. Never heard of this series before.