Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

[Rossell]

Both of those shows are on my list when I've finished everything else. Just finished Pretend It's A City, thanks for that Achtung enjoyed that very much.

In a documentary kinda mood so next on my list is one called Uppity.

[Animalmother]

On season 2 of The Boys. Sweet Jesus I love this crazy shit

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, it's great. As good as the first season imo. Looking forward to season 3!

[Wrathbone]

Frasier's coming back, because new ideas are dead (as are Martin and Eddie):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56191980

I love Frasier, but this is going to be terrible, isn't it? I can't envisage any scenario where it's not terrible.

[Hatredsheart]

Frasier's coming back, because new ideas are dead (as are Martin and Eddie):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56191980

I love Frasier, but this is going to be terrible, isn't it? I can't envisage any scenario where it's not terrible.

Coming out on the new Paramount+ service which they're really pushing atm. All I'm seeing on twitter is a steady stream of ads for new stuff coming on it. A Halo series too apparently.

[Animalmother]

Also when you find out Kelsey Kramer is supposed to be an utter Edwin in real life it makes it harder to enjoy.

[Raid]

At least with the way the series originally ended (Frasier leaving everyone behind and starting another new life in another city), it'll make sense if none of the rest of the cast come back. But assuming they're not going to try ridiculous de aging on Grammar, surely Frasier will be as old now as Martin was when the series originally started. Unless they're going to try something like having Frasier's son moving in with him (subtitled "The Next Generation"), then it's going to be a totally different programme.

I'll be honest; I think I'd watch it if it's just Frasier and Niles as bickering old men. I adored the show's original run, but even I don't want this.

[Sly Boots]

Frasier is great. This is going to end up like the Arrested Development revival, ie shite.

[Sly Boots]

TIL I learned John Mahoney, who played Frasier's dad, was a Mancunian and only moved to the US aged 18.

[Drarok]

At least with the way the series originally ended[…]

I know the statute of limitations has passed and all, but FFS spoilers!!!

I never enjoyed Frasier when it was originally on, I was way too young for it. The wife and I have started watching it recently though, and it's surprisingly good! And now I know how it ends. Bah.

[Raid]

Just trust me when I say that's not actually a particularly big spoiler. But yeah, 17 years since the series ended. You had your chance.

[Animalmother]

Ash Vs Evil Dead season 3 is now on Netflix. The batshit silliness of it and the ludicrous gore is just great

Spoiler

fight is a sperm bank while Aha's Take on Me plays is wonderful

[Achtung Englander]

Young Pope (Sky)
So this is not what I would call must-see TV but there is something compelling about it. It is pretty cerebral. You think he will be a radical pope, and he is not, but what you think he will be and the program cleverly addresses a lot of the theological issues that comes from being a pope. The first and last episodes end really powerfully. I really liked it. It is not for everyone and it is a tad slow paced and a bit ropey at times, but it made me think.

7/10

[Alan]

Truth Be Told
Octavia Spencer accused Aaron Paul of murder on her podcast, he got locked up. 20 years later shes feeling like she may have been mistaken and starts a new podcast to look into it. Its decent. Octavias character is just a horrible horrible person and I dont think we're supposed to think that. Its your typical twist and turn red herring mystery thing. Theres very little thats special about it but it is well made and is quite watchable.

Still watching The Servant too and still really liking it!

[Raid]

24

So this is now available on Disney+ thanks to the Fox takeover, so I've been rewatching the first season. This is now almost 20 years old, and it's amazing to think about how far TV has come. This has to be one of the first "must watch" shows that I took part in (although I didn't do this until the second season), and it's perhaps one of the first examples of the TV renaissance, so I was wondering how well it had aged.

Firstly, the obvious; 24 is a series where technology was heavily involved in-universe, and technology has moved on a hell of a lot since it first aired in 2001. It's fun to see bulky PDAs with massive GPS addons, satellite imaging used as basic downloaded JPGs before Google Maps was so ubiquitous, people holding phones to their ears despite also needing to use a firearm at the same time. Yes, it's aged.

Secondly, this is drama writing done halfway between the styles of the 90s and 00s - it's dramatic, sure, but utterly ridiculous in places. There's no subtlety, Bauer is so full-on I assume he would hold a gun to a barista's head if they spelled his name wrongly on the cup, yelling at them until he corrected the spelling and told him where the bomb was. Hell, in the very first episode, Jack Bauer uses a tranquiliser gun on his boss (I mean he actually shoots him, not just using it as a threat) because he thinks he's withholding important information. Everyone at CTU gives sly looks after every conversation because they all think that their co-workers can't be trusted. This is a three-letter counter-terrorist agency, which is so dysfunctional that I think I'd trust a couple of British PCSOs holding pasties to better counter a significant terrorist threat. Dear god the agency's HR department must need fifty people per operative.

And the theming is a little odd in 2021. The show did first air after the September 11th attacks, although I expect it was in production beforehand (the first episode's airing was delayed by a month or two because of the attacks), and honestly I'm not sure you could make the show today. I think public opinion has solidly turned against American counter-terrorism efforts, and the serious invasions of privacy and use of violence "to get the job done" that the show frequently falls back on make these characters extremely unsympathetic today.

....but god damn the format works. I really thought after the first few episodes that I'd not get very far into it because it was all so preposterous, but it sucked me right back in as it did when I was still at secondary school. That constant ticking clock and the split-screen shots make it very easy to follow multiple plot threads and stay excited for each one, even if it does mean that there isn't a car ride that takes longer than 15 minutes. In the middle of Los Angeles. At rush hour. It's impossible to get bored because despite running for 24 episodes a season (which feels long today but was pretty standard at the time), they pack so much stuff into each episode that it barely ever lets up the intensity.

So yeah, surprisingly this still holds up. I know it probably gets worse as the series goes on; I don't think I watched beyond the third season because after season 2 the rights were bought by Sky, and I didn't have reliable access to Sky at the time. I'm going to at least rewatch season 2, and see how interested I am in continuing afterwards.