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

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

Post by Sly Boots » Fri May 06, 2022 9:55 pm

Meanwhile I started watching Mike Myers' new show on Netflix, The Pentaverate.

It's... an odd one. I guess you'd have to call it a comedy although there aren't a lot of laughs to be found (the second episode raised a couple of chuckles more than the first, and actually had one solid skit).

The humour is ostensibly similar to some of his more successful 90s films, I suppose, but there's something off about it at the same time. Maybe it's the timing, or the delivery (it seems particularly stilted when the different characters Myers plays interact with each other... which is a problem when he plays about 75% of the cast). Some of it is pretty awkward.

But then there are flashes of his talent, interspersed sporadically. There's one bit in the second episode that works particularly well - it starts off filled with excessive swearing (which as it happens feels exceedingly unfunny), but then the head of Netflix appears to edit the scene to clean it up, which results in something even filthier, which was pretty funny.

I'll keep watching as it's definitely odd rather than actively bad, and hopefully it finds its feet a bit with more of that kind of joke and less unfunny voices and characters.

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

Post by Raid » Thu May 12, 2022 7:16 pm

Strange New Worlds

It seems there's at least one person at Paramount that has seen a Star Trek episode from the 90s, as the first one of SNW does feel a lot like it. It's paced more like the shows when they weren't trying to spend massive effects budgets (not that it looks cheap), and the characters have actual conversations instead of exasperatingly crying. The cast are great; Mount's Captain Pike is every bit as charismatic and thoughtful as any of the other franchise captains, and I think the rest of the bridge crew we've not had a proper introduction for yet still had more lines (and indeed names) than most of Discovery's cast got in the first season. I'm still not totally convinced by Peck's Spock though; he has at least lost the beard he had in Discovery, but he doesn't feel like he's trying to imitate Nimoy's Spock, and I'm not sure whether that's good or bad considering they're meant to be the same character.

The story is pretty good. It does get a little heavy-handed with the social commentary, but at least it has social commentary, much like Star Trek of old. It certainly feels more similar to TOS than TNG in that regard, which is appropriate given the era it's set in.

It's early days yet, and the trailer that played at the end of the episode did look eerily like one from Discovery, but then trailers usually do feature a lot of action scenes so it'd be unfair to judge it based on that, but if the rest of the series carries on like the first episode, it could well be the return of the franchise I grew up on. There's a couple of references to things that were name checked in Picard S2 also, so I suspect they're going to work that in as an arc of sorts, but we'll see.

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

Post by Drarok » Fri May 13, 2022 12:38 pm

Somehow, this is the absolute first I'm hearing of Strange New Worlds!
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Raid » Fri May 13, 2022 1:24 pm

I think it was announced shortly after Discovery season 2 wrapped up. I'm not sure if sticking Pike in as a main character during that season was effectively a screen test for a spin off (Star Trek shows have done that plenty of times in the past), but he was clearly the best thing about that year of the show, and I'm so glad they followed through with this.

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

Post by Raid » Fri May 13, 2022 6:24 pm

....and the second episode is just as good, if not better. There's obvious chemistry between the crew, there's just the right amount of cheesiness to it, and while there's a little silliness in proceedings, the solution they eventually come up with is based on at least a basic scientific principle rather than just pretending via treknobabble. And it's optimistic, one of the things that Picard and Discovery sorely lacked (or at least, when Discovery tried it, it was dialled up to 11 and utterly cringeworthy).

I'm really enjoying this, I hope they keep it up.

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

Post by Sly Boots » Fri May 13, 2022 6:51 pm

Hopefully I'll find a way to watch it sooner or later.

Meanwhile, I started Barry, which stars the ever-excellent Bill Hader as an ex-marine turned hitman, who's grown tired of his work and after taking a job in LA does an about-face, joins an acting class run by Henry Winkler and decides he wants to become an actor. Except it isn't that easy to quit on his former life.

It's good fun, recommended.

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

Post by Rusty » Sat May 14, 2022 7:38 am

Severance

What happens if you allow a company to 'sever' your memory so that you never work a day in your life?
What if your work you (your innie) knows nothing about your home life?

Bing. You're at work. Do a full day then, Bing. It's the next day with no break.
Would you cope? Do you have rights? Can you have a say in anything?

This programme is the weirdest thing I've ever watched but it's fascinating. Reminds me of Twin Peaks (which I never watched but got a flavour of from osmosis).
All the characters play their parts brilliantly. Not one dud.

Hoping for a season 2
-- To be completed at some point --

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

Post by Solitaire » Sat May 14, 2022 10:51 pm

Raid wrote:
Fri May 13, 2022 6:24 pm
....and the second episode is just as good, if not better. There's obvious chemistry between the crew, there's just the right amount of cheesiness to it, and while there's a little silliness in proceedings, the solution they eventually come up with is based on at least a basic scientific principle rather than just pretending via treknobabble. And it's optimistic, one of the things that Picard and Discovery sorely lacked (or at least, when Discovery tried it, it was dialled up to 11 and utterly cringeworthy).

I'm really enjoying this, I hope they keep it up.
Just finished watching these first two episodes. I agree with you on many points, Chris - there's a decent dose of camp, quite reminiscent of the OG series. The actor playing Pike is a solid choice, for sure - and that hair! Man, I wish I could get my gray hair to look that good. It's nice to have an older actor who looks like he ought to be a captain of a starship, bossing these young people around. And yeah, the overall theme is optimistic without being overwrought. I took pains to lower my expectations before watching, which worked for me, as I'm pleasantly surprised at having enjoyed the majority of the scenes in both episodes. I have to say, though, that the Ortegas character hits me entirely the wrong way. The haircut they've given her is abominable, and that actress has exactly one expression in her repertoire, the "Dreamworks" smirk:
Image

I know, I know, there has to be at least one smarmy, sarcastic, know-it-all, been-there-done-that, annoying, one-dimensional character per new TV series.

The direction and/or editing feels amateurish at times, e.g., there's lots of odd "knowing glances" from one character to another, in various scenes, that the camera focuses on, that are just head-scratchers to me. I'm not sure what the message is supposed to be. There are times when the dialog is so forced and rushed that characters are interrupting each other, and other times when there's too long of a pause between lines. I could chalk that up to first-series blues, which is often the case, i.e., the cast needs to work together for a while in order to get a groove going in every scene.

Also, Rebecca Romijn is unrecognizable to me in this. Still immensely attractive, but wow what a difference the brunette hair, and a few years, makes. And her acting chops have certainly matured. Great character. I also like the inclusion of Samuel Kirk. That will be fun, hopefully.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Raid » Sun May 15, 2022 6:36 am

I actually really like Ortegas. I know the "cocky pilot" trope is incredibly overused in sci-fi, hell, this isn't even the first time it's been used in Star Trek (Tom Paris), but I'm glad they're giving us characters with a bit of life to them. I also quite like the haircut, although from what I can tell it's been really divisive; Melissa Navia has had hate about it on Twitter, but then what else is new when it comes to that platform. Perhaps they just wanted to get as far from the starfleet regulation sideburn as possible.

I also had to look Rebecca Romijin up. I find it amusing that the only other role I know her from is Mystique in the early X-Men films, a character whose whole deal is being incognito.

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

Post by Solitaire » Sun May 15, 2022 9:27 am

I'll have to take a lesson from my old sage, Ram Dass, and figure out why the character irks me so. Honestly though, all of my niggles will most certainly be worked out as time goes by and the cast & crew solidify their roles and techniques. I hope this one lasts for a while, it feels like a good start to a new Star Trek series. I really enjoyed "Enterprise" back in the day, that's so long ago now though! I've mostly avoided everything else, until now.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Raid » Sun May 15, 2022 9:58 am

Plenty of Star Trek shows took a couple of seasons to get going. TNG, DS9 and Enterprise both got significantly better in their third seasons, though it was less pronounced with Voyager. It always takes a few episodes of a show for you to get to know the characters anyway, and we've only had the most one-dimensional backstory note for Ortegas so far, maybe you'll warm to her when you've got something less superficial to go off of.

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

Post by Alan » Tue May 17, 2022 7:39 am

So the end of Ozark then. Ehhhh.

The general wrapping up was fine, how they handled the thing was quite good but the final few minutes were just baaaad. It feels like it needed another episode, the final thing seems like its way out of character. Very good show all in but like so many(almost all) good shows it just couldn't stick the ending.
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Achtung Englander » Wed May 18, 2022 10:33 am

Derry Girls - season 3

The worst of the 3 seasons. Hardly cracked a smile. The characters have become cliches of themselves. As a fan of the first 2 series I am pretty disappointed with the output of this one.

Top Boy Summerhouse - all seasons on Netflix

Fantastic and gritty. The child actors, especially Jason in the second series, are amazing, but all credit goes to Ash Walters and Kano who are superb. After coming off Gomorrah, they are the Genny and Ciro of East London.

8/10

Top Boy - season 3

Now a Netflix show once being a Channel 4 show, and you can really see how extra money ups the production values. Luckily the script and storylines are just as strong as Summerhouse but where Summerhouse focused the drama in 4 episodes, there is more padding with the Netflix production as series 3 ups the ante to 10 episodes. Exciting ending.

Kano is an amazing actor, I love the character of Sully.

9/10
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Re: Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

Post by Animalmother » Thu May 19, 2022 11:29 pm

The Orville
Watched first couple of episodes and enjoying it so. It's Star Trek with knob jokes, pretty much. Ship designs are great as are the make up effects on the various aliens. From what I've heard it manages to be more like Star Trek than the most recent efforts on Netflix and CBS. Silly but entertaining.

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

Post by Raid » Fri May 20, 2022 5:47 am

The Orville's great. There's just enough terrible humour in there (it really isn't funny) for it to be considered a parody rather than a rip-off, but I think it's clear that they just wanted to make Star Trek, and they did a pretty good job of that. It's more a Star Trek show than Discovery or Picard were anyway.

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