The TV Thread

boogieman

Watching the final series of Walking Desd now it’s finally free on Prime. We’ll stick with it to the end as I’ve watched the program right from the beginning and want to see how it all plays out (or maybe I’m just a bit of a masochist… this is  from someone who watched all of Lost ). What a pile of crap it is, small wonder it got canned in the end. Same old predictable nonsense every single series since the glory days of Negan and the Governor… you’d think Maggie/Darryl/Carol & co would know better after dealing with the same situation umpteen times before, but nope, apparently not. 

Devil#20

boogieman said:

Watching the final series of Walking Desd now it’s finally free on Prime. We’ll stick with it to the end as I’ve watched the program right from the beginning and want to see how it all plays out (or maybe I’m just a bit of a masochist… this is  from someone who watched all of Lost ). What a pile of crap it is, small wonder it got canned in the end. Same old predictable nonsense every single series since the glory days of Negan and the Governor… you’d think Maggie/Darryl/Carol & co would know better after dealing with the same situation umpteen times before, but nope, apparently not. 

It was recommended to me by several people and finally got round to watching it. Watched a few episodes but really couldn't get into it and gave up.

Watching a multi season programme is a serious investment in your time so I tend to go on recommendations. My short list is either Borgen or Spiral (both subtitles which I don't mind). Anyone recommend me watching either one or the other or both or not at all?

boogieman

Devil#20 said:

boogieman said:

Watching the final series of Walking Desd now it’s finally free on Prime. We’ll stick with it to the end as I’ve watched the program right from the beginning and want to see how it all plays out (or maybe I’m just a bit of a masochist… this is  from someone who watched all of Lost ). What a pile of crap it is, small wonder it got canned in the end. Same old predictable nonsense every single series since the glory days of Negan and the Governor… you’d think Maggie/Darryl/Carol & co would know better after dealing with the same situation umpteen times before, but nope, apparently not. 

It was recommended to me by several people and finally got round to watching it. Watched a few episodes but really couldn't get into it and gave up.

Watching a multi season programme is a serious investment in your time so I tend to go on recommendations. My short list is either Borgen or Spiral (both subtitles which I don't mind). Anyone recommend me watching either one or the other or both or not at all?

To be fair, the early series of Walking Dead were really good. It just ran out of steam and ideas the longer it went on. It was an endless rinse/repeat of Our Heroes settling in somewhere, only to get set upon by yet another rival gang of Bad People. The walkers also became less of a problem as it went on, more a nuisance than the serious threat they started off as. 

sinbaadi

Baby Reindeer. 

Car crash stuff with lots of "no way..." moments. 

Genuinely quite intense to watch so make sure you know what you're getting in to. Not for the feint hearted.

I felt like I was ready for it to finish about 2 episodes from the end but certainly a memorable and provocative story, and rare for the lead actor to be the writer AND person on whom the true story is based.

Timcito

boogieman said:

Watching the final series of Walking Desd now it’s finally free on Prime. We’ll stick with it to the end as I’ve watched the program right from the beginning and want to see how it all plays out (or maybe I’m just a bit of a masochist… this is  from someone who watched all of Lost ). What a pile of crap it is, small wonder it got canned in the end. Same old predictable nonsense every single series since the glory days of Negan and the Governor… you’d think Maggie/Darryl/Carol & co would know better after dealing with the same situation umpteen times before, but nope, apparently not. 

I thought TWD was good for two seasons; then it was just rinse and repeat. Also, I think its best feature was the creation of that first set of characters: how they interacted and what they did to survive. The zombies, for me, were never anything more than 'the threat' against which those other dynamics took place and could have been substituted for any number of other grisly threats.

Haych

sinbaadi said:

Baby Reindeer. 

Car crash stuff with lots of "no way..." moments. 

Genuinely quite intense to watch so make sure you know what you're getting in to. Not for the feint hearted.

I felt like I was ready for it to finish about 2 episodes from the end but certainly a memorable and provocative story, and rare for the lead actor to be the writer AND person on whom the true story is based.

Baby Reindeer is not an easy watch, but it's very well made.  To say I enjoyed it would be the wrong turn of phrase, but it's good.

Complex stuff on many levels if you choose to think about it too much.  Would recommend but I'd agree that you need to be prepared for some hard hitting and disturbing stuff - not for everyone.

RocknRollDave

sinbaadi said:

Baby Reindeer. 

Car crash stuff with lots of "no way..." moments. 

Genuinely quite intense to watch so make sure you know what you're getting in to. Not for the feint hearted.

I felt like I was ready for it to finish about 2 episodes from the end but certainly a memorable and provocative story, and rare for the lead actor to be the writer AND person on whom the true story is based.

Agreed, especially on the fact it seemed a couple of episodes longer than it needed to be.

But…excellent acting (from everyone in the cast) and interesting to see some genuine nuance laid out on TV without a nice tidy (unrealistic) TV ending.

CaseOfAce

Devil#20 said:

Watching a multi season programme is a serious investment in your time so I tend to go on recommendations. My short list is either Borgen or Spiral (both subtitles which I don't mind). Anyone recommend me watching either one or the other or both or not at all?

Spiral is absolutely superb. Highly recommended. 
They aimed really high in the first few seasons relating to the French judiciary system in the same manner The Wire did for Baltimore with some great heroes and villains. (Karlsson, Roban, Gilou, Berthaud)
For some reason they dropped the French lawyer bloke and gradually went full on Police Squad - no less gripping - the show puts to shame most anything British TV has done in the last 20 years.
Paris always looks stunning - it's just this is not the Paris the tourists visit.

When did French TV become so good (Engrenages, Call My Agent, Lupin)?

Philly_Q

I found out today that Disney+ have an upcoming series based on C.J. Sansom's Shardlake books. 

From the trailer it doesn't look that promising, to be honest, but I liked the books so I'll give it a go.

westford

Philly_Q said:

I found out today that Disney+ have an upcoming series based on C.J. Sansom's Shardlake books. 

From the trailer it doesn't look that promising, to be honest, but I liked the books so I'll give it a go.

Don't know the books, but my husband will watch anything historical/anything with Sean Bean in it, so we'll check it out.

Kurtis

Baby Reindeer.

First episode I thought this is going to be really good, plus lots of positive comments here, but kinda felt like it didn't quite deliver in the end. 

Don't get me wrong, I did quite enjoy it. Was an interesting enough story, cool dive into an unusual modern life. Lost my attention a bit after the first couple of episodes though.
Not sure exactly why tbh. 

RobDavies

Kurtis said:

Baby Reindeer.

First episode I thought this is going to be really good, plus lots of positive comments here, but kinda felt like it didn't quite deliver in the end. 

Don't get me wrong, I did quite enjoy it. Was an interesting enough story, cool dive into an unusual modern life. Lost my attention a bit after the first couple of episodes though.
Not sure exactly why tbh. 

I thought it was bang average.   The acting was shocking in places and it went on far too long.  

I know it’s supposedly true but I can’t believe that ‘Donny’ would put himself through all of that.   

Kurtis

RobDavies said:

Kurtis said:

Baby Reindeer.

First episode I thought this is going to be really good, plus lots of positive comments here, but kinda felt like it didn't quite deliver in the end. 

Don't get me wrong, I did quite enjoy it. Was an interesting enough story, cool dive into an unusual modern life. Lost my attention a bit after the first couple of episodes though.
Not sure exactly why tbh. 

I thought it was bang average.   The acting was shocking in places and it went on far too long.  

I know it’s supposedly true but I can’t believe that ‘Donny’ would put himself through all of that.   

The acting was a bit stiff at times. The stalker was quite good. 

Don't know about it being true. I could believe it happened, but it was obviously dramatised a fair bit for effect. A bit style over substance. The comedy club scenes were a bit cringe. 
Thing is, if it hadn't have been true I don't think it would have got the same interest, if you get me. Like the fact it was true didn't hold me. 

strumjoughlamps

Twisted Metal

another game made into TV show. It was surprisingly better than I was expecting, thoroughly enjoyed it proper lol moments and they have set it up for another season which I hope happens.

Jfingers

Quite enjoyed Baby Reindeer although enjoyed isn't quite correct. Ripley is indeed beautiful to look at, hyper real film noir, about halfway through that one.

My last minute half hour filler before bed is It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, I'm enjoying that a lot. I loved Trailer Park Boys and Schitts Creek in that role as well.

Timcito

I'm at the end of season 4 of Vikings now, and I've found it to be quite a gripping series. One of the many features that intrigues me is the way that, in an environment where life is cheap and virtually every major character is guilty of murder by our standards, there remains a sense of fundamental right and wrong and characters that I think most viewers would be rooting for. For example, I think most of us like Ragnar Lothbrok, his first wife Lagertha, their son Bjorn, and even Floki, the unhinged boatbuilder, and yet all of them have killed people and sometimes for ugly reasons. The purest characters seem to be Helga, Floki's wife, and Athelstan, the Christian who becomes Ragnar's most beloved friend.

Haych

We started watching the four part documentary on Bon Jovi last night on Disney +, I forget what it’s called. 

I’m not what you’d call a massive Bon Jovi fan but they had some great hits. This docuseries, so far, has taken the story back to the beginning and chronicles the formation, struggle and hedonistic success of the band while following the current iteration of the band on a 15 date NA tour in 2022. 

We’ve watched the first two parts, they’re quite long episodes. So far it’s been quite revealing and quite sad, Jon reminisces about the past while knowing he no longer can perform the way he once could. 

There’s also a stark contrast between the years when they were big and it was all one huge party to the very matter of fact and understated way the band tours and puts on a show now. 

Worth a watch but if I was a mega fan I’d avoid as it would be heartbreaking to see my heroes trying to recreate their past success while becoming a shadow of what they once were. 

Danny1969

@Devil#20 ;

Seen all of Spiral and Borgen. Loved both but Spiral is the better series IMHO

I watched all of Baby reindeer, mainly cos the wife wanted to.  But didn't think a lot of it. I feel sorry that he suffered what he did but at some point we are all responsible for ourselves ..  and his want of a push up the artistic ladder while enjoying the powerful drugs and attention of an older gay groomer was only ever going to turn out bad.  It was all a bit "woe is me " 

boogieman

westford said:

Philly_Q said:

I found out today that Disney+ have an upcoming series based on C.J. Sansom's Shardlake books. 

From the trailer it doesn't look that promising, to be honest, but I liked the books so I'll give it a go.

Don't know the books, but my husband will watch anything historical/anything with Sean Bean in it, so we'll check it out.

The earlier Shardlake books are excellent, but the last one he wrote is awful. The author had taken a long break from writing because he’d had cancer and it was almost like he’d got writing diarrhoea, trying to make up for the forced absence. 

If the character that Sean Bean is playing is who I think it is, at least he won’t die in episode one! It’s a great pity this is only on Disney though, I’d like to watch it but don’t want to subscribe to yet another tv platform. 

Kurtis

Timcito said:

I'm at the end of season 4 of Vikings now, and I've found it to be quite a gripping series. One of the many features that intrigues me is the way that, in an environment where life is cheap and virtually every major character is guilty of murder by our standards, there remains a sense of fundamental right and wrong and characters that I think most viewers would be rooting for. For example, I think most of us like Ragnar Lothbrok, his first wife Lagertha, their son Bjorn, and even Floki, the unhinged boatbuilder, and yet all of them have killed people and sometimes for ugly reasons. The purest characters seem to be Helga, Floki's wife, and Athelstan, the Christian who becomes Ragnar's most beloved friend.

I liked Norsemen on Netflix.

A bit like horrible histories but more adult, and Scandinavian.