What TV SHOWS are you watching?

They been showing season one of Spartacus on encore tv. Man that was some good TV once that season settles in. A soap opera with beheadings. I enjoyed the original actor who WAS Spartacus. I didn't feel the second guy filled the shoes or delivered as much gravitas to the role. Shame that dude got cancer and lost the role he was born to play.

Finished the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead. They did a fantastic job with this. Never knew what to expect and was never disappointed.

Mad Dog wrote: Finished the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead. They did a fantastic job with this. Never knew what to expect and was never disappointed.

A lot better than it has any right to be. I'm a huge fan of the show and not a huge Evil Dead (or Bruce Campbell) fan per se.

Hello,

I'm sure I've gushed all over this forum before about Star Wars: Rebels but I'm going to do a little more of it. I guess what follows could be spoilerish but not too much.

I just saw a scene where there are two Inquisitors (evil Jedi) and they are just beating up on our heroes. Then appearing in silhouette as she exits from a space ship is Ahsoka Tano. She proceeds to fight the two baddies by herself while our two heroes make their escape. The fight is exciting as hell as she shows what a full on Jedi can do but then mid-action she stops swinging her light saber, drops to her knees and a look of peace comes over her face as she drops into a meditative state. One of the evil Jedi rush in to finish her off when Ahsoka slaps her hands together on the hilt of the evil jedi's blade and whips it out of the Inquisitor's hands leaving the evil Jedi helpless and defeated.

It was such an unexpected moment that I would never have seen coming and yet EXACTLY what a Jedi would do that I about leapt off the couch and cheered.

It's moments like that...just those few seconds though they happen rather frequently...that push this show over the top.

So I was a HUGE fan of Robert (or Rab, I guess) Florence's board game review series, Downtime Town. No hands in front of the camera, editing that suggested someone gave a shit, focus on the experience of playing game rather than a half-assed attempt at a rules explanation...the PERFECT way to review games, video or otherwise. I knew that he went on to do a show for BBC called Burnistoun, which was tough to watch here in the states, but is now on Netflix.

Watched the first episode last night and loved most of it. It's sketch comedy, most of it really bizarre and nonsensical, but there's some stuff that had me in tears. I'll be the first to admit that I had to turn the subtitles on, but my ear was adjusting by the end of the episode. If you liked Downtime Town and Rab's sense of humor, it's certainly worth watching. This bit about a voice recognition system in an elevator KILLED me.

repoman wrote: The fight is exciting as hell as she shows what a full on Jedi can do but then mid-action she stops swinging her light saber, drops to her knees and a look of peace comes over her face as she drops into a meditative state.

I'm not quite there yet (just saw the two new inquisitors yesterday), but this also shows how much she's grown and matured since Clone Wars.

How long will this show last? Is there room in the galaxy for Kanan, Ezra and Asohka concurrent to events in the OT or will they inevitably get caught by Vader?

I am halfway through Ripper Street, a BBC cop show set in London, a year after the last of the murders by Jack the Ripper. A police investigator and a local reporter are both keen to interpret any new murders in Whitechapel as continuing crimes by Jack the Ripper. Investigator Reed is keen to solve these crimes quickly, in part to head off ripper speculation.

As an American watching a BBC show, I find the usual good and bad points on display, from my limited American perspective. The acting is solid if a bit understated. The period costumes and set design are amazing. There is quite a bit of talking and not a lot of action. Occasionally, I am unable to understand the dialogue, and even rewinding and trying again can sometimes leave me puzzled. Not sure if the problem is accent or unfamiliar period jargon or both.

There is a token American character on the show, a fairly shady but capable doctor who serves as a part-time forensic medical examiner. This is a good choice, because it allows for slightly anachronistic advances in evidence, while at times allowing period-appropriate disbelief by standard law enforcement officials. For the most part, the stories steer clear of serial killer territory, and one episode highlighted a scarier potential threat than the Ripper: cholera.

Ripper Street is a good show, but it falls short of greatness. If you have a convenient opportunity to try it, I do recommend it. But there is nothing so distinctive about the show that you should actively seek it out.

I watched the first episode of MTV's The Chronicles of Shanara, a fantasy series based on a series by Terry Brooks. I've never read anything by Brooks but he was all over the fantasy/sci-fi section in the '80s-'90s. Also, my wife went to school with his son for a little bit. The show is a little cheesy, and very teeny, but it is an MTV show. I was surprised the character/monster design, practical effects and special effects are all pretty good. The plot is pretty straightforward and predictable, but I'll check it out some more.

I was watching it on demand, and a lot of times you can't fast forward the commercials, so I was watching all the dreadful previews for MTV's other shows. Geez, what a cesspool of garbage, the fact that a show called Teenage Mom OG exists almost makes me lose all faith in humanity. Then I discovered I could fast forward during the commercials. Problem solved.

I was also watching BBC's The Last Kingdom, a historical fiction show based on some books. It's set around 900 AD when the Danes invade England, and England isn't really a united kingdom yet (no pun intended). The protagonist is a Saxon boy who is raised by Danes, so he isn't fully part of either world and ends up battling for revenge against enemies both Saxon and Viking and working for a king who is lord of the last unconquered Saxon kingdom. I really liked this series, but someone deleted the last episode and it's not on demand anymore. Disappointed I didn't get to see the finale.

metalface13 wrote: I watched the first episode of MTV's The Chronicles of Shanara, a fantasy series based on a series by Terry Brooks. I've never read anything by Brooks but he was all over the fantasy/sci-fi section in the '80s-'90s. Also, my wife went to school with his son for a little bit. The show is a little cheesy, and very teeny, but it is an MTV show. I was surprised the character/monster design, practical effects and special effects are all pretty good. The plot is pretty straightforward and predictable, but I'll check it out some more.

There's some dumb shit in there though: you see Alannon the druid burn his hand after casting some spell, and he explains to his padawan that every use of magic has its cost (he's also covered in scars, presumably the cost of a life of using magic). Then why the fuck did he barge his way into the Elven palace by force pushing the guards out of his way?!? Can't you announce yourself and await an audience like a reasonable person, especially if using magic has such a high cost? Urgency I suppose.

Columbob wrote: There's some dumb shit in there though: you see Alannon the druid burn his hand after casting some spell, and he explains to his padawan that every use of magic has its cost (he's also covered in scars, presumably the cost of a life of using magic). Then why the fuck did he barge his way into the Elven palace by force pushing the guards out of his way?!? Can't you announce yourself and await an audience like a reasonable person, especially if using magic has such a high cost? Urgency I suppose.

Haha I missed that. I also had a 9-month-old baby crawling all over me so the show didn't have my complete attention.

Having watched now episodes 5 and 6 of Ripper Street (out of 8 episodes in the series), I need to revisit my previous review a few posts back. The various hints of depths to the main characters in the first four episodes finally paid off in a great pair of episodes. Both episodes featured a cinematic combination of action and deep characterization, with some symbolism and themes thrown in for good measure. I am pleased to discover that BBC has already made two more seasons, and the show was renewed for a 4th and 5th season as well.

I had heard good things about Ripper Street elsewhere, but was planning to nix it from my Netflix queue after your last post. I'll keep it on there now.

I was about to say that these days I don't know if there's time to watch a series where people say "you have to wait until at least 3-4-5 episodes... that's when it gets really good." But it occured to me that I did exactly that with The Leftovers. So I'll probably give this a chance, after all.

Mr. Robot. What a show.

Grudunza wrote: I had heard good things about Ripper Street elsewhere, but was planning to nix it from my Netflix queue after your last post. I'll keep it on there now.

I was about to say that these days I don't know if there's time to watch a series where people say "you have to wait until at least 3-4-5 episodes... that's when it gets really good." But it occured to me that I did exactly that with The Leftovers. So I'll probably give this a chance, after all.

Yeah, I think you were the one who sold me on the Leftovers. I just finished season one, and I think it damaged me--in a good way. I forgive Damon for Lost.

craniac wrote:

Grudunza wrote: I had heard good things about Ripper Street elsewhere, but was planning to nix it from my Netflix queue after your last post. I'll keep it on there now.

I was about to say that these days I don't know if there's time to watch a series where people say "you have to wait until at least 3-4-5 episodes... that's when it gets really good." But it occured to me that I did exactly that with The Leftovers. So I'll probably give this a chance, after all.

Yeah, I think you were the one who sold me on the Leftovers. I just finished season one, and I think it damaged me--in a good way. I forgive Damon for Lost.

Ha, right. Well, I forgive him for the final season (and especially the finale) of Lost. I loved it until then, so I still look at it as a "journey over destination" kind of thing. But I think he learned from that, and apparently said right off the bat that we will not receive any big answers on The Leftovers as far as the big mystery of what happened on Oct. 14 (or whatever the date was). Now, who knows, maybe we actually will get some resolution to that, after all, but I think he's smart to not promise that (like they always did for Lost). Better to leave the point of the show to the drama inherent within the characters and situations, and not concern for the mythos of it all.

Second season is AMAZING, btw. Strap in for quite a ride.