# Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108 "2021-07-09T17:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 201
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4008 "2024-04-25T14:44:55Z")
from what i see around the internet, perhaps it was a show more suited to usa network or as a streaming show. i hope it does get picked up by someone. i find it entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4009 "2024-04-25T15:01:16Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Finished: > > **Shogun**. Started out so well, and went completely off the rails. Ends with basically a long exposition of “here’s the stuff that would have happened next if we had two more episodes”. The acting was great, the settings and cinematography was great, the writing… needed work. Counterpoint. I love this era and this book and would have loved to have seen this! However, it was better to keep the focus about the star crossed lovers and their relationship with their lord. We didn’t need to see Sekigahara for that, and it only detracts. There was so much else this tale had to do for the audience: explain this obscure ancient foreign history to 70’s Americans, explore an alien culture, the artistic license we give it is massive just for exposition alone. To explain the synopsis at the end you’d have to get into the politics of this crazy 7 weeks and man we just don’t have the time to do that justice. The 80’s TV mini series portrayed the two sides in different solid opposing colors, no variety for clans, because that’s how much you’d have to dumb it down if you aren’t going to explain it, and no one needs that, not history buffs or half interested housewives. But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4010 "2024-04-25T15:10:58Z")
Counter-counterpoint: if we’d had even two more episodes, we could have seen the grand plan actually come to fruition rather than just hearing about what was going to happen. Even just seeing the next battle would have been more satisfying. It just felt so unfinished to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4011 "2024-04-25T18:27:19Z")
I’ve actually just started binging Stargate SG-1. Right up my alley, genre-wise, but I never watched it during the original run because I had young kids then. Most of the way through season 2, now. It’s better than season 1, for the most part - at least, I can see them setting up for some longer-term story arcs. Hasn’t yet [“grown the beard”](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard) but I think I’m detecting some stubble. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4012 "2024-04-25T19:22:20Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Most of the way through season 2, now. It’s better than season 1, for the most part - at least, I can see them setting up for some longer-term story arcs. Hasn’t yet [“grown the beard”](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard) but I think I’m detecting some stubble. My take was that the show was always very much second-tier TV in terms of quality. I watched the entire run and while there are some fun moments, it’s never quite a great show. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4013 "2024-04-25T19:33:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Even just seeing the next battle would have been more satisfying. It just felt so unfinished to me. Blame James Clavell 🙂, Sekigahara was just a brief epilogue in the novel as well. The story was about the maneuvering of the cold war, not the hot war that followed. This is how the 1980 miniseries ended it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zH9PWII8XVU/maxresdefault.jpg "Closing to James Clavell's Shōgun 1980 VHS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH9PWII8XVU) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4014 "2024-04-25T20:30:04Z")
Okay then. “Fuck you, Clavell!” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4015 "2024-04-25T20:37:04Z")
Ah, the famous last words of Madeleine. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4016 "2024-04-25T20:51:13Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > **Shogun**. Started out so well, and went completely off the rails. Ends with basically a long exposition of “here’s the stuff that would have happened next if we had two more episodes”. The acting was great, the settings and cinematography was great, the writing… needed work. I concur. Beautiful series, but second class writing. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4017 "2024-04-26T14:50:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > My take was that the show was always very much second-tier TV in terms of quality. I watched the entire run and while there are some fun moments, it’s never quite a great show. Yeah, no argument there, after not quite 2 seasons. Still, I was looking for something that I a) knew would be at least tolerable, and b) I could stop and resume whenever I felt, without being too frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4018 "2024-04-26T15:56:32Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Most of the way through season 2, now. It’s better than season 1, for the most part - at least, I can see them setting up for some longer-term story arcs. Hasn’t yet [“grown the beard”](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrowingTheBeard) but I think I’m detecting some stubble. It started slow, a bit over serious, and took a while to get there, but three to six are excellent TV, and really worth it, There are definitely superb, funny and interesting stuff. Wormhole X-Treme being excellent stuff, and I recall a number of excellent episodes. Due to cancellation prospects and changing networks, and loss of some cast, it got a bit varied around 6 and 7, and is in effect a reboot for 8-10. Stargate Atlantis is more consistent and overlaps some of the main Stargate. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4019 "2024-04-26T16:16:20Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Yeah, no argument there, after not quite 2 seasons. Still, I was looking for something that I a) knew would be at least tolerable, and b) I could stop and resume whenever I felt, without being too frustrating. I enjoyed when Ben Browder and Claudia Black joined, way up around season 7(?) or so. They actually brought some much needed fun to the whole thing, especially Black. In the end, though, my wife and I started skipping a few episodes here and there. We did like the finale, though. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4020 "2024-04-26T16:24:19Z")
I’ve yet to start The Orville. I know it’s not quite what the thread is about, but is it any good? or just a rip-off Trek satire? I don’t care for Seth MacFarlane or many of his shows. The first episode was meh and I didn’t finish it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4021 "2024-04-26T16:29:59Z")
I’m up to S5 in my rewatching of Justified. Dewey Crowe just cracks me up. “You mean I’ve got four kidneys?!” ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4022 "2024-04-26T16:35:24Z")
I found the first season of Orville was trying too hard to be funny, but I the later seasons found a better balance. There are some very good episodes IMHO. Brian ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4023 "2024-04-26T17:19:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’ve yet to start The Orville. I know it’s not quite what the thread is about, but is it any good? or just a rip-off Trek satire? I don’t care for Seth MacFarlane or many of his shows. The first episode was meh and I didn’t finish it. “The Orville” starts out trying too hard to be a comedy with jokes mixed in all the time. Give it a few episodes, and it does get better: less humor, more focus on the story/action. Still a mixed bag, but there are some good episodes - on par with TNG. Jonathan Frakes became involved, and the quality definitely improved. If you’re a “Star Trek” (TOS or TNG) fan, you will enjoy the show. If you’ve watched the new Star Trek spin-offs on Paramount, “The Orville” is better than “Discovery”, but not as good as “Strange New Worlds” IMO ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4024 "2024-04-26T17:42:55Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > “The Orville” starts out trying too hard to be a comedy with jokes mixed in all the time. Give it a few episodes, and it does get better: less humor, more focus on the story/action. Still a mixed bag, but there are some good episodes - on par with TNG. I would rate it a C- as a comedy and a B+ as a TNG pastiche. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4025 "2024-04-26T19:55:11Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I found the first season of Orville was trying too hard to be funny, but I the later seasons found a better balance. But then it went streaming and lost me. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4026 "2024-04-28T01:14:27Z")
My wife heard good things about **Killing Eve** so we watched the first season. Neither of us were particularly impressed by it. I think my problem was that the character of Villanelle was supposed to be enigmatic and fascinating and I felt like she was kind of a cipher. I’m not always big on TV shows with mysterious conspiracy theories, either. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/4027 "2024-04-28T01:20:52Z")
Finished _Dead Boy Detectives_. Enjoyable, but it swerved pretty far from directly adapting the comics. Integrated elements of _Good Omens_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=202)