# 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:** 336
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6708 "2025-06-19T05:00:42Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > Graphic novels these days aren’t stand alone stories. Rather, they are collected volumes. Nothing wrong with that and it explains the potential art shifts. Nitpicking on your terminology (because what else is this group for?) what you are describing is a [trade paperback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_paperback_(comics)), which itself is called a “volume”, and contains collected issues. A graphic novel is, as you suggested, usually a single story that would have a single team of writers and artists, and therefore the same style. Trade paperbacks also usually attempt to collect individual story arcs without splitting or combining, and each story arc tends to be written/illustrated by the same team, so I’m not sure what specifically you are looking at. Maybe it is a volume of miscellaneous issues that didn’t fit in one arc, maybe it is a special “sampler” volume, or a “giant” omnibus one. For instance, TPBs are typically 4 or 5 issues of a comic, but [this](https://www.amazon.com/Zatanna-Paul-Dini-New/dp/1779525834) Zatanna is a 16 issue run plus two specials. Good chance of more than one illustrator in there (ETA, looking back at your post you did mention it was the Paul Dini one, so same one I linked.) ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6709 "2025-06-19T19:21:45Z")
I’ve started designated survivor. I saw a few of them when it started. So far so good. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6710 "2025-06-19T21:37:49Z")
We enjoyed Designated Survivor all the way through, even if it got a little silly and soapy at times. I thought the overall arc of Kirkman’s character was rather poignant. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6711 "2025-06-20T06:23:56Z")
Did _Designated Survivor_ resolve the important plot points (esp. who was behind it all)? I’m also interested in watching it but would hate it if they never have a proper resolution for the central mystery with which it started. Silly and soapy is no problem to me, but I’ve been burned by shows that leave the plot hanging by the end. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6712 "2025-06-20T14:18:31Z")
Somehow I missed this [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xMYLQDBoKaM/maxresdefault.jpg "The Secret Lives Of Animals Trailer | 4Kplus") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMYLQDBoKaM) Incredible stuff - even the behind the scenes sections - highly recommended ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6713 "2025-06-21T02:27:06Z")
We’ve finished episode 5 of **Fool Me Once** and I’m at the point I don’t really care. I don’t hate it, but there’s some sloppiness in the writing that irks me, and I don’t care what happens to the characters. We will stick it out, though. We just watched the first episode of **Black Doves** and really enjoyed it. Hopefully it keeps up the quality. Favorite line so far: _He had more smack in him than a nun with a ruler_ ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6714 "2025-06-21T21:05:12Z")
I ran across **Lonesome Dove** on Prime and even though I’ve seen it several times, thought I’d give it another shot. Well. . .even though it won Emmys some 35 years ago, it doesn’t hold up all that well today. Still a good story, and good actors, but the dialog falls a bit flat now. Worth a watch if you’ve never seen it, of course. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6715 "2025-06-21T21:53:42Z")
Finished **Black Mirror** (Netflix), all seasons. Inna enjoyed this one more than I. It is quite good, but it can get repetitive (especially if you binge it). The number of stories which had a character go from zero to murder was surprisingly high (especially one story which had a female executive kill four people, including an entire family, in a single day), and I found some of the tales to just be morally vicious (especially “Beyond the Sea” which featured both of these sins and which I immediately rebranded “Beyond the Pale” for its innate cruelty). The stories get better as the series progresses - a lot of S1 through S3 are one-trick pony tales (“what if your life was controlled by your social media score?” “What if you could bring a loved-one back to life, but it wasn’t really him?”), but the scripts got more in-depth as the show progressed and some of them… _some_ of them… were actually rather heartfelt. Did watch two more **Deadwood** episodes last night, and it engaged Inna more than the first two episodes, so it appears that one is the next one on our list. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6716 "2025-06-21T21:58:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Did watch two more **Deadwood** episodes last night, and it engaged Inna more than the first two episodes, so it appears that one is the next one on our list. The series took a few episodes to find its feet. When it started out, it was. . .well. . .episodically based more than it was a long story arc like, say, Breaking Bad was. Once they decided to keep Walton Goggins alive and an integral part of the plot, they were off and running. It’s worth watching just for the Dewey Crowe character, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6717 "2025-06-21T22:03:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Once they decided to keep Walton Goggins alive and an integral part of the plot, they were off and running. It’s worth watching just for the Dewey Crowe character, IMO. Google is telling me WG isn’t in _Deadwood_… ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6718 "2025-06-21T22:24:29Z")
I finished watching every episode of **The Bob Newhart Show**. I loved it in the 1970s when it was aired after **The Mary Tyler Moore Show** most years. I still love it, especially the fact that you could expect to see Carol, Jerry, and Howard come up with more and more zany lines that Bob had to play the straightman to. Howard’s kid almost ruined the show, and the final season where they moved to a different apartment wasn’t great either (Bob often called in from a business trip for some reason; was there rift with the rest of the cast?). But it was a fun ride. I was in high school and had a tiny B&W tv in my bedroom so I could watch Monty Python on PBS. I remember watching Johnny Carson interviewing Bob Newhart just as the series started. Bob said they wanted to say he and Emily lived in a condo, but the network bigwigs were afraid some stations would boycott them because they lived in something that sounds like a prophylactic. Johnny just roared with laughter. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6719 "2025-06-21T22:32:12Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Bob said they wanted to say he and Emily lived in a condo, but the network bigwigs were afraid some stations would boycott them because they lived in something that sounds like a prophylactic. Johnny just roared with laughter. That is hilarious. Networks were terrified back then of anything, it seemed. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6720 "2025-06-21T22:54:33Z")
I watched The Sopranos and then The Crown. The creator of The Crown is on record for having studied The Sopranos for the indispensableness of the central character, no matter how interesting or tangential the other ongoing story lines. But the similarities don’t end there. Both have at their core the same theme: “we’ve got a good thing going here, but someone is always getting greedy or feeling slighted, and we have to drop everything and stomp out brushfires.” Which suggests that, be it the mafia or the monarchy, these strange institutions exist as necessary manifestations our of human nature. (And I can’t decide who’s scarier: Furio or Tommy Lascelles) ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6721 "2025-06-21T23:20:17Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Google is telling me WG isn’t in _Deadwood_… He’s confusing it with Justified ( a quite good show), which also starred Timothy Olyphant. However I do think Deadwood also takes at least a few episodes to settle in. I’d also say Olyphant is better in Justified. He got the nickname ‘clench’ by Deadwood fans for a reason 😀 - his performance as a tough guy is compelling but a bit one note. Ian McShane as Al Swearengen is eventually the biggest standout, plus numerous fine character performances by others. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6722 "2025-06-21T23:30:51Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Google is telling me WG isn’t in _Deadwood_… Ah, crap. What a brain fart. I was thinking of “Justified”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6723 "2025-06-22T01:17:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I ran across **Lonesome Dove** on Prime and even though I’ve seen it several times, thought I’d give it another shot. Well. . .even though it won Emmys some 35 years ago, it doesn’t hold up all that well today. Still a good story, and good actors, but the dialog falls a bit flat now. Worth a watch if you’ve never seen it, of course. I really wanted to watch _Lonesome Dove._ I was disappointed because I had to leave for Basic Training a couple of days before it was broadcast. I still haven’t seen it. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Which suggests that, be it the mafia or the monarchy, these strange institutions exist as necessary manifestations our of human nature. (And I can’t decide who’s scarier: Furio or Tommy Lascelles) I thought Pip Torrens was the breakout actor from _The Crown._ He was 100% compelling every moment he was on the screen. There were a lot of good performances but he really stood out. It still annoys me that the most compelling episodes (especially in the first few seasons) were the ones that were the most bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6724 "2025-06-22T08:12:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Finished **Black Mirror** (Netflix), all seasons. > > The stories get better as the series progresses - a lot of S1 through S3 are one-trick pony tales (“what if your life was controlled by your social media score?” “What if you could bring a loved-one back to life, but it wasn’t really him?”), but the scripts got more in-depth as the show progressed and some of them… _some_ of them… were actually rather heartfelt. That’s interesting. I’ve always felt the earlier (pre-Netflix, UK Channel 4) stuff was more consistently good. There was a detectable change in the series after it was bought by Netflix (I think it was after the excellent _White Christmas_ special episode). The production values definitely got slicker but I felt the power of the stories was less consistent. There are obviously still some great episodes in there though. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6725 "2025-06-23T09:27:05Z")
_White Christmas_ traumatized me enough to make me reluctant to keep watching the series, although I did eventually watch _Bandersnatch_ (which is exceedingly clever in the usual miserable way). Haven’t actually watched any of the other episodes since, largely because the news keeps indicating that we’re liviing in one. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2025, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6726 "2025-06-23T11:56:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > _White Christmas_ traumatized me enough to make me reluctant to keep watching the series, although I did eventually watch _Bandersnatch_ (which is exceedingly clever in the usual miserable way). You should watch the one called Joan is Awful. I’m not setting you up or tricking you. It is not a big pile of misery or anything, just one of the very best episodes of Black Mirror and definitely the best of the recent years. Let me know if you do. I thought it was great. Go in blind! ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6727 "2025-06-23T11:59:38Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Di310WS8zLk/maxresdefault.jpg "Wednesday Addams | Official Teaser | Netflix") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di310WS8zLk) Absolutely brilliant and Season two dropping in August, Ortega is terrific as is writing and filmography. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=335) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=337)