Started watching Mulligan. Turned it off halfway through the first episode as I hadn’t laughed once and was finding it deeply annoying. “Idiot makes dystopia worse” does have comedy potential, but it’s been done better oh so many times in oh so many ways.
The Big Door Prize (Apple TV+) A mysterious machine appears in a small town, which dispenses a card that tells you what your true potential is.
An interesting premise…but it turns out that all that happens is everyone in town becomes a bit of a jerk, and the series is a just a not-at-all-interesting soap opera of their interactions. Pass.
I’m current on it, because I have run out of other things to watch without doomscrolling for hours trying to find an interesting show. It’s OK. The first two episodes and the most recent two episodes are two-parters, and lots of stuff ties in throughout the season, but overall it’s “watchable” if you’re bored. Nothing fantastic.
Especially annoying given that the preview they keep running for the show tells you absolutely nothing about what kind of show it is. Comedy? Drama? Thriller? I could not tell.
I think Apple’s one-word categorization is “comedy”. I don’t think it’s so much as made me smile.
Just finished watching it the other day. I thought it was fine without being great, but had an intriguing enough mystery set-up I checked for a second season. Just cancelled 
. Decently reviewed, but didn’t pull enough numbers for Netflix to give it another go.
Have started watching Korean series Hotel del Luna, which has similar vibes to Korean series Tomorrow in that it involves an impeccable handsome, good-hearted and somewhat feckless young man dragooned into working for an afterlife organization run by a scary attractive woman with a very sad backstory. Only two episodes in, and I have to say that the visuals are really very good even if the plot seems familiar.
I’ve been watching Beef on my own. Enjoying the Asian comedy between the cousins, but I’m guessing this is headed toward a nasty conclusion. Watched the latest ep of Love & Death. What a killer cast this is; Tom Pelphrey is a real standout as the defense lawyer, and of course Jesse Plemons is understated as always.
Happened to finish season 2 of Gentleman Jack and season 1 of Lucky Hank the same night.
Jack is all over the place. Some nice stuff sprinkled among a lot of crap. The first episode featured way too much of Jones striding around with music playing. Complete waste of time. Plus there are those inane Jane Austen-style sitting room conversations with people expressing disdain for “improper” things, status, etc. Boooring. I may give up on this one despite being a big fan of Jones and Rundle.
The other is fairly nice. I esp. like Diedrich Bader’s stuff. But a surprising amount of “That doesn’t happen in real colleges.” things. Will watch the next season.
We didn’t even watch the second season of Gentleman Jack. I like Jones a lot, too, but it wasn’t compelling enough. I also got really bored in a lot of the episodes. Needed better pacing!
I know there are inaccuracies in Lucky Hank, but the show grew on me. I liked how it and the characters developed. I’ll also be back for season two.
I quit after the first episode, but maybe I’ll give it another try. I love Odenkirk and Diedrich Bader.
I’m looking forward to Bob Odenkirk joining the cast of The Bear next season. Finally, a cast member with a Chicago accent!
It took a while for me, but I think it really clicked in the episode where he attempts to confront his father.
I’d heard people here and other places say good things about the UK series Happy Valley. I saw that the third and final season was coming up, so I binged it over the weekend on Accorn. Whoa. Maybe it was the bingeing, but was there ever a series with such a wide gap between the title and the content? Excellent series, though. And whoever knew that our Grantchester priest was actually a thuggish Yorkshire psychopath?
(Apparently James Norton did grow up in Yorkshire and ditched his accent for his acting career)
Thought I’d revisit season two of Fargo, just for the hell of it. I’ve seen it twice, but watching just the first episode of that season shows again just how remarkably excellent S2 was. I would note that Kieran Culkin (of Succession) was in it briefly as the youngest Gerhardt brother.
Happy Valley is hands down my favorite Brit Police series and yes, it is definitely NOT a very Happy Valley and it is extremely dark but the cast is amazing, even the kid. Have been waiting I think almost 2 years for season 3 and it’s finally here tomorrow!
Which streaming service?
I’m not sure if this is for Happy Valley but it will be on AMC+ and Acorn TV
I’m glad I didn’t have to wait!
Well, two days…
The previous two seasons were on Accorn, where I binged them.
Norton was so horrific in Happy Valley that I refused to watch Grantchester because he was in it.
Finished Mrs. Davis and I can’t really tell you what it was about. Some AI thing and the relationship between a nun and her evil (birth) mother. I liked a few episodes, such as when the nun was a child, playing the stooge in her father’s magic show, and the Renaissance Festival last-one-standing game. The earlier episodes were more compelling and mysterious to me.
But if there’s a season two, I’ll watch it.