A reminder that Good Omens 2 is currently filming in Scotland, written by Neil Gaiman and (as Terry Pratchett is resolutely refusing to come to the Ouija board) the excellent John Finnemore.
Still really angry about this cancellation (this and the Dirk Gently series on Netflix, both of which needed a third season). But the other iterations of The Tick were all about humor and they got cancelled too.
It’s worth watching the first episode of this. The problem is that once I started watching the second episode, I realized that they’d tapped out the humor potential of the show in the first episode and it had become painful to watch.
Guilt from the BBC is excellent - a darkly funny noir full of extortion, double-dealing, mistrust, betrayal, ambition and hubris among a seedy cast of chancers.
Season 2 has just dropped. Season 1 (4 episodes) came out two years ago so is probably available in the US. Very sharp dialogue, tight plotting and at least one character lovable enough to make you care (and plenty unlovable but fun to spend time with).
Nitpick: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency was a BBC America series, and they’re the ones the cancelled it (Netflix picked up the streaming rights in some markets, but it wasn’t one of their originals).
Generally a fan of the Wheeler Dealer franchise, whether it’s Edd China or Ant Anstead as mechanics, I simply could not watch the most recent Wheeler Dealer - Dream Car, variant with Marc Priestley. They got rid of all the interesting mechanical stuff and it’s just Mike Brewer’s smarmy bullshitting and trading up of cars. I hear they’re going back to the original formula but it’s not clear who the mechanic will be as neither Edd nor Ant are coming back.
Started going through Downton Abbey. Early in the third season, I realized it was basically a remake of Fiddler on the Roof: father has to marry off his three daughters.
And one of the daughters marries a revolutionary and has to leave.
We started Ted Lasso this week, and are up to episode 7 ofmthe first season. We all love it. The show has a huge heart, and the lead character is just unrelentingly nice. In a sea of shows about nasty people and dark secrets, it is a really refreshing change. Highly recommended.
We got Apple TV+ free for 6 months with purchase of a new laptop, and started watching Ted Lasso. The free trial has run out but its worth the $5/month just to be able to keep watching – which is the highest praise I can grant a TV show.
Decided to return to it and give it one more chance. Despite my earlier impression, the show grew on me by season two. By season three it started to grind to a halt and annoy me. Now half way through season four and feel like I can make it through to the end and be glad that I stuck with it. Parts of it were quite entertaining.
It’s so close to being a TNG clone that, in some senses, I feel like there should be a lawsuit filed from whoever owns Star Trek but from my vantage that’s just fine if there isn’t.
There’s more focus on modern day issues in it and - one suspects, after the episodes on nicotine addiction, sex addiction, and the problems of sleeping with your employees - the problems in the life of Seth MacFarlane. There’s alse a sense that about 10% of it is influenced by Dr. Who - partly because of the humor and partly because you have a stronger sense that we’re dealing with cartoon characters who can never lose or come to harm.
That all comes with is plusses and minuses. Overall, it feels pretty equal or just slightly below TNG but, I suspect, some of that comes from rose tinted memories of the predecessor. If I watched it today, I’m not sure how well it would really stand up.
We made it through three episodes of Season 2 of “Ted Lasso”. We’re not going to watch any more. The humor is predictable and sophomoric. The few funny bits are not enough to keep our interest.
We’ve started Dopesick on Hulu. It’s the story of Oxycontin and the Sacklers. As someone with a son who was addicted to that shit, it’s a hard watch.
I’m watching Succession (HBO), all caught up with the first 2 seasons and the current season 3 … and I’m not sure why. It’s really – emperor no clothes – not very good.
The story could be written on a cocktail napkin: aging media tycoon has 4 kids, who can’t decide if they want to succeed Dad, or overthrow him. They hatch plots that go nowhere and get into scrapes that mean nothing. Mostly they ride around in private jets and big yachts and complain.
And the writing is ludicrous. The writers think that an f-bomb in every line indicates…edginess? Emotion? It is practically: “What’s the fucking weather forecast?” “There’s a 50% fucking chance of fucking rain at fucking 5:00”. I care nothing about profanity but this is just lazy and absurd.
We’re four episodes into Succession. I thought the first two episodes were pretty good, assuming they were a setup for the main plot.
Now it’s looking like it’s going to me more of the same each episode. We are close to bailing. Can someone give me a reason to keep watching? Shaky cam narratives about rich people scheming is not really my thing.
