And the cast is excellent, with Allison Janney bringing the best death stare ever.
There’s a new British series (Irish, in fact), a cosy sitcom called Leonard and Hungry Paul. It’s a fable about a nerdy young man and his friend, negotiating through life in their own quiet way. Only watched the first episode, where not a huge amount happens, but it’s got great potential to please me. It stars Alex Lawther (from Alien Earth and Andor) and for some weird reason it is narrated by Julia Roberts.
The relationships etc of the Boston clan are a bit unbelievable. But otherwise, pretty good.
Another update. I just finished it and they continuously ramp up the intensity. So, yeah, it was good that you stopped if you didn’t like it.
For other’s that have watched it, I have two questions. What’s the deal with his voice? I don’t think he talked like that, but there’s not a lot of audio of him speaking. It reminds me of Sean Penn in This Must Be The Place. Secondly, and I think this can be asked/answered without spoiling anything…when they swapped out Salty for Roz, she was a no non-sense jail warden type character, but then softened up considerably. Was that meant to be due to the passage of time or was her behavior a figment of his imagination? I’m leaning towards the latter, especially based on what happened that night, but I’m not sure.
Also, they did a great job with Charlie’s makeup. Granted, he’s been off my radar since I watched the first few seasons of Sons of Anarchy, but still, great job aging him. And, of course, they couldn’t have picked a better mom than Laurie Metcalf. She really nails these types of rolls.
ETA, the next installment in the Monster series is Lizzie Borden.
They are an unusual substitute for the deeply Catholic New York family. But they have similar values and sense of family as the Reagans.
I’ll give Boston Blue a chance. See how the new characters develop.
I probably wouldn’t watch if Donnie Wahlberg wasn’t in the new show. I always liked his character on Blue Bloods.
The Police superintendent is very young for that rank. But yeah similar family values.
We watched the first ep the other day. It wasn’t really funny but seemed to have a bit of potential. Maybe it’s just good will from the presence of Tim Meadows and the woman from ‘Colin from Accounts’, which we enjoyed (looking up her actual name-- Harriet Dyer. She was in another recent comedy series that I had high hopes for, but which disappointed-- ‘American Auto’).
We’ll give ep.2 a chance.
Really enjoying S3 of The Diplomat. Reminds me of the bad old days working at the State Department.
I’ve been hanging in there with Servant on Apple, but season two is really trying my patience. I’m not sure I can finish it. A lot of scenes just make no sense and don’t lead anywhere.
Justice on Trial (Amazon Prime) with Judge Judy
We’re all overfamiliar with a plaintiff outraged at their neighbor, whose dog killed their rosebush with pee; Judge Judy hectors one or both parties, and the TV show pays the disputed amount plus hotel bills as the defendant and plaintiff cohooted for at the onset.
But Justice on Trial pulls cases Judy herself oversaw or remembered as significant in her original career on the bench
In Ep 1, a UN foreign diplomat sends his young son to NYC public school, where the staff recognize the boy is severely abused. They report to CPS, who remove the boy into foster care. Everyone involved, including Judge Judy, knows this won’t survive diplomatic immunity, or the lawyer sent by the US State Department to represent the father, but they make the effort anyway in hope of buying time for the boy.
My wife and I are several episodes in, and I still don’t quite know what to make of the show, or if I even like it or not. It’s not really funny enough to be a comedy, but it’s too goofy to be a straight-up drama. It’s kind of a shaggy dog of a show. Yeah, the basic premise is ridiculous-- that he’d be able to keep up the deception after ‘going viral’ with his tryout performance and the resulting media scrutiny after he becomes the starter, turning out star performances. Also, I gotta believe those silly prosthetics would not survive a single hit by the defense. The first time he eats turf he’s going to come up with his fake nose literally out of joint.
But, I don’t know, it’s got a likable quality to it, so we’ll probably keep watching.
We’re still watching it as well and the reason above is why. Everything you’ve said is true, but I think at this point we’ll just remember the MST3K Mantra as we watch it.
Season 2 of Watson has started. The series was never actually good, but I finally gave up on it after about 5 minutes of 2x02, which was especially terrible (for 5 minutes, at least).
We started this the day after we returned from our ABQ/Grand Canyon trip (October 11th) and are on S3E3 tonight. Inna really enjoys BB but noted that she may not have made it through the first couple of episodes were it not for us watching BCS first.
We both agree that the biggest flaw in BB so far is that almost no time is spent developing Walt’s character before he decided to break bad. We understand, story-wise, why Hank is dismissive of Walt, but we don’t really understand character-wise why.
Halfway through The Pitt season 1. It’s amazing but it’s bringing me a little too close to mortality for my own comfort. I’ve had a marked increase in anxiety related to personal health and death.
It’s also really tough if you have young children. I’m crying basically every episode now. Tonight they hit you with the drowned girl and the organ donor son in one episode.
I had a real issue with one episode, I’m not sure where to put it, but the arrogant intern threatening the life of a patient she suspects is abusing his daughter is so not okay. Also, are Pennsylvania’s mandated reporting laws so different from Michigan? Because that would absolutely be a mandated report here. It was highly innapropriate to interrogate the girl and threaten the Dad but it was also totally pointless because the police were going to investigate Mom anyway.
I don’t know how the writers want me to feel about that moment, like am I supposed to be on her side? Because I am not. I’m really quite pissed about it. Between this and her other bullshit I am ready to boot her out of the ER.
*BCS’*s character development is definitely better than BB’s. Jimmy’s descent to Saul is a lot more nuanced. For Walt it really does hinge on one scene at the end of s2 with the inaction during Jane’s death
My opinion is that the writers are very, very good, and they intended for you to feel exactly as you’re feeling.
After you finish the season, check out the dedicated thread here about the show.
Surprised to hear that. I absolutely loved that show. It was funny, had a lot of heart and reflected some of the real challenges that cattle folk have to deal with. I thought I would hate Kutcher, but he worked well in the role. And Sam Elliot is a gem.
Finally finished ‘Wayward’. Yeah, WTF was that ending? I’m going to have to look up a couple of those “Wayward, the ending explained” type articles that @Joey_P mentioned. And so many plot holes that you could drive a blue prison van through.
So the cult leader lady, as she was dying and being given ‘The Leap’ treatment, was that whole thing with all the doors an actual supernatural happening, or just her dying hallucinations? My wife thought, since they were intercutting that scene with her looking at the doors with the scenes of the baby being born, that she was going to walk through one of those metaphysical doors and become reincarnated in the baby being birthed. Which makes as much sense as any explanation, I guess. And what was up with all the frogs / toads- purely symbolic, or what?
ETA: Just skimmed a couple ‘explained’ articles. So I guess the Evelyn character was tripping on an overdose of a hallucinogenic drug they used in the ‘Leap’ sessions, and there was no actual supernatural stuff. I…think?
Started up the latest season of Slow Horses last night. Love this show.