Lost was fun to watch early on, and to speculate what it all means. I remember long threads here discussing episodes as they aired.
LOST was the last time network television put major resources into a show of original content, and it’s definitely ABC’s entry into the ‘premiere TV’ category then only inhabited by HBO (and F/X if you want to count “The Shield”). I love it, even though so much of it was like a side quest in a too-long RPG. “Go to the Submarine to retrieve the Amulet of Penny”, shit like that. It was a big, old, sprawling mess which had some amazing emotional highs which, to me, easily make up for the rather silly plot.
im about to do soemthing ive never done … willingly watch a rom-com series called maggie
ok Hulu has this series that’s premiering July 6 or 7th has to be inspired by a telenovela from either Mexico central or south America because no American show creator would come up with this wacky premise
this is what the preview ads on youtube show
Oh this college-age girl is a psychic medium and has been since she was 13 and it shows her doing readings where she can see in someone’s future for about 90 seconds by holding her hand and it shows her doing these funny readings like one where she outs one for sleeping with her best friend’s so for about 10 seconds
Then drop dead cute and sweet main character guy shows up and she does the same and she like "you’re going to have a great romance the best job, , a perfect house with your wife and 3 kids, and you all love and adore each other but when she gets to the kids part she sees who the mom of these kids are and it’s her!
Now while she’s freaked out trying to figure out what it meant… guess who moves in next door with his girlfriend? Boy toy and guess who becomes her best friend? the girlfriend… but its going to be funny had had some famous actors I can’t name but I’ve seen them before
here’s the commercial …anyone know who her mentor is and the dad also?
I get that of the first three seasons (even then “Walt is really important” (walt actor leaves. Never mentioned again)). But past Season 3, I don’t remember any emotional highs. Just lows. A summary what I remember in spoilers:
We’ll find out why the Others are there. Oh flashbacks. Oh they’re there because of some of old research project. Why did they go native? (Never answered). Time travel for no reason! Then season 5 when erm, on a boat for ages?. Locke is actually the smoke monster after all? Wait season 6 will answer everything. What? They’re all dead. Now? Or always? (Doesn’t matter makes absolutely no difference). Season ends.
Only emotional thing I had was how the final titles rolled and I cursed them. “Why didn’t they answer ANYTHING?”
And yes, I did watch that after episode with, was it Hurley and the Other’s leader having a chat? Didn’t really explain much at all either.
The few friends I have who were willing to defend it largely did so because they’d bought into all the theories which were online, which made the show so much more interesting (again with Game of Thrones comparison). I think critique videos over the years wore those down to appreciate it wasn’t every worth those theories.
We’ve watched the available eps of Joe Pickett and now have to wait for the others to drop one at a time. As an aside: why is Paramount+ such a pain in the ass to use, anyway?
Watched part of the first ep of the new “Endeavour”. Not sure it will hold my interest.
It was a good grab! That’s what my husband needs or he’s out immediately.
First two seasons are great. Quit when the bear cages are involved. Yeah most of it doesn’t get explained, but the story is great and enough of the weirdness is answered to keep you going for awhile.
Has anyone watched Invasion? I’m 3 episodes in and does it get any better? I have to say so far it is bad. Really, really bad. I even hate Sam Neill.
I thought we had a thread about it here but all I’m finding is a post from me in this thread. No, it does not get better. The feel of the first three episodes is pretty much the feel of the whole season.
I know there aren’t a lot of Asian series viewers here, but I just finished binge watching the Korean Seonam Girls High School Detectives from 2014 and was very pleasantly surprised by the final episodes! The series is currently available at Viki. Warning, I just discovered that at least one scene in Episode 11 was severely cut. I’m not sure what else may have been cut in other episodes.
The series is about five high school students who investigate school related mysteries. The cast is unknown to me except Hyeri from Girl’s Day in her acting debut as the pretty, but ditzy member. She was the only one who I vaguely recognized and after several episodes searched for the info on the series then realized who she was.
The episodes vary from outright comical to highly dramatic and is a bit slow at times, but this is one of reasons I love Asian series, often you never know exactly what the next episode will bring! I had tears in my eyes from comedy and drama, sometimes within the same episode.
Trivia: Supposedly the series was supposed to have 16 episodes, which is common for many Korean, but was cut down to 14.
Spoilers:
The girls do a really bad karaoke rendition of Something by Girl’s Day GIRL'S DAY - SOMETHING Ver.Detectives of Seonam Girls High School - YouTube . Hyeri’s over the top moves made me laugh out loud.
The series received a warning by the Korea Communications Standards Commission for the lesbian kiss in Episode 11, the first on Korean national TV.
I just discovered that the kiss was cut in the Viki version. I’m downloading another version which I hope is uncut. Here’s the uncut scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONiXoUDgdcI
Here’s an absolutely great Q&A with Kim So Hye (not to be confused with IOI Kim So Hye) about the episode. Her reactions are priceless! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SRxJOk_UcU
I’ve been loving In the Dark. For some reason, it doesn’t get much buzz, but it’s one of the most cleverly plotted show on TV.
I’ve been impressed from the start, but what really sealed it was that a missed the second season. I picked it up on season three, then decided to catch up.
There is an event in season two that precipitated everything in season three. It’s referred to multiple times and it’s certainly hammered into you that it happened. Yet when I caught up and saw it happen, I was surprised when it did.
That’s good writing.
Murphy Mason is the most fascinating character on TV. She is presumably the hero, but she’s manipulative and will do anything to get her way. She even acknowledges it from time to time, and, even when people understand what she’s doing, she manages to persuade them to do what she wants. She’s also very funny, likeable, and vulnerable. As well as being a trainwreck.
Just a great show.
So far, we’re really liking “The Old Man” series on Hulu. Very tense and well-acted (John Lithgow and Jeff Bridges in the lead roles). Episodes drop every Thursday, near as I can tell.
My periodic check-in…
Finally finished the last season of Supergirl, and I have to say that it was a hate-watch for the last season and a half or so. Part of it was the COVID filming, I’m sure: endless scenes of six people in a room talking. But the acting descended to panto villain level, the special effects seemed to have been flown in from 2003, the MacGuffin for season 6 was basically an Infinity Stones knockoff and if I have to see one more arc on that show that’s resolved by Supergirl giving a speech broadcast around the world (untranslated, natch) extolling the power of love, I would have chucked something at the screen. I always liked Melissa Benoist, but damn, that show was running on fumes for a long time.
Finally got around to checking out The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I’m kicking myself for putting it off for so long. I’m fascinated by the history of comedy, so this falls right in my wheelhouse. And Alex Borstein has the ability to reduce me to hysterical laughter with pretty much every line delivery she’s got.
On Disney+ I’m currently alternating seasons with Criminal Minds (slick but fine as junk food) and NYPD Blue (wish I’d watched it first time around). And both Drop The Dead Donkey and A Touch of Cloth are on Prime now, so my British comedy needs are quite satisfied of late. Though I wish some good streaming service would bring back Green Wing, as it’s vanished from everything except one of the free ones that’s plagued by intrusive ads.
3 episodes into season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. This season seems a little more weighted toward fun and humor which I like. Heavy plot lines like Allison’s no-longer-existent daughter is dished out in small doses and Vanya/Viktor’s gender transition is blessedly drama-free.
Are these good quality? I had rips from a private british comedy site of this excellent satire on British news which I thought only I remembered, but the quality was awful…
(An example from is it, is one reporter keeps bringing a singed teddy bear to place at various disasters to place in the wreckage to provide emotional reporting).
The visual quality is pretty solid, considering it was shot in the early 90s. Prime doesn’t show anything in bootleg quality.
I might be the only other one who regularly watches Korean shows, but only ones on Netflix (Squid Game did seemed to get a lot of mainstream buzz, including here on the Dope, but I have no interest in that one).
You’re not wrong on the appeal - Lyonne is an absolute delight in presenting her character’s blousy sangfroid in the face of impossible events. I do feel that Alan gets short shrift this season but what we do get is also pretty good.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the latest offering otherwise. The first season was about getting a second (third, fourth, etc) chance to get things right, whereas this one seems to be about not being able to correct the mistakes of the past and about accepting the inevitability of certain events and behaviors (and about how Nadia’s earlier experiences had led her to assume she could “fix” everything).
I was over in the US recently and caught the first ten or twelve episodes of Servant of the People, the Ukrainian series starring one Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an ordinary person who, after a rant about politics goes viral, finds himself unexpectedly catapulted into the presidency. As a show in itself, it’s pretty good - a mix of comedy, social commentary (which admittedly is probably better if you’re actually familiar with the culture, which I am not) and a bit of drama.
However, it is really weird watching Zelenskyy in action knowing that he was basically living it for real shortly thereafter. He is quite good and likeable as a comic actor, and it makes one wonder how close the real Zelenskyy and his presidency (pre-war, anyway) are to the television ones. I would say reality probably had less comedy, but then he did have to deal with Trump. But consider the recent news that Ukraine’s candidacy to the EU had been approved in the context of this clip from 2015:
One hopes the actual call went more smoothly.
Sadly, the series does not yet appear on the UK Netflix so I’ll have to wait to keep watching, but I would recommend it.
I used to watch K-drama through KBS America on cable but they have odd listing times for things and then I discovered the official KBS on youtube and watched it there until one series stretched by suspension of disbelief to the breaking point …and yes its all subtitled
Holy cow! The new Law and Order is so bad. It’s so awful that I almost feel like an idiot for ever liking any of this show.
It’s SO bad. The dialogue is stupid, the female “AOC look-alike” is only there to say stupid things to make me hate AOC. Anderson and Cosgrove can’t decide if they hate each other or not. They just trade barbs about being woke or not. Hugh Dancy is a terrible actor, IMO. And Jack McCoy looks like hell.
Gawd, I hate it and I was so eager for it.
Be careful what you wish for.