What TV series are you currently watching?

[Todd]

Yes, that was the season finale! It's a great one, even just for Scully shooting Mulder.

I remember when the show was hot and everyone watched it.  Well, everyone who mattered.  Home was a blockbuster even though it aired only once, and people would discuss the show at the proverbial water cooler in a way that I have not experienced since, not even with GoT.  I bought the complete show box set, but since I can stream it now I ended up giving it to my daughter, ensuring multi-generational viewing and debates.  I have taken the unpopular stance that the Smoking Man, the greatest villain in TV history, is not actually a villain but a hero.  (Assassinating JFK hardly counts as villainous if you think about it.)  My daughter disagrees.  Forget politics, this disagreement can lead to contentious Thanksgiving discussions.

[Fëanor]

Masochism:  I'm still watching Rings of Power ...



... Or how Amazon turned Tolkien's majestic opus into cheese.

[hopefullytrusting]

Home was a blockbuster even though it aired only once [...]

Home is one of the only times something has actually scared me. The music selection for that episode was particularly off the charts.

[Todd]

Home is one of the only times something has actually scared me. The music selection for that episode was particularly off the charts.

I have distinct memories of watching it.  I was shocked that Fox aired it.  I typically find the horror genre boring, but this episode had real tension.  Then there was time and place of viewing.  My wife and I were perched on the crappy used couch I bought from a friend, sitting in our shitty first apartment, lights out, trying to keep everything down so as not to wake the baby.  And then seeing the mother in all her ickiness . . .

[hopefullytrusting]

I have distinct memories of watching it.  I was shocked that Fox aired it.  I typically find the horror genre boring, but this episode had real tension.  Then there was time and place of viewing.  My wife and I were perched on the crappy used couch I bought from a friend, sitting in our shitty first apartment, lights out, trying to keep everything down so as not to wake the baby.  And then seeing the mother in all her ickiness . . .

For me, it was the killing of the sheriff and his wife. It felt so real, visceral. I still don't think I've felt that level of violence in anything else I've come across until Bone Tomahawk, which I still cannot watch without squeaming.

[Todd]

For me, it was the killing of the sheriff and his wife. It felt so real, visceral. I still don't think I've felt that level of violence in anything else I've come across until Bone Tomahawk, which I still cannot watch without squeaming.

Have you seen Irreversible?  That is the one "entertainment" I have watched that comes close to going too far.  I find the (first) three Zahler movies I watched all try a bit too hard.  Bone Tomahawk is the most viewable, but by the time he did Brawl in Cell Block 99, he pushed things to the point where I kind of had to roll my eyes.

[hopefullytrusting]

Have you seen Irreversible?  That is the one "entertainment" I have watched that comes close to going too far.  I find the (first) three Zahler movies I watched all try a bit too hard.  Bone Tomahawk is the most viewable, but by the time he did Brawl in Cell Block 99, he pushed things to the point where I kind of had to roll my eyes.

I've seen Irreversible, and while horrific, I could watch that. For me, it really is the level of primitive brutality - like there is nothing there to reason with, as they are pre-cognitive, and I think that is what Stokes my fear.

[Iota]

I'm a few episodes in to Ludwig and enjoying it too. The frequent and spiced-up appearances of the Tempest sonata last movement and other sundry LVB quotes have pretty successfully aligned with the gentle comedy of the show so far. I thought they might rather quickly become bothersome.

Tip-top to the very end. Funny, clever and much enjoyed.

Very pleased to see a third series of Industry appear on the iPlayer too. The first two were excellent. Tales of the agonies, egos and ambition of workers in the financial markets creating some intense drama along the way.

[hopefullytrusting]

Just started up Alias (Season 1). Forgot about how fun this show was, and how it launched two superstars.

[George]

Norm MacDonald Live

[DavidW]

Masochism:  I'm still watching Rings of Power ...



... Or how Amazon turned Tolkien's majestic opus into cheese.

The viewer count is in the toilet. But Amazon is committed to 5 seasons no matter what. Was it better than S1?

[Wanderer]

Amazon is committed to 5 seasons no matter what. Was it better than S1?

This is one of the main reasons the Tolkien Estate chose Amazon to do an adaptation; Bezos offered creative control to the Estate over the scripts and committed to completing the story arc in multiple seasons no matter what. This also has to be accounted for by the viewer when asking questions like "was S2 better than S1". If the show's conception is for a narrative to be told in 5 seasons, assessing quality of every 1/5 in absolute terms of storytelling isn't very helpful or meaningful per se and can be misleading. An introductory season under these circumstances is bound to be perceived as "not as good" as what follows, without that fact meaning that it's not good per se for its intended purpose in the narrative.

Season 2's main story arc sees the creation of the Seven and the Nine, the manipulation of Celebrimbor by Sauron and the destruction of Eregion. It is all masterfully done and the two actors playing Sauron and Celebrimbor do magnificent work. All actors are very good, but these two in particular shine in their shared scenes. Hazeldine as Adar is also superb and Clark's Galadriel is also excellent, especially in her scenes with Adar and her confrontation with Sauron. Other peripheral story arcs move as well in different speeds - not all of them are important now and they tend to feel expository, but they will become important in later seasons. As in season one, visuals, cinematography and special effects are superbly done. The music is excellent, fitting and atmospheric, its leitmotifs pulsing and appropriately suggestive - accentuating the action and the narrative in a very suave and poignant manner. 

All in all, an excellent season.

[vandermolen]

Tip-top to the very end. Funny, clever and much enjoyed.

Very pleased to see a third series of Industry appear on the iPlayer too. The first two were excellent. Tales of the agonies, egos and ambition of workers in the financial markets creating some intense drama along the way.

Marisa Abela (green

Tip-top to the very end. Funny, clever and much enjoyed.

Very pleased to see a third series of Industry appear on the iPlayer too. The first two were excellent. Tales of the agonies, egos and ambition of workers in the financial markets creating some intense drama along the way.

Marisa Abela (green shirt) was in my A Level history class.

[Iota]

Marisa Abela (green Marisa Abela (green shirt) was in my A Level history class.

Well I don't know how good a history student she was, but she struts her stuff impressively in Series 1 & 2 of this show (I haven't started the new series yet), and I'd certainly recommend taking a peek if  it appeals. I believe she took the lead role in Back to Black, the biopic about Amy Winehouse, and actually did the singing herself, which if you know AW's voice is some feat. Clearly a young woman of broad talents.

[vandermolen]

Well I don't know how good a history student she was, but she struts her stuff impressively in Series 1 & 2 of this show (I haven't started the new series yet), and I'd certainly recommend taking a peek if  it appeals. I believe she took the lead role in Back to Black, the biopic about Amy Winehouse, and actually did the singing herself, which if you know AW's voice is some feat. Clearly a young woman of broad talents.

She was a v good student, did well in her exams. I remember how good she was in school drama productions.

[Iota]

She was a v good student, did well in her exams. I remember how good she was in school drama productions.

Well good for her. I'm sure her tutelage played no small part in her success. 

[Karl Henning]

A fun documentary:

[Cato]

A fun documentary:

Some people might not know that the original series was offered twice a week: two episodes back to back.  The first episode of the week always had a bizarre cliff-hanger.

And then the narrator would say...


"Tune in tomorrow night, same BAT-time, same BAT-channel!"    


The country was hooked.   

[Karl Henning]

Some people might not know that the original series was offered twice a week: two episodes back to back.  The first episode of the week always had a bizarre cliff-hanger.

And then the narrator would say...


"Tune in tomorrow night, same BAT-time, same BAT-channel!"   


The country was hooked. 

Great stuff!

[Fëanor]

This is one of the main reasons the Tolkien Estate chose Amazon to do an adaptation; Bezos offered creative control to the Estate over the scripts and committed to completing the story arc in multiple seasons no matter what. This also has to be accounted for by the viewer when asking questions like "was S2 better than S1". If the show's conception is for a narrative to be told in 5 seasons, assessing quality of every 1/5 in absolute terms of storytelling isn't very helpful or meaningful per se and can be misleading. An introductory season under these circumstances is bound to be perceived as "not as good" as what follows, without that fact meaning that it's not good per se for its intended purpose in the narrative.

Season 2's main story arc sees the creation of the Seven and the Nine, the manipulation of Celebrimbor by Sauron and the destruction of Eregion. It is all masterfully done and the two actors playing Sauron and Celebrimbor do magnificent work. All actors are very good, but these two in particular shine in their shared scenes. Hazeldine as Adar is also superb and Clark's Galadriel is also excellent, especially in her scenes with Adar and her confrontation with Sauron. Other peripheral story arcs move as well in different speeds - not all of them are important now and they tend to feel expository, but they will become important in later seasons. As in season one, visuals, cinematography and special effects are superbly done. The music is excellent, fitting and atmospheric, its leitmotifs pulsing and appropriately suggestive - accentuating the action and the narrative in a very suave and poignant manner.

All in all, an excellent season.

What are you asserting?  That the "cheese" I mentioned is actually the fault of the Tolkien Estate?  If so they have certainly succumbed to greed.

Sorry but I cannot, (as a Tolkien fan of many decades), agree with the gratuitous creation of a character like 'Adar' or the role of Galadriel as a battlefield leader which is totally unhinted at in any Tolkien writing.  For that matter the self-realization of Gandalf is total invention as is the existence or any role of Hobbits in the 2nd Age.

Allowing that some compression of Tolkien's timeframes is inevitable and likewise the contrived DEI, "filling in" details of Tolkien's terse outline in the Silmarillion must at least be consistent with that grand narrative.

As for the production per se, I must say Charles Edwards is very good as Celebrimbor but otherwise the characters, including Galadriel, Sauron, and Adar, are pretty cardboard.  The whole thing comes across typical overblown, juvenile fantasy fare.