Reccomendations for TV Show's Thread

theoldman posted:

jcocktosten posted:

Finished Bosch Season 4  excellent. Probably the best season so far. Great cast

For magic nerds like myself (and not to give a spoiler) it was obvious what the ring was, it even has a name. This was a great season and I loved that it hit so many characteristic spots of LA. It's hard to resist using the Bradbury building for the hundredth time.

Yup - that building is amazing.  The locations are cool as we just visted so the Dupars, Farmers' Market, 3rd and Fairfax scenes among other were fun to see

3 episodes into Killing Eve and really like it so far.  The actress that plays the killer is sexy as hell and is great in her roll.  

glennk posted:

...great in her roll.  

Hmmm.  Must have nice buns.  

PH

Goliath Season 2 was released yesterday.  If it's anywhere near as good as #1, it should be fun.

PH

I'm 2 episodes into Goliath, Season 2.  I'd love to hear from somebody else on this, but it seems a little "off."  The acting seems stilted.  I mean, really balky and forced.  Anyone else watching this?

PH

Oh, well...  Finished up Goliath II this morning.  I think the problems with the dialogue is that the actors were allowed to improvise a little bit too much.  Kinds of a strange season.  A really creepy bad guy.  Untenable plot.  C+

PH

FWIW:  When Obama posted his summer reading list a few days ago he prefaced it with his sadness that “The Americans” ended. 

PH, I gave up at the beginning of the fourth episode. I like the cast very much, I like the milieu very much, but this season is going wrong in the way the first season went wrong. I had just finished the two episodes and was going to respond to you with how much I was liking it. Then I read your final post where you mentioned "a really creepy bad guy" and I though--uh oh. The problem with the first season was that William Hurt was a really over the top monster with weird sexual appetites. I felt I was watching a bad guy from one of those Marvel comic book movies. So after I watched the third episode and caught on about this season's over the top bad guy's fetish I said enough. In addition certain people getting killed felt like a rehash of last season's tropes.

FWIW, I had no problem with the dialogue through what I've watched. I just have no idea why this series thinks it needs almost subhuman monsters to make the show interesting. It's just too ridiculous.

Appreciate the perspective, TOM.  Agree on two things; I liked the cast, and they blew it.  Did you catch any of the North by Northwest allusions?

I still found the dialogue unnatural.  You should finish it up, if you can.  I'd appreciate your perspective on E7, which I found very weird but compelling.  

PH

I have not caught any NxNW references, up through three episodes, except for Billy watching it on TV. I can try to finish it, but like I said I'm hating the Marvel comic style bad guys. I see the IMDB ratings going from 8.3 to 8.5 for the first five episodes then into the 7s, ending with an abysmal 6.9 for the finale. Doesn't bode well. 

Update, PH, I'm essentially watching this for you (I'm trying to be that one other person who's pushed through to the ending.)  I have now finished five episodes. I love every minute of it except when the psycho over the top bad guys are doing their bad guy thing. I should complete and see episode seven that you mentioned by the end of the weekend.  Again however I've had not moments where I didn't like the dialogue. I especially like the verbal dance between the mayor and Billy in the last third of episode four.

And I loved the so talented Nina Arianda's prognostication of her future life with the guy who wants to go out with her.

Great series, but everyday money stealing, power grabbing bad guys work fine for me thank you.

If you're ever in LA we can hit sites from the series, but you know Chez Jay is now overrun with tourists and not the real experience anymore. You've go to hit Taylor's in Korea Town for that.

theoldman posted:

Update, PH, I'm essentially watching this for you (I'm trying to be that one other person who's pushed through to the ending.)  I have now finished five episodes. I love every minute of it except when the psycho over the top bad guys are doing their bad guy thing. I should complete and see episode seven that you mentioned by the end of the weekend.  Again however I've had not moments where I didn't like the dialogue. I especially like the verbal dance between the mayor and Billy in the last third of episode four.

And I loved the so talented Nina Arianda's prognostication of her future life with the guy who wants to go out with her.

Great series, but everyday money stealing, power grabbing bad guys work fine for me thank you.

If you're ever in LA we can hit sites from the series, but you know Chez Jay is now overrun with tourists and not the real experience anymore. You've go to hit Taylor's in Korea Town for that.

You're a real trouper, TOM.  Nina Arianda's character in this is excellent.  I love the combination of brass and vulnerability.  The VapoRum scene was a hoot.  If ever in LA, I'll definitely let you know.  That would be a blast.

PH

Yes, episode 7 was clever, and yes it was a cute NxNW reference. I did think I was watching The OA, because again we have more over the top bad guy bullshit. But that was a very good sci-fi mini-series and this is supposed to be in the real world. And then of course what happens in final episode was way, way, way over. But again there's so many great scenes when were not in fantasyland.

Anyway the transsexual judge is a great part and a great role. John Savage has been almost 300 parts; he's a survivor. Also a fan of Paul Ben-Victor, the bald bad guy. Many a great role including the abandoned and cut short, metaphysical John From Cincinnati. Its one season is available on HBO. Episode 9 may be the most unique episode I've ever seen on an TV show. But it ends in frustration because the show was cancelled.

Big Little Lies

Just finished one of the most impressive and amazing documentaries I've ever seen:

Everything and Nothing: The Amazing Science of Empty Space

Available on Amazon.  It covers so much, from astrophysics to quantum theory.  Dark matter, the reconciliation of Einstein's special theory of relativity to quantum mechanics and more!

Sound like a geek-fest?  Well... not so much.  Actually brilliantly done for the layperson, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  I really hope some of you will give this a shot and respond.  Brilliant!

PH

jcocktosten posted:

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Originally posted by PurpleHaze:

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Originally posted by Jcocktosten:

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Originally posted by PurpleHaze:

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Originally posted by The Old Man:
Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton. What HBO's The Night Of wishes it was.

On Amazon streaming.

I'm 3 episodes into Season 1 of this show. Like it a lot so far.

PH

Thanks - we debated starting this or Good Girl Revolt over the weekend.

If you get to the end of Episode 2 and aren't compelled to keep watching I'll be surprised.

PH

We'll see - we have a very hard time watching any legal shows - as I invariably get annoyed and start griping and FKG then wonders why I can't just watch and have to analyze and point out every flaw and point of ridiculousness etc.

We just started watching this last night.  Although I have the same reservations as JC when it comes to legal shows, I did enjoy the first two episodes.  That didn't stop me from criticizing some of the procedure in the first episode, but Mrs TLV gave me the eye-roll and I took the hint the rest of the night.

Just finished the pilot of Anne with an E  on Netflix.  Anne, for those of you north of the border.  Recommended by an XX chromosome friend a few months back, and back-burnered by yours truly because it sounded "chickish."   Another dumb move by me. I must say, I'm smitten so far.

PH

purplehaze posted:

Just finished the pilot of Anne with an E  on Netflix.  Anne, for those of you north of the border.  Recommended by an XX chromosome friend a few months back, and back-burnered by yours truly because it sounded "chickish."   Another dumb move by me. I must say, I'm smitten so far.

PH

Geez, WE don't even watch that stuff!  

So I presume your next holiday is to the land of red clay, potatoes and lobsters as big as your head?

I dont' get "orange is the new black"

“Who Is America?”

g-man posted:

I dont' get "orange is the new black"

It's a TV series.

Finished "Killing Eve".

The almost unanimous rave reviews have me perplexed. Good acting by Sandra Oh, but that's about it. Major detractors: the jokey, almost slapstick vibe throughout; the OTT mugging by the other female lead; and the complete implausibility of so many of the plot points and character motivations.

sunnylea57 posted:

Finished "Killing Eve".

The almost unanimous rave reviews have me perplexed. Good acting by Sandra Oh, but that's about it. Major detractors: the jokey, almost slapstick vibe throughout; the OTT mugging by the other female lead; and the complete implausibility of so many of the plot points and character motivations.

I found it very entertaining and actually really enjoyed the jokey slapstick vibe, especially of the villain.   I find Sandra Oh a little hard to look at but she was actually pretty good in this role.  Looking forward to the next season.  

bman posted:

purplehaze posted:

Just finished the pilot of Anne with an E  on Netflix.  Anne, for those of you north of the border.  Recommended by an XX chromosome friend a few months back, and back-burnered by yours truly because it sounded "chickish."   Another dumb move by me. I must say, I'm smitten so far.

PH

Geez, WE don't even watch that stuff!  

So I presume your next holiday is to the land of red clay, potatoes and lobsters as big as your head?

Just finished it up.  Loosely based on Anne of Green Gables, this series is occasionally a little saccharine.  That said, great family entertainment.  A minute or two of PG content, but mostly straight G rated stuff.  In these days and times, nice to watch something uplifting.  Recommended.

And bman, I'd actually love to visit PEI, but not in the winter!

PH

Just finished season 2 of Fauda on Netflix.  Really good series. 

glennk posted:

Just finished season 2 of Fauda on Netflix.  Really good series. 

Thanks for the heads up.  I'm enjoying Season 1.  It took a few episodes to get used to the English dubbing of the Israeli characters and then looking up to read the English translation when people speak Arabic.  

doubled posted:

glennk posted:

Just finished season 2 of Fauda on Netflix.  Really good series. 

Thanks for the heads up.  I'm enjoying Season 1.  It took a few episodes to get used to the English dubbing of the Israeli characters and then looking up to read the English translation when people speak Arabic.  

The English dubbing is horrible. You can switch audio tracks so the entire thing is in Israeli and Arabic, with English subtitles for everything. Much better IMHO. 

Great series BTW. 

Watching McMafia. Excellent - except it’s hard to get used to David Strathairn’s accent.

Since I have no plot-based shows for the rest of the year, I am planning on starting “The Marvelous Mrs. Masel”. Everyone I know who’s seen it and whose opinion I trust says it is fabulous. 

sunnylea57 posted:

doubled posted:

glennk posted:

Just finished season 2 of Fauda on Netflix.  Really good series. 

Thanks for the heads up.  I'm enjoying Season 1.  It took a few episodes to get used to the English dubbing of the Israeli characters and then looking up to read the English translation when people speak Arabic.  

The English dubbing is horrible. You can switch audio tracks so the entire thing is in Israeli and Arabic, with English subtitles for everything. Much better IMHO. 

Great series BTW. 

I did the same as Sunny. Made it much better. 

Succession on HBO - just finished Season 1. Takes dysfunctional family to a whole new level.

Sharp Objects on HBO - roughly halfway through Season 1. Weird and slow moving but good.

I have a feeling I may have already mentioned this one, but I'm really enjoying CNN's The History of Comedy.  Besides hearing some great lines from great comics, it reminds me to check out those and some others I'd forgotten about or never knew about. And the actual history part is interesting too.  Highly recommended!

glennk posted:

sunnylea57 posted:

doubled posted:

glennk posted:

Just finished season 2 of Fauda on Netflix.  Really good series. 

Thanks for the heads up.  I'm enjoying Season 1.  It took a few episodes to get used to the English dubbing of the Israeli characters and then looking up to read the English translation when people speak Arabic.  

The English dubbing is horrible. You can switch audio tracks so the entire thing is in Israeli and Arabic, with English subtitles for everything. Much better IMHO. 

Great series BTW. 

I did the same as Sunny. Made it much better. 

Just finished Season 2 of Fauda.  Agree with both the good reviews, and the recommendation to watch in the original Hebrew and Arabic.  It's not so dialogue heavy that the subtitles are an inconvenience and hearing it in the native languages adds to the atmosphere.  Recommended.  Season 3 next spring.  

PH

Keeping Faith on the BBC is gripping

Just finished the three part “A Very English Scandal”. Loved it. Hugely entertaining black comedy based on the true story of Jeremy Thorpe, the head of the British Liberal party in the 1960s who was accused of conspiring to murder his gay lover. 

Best performances I’ve ever seen by both Hugh Grant and Ben Winshaw. 

Directed by Stephen Frears, also his best work in ages.

Snowfall

I started to binge-watch Ozark over the weekend.  Entertaining.  It reminds me of Breaking Bad.  

I really enjoy Ozark.  I started binge watching this weekend too and can’t wait to resume!

Jack Ryan- they keep redoing this story but I like this modern day version. Wendell Pierce is perfect in this role. If this series continues I hope it leads into the John Clark stuff.

Jack Ryan is entertaining because of Wendell Pierce.