Television

My favorite video games of all-time are Conker's Bad Fur Day and The Last of Us. The former is a pop-culture drenched platformer about an alcoholic squirrel; the later a is thematically rich story about the relationship that develops between a jaded 40 year old man and a snarky, naive teenage girl (who may or may not be the key to curing a pandemic).

The Last of Us proved that video games could do a character study as well as any other medium when it dropped in 2013. And it's 2020 sequel was nearly as incredible.

Needless to say, I am very excited for the HBO adaptation which is being run by the guy behind Chernobyl... even if I'm also skeptical of the casting.

 
House of the Dragon is....ok. The storylines are great, the recaps and previews both seem better than the show though. I'll hang in there for the season and see how it progresses. Is this a one-off season or are they planning a series?
 
ranbalam said:
House of the Dragon is....ok. The storylines are great, the recaps and previews both seem better than the show though. I'll hang in there for the season and see how it progresses. Is this a one-off season or are they planning a series?
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This is my question as well.

The storyline is great, and they have me hooked on seeing what comes next, but I agree that there are places where the show just sort of drags. However, it drug less so with the latest episode,
 
ranbalam said:
House of the Dragon is....ok. The storylines are great, the recaps and previews both seem better than the show though. I'll hang in there for the season and see how it progresses. Is this a one-off season or are they planning a series?
Click to expand...

nolalady said:
This is my question as well.

The storyline is great, and they have me hooked on seeing what comes next, but I agree that there are places where the show just sort of drags. However, it drug less so with the latest episode,
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House of the Dragon is going to cover the whole Dance of the Dragons civil war, which, if the showrunners and length of the material are to be believed, should go for about 4 seasons. Once we hit episode 8, the rest of the show will take place only over about 2 years, and we'll keep the actors we have for the duration.
 
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I have not seen all of these but I feel like recent shows should not have so much weight because time will tell how it is percieved.

Succession at 11, Fleabag at 5...

They're good shows but come on

www.rollingstone.com

The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time

The definitive ranking of the 100 best shows in TV history, as determined by a poll of actors, producers, showrunners, critics, and the staff of Rolling Stone.
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com
 
nolalady said:
This is my question as well.

The storyline is great, and they have me hooked on seeing what comes next, but I agree that there are places where the show just sort of drags. However, it drug less so with the latest episode,
Click to expand...

It’s getting better and better , Matt Smith is the star turn imo . The Rings of Power is very slow paced in comparison imo
 
I love of The Rings of Power but I have two criticisms. The four different story-lines are too much. I know they have a lot of story to tell with a lot of moving parts, but I find myself excited about some some parts and just hoping other parts end soon so we can get back to the parts I care about (reminds me of reading The Wheel of Time and just wanting to get back to the Mat parts) And Galadriel is incredibly unlikable, she's already lived for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by this point and is still a petulant and rash child. Of course she's right in her goal, but the way she handles things and acts is just infuriating. Zero chill, no patience, no tact. It's literally only magical prophecy nonsense that help her get anything done.
 
ranbalam said:
House of the Dragon is....ok. The storylines are great, the recaps and previews both seem better than the show though. I'll hang in there for the season and see how it progresses. Is this a one-off season or are they planning a series?
Click to expand...

nolalady said:
This is my question as well.

The storyline is great, and they have me hooked on seeing what comes next, but I agree that there are places where the show just sort of drags. However, it drug less so with the latest episode,
Click to expand...
I've been having a pleasant time discovering how House of the Dragon is unfurling its story. While the first couple of episodes felt a bit inert, once I realized they were basically giving us a snapshot every episode of several years' worth of story, a lot clicked into place. My biggest complaint had been that GoT built a lot of its drama on relationships, as well as the shared history of Westeros (Robert's Rebellion, etc). Using the bulk of the first season to shade in such backstory and table-setting is a risky move that's paying off for me.

Meanwhile, I've stalled out on Rings of Power, mostly for the reasons @Max Sterling describes; I'm not really invested in the storylines, and overall I feel like I'm supposed to like this because it's LoTR, while it fails to hold my interest in the way LoTR does. I'm the odd type whose enjoyment of Tolkein starts and stops at the main novel itself; while the Silmarillion is kinda interesting, it just wasn't a gripping read for me (though I only tried reading it half a lifetime ago). All the lore and history are necessary to making LoTR feel whole and lived-in, but I don't really want to watch a history lesson.

And Andor is just plain great; it's so refreshing to have a genre show that seems more interested in characters and intrigue rather than staking a claim on a franchise and delivering familiarity. My opinion of Star Wars and superheroes has shifted from "why can't this be better?" to "okay, this just isn't for me," and I don't mind the whiplash of being pulled in by something that's told with some modicum of maturity. The Mandalorian sort of delivered on this, but I've always maintained that Star Wars (and franchises in general) would benefit more from single voices saying "this is what I think of when I think of Star Wars," and I'm getting that here.
 
Bull Shannon said:
My opinion of Star Wars and superheroes has shifted from "why can't this be better?" to "okay, this just isn't for me," and I don't mind the whiplash of being pulled in by something that's told with some modicum of maturity.
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This is very much how I feel as well. I have been trying to make it through Phase 3 of the MU and I'm not sure if this is for me. I really, really enjoy She-Hulk as the only thing from the MU that has grabbed my attention and kept it. I feel the same about Andor--it's a refreshing series in a franchise that has otherwise lost me as a viewer. I really tried with the Mandalorian, but it felt way too reliant on a cute muppet to sell me on the series with little else as far as originality or mature story telling. I get that it's more of a kids' show, but there are plenty kids shows that are really compelling for me--like Gravity Falls and Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
 
nolalady said:
This is very much how I feel as well. I have been trying to make it through Phase 3 of the MU and I'm not sure if this is for me. I really, really enjoy She-Hulk as the only thing from the MU that has grabbed my attention and kept it. I feel the same about Andor--it's a refreshing series in a franchise that has otherwise lost me as a viewer. I really tried with the Mandalorian, but it felt way too reliant on a cute muppet to sell me on the series with little else as far as originality or mature story telling. I get that it's more of a kids' show, but there are plenty kids shows that are really compelling for me--like Gravity Falls and Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
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Its funny I am a sci-fi person (who no longer cares for ST or SW) and I am totally fine with faster than light travel and aliens who breathe oxygen. But you put an elf or some dude in a cape wearing his underwearing over his leotard into a movie or book and I am out.
 
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jamieanderson1968 said:
Its funny I am a sci-fi person (who no longer cares for ST or SW) and I am totally fine with faster than light travel and aliens who breathe oxygen. But you put an elf or some dude in a cape wearing his under over his leotard into a movie or book and I am out.
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I realized the only reason I thought Orlando Blume was sexy was because of the ears. Same for Zachary Quinto in ST...

I might have a problem.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
I've been watching The Boys. I don't think it's a very good show. But Antony Starr is legitimately disturbing as this world's Superman analogue. The show is twice as compelling every time he's on the screen and you watch normal people try to interact with a living god who is also psychotic. It's a star turn that risks making him unbelievable as anything but an evil megalomaniac with laser eyes.
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I recently finished season 2 and it's okay. First season took a little time to take off but I liked how it was going at the end of season 1 into season 2. Midway through season 2 it just seemed to tread water to get to a predictable arc conclusion. I mostly like it, it's got a goriness to it that is jarring at times, it's kind of quirky and every character is more or less terrible in their own ways.
 
wokeupnew said:
I have not seen all of these but I feel like recent shows should not have so much weight because time will tell how it is percieved.

Succession at 11, Fleabag at 5...

They're good shows but come on

www.rollingstone.com

The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time

The definitive ranking of the 100 best shows in TV history, as determined by a poll of actors, producers, showrunners, critics, and the staff of Rolling Stone.
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com
Click to expand...


I dont mind the plethora of newer stuff (and am happy to see The Americans and Atlanta place so high) but I find it tough to weigh mini-series, shows that got canceled or that are still unfinished against shows that had long runs but fell off a cliff ala The Simpsons or GOT.

There is no way Fleabag should be that high consdering its brief run nor Succession UNTIL we see where is goes over the course of its arch.

Meanwhile it is absolutely bonkers how underrated Mr Robot is. It rivals only a small handful of shows in both its ambition and knowing exactly where it' was going from A-Z. It's also a rarity in having twists that hold up and feel earned even upon repeat viewings. It's the only drama other than The Wire that I've watched more than twice.

It and King of the Hill are easily the most glaring omissions unless I'm completely blanking on something.

Edit: Louie. Louie was groundbreaking and didn't have a single mediocre season. But obviously, it was left off for an understandable reason.
 
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