Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

Swanberg's steez annoys the shit of me.

*out of me

I quite liked Happy Christmas and Drinking Buddies but I'm pretty sure those coasted on actors I liked rather than anything Swanberg did. This time it doesn't look strong on actors I like so I don't have high hopes.

Talky indie romantic things are completely hit or miss these days whether it's Swanberg or the Duplass Bros or Lynn Shelton.

I might stick with The Exorcist for a little while. Most of the horror stuff was TV cheesy, but when the sister was lurching across the attic it really creeped me out in a good way.

Will definitely give Designated Survivor a few more episodes.

The season premiere of Shameless is streaming online now (I have Showtime through Hulu); the broadcast premiere date is 10/2. Just watched it - it's a strong start.

i guess no one but me is watching Halt and Catch Fire?

Fleabag is now available in the US via Amazon. Interested to know what people think.

Fleabag is now available in the US via Amazon. Interested to know what people think.

unfunny, "edgy" raunch plus literal winking at the camera. terrible

it becomes a lot more than that but yeah don't stick with if you're not into her steez

Swanberg's steez annoys the shit of me.

― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl)

How would you describe his steez (sic)? Of his work (that I'm aware of), I've only seen this series. The bulk of the material felt more realistic than that of shows like Love, Flaked, and Master of None. The general tone of Easy kind of recalls that of Louis in some instances, as well as the Marc Maron show (with less overt comedy). "Controlada" (one of the eight episodes) doesn't feel very stylized, at all. Same with the Brewery Bros eps, there's a sense of realism to the characters' actions. I'm wondering what it is about this stuff that rubs people the wrong way, and how would you define the style of it?

Fleabag is way better than the first episode suggests

Swanberg is basically the evolution of mumblecore with better lighting and sound.

case in point: I love Anna Kendrick & Jake Johnson but I found Drinking Buddies so meandering & awkward as to be almost unwatchable

it is so "real" that watching feels a) unnecessary and b) a waste of time

I watched 3 episodes of Easy. I like the first 2 episodes. Yeah theres an easygoing naturalness to it that I like. The Maron episode is pretty weak though.

I am watching Halt and Catch Fire, too!

new season of transparent is pretty damn good so far

I am watching the first ep of Transparent and really struggling with the crisis-line subplot, can't tell if poorly researched or if it's normal for American crisis lines to be this haphazard / poorly trained. Yikes.

i think that's the worst one thus far for me too. it improves notably once the whole cast shows up! Single character episodes betray just how hollow and self centered these characters aer.

has anyone watched "the kettering incident"? my friend just recommended it to me

Yes! Been watching it recently, only up to ep 4 or 5. It is verrrrry slow paced, but that doesnt disctract from the story. It almost has a picnic at hanging rock sort of feel, but modernised. Very slow and moody and creepy.

I haven't seen anything non-awful by Swanberg. Actors seem to love him though!

Thought Fleabag was wonderful. Some annoying BBC "edgy" signifiers (like the hideous rawk credits theme) but was really well-written for the most part. I don't think it quite pulled off the descent into "seriousness" in the last two episodes - some of the extended monologues were pretty dire and the last episode twist was, well, basically not a twist at all because it so obvious. (It's also a pet peeve of mine when writers confuse depression with suicidal depression, because there's dramatic mileage in the latter.)

But! I'd definitely watch more. The brief scene between Bill Patterson and Fleabag on the street in the last episode was lovely.

But - it wasn't supposed to be actually "suicidal" - right?

Right, the outcome is never in doubt, but it's using suicide as a dramatic prop, with a character whoclearly isn't suicidal. It's a fringe theatre cliche and lazy thinking about mental health. Just a trope I've noticed that irrationally annoys me.

(Sorry - I was talking about what Fleabag seems to be doing at the end, not the story with Boo.)

Untold Stories of the E.R. not sure if this is still being made or just being repeated on a channel I have.
But tend to find it interesting. Also Sex Sent Me to Hospital. But maybe that's just trash TV needing to be watched

xpost Lol I have to admit I'd forgotten about the very end. The whole show is fringe theatre cliche - the sexhibition, the silent retreat, the wicked stepmother. Yet it somehow manages to be great despite that (imo).

oh man happy christmas and that drinking one are two of the worst movies I have had the misfortune to watch in recent years, and i generally love the cast in both

x-post Yeah, I was a fringe theatre reviewer for several years, that's probably the source of my irritation! Agree this was a great though - super sharp writing in spite of the cliche.

I'm watching Halt and Catch Fire! I really like it.

I also watched Fleabag and thought it was great, preferred Crashing but either way Phoebe WAller-Bridge is just killing it this year.

The Exorcist pilot was for the most part terrible. I realize they're very different mediums for very different times, but it wants to foreground everything the original film did more subtly -- Damien Karras was very quietly having a crisis of faith in an age of diminishing religiousity, Father Tomas straight out tells a parishioner (!) that he's never heard the voice of God. Yeesh. And the dialogue . . . "Rome will not forgive this!" "It's not their forgiveness I'm seeking!" Plus I wonder if the other twist will be that Geena Davis is ALSO suffering from early-onset dementia or some other debilitating brain injury, since she both walked straight into a pitch-black basement instead of waiting for Tomas to come back upstairs; and stood at the bottom of her own attic ladder unable to hear a single thing from a few feet above her head.

I know pilots are gonna pilot, but this better get a lot better, fast. (Side note: At first I thought, "Good for TV for giving Geena Davis a younger husband," but it turns and she and Alan Ruck are only a few months apart in age.)

I watched The Good Place and it's got a lot of potential. Very funny performances by everyone, and if it can get away from being just a riff on "Defending Your Life" it might find an audience.

catching up with season 2 of Gotham -- I feel like this season is better than the first

my wife and i tried that show and couldnt get passed one episode

there is a bit of Muppet Babies + camp involved, but if that's not your thing

guess its not

Been loving Quarry so far, theyre only a few eps in tho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p11eE48e-k4

lol wrong link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgISvffeT-8

with that guy from The Invitation

there is a bit of Muppet Babies + camp involved, but if that's not your thing

― sarahell, Monday, September 26, 2016 1:15 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol this is the best summary of the show

Been loving Atlanta and Better Things. Just started that FX OJ Simpson mini series (late to game on that one). New American Horror Story is OK. The Exorcist looks terrible, but I'll watch it anyway. Excited for a new season of Difficult People.

catching up with season 2 of Gotham -- I feel like this season is better than the first

Season 2 was a massive improvement on the first one

Season 3 has just started, 1st episode came out I think Tuesday last week so is presumably broadcast on Monday night.

Yeah, second episode airs in the US tonight. First episode was...ok.

it's a horrible show that's almost saved by going over the top in every plot

s2 was great, i liked it better than s1

it's ott and camp and silly and I am HERE for it

as much as i'd like to like better things it feels more like a loose sketch of an idea? married (which fx cancelled last year) was so much better.
i'm willing to be patient but three episodes in it has the worst tendencies of louie without much payoff

I like it a lot - actually, the sketchy, low-key vibe is part of the appeal for me, and Adlon is never not interesting to watch. Some bits are clearly Not Working At All but that was the case with 1st season of Louie too. I did notice it's very short (Lenny Kravitz ep was 18 mins), but maybe that's a benefit.

damn was that director character lenny kravitz? I honestly did not recognize him but I guess I see it now

I like how low-key and easygoing it is.

i love adlon and the kids are great; thought lenny was good too.
the pace, the triteness of the setups and the lack of any kind of stakes is kind of deadening to me tho'.

Have we talked about The Affair on ilx other than the couple of posts in this thread? Started watching now. Intrigued but annoyed at the same time.

got progressively sillier over the course of s1, didn't bother with s2