I dunno whether to post this here or in the gay thread but I am currently OBSESSED with this season of Are You The One on MTV. I've never seen this show before but the all-bi angle of the season piqued my interest and I gotta say, I'm beating myself up for not watching this show sooner. I dunno if it says more about me or Drag Race but when it comes to queer reality TV programming, this has so far given me more joy than the last few seasons of Drag Race combined. It's so good.
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Saturday, 6 July 2019 22:47 (four years ago) link
I tracked down the second season of The Sinner after hearing it pretty much unanimously praised as a step up from S1 and....I don't agree! I love Carrie Coon but I didn't find her or the cult especially interesting, and basically the entire reveal set was easily guessed less than halfway through the season.
― Simon H., Monday, 15 July 2019 20:26 (four years ago) link
I concur
It was ok and was a little less topsy-turvy compared to the first season where they threw in more intrigue as it went on, but it lacked in charm
― untuned mass damper (mh), Monday, 15 July 2019 20:35 (four years ago) link
yeah it took me like 6 months to get through. i really did not like the acting from the kid, it was pretty distracting for me.
― big city slam (Spottie), Monday, 15 July 2019 21:25 (four years ago) link
pullman was good tho
Yes, though the sexual antics of s1 were more novel than the kiddie trauma of this one (yes I get that they're connected)
― Simon H., Monday, 15 July 2019 21:41 (four years ago) link
agree. i frame the show solely as a character study on Ambroze and that helps me enjoy it more.
― big city slam (Spottie), Monday, 15 July 2019 21:47 (four years ago) link
Ya for sure. Pullman is good at the sputtering sad guy thing.
― Simon H., Monday, 15 July 2019 22:00 (four years ago) link
My other long train ride watch was the "No-End House" season of SyFy's horror anthology series Channel Zero, which didn't quite blow me away but did impress me enough to seek out the two following seasons. (I watched the first ep of the first season, starring Paul Schneider, some time back, and it didn't grab me,)
― Simon H., Tuesday, 16 July 2019 17:52 (four years ago) link
New season of Endeavour started up on PBS this week, def one of my current favorites
Agreed. I liked the overall arc of the season with the mixing of the old/new police forces and the resolution of "justice for George" plot. Was nice to see one character's relative redemption. Maybe a bit disappointed that the bad guys weren't of larger scope, given their impact on the Morse character to date. Thaw's Morse always struck me as having a tragic love in his past driving his bachelorhood, which they may or may not use Joan Thursday to explain. Was happy that she started a new career this season and was more independent, as that eases the "Joan in fridge" worry. Wouldn't be unhappy if they didn't directly connect the two versions' romantic sides.
The final note of Endeavour's new digs being recognizably Morse's apartment was cool. Surprising, too, how Bright has evolved into a favorite character.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 16 July 2019 18:09 (four years ago) link
I've only heralded The Sinner in the context of its genre (of which I've seen enough other examples at this point to say it's just not my thing). Outside of that context, yeah, it's a fairly boilerplate show which gives Pullman a chance to do that unbalanced shtick he does so well. More than anything, it made me wish he'd done a Daryl Zero series.
― Logy Psycho (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 16 July 2019 18:28 (four years ago) link
Having seen a fair amount of gritty murder mystery type series, I do think S1 was a cut above. S2 was a bit more standard-issue, and the plot really didn't hold up to even the slightest scrutiny. (Without spoiling anything, the Hannah Gross character's predicament could have been much more simply/easily solved, for example.)
― Simon H., Tuesday, 16 July 2019 18:36 (four years ago) link
Of course, S1 has the luxury of leaning so heavily on the absurd but well-acted conceit of almost total memory loss that gets "fixed" at a pace that suits an eight-episode season. S2 does the same with characters strategically withholding information, which *feels* more contrived even though it isn't, really.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 16 July 2019 18:39 (four years ago) link
Jessica Biel was surprisingly pretty good in the first season, too.
― untuned mass damper (mh), Tuesday, 16 July 2019 20:07 (four years ago) link
Yeah she was way more compelling than you'd expect, cementing my suspicion there are v few bad actors, just shabby material and unimaginative casting.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 16 July 2019 20:13 (four years ago) link
Unjusthttps://www.vulture.com/2019/07/tuca-and-bertie-cancelled-by-netflix.html
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 26 July 2019 15:40 (four years ago) link
Fucksake
― groovypanda, Saturday, 27 July 2019 17:51 (four years ago) link
https://savetucaandbertie.com/
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 30 July 2019 20:40 (four years ago) link
don't think there's been much talk about Succession on ilx. I think it's the best thing HBO have done in some time. Anyway, it's back on August 11th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9TKHvvaMfE
― Number None, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 20:20 (four years ago) link
yeah, it's fucking great and i'm hyped to see if they can maintain the quality. previews look suspiciously like it's season one run back though.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 20:40 (four years ago) link
I tried watching that and only lasted like two episodes. I hated everyone, and not in a fun way. I think I hated the man-child from the poor branch of the family most of all - I kept waiting for him to fall out of one of their helicopters or get shot by a private security guy who didn't recognize him.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 20:41 (four years ago) link
it does take a while to get going
the first episode in particular is kind of rough
― Number None, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 20:44 (four years ago) link
i evangelized about succession to my friends and two of them finally watched it and at least one of them hates it. does it make it more fun once you realize it has the same plot and characters as arrested development?
― na (NA), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 20:47 (four years ago) link
i think if you're the sort of person who can only enjoy a show if there are a few characters for you to root for/identify with, this isn't going to work for you. i mostly enjoy watching the clan eat themselves.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 22:28 (four years ago) link
the weird thing for me w. succession is that in the first and last episodes of that first season, it felt like a serious drama abt ppl I am supposed to care about, whereas in the other eight episodes or however many there were they seemed to figure out that it works best as a pitch-black comedy where we root for these assholes to fail spectacularly
― Simon H., Wednesday, 31 July 2019 22:32 (four years ago) link
i read that as: First episode - look at these assholes, don't you want them to fail?Every episode to the end - They failLast episode - okay let's take a moment and get serious so we can walk this back and do it again
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 22:35 (four years ago) link
xp can't say I really cared about them in the first of last episodes tbh.
I don't normally enjoy stories where absolutely everyone is an asshole, but I kind of liked Succession
― Dan S, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 22:36 (four years ago) link
I’m bummed about Tuca and Bertie. It took me a few episodes for me to get the show but once I did it was great ( and those first few episodes are great on a second watch as well)
I do wonder what metrics Netflix go on, total view, first weekend binge views, proportion of viewers who drop a series.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 22:44 (four years ago) link
Super vague spoilers here, but... The dramatic event in the last episode of Succession completely killed my desire to watch any more episodes. They made a big reach and I sort of admire them for it but it did not work for me at all. Considering that the future of the show will likely revolve around it in a big way, I'm out.
― Jouster, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:07 (four years ago) link
given Jesse Armstrong's involvement, I would like to see the second season adopt the Peep Show POV/voiceover aesthetic.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:11 (four years ago) link
tuca and bertie was promising for 3 episodes (episode 3 itself was p great) but then episodes 4 and 5 were so jawdroppingly terrible that i stopped watching and am frankly unsurprised at the cancellation. and if that seems cruel then...it probably is
― imago, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:14 (four years ago) link
Sex Bugs was where it finally clicked for me.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:17 (four years ago) link
you are literally opposite me and i am outta here
― imago, Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:17 (four years ago) link
i thought it was not very good
― bookmarkflaglink (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:20 (four years ago) link
The first minute of Tuca & Bertie was enough for me
― The World According To.... (Michael B), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 23:48 (four years ago) link
the best show on TV is back today, that's right, it's Lodge 49 time again
― Simon H., Monday, 12 August 2019 21:29 (four years ago) link
I love the cast, and the vibe, and a ton of the scene work in Lodge 49. The supernatural overarching plot needs work though. Or just dump it and make a SoCal version of Northern Exposure.
― DJI, Monday, 12 August 2019 21:42 (four years ago) link
Sex Bugs was a really good episode, xpost. It kind of peaked there.
― Yerac, Monday, 12 August 2019 21:44 (four years ago) link
oh man, did not realize Lodge 49 was back today! I got an email about the new season of The Terror, though now AMC is best friend again
― untuned mass damper (mh), Monday, 12 August 2019 21:46 (four years ago) link
it's also great timing for me cause I'm trying to write a series (for fun) that is sort of halfway btwn Lodge 49 and Rubicon
― Simon H., Monday, 12 August 2019 22:37 (four years ago) link
It’s back! I have to watch that tonight. It’s pretty much my favourite active show.
I would love to read your series Simon if you need guinea pigs at any point.
― tangenttangent, Wednesday, 14 August 2019 16:37 (four years ago) link
"Austerity doesn't work!"Fuck do I love this show
― Simon H., Wednesday, 14 August 2019 16:43 (four years ago) link
Succession premiere was good. Lots of scheming afoot
― Number None, Wednesday, 14 August 2019 17:08 (four years ago) link
I thought Tuca & Bertie really picked up when Tuca went to visit her rich Aunt with Speckles. Deserves better but otoh having it continue risks the temptation to rule-build or demystify their world to excess (the problem with Bojack is tho it improved and enriched you get to a point where too often the interesting aspects of the humans/animals dynamic are marginalised or reserved just for basic jokes to the point they might as well just all be humans) and in any case maybe it's OK for more good to great shows to just not continue after one season even if they can in the mass production/provision on demand era.
― nashwan, Wednesday, 14 August 2019 17:34 (four years ago) link
Lodge 49 season 2 is killing it so far. Its characters and set of principles are all so lovely that watching it makes me feel just better about everything. I loved the whole thing about the bartering system in this last episode!
Here's a nice interview about show creator Jim Gavin's influences, which include Muriel Spark and generally being a 'music geek'. Can we be sure he's not an ILXor? https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/09/07/interview-jim-gavin-creator-whimsical-offbeat-lodge-49
― tangenttangent, Friday, 23 August 2019 18:17 (four years ago) link
Just one more plug for Legion, now that its 3-year run has finished. If you haven't watched it, Legion is an incredibly fun, BEAUTIFUL, inventive show set in the MCU. I didn't love season 2 as much as 1, but season 3 was great. Watch it on a big, high-quality TV.
https://intpolicydigest.org/2019/08/28/in-a-few-years-you-ll-regret-not-watching-legion/
― DJI, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:06 (four years ago) link
anyone who liked Catastrophe or Fleabag should watch This Way Up on Hulu. Not quite as good as its predecessors and far more predictable but still worth the three hours.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:10 (four years ago) link
I ended up watching and loving all of The Boys on Amazon prime yesterday, which isn’t something I usually do. It’s not subtle at all but there are several scenes I can’t stop thinking about. Some great casting too.
― gyac, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:31 (four years ago) link
xpdoes the International Policy Digest often weigh in on tv shows?
― rob, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:32 (four years ago) link
I tried This Way Up but it wasn't as good as I hoped.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:43 (four years ago) link