So far 2 things I've watched and 0 that I voted for.
― Chris L, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 15:51 (four years ago) link
Obviously you don't have to be a Londoner of Greek Cypriot extraction to love this, but everything - the gleeful nonsense dialogue, the pinpoint characterisation, the mounting physical absurdity - is both reminiscent of the absolute heights of UK sitcoms past and something rather syncretic and new. It feels absolutely attuned to the cultural backgrounds of all of its characters while allowing them to stretch out and be wonderfully idiosyncratic. Above all, it's hilarious. S1 was great but S2 is a masterpiece and will take less than 3 hours of your time to devour. Do so if you've ever giggled at Alan Partridge or Fawlty Towers.
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 15:56 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/rJXHdiq.jpg#46 (Tie) - Kingdom (Netflix) - 33 points, 4 votes
Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread
Kingdom on Netflix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l-yByZpaaM
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:01 (four years ago) link
Two of my four votes, 63 Up and Kingdom, have already placed. Gonna privilege my own taste here and say they're this low because they weren't widely seen. 63 Up, in particular, is the best thing about death and its approach I've seen this year and maybe ever. (Kingdom, of course, is also about death but in a very different way....)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:05 (four years ago) link
Kingdom: I really like zombie stuff and have watched a lot of such shows, many of which take the form "it's zombies + [genre x]" but "zombies + court intrigue" is the best such combo I've seen.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:06 (four years ago) link
Checking from my phone but hope that’s not a remake of LvT’s Kingdom.
Stath Lets Flats is so wonderfully observed that you are almost instantly invested in the lives of each character. It also has the best uses for absurdity in contemporary UK TV. Everyone should watch it now.
― tangenttangent, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:06 (four years ago) link
It also has the best uses for absurdity in contemporary UK TV.
tbf we are currently watching something else that will place later, and which runs it pretty close in this regard (and would have done for my #1 slot too if I'd seen it a week earlier)
but yeah
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:09 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/aatf5mI.jpg#45 - The Good Place (NBC) - 35 points, 5 votes
The Good Place on NBC
The Good Place on Hulu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnq6IRgt4yE
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:13 (four years ago) link
too low!
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:14 (four years ago) link
Man, if we'd done this poll last year
I mean, final season was still good I guess, but...the wheels were idling a bit
Still haven't watched the final episode for some reason
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:15 (four years ago) link
oh, i guess most of this would've been the beginning of s4
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:15 (four years ago) link
even a weak season of TGP should still be higher
As I say, last year it would have been unthinkable to not put it in my top ten but this time I couldn't even be bothered to vote for it. I wonder what changed. Maybe I did, man
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:18 (four years ago) link
GOT too high!
Dragon Prince keeps getting better, it's not quite as good as Avatar or Korra at their best but this last season did some challenging things that the other two shows haven't.
― Charlotte Brontesaurus (Leee), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:24 (four years ago) link
yeah, fess up GOT voters
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:30 (four years ago) link
Kingdom: I really like zombie stuff and have watched a lot of such shows, many of which take the form "it's zombies + [genre x]" but "zombies + court intrigue" is the best such combo I've seen.zombies + court intrigue + hats is an even better combo
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:46 (four years ago) link
I kind of miss the MMA series by the same name
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:47 (four years ago) link
Someone should make a show called Kingdom that mashes up all preceding shows called Kingdom
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:48 (four years ago) link
I am down so long as every episode ends with someone giving birth to Udo Kier.
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:51 (four years ago) link
couldn't possibly bring myself to vote for Game of Thrones, which imo was not only one of the most disappointing shows i've ever seen but in the final seasons one of the most inept, despite the considerable production values and impressive visuals. the first several seasons took place in a deeply lived-in world, it was cleverly and almost remorselessly plotted, it was very sharp and frightening, and it had a key characteristic it lost in later seasons: the characters were generally smart and behaved in logical ways, even if their choices were ultimately wrong or tragic. that was all thrown over once they went off book, in favor of the lead-up to what was basically an amateurishly done version of Avengers: Endgame, minus the earned pathos and tragedy and crafty structure and good jokes. i mean it was a show that was a huge success and nonetheless poor enough that it cost Benioff and Weiss future jobs because they clearly had no idea how to finish the story. i wasn't bored exactly but it was fantasy on the level of In the Name of the King, with better FX and better actors and grandfathered-in goodwill from previous (distantly previous) seasons.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 16:59 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/GFIEwzg.jpg#44 - Silicon Valley (HBO) - 38 points, 5 votes
Mike Judge's "Silicon Valley" (HBO Show)
Silicon Valley on HBO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYHp-5h1y5o
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:09 (four years ago) link
I voted for Game of Thrones. The last season was so flawed and aggravating (in a bad way). However, there were some good parts. And honestly, the social media moment that was everyone watching that epic battle episode that was too dark and comparing their tv setups and trying to "fix it so they can see better" and/or complaining -- was actually this sociologically amazing thing! .. .
― sarahell, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:11 (four years ago) link
Here's another show that fell off without it being easy to see why. Latest season opener wasn't so bad I guess. Just don't really look forward to it as much. Sad how great shows often burn out
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
I maybe should have voted for The Good Place. I certainly made a point of watching it and as a whole it's one of the best series in years, certainly the best traditional network show. But I was rating purely on 2019 and the first half of S4 was the weakest material they've done. If I'd voted in 10 shows I would have included it, and 2019 Bojack too, but both were sufficiently off their peak to kick them out of the top four (and both at least partially returned to form in their 2020 concluding episodes!)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
As I won the first two (as-yet-unwatched) seasons of GoT, how many more would I be advised to snap up before pretending that the show was tragically and prematurely cancelled?
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:15 (four years ago) link
won = own
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:16 (four years ago) link
you're safe through the end of season 4, it's exceptionally good up to that point.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:20 (four years ago) link
seasons 5-8 have their moments and standalone episodes which are thrilling but what's interesting i guess is that the best episodes from the latter half of the show's run are the ones which are largely single-location, without a lot of heavy plotting. the battle episodes, basically.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:22 (four years ago) link
last season of GOT was no worse than previous few seasons, in some ways it was actually better. I think the real problem was one of expectations, also there was a very very vocal contingent who were against their favourite character's heel turn, their views should be discounted entirely. I would suggest you swatch s1-s4 but you'll most likely want to watch the rest after that, and why not? it's an ok show.
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:24 (four years ago) link
The new Veronica Mars -- well, I'm super-glad it existed because these are characters I'm always motivated to spend time with. Halfway through the season I would have rated it highly. Felt it didn't wrap up the plot threads with the satisfying, startling neatness I have come to expect from VM. Would have been in my top 10 for sure.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:25 (four years ago) link
Like for years I resisted the entreaties to watch GoT because, post-L O S T, my tendency wrt these epic televisual endeavors is to wait until the bow has been tied to see if the gift box contains a steaming turd. Which, based on most of the post-finale responses I've heard, seems to have been a wise choice in this case. I'd probably have much fonder feelings about L O S T if I'd waited to have someone tell me 'just pretend that the final season doesn't exist and you'll have fun'.
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:29 (four years ago) link
i watched and guiltily enjoyed all seasons of bosch but couldn't bring myself to vote for it since i had no memory of what the most recent season was
most recent season did plenty of extra-textual fanservice!! idk, maybe I'm that much of a nerd, but I suspect Ms. Veg is also with me on this. Opie from Sons of Anarchy as a biker PI, J. Edgar doing surveillance on scumbags and then meeting them in a club -- which made me yell, "Dudes, you know that is Marlo, right? You don't fuck with that guy. You will end up skeletal in a boarded-up vacant!"
― sarahell, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:30 (four years ago) link
the heel turn was perfectly fine, it just betrayed everything that the character had shown and happened so abruptly that it was clear they had no real idea of how to arrive at that heel turn in a manner that made sense. also the problem w/that twist and many other big moments was that it was all vv predictable, i've never seen a show which was so accurately forecasted by so many people. vs that big thing from the end of season 3, which was both completely logical and yet unpredictable if you hadn't read the novels.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:31 (four years ago) link
every time Jay Edgar plays golf in Bosch feels like Wire fanservice to me tho
― sarahell, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:32 (four years ago) link
*the show's final season was accurately forecast, rather. the first few were not.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:33 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/Rdd6A4H.jpg#43 - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX) - 40 points, 4 votes
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgr01hYOrF8
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:33 (four years ago) link
Honestly, I had a more accepting attitude towards the show itself -- like, I did not have super high expectations. I got angrier at popular astrology memes about GoT characters that showed poor comprehension of astrology and the GoT characters.
― sarahell, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:35 (four years ago) link
Arya is so so so so not an ARIES
today seems to be mostly shows i watch but did not vote for
― na (NA), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:39 (four years ago) link
Let's take it to 36 today.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:45 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/iWW5A35.jpg#40 (Tie) - The Expanse (Amazon) - 40 points, 5 votes
Is anybody else watching The Expanse?
The Expanse on Amazon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdzpVt5rbk
i don't even necessarily believe GOT was markedly worse than or even actually worse than a number of other shows, and it remained watchable, but i think its decline was precipitous enough that it retroactively downgrades the entire thing. i do think arguably S8 was "better" in some sense than earlier seasons, i'm thinking the one where half of it was taken up with uncomfortable silences between Tyrion and Grey Worm and Missandei, broken up by awkward jokes.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:48 (four years ago) link
The Expanse, fantastic.
better than Battlestar Galactica, and exactly the type of sci-fi show i'd been wanting to see for eons.
― omar little, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:49 (four years ago) link
Liked and voted for this IASIP series and consider it better than the last one
― imago, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:49 (four years ago) link
maybe it's because there weren't that many people voting in this poll, but today is like -- i voted for almost all of these shows.
Anyway, at some point I might post paragraphs about "what each of these tv shows means to me and why i like them" -- but in general, the stuff I voted for, besides being pleasurable as a show, also gave me insight into various personal, social, and philosophical issues I dealt with last year. That includes The Expanse, Jessica Jones, and Silicon Valley
― sarahell, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 17:51 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/gXzcu2x.jpg#40 (Tie) - Gentleman Jack (BBC, HBO) - 40 points, 5 votes
Gentleman Jack on HBO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uBYRcP44M4
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 18:30 (four years ago) link
Suranne Jones is one of the best
That's my 3rd (I think) to show up. Stath Lets Flats is fantastic and I completely ignored it because British comedy until imago's incessant positivity got me interested so props to him
― or something, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 18:41 (four years ago) link
Props and thanks
― or something, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 18:42 (four years ago) link
Is Gentleman Jack any good then? Kind of dismissed it as a bog standard BBC period drama
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 18:47 (four years ago) link
Gentlemen Jack is killer; one of my fave discoveries of last year.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 18:49 (four years ago) link