Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

that first episode of how to with john wilson was incredible

we're raving on the NFY thread as well, but honestly it deserves its own thread

so the Brockmire ep where Jules has the stuntman as a guest and he blows himself up just had me rolling.

just because of how obvious it was what was going to happen and how oblivious she was.

The Queen's Gambit on Netflix is really good. It seems like it would be corny-ass prestige TV bullshit, and it has some big weaknesses, but you can't go too far wrong when you're starting from a novel by Walter Tevis (who also wrote the books that became The Hustler and The Man Who Fell To Earth; he wrote a book called The Color Of Money, too, but that movie has very little to do with the book other than the title). There were some parts that I wish were written by Harry Crews, but it made chess interesting for seven hours, which is quite an achievement.

one of my kids (9 y o) is really into chess. are there any scenes that would be too much for a kid to handle you think?

hope there's no violent scenes featuring chess pieces

windom esrle is BACK baby

are there any scenes that would be too much for a kid to handle you think?

There's no nudity or graphic sex. Some profanity. I'd put it at a solid PG-13. And the chess scenes are filmed in really exciting ways, so it's worth trading a possible awkward conversation for a probable explosion in your kid's interest in the game.

So what you're saying is, the queens they use would not excite me?

late pass but I laughed ridiculously hard at the second episode of Space Force

to all the people who recommended Brockmire over the years: thank you this show fuckin rules

I can't finish the 4th season til Biden is sworn in.

But yes...it rules

this show is like....the good version of Bojack Horseman

ok that's needlessly mean but I do like this better and it has a LOT of shared territory

it does help that Brockmire never becomes a complete son of a bitch. he has a very wavering but nonetheless-still-present empathy, and while he's a massive narcissist (like any broadcaster), it's nice that some of his 'gaffes' actually come in the service of doing the right thing at the wrong time.

i'm pleased you two came around. The description is a hard sell, especially if you are talking to someone who doesn't care about baseball, but I really think it's secretly one of the best-written and most acidly funny shows of the new century.

Charles is my fav. in all of his incarnations

i'm not sure i understand why you're holding off on the last season

I watched 3 eps or so. the stuff about the "disputed lands" and the (admittedly funny) global warming cynicism hit too close to home for my brain during the lead up to the election. I actually found the digs at how terrible baseball is now in 2033 to be pretty hilarious (multi-colored bats, etc)

that's all. i may watch a few tonight tho.

the final ep of season 3 actually stressed me the fuck out for that reason too, with Art Newly being alt-right leader and people harassing Brockmire at the stadium

i can understand if it hit you wrong. it's remarkably prescient, to the point of pain really. But I think it's still pretty great and it never loses touch with what makes the show work.
Frankly, i'm impressed with the chutzpah it took for them to say "well, we've mined this vein as far as we can; let's jump thirty years into the future and blow the whole thing up"

yeah and I still think it's well done, especially with its humorous depiction of how everybody has just accepted this extremely degraded, awful form of existence and have long become desensitized to it. basically an Overton window season.

they clearly foresaw that in the middle of daily riots, climate disasters and open pandemic that big league sports business would foolishly along with diminishing returns until the well was truly dry

*"foolishly limp along"

I don't care about baseball at all fwiw

joe buck and bob costas are surprisingly funny in this imo

I laughed really hard at "you called Jesus the Mayor of Ausckwitz!"

sigh @ my phone typing skills

I was laughing so hard at S1E1 of Brockmire my son asked me what was wrong. So thanks for the rec.

"That's right, I said Fatty Boombalatty.
And at 400 pounds, he is officially the fattest player in the history of baseball.
Folks, that's no small feat because fat guys have been a part of this game from the beginning.
Babe Ruth himself, the very greatest of the greats, was also a big, fat piece of shit, so wonderful bit of history we are looking at here."

ok, perfect last season

I don't think I've ever been won over this hard by a show whose basic premise (angry cucked white alcoholic sports commentator stages a comeback) sounded so utterly disinteresting

Looking forward to the series Small Axe starting tomorrow night.
Steve McQueen directs 6 dramas on great Black British figures in the history of the late 20th century.
9pm Sunday the 15th BBC1.
Have great expectations but not seen any of it yet.

You know what's real good that i wouldn't have imagined was gonna be good is Netflix's Aunty Donna's Big Old House of Fun.
https://www.netflix.com/search?q=aunti&jbv=81009617
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5FGOaz__W0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9-7UrG8OgY

Aunty Donna

That show is incredible

didn't know it was anybody but me! lotsa fun.

anything's a drum!

Interesting to see people liking that show! I couldnt get past the cringey hipsterness... but some of their skits are ok .

cringeyness mostly wears off after an episode but maybe not knowing the hallmarks of aussie hipsterdom helps

Saw the trailer for that and whilst parts of it did seem a bit cringey, I was intrigued so will give it a go

The parts where they lean into the cringey hipsterness, like the haircut skit, were some of my favorite parts

i got some laughs out of it but there is so much yelling. like they think that yelling something automatically makes it funnier. very yell-y.

OK I take back what I said because I just saw "Filling up on cheese before dinner" and it killed me.

that's a good un

I've only seen the first episode but have been watching various clips on youtube and I'm sold.

I kinda lost track of films this month and instead focused on television, with mixed results.
Here’s my late October through end of November viewing. Open to conversation about any of these.

Top 8:

• Jeopardy (Syndicated) - Watched every episode this season and it’s been a bumpy one for the contestants and of course for Alex, who is clearly tiring and often going hoarse. It’s saddening but I am finding I want to see this through with him.
• The Mandalorian (Disney) - The initial static shock bloom of “wow i guess i care about star wars again?” is somewhat off the rose but the atmospheric storytelling, old-school samurai flick tricks, inventive character designs, surprise guests of the week and pulpy capers make this consistently enjoyable. I wish they hadn’t felt the need to name baby yoda Google or whatever.
• Roadkill (BBC1) - Sputters a bit at the halfway mark but I thought it really stuck the landing.
• Bluey (Disney, Australia BC )- It’s astonishing how consistent, joyous and creative Bluey is. It and “I Will Destroy You” might be my favorite things on teevee this year, which makes for a helluva study in opposites.
• Aunty Donna’s Big Ol House of Fun (Netflix) - Better more than its worse and its highs justify the moments that don’t pay off. A cowdoy?
• How To with John Wilson (HBO) - Utterly original, spectacularly clever even it it is broadly and perhaps necessarily uneven from episode to episode. That said, it’s still must-see even when it goes nowhere. I can’t really recommend it enough.
• Desus and Mero (Showtime) - Currently on hiatus but still the best talk show on television.
• The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse (Disney) - Only two episodes in, but already shockingly weird and self-assured in its visuals and storytelling. In much the same way as the also excellent Looney Tunes on HBO, this is fully aware of its history and happy to borrow from a near-century of classic ideas but also to cadge from contemporary art and underground cartooning. I mean seriously, can you believe this still is from a Disney approved show?

• Ghosts (S1+2, BBC1)
• Adventure Time: Distant Lands (HBO)
• The Great British Bake-Off (Channel 4, Netflix)
• Jeopardy: The Greatest of All Time (ABC)
• Ceramics: A Fragile History (2011, BBC4)

• Flesh and Blood (ITV)
• We Are Who We Are (HBO)
• The Eric Andre Show (Adult Swim)
• Mandy (2019, BBC2)

• Animaniacs (Hulu)
• Moonbase 8 (Showtime)
• Trickster (CBC)
• Candy Land (Food Network)
• Truth Seekers (Amazon)
• The Comedy Store (Showtime)

• The Secret History of Writing (BBC4)
• African Renaissance (BBC4)
• Women Make Film (TCM, BFI)
• Dream Corp LLC (S2, Adult Swim)
• The Flight Attendant (HBO)

• Battlestar Galactica (S2, Sci-Fi)
• Louie (S1+2, FX)
• Adventure Time (S1+2, Cartoon Network)

• Black Narcissus (FX)
• Small Axe (Amazon, BBC1)
• The Reagans (Showtime)
• The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)
• City So Real (Nat Geo)
• The Third Day (HBO)
• Lovecraft Country (HBO)
• Monsterland (Hulu)
• Cobra (Sky1)
• Gangs of London (Sky)
• The Trouble with Maggie Cole (ITV)
• Warrior (Cinemax)
• A Wilderness of Error (FX)

Animaniacs is v enjoyable imo

i managed two episodes and that's as far as nostalgia could take me. Looney Tunes + Mickey Mouse provide a creative visual and authorial spark that I couldn't find in the Animaniacs reboot... and I was looking!

Was disappointed by small axe episode one, was excited for it and its great to see that story told but it couldn't shake off the cliches of a Hollywood court drama i thought - how are the other episodes?

There's only two out so far and I haven't tried either yet. They're really full length films, right?