Your Ten Favorite Shows Currently on Television

I have been enjoying Tawny Newsome on the Yo! Is This Racist podcast for the last while too. Her being about teh main lead in Star Trek Lower Decks.

Current Ongoing:
Succession - S3 HBO
Curb Your Enthusiasm - S11 HBO
Only Connect - S17 BBC2
Joe Pera Talks With You - S3 Adult Swim
Desus and Mero - S3 Showtime
Insecure - S6 HBO
South Side - S2 HBO
Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker - S1 Channel 4
Stath Lets Flats - S3 Channel 4
British Bake Off - S12

Tried and can't get excited about:
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Ghosts (US)
Dopesick
Hello Jack!

I also knocked out a full series run of both The Sopranos and of the phenomenally mean spirited BBC3 comedy This Country, somewhat different flavors and levels of commitment shall we say.

Jo Firestone's "Good Timing" on Peacock is one of the year's best comedy specials and reason enough to get the app.

I cannot get the gumption to get started on the expanse but this is my first day in weeks not actively wishing for the rapture so maybe eventually?

> Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker

i figured myself for the only person in the country watching this. i would be surprised if it has a series 2

it's great! absolutely no complaints about the selection process, judging, host, filming, general vibe. does exactly what you want it to do. looking forward to the final.

New watches since last go-round:

How To with John Wilson S2 - HBO (until something changes, this is a top ten show)
Bluey S3 - Disney/ABC Aussie (still maybe the best show on television but I'm hitting a few uninspired episodes)
PEN15 S2.2 - Hulu (only halfway through the first ep of the new half season; i want to savor this)
It's Always Sunny S15 - FX (first couple of episodes are good!)
Blue Period S1 - Crunchyroll (an anime about a kid who wants to become a painter)

Blown Away Christmas was a bummer unfortunately.
I can't get into Hawkeye based on one episode, but I will likely try again.
Started watching Jeopardy again; the episodes with Ken are entirely enjoyable!

nobody watching yellowjackets?

i got about five minutes into the first episode and it just felt... cheap?

I'm watching and liking Yellowjackets.

Okay, so: 2021 Television. I watched a lot of television.

The Best
Reservation Dogs s1 - FX
Chad s1 - TBS
PEN15 s2pt1 - Hulu (looking forward to the second half before end of year)
The Other Two s2 - Comedy Central/HBO
Work in Progress s2 - Showtime
What We Do in the Shadows s3 - Hulu
Bluey s3 - Disney
Succession s3 - HBO
Joe Pera Talks With You s3 - Adult Swim
South Side s2 - HBO
How To with John Wilson s2 - HBO

The Very Good
Blown Away s2 - Netflix
The Great Pottery Throw Down s3 - BBC2
Only Connect s17- BBC 2
Staged s2 - BBC1
Pause with Sam Jay s1 - HBO
Desus and Mero s3 - Showtime
Why Are You Like This? s1 - ABC Aussie
Pui Pui Molcar s1 - Netflix
Motherland s3 - BBC2
This Time with Alan Partridge s2 - BBC1
Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun s1 - Netflix
Loki s1 - Disney
Agua Donkeys s1 - Hulu/Quibi
Great British Bake Off s12 - Netflix/ Channel 4(UK)
Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker s1 - Channel 4
Stath Lets Flats s3 - Channel 4
Jo Firestone's Good Timing - Peacock

The Good
WandaVision s1 - Disney
Ted Lasso s2 - Disney
Ghosts s3 - BBC1
Rick and Morty s5 - Adult Swim
The Real World Homecoming: New York - Paramount
Hospital s7 - BBC2
Fisk s1 - ABC Aussie
I Think You Should Leave s2 - Netflix
So I'm a Spider So What s1 - Crunchyroll
Last Week Tonight s8 - HBO
Awkwafina is Nora from Queens s2 - Comedy Central/HBO
A House Through Time s4 - BBC2
Buffering s1 - iTV
Dug Days s1 - Disney
Curb Your Enthusiasm - s11 HBO
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia s15 - FX

The "I Guess I'm Still Watching This"
Jeopardy s∞- Syndicated
Rosehaven s5
Let's Make a Mug Too s1 - Crunchyroll
Back on the Record with Bob Costas s1 - HBO
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier s1 - Disney
Mythic Quest s2 - Apple
Star Wars Visions - s1 - Disney
Insecure - s5 - HBO

I Finished, But I Had Issues
Starstruck s1 - BBC3 (3 good episodes and then 3 lame ones)
Kim's Convenience s5 - CBC/Netflix (an excellent and enjoyable series with a great season and my god they really botched the ending...)
Ziwe s1 - Showtime (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/28/ziwe-is-trapped-in-an-interminable-dance-with-whiteness)
Schmigadoon s1 - Apple
All That Glitters s1 - Netflix (great reality show, good work and THE WORST HOST EVER. Bad judges too.)
The White Lotus s1 - HBO

The Left Unfinished and the Nopes
Painting with John s1 - HBO
Lupin s1/2 - Netflix
Looney Tunes Cartoons s2 - HBO
Call My Agent s2/3 - Netflix
50 States of Fright s1 - Hulu/Quibi
Flatbush Misdemeanors s1 - Showtime (this show gives me anxiety)
Secrets of the Museum s2 - BBC2
Kid Cosmic s1 - Netflix
Home Economics s1/2 - ABC (promising concept, trite execution)
Hacks s1 - HBO (really wanted this to be better but at least Jean Smart is fun in it)
Centaurworld s1 - Netflix
Y the Last Man s1 - Hulu
The Problem with Jon Stewart s1 - Apple
Ghosts (US) s1 - CBS
Dopesick s1 - Hulu
Hello Jack! s1 - Apple
Ultra City Smiths s1 - AMC
Hawkeye s1 - Disney
Blown Away: Christmas - Netflix

The "Aired Prior to 2021" and Remarkable
The Sopranos s1/2/3/4/5/6 - HBO (this was relaxing)
Pulling s1/2/Special - BBC3
Phoneshop s1/2/3 - E4
Hajime No Ippo s1 - Crunchyroll
Giri/Haji s1 - Netflix
Friday Night Dinner s1/2/3/4/5/6 - Channel 4
Peter Kay's Car Share s1/2 - BBC1
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace s1 - Channel 4
A Touch of Cloth s1/2/3 - Sky1
Plebs s4/5 - iTV
The Baby-Sitters Club s1 - Netflix
Chickens s1 - Sky1
This Country s1/2/3 - BBC3
How to Be Bohemian s1 - BBC4 (Coren-Mitchell is often interesting but what a snob)
Trollies s1/2/3 - Sky1 (okay comfort food but the returns began to sharply diminish as the cast evacuated)

Putting aside some family stuff, pretty much the only TV I watched in 2021 was The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, I Think You Should Leave and Curb Your Enthusiasm S10

Based solely on those three things ... it was a great year for TV!

don't hurt yourself lifting there

forks do you watch at night only or during the day too? i know you watch sports too so wondering how you pull all this off

Forks works out, goes to work, takes a shower, and watches tv simultaneously.

click on this link to find out how: FORK EXPLAINS TV METHOD

hacks got better (and in interesting ways) as it went

painting w john is also worthwhile and pretty low investment

i watch afternoon tv occasionally but honestly this was a year where i didn't go out much at all at night or see many films so i just stayed up late every night and killed at least a series a week. it's kind of sad? i am hoping for more balance soon.

I stumbled across Search Party on HBO Max a couple months ago and remembering the raves it got here I started watching it. Very good, and I'm in season 4 now.

I hope this list does not signify you won't be running a TV poll, my favorite ilx poll the last couple years

i started watching Insecure less than 2 weeks ago, I am on S4 watching it 24/7 like its my job lmao

ob
sessed

love it so much!

i will likely do a tv poll but i would love it if we got a stronger turnout? literally everyone on this board watches tv, no reason we can't get 100 ballots

i watch afternoon tv occasionally but honestly this was a year where i didn't go out much at all at night or see many films so i just stayed up late every night and killed at least a series a week. it's kind of sad? i am hoping for more balance soon.

― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, December 13, 2021 5:43 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

ay man no judgement here. i used to watch more but find myself falling asleep a lot easier in recent years. sometimes it takes me a week or two to get through an episode now haha

that's what it's been like for films for me this year, sigh. i may have watched 40 movies in 22, which is somewhere between a third and a quarter of my past several years viewing habits.

i'm wfh everyday with the tv right there, seems rude not to have it on in the background. and with some shows / films that's all you really need. hellblazer 3 the other day, enter the dragon for the second time in a year, star trek: fairhaven, svu, 10,000 different car restoration shows, australian bake-off, repair shop repeats...

repair shop is the greatest

We're loving "South Side," which the New Yorker rightfully cited as a show that seemed destined to have a cult-favorite single season but against all odds has continued.

Was reading a review of "MacGruber" and came across this comment beneath, which struck a chord:

I don’t think I’ve seen a show in the past 4 or 5 years that wasn’t 1-3 episodes too long

Followed by:

This is exactly what the Marvel live-action shows have been doing, all of them, up to and including Hawkeye. The pacing and structure feel wrong because rather than feeling like episodes, they feel just like... minutes 120-175 of a really long movie. Thus, having a weeklong break between each one hurts way more than it helps.

Compare to a show like... well, maybe it’s not a fair comparison to one of the best shows on TV, but Better Call Saul’s episodes feel like episodes. They have introductions, arcs, conclusions, while simultaneously moving the overall narrative along. The Expanse, as well.

I know we've discussed this here, so I dunno, just more fuel for thought that many of the best TV shows feel (suitably) episodic, and some of the most frustrating ones, or at least the ones that feel padded out, often feel like long middle hunks of a movie that's been stretched and shaped into 10-13 episodes of series. As one of the comments points out, even a beloved show like Ted Lasso felt like it was doing this for some of its second season, seemingly padding and slowly parceling out the plot just because they could. I want to say even a mostly nailed-it nail-biter like "Mare of Easttown" might have lasted one episode too long.

South Side is great, just the sheer density of the gags and wordplay is overwhelming. it presumes you have a considerable amount of chicago knowledge!

Yeah, but it's not necessary. It's tons of fun, because (like Chicago itself) it sometimes seems like it is set in a parallel universe, with its own set of rules.

i’m all in on yellowjackets and i’m not sure why*

*actually i’m pretty sure why. it’s the adult leads. ricci in particular is great. juliette lewis doing an extremely ripe jaded/unhinged thing that i’m not sure quite has a precedent, at least not that springs to mind. and it’s pretty wild that melanie lynskey, who i didn’t really know before, is the central character, when you’ve got these better known actresses alsoon the bill. she has this kind of weary mom with bad-ass secrets thing down cold and something about her sitcom-ness helps - she’s relatable, human-shaped.

i should be clear though, this is not a very good show. it feels like the cut scenes to a video game. you can picture every line as it appears on the page. it never really comes alive. the characters keep getting pushed around by the story. everyone has like one characteristic that defines them, two at most.

so why am i watching it? those actresses, i think. and the conceit is great. and i’m in the mood for something pulpy, overripe, bad.

Lynskey was a teen star in the 90s, as were Ricci and Lewis, which adds a nice extra layer to the thing. Also she was on Two & Half Men, so she's probably better known to a general audience than the other two at this point

yeah i had a feeling something like that might be the case. i guess lewis and ricci are kind of cult figures at this point and lynskey’s more of a legit mainstream star. so it’s good casting. i find the teens borderline unwatchable apart from young lynskey

Lynskey is a really good actress; I never watched Two and a Half Men but every time I've seen her pop up in something more dramatic, she kills it.

same. I do still think of her as her from Heavenly Creatures though

it's a good cast! given even a small amount of time with it, the scripting and direction seem utterly amateurish, as noted.

Lynskey was also in that Duplass brothers series on HBO (I think). But I guess that doesn't raise her public profile much.

I had watched the first episode of La Brea previous to starting Yellowjackets, and it didn't really compel me to watch episode two. When I caught ep 1 of Yellowjackets I decided it would be my "stranded people in peril" show.

i'm likely gonna go with station eleven there

That looks good too, I'll probably start it when I finish Yj.

First two episodes of Station Eleven were excellent. Forgot it was Hiro Murai directing.

Yeah, every shot is so gorgeous. I feel like he can get me to well up just with his composition, especially with those time-jump cuts.

It's wild to me that HBO gave enough money to Despot, Dapwell, and Lakutis to make their own Fishing with John (ie Chillin' Island).

lol i watched 10 minutes of it and drew the same fishing w john comparison in my head

I watched the first two episodes of Station Eleven and it just didn't grab me the way I was hoping it would.

i stopped with yellowjackets by the way. nothing ever actually happened. what a waste of talent.

First episode of the second season of Beforeigners on HBO is as good as the first season. I'm in for that.

Watched the first episode of Raised By Wolves and was intrigued enough to keep going.

It's definitely worth keeping going as it gets more & more batshit crazy each episode. I'm not sure it's any good but it's certainly watchable.

Here's some S1 last episode Raised by Wolves spoilers for you: the pregnant android gave mouth birth to an evil flying leech baby so the other android (who is in love with her) took the whole family on a suicide crash mission into a bottomless pit in the whistle-shaped spaceship... but it didn't work because they went through the molten center and ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE PLANET and emerged in the jungle where the androids ran away and the giant leech baby flew off into the clouds. Space Jesus, who was left for dead in the prior episode but revived and killed a bunch of holy warrior after eating an android eyeball and tripping balls, appears to have mentally sent his crazy to his child - who is not actually his child because he and his wife killed his parents and stole their faces and have raised this kid for years - because the kid suddenly knows that his mother is an imposter (because god told him) so he shoots her in the belly and runs away into a barren landscape with no one but a magical white mouse to keep him company. This sets up a cliffhanger where the multicultural cast and gutshot woman can now look to a white twelve year old boy to lead them and protect them from the religious zealots, ghosts and devolving cavepeople that are hot on their trail and yes I KNOW this sounds awesome, that's why i'm watching it but they've been making it weirder every episode and I'm kinda exhausted with its cocaine sci-fi ravings.

It seems like an important show, not because it's any good but as a marker of just how much pre-COVID money corporations kept floating around to fund the raving mythologies of white guys who have proven capable of building franchises, no matter how unhinged. it, like much of the politics and entertainment of this era, looks more like last of the pus leaving the wound than anything else. that such poisonous idylls are regularly fun to watch doesn't make me feel particularly good about soldiering through to the end

― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Nominate the Best TV/Web/Streaming Series of 2021 - Nominations Closing January 10

hello i just started Longmire
i dunno why it took me so long to try it, literally everything about it appeals to me
am only 2 eps in and completely on board

thank the lord for shows like this that just fuckin start right away & don’t fuck around with exposition & slow burns

also lord help me i do love an emotionally distant sheriff

LOVED Longmire. (Until a twist in the final season which may not even bother you, so I'm not gonna say anything about it.)

kind of excited for the new TV season as a bunch of stuff i like is coming back

Junior Bake Off
Australian Lego Masters (started last week)
Pottery Thing
Amazing Spaces
Bangers and Cash
plus new SVU repeats (season 6)
and actual new SVU episodes
Toast

lol I thought you mericans were referring to the godawful 2013 Catlin Moran written "Raised By Wolves" series on bbc for a few moments there and was totally baffled by what you were posting about it!