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.
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:01 (two years ago) link
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
― Number None, Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:13 (two years ago) link
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
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:18 (two years ago) link
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.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:33 (two years ago) link
same. I do still think of her as her from Heavenly Creatures though
― rob, Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:35 (two years ago) link
it's a good cast! given even a small amount of time with it, the scripting and direction seem utterly amateurish, as noted.
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 16 December 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link
Lynskey was also in that Duplass brothers series on HBO (I think). But I guess that doesn't raise her public profile much.
― nickn, Thursday, 16 December 2021 23:48 (two years ago) link
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.
― nickn, Thursday, 16 December 2021 23:51 (two years ago) link
i'm likely gonna go with station eleven there
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Friday, 17 December 2021 00:28 (two years ago) link
That looks good too, I'll probably start it when I finish Yj.
― nickn, Friday, 17 December 2021 00:38 (two years ago) link
First two episodes of Station Eleven were excellent. Forgot it was Hiro Murai directing.
― groovypanda, Friday, 17 December 2021 07:56 (two years ago) link
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.
― DJI, Thursday, 23 December 2021 18:56 (two years ago) link
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).
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 24 December 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link
lol i watched 10 minutes of it and drew the same fishing w john comparison in my head
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 25 December 2021 00:12 (two years ago) link
I watched the first two episodes of Station Eleven and it just didn't grab me the way I was hoping it would.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 25 December 2021 01:54 (two years ago) link
i stopped with yellowjackets by the way. nothing ever actually happened. what a waste of talent.
― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 26 December 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
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.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 26 December 2021 15:09 (two years ago) link
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.
― groovypanda, Sunday, 26 December 2021 16:01 (two years ago) link
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
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
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 26 December 2021 16:47 (two years ago) link
Nominate the Best TV/Web/Streaming Series of 2021 - Nominations Closing January 10
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 December 2021 23:11 (two years ago) link
hello i just started Longmirei 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 boardthank 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
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 1 January 2022 23:01 (two years ago) link
LOVED Longmire. (Until a twist in the final season which may not even bother you, so I'm not gonna say anything about it.)
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 1 January 2022 23:07 (two years ago) link
kind of excited for the new TV season as a bunch of stuff i like is coming back
Junior Bake OffAustralian Lego Masters (started last week)Pottery ThingAmazing SpacesBangers and Cashplus new SVU repeats (season 6)and actual new SVU episodesToast
― koogs, Saturday, 1 January 2022 23:13 (two years ago) link
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!
― calzino, Saturday, 1 January 2022 23:30 (two years ago) link
I'm still not sure the Ridley Scott one is a whole lot better
― groovypanda, Friday, 7 January 2022 10:04 (two years ago) link
Station 11 continues to be a vibey, weird show. I'm really enjoying it. However, I'm not sure if a lot of people want to watch a show about a pandemic that is worse than our current one!
― DJI, Friday, 7 January 2022 19:42 (two years ago) link
Since everyone seems to be watching Yellowjackets...do people, like, actually have Showtime subscriptions? Or...
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 7 January 2022 20:04 (two years ago) link
We all loved Masterchef Junior, so I was curious where it went. This piece comes to the conclusion that an eighth season has been filmed and inexplicably in the can for two and a half years!
https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/masterchef/masterchef-junior-season-8-canceled-renewed-gordon-ramsay-daphne-oz/#so-what-s-the-hold-up-
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 7 January 2022 20:05 (two years ago) link
xpost Showtime is an urban legend.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 7 January 2022 20:06 (two years ago) link
Loving Yellowjackets, it's all I want to watch, though I'm worried there's no way it'll stick the landing. I'm using my mother's fios login to watch it.
Loving Station 11, confused about where it's going and what the arc is, esp after last night's two episodes. Very Leftovers.
Still love the Expanse but this season a little less.
I mention these three shows because they are my three big current shows and ALL of them have included intense scenes of amputations and it just makes me worried about the zeitgeist and whatnot.
The other show we're watching is South Side which is the funniest shit ever and I can't believe it's not bigger yet. It will be.
― dan selzer, Friday, 7 January 2022 20:09 (two years ago) link
My wife said Abbot Elementary is funny and captures some of the pain of working in the public school system.
― DJI, Friday, 7 January 2022 20:37 (two years ago) link
I watched the pilot for Abbot Elementary and just got extremely sad and depressed
― castanuts (DJP), Friday, 7 January 2022 20:48 (two years ago) link
Loving Station Eleven. In some ways it's reassuring watching a show about a pandemic that's so much worse than covid. Our pandemic timeline is bad but the virus itself could have been much more catastrophic.
― that's not my post, Friday, 7 January 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
Is there any comic relief in this show or is it all self-serious pathos? The Leftovers was obviously super dark, but also funny in its way.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 7 January 2022 21:28 (two years ago) link
There is definitely some humor, it's not all pathos. Excellent world-building that deepens as the episodes go along and they explore the different characters.
― that's not my post, Friday, 7 January 2022 22:14 (two years ago) link
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, January 7, 2022 3:04 PM (two hours ago)
In Canada there's a pricey streaming service called Crave that gives you HBO + Showtime plus a few random movies and other things. I love Desus & Mero, but Showtime is otherwise mostly worthless (I am watching Yellowjackets though and will eventually get to the nu Twin Peaks). I did really like a doc on Dick Gregory I watched the other day, it's totally conventional formally but highly recommended especially if you don't know anything about him
― rob, Friday, 7 January 2022 22:40 (two years ago) link
Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that your ten favorite shows on television that aired in 2021 are all nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:
ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022
If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 January 2022 20:57 (two years ago) link
single drunk female is surprisingly good!https://www.thecut.com/2022/02/finally-a-show-that-takes-millennial-drinking-seriously.html
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Monday, 7 February 2022 22:04 (two years ago) link
damn, this UK show Cheaters is pretty great
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 15 February 2022 05:46 (two years ago) link
Current/recent faves:Severance (Apple+)Abbott Elementary (Hulu)Reacher (Prime)Top Chef Portland (aired last yr but just recently went up on regular Hulu)Morning Show (Apple+)I want these to be better than they are:Star Trek Discovery (paramount+)Bel Air (peacock) Bored now Gilded Age (Hbomax)Thought it would be sooo good but its so dry & airless, the only things keeping me watching are Baranski & Coons & even then just barely Fuckin NOPE The Endgame (Peacock)This is the same Blacklist template revamped with a new diabolical villain & Morena Baccarin is not the actresss to pull this off. I was done after 1 ep lol
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 6 March 2022 23:25 (two years ago) link
I'm loving Severance so far. Was briefly worried it might feel a bit stilted and slow-moving, but it's doing a lot more with its space than the one fragmentation metaphor it might look set up as from afar. Somewhere between Corporate, Lost and Six Feet Under.
― tangenttangent, Monday, 14 March 2022 23:04 (two years ago) link
the weirdness of it overall makes me not really anticipate the plot so much - i find myself enjoying it from scene to scene & its v enjoyable to watch in general i find
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 15 March 2022 00:08 (two years ago) link
I'm also digging Severance. It's definitely the show I look forward to the most right now. The work metaphors work for me, even as they are clangingly, in-your-face obvious. The show has such a great look, and the performances are delicious (Turturro and Walken!). With Dannemora and this, Stiller is batting 1000 right now. Everyone should be lining up to pitch him their off-kilter series ideas.
Not sure about making this a (non-limited) series, though. A little nervous that we could be in for years of chain-yanking and mysteries all the way down.
That last Outie-Helly video from a week ago was fucking chilling.
― DJI, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 00:23 (two years ago) link
A little nervous that we could be in for years of chain-yanking and mysteries all the way down.
So hoping for this to be the case!
But yeah, I agree that it's just very watchable. The way ideas are visually realised, especially in the props and set design, is ingenious! My favourite alternate world computer monitors in a while. Walken and the Optics & Design department are a real high so far, and I loved the alternate history painting being 'accidentally' circulated for the two departments.
― tangenttangent, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 17:13 (two years ago) link
Invasion (apple tv) mentioned precisely once itt and in a list w no review. Well I'm on the last episode now and here's my review
P u stinky!!!
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Saturday, 19 March 2022 03:49 (two years ago) link
yeah its not greati liked the divorce angle but that’s about it
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 19 March 2022 04:04 (two years ago) link
That part started good but the rest of it was just so meaningless for so long I lost interest (also so did they kinda!!! With that thread)
I think the only thing I've liked is the monk in the last episode lol
― Kompakt Total Landscaping (Will M.), Saturday, 19 March 2022 04:28 (two years ago) link
i started to question my choices once they did the military dudes. oof. nope.
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 19 March 2022 05:01 (two years ago) link
We're enjoying The Afterparty on Apple. Teenager approved genre mash-up with a fun cast.
― that's not my post, Saturday, 19 March 2022 15:08 (two years ago) link
oh i keep meaning to watch that
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 19 March 2022 15:19 (two years ago) link