Taika Waititi

Also ended up going back to People of Earth, the sitcom by the guy who's actually behind this one (David Jenkins) and found it similarly enjoyable.

Coincidentally just finished watching this - worth sticking with imo, it doesn’t really get into a groove until the third episode or so. It’s surprisingly more character-driven than expected, but the whole cast in general is pretty charming and lovable.

Also while the show bills itself as a pirate comedy, it’s prob a lot more accurate (though slightly spoiler-y) to describe it as a pirate rom-com :)

Enjoyed 2nd episode more than the 1st anyway. Couple of heavy laughs already.
So will go onto rest.

I just finished the season of this, and it was delightful! I will say, the fact that they handle homosexual love without any comment/flinching, just as a completely normal thing, was very refreshing.

Didn't now the guy who did this did People of Earth - liked that too.

It took me a while to finish this as I never felt super compelled to watch the next episode (not a bad thing), but I would also call it delightful. As a long look at the dynamics of masculinity, it deserves at least 10% of the attention Ted Lasso gets.

I haven't seen his earliest films, so this was the most Waititi I've seen on screen (I guess WWDITS was the most previously?) and he was so great, plus I've loved Darby since Conchords, a treat to see them together so much. Lots of other actors were great too, and I really enjoyed the almost stage-life settings. Along with Severance, I count this as a show that benefited from covid filming restrictions to make something unique.

I will be said but not surprised if it doesn't get renewed, but if it does god I hope Lucius isn't actually dead, that was a surprisingly horrid act to nearly end on!

Yeah I really enjoyed the whole ensemble playing the crew. The guy playing Black Pete in particular was killing me with pretty much every line reading. I recognized him from playing various killers and ghouls in assorted crime things over the years, idk if hes done a lot of comedy before but I thought he was really funny.

I'm only about 5 episodes in. I've been watching it with my 10-year old son, which I've questioned a few times the appropriateness of, but he really digs pirates. I agree that the show is very well cast. I also thought Darby was one of the best things about Conchords, and he's hilarious in this.

Show inspired me to pick up the pirate history book Under the Black Flag, and I was delighted to learn that Stede Bonnet was a real figure (idk if its common knowledge but I certainly didnt know about it) and that a surprising number of the details large (his collaboration w/Blackbeard, the "Act of Grace" section) and small (wearing his dressing gown all the time, his onboard library, his crew all thinking Blackbeard was cooler than him) were drawn from history.

I cant find it now but there was a really funny quote in the book from someone who encountered him at sea talking about how he could be always seen on deck just strolling around in beautiful gowns reading a book & not really paying attention to the ship itself.

wow thanks for mentioning that, I had no idea!

Black Pete actor stood out to me too. Hell, I even didn't hate Fred Armisen in this, which is downright miraculous

Ewan Bremner was great in this! I mean he was just playing an insane pirate version of Spud but hey it worked for me.

I normally hate this kind of anachronistic humour, but I love this show.

I gave up most of the way through ep 1, I'll give it another chance.

it's a slow burner. obviously well made but still took me a while to like it.

jojo rabbit was on TV the other week and holey moley, what was he thinking?

God, yeah, absolutely could't stand that. If I hadn't been in the cinema with my mother, I think I would've left halfway through.

REally? I loved that film. Huh.

I get why people diss it but it was still enjoyable to watch, iirc.