TV You Have Watched

[fuse]

Ended up watching the whole of Cowboy Bebop live action thing this weekend. Like many, I love the original, but wanted to avoid knee-jerk "this will suck" reactions and give it a shot, and while I think it does ok on some fronts I felt like it stumbles on a whole lot more. There are some nice visual bits, and some of the casting does work - agree with the above that Jet is great. The script is embarrassing in places though - littered with bad quips and sarcasm, and often delivered as if it's a race to get to the end. A lot of the action gets scaled back, is shot very close-in, and just isn't as compelling. When you do start looking at direct comparisons to particular stories and characters, it does go totally off the rails. I can deal with changes, but a lot are pretty significant - major characters are written out, and others are written in with more detail - and these feel like deviations that are to bring it more in line with conventional narratives rather than actually delivering anything meaningful.

->Open Spoiler<-

Where/how it ends and the tease for season 2 are particularly egregious.

It's not the worst anime live action adaptation I've seen - Netflix's take on Death Note reigns supreme - but it's not great either.

[Atticus]

Third episode of Dexter: New Blood this week and it continues to be fun, although I'm not liking the high-school side story that's developing. I like the fantasy world of Dexter, not threads that mirror real-world nasties.

I also bought The Stand. I almost didn't based on the amount of negativity out there but a mate whose opinion I respect recommended it. I love Stephen King anyway and The Stand is my favourite book of his so it's something that has been on my radar. Three eps in and I'm really enjoying it. It's not the book. That's the book. This is television. And I like what they've done. It's another way to enjoy a great story with some great characters. Some of the casting is inspired and there are some fab needle-drops (The Stranger by Billy Joel is perfect when it kicks in as ep 1 closes). Also happens to be more timely than ever with the pandemic and political divide in the US. I'm going to savour this one.

[MartyG]

It's not the worst anime live action adaptation I've seen - Netflix's take on Death Note reigns supreme - but it's not great either.

Angry Joe rated it 2/10, which frankly I think is ridiculous. It's stands pretty well as a live action series on its own, but the anime is still the better material for sure.

Thing is, if folk want something that's exactly like the anime, well just watch the anime instead.

[fuse]

Angry Joe rated it 2/10, which frankly I think is ridiculous

Come on, it's right there in his name!

[wheelaa]

Final episode of Blake's 7 last night. What a thoroughly enjoyable 1hr each weeknight for the last couple of months it has been.

[fuse]

Tiger King 2 exists; I hate everyone in it. I hate that I have watched it. That's the review.

[randombs]

Thoroughly enjoying Disney+ since they added the STAR service:

Watched the X-Files pilot which looked fantastic for a 1993 TV show. Watched the second episode until the theme song and that looked even better.

Also Scrubs, which is as enjoyable as it ever was.

[Atticus]

Watched the first part of Get Back on Disney+. Amazing to see the fab four at work, even at their most weary. From the first instalment it's like you see three regular guys and a god. Lennon is passive, George is feeling unheard, Ringo has nothing to do. Paul is still trying to keep the band together following the death of Brian Epstein 18 months earlier. He's also trying to keep pushing the bar. Lennon's songs are okay. George's are okay. Then McCartney gets his writing/composing chops on and his genius trumps everything ... watching Get Back and The Long and Winding Road come together is rather special. It's hard to watch the famous exchanges between Paul and George, and you can understand the frustrations from either side. George was a decent songwriter (esp his Abbey Road stuff) but when you're in a band with Lennon and McCartney maybe to have to accept you're sitting in the back seat most of the time. And they did make friends again.

Looking forward to continuing but it's really one to savour, so I shan't be burning through it.

[Neon Ignition]

Chucky: Season 01
Surprisingly solid as it pretty much is an eighth film spread out over an eight episode format. It introduces new characters and also follows directly on from the seven films before it too and is well done, feeling perfectly in line with them. There's not enough gas in its tank for another season unless they treat it like the films and set it somewhere new next time which I'm not sure if they will or not but overall a success.

[QualityChimp]

Wanted a light-hearted detective drama and was recommended Vexed, which is currently showing on Netflix until the end of the year, so I'd better get a wriggle on.

Thought it was good fun. Not really much detective work going on, but the two leads are pretty funny in how unprofessional they are.

The show starts with them being shown around a flat for rent, with the punchline being it's for rent because the previous owner was murdered. She's still on the floor. They're all stepping over her body, trying to work out how to place sofas to hide the bloodstains...

[Neon Ignition]

DuckTales: Season 01
This is suprisingly witty and has a loose arc to it as well. As with any kids show there are several throwaway filler episodes but in general it's of a veyr high quality and very enjoyable.

Locke & Key: Season 02
Fine but largely a retread of the first season which means it becomes a little dull in places. It largely pulls itself together because it mostly wraps its storyline up in the finale and whilst the third season seems set to be a bit more of a clean slate there's still room for a lot of repetition so I think this might be one of those instances where ending it at the next run might be the right thing to do.

[fallenangle]

Just noticed there is a firm date for the second series of the period crime drama Vienna Blood on 9pm BBC2 10th December 2021.

Only a short run of three episodes but they are as before 'extended' length dramas, more like mini-films.

[randombs]

Sweet Tooth

Great stuff.

Two episodes left to go.

[fuse]

We got some free Apple TV+ time, so gave Ted Lasso a spin. I liked the characters and the themes, but found some of the storylines got a bit too silly for me. Its biggest strength is how well it plays to and blends US and UK comedy sensibilities, but when entire episodes turn into genre reference-fests I start to lose patience. That said, it's got a nice positive message, and it's (thankfully) not really about football, to the extent that I think it might even be detrimental to the experience if you do take football seriously.

[Atticus]

The Stand and Dexter: New Blood still continue to entertain. The Stand is a little OTT once you get to Vegas but I can roll with it. But it's Dexter that has become a surprising treat I look forward to. I'm glad it's old-school one new ep a week or I'd have burned through it long ago. I did have my doubts going into this show but it captures the fun-factor of Dexter. Only minor concern is I hope it's not all a set-up for

->Open Spoiler<-

Son of Dexter to be the next show

... I might have to cancel my Sky sub if that were the case.