TV You Have Watched

[wakka]

[MENTION=7343]prinnysquad[/MENTION]

I've only just realised that I've only seen the first one of that series, I'm well behind (I liked The Referees, a solid B+ episode).

Thanks for your impressions and I will have to catch up.

[prinnysquad]

Excellent. Like finding a tenner in your old jeans pocket!

The Stakeout: great. A quality way to round off the series. Very cleverly constructed, again. My approach to these plays is to wipe my mind and let the show wash into my head. I don’t even attempt to spot twists. I can’t be arsed, and frankly, it would ruin it for me, so why bother?

Wuthering Heist: absurdist and compelling. Yet… the farcical elements sometimes drag for me. I prefer things with pathos and genuineness. As diversions, I do like these farce episodes, but they don’t have a tenth of the effect of some of the heavy hitters.

Simon Says: clearly written with Game of Thrones in mind, although Pemberton is done up like Mark Kermode. More attention grabbing than the last episode, and the denouement is quite smart, but it’s a mid-range entry for me.

Lip Service: this had numerous red herrings and fake twists. I enjoyed it immensely. Pemberton in great form, and the final few minutes really came out of nowhere for me.

[randombs]

MOON KNIGHT!!!

Marvel knocking it out the, umm, cricket pitch yet again.

Yeara ago when I heard about all these Marvel TV series coming out I just wished they’d be films but, goddamnit, we’ve been spoilt rotten.

[Neon Ignition]

Wellington Paranormal: Season 04
I was bummed when I heard this would be the final run but having seen it I'm fine with it. It was alright but easily the weakest one with them running out of ideas.

[Dogg Thang]

I've been watching Tales From The Loop on Prime. No idea why it took me so long to watch because it has been on my list for so long because I thought there was a good chance I'd love it. As it turns out, I love it. I'm only three episodes in but each one has been beautiful, thoughtful and melancholy. Sad in places and very human. Gentle science fiction. It's a lovely show.

[QualityChimp]

Finished off The Office US after watching it over the last few months.

It's strange watching several years of telly compressed into a short period as the developments seem more stark in contrast.

The first season was tough work, man. Michael was so unlikeable. He was racist, sexist and incompetent.
They had to work hard in the second season to make him more likeable and there were parts where he was more compassionate.
Ultimately, though he remained a narcissistic baby that was a chore to be around mostly.

There's an episode where all the characters are dancing and the viewer is supposed to love the moment, but ultimately, apart from Pam and Jim they're all horrible, horrible people.

I think the show improved when he left and you had the various attempts to find a new manager.
They finally landed with Andy and it was really nice to see him come up trumps after several seasons of being unloved by his family, cheated on by Angela and managing his temper issues.
Then the actor went to do The Hangover 3 and the writers wrote him out for a few weeks and when he returned, made him a monumental prick. It was really jarring and such a shame after the excellent tattoo reward chart episode.

So, we came to the final season and the show did really well in tying up all those loose ends.
It was completely cheesy and I loved it.
Everybody got their resolution, although Jim's was really hard work to get to!

It's hard to compare it to the UK version, because that was so much shorter, but more grounded. Some of the US episodes felt like fantasy at the time for a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Dwight was written as if he had some mental issues, but they were just for laughs, which seemed strange.
I think Gervais standing up for himself against Finchy was great, but the US show had a lot more genuine laughs, especially in the latter half of its run.

So, as a 20 minute no-swearing bit of fun, it was perfect and we grew to really like the characters.

[Neon Ignition]

I enjoy all of the US show but I'm in the camp that it was worse for Michael's exit, Carrell just elevated it with his delivery and as bad as Michael could be I felt they did enough to establish the context around his character. I think that was why Packer was brought in, it helped highlight the difference between someone who was genuinely a horrid person and someone who was... very naive and needy, that much of how he was was built around a desperate need to fit with others and that's why when he meets Holly and she likes him at a genuine level you see so much of his bad traits begin to quickly fall away because on some level he's decent, just broken till he meets her. Whereas Packer is genuinely a POS and it's his undoing. It's why, like you say, Andy is so painful. They go on that arc with him too just to ruin it at the end.

[QualityChimp]

I thought Packer was just the US equivalent of Finch? There are a lot of parallels in those earlier episodes that went after it became its own thing. Like was Dwight supposed to be Gareth? Started off like that, but he was so different after the first season.

I was glad Michael had his story arc, but it just felt the writers could try some more interesting things out, rather than repeat the same thing where Michael want to do something other than work.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, I think there was a long period where the show was at its peak for popularity and it very much rode that out. Everyone's arcs kind of just spin there until you get to the later end of the show when things move forward faster again

[fallenangle]

Just finished watching The Challenger (Disaster) 2013 TV movie on BBC4 with William Hurt playing Richard Fynman investigating the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy.

Not seen it before: really good, kept my interest from start to finish.

[QualityChimp]

Just finished watching The Challenger (Disaster) 2013 TV movie on BBC4 with William Hurt playing Richard Fynman investigating the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy.

Not seen it before: really good, kept my interest from start to finish.

I recently read that it was initially planned to send Sesame Street's Big Bird up in Challenger, but the suit was too big, so he didn't go...

[prinnysquad]

Completed Inside No 9. Series 6 was the weakest since series 1. I still enjoyed them all, though. The Proms episode was an absolute riot.

Now onto Toast of Tinseltown.

[Colin]

We just watched the first two episodes of Moon Knight. I’m incredibly confused as to what’s going on, but I *think* I like it.

[fallenangle]

ITV's The Ipcress File ended up a sort of half-baked mess. They couldn't decide whether it was a pastiche of the Michael Caine original or a more authentic take on the book. It ended up halfway between the two and unsatisfying on every level.

Lucy Boynton as Jean Courtney was completely out of her depth trying to be cool and cynical but merely looking as if she didn't know what the hell was going on half the time. She was also being used as a clothes horse for a series of straight off the catwalk early 60s outfits which no secret agent/spy of the time would have worn or could have afforded.

Ironically that's actually true to the period - just watch 60s' TV series The Avengers, The Saint or The Champions where the female interest changes clothes like a fashion model in every other scene.

There were so many 1960's period mistakes too it was more entertaining spotting them than anything else.

[Neon Ignition]

Pam and Tommy
You have three people central in this with Lilly and Sebastian being absolutely on point in their transformations into Pamela and Tommy. You also have Seth Rogen as the guy who stole the tape from them. Rogen does a decent job but it's not heavy lifting for him as he pretty much only ever plays stoner losers which this is the billionth role for him. What's interesting though is that the focus is very much on Rogen and Tommy early on, the show being a tad more tongue in cheek at this point too. It soon switches gears though and progressively swings to Pamela's side what she was made to go through. What's nice is it covers the events but almost is at pains to avoid assigning blame. It's made clear early on that Tommy was riding for trouble because his actions cause the daisy chain, but that the guy who stole the tape was the one in the wrong even if it goes through why he did it. Pamela is shown as having the most painful journey and never for a second painted in a bad light, similar for Tommy to a lesser extent. He's shown to have poor judgment and a massive **** to people but always utterly devoted to her and his intentions aren't bad. I had wondered how much this would lean on the sensationalist side but in the end it just makes you feel sorry for them and what it put them through. Very much unfortunate to have it happen at the dawn of the internet age, an age they couldn't have possibly known would be the pandora's box it became.