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    #46
    Yeah, I like Ade but he doesn't generate any laughs. Despite acting so full of character himself he's still the one there to let Mayall bounce off. We have the other two series lined up but I can imagine it'll get old before long because the joke never seems to change of Mayall desperately trying to have sex with... anything

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      #47
      I always remember Rik trying to get some alone time with the catalogue

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        #48
        I caught the Bottom episode ‘Gas’ the other week.

        I agree entirely that Mayall’s performance is extraordinary. The energy, the delivery, the way every expression, every raised eyebrow, every hand gesture, is measured as part of the performance, is incredible. I used to laugh at the jokes. Now I know them so well that I watch episodes more to enjoy his performance. There’s never been another like him.

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          #49
          Just finished Afterlife on Netflix.

          Yeah, it’s saccharine and narcissistic.
          Yeah, Gervais pretty much plays himself.
          Yeah, blah blah blah.

          I loved it. The pathos was sledgehammer in places, yet subtle in others. Tony is a difficult character to hate. He’s a total **** to people, and yet you see the moments of vulnerability underneath. The desperate sadness and despair. Even if you haven’t gone through something similar, it helps you to imagine it, and underneath his nastiness is a decent guy who’s been hurt, because in life decent people do get hurt.

          It’s occasionally funny - I’d barely call it a comedy - but mostly it’s a drama. A scene at a comedy club I found sad, rather than awkward or funny. Same with the visit to the attention seeker’s house. It’s about people who are suffering, who have their own crises that you don’t know about when you encounter them.

          The cast are excellent. I’ve read a lot of rubbish online from really spiteful reviewers with misplaced criticisms. Reviewers who seemingly can’t separate their hatred for Gervais from the work they’re meant to be reviewing without such baggage. The Irish Times one in particular is a snide hatchet job. The characters around Tony aren’t one dimensional. They’re not particularly well-drawn, because it’s a show about the main character, but they’re distinctive and likeable.

          Not everyone will like this. Some will hate it and some will be meh. I thought it was great, though, and I’d love to see the characters return.

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            #50
            I have watched two episodes and I’m conflicted. I have liked it overall I think but I think I found myself feeling very cynical about the show very quickly. The reason is that Gervais has played unlikeable people ever since his first appearance in the 11 o’clock Show. He plays a horrible man and he’s great at that. It’s funny. But as time went on, my tolerance for that dipped and than dropped off altogether. With this show, I feel he is doing that exact same thing but knows that there are people like me who are just done with him playing unlikeable people so he wrote in a huge reason for us to feel sorry for him and to justify him essentially doing the same thing again. It feels insincere.

            And yet, all that said, so far it is playing out in a very interesting way and it has good characters so I’ll watch more.

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              #51
              See, I’ve always liked his shows. I don’t like the stand up at all. But XFM, the podcasts and the tv stuff I really like. As such, I find it easy to accept another ‘nasty’ character. I can see how fatigue with that type of character can lead to a less enamoured opinion do this programme, though.

              I actually really like the premise. I’ve lost close family to all kinds of nasty **** referenced in this - Alzheimer’s and cancer - and some that aren’t - MND. I can see why you’d be cynical of his motives for planting a reason to feel sorry for another total git. On the other hand, it’s a situation that speaks to everyone. His reaction is the extreme of what everyone feels. The despair, the feeling of pointlessness, the sense of unfairness. I know why it feels insincere, but I think the whole series is about the transformation of this character’s outlook, so it justifies the premise

              As the series wears on, his character realises things that I won’t spoil, but very much draws from every character he’s ever done. And that’s that he’s not a horrible man. He’s a broken man. An insecure man desperate to be happy.

              There are so many nice characters in this. The oafish workmate, the brother in law, the woman on the bench, the prostitute. They all contribute to the development of the main character. It’s very saccharine, but I really did like it.

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                #52
                Bottom: Series 2
                Starts stronger than it finishes this one. The first few eps are bit more sitcom like in structure and works so much better for the show, you see more of the pocket fishbowl Eddie and Ritchie live in and their interactions with other characters work really well which makes the second half of the series feel a bit lacklustre as it reverts back to being bound to the flat and increasingly focused on both of them fighting and innuendo. Overall better than the first run but mostly on the strength of those earlier eps that have a surprising amount of familiar faces in them.

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                  #53
                  I watched those animated Love, Death and Robots shorts on Netflix. A couple of good ones (out of something like 18). A load look amazing and there is some good direction and some really great art direction but they are mostly a bit like someone gave a box of very expensive CG crayons to a 13-year old with no friends who has never met a girl. Problem seems to be that, while they are made at different studios with different directors, the writing credits mostly seem to be the same. And they’re all dudes.

                  I love that this exists (no traditional broadcaster would have commissioned this) and, yeah, some look great but I was hoping for better.

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                    #54
                    If the filled-to-the-gills Dolby Theatre in Hollywood was a test audience tonight, then the signs were pretty obvious that Parks and Recreation fans want Leslie Knope back in office once again. A few weeks ago at the Captain Marvel world premiere at the venue, there were cheers obviously from the office: it’s an industry event. But tonight the roar […]


                    Growing speculation of a revival movie or Season 8 for Parks and Recreation.
                    I enjoyed it but no, just don't

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                      #55
                      Bottom: Series 3
                      Finished the last run and I'd never seen the last episode they made, turned out the episode felt like a weak one to finish on. There's some godo stuff in this run when they're running on full steam but you can sense they're starting to lose how to write Ritchie. Instead of the deviant he starts out as they lean too much into the 'married couple' idea between the two characters as Mayall increasingly camps Ritchie up and everyone treats him as 'the missus'. When they have a solid idea for an episode it drops away but the finale which see's them killed off is much weaker than the first episode on the ferris wheel which also kills them off and would have served as the perfect end for the two of them. Having watched through them in a run, the short run the show had makes sense and they made the right decision to move on to the Live shows instead.

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                        #56
                        It’s a weaker series for sure. There’s still some great gags, and Mayall is astonishing again, but on the whole, the storylines are weaker.

                        Caught a re-run of GoT S6:E5 last night.

                        First time I watched it, I remember being bowled over. Rarely could I remember being so simultaneously upset and surprised by a revelation in a scene. It’s still amazing tv.

                        Hold the door.

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                          #57
                          Call Line of Duty returns tomorrow and I can't wait!

                          We rewatched the finale of S4 as a reminder, but also watched S3, which is some of the best telly I've ever seen.

                          The final interview and how it ends had me alternatively staring agog and shouting at the telly.

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                            #58
                            Watched the season 3 finale of Gotham last night. Still really enjoying it. Ready to start S4 tonight

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                              #59
                              Not really a TV series but...

                              Defunctland: Season 1
                              The Youtube series detailing the history of beloved but long gone theme park rides. Loads of footage, curio information and more, interesting to work through and at 4-20 min per ep on average bite size enough to fit into evenings other watching.

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                                #60
                                Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
                                Defunctland: Season 1
                                The Youtube series detailing the history of beloved but long gone theme park rides. Loads of footage, curio information and more, interesting to work through and at 4-20 min per ep on average bite size enough to fit into evenings other watching.
                                Yes, that's a really interesting series, isn't it.
                                Quite professionally delivered, rather than hamming up the haunted aspect like some other channels.

                                We're onto series 3 of Unforgotten, which has proven to be a nice find. It's a little sad in tone, but there's also resolution, so it's a nice payoff.

                                Nicola Walker is an absolutely brilliant actress. She's great in this and pretty much everything she's in:


                                Also, I'm finding myself looking forward to Sunday nights again for the next slice of Line of Duty.
                                Another top episode last night that found us pausing at several moments to update our current theories and who we think "H" might be.

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