Currently watching.

Sweet action for kids 'n' cretins. Marjoram and capers.
Flex
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Flex »

Watching some old x files episodes and it's pleasant to watch TV that still gave a shit about pacing and compact story telling. Streaming and "prestige" dramas are ruining television.
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Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
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101Walterton
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by 101Walterton »

Flex wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 12:23am
Watching some old x files episodes and it's pleasant to watch TV that still gave a shit about pacing and compact story telling. Streaming and "prestige" dramas are ruining television.
When an episode was a stand-alone program not a trailer for the next episode.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Currently watching.

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Flex wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 12:23am
Watching some old x files episodes and it's pleasant to watch TV that still gave a shit about pacing and compact story telling. Streaming and "prestige" dramas are ruining television.
That was a helluva birthday you just had—you aged around forty years. :shifty:
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Flex
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Flex »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 6:24am
That was a helluva birthday you just had—you aged around forty years. :shifty:
34 is the new 68!

The lady and I started catching up on the last season+ of Game of Thrones in preparation for the final season and it is... a slog. And that's not even to say I don't find it worthwhile! Just, everything is structurally designed around the assumption of streaming so there's tons of flabby, decompressed middle everywhere punctuated by Scenes of Interest to keep you juiced and ready to hit play on the next episode. The lady hasn't been able to stay awake through an entire episode yet. Contrast that to the (middling, by X-Files standards) monster of the week episode we put on last night. We were tired and just wanted a way to unwind a bit after a dinner party so put the episode on thinking it'd be nice and low stakes if we fall asleep in front of the TV, but the plotting, pacing, imagery, etc. kept us engaged and we ended up watching the whole thing.

The Netflix shows are even worse. i got through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and, although I basically enjoyed it (I LOVE the source comic and the casting is excellent), there's just tons of pretty disposable filler through the middle of the series. There's barely an "episode" of the show, everything is built around the assumption you're going to just shotgun the whole thing in a day or two.

It's like decompressed comics. How many times have we said something like "well, it's obviously going to read better in graphic novel form." Which, great, but you're losing the art of telling a nice, crisp story in a single issue of a comic or a single episode of TV.

And that doesn't even get started on the general aesthetics of most prestige television. Mrs. Maisel was such a breath of fresh air when we watched it because I can't remember the last time I watched a critically acclaimed show that wasn't some greying hellscape full of Good Bad Dudes Doing Morally Reprehensible Things for (Supposedly) Complex Reasons. Find a new gear to drive in, assholes.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Currently watching.

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I don't especially disagree with you on anything you say, either with tv or comics. When it's done well, it's mesmerizing and satisfying; when it's done poorly, it's painful. The problem is doing it well—so-called decompressed storytelling—is really exposed when it's done poorly. Any good stuff is overwhelmed by flab. The best thing I can say about the form is that it encourages commitment, which is in shorter supply with our short-attention spans these days.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

101Walterton
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by 101Walterton »

Just finished Season 1 Ozark. Certainly ramped up last few episodes to almost Fargo proportions. Looking forward to season 2.

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Re: Currently watching.

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My favourite TV of the moment is the BBC comedy Fleabag. I think everyone here would love it.
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by revbob »

101Walterton wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 2:24pm
Just finished Season 1 Ozark. Certainly ramped up last few episodes to almost Fargo proportions. Looking forward to season 2.
Cool, I just finished season 2 yesterday.

101Walterton
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Re: Currently watching.

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Silent Majority wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:27pm
My favourite TV of the moment is the BBC comedy Fleabag. I think everyone here would love it.
Haven’t heard of that I will look out for it who is in it?

New Ricky Gervais comedy just landed which looks good.

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Silent Majority »

101Walterton wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:47pm
Silent Majority wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:27pm
My favourite TV of the moment is the BBC comedy Fleabag. I think everyone here would love it.
Haven’t heard of that I will look out for it who is in it?
Olivia Colman's the biggest name.

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Re: Currently watching.

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101Walterton wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:47pm
Silent Majority wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:27pm
My favourite TV of the moment is the BBC comedy Fleabag. I think everyone here would love it.
Haven’t heard of that I will look out for it who is in it?

New Ricky Gervais comedy just landed which looks good.
On E3 of the Gervais show. I think I have laughed out loud once thus far, tittered on another couple of occasions, but i am really into it. I like the scope of it.

101Walterton
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by 101Walterton »

Silent Majority wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:51pm
101Walterton wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:47pm
Silent Majority wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 3:27pm
My favourite TV of the moment is the BBC comedy Fleabag. I think everyone here would love it.
Haven’t heard of that I will look out for it who is in it?
Olivia Colman's the biggest name.

I like her she’s funny.

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by BitterTom »

Life on Mars (again)

God knows how many times I get in the "don't know what to watch, life on mars it is" mode, but I'm in it again.

Find it so compelling, being born in 91 any decade before seems so different and intriguing.

Too much cider.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Currently watching.

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From last night's You're the Worst: "Chillax, dorkus, it’s good to challenge babies’ immune systems. That’s how you make an X-Man."
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
28 Mar 2019, 7:04am
From last night's You're the Worst: "Chillax, dorkus, it’s good to challenge babies’ immune systems. That’s how you make an X-Man."

N.Y. Suburb Declares Measles Emergency, Bars Unvaccinated Minors From Public Places
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/27/7070957 ... lic-places

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