What other TV shows do you watch?

[Pseudonym]

Binge-watched Lucifer, now I'm slightly obsessed. I remember someone else mentioned watching it, but I'm too lazy to go back and find out who. 

Had a bit of a weird moment earlier, after lots of perving on Tom Ellis I saw he was in a sitcom over here, looked it up, and realised that when he's looking 'normal' he actually looks a bit like someone I know, who I might have trouble looking in the eye next time I see him. 

[sittything]

I'm a creature of habit who has a terrible tendency to watch the same shows on repeat ad nauseum (visiting the forum last night led me to starting Sherlock tonight... it's playing now).  I LOVED Good Omens and really thought Chernobyl was well done.  Loved Valery Legasov as a character in the show.  But back to Good Omens, I had no idea who Michael Sheen was prior to watching and only watched it for Tennant, but WOW.  I really, really enjoyed him as Azi.  He was absolutely too precious for words.  I know there won't likely be another season, but I'd love more Adventures of Azi and Crowley.  I also totally shipped it.  lol

[Arcadia]

Sitty!!! You're still out there! Woot woot!

[sittything]

16 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Sitty!!! You're still out there! Woot woot!

I am!  I've been on a Sherlock hiatus and been obsessing over Star Wars recently, which is hilarious b/c I was Star Wars apathetic until The Last Jedi. 

How are you?!

[Arcadia]

Some days good, some days bad. I was on the verge of obsessing over the Marvel Universe but I think it's too huge for me, I'd never do anything else. Think you might come hang around with us diehards for awhile?

[sittything]

@bedelia1984   I was tripping down memory lane in the Molly Hooper thread and saw your mention of Girls and Lena Dunham.  I watched this show for the first time earlier this year, only b/c of Adam Driver.  I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  Ironically, I liked a lot of the guys in Girls more than I did the girls.  Jessa and Shosh were likable enough, but Hannah and especially Marnie got on my nerves fairly often.  Adam, Ray, and Elijah were great characters, though!  Love them all.

[bedelia1984]

13 hours ago, sittything said:

@bedelia1984   I was tripping down memory lane in the Molly Hooper thread and saw your mention of Girls and Lena Dunham.  I watched this show for the first time earlier this year, only b/c of Adam Driver.  I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  Ironically, I liked a lot of the guys in Girls more than I did the girls.  Jessa and Shosh were likable enough, but Hannah and especially Marnie got on my nerves fairly often.  Adam, Ray, and Elijah were great characters, though!  Love them all.

Oh so glad you did like it. Like a lot of good shows, I do question the ending a lot, but I totally agree about the guys, especially Ray. In a weird way, he felt like my grumpy spirit animal. Marnie drove me demented but then in a way I sort of loved to hate her!

 

[sittything]

33 minutes ago, bedelia1984 said:

Oh so glad you did like it. Like a lot of good shows, I do question the ending a lot, but I totally agree about the guys, especially Ray. In a weird way, he felt like my grumpy spirit animal. Marnie drove me demented but then in a way I sort of loved to hate her!

 

I was a little sad Ray and Shosh didn't end up together.  They were weird, but cute together in their diverse weirdness.  I'm still on the fence about the whole Adam/Jessa thing.  Despite me liking Jessa more than Hannah, I thought some of the sweeter moments on the show were between Adam and Hannah.  So that's confusing for me.  lol

Elijah was just great.  I loved his entire episode that focused on his auditioning for that Broadway play.  I could probably watch a spin-off about him, tbh.

I found the ending kinda sad, what with everyone kinda growing apart and going their separate ways, but then I guess that's life.

Also, kudos to Ebon Moss-Bachrach b/c I loved him in Punisher, but his character was THE WORST in Girls.

[Hikari]

On 9/20/2018 at 5:06 PM, Pseudonym said:

Well, after VBS mentioning Patrick Melrose I decided to watch my way through it today, and I actually really enjoyed it. The accent in the beginning took some getting used to, though I'm guessing from our previous conversations on British accents the difference may not have been noticeable to people outside of Britain, but I did eventually get used to it and it did soften more towards his normal accent in the later episodes. Episode one there were a fair few funny bits, episode two was harrowing. I think he'd be pretty good in a comedy, there were quite a few occasions when just his expressions were enough to make me laugh.

His euphorically high moments were horribly tempting. But then there were plenty of lows to counteract it. 

Ringing in on Patrick Melrose, which I finally got to see during my Hiatus from this board.

I wasn't really sure this would be my cup of tea, but Bendi was in it and had gotten raves and a BAFTA, so I had to tune in.  Didn't know anything else about the rest of the cast going in.

Whiz-bang, Episode 1 sucked me in off the bat.  How to describe it?  The term "Black comedy" was invented for this.  Patrick's experiences are horrifying but you laugh because despite everything he just keeps buggering on in a more or less good humor.  When one gets to the point where one is that uninvested in anything but the next high, the capacity for embarrassment just evaporates but he can see the ludicrousness of every situation he gets himself in.  I liked it.  If you are an '80s kid like me, you will remember the novels of Brett Easton Ellis . . .You may also remember, if you are British or watched indie cinema, a little movie called "Withnail & I", starring Richard E Grant (in the role that made him an overnight sensation, in the mode of our Bendi .. funnily enough his 'Withnail' is a Sherlock prototype, if Sherl had been a struggling actor instead of a consulting detective.  Withnail is from a very posh background but chooses to live like a hobo in pursuit of the next high, and Patrick is very like him).  Patrick Melrose is a combination of Withnail and the character RDJ played in Less Than Zero.

Then came Episode 2.  The comedy fled and the blackness remained.  Despite the horrific things that happened to Patrick as a child, set against the lush backdrop of Provence in summer . . .  I thought this episode was very well done, also.  'Enjoyed' is not the right word but it was very good filmmaking.  Uncomfortable, but I am still glad I watched it.  The young actor playing Patrick is pretty remarkable.

Then the final 3 episodes were significantly less involving.  The first two are the high water mark.  Patrick spends far less time in rehab than I would have thought, based on the promo for the series consisting entirely of the rehab scenes.  Right about this time, I also watched 'Rocketman' and the rehab scenes were roughly the same length . .which is to say, extremely brief.

I ordered the 5 Patrick novels of Edward St. Aubyn (each hour long episode is based on one novel) so I feel that the series had to leave out tons of incident which may make the characters more palatable to me, or at least a bit more understandable.

The physical humor aspects of this role point to Ben having highly developed comedy timing.  This wasn't a complete surprise, since Sherlock had many such moments but Patrick is really the full range of emotions as well.  I would love to see Ben do more comedies . . that is a largely untapped side.  The Marvel Universe doesn't really count here.  I know Dr. Strange has his fans . . now Ben's up for "Hades' in Hercules.  These roles pay very well, but I do wonder if Ben isn't squandering his talent.  

This is the second time he's played a "Patrick" with some comedic results.  How I wish he'd give us more Sherlock . . .I think I've had about enough of the cartoon characters, but perhaps Bendi is choosing work with his sons in mind these days.  He will want to keep them away from Patrick Melrose for a good while.

[Artemis]

"Carnival Row" on Amazon Prime.  A bit heavy-handed with the political issues, and the acting was stilted at times, but the world-building was elaborately detailed and overall I thought it was a good watch.  Looking forward to the next season.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alex and I are currently watching Home Improvement (on DVD).  We had watched back in the 90s when it was on the air, and had enjoyed it, but had not remembered just how funny it is.  For those not familiar with the show, it's about the host of a local cable show ("Tool Time") and his wife and their three boys.  The male / female differences are played up (for comic effect, of course), but they ring true.  And each of the seven main characters is individually detailed and delightful.

[Artemis]

I watched that in the 90’s too.  No idea what I would think of it now... maybe I’ll just keep my fond memories, lol.

 

[Arcadia]

I always liked it too. Anyone remember the name of the neighbor? Y'know, the guy you never saw except his hat, because the fence was in the way.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

I always liked it too. Anyone remember the name of the neighbor? Y'know, the guy you never saw except his hat, because the fence was in the way.  

Tim and Jill called him Wilson, and the kids called him Mr. Wilson.  (It finally came out that his full name was Wilson W. Wilson, Jr.)

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 10/7/2019 at 9:44 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Alex and I are currently watching Home Improvement (on DVD).

The best price we found for the complete series (a couple hundred episodes) was a Region 2 (British / European) box set, which is very nice (and we have a region-free player).  But there's one thing that kept puzzling me -- the English subtitles are spelled in British.  Why not just use the original American subtitles?

But then I realized that the show was filmed during the nineties, when closed captioning was becoming a legal requirement in the US, so most shows had it.  The subtitles used for closed captioning are the kind referred to as subtitles for the deaf or hearing-impaired (i.e., they also include non-verbal audio info, such as "phone rings").  Our Home Improvement DVDs offer that sort of subtitles, and they also have speech-only English subtitles.  So I'm guessing that the more extensive subtitles are the original American closed captioning (which would have been the only subtitles the show originally had), and the speech-only subtitles (which are the ones we've been turning on) were created later for the British / European market.

Tonight I plan to test that hypothesis by watching with the "deaf" subtitles turned on, and see which brand of English they use.

[Carol the Dabbler]

23 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I'm guessing that the more extensive subtitles are the original American closed captioning (which would have been the only subtitles the show originally had), and the speech-only subtitles (which are the ones we've been turning on) were created later for the British / European market.

Tonight I plan to test that hypothesis by watching with the "deaf" subtitles turned on, and see which brand of English they use.

Nope, those were written in British as well.  I am deeply puzzled!  The show must have, by law, had American closed captioning.  But come to think of it, that uses a special technology, so maybe there was no way to convert it to regular subtitles, and they had to start from scratch?

In any case, it's kinda weird, hearing the dialog spoken with American accents while reading it in British spelling.  I suppose we could just turn off the subtitles, but they do save us from this occasional scenario:

Me:  What'd he say?

Alex:  I couldn't understand it.

Me:  Can you back it up?

[Alex backs it up and we listen more carefully.]

Me:  I still didn't understand him.

Alex:  Me either.

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 10/12/2019 at 11:35 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

 

Me:  What'd he say?

Alex:  I couldn't understand it.

Me:  Can you back it up?

[Alex backs it up and we listen more carefully.]

Me:  I still didn't understand him.

Alex:  Me either.

For me, we would just move on unless it's significant to the story later and we really need to know, sometimes we could draw conclusion from what happened after. Not every TV shows are created equal too, for some show, maybe more than 50% of the dialogues are not that important.

But then again, we are not native English speaker, so imagine if we need to track back everytime we missed a word, it'd probably take one day to watch an episode, and nothing would guarantee  that it helps to rewind. 

 

On another note, around me, it seems like DVD shops, or section of bigger shop that sells DVD, are dissappearing. I hardly see them anymore, and if I saw one, they would be on the brink of closing or it has to be in 'vintage' area.

I am wondering what would be the next  soon to be obsolete thing.

[Carol the Dabbler]

6 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

... we would just move on unless it's significant to the story later and we really need to know, sometimes we could draw conclusion from what happened after.

We end up doing that a lot, but the problem is, how do you know whether it's significant or not if you don't know what they said?  Or even if you do know -- because some seemingly insignificant comment could turn out to be very significant in the end.

[Arcadia]

On 10/14/2019 at 8:55 AM, Van Buren Supernova said:

On another note, around me, it seems like DVD shops, or section of bigger shop that sells DVD, are dissappearing. I hardly see them anymore, and if I saw one, they would be on the brink of closing or it has to be in 'vintage' area.

Around here, the last one closed years ago. 😞  But you can still buy DVD's from most of the "big box" stores. (Walmart, Target, etc.)

What's becoming obsolete now are "specialty" retail stores … such as clothing stores and gift shops. You either go to a big box store or shop online. I hate it; all the empty storefronts are being filled with service industries or restaurants. I always liked at Christmas when I could stroll from store to store, picking out gifts here and there along the way. That day is done. Now you have to think about it weeks ahead and order online. Ugh.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The nearest mall to us (a smallish one built less than 40 years ago) is about 3/4 empty now, and I've heard rumors that the town is going to buy it in order to keep it from going under.  Presumably they will fill the empty store spaces with some sort of community facilities, same as they did a few years back with the downtown mall (which they later tore down and replaced with an office building).

Even the nearest big mall is looking a bit sparse these days.  A bit ironic, considering that the malls basically put the downtown shopping areas out of business not all that long ago.  The oldest shopping center in Indianapolis (just a strip mall by today's standards) was built about 60 years ago, and was mostly demolished a couple years ago and rebuilt for some big chain stores.  So there's recent retail evolution in a nutshell:  from downtown stores to suburban shopping centers to indoor malls to big-box stores -- and now to the internet.  Or you could just say that mail-order shopping, which has been a significant retail factor for well over a hundred years, is finally taking over.

[Arcadia]

I know it's uncool, but I always liked malls. But yeah, ours is dying too. I think the "discount" mall is still doing fine, oddly enough. As are the "dollar" stores. Guess they fill a niche.

[Carol the Dabbler]

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I think the "discount" mall is still doing fine, oddly enough.

There's a big outlet mall fairly near us that's doing far better than the regular malls in the area.  Still, it seems like most of the really neat stores have moved out, and have been replaced by stuff Alex and I aren't so interested in: e.g., famous perfume knock-offs, cute cheap shoes, baseball caps.  It just now occurs to me that there's a trend, from good solid merchandise (e.g., Corningware casseroles and dishes, Pfalzgraff dishes, Revereware pots and pans, whatever brand it was of good sturdy sheets and towels) to cheap substitutes.  

[Artemis]

I’m watching a series on Amazon Prime called “The Mill”.  It’s based on the real-life accounts of factory workers who worked in Quarry Bank Mill (Cheshire, England) in the 1830’s.  I like it so far.

 

[Arcadia]

23 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

There's a big outlet mall fairly near us that's doing far better than the regular malls in the area.  Still, it seems like most of the really neat stores have moved out, and have been replaced by stuff Alex and I aren't so interested in: e.g., famous perfume knock-offs, cute cheap shoes, baseball caps.  It just now occurs to me that there's a trend, from good solid merchandise (e.g., Corningware casseroles and dishes, Pfalzgraff dishes, Revereware pots and pans, whatever brand it was of good sturdy sheets and towels) to cheap substitutes.  

"Outlet" mall, thank you! I knew "discount" wasn't quite right, but couldn't come up with the right word. And yes, I've noticed the same thing … cheaply made stuff rules in the mall, now.

[Artemis]

15 hours ago, Arcadia said:

And yes, I've noticed the same thing … cheaply made stuff rules in the mall, now.

It rules everywhere, as far as I can tell!