Matricians: What are you watching?

[Snare]

CYOA stands for crack your own almond. Like when someone wants you to do something you turn around (preferably facing someone so as not to look foolish) and say "crack your own almond for once ya flesh eatin' varmint" and normally you pull out two pistols and fire them indiscriminately at the ground

[TheRedPriest]

The only crack around here is what you're cooking in your pipe.

[Speed Racer]

My wife and I don't watch a lot of TV, mainly because we are cord-cutters. There isn't a lot I'm into because it always feels like they cancel everything I get hooked on. Anyway, this fall we decided to make "The Orville" our show that we'd absolutely watch together, and despite a shaky pilot, the show is great fun and definitely found its footing before the end of the first season. It isn't as simple as "Seth MacFarlene doing TNG cosplay" as some people want to write it off; the characters definitely feel more human and average joes on a spaceship who occasionally ##### up.

We also got into "The Marvelous Mrs Maisel" on Amazon, which is by the creator/writer of The Gilmore Girls. It's about a housewife in 1950s NYC who discovers that she is a pretty good comedian, but she has to keep it under wraps from her family while navigating a crappy divorce. I highly recommend it; the dialogue is sharp and it's a good introduction to 1950s comedy if you've never had a chance to check it out.

This fall we are looking forward to Black Lightning and 9-1-1.

[Mikero]

Have you guys ever heard of this show "Friends"? It's a pretty good rewatch to be honest.

[TheRedPriest]

I hated Friends when it was new.

[Majikn]

^I did too for the most part I think. But I also never watched it before apart from a few episodes here and there.

Now I'm up to season 8 (I had started around December) and it impresses me how much information they leave to the audience to simply remember. I figured it would always be recapping everything given all that's already happened, and because of the type of show that it is, but they seem comfortable just expecting you to know things or at least figure things out given certain implications. But they'll occasionally just reference something that happened ages ago and/or was never outright explained in that episode for a joke. I don't think that's a bad thing. It kind of gives me the notion that the writers respected their audience more than I originally would have thought.

And I don't know if it actually gets funnier if it progresses or if the comedy just clicks more. Like... I don't know if it's me that's changing, or the show. There are jokes and situations here and there that I find predictable, but even then the delivery is usually funny.

[Mikero]

It's a show that I didn't really like when it was first airing until it's latter half, and even then I only "got into" it because I liked a girl that liked it. I then watched it all, but still always felt like I couldn't affiliate with anyone in it for multiple reasons. I had times where I liked it, and times where I thought it was overrated.

But now on rewatch I think it was a really solid show. The actors are far better than I remember, for example they're all just really good character actors that do all the little things that are important. Facial expressions, delivery, etc. If a single one of that cast was weak in their role, the show wouldn't work at all. It's honestly pretty impressive how perfectly built the cast is.

It kind of gives me the notion that the writers respected their audience more than I originally would have thought.

I noticed that too. It's something Seinfeld, one of my all-time favourites, also did really well. They built a universe and let the viewer live in it, they don't have to remind you every two seconds that Joey has 9 sisters or that Monica and Ross are jewish. But jokes come out of it that you just have to understand. There's a couple mistakes here and there but they're pretty smart about using callbacks without over explaining them.

[Majikn]

I've seen a fair amount of Seinfeld episodes but again, not something I specifically sought out to see every episode of in order. I might opt to do that at some point. I used to range from dislike to just neutral disinterest for sitcoms at best, and pretty indiscriminately. I'm definitely not a Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men kind of person, though.

[Mikero]

Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men kind of person, though.

That's good. Mainly because that's like comparing a hotdamn razor toothed bengal tiger to Earth's mightiest dunce--the cane toad. It's not even the same species of show, the craft isn't there in the first place let alone the talent.

It's kind of interesting, and I know if ASR were around he'd have some thoughts on this, but we lump all these things together under the blanket term "sitcom" when they really shouldn't be. In fact, I'd say the golden era of sitcoms was the early to mid 90's. Friends and Frasier are remarkable for a lot of things, not the least of which is maintaining a certain level of quality for ten years when elsewhere the format became both distilled and by-numbers; Everybody Loves Raymond marking (to me) the sitcom shift towards canned laughter (reminder that a studio audience and simplistic, repeatable plots. Like, Two and Half Men is as similar to Seinfeld as Seinfeld is to Family Ties. None of that is to say that there aren't ones I like now (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) or in the 2000's, or ones I hated from pre-1995; but nostalgia aside that era (and specifically Seinfeld) levelled up the genre.

Sorry for the ramble, I realized I was a passionate sitcom-guy just a few years ago, but I grew up watching a lot of them (and they were considered crap-tv before Seinfeld changed that) so I guess I learned a ton. Even if you haven't watched Seinfeld, I think this doc on it is still pretty interesting on how it changed the landscape of comedy on television (could make you enjoy the show more when you do check it out).

And for the record I still think King of the Hill is the best animated true-sitcom ever made.

[Speed Racer]

I haven't watched Friends pretty much since it first aired, so I can't totally comment on it, but when you talk about how they expected you to remember certain bits of information, I can't help but wonder if that was because EVERYONE was watching the show at the time. If you remember, Friends and Seinfeld were ratings powerhouses, with the cast of Friends getting $1 million an episode, and the cast of Seinfeld would have been paid a stupid amount of money had they done another season. Would they have had to rely on recapping otherwise?

[Mikero]

The stuff they're counting on the audience to remember are bit characters and random little details about someone's past, not whole storylines.

[Teelio]

Watched the Season 2 premiere of Westworld last Sunday. Off to a good start.

One of the better shows to grace television since Breaking Bad.

[LCrazy11]

I recently got into doctor who and i'm loving it

[Speed Racer]

I watched the live-action Woody Woodpecker movie, and it was #####ing awful.

[TheRedPriest]

I recently got into doctor who and i'm loving it

New or Classic?  Because New Who is extremely hit or miss, and usually miss.

[LCrazy11]

new who i'm in the middle of david tennent

[Mikero]

I really liked the new Lost In Space. I'm a fan of older iterations of it but I think this one was really good despite the mixed reviews.

[NovaMan XP]

I recently got into doctor who and i'm loving it

New or Classic?  Because New Who is extremely hit or miss, and usually miss.

Especially the last few seasons... I'm really glad Moffat is done with it.

[TheRedPriest]

Moffit had ups and downs, and fixed the core biggest problem with the reboot series, but he's done so much ##### that's as bad or worse it's really a wash.  His good stuff is good, the rest of his stuff is kinda #####.

Tennant and Smith are excellent Doctors when written well.  They just weren't most of the time.

[NovaMan XP]

Indeed. He had some really great episodes but holy hell Capaldi's run was mostly ass, which is a shame.

[TheRedPriest]

Yeah, he could have been a great Doctor with better writing.

[LCrazy11]

I agree there but...
anyone else here know what JoJo's bizarre adventure is

[TheRedPriest]

An adventure, I should think.  One that is of an uncanny nature.

It's a manga/anime.  Part 3 is probably the best known/most popular (Dio, steamroller, THE WORLD!), but it's got like 7 parts at this point.

[Teelio]

What are some good series to get into nowadays?

The Walking Dead finished a while back with a lackluster season (invested in it because I'm a fan of the comics), don't care for Fear the Walking Dead, already caught up on the amusing Series of Unfortunate Events. Aside from Westworld, there isn't anything else I'm into right now... Waiting for details on Better Call Saul in the meantime. Game of Thrones is still a long ways off....

Science fiction is of my taste. Netflix availability is also a plus.

Judging by the past comments, seems like Dr. Who is worth a test run...

[TheRedPriest]

Doctor Who is a very up and down show.  It's never one thing for too long.  As a life long fan, there are bits I love and bits I'm not real fond of.  I strongly recommend starting with the classic series.  The effects have not aged well (obviously), but the acting and talent is top notch.  New Who has a lot of problems in my opinion, yet it still shines in places.  If you're not a fan of melodrama and cringing wannabe romance you might not like some major facets of New Who.

[Teelio]

I never understood the deal with changing the Dr. Who actors all the time. I assume it's for story reasons, or were contracts very short-term?

[LCrazy11]

story reasons

you see timelords can regenerate which changes their appearance and parts of the personality

[TheRedPriest]

It was for casting originally.  When the first actor to play the role was going to leave the show it was quite popular.  So they invented the idea that he could "renew" himself when his body became frail or worn out.  This allowed them to continue the show with the lead character of the Doctor.

In fact, as it was originally presented the second Doctor refereed to his previous self almost as if he were a completely different person.  This changed a bit over the years and was clarified that he was, indeed, the same person with the same memories but each time he changed different parts of his personality and talents would rise and fall, making for interesting variations of the character.

Now it's evolved into a way to keep the show running indefinitely.  Though the quality of the writing/production has and does swing wildly sometimes.  I don't think there has ever been a genuinely BAD casting for the Doctor as much as he was just written badly/poorly.  Of course I hedge that statement against the fact they've decided to change the Doctor's gender this time, which does not sit well with me personally. 

[Johncarllos]

I quit Doctor Who after the first season of Capaldi but was disenfranchised after the send off for Smith.Haven't cared about it in a while, but I only started watching the New Who in about 2010.

Teelio, as far as Doctor Who goes, The first 5-6 seasons are pretty solid on average. Occasionally excellent.

I recently watched Altered Carbon on Netflix. It's future Sci-Fi based on a book series. Really really good show. Has some borderline rated X scenes, is also super gory. It's really pushing the HBO type show on netflix, but overall it is REALLY good. The first episode is confusing, but you'll know if you like it after 2.

[Mikero]

Yeah Altered Carbon was unexpectedly good. I wouldn't say it's really knocking on HBO's door but I know what you mean. It's 3 books so hopefully people agree with us and they do the next two.

Still gonna recommend Netflix's Lost In Space, despite the negative reviews on Netflix itself. Some of the criticism I understand, it's not a perfect show, but it looks like the reviewers are mostly people who seem to think all characters should be one dimensional or that being stuck on an alien planet should have only 1-2 problems in a row. Of the different iterations of Lost In Space I've seen I think this is the best one and it's unreal how cinematically ambitious it can get. some really good emoting from the children at times too.

I too need some more sci-fi though. Kinda burned through everything I like. Not really a fan of Doctor Who outside of a couple episodes and while I may go back to it I really didn't take to the new Star Trek.

[TheRedPriest]

Classic Who is a million times better than New Who Mikey.  Give it a go.  I can't recommend anything higher than I do Classic Who.

[LCrazy11]

all I know about classis is:
1 was old
2 did some running jumping and running some more
3 was a martial artist
4 was very quotable (I can never forget the out of context line "i wouldn't even say no to a salami sandwich")
5 wore a vegetable
6 wore rainbows
7 was the one that saw the daleks conquer their greatest enemy stairs
and 8 was a movie person

[TheRedPriest]

1 was almost an anti hero for most of his run, slowly developing into what the Doctor would be. 

2 was younger than 1 and did a more action himself.  He played the fool to disarm adversaries.

3 was more of a Bond type character with gadgets and kung-fu.  A serious fellow.

4 was a bohemian adventurer who much like 2, often played the fool to suit his needs.  Also best Doctor.  Also your quote is from the end of The Mask of Mandagora.

5 was the youngest at the time to play the Doctor, and yes, wore a piece of celery on his lapel.

6 had a grand plan for how to develop him, but sadly was fired well before it all bore out.

7 was rather dark and scheming, another incarnation who played the fool when it served him.

8 was horribly wasted in an absolutely awful plot written by people who obviously never watched Doctor Who.

[Speed Racer]

My favorite quote from Tom Baker (4th Doctor, my first Doctor...you never forget your first Doctor) is from "The Horns of Nimon"

Doctor: Aneth! That's a charming place!
Seth: You been to Aneth?
Doctor: Yes, but not yet!

And then everyone gives the Doctor a puzzled look.

[TheRedPriest]

The 4th Doctor was the best Doctor, period.

[Speed Racer]

So back in 2007, my buddy and I went to the movies every Friday and saw 2-3 films because they had a rad student discount and we didn't have classes that day. One time we were supposed to see the Nicholas Cage movie "Next", but I guess someone couldn't see into the future because the prints never arrived. So the theater's policy was that if you went to them and claimed that you were going to see the film they couldn't show, they'd take down your name and address and you got to see whatever you wanted for free. We didn't intend to see Meet the Robinsons, but there it was in 3D and it perfectly fit into our schedule. Pretty fun movie, but I digress.

Fast forward to now, and me watching movies as I feed Silas bottles in the morning. 11 years after I was supposed to see it, I finally did. It wasn't bad, pretty forgettable though, but I felt like Julianne Moore was phoning the whole movie in.

Posted on: June 18, 2018, 02:21:04 PM

Ah #####, I forgot this is the thread for TV shows, not movies.

Well, seeing as I'm back to the gym tonight, I'm starting up on Arrow again.

[TheRedPriest]

At this point I don't think you're going to get banned.

I finally got around to watching Castlevania.  It was quite good, and despite not having any Castlevania music, the music for it was very well suited.  I do think that a few well placed bars of classic tunes at certain points would have really ramped up the awesome to 1000, but hopefully they can do that in the future.

[Speed Racer]

My wife got me into the show The Good Place, and the show is fantastic. Great entry point for different concepts of philosophy, and I'd be surprised if professors aren't showing clips in class.

I also accidentally saw a clip of a Canadian show called "Letterkenny Problems", which at first I thought was a webshow about Fulton county, PA (which has a Fort Letterkenny nearby). Honestly, accents aside, it works for both places. Anyway, it was pretty damn funny and I want to see more, but only two seasons have made it stateside and I can't buy it on Vudu or other platforms.

[Mikero]

I'm Canadian but I've never watched Letterkenny, what accents do they have? I'm assuming it's east coast (sounds kind of Fargo-ish) or French if they're that thick you'd notice.

I love The Good Place. I watched the whole first season on Netflix on my own, and then again with my girlfriend. We couldn't wait for Netflix to catch up so we downloaded season 2.

I've been watching the old NBC sitcom Hang Time on youtube because I'm so starved waiting for the NBA season to start again.

[TheRedPriest]

You want something great to watch?  Try the 80s ABC cop show "Sledge Hammer".  It's a comedy, and it's freaking HILARIOUS!

[Teelio]

Better Call Saul's newest season is sublime. Johnathan Banks remains my favorite actor from that BCS/BB universe. Still no Pinkman or Mr. White (at least for the time being), but was sweet to see that brief scene with... [spoiler]Gale Boetticher[/spoiler]


I'm not savvy for anime, but was pressured to check out My Hero Academia. Five episodes in, it has a cute charm to it. Not as campy as most generic animes that litter Toonami and Crunchyroll.

[Jakey]

Just got a Crunchyroll account so I'm watching a bunch of anime. This is the Year of the Weeb. Also rewatching Parks and Rec and I just finished the new She-ra series on Netflix, which was surprisingly good. Other than that, just random movies. Spiderman (obviously good), Birdbox (not bad), and I'm planning to see Peter Jackson's WWI documentary when it gets an expanded release.

[Speed Racer]

Still watching "The Orville," but I'm scared for the ratings. I really hope it doesn't get cancelled.

Posted on: January 15, 2019, 05:48:55 PM

Space Dandy is where it's at, baby!

[TheRedPriest]

We Never Learn, One Punch Man season 2, looking forward to Dr. Stone.

[Mikero]

Couldn't get through the first season of Space Dandy, and I really wanted to like it. I mean Excel Saga but in space should be up my alley.

Netflix (at least here) keeps pissing me off when it comes to sci-fi. They put up good stuff and then immediately cancel it, and then keep the horse##### movie. At least they figured out to cancel Nightflyers.

[Speed Racer]

My wife and I have been watching Bob's Burgers and Steven Universe, and slowly going through Cowboy Bebop.

[Johncarllos]

We Never Learn, One Punch Man season 2, looking forward to Dr. Stone.

One Punch Man Season 2 was somewhat of a disappointment, animation and pacing wise. I felt like Yusuke Murata's manga version had more movement and flow compared to it. It's eye candy, and every panel has so much more punch than season 2 of the show.

If you feel unsatisfied after finishing the season, I recently read all of and started watching Mob Psycho 100 and highly recommend it. It is also written by ONE but the quality of the both seasons of anime is excellent.

[TheRedPriest]

I was unsatisfied with season 2 of One-Punch Man because they put zero effort into #####ting it out.  But that's a well known secret.  Even if you didn't compare it to the amazing job season 1 did, 2 would be sub par just on it's own.

But that's why you read the manga, which I do.

I've seen a bit of Mob Psycho 100.  It's ok.

[Mikero]

Started watching Dickinson, a comedy about the life of Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld). It's weird but I'm really into it.

[Speed Racer]

I want to see Dickinson; it looks right up my alley but I know my wife (who isn't a fan of alternative comedy) would probably hate it. I started up the first season of Future Man, and it seems pretty fun.

Posted on: January 04, 2020, 03:55:13 AM

My wife and I have been watching We Bare Bears, as she likes silly and absurd, but not the level of trippy/alternative that you find in The Amazing World of Gumball.