Watchable telly

[Bob The Badger]

5 hours ago, Anag Ram said:

Perhaps it’s just me, but I don’t expect absolute realism from TV drama series in the same way I don’t think ‘He would never have survived that’ when Wile E Coyote gets hit by a falling anvil.

 

Context is everything.

Some series work really well because they are so realistic, and I personally get sucked into the story more.

If I'm watching something that is super realistic, and suddenly something happens that pulls me out of the story because it's preposterous, then it ruins the flow.

Slow Horses is a classic example. The great acting, witty script, and interesting storyline were all ruined by an ending so preposterous that it didn't so much stretch credulity as snap it in half. 

I'm not sure why there was the need to do that tbh.

Having said that, I expect nonsense with a Guy Ritchie series like The Gentleman, so it's perfectly contextual. The same goes for Marvel-type films, sci-fi, or even Roadrunner.

It's not just you (which I know you know). I expect most people don't mind. Otherwise, they wouldn't make such stuff. And I don't consciously mind. It's not a choice I make. It just pulls me out of the story, and I lose interest or get irritated.

It's no coincidence that programs like The Wire, Love/Hate, Gomorrah, Spiral, Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, and Top Boy, which are often rated really highly, on this board are also pretty realistic. I'd say that is why we like them on many occasions. 

I'm not saying they don't stretch realism, but you rarely think, 'well, that absolutely could never happen'

I'd prefer not to give a crap, tbh.

And Mrs Badger would definitely rather I didn't.

[Anag Ram]

5 minutes ago, Bob The Badger said:

Context is everything.

Some series work really well because they are so realistic, and I personally get sucked into the story more.

If I'm watching something that is super realistic, and suddenly something happens that pulls me out of the story because it's preposterous, then it ruins the flow.

Slow Horses is a classic example. The great acting, witty script, and interesting storyline were all ruined by an ending so preposterous that it didn't so much stretch credulity as snap it in half. 

I'm not sure why there was the need to do that tbh.

Having said that, I expect nonsense with a Guy Ritchie series like The Gentleman, so it's perfectly contextual. The same goes for Marvel-type films, sci-fi, or even Roadrunner.

It's not just you (which I know you know). I expect most people don't mind. Otherwise, they wouldn't make such stuff. And I don't consciously mind. It's not a choice I make. It just pulls me out of the story, and I lose interest or get irritated.

It's no coincidence that programs like The Wire, Love/Hate, Gomorrah, Spiral, Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, and Top Boy, which are often rated really highly, on this board are also pretty realistic. I'd say that is why we like them on many occasions. 

I'm not saying they don't stretch realism, but you rarely think, 'well, that absolutely could never happen'

I'd prefer not to give a crap, tbh.

And Mrs Badger would definitely rather I didn't.

It’s actually dialogue which annoys me more.

I hear lines and think no one has ever uttered those words to anyone. That’s more likely to make me switch off. 

[Crewton]

BBC1 and iPlayer - D-Day : The Unheard Tapes - A series in 3 parts telling the story of D-Day using interviews with participants recorded after the War, with actors lip-syncing their words perfectly, interspersed with analysis by historians.

Just brilliant.

[Wolfie]

On 13/05/2024 at 08:46, Wolfie said:

After finishing Fall of the House of Usher (very good), we decided to jump straight into another Mike Flanagan creation: Midnight Mass (Netflix).

Promising first episode but must admit it threw me a bit having most of the actors playing billionaires in Usher, now turning up on an impoverished remote island.

After a couple of weeks pause for holiday, we finished Midnight Mass this weekend.

Really enjoyed it. Slow build up of tension and dread throughout the series and a moving and satisfying ending (in reference to the other thread).

There's a couple of other Flanagan Netflix series I want to watch: Haunting of Bly manor and Haunting of Hill House, so will crack on with them soon.

[Srg]

Slow Horses - Apple TV - British spy series with light humour to it.

Manhunt - Apple TV - Drama series on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the subsequent manhunt for John Wilkes Booth

Eric - Netflix - Just come out, 6 part series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Son goes missing in mid-80s New York.

[Stive Pesley]

1 hour ago, Srg said:

Eric - Netflix - Just come out, 6 part series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Son goes missing in mid-80s New York.

Any good? It's on our maybe list

Just finished Bodkin - quite enjoyable, couple of episodes too long. About some podcasters/journalists trying to solve a disappearance in Ireland 25 years ago at the Samhain festival. If nothing else I learned that it's not pronounced Sam-Hain, but Sow-In 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[Srg]

4 minutes ago, Stive Pesley said:

Any good? It's on our maybe list

Just finished Bodkin - quite enjoyable, couple of episodes too long. About some podcasters/journalists trying to solve a disappearance in Ireland 25 years ago at the Samhain festival. If nothing else I learned that it's not pronounced Sam-Hain, but Sow-In 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

I am enjoying it. Looking foward to see how it ends.

[therealhantsram]

Anyone tried Dark Matter yet? Apple TV. 

[BaaLocks]

1 hour ago, therealhantsram said:

Anyone tried Dark Matter yet? Apple TV. 

I struggled through the first episode, feels a bit like a mix between Quantum Leap and Sliding Doors with Looper and Matrix thrown in. I guess that's my point, it felt a little derivative - just like they've all been put in a blender and we end up with a sc-fi, time jumping smoothie all the way down to having rain dripping from steel timbers as the character walks nervously through a badly lit underpass. I'll crack on for another episode or two but I can't exactly say I'm hooked.

[Bob The Badger]

On 31/05/2024 at 19:17, Anag Ram said:

It’s actually dialogue which annoys me more.

I hear lines and think no one has ever uttered those words to anyone. That’s more likely to make me switch off. 

That bothers me too.

I'm just easily bothered.

[21CSchizoidRam]

2 hours ago, Stive Pesley said:

Any good? It's on our maybe list

Just finished Bodkin - quite enjoyable, couple of episodes too long. About some podcasters/journalists trying to solve a disappearance in Ireland 25 years ago at the Samhain festival. If nothing else I learned that it's not pronounced Sam-Hain, but Sow-In 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

Loved Bodkin. Funny and a few twists in the plot.

[Chester40]

19 hours ago, therealhantsram said:

Anyone tried Dark Matter yet? Apple TV. 

Three episodes in.

It's solid enough.

I like the male leads and there are some interesting ideas. 

I'm not liking the relationship with his wife particularly as it feels really forced.

I'm not sure if the good start and different way at looking at well-trod, multi universe theme is becoming a bit more deriviative and less interesting as it progresses.

Edited June 4 by Chester40

[ketteringram]

On 29/05/2024 at 17:05, Bob The Badger said:

Watched the first 3 episodes of Sugar on Apple TV with Colin Farrell.

It wasn't until In Bruges that I really started to like him as an actor, and he delivers again in this.

Playing a rather unusual private detective with a Government background and the ability to speak multiple languages. He's been hired by a wealthy Hollywood film producer to find his missing granddaughter.  

There are a lot of shenanigans going on, and it's getting a bit weird, but it's very stylish, and I'm starting to really enjoy it. 

 

I've just watched the second episode of this. I think I'm out. I think Mrs will carry on with it. It's more her sort of thing than mine. 

[Bob The Badger]

Did anybody watch Nighty Night from 2004 the BBC.

We started it last night based on the female TV reviewer on Nihal Arthanayake's show saying it was brilliant and it seems like it's going to be very good.

Very dark humour about a woman who pretends her husband has died of cancer so she can gain sympathy and attention, and he then starts to get better.

 

 

[Stive Pesley]

45 minutes ago, Bob The Badger said:

Did anybody watch Nighty Night from 2004 the BBC.

We started it last night based on the female TV reviewer on Nihal Arthanayake's show saying it was brilliant and it seems like it's going to be very good.

Very dark humour about a woman who pretends her husband has died of cancer so she can gain sympathy and attention, and he then starts to get better.

 

 

Yeah remember this one - dark humour at it's best

[Crewton]

2 hours ago, Bob The Badger said:

Did anybody watch Nighty Night from 2004 the BBC.

We started it last night based on the female TV reviewer on Nihal Arthanayake's show saying it was brilliant and it seems like it's going to be very good.

Very dark humour about a woman who pretends her husband has died of cancer so she can gain sympathy and attention, and he then starts to get better.

 

 

Caught it very late, saw the last couple of episodes and thought it was very dark, but very funny. The writer, Julia Davis, who also stars in it, also wrote Pulling, I think, which I really liked. That was on maybe around 2008-ish. 

[BatRam]

Just binged 4 seasons of Black sails , its bloody brilliant.

[Anag Ram]

17 hours ago, Bob The Badger said:

Did anybody watch Nighty Night from 2004 the BBC.

We started it last night based on the female TV reviewer on Nihal Arthanayake's show saying it was brilliant and it seems like it's going to be very good.

Very dark humour about a woman who pretends her husband has died of cancer so she can gain sympathy and attention, and he then starts to get better.

 

 

Glen Bulb is one of my favourite all-time comedy characters.

[Crewton]

The Outlaws S3 just starting on BBC and The Great S3 coming up soon on C4 makes me very happy. Still got Kin S3 to watch and Love/Hate S5 - who needs summer?!

[Anag Ram]

11 minutes ago, Crewton said:

The Outlaws S3 just starting on BBC and The Great S3 coming up soon on C4 makes me very happy. Still got Kin S3 to watch and Love/Hate S5 - who needs summer?!

I love The Great. Glad someone else out there does!