Random TV Show Thoughts

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Outside of Strange Brew, my appreciation for Eugene Levy - and several others in that SCTV crowd - didn't really register until Best In Show and A Mighty Wind. Both of those movies have (repeatedly) made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe, mostly due to Levy.



That one I knew. (I'm one of the maybe 100 people who've never seen it).

My parents are big SCTV fans. Once I'd started watching some DVD and VHS copies they had in my teens and 20s, I discovered that they were referencing this show heavily the whole time. Mind blown. And I think it's cute to have a shared language based on your love of the same show.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I liked Altered Carbon, Season 1, but got bored with Season 2. I didn't know why, and settled on the casting change. Then, it was pointed out to me that Season 1 is cyberpunk, but Season 2 is not. That scans, and is probably exactly it. Season 1 takes place in a dazzling but dystopian megalopolis, and oozes cyberpunk out of its poors. Season 2 is on some alien planet with a tyrannical governor that's just not that interesting

 

[The Cat]

Looks like making souless life sucking corporations the model for everything including healthcare and entertainment, comes with one or two downsides.​

 

[Totenkindly]

I liked Altered Carbon, Season 1, but got bored with Season 2. I didn't know why, and settled on the casting change. Then, it was pointed out to me that Season 1 is cyberpunk, but Season 2 is not. That scans, and is probably exactly it. Season 1 takes place in a dazzling but dystopian megalopolis, and oozes cyberpunk out of its poors. Season 2 is on some alien planet with a tyrannical governor that's just not that interesting

That's too bad. I never did watch it, mostly because I don't really like Joel Kinnamon much, although when I look at the critic comments, Season 2 scored higher. However, I'd be more in the cyberpunk setting as well if I had to pick a setting. I saw a TTRPG game book yester for Altered Carbon at the game store I visited. I guess it is actually sourced from a series of novels.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

That's too bad. I never did watch it, mostly because I don't really like Joel Kinnamon much, although when I look at the critic comments, Season 2 scored higher. However, I'd be more in the cyberpunk setting as well if I had to pick a setting. I saw a TTRPG game book yester for Altered Carbon at the game store I visited. I guess it is actually sourced from a series of novels.

I knew there were books, and apparently the series made some pretty big changes. I know the series didn't have a great review, and it had some goofy scenes, but I felt overall that they got the vibe right.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I recently started watching Wynona Earp. I watched the first few episodes a while back, and thought - even though first episodes of any show often suck - it didn't have any potential. But I needed something to play in the background lately, so I gave it another chance. And maybe around the beginning of the second season it actually gets pretty funny. By the third season it's almost Archer funny (same type of humor). Still 10% ew though. Like 3 parts archer, one part gross CW superhero soap opera.

It's also funny to see Tim Rozen (?) playing such bumbling buffoon - it's the opposite of what he's like in Schitt's Creek and SurrealEstate.

 

[The Cat]

This guy gets it.​

 

[The Cat]

One thing that wasnt mentioned, in the video, Nega Duck often used a chainsaw so as soon as I saw Jim pull it out, I knew who I was looking at. It also was cool to note that the original show how jim treats Launchpad is essentially how Nega Duck treated launchpad in the origins of nega duck.

 

[Totenkindly]

Chevy Chase Disses ‘Community’ as ‘Not Funny’ or ‘Hard-Hitting Enough for Me’: ‘I Just Didn’t Want to Be Surrounded’ by ‘Those People’

Chevy Chase said he preferred to work alone than "around the table" with his "Community" co-stars.

variety.com

Well, at least he is consistent.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Chevy Chase Disses ‘Community’ as ‘Not Funny’ or ‘Hard-Hitting Enough for Me’: ‘I Just Didn’t Want to Be Surrounded’ by ‘Those People’

Chevy Chase said he preferred to work alone than "around the table" with his "Community" co-stars.

variety.com

Well, at least he is consistent.

It's not streets ahead?

 

[Totenkindly]

Soooooo.... apparently Gen V just dropped (the college version of "The Boys"), all first three episodes of it, and I've now watched the first.

I did not know where this was going in the final minutes. Still wondering whether that was the best plotline approach but we'll see how the following episodes are. I liked it, and it didn't feel like a full hour.

Overall, it's pretty much The Boys in tone and style, but more grounded. "The Boys" is like a high-concept freedom fight of the anti-Voight team against the corruption of high-profile superheroes and focused on the impact and awfulness of capitalism. Gen V feels more like the personal and/or day-to-day of teens grappling with their abilities and the pressures put on them in terms of life direction and what they will make of themselves.

I felt like an idiot when I realize who was playing "Golden Boy" aka Luke. I just kinda noted he was the perfect looking charismatic king of the campus when he appeared, and then later when I saw his last name, I was like, "Damn, that should have been obvious -- he's the splitting image of his dad, just thinner." And with a bit better line delivery, honestly.

It's definitely R-rated and has the same kind of in-your-face graphic nature as The Boys, whether sex or violence is involved.

 

[The Cat]

It's not streets ahead?

Chevy Chase is always Streets Behind.

 

[Totenkindly]

10 Essential ‘Siskel & Ebert’ Episodes, From Fighting About ‘Full Metal Jacket’ to Raving Over ‘Hoop Dreams’

Matt Singer, author of 'Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,' helps pick 10 essential episodes of the critics' shows.

variety.com

 

[The Cat]

Just goes to show. Put in a good creative team prioritize writing and making well rounded characters and engaging stories. THAT is how you put out a successful franchise.​

 

[Totenkindly]

Okay, catching up on Ahsoka since this week is the finale and i hadn't watched e7.

I'll just reiterate that I want to FEEL things when I watch a story. It needs to feel like it's real, happening to real people. And I want to feel something about the characters; I want to care about them. Yes, I'm really happy over watching cool stuff on screen -- inventive fight sequences, tense plotting and the like -- and that can often be equally good.

I feel like much of the Star Wars live action stuff just does not meet that bar for me.

Episode 7 -- the good stuff is (1) it doesn't suck and (2) there's a few moments (literally, just moments) of tension and (3) a bit of a mystery, mainly in "WTH is Lord Baylen up to??" like, I don't even care about Thrawn, I'm more interested in Baylen's story. I am also interesting in what Manic Pixie Sith is looking for... I feel like she is struggling a bit between Light and Dark and there's some secret story driving her, and I want to know what it is.

The Bad stuff --it doesn't really get beyond average for me. Like, "mild curiosity" is the most I am getting out of this show. I don't really care much about the characters including Ahsoka. About the only battles I like are between Ahsoka and Baylen because they are both obviously heavily trained, although the fights feel sometimes like they are happening through molasses aka staged rather than feeling real to me. (I mean, Rosario Dawson is in her mid-40's and is not really a hard-core action star, so she's doing as well as could be expected... i don't want to be too hard on her.) While I like the fact that Ezra and Wren are using mixed modes of combat rather than pure Force in battles, it's not enough to really hold my attention. Thrawn bores me so far and this isn't Mikkelsen's fault. I think it's just the direction isn't interesting and the writing just has everything too flat.

I feel like anyone who actually gets excited about this stuff is just a fan. honestly, Christensen isn't that great with his delivery. I feel nothing when I watch him.

The whole opening sequence with the general twilek being tried is just stupid because there's no subtlety with the guy gunning for her; he's just written as "Big Dickhead" and is entirely unreasonable. Almost NO one except a GOP MAGA in Congress actually acts this way. And so they throw in a token cameo to somehow make it a good scene, which to me was just a deux ex machina.

I am hoping this finale will be better than expected. I don't think so. Overall, I will say Ahsoka has been in the top eschalon of Star Wars shows... but that isn't saying much.

Actually, there was the moment in The Mandalorian when Bill Burr shoots his former batallion leader in the head at the bar. That was shocking and really great, and I felt like anything was possible after that.... but then the show couldn't handle the unpredictable and went back to formula.

---

So far Andor is the only show that has made me feel something consistently. Rogue One also gave me a lot of feels. I hate to say it, but I actually felt a bit from TFA, although it was still a rehash of A New Hope. And while some of TLJ sucked, I still wish something good had come out of the aftermath of the Snoke throneroom battle. Adam Driver was so great when he told Rey that she didn't matter to anyone, she was a nobody... "but you matter to me. Join me. Please." Like that short time of pregnant pause there, her grief over accepting she was a no one and pointless, his open longing for her to be with him... wow.

 

[Totenkindly]

In comparison, I'm through all three episodes released for far for Gen V, and I feel lots of things when I watch that. Yes, it's totally on-brand for a spinoff of "The Boys" -- but I actually care about the characters, they feel like teenagers (sometimes they do things that are short-sighted because they just aren't mature yet) while trying to be better. And there's actual real pathos there and emotional responses that feel authentic.

Jordan and Emma might be the two most interesting. Emma is not super-powerful in some ways, but her powers keep getting called into comparison with bulemia in some ways and it's frustrated to watch how people treat her and misrepresent/misunderstand her, how much crap she has to bear up under and yet she remains a decent person. Like, she might one of the most noble characters on the show. There's this bizarre and unique moment in the bathroom with another female student that is ridiculous and touching and raw and real.

Jordan meanwhile takes "trans" another step further, as they are truly bi-gendered -- they can flip instantly from a male to a female and back, and each gender has separate powersets. They are viewed as unmarketable because they aren't .summarized easily or fits some kind of easy sell, they're too "complicated" according to the pitch people. And in e3 it becomes clear that the parents are also complicit in her mistreatment because they prefer one gender over another and don't understand that Jordon truly isn't any more one gender than another but just themselves. A total lack of acceptance of them as an individual, on their part. And the one adult who stood up for Jordan is no longer on the show and we find out he was kind of a dick in some big ways, but it doesn't change that he also valued Jordan as an individual. It's just really nuanced character creation.

Everything is more complex on this show, even from motivations from the other kids -- the adults tend to be more obnoxious and lopsided than the kids, honestly.

 

[The Cat]

In comparison, I'm through all three episodes released for far for Gen V, and I feel lots of things when I watch that. Yes, it's totally on-brand for a spinoff of "The Boys" -- but I actually care about the characters, they feel like teenagers (sometimes they do things that are short-sighted because they just aren't mature yet) while trying to be better. And there's actual real pathos there and emotional responses that feel authentic.

Jordan and Emma might be the two most interesting. Emma is not super-powerful in some ways, but her powers keep getting called into comparison with bulemia in some ways and it's frustrated to watch how people treat her and misrepresent/misunderstand her, how much crap she has to bear up under and yet she remains a decent person. Like, she might one of the most noble characters on the show. There's this bizarre and unique moment in the bathroom with another female student that is ridiculous and touching and raw and real.

Jordan meanwhile takes "trans" another step further, as they are truly bi-gendered -- they can flip instantly from a male to a female and back, and each gender has separate powersets. They are viewed as unmarketable because they aren't .summarized easily or fits some kind of easy sell, they're too "complicated" according to the pitch people. And in e3 it becomes clear that the parents are also complicit in her mistreatment because they prefer one gender over another and don't understand that Jordon truly isn't any more one gender than another but just themselves. A total lack of acceptance of them as an individual, on their part. And the one adult who stood up for Jordan is no longer on the show and we find out he was kind of a dick in some big ways, but it doesn't change that he also valued Jordan as an individual. It's just really nuanced character creation.

Everything is more complex on this show, even from motivations from the other kids -- the adults tend to be more obnoxious and lopsided than the kids, honestly.

Ive always wondered if this of art imitating life or life imitating art...

 

[Totenkindly]

The Ahsoka finale was okay. Worlds better than TROS, but I guess that is not saying much.

The title was a nice pun. ("The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord")

Some things got resolved, some did not.
More characters survived than expected.

Some of the fights were okay, a few moments were great, some parts less so.

What's interesting is that pieces get moved around and it's clear there is at least another season or another series here to resolve all these hanging out plotlines.

I felt kinda bad for Space Witch who became Space Samurai Witch. All that power, but she faced her execution sentence -- effectively that's what it was and she knew it -- with grace and devotion. I still find it hard to believe she could go up again Ahsoka so effectively for awhile, did she have actual melee training? I thought she was just a space witch. That bit always makes me laugh. (EDIT: Damn, I forget so much. So I guess Ahsoka defeated Morgan back in Mando Season 2 -- I forgot that was her! So she DOES know how to fight, and I guess this was a rematch between the two, with Morgan being upgraded.) In any grace, kudos to the actress who was intimidating throughout the series -- and then when she was tacitly asked by Thrawn to buy his escape with her life, so soon after coming into her power, the look in her eyes was shock, then sadness, then acceptance. Nicely played.

I thought it silly that her whole point was to block Ahsoka from escaping out the staircase, then she lets Ahsoka just go around her to reach the top level. Like, okay, I guess that ended?

Sabine is coming along nicely. She even did some Force stuff. I like how her style is still a meld of Mandalorian + Jedi.

Stormtrooper Zombies now, huh? I guess that's why we use our lightsabers to dismember our enemies, rather than just killing them whole? Yes?

Thrawn's a dick, but I'm still not impressed.

Does Ahsoka know Anakin was Darth Vader? Thrawn does. I thought he was going to tell her there for a bit. EDIT: I guess she does know, but she found out in Rebels or one of those series I never saw. I guess Thrawn was just needling her then, for fun and profit.

Seeing Anakin's force ghost at the end made me laugh. Come on, stop it with the Anakin apologetics. Christensen is not that great. I guess technically Darth Vader is dead at this point, if Ahsoka is 11 years after ANH and that would mean 7 years after ROTJ. So this series is filling time between ROTJ and the sequel trilogy 25 years later. So I guess Anakin would be space ghosting it around the cosmos, but it's just lame after Ben Kenobi was an old force ghost and they revised Anakin to be Christensen.

Manic Pixie Sith is still in play and back with the bandits, on the same planet Sabine and Ahsoka are trapped on. So we'll see more of her.

Baylan also is still in play, but I don't know WTF he is up to, still. He's there for a reason, standing on the Argonath knockoff. But if they want more Baylan, they're gonna have to find someone else now that the actor died.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/5-actors-who-could-replace-ray-stevenson-as-baylan-skoll-in-ahsoka-season-2/
https://fictionhorizon.com/who-will-replace-ray-stevenson-in-ahsoka-here-are-our-predictions/

I think out of all this I'd most like Graham McTavish -- because I don't really think they should cast a Tier A star name in this, esp Russell Crowe or someone... gawd. Keep it professional but someone not tied to other roles that much, and has the same feel as Stevenson, which McTavish does. Key off his presence in House of the Dragon as Sir Harrold Westerling.

 

[Totenkindly]

While I might not be totally at this extreme, it's more a matter of degree -- I agreed with everything that was said, just not to the total severity.

Now That It’s Over, Will Anyone Even Remember ‘Ahsoka’?

Lucasfilm Ltd.Here we go again, folks. Ahsoka, the latest Star Wars series from Disney+, ended with a new Big Bad for the franchise eventually blasting into hyperspace, ready to be forgotten as Loki takes over the schedule for the next few weeks. It’s an unfortunate end to a middling series...

www.yahoo.com

I'll be honest, I really wanted to see a series around Sith Batman and Manic Pixie Sith, rather than the episode centered around Ahsoka and Sabine. Any scene with the former pairing was actually interesting, whether they were alone with each other or dealing with other characters. I still haven't figured out whether Baylan is a bad person or not; he seems world-weary and wise, but I'm not clear yet on what drives him and it felt genuinely sad when they had to part ways, in terms of MPS figuring out what to do next. She might be like a Sith but she still has a soul that is searching for SOMETHING.

I'm not super-acquainted with Ahsoka from the cartoons, but pretty much Dawson's portrayal in this series felt so over-measured, it was she was acting through a wet wool blanket the entire time, and I mentioned how it was obvious Thrawn was really smart but not particularly intimidating and I'm not sure why he's seen as such a badass. Otherwise it was "star wars as usual."

 

[The Cat]

While I might not be totally at this extreme, it's more a matter of degree -- I agreed with everything that was said, just not to the total severity.

Now That It’s Over, Will Anyone Even Remember ‘Ahsoka’?

Lucasfilm Ltd.Here we go again, folks. Ahsoka, the latest Star Wars series from Disney+, ended with a new Big Bad for the franchise eventually blasting into hyperspace, ready to be forgotten as Loki takes over the schedule for the next few weeks. It’s an unfortunate end to a middling series...

www.yahoo.com

I'll be honest, I really wanted to see a series around Sith Batman and Manic Pixie Sith, rather than the episode centered around Ahsoka and Sabine. Any scene with the former pairing was actually interesting, whether they were alone with each other or dealing with other characters. I still haven't figured out whether Baylan is a bad person or not; he seems world-weary and wise, but I'm not clear yet on what drives him and it felt genuinely sad when they had to part ways, in terms of MPS figuring out what to do next. She might be like a Sith but she still has a soul that is searching for SOMETHING.

I'm not super-acquainted with Ahsoka from the cartoons, but pretty much Dawson's portrayal in this series felt so over-measured, it was she was acting through a wet wool blanket the entire time, and I mentioned how it was obvious Thrawn was really smart but not particularly intimidating and I'm not sure why he's seen as such a badass. Otherwise it was "star wars as usual."

because on some level all little boys want red eyes and to look so good in white. He was also charming and kinda sexy in the books. The boy crush is strong with this one. Plus he wasnt afraid to try to rule the galaxy with a tree weasel draped over his shoulders. back when the clone wars seemed like they were more fun and impressive than they actually were.