The TV Series Thread

[Istiblennius]

I enjoyed Black Sails quite a bit. It took me at least three episodes to figure out it was a prequel of sorts to treasure island.

Although their portrayals are completely different, Ray Stevenson in Black Sails and Taika Waititi in Our Flag Means Death both bring a lot of fun to the role of Blackbeard.

[ergative]

Yes, I've been debating whether to reread Treasure Island or not. Basically all I remember about it is that there is treasure, and that Long John Silver has one leg. Both of these features have now been addressed in the show.  On the one hand, I like to avoid spoilers. On the other hand, this show is so good at keeping track of all the moving pieces that it might vastly improve if I have a sense of the final shape it's moving towards.

I've been very eager to see Our Flag Means Death, but it's not available in my country yet.

[mamselle]

I just show my music theory class clips from "Pirates of Penzance," (the Kline/Ronstadt version) to discuss patter songs and solo/chorus writing...does that count?

;--》

M.

[ergative]

I just show my music theory class clips from "Pirates of Penzance," (the Kline/Ronstadt version) to discuss patter songs and solo/chorus writing...does that count?

;--》

M.

I love that version.

[mamselle]

I directed a (pared-down) version of the show at a boy's camp the summer before it went up on B'way, so it was cool to remember that, as well.

I remember reading the Time Magazine review, which showed a photo of Kline and Ronstadt captioned "Sweet Savoyards."

;--}

I think my kidlets in theory class want to listen to (maybe learn) the "Elements" Song set to "Modern Major-General"

M.

[ciao_yall]

So far, Season 3 of Barry is really good!

Finished Season 1 of The Flight Attendant. I would watch Season 2 but my TV doesn't support HBO Max and it seems to be turning into some sort of Hannah Montana but in her 30's type of schtick.

Russian Doll on Netflix - hmm, intriguing. Will stick with it.

And I'm loving Black Lady Sketch Show.

[secundem_artem]

We just finished The Pentaverate on Netflix.  The critics panned it for being overly broad and just another excuse for Mike Myers to put on a ton of prosthetic makeup and speak in funny accents.  That's all true, but I'd still give it a solid C.  Those of you living in the Great White North (especially if from Toronto) may be able to pull a couple more laughs out of it than American viewers.

[hmaria1609]

*Bumping*
Watched the "Endeavour" season 8 finale on "Masterpiece Mystery" last night. Morse and fellow bus passengers had to go to an abandoned hotel during the height of a snow storm. As the night goes on, Morse discovers there's a murderer among the group from a crime at the hotel in 1963.

The popular prequel series will end with 9th season next year!

Here's the list of the 13 Inspector Morse novels by the late Colin Dexter with commentary by two fellow writers:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/endeavour-inspector-morse-books-in-order/

[mamselle]

I think I've read all or nearly all the books, and at one point had seen all the M.o.r.s.e. and Lewis shows available.

I'm behind on Endeavor. Must catch up.

Friends met Shaun/E. while visiting in Oxford once, said he was kind, witty, and talkative. It may have helped that one of my friends had done his grad work at the school.

M.

[ab_grp]

Trying to decide on our next series (my wife will only watch one at a time). She likes shorter runs with ongoing storylines and creepy central mysteries. So far friends have recommended Legion, The Leftovers, and Locke & Key. Any of those worth seeing or is there something else we migbt like? (She's gonna want to switch over to Stranger Things when the next season drops).

This is the only post I could find in the search referring to it, so I am curious if Ratguy ever ended up watching The Leftovers? We started it last night, just episode one.  My husband has seen season 1 before but doesn't think he saw 2 or 3.  The pilot was a lot! It's from the same guy as Lost (Damon Lindelof) and I guess has some similar aspects (e.g., philosophy, mysticism, WTF is going on).  The story is that something occurred, and 2% of the world's population vanished simultaneously.  The series seems to take place three years later and centered in a town in NY, with the people who didn't vanish trying to come to terms with the loss without knowing what happened or why.  Some people didn't lose anyone, some lost a few people, and there are cults that drew in others.  It was a pretty startling pilot, but I am intrigued.  I hope it's not one of those shows that is quirky and weird and doesn't pay off.  The reviews are mixed.  A lot of reviewers on IMDB gave it a 10/10, which is pretty amazing.  But, some felt it didn't go anywhere. 

It's tough to follow the series we just finished, The West Wing.  That is such a great show.   I've now seen it twice all the way through and would watch it again.  There aren't that many shows that make me want to google what's going on to learn more (e.g., about Supreme Court appointment rules, who has floor privileges in the chambers of Congress, other procedural details).  Some of the episodes are particularly highly rated (high 8s or 9), but there is one that just stays with me that has an average rating for the show (7.8), which is 5.4 Han.  On the whole, the series has some great characters and acting, interesting scenarios, drama, action, romance, humor... it's got it all.

[ab_grp]

We finished The Leftovers last night.  Wowee.  I am not even sure how to sum that one up.  It had some of everything.  It was deeply sad at times and hilarious at others.  I thought the writing was extremely clever.  I'm not sure it all makes sense to me, but it certainly made an impression.  As I noted in my previous post, it was definitely startling at times and very dark.  But overall it is a story about human relationships to a large extent that transcends particular contexts.  I read somewhere that it is considered episodic, in that from episode to episode the story doesn't necessarily continue linearly and pick up from where it left off.  There are some ensemble episodes and some focused on a particular character.  Sometimes I forgot we were even in the same episode because of the strange twists and turns the storytelling takes.  Even though it aired a few years ago, I was glad to find some online recaps that filled in some blanks where I missed details.  I don't think every question I had was answered by the series finale (by far) but am not unsatisfied with how it was wrapped up.  We also have Lost (which I have seen but my husband hasn't) to watch but are going to go through a progression to get out from under the dark before we go back to that kind of mystical mystery.  So now we are watching Friday Night Lights.  We intend to follow this up with Revenge, Luther before Lost. 

[ab_grp]

Friday Night Lights is now in the bag.  I had already seen it but enjoyed watching it again, and my husband also thought it was a very good series.  I'm sure it's not a surprise that although it's nominally football-focused, it's really about life and relationships and politics and diplomacy and etc.  Aside from some (IMO) strange story lines, including some that just end abruptly, it's pretty consistently great.  I think I may have oversold it as uplifting, which it is, but it does deal with a lot of dark territory as well.  Kind of like Pretty Little Liars, one wonders how high school students get away with so much.  We start Revenge this evening.  We're still watching Frasier as our short comedy sidekick.

[jimbogumbo]

Finished Better Call Saul (stupendous!) and Animal Kingdom (really enjoyed the series).

On to season two of The Righteous Gemstones and season 3 of Barry.

[mamselle]

Re-watching The Vicar of Dibley.

M>

[Istiblennius]

The blennius fam is so far having a great time with Rings of Power. We're enjoying speculating on the possible identity of certain characters, dissecting the diversions from Tolkein lore and how they work (for us, they do mostly work so far), and just overall enjoying the show and nerding out (case in point: our 15 minute "argument" over the proper pronunciation of Gil-Galad).