Good TV Shows

[Numbers]

The Gold series 2 - Entertaining viewing

Really enjoyed series one, hoping it’s carried on in the same level.

All episodes available on iPlayer.

[Which Tyler]

Yeah it was the BBC Christmas Christie adapation, if you liked that have you seen An Inspector Calls? that's good viewing.

Not usually my genre, but I shall pass on the rec. TY

[Mikey Brown]

‘The studio’ is about as bland and unimaginative as the title would suggest. Shame as there’s lots of good people involved, but you should always be sceptical of anything with a cast list like that.

The first episode is alright and Seth Rogan can still say some things in a funny way, but Apple TV really is making some clangers. I guess it’s impressive to make something at least semi-charming when your head is stuffed completely up your own arse.

It’s torn between being a Hollywood homage and a satirical takedown of it, in the current style of dialling everything up to 11 (what the fuck is Katherine Hahn even doing) and beating you over the head with it. Yet it comes across more as making excuses for shitty people and shitty movies than anything else.

It relies so heavily on celebrity cameos, fancy production tricks and referencing other films/shows, again done in a self aware way only to absolve itself rather than to make any kind of point. None of this would matter if the writing was good, but… it isn’t.

Not awful like Severance or the Bear, but just good enough to be very disappointing in how bad it is.

[Numbers]

‘The studio’ is about as bland and unimaginative as the title would suggest. Shame as there’s lots of good people involved, but you should always be sceptical of anything with a cast list like that.

The first episode is alright and Seth Rogan can still say some things in a funny way, but Apple TV really is making some clangers. I guess it’s impressive to make something at least semi-charming when your head is stuffed completely up your own arse.

It’s torn between being a Hollywood homage and a satirical takedown of it, in the current style of dialling everything up to 11 (what the fuck is Katherine Hahn even doing) and beating you over the head with it. Yet it comes across more as making excuses for shitty people and shitty movies than anything else.

It relies so heavily on celebrity cameos, fancy production tricks and referencing other films/shows, again done in a self aware way only to absolve itself rather than to make any kind of point. None of this would matter if the writing was good, but… it isn’t.

Not awful like Severance or the Bear, but just good enough to be very disappointing in how bad it is.

"Good TV Shows" Mikey Maybe we should have anothe thread for "Bad TV shows", it's always worth knowing what to avoid.

[Mikey Brown]

‘The studio’ is about as bland and unimaginative as the title would suggest. Shame as there’s lots of good people involved, but you should always be sceptical of anything with a cast list like that.

The first episode is alright and Seth Rogan can still say some things in a funny way, but Apple TV really is making some clangers. I guess it’s impressive to make something at least semi-charming when your head is stuffed completely up your own arse.

It’s torn between being a Hollywood homage and a satirical takedown of it, in the current style of dialling everything up to 11 (what the fuck is Katherine Hahn even doing) and beating you over the head with it. Yet it comes across more as making excuses for shitty people and shitty movies than anything else.

It relies so heavily on celebrity cameos, fancy production tricks and referencing other films/shows, again done in a self aware way only to absolve itself rather than to make any kind of point. None of this would matter if the writing was good, but… it isn’t.

Not awful like Severance or the Bear, but just good enough to be very disappointing in how bad it is.

"Good TV Shows" Mikey Maybe we should have anothe thread for "Bad TV shows", it's always worth knowing what to avoid.

I know. Got to put my hands up there. I definitely do take too much joy in hating a show once I turn against it. There’s just so much crap out there are the moment and this looked like quite a promising one. I really did go in wanting to like it. Consider it a PSA of sorts. I think Succession has shifted the bar so drastically for me.

On a more positive note - The Studio reminds me how good The Comeback from 2005 was.

I’m quite enjoying Masters of Sex, though I’m very late to that one. It’s stupid at times but generally in an enjoyable way.

[Son of Mathonwy]

‘The studio’ is about as bland and unimaginative as the title would suggest. Shame as there’s lots of good people involved, but you should always be sceptical of anything with a cast list like that.

The first episode is alright and Seth Rogan can still say some things in a funny way, but Apple TV really is making some clangers. I guess it’s impressive to make something at least semi-charming when your head is stuffed completely up your own arse.

It’s torn between being a Hollywood homage and a satirical takedown of it, in the current style of dialling everything up to 11 (what the fuck is Katherine Hahn even doing) and beating you over the head with it. Yet it comes across more as making excuses for shitty people and shitty movies than anything else.

It relies so heavily on celebrity cameos, fancy production tricks and referencing other films/shows, again done in a self aware way only to absolve itself rather than to make any kind of point. None of this would matter if the writing was good, but… it isn’t.

Not awful like Severance or the Bear, but just good enough to be very disappointing in how bad it is.

"Good TV Shows" Mikey Maybe we should have anothe thread for "Bad TV shows", it's always worth knowing what to avoid.

I know. Got to put my hands up there. I definitely do take too much joy in hating a show once I turn against it. There’s just so much crap out there are the moment and this looked like quite a promising one. I really did go in wanting to like it. Consider it a PSA of sorts. I think Succession has shifted the bar so drastically for me.

On a more positive note - The Studio reminds me how good The Comeback from 2005 was.

I’m quite enjoying Masters of Sex, though I’m very late to that one. It’s stupid at times but generally in an enjoyable way.

I've been treating this thread as Good or Bad TV shows for some time . While I try to avoid the bad ones I am often trapped watching some thing getting badder and badder but can't let go unless it (and it never does) make everything brilliant through some clever twist (or just an explanation, for pity's sake) at the end.

The Studio didn't pique my interest enough to get me started, so thanks for confirming I made the right choice!

[Sandydragon]

"Good TV Shows" Mikey Maybe we should have anothe thread for "Bad TV shows", it's always worth knowing what to avoid.

I know. Got to put my hands up there. I definitely do take too much joy in hating a show once I turn against it. There’s just so much crap out there are the moment and this looked like quite a promising one. I really did go in wanting to like it. Consider it a PSA of sorts. I think Succession has shifted the bar so drastically for me.

On a more positive note - The Studio reminds me how good The Comeback from 2005 was.

I’m quite enjoying Masters of Sex, though I’m very late to that one. It’s stupid at times but generally in an enjoyable way.

I've been treating this thread as Good or Bad TV shows for some time . While I try to avoid the bad ones I am often trapped watching some thing getting badder and badder but can't let go unless it (and it never does) make everything brilliant through some clever twist (or just an explanation, for pity's sake) at the end.

The Studio didn't pique my interest enough to get me started, so thanks for confirming I made the right choice!

Sunk cost theory in action ! After several hours of investment it’s difficult to walk away and not find out what happened.

I watched Under the Dome. I thought it might be going somewhere interesting but it was just shyte.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I know. Got to put my hands up there. I definitely do take too much joy in hating a show once I turn against it. There’s just so much crap out there are the moment and this looked like quite a promising one. I really did go in wanting to like it. Consider it a PSA of sorts. I think Succession has shifted the bar so drastically for me.

On a more positive note - The Studio reminds me how good The Comeback from 2005 was.

I’m quite enjoying Masters of Sex, though I’m very late to that one. It’s stupid at times but generally in an enjoyable way.

I've been treating this thread as Good or Bad TV shows for some time . While I try to avoid the bad ones I am often trapped watching some thing getting badder and badder but can't let go unless it (and it never does) make everything brilliant through some clever twist (or just an explanation, for pity's sake) at the end.

The Studio didn't pique my interest enough to get me started, so thanks for confirming I made the right choice!

Sunk cost theory in action ! After several hours of investment it’s difficult to walk away and not find out what happened.

I watched Under the Dome. I thought it might be going somewhere interesting but it was just shyte.

Under The Dome is a classic example. Great start, great concept (albeit unoriginal), the makers had no idea what the explanation was and didn't care. And I had to see it to the end, knowing how bad it was as they randomly added plot twists and out of character behaviour just to keep it going. Yes, it was shite, and I knew they would never wrap it up nicely, but I had to see it through.

Lost was the mother of all these. And, much as I like it, I am concerned that From is going down the same rabbit hole. We shall see.

[Mikey Brown]

On a more positive note - The Studio reminds me how good The Comeback from 2005 was.

They’ve just announced a third series after a 10 year gap. See, I do have positive things to say - not that anybody else seems to like it or have seen it.

[Mikey Brown]

Feels like this should maybe go in a politics thread instead of here, but the latest Adam Curtis series ‘Shifty’ is absolutely banging.

I read a synopsis that was something like ‘a brief, but surprisingly uplifting and entertaining, history of why everything in the UK has gone to shit.’ Obviously pretty heavily weighted towards Thatcher being a cunt, but with enough quirk and levity to make it enjoyable too.

Obviously he’s an acquired taste, but I’d highly recommend giving it a go.

On that note, any recommendations which of his to watch next?

[Which Tyler]

[paddy no 11]

Feels like this should maybe go in a politics thread instead of here, but the latest Adam Curtis series ‘Shifty’ is absolutely banging.

I read a synopsis that was something like ‘a brief, but surprisingly uplifting and entertaining, history of why everything in the UK has gone to shit.’ Obviously pretty heavily weighted towards Thatcher being a cunt, but with enough quirk and levity to make it enjoyable too.

Obviously he’s an acquired taste, but I’d highly recommend giving it a go.

On that note, any recommendations which of his to watch next?

Have you seen bitter lake?

[Mikey Brown]

Feels like this should maybe go in a politics thread instead of here, but the latest Adam Curtis series ‘Shifty’ is absolutely banging.

I read a synopsis that was something like ‘a brief, but surprisingly uplifting and entertaining, history of why everything in the UK has gone to shit.’ Obviously pretty heavily weighted towards Thatcher being a cunt, but with enough quirk and levity to make it enjoyable too.

Obviously he’s an acquired taste, but I’d highly recommend giving it a go.

On that note, any recommendations which of his to watch next?

Have you seen bitter lake?

Yeah, that was the first thing of his I ever watched. Really fantastic. I don’t think I’ve managed to see the entirety of much else though, for whatever reason.

As entertaining as they are it feels like quite a lot to take on. This series balances the light and shade really well I thought. I’m seeing that ‘can’t get you out of my head’ is quite highly regarded. Not ready for the Russia one.

[paddy no 11]

I've seen bitter lake
Hyperbormalisation
And century of self

They are all brilliant but equally you feel there are a lot of gaps and leaps of faith required

[Which Tyler]

The 60-second trailer shows Harold, Earl of Wessex (James Norton) and William, Duke of Normandy (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) as they battle for the throne alongside their respective wives, Edith Swan-neck (Emily Beecham) and Matilda (Clémence Poésy). The trailer also features allies and enemies such as King Edward (Eddie Marsan), Lady Emma (Juliet Stevenson), Morcar (Elander Moore), Gytha (Clare Holman), Tostig (Luther Ford), Queen Gunhild (Bo Bragason) and Godwin (Geoff Bell).

King & Conqueror is the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the English throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.





I suppose man-on-man combat between the 2 principles during a shield wall battle was... inevitable

[Numbers]

The Assassin - Good entertainment, Keeley Hawes showing a funnier side assisted very capably by Freddie Highmore
Ballon Boy - This is a standalone documentary and it's quite bonkers
Kaos - Enjoyed this, Goldblum being Glodblum
Scrublands & Scrublands: Silver - Enjoyed both of these, good antipodean entertainment
Bookish - Period set detective drama, as you would expect with Mark Gattiss it's well written
Death Valley - A mostly Welsh cast for this comedy police drama, Timothy Spall unsurprisingly is good in it

[paddy no 11]

2 episodes into dept Q and won't be sticking with it and I'm wondering where I'll go next

If I go through my favourite series

Rectify
The bridge
The wire
Bojack horseman
Succession
Slow horses
Trailer park boys
Peep show
Mindhunter

Is it the quality writing that sets these apart? I've given up on the bear, beef, dept Q, shogun etc.........is this normal?

[Son of Mathonwy]

2 episodes into dept Q and won't be sticking with it and I'm wondering where I'll go next

If I go through my favourite series

Rectify
The bridge
The wire
Bojack horseman
Succession
Slow horses
Trailer park boys
Peep show
Mindhunter

Is it the quality writing that sets these apart? I've given up on the bear, beef, dept Q, shogun etc.........is this normal?

Can't comment on Rectify, The Bridge, Bojack, Trailer Park Boys or Mindhunter, but the others are all very good or better. I thought Beef was good till the end (although I think their is a belated 2nd season in the pipeline).

I think it's mostly down to good writing (although for Peep Show, the cast was essential). There are a lot of great actors out there, they need a good script to work with.

I'll put together a big TV list soon .

[Son of Mathonwy]

Things I've watched in the last 12 months, in (very roughly) descending order of quality. Most are new but some I've finally made time to watch:

Andor (season 2)
Excellent Star Wars for adults, tale of a desperate, against the odds resistance. Leads straight into Rogue One.

Succession
As most of you will know, an excellent Murdoch-inspired tale of evil doings at the top of a media empire with the blackest of humour.

The Good Place
(Obviously I'm a decade late watching this but) superior afterlife comedy. Not a sit-com but really an ongoing story throughout its crazy 4 seasons. Pretty funny and the highest philosophical content of any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended.

You (season 5)
Solid last season of the romantic psychopathic comedy-drama with a satisfyingly conclusion. Best to bring it to a close before the quality dropped too far.

The Rings of Power (season 2)
Decent if mostly uninspired origin of the rings. Suffers a bit from indestructibility of characters who are alive in LOTR but builds to a nice climax.

The Knick
Excellent and strangely modern ~1900 medical drama. Great acting and directing.

From (season 3)
I still like it but the mystery/horror/soap? loses a bit to steam with each season and resembles Lost more and more.

Bodies
(I'm quite a few years late to this but) nice time-twisting drama. Not as good as Dark but takes a good shot at it.

Fargo (season 5)
Yeah, another season of Fargo. it's dark, it's offbeat. Great fun, watch it.

Dune:Prophesy
Prequel show, very much the the Dune equivalent of the Rings of Power and House of the Dragon. Pretty good sci-fi and much better than the critics would have you think. The only issue I have (which is probably the fault of the source books?) Is that despite being set 10,000 years before Dune, almost nothing is different - in technology, in society, even the same ruling family is in place. If it has been set 100 years before, that would have been fine. It should have shown us how the universe of Dune was set up or evolved, but it's in too much of rush to get into similar storylines to the original.

Uzumaki
Good attempt to adapt Junji Ito's classic manga horror to anime. Brave decision to make it monochrome which doesn't quite work because they allow grey tones, so doesn't quite emulate the excellent manga art. Also, it's a bit rushed at only 4 episodes.

Dorohedoro
Mental post-apocalyptic, demons & sorcerers, black but highly silly comedy anime. Can't wait for season 2.

The Eternaut
Slightly offbeat Argentinian world catastrophe story. Due to the old source material it has an unusually old (ie middle-aged) cast. Season 1 has plenty of plot twists throughout.

Ishura
Very solid shonen anime. Big cast of heroes & villains so you can't be sure who will survive an episode. Quite nasty at times and takes a few episodes to get into (because of the large, disparate cast).

Black Doves
Enjoyable undercover sleeper agent show. Doesn't really make sense but probably worth watching.

Teacup
Nice little claustrophobic sci-fi tale. The situation is like a 70s Doctor Who story (minus the Doctor or any British elements) or maybe one of the old Outer Limits. Great fun but will never get a season 2.

The Handmaid's Tale (last season)
This one has gone on a couple of seasons too long but has wisely been finished off while there was some life in it. A decent conclusion albeit way below the quality of the excellent first season.

Akudama Drive
Violent dystopian anime, starts as a black comedy, ends much more seriously. Pretty good.

Sunny
Offbeat mildly humorous mystery about AI in Japan. I think I would have preferred it played more seriously.

Ergo Proxy
Clever but slow and pretentious dystopian future anime. I barely got to the end.

Paradise
Gripping crime/end of the world story with a neat setting. Main character makes suchstupid and unbelievable decisions by the end that I hope there is no season 2.

Go Go Loser Ranger!
Power rangers gets The Boys treatment in this anime. Not bad, not great.

Them
Tonally uneven horror/social commentary re 50s US race issues.

Star Trek Discovery
Oh Christ, this is so fucking bad but (after a very long break from it) l had to watch it to the end to know how bad. The first 2 seasons were actually pretty good (aside from the main character . . . who at least is restrained by not being captain of the ship . . . for a while). But dear god, once the actress is producing the show she becomes the most unbearable, humorless, constantly emoting, infallible hero. And the stories are so, so stupid. I quite like having season-long plots but that doesn't work if the plots are moronic. Anyway, I watched this so you don't have to. Avoid.

[Mikey Brown]

Never heard of quite a few of those, will check some of them out.

Watching the Knick at the moment and it took a couple of episodes to get going (there are some hilariously bad/distracting accents in there) but it’s clicked for me now and I’m really enjoying it.

Rectify, Bojack and Mindhunter are all fantastic, but very, very dark - though in different ways.

Rectify is at times slow and painful, but if it grabs you it really gets ahold. Probably the best acting I’ve ever seen in anything.

Bojack is very funny and easy to watch, but will then absolutely sucker punch you out of nowhere.

Mindhunter is a strange one. The true crime stuff (and the dramatised versions of real cases) made in that glossy Netflixy style generally doesn’t do anything for me, but this feels like David Fincher picking up where he left off with Seven/Zodiac.

I feel like I should probably give Slow Horses a go, but it’s hard not to be put off by yet another cop/detective show.

Lessons in Chemistry is a mini-series that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned here - that was really good.

[paddy no 11]

You'll know in 2 episodes if slow horses is for you or not, it doesn't change much as it progresses