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Post by lugg on Jun 3, 2020 9:52:22 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jun 3, 2020 12:10:57 GMT
We have watched two episodes of GENETIC DETECTIVE now. Though the cold case stories told on this ABC series are interesting, the “genetic genealogist” herself seems to be the main feature, with extended close-ups of her heavily madeup eyes and her gorgeously wavy long blond hair.
Plus there are many commercial breaks, which means the narration tends to give updates and previews at the start and end of each segment, making it take oh so long to tell the story.
And every time “CeCe” says “genetic genealogy” it sounds like the Department of Redundancy Department to me.
Though on second thought, there actually ARE several types of genealogy, including the usual kind that involves combing historical records to find one’s kin.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 16, 2020 0:55:30 GMT
Our library is finally loaning our materials again, however since they have not yet started accepting returned materials - and are not re-starting interlibrary materials exchanges - there’s very little of interest to check out.
Mr. Kimby read an article in the WSJ that suggested some older less known titles, and we picked up curbside and brought home TFE OFFICE, the BBC version. I was ready to quit watching midway through the first episode, but Mr. Kimby wanted to keep watching. We’ve now seen 3 or 4 episodes, and it seems really cringe-worthy.
Ricky Gervais plays a horrible narcissistic office manager, and few of the supporting cast are endearing either. The episode in which an outside expert came in to conduct a teamwork workshop was hard to watch. The scene in which he “fired” the receptionist as a “practical joke” was just mean.
And I was squirming in my seat when the boss brought out his guitar and sang original songs to cheer up his staff.
...It might be beginning to grow on me a bit, like SHAMELESS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM did...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2020 1:12:59 GMT
I used to laugh like mad at the American version of The Office, but found the British one unwatchable for all the reasons you name.
For the record, I find Shameless unwatchable as well.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2020 1:18:44 GMT
This is not a series I watch, but I find their solution to the current problem of not being able to shoot episodes quite clever: “One Day at a Time”: With productions shut down because of the coronavirus, the comedy returns with an animated episode, in which the family tries to cope with the topic of politics when conservative relatives come to visit. source
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Post by mich64 on Jun 16, 2020 1:34:30 GMT
The last episode of the The Blacklist had animated scenes mixed in with what they were able to shoot prior to the shutdown. We enjoyed it but it took a few minutes to understand what was happening, we think we may have missed an opening statement. We thought then that if the epidemic continues past the regular hiatus until filming begins for the fall season schedule, this could be a good idea for some programming. I think it would work for a show like One Day at a Time. Interesting times.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2020 3:30:12 GMT
Indeed! Were the animated parts sort of natural looking?
I just wasted almost an hour of my ever-dwindling lifespan by watching Medici. When I first heard of the show my interest was piqued. That interest was instantly snuffed out when I learned that Richard Madden played the lead. But tonight, in my desperation to find a show to get my teeth into, I watched the first episode. What was I thinking? Did I imagine that Madden had died and come back to life as an actor? The show is boring and wooden.
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Post by mich64 on Jun 16, 2020 4:31:56 GMT
Indeed! Were the animated parts sort of natural looking? We thought it was actually quite well done. It was interesting because it was not as if it just switched from live to animation, it kept going back and forth which made you realize that the shows are not always filmed in sequence.
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 16, 2020 4:39:35 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 16, 2020 6:37:29 GMT
Can't stand Ricky Gervais. Hugely overrated imho.
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Post by htmb on Jun 16, 2020 13:15:55 GMT
I can’t stand Ricky Gervais either, and only watched the first couple episodes of his show. I was dragged into watching the American version a few years ago, and eventually learned to appreciate and enjoy it.
Successfully living with my daughter since early March has required much negotiation. Her tastes in television shows are very different from mine (as are her tastes in reading material and films). We settled on a few series I’d never watch on my own, and we’ve now finished all four seasons of Felicity and seven seasons of Parks and Recreation. I doubt anyone here would like the first, and most would most likely not care for the second. Still left to finish: The Sopranos and Jack Ryan, which I’ll eventually get back to, and The Mindy Project, which I will not.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2020 15:29:11 GMT
Thanks, Mich! Even though I knew movies weren't always filmed in sequence, I somehow thought tv shows were. I see that Blacklist has been on for seven seasons and for whatever reason I've been completely unaware of it. Most interesting, Patrick. I have a friend who is addicted to some American soaps, but those have dried up because of the virus. But I guess in the case of a 59 year old (!) soap, it might have been dangerous to take viewers off their addiction. I had to laugh at this: The characters of actors over the age of 70, who are not allowed back on set yet, will be referred to as self-isolating upstairs or in other rooms.Is "other rooms" code for "the attic"? Mick and Htmb, I always felt the same way about Gervais, unable to watch him for even a few seconds. Watching After Life really changed my perception of him. There is some conversation about that further up the thread, with Cheery (another Gervais-hater) even recommending one of his movies. I definitely recommend After Life. I was really amused by a great deal of Parks & Recreation, but gave up on the last season almost immediately because of it's pointless weirdness.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 16, 2020 16:57:05 GMT
Even though I knew movies weren't always filmed in sequence, I somehow thought tv shows were. Actually, a lot of television series are filmed in blocks of 2 or 4 to save money and time.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2020 18:09:05 GMT
Of course that makes sense and I would imagine that making more than one at a time would also add to the sense of continuity in a series. I figured movies film out of sequence because of the way sets have to be used. And now tv series can be every bit as elaborate and expensive as movies, it seems.
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Post by lugg on Jun 17, 2020 14:27:19 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 17, 2020 15:12:52 GMT
I'm watching the old series Torchwood again. It's amazing how uneven it is -- some of the episodes are totally brilliant while others are quite mediocre. But since I have the full DVD set with all of the extras I am a happy camper to see all of the hidden details and the behind-the-scenes nuggets. I know that I will watch every bit through to the end again, even though the American co-production of the final (4th) season makes me cringe in advance. That is quite certainly what killed it off even though they probably thought that turning something similar to Doctor Who into one of the recent Mission Impossible movies would be a wonderful innovation. It wasn't. I also have a problem with the 3rd season, even though it was brilliant. Killing off just about all of the major characters is not going to make you any friends in the viewing public.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 17, 2020 16:28:48 GMT
Over the past 3 nights the BBC have been running The Salisbury Poisonings about the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018 by the KGB. Absolutely riveting and I recommend it highly.
Quite terrifying about what might have happened.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 17, 2020 17:16:54 GMT
I watched the last episode of Picard on Amazon last night. I was a sobbing heap.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 17, 2020 18:54:07 GMT
I watched that a couple of weeks ago. It was emotional.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 18, 2020 1:18:12 GMT
What is Picard, please?
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 18, 2020 6:38:30 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jun 21, 2020 15:50:36 GMT
We finished the first season of Jack Ryan last night by binge watching the last three episodes. Though I enjoyed watching it, I was also reminded why I don’t typically watch suspenseful drama about terrorists. My dreams were peppered with violent scenes from the show. What made it even more surreal were the Paris scenes shot in some of the places I often visit.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 23, 2020 2:59:41 GMT
Having enjoyed Season 3 of VEEP, we’ve started over with Season 1. We enjoy it pretty much, but you have to be tolerant of profanity to watch it, particularly “f bombs”.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2020 3:43:27 GMT
I would have welcomed a nice simple "fuck" in that series at times. At least I know what that is, unlike some of the baroque combinations they'd come out with.
I am attempting to watch Barkskins. I say attempting because after viewing two episodes I am still on the fence about it, and more critical than anything else. The views of Canadian forestland are the best parts so far -- nature in all its majesty with no broad acting or strained accents. This is one of those shows where you might be better off if you've read the book first. That's not going to happen because I'm not really an Annie Proulx fan.
The viewer enters New France in the company of a boatload of indentured servants. In short order several of the story's principals are trotted out to perform bits, leaving us to sort it all out later. Each and every character starts out as he or she means to go on, meaning each is a one-note performance. Also, the show is dark as hell in the sense of it needs more light so you can see what is going on. Moody and atmospheric yes, but hard to see. It's of a piece with the brooding, ominous background music, which sounds as though it came from some horror movie that never got filmed.
Several mysteries and secrets have already been shown or alluded to, so I'll probably watch at least the third episode to see if I'll get pulled in.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 23, 2020 7:02:21 GMT
There's a new 'period drama' on the beeb atm called The Luminaries Jeff's watching it, I'm enjoying the scenery and costumes (set in New Zealand). It's an adaptation of Eleanor Catton's Man Booker Prize doorstopper. It's ok.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 23, 2020 15:05:45 GMT
I continue to be a proud viewer of low brow series, so last night I watched 3 episodes of Hudson and Rex. This is a new incarnation of Rex from the original Austrian Kommissar Rex series (1994-2004). I probably never would have ever known its existence until the year that I had to shelter my mother while waiting for entrance to a nursing home. She would watch it in the afternoon and would complain if I phoned her from the office when it was on. So I learned to avoid that time of day (and also the German series Ein Fall für zwei which also fascinated her). And of course I watched both series with her when I wasn't working.
So, as you know, my mother died (as did 2 of Rex's police companions, in very tragic episodes -- my mother was devastated each time), but Rex (who had very short mourning periods) moved to Italy from 2008 to 2015 and even went back to Austria for a few episodes thanks to the co-production between ORD and RAI.
The fact that French television (and probably lots of other European televisions) has shown this series constantly over the years, indicates that Rex is irresistible, a wonder dog even better than Lassie.
And so now we have the Canadian series, based in St. John's, Newfoundland. Thank god, they did not try to explain Rex moving from Italy to Canada. He is just a new incarnation. Perhaps Rex puppies were distributed around the world since there have been Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Slovak spinoffs. I saw somewhere that 15 different dogs have played Rex.
There have been 32 episodes so far, and Rex is as clever as ever. His police partner would probably never solve the cases without him.
I use my brain enough without having to use it when I watch television.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2020 18:15:38 GMT
There's a new 'period drama' on the beeb atm called The Luminaries Jeff's watching it, I'm enjoying the scenery and costumes Ohhh ~ thank you! I am in a terrible costume drama drought, which is how I wound up trying to enjoy Barkskins. The Luminaries will free me! Rex is as clever as ever. His police partner would probably never solve the cases without him. I'd definitely watch that -- thanks. Proof?
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Post by lugg on Jun 28, 2020 9:41:42 GMT
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Post by questa on Jun 28, 2020 10:19:26 GMT
Heads up...Just finished watching "Operation Buffalo" a 6 part story based on the atom bomb tests that were held in 1956 at Maralinga in South Australia. It is funny in parts and has military, ASIO (like CIA), prostitutes, spies,UK generals doing the "dress for dinner" out in the desert, aboriginals and is filmed in the desert and Adelaide.
If you get the chance see it, a lot of original film is included. and...yep...Oz sat back and let UK blast us with nuclear bombs which covered a lot of our towns and productive ground.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 28, 2020 12:34:27 GMT
Season Two of PEAKY BLINDERS was available at the library, so we jumped in without seeing season 1. I didn’t expect to like it but I do. It’s very well done and well-acted.
In some ways it reminds me of The Deuce, with James Franco playing two brothers in a criminal enterprise.
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