Be Excellent To Each Other

I liked them, but I'm with you - that they're cautiously making their way through how things are now is reflected on screen. Still a pleasure to have the characters back. The Rookie and SWAT have both tried to include the subject, too, so I guess everyone with a police show has had quite a moment.

I felt B99 just got it wrong. I don't know what their options were tbh, cancelling the show might have been a more realistic choice.

SWAT went max cringe, but then it generally always does. The early pandemic episodes were just godawful.

It felt like such a sharp sharp drop, very suddenly going from something I was really enjoying to something that I barely cared for. I felt very similar with Archer too, when it took the big turn it just lost me completely.

I just hope there’s one more funny Doug Judy episode in this last B99 series. Or maybe some with Hitchcock and Scully again somehow - those two were feeling a bit like the breakout for me in the last few series when they were given some more screen time.

"What, because of... - the virus?!?" Even the lines (and their delivery) referring to the pandemic seemed tentative, as if they'd never really decided if they should or not. They sort of realised their mistake, and dropped mentions and masks, but that also seemed odd, given the earlier lip service. Still, I'm never watching it for the dialogue.

Final final space

https://youtu.be/bFg3ljZF2kA

This week’s Ted Lasso is some of the best tv ever.

I'm really looking forward to watching the new series of Ted lasso. Decided to prep myself last night starting from the beginning with my father in law. He wasn't fussed so not sure how far we will get. But fuck me, it only took one episode to have that fucking theme tune stuck in my head again. An awful piece of music but utterly impossible to dislodge.

Babylon 5 is being rebooted with JMS running it

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv ... 235021237/

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/ ... 9221043202

To answer all the questions, yes, it’s true, Babylon 5 is in active development as a series for the CW. We have some serious fans over at the network, and they’re eager to see this show happen. I’m hip deep into writing the pilot now, and will be running the series upon pickup.

— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) September 27, 2021

I thought I'd seen something on this, but I couldn't find anything. But four hours at the capitol was heart breaking. And i think many Tory voters are as delusional, and may end up doing the same thing

It was on BBC2 so I claimed it for God and country.

Yes, it was a very terrifying documentary. I agree about the risk to the delusioned, and fear we are already on that path, because people won't say Brexit isn't a disaster due to Brexit itself being a shit idea, but because it just wasn't done right. I see this with Johnson's attacks on May's deal (which, by the way, was pretty bad on its own terms and ought to have been ditched), and sense that Johnson's own downfall will be down to "selling out" rather than being even worse.

As with all cults, it's the converts who are the worst. If you became aware that everything you thought you knew was wrong, and that the world is governed by secret giant space bears and those who worship them, wouldn't you want to spread this news to everyone you knew, and try to end this ursine tyranny? You can't reason someone out of something they didn't reason themselves into, after all..

Apple TV “EXCLUSIVE” big premier show ultimate edition that’s being advertised a lot:

INVASION!

What a title! Aliens, probably!?

Episode 1: nothing happens. No invasion. The best thing about the whole episode is that it’s directed like an M&S advert. If anyone watches it, be amazed by how loud the woman eating the celery is.

Episode 2: nothing happens. Still no invasion. BUT there’s marines who shoot a thing because, well, if you’ve got guns and see something you don’t recognise then just shoot it, m’Kay.

Episode 3: less than nothing happens. Still no invasion. Some English kids do Lord of the Flies in a quarry which is, apparently, TV that people want to watch.

Episode 4: COMING SOON! I CANT WAIT, AMAZING, THRILLING, ETC!

I’m enjoying it more than you appear to be. It’s not very fast paced though.

Similarly, Foundation looks stunning, but is also a bit slow and hard to follow.

I'm finding Foundation a bit of a dull slog, I must admit

I've only seen the first two, but agree totally with Sat's view of Invasion. The dialogue! Bloody hell. Maybe they'll find a writer who has been around people some time. Or maybe we've all just forgotten.

Also with the Foundation a dull slog vibe, too.

Episode 4: Less than fuck all happens. Still no invasion. The “highlights” are: a kid runs away; the Japanese hear a gurgle on a radio; kids climb out a quarry and a solider finds his buddy in a hospital. The latter reveals a tiny tiny glimpse (less than a second) of an alien which looks like they're gearing up for the reveal to be … another CGI black blob.

I’m not saying this is terrible but it’s pretty fucking terrible. Zero tension whatsoever. And, urgh, some of the worst child actors.

And yet I’m still enjoying it.

What I’d prefer though, is a really good modern version of V, unlike the tat we got ten years back.

What they should be hip deep in is rebuilding all the models and sets in modern tools and training the AI to deepfake the original cast in* and just rereleasing the original 4 seasons**. It's not like the painfully spelled out messaging has got LESS relevant in the last 20 years.


* And training that guy how to pronounce serotonin.
** 4! And it's a shame the TV movies and spinoffs never arrived too.

Inside Job is something I hope gets more chance.

We've started The Orville now - I have it in my head it's one of those "takes a few episodes to settle in" things? Not that after 3 episodes we're already looking for something else, it's just that "star Trek but with divorce jokes" seems an odd thing to have been green lit.

I gave up on The Orville after 2 (maybe 3, I forget) episodes. It wasn't bad but it just really didn't grab my attention.

Black Summer is so, so shit. The way that the episodes are broken into smaller segments with 'header' titles was neat at first, and it seemed cool when the separate parts started to come together or be shown from a different perspective.... at first..... but after a few episodes it became jarring and irritating. The final episode in S1 where everyone gets assault rifles and goes on a rampage is rubbish.

Very poor acting, and a lot of it just doesn't really make much sense. On the plus side, it was quite tense in places.

Something that we are watching and enjoying, again a bit late to it, is Schitt's Creek. It's good, light hearted, viewing.

Season 1 of Ted Lasso is watched.

Overall, very enjoyable; somewhat predictable, but with characters you can’t be help enjoy watching. It really helps that the dialogue isn’t fucking terrible and is, for the most part, really well written. There’s more than a few duff lines (especially as the series rolls on) but only because they stick out like a sore thumb amongst some excellent scripts.

Oh and I see Tom Hanks is filming some other thing for Apple about him and a dog and a robot which looks great but could also be fucking terribly drawn out into hour long episodes where fuck all happens like shitty invasion. Here’s hoping aye?

The latest episode of INVASION has aliens in it!!!

It’s probably the worst episode yet. The “acting” is astonishingly terrible, seriously, it’s horrendously bad, for a multibazillion dollar show from the biggest corporation on the planet.

Artificial tension between characters who are supposed to be being quiet? Annoying. Stealthing around a house from an alien dog? Yawnsome. Shouting at each other when there’s an alien about? Why not. Annoying kids that won’t stop crying? Of course. Doing this one thing everyone is telling you not to do? Natch. This woman being dragged through a ceiling? Hilarious in that it’s hilariously slow with characters undecided whether anything is actually happening below the ceiling. Screaming at a dead alien? Yeah yeah.

I swear, the whole programme is filmed like it’s a masterpiece of an epic but there’s no tension here. At all. I couldn’t give two fucks. It’s failing to generate any tension because it’s all been done before. And better. Not only has an alien invasion been done better but the moment to moment things are damn near fucking cliches by now. I swear the whole episode was like a cut and paste from other films and programmes where people have been sneaking around a house from something bad.

What an absolute fuck up this is.

In a stunning bit of stupidity, Star Trek Discovery has been pulled from Netflix in the UK, 48 hours before season 4 premiers.

It will only be available on the Paramount streaming service which doesn’t launch here until next year.

Oh FFS

FTFY.

Indeed. I’m also concerned that they will remove the rest of the Trek shows from Netflix as well.

I assume that Lower Decks and Picard will also be at risk of leaving Amazon, and Strange New Worlds will go straight to Paramount (or as The Vision pointed out, the high seas).

Peacock has landed on Sky, which is NBCUniversal's streaming service
https://www.androidauthority.com/what-i ... k-1030392/

Not a huge amount on it, but it does have Friday Night Lights and House, which I might rewatch... again...

Clear eyes, full hearts...

New shoes

Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch…?

Just finished The Orville, I thought it was well done as a parallel Star Trek.. Shame they only made 2 seasons.

HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU

https://orville.fandom.com/wiki/The_Orville/Season_3

That is great news. Now to find something else to watch.

Riverdale.

I see series 6 of riverdale started

Don't encourage him

I will plump for Agent Carter

First time I've heard it called that.

he he

Dopesick is riveting, compelling and enraging. Highly recommended. Disney+

I enjoyed it. It’s a bit silly in the second series, but I still wanted more of it

I didn't enjoy the second season at all.

Yeah, my son and I stopped watching after a few episodes of season 2.

It is not that good, and not getting better. 3 episodes to go?

No idea. I gave up after maybe.... 3 episodes of season 2. Which was disappointing as I really enjoyed the first.

Inside Job on Netflix is laugh out loud funny.

I just started that last night, thought it had promise. Now it will all be on you if it disappoints from here. On you.

Anyone else watching "Wheel of Time"?

It's on Amazon Prime, they've released three episodes of it today, and then I think one a week going forward.

My brother had the books, which I read most of them as a teenager/early 20s, and I can't really remember much, but I do like a good fantasy story.

So far, it seems alright, if a little on the cheap side.

I think I prefer last year's "Cursed" (on Netflix) at the moment, but we'll see how it develops.

I haven't watched it yet, but based on the trailers.. I think I'd like to.

I'm a huge fan of the books.

Episode 1, not sure about it. 2 and 3, thoroughly enjoyed! It's not going to win any awards and it's a bit The CW does GoT, but I was pleasantly surprised.
They have made a couple of significant changes from the books, which is interesting.