Current TV Boxset Addiction

[pictsy]

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Three

The graduation series.  This marks the end of the high school aspect of the show.  I'd like to say this is where the show finally finds its feet, but I don't think that's quite true.  It is more solid than the previous seasons and it does wrap itself up pretty neatly.  There are some good one off stories and a decent arc.  I think Faith's fall from grace should perhaps have happened earlier, but this is still an episodic program and not a serialised one, so I could be wrong about that.  Nevertheless, it's great.

Then I watched the first episode of Season Four.  Oh dear.  Season Four is my least favourite.  The college setting is weak, the attempts to keep the gang together are largely contrived, the story arc for the season is dorky and the new characters and main villain are lame.  Spike does return and there are still some good episodes like "Hush" to look forward to.  Nevertheless, that opening episode just exudes all the problems the season has as a whole.  Despite getting why it was done thematically, Buffy getting beat down by a chump nobody vampire after taking out a full fledged demon mayor gives mental whiplash.  The whole episode feels like the writers trying reassure the audience that yes, a lot of things will be different but it'll be okay cos it's still the Buffy you love.  And that what might be what stunts the season.  Sure, Season Five has annoying kid sister Dawn, but it does make more of the effort to start moving Buffy away from that school setting (plus a load of other great things that make it better than Season Four).  I'm getting ahead of myself.

[repoman]

Just finished s2 of The Tick.  Gutted to find out it has been cancelled.  We live in a golden age of TV but the problem is that really good shows just get cancelled for seemingly no reason.

[Colin YNWA]

Just finished s2 of The Tick.  Gutted to find out it has been cancelled.  We live in a golden age of TV but the problem is that really good shows just get cancelled for seemingly no reason.

Yeah this was a fun show. When we say no reason you gotta figure its not getting the viewing figures?

[repoman]

True.

No reason for it to get bad viewing figures though!

Working through S3 of Ash vs. Evil Dead.  S2 was perfect but I've put off S3 this whole time.

Watched a thing on Netflix called The Speed Cubers.  An oddly heartwarming documentary about people who can solve Rubik's Cubes in 5 seconds.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Swamp Thing, on dvd. The recent show, not the old one with Dick Durock.
Hmm, well, they are trying at least. Swampy still looks ridiculous- a man in a green rubber suit- despite the cg enhancements, and the structure seems to have fallen into a repetitive format of

Something supernatural happens in the swamp involving yokels
Swampy notices
Abby comes out into the swamp to meet Swampy. He gives her a clue.
She goes home and investigates.
She goes back to the swamp.
Swampy solves it.
Repeat.

Plus, the cast have all decided to mumble throughout.

I'm not overly enjoying it, but will persevere.

SBT

[Mardroid]

True.

No reason for it to get bad viewing figures though!

There seem to be a number of things which are enjoyed by the majority of people who watch them yet just don’t get that many people watching them for whatever reason. (Good example would be a certain film about a certain Lawman and his psychic partner... what was it called again? 😉 Okay, that was a film, and it actually did pretty well in the U.K., but I’m sure you get what I mean.)

I seem to remember The Tick being widely advertised. I wonder if the zany goofiness of the costumes etc, put some viewers off, who were hoping for something more dark and gritty, like the Netflix Marvel stuff available at the time? A shame. I’m wish people would take more chances, but I’m probably guilty of that too, albeit with other genres.

Working through S3 of Ash vs. Evil Dead.  S2 was perfect but I've put off S3 this whole time.

Series 3 is pretty good too! I have these on blu-ray. Shame they didn’t continue. Another example of a well liked series that didn’t continue, although I think that was partly the home it initially found. I think it should have been placed on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but instead it was on Spike in the States and Virgin Media over here (which you could only get if you had Virgin cable I think). It did find its way to Netflix a good while later, but it’s the initial viewing figures they take notice of! It was a long time before it hit British Netflix, and last I checked we’re  still waiting for 3!

I recently watched The Haunting of Hill House series on Netflix. After watching episode 1, I wasn’t sure I’d continue. While I do like horror, I’m a big girl’s blouse/big boy’s shirt* where ghost story films are concerned. (Embarrassing memories now of a lady friend laughing at me jumping when we watched that Conjuring movie about the demon nun job a couple of years back.) And there were quite a few jump scares in this series.

It was a a couple of days before I watched episode 2, and then I was pretty much hooked. Such a good drama. Scary, but also sad and poignant. I’m not sure I quite buy the actions of a certain character I understand she is highly sensitive and the house was driving her crazy, and that lying 20s sauce-pot turned up and whispered poison in her ear, but I got the impression she was too strong and clever to go THAT route. Even one of the other ghostly denizens warned her “That one lies!”

But overall it was very enjoyable stuff.I loved the twist concerning the Bent Necked lady. One of the creepiest ghosts which caused the most jump scares for me. I started off scared, then angry (on someone’s behalf) then pity and sadness when I realised what was going on. Quite an emotional trip. I hope they don’t take too long to produce the second series, which I understand concerns another haunted house. Makes sense as this story is wrapped up satisfactorily.

*Thought I’d give the option. Don’t want to seem sexist.😁

[Tiplodocus]

By the end of it, I was kinda disappointed that ghosts don't exist. And that there is no chance of one jumping out on me when I go into our darkened cellar.

[Mardroid]

I think they very well may exist. I could tell you a couple of things people I've known have encountered but I guess that's for another thread.

They weren't as chatty as the characters in this programme for sure.

[repoman]

 

Series 3 is pretty good too! I have these on blu-ray. Shame they didn’t continue. Another example of a well liked series that didn’t continue, although I think that was partly the home it initially found. I think it should have been placed on Netflix or Amazon Prime, but instead it was on Spike in the States and Virgin Media over here (which you could only get if you had Virgin cable I think). It did find its way to Netflix a good while later, but it’s the initial viewing figures they take notice of! It was a long time before it hit British Netflix, and last I checked we’re  still waiting for 3!

I'm half way through it and it's so much fun.  That battle with the toddler in episode 5.  Jesus christ!

having just finished rewatching The IT Crowd, I've gone back to Black Books.

Once Ash vs. Evil Dead s3 is done, it'll be Umbrella Academy s2 after.

[sheridan]

Watching an episode a night of the Brave New World Series, I remember as a youngun we were supposed to read the original novel for year 11 English lit class but I bugged out and never read it (qt the time I was a Fantasy nerd and not really into sci-fi especially something from the 30’s!!!), so I have a question for those that have read it - was it full of sex like the newer TV series because if so my teen self missed out.  I have no doubt the series has been modernised quite a bit from the original (a controlling AI probably didn’t feature in the original or if it did Aldis really was way ahead of the curve) but it is quite interesting and certainly well acted, as he world is also very well realised and you can see a decent amount of money up on the screen, I’m enjoying it quite a bit but was wondering what book lovers think of it compared to the original novel, also is the original novel still worth a read (I’m not big into classic sci-fi the oldest novel I read wAs Tiger Tiger by Alfred Bester but I did really enjoy it as I could see the ideas some of my favourite modern authors stole from it).

CU Radbacker

Aldous Huxley rather than Brian Aldiss. 


I've not seen the series but the book does feature sex as worldbuilding (and was banned in 1967 India as 'pornography').

[Apestrife]

LEGION More or less binged s1-3. The constant wierdness, song numbers and montages almost got to me towards the end. Wish I had the time to watch it like the first time around, an episode now and then. Bit of an overload. That said. Still fun with some imaginative concepts which still feels fresh. Aubrey Plaza is scary and scary amazing.

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqEvPpaaXbs

[Keef Monkey]

I know what you mean about the weirdness becoming a bit overpowering with Legion, it never quite started to grate on me although I often felt like it might. All said and done I look back on the show with incredible fondness, because as bonkers as it might have been I can't think of another show that's anything like it and I've come to really value that these days. I put it up there with Mr Robot in that regard, where even if it doesn't always quite work it's still doing something you don't get anywhere else and that's a pretty special thing.

[Radbacker]

Umbrella Academy season 2 on Netflix, I really liked season 1 but season 2 is even more fun.  Strongly recommend it if you like your supes

CU Radbacker

[Dandontdare]

I'm halfway through that - It is better than the first season, it seems to hang together a bit more coherently rather then jumping about so much. It also works so much better as a TV series than a comic - I bought the first trade and was completely underwhelmed by the comic version, but this is a lot of fun. I love the MiB/X-files/Vector 13 type guy and Aiden Gallagher does a great job of portraying a 58 year old teenager. Ellen Page's fivehead is a bit distracting though.

The music choices are usually good, the only one that dropped like a clanger was "Golden Brown" over Diego and Lila's love scene. *cringe*

I'd also started Futureman, but I've had to pause that one as my brain can't follow two time-travel-to-the-sixties shows at the same time.

[PsychoGoatee]

I'm on Cheers season 7, it rules. The rise of Frasier Crane.