Rate the last series you completed out of 5 - No spoilers!

[schmojo]

Made for Love S2

 

I loved the first series, as a Black Mirror-adjacent tale of a Jobs/Zuck type in their isolated, futuristic world. The cast were great (Billy Magnussen, Christina Miloti, Patti Harrison) and it was always quite light, if not always coherent.

 

Didn't even know there was a season 2 til last week, but I rushed through it. It's fine. Fun to revisit the cast and locations, but I was fairly tuned out by the time it finished. And utterly do not care what happens next.

 

S1 - 3.5/5   S2 - 2/5

 

Never Have I Ever

 

Written by Mindy Kaling, I came to think of this as a US version of Sex Education. It's a sweet, modern interpretation of teenage life that doesn't rely on old fashioned tropes of good and bad kids. Easy watching, and very tactful with its representation - the principal character is an Indian-American teenager, which is fairly rare.

 

Recommended entirely for hangover days or similar.

 

4/5

[Kingpin]

The Looming Tower - 4/5

 

FBI/CIA/911 mini-series with a great cast. This was really well done - frustrating and poignant. I love some Jeff Daniels in a dramatic TV role, and he is good in this. I thought Tahar Rahim as Agent Soufan was the standout. He has some great scenes, particularly in the final episode. There are so many great actors like Bill Camp and Michael Stuhlbarg who you know from a dozen other things but never know their names (I had to google them).

 

I did a lot of googling of the real versions of some characters after this - went down a bit of a rabbit hole about what some people got up to in the aftermath. It makes me want to watch Generation Kill as a follow-on.

[schmojo]

Hacks

 

Honestly, I fucking loved season 1 of Hacks. TV has a certain squeamishness about female relationships, and this tackled it head on. It's whip-smart, contemporary, and kind. Jean Smart is revelatory, and Hannah Einbinder plays the ingenue perfectly.

 

I didn't even know a second season had been commissioned until this week.

 

Chewed up in no time at all. It's a beautiful show and I hope more people get to see it. It not only left me misty-eyed, it perfectly skewered the kind of media that tried so hard to make those artficial moments.

 

4/5

[Bazjam]

On 09/11/2022 at 22:34, Silent Runner said:

Interview with The Vampire

 

Finished this tonight, it's only 7 episodes so I got through it over a couple of weeks, and I thought it was tremendous. Violent, camp, gothic and pretty funny in places. I've not read the book or seen the film so it was all new to me. Hopefully there's a season 2 or a season 1 part 2 because I really want to see where the story goes.

 

4.5/5

Part 2 has already been confirmed. They spent millions on getting the rights so I guess it was inevitable.

I loved this show.

[Vimster]

Friday Night Dinner (series 2)

I avoided this sitcom for the reason I tend to avoid anything where most people I hear about say "oh that Friday Night Dinner, it's really good", the more they talk about it the less I want to watch it. But I decided to give the first episode a go so I could at least form more of an opinion, like I had done with Fleabag. Unlike Fleabag, which just left me cold as I couldn't relate to it on any level, I was surprised how much I got into Friday Night Dinner. I'm not Jewish and I had to look up what a Friday night dinner was all about, but this is so well-written you don't really need to know, the comedy just feels natural. Makes a change to see Tamsin Grieg not playing a hopeless singleton, and seeing Paul Ritter in this knowing he's no longer with us is bitter-sweet. By the end of series 2 the quality seems to be consistently high. 

 

4/5

[kthxbliz]

The Orville

 

I really was quite pleasantly surprised with this. What started as something that felt like a low-budget Red Dwarf-like Star Trek rip-off evolved into a fantastic lovingly crafted tribute with a lot of heart and care put into it. It somehow managed to tackle moral challenges and topics in a more humanistic way than Star Trek ever did. It felt more down to earth, relatable and most of the cast were likeable. Only a few gripes really mostly around the initial few episodes and some of season three, but overall a must-watch for any Star Trek fan and really any sci-fi fan will probably find plenty to like. 
 

4 Quantum Drives out of 5.

[James Lyon]

Resident Evil - This ain't your daddy's Resident Evil. More changes to the concept than even the movie, which is saying something. I liked the premise of having a before and after of some apocalypse incident, but the before dragged a bit since it had to string out the answer of how it happened - the sterile South African town setting gave it some character, though, I guess. The after had some good monster moments but I wasn't sure where it was going overall. It did get more entertaining over the last few episodes when a certain character gets to let loose. I guess we'll never know where it was going to go, though, as it got cancelled. Can't say I'll miss a second season. 

3/5

[choddo]

“High” on BBC, about the young woman who was jailed for smuggling drugs in Peru. I didn’t complete it. I didn’t even get to the end of Episode 1 because it’s boring and the audio mix is so apalling you can hardly hear what anyone is saying.

 

0.

[PK]

12 hours ago, choddo said:

“High” on BBC, about the young woman who was jailed for smuggling drugs in Peru. I didn’t complete it. I didn’t even get to the end of Episode 1 because it’s boring and the audio mix is so apalling you can hardly hear what anyone is saying.

 

0.

 

Yeah I tried to watch that after a recommendation on here from someone whose recommendations are usually flawless and I nearly wrote them a strongly worded PM of complaint three quarters of the way through episode one. It's shite.

[Silent Runner]

Gaslit

 

An 8 part drama telling the Watergate story from the perspective of the burglars, the plotters in the White House, the CIA etc. It has a great cast - Julia Roberts, Dan Stevens, Shea Wigham, Sean Penn and loads of other recognisable faces. It's All the Presidents Men but from the other end of the investigation. 

 

The hook here is they're telling stories of people involved in the scandal but whose stories haven't been told before; the security guard who discovered the break-in, Nixons attorneys wife, the CIA guy running the ops, the cops investigating the break-in etc. 

 

I thought this was excellent in parts but didn't really justify it's 8 parts and was struggling to hold my attention by the end. The individual tales are interesting but it's a bit fragmented and it never really pulls it together. There's a few scenes that are styled to look like they're taking place in All the Presidents Men but in a different location - the bit when the burglars are caught is filmed from the look-out spot on the other side of the street, the opposite of what we see in ATPM. 

 

The cast are excellent, Julia Roberts and Shea Wigham in particular, it looks really nice and captures the 70's really accurately. It just falls a little short of excellent but had some quality moments.

 

3.5/5

[iknowgungfu]

Star Trek - Strange New Worlds 4/5

 

I really enjoyed this. Tight contained episodes with a decent overarching story thread. Good Cast and casting. Can’t wait for another series….there is going to be another series right?  Quality theme tune too. 
 

Star Trek - Lower Decks 3/5

 

Binged a lot of these whilst I’ll over the last few weeks. I thought it started out a bit daft and really relied on referencing previous Star Trek stuff. By the time I’d finished Season 3 they were all fairly decent. I wouldn’t say they were laugh out loud funny but I did start rooting for the characters and certainly think it is worth sticking with. 

[ScouserInExile]

The English

 

An English lady travels to the wild west to avenge the death of her son, meets an ex US army native American and all kinds of brutally happens. With amazing scenery porn.

 

Absolutely brilliant series. Loved it from start to finish. Just excellent everything throughout.

 

5/5

[cassidy]

22 hours ago, iknowgungfu said:

Star Trek - Strange New Worlds 4/5

 

I really enjoyed this. Tight contained episodes with a decent overarching story thread. Good Cast and casting. Can’t wait for another series….there is going to be another series right?  Quality theme tune too. 
 

Star Trek - Lower Decks 3/5

 

Binged a lot of these whilst I’ll over the last few weeks. I thought it started out a bit daft and really relied on referencing previous Star Trek stuff. By the time I’d finished Season 3 they were all fairly decent. I wouldn’t say they were laugh out loud funny but I did start rooting for the characters and certainly think it is worth sticking with. 

Some lower decks jokes are defo laugh out loud funny. 

 

But humour is subjective. 

 

Try Star Trek Prodigy. It's well worth your time going by your ratings above. 

[iknowgungfu]

I put that on for one of my kids but I bounced of it pretty quickly. It didn’t seem remotely Trek like to me (but I didn’t get passed the first episode to en fair). 
 

 

In fairness I did laugh at some of the stuff but when I see that sort of animation style I always assume it should be swinging for big laughs a la Family Guy, Rick and Morty etc. 
 

The fact that they actually out some storylines in there made it all the better to be fair and I like the fact it was focussed on minor characters really around major ones. A bit Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 

[Arn X Treme]

Pitch Perfect "Bumper In Berlin" S1 3/5

 

A spin-off featuring both Bumper (Adam DeVine) & one of the members of Das Sound Machine.

 

There's some chemistry between Heidi & Bumper, which after a google seems to be because they were in "Modern Family" together. 

 

Pretty simple plot, and If you like Adam DeVine & his character from the movies, you'll get on with this. 

 

Honestly, I like DeVine so that was always going to be a pull when it came to the show (And there are a few Workaholics references as well as some of his own personal touches) but there were a few points when it seemed to drag. 

 

I'm glad I watched it and will be watching S2 when it releases.

 

[Benny]

Star Wars: Andor

 

5/5

 

It's almost as good as Better Call Saul.

 

I know how insane that sounds. But that's how it is.

[Masterbeef]

Moon Knight

 

Two hours of story stretched over a lot longer runtime. Excellent cast 3/5

 

Ju On Origins

 

One of the most fucked up things I have ever seen. 3/5

[James Lyon]

1 hour ago, DualSense said:

Andor 5/5

 

5/5 if you like Star Wars and just needed something much better to come along after the last few attempts or 5/5 full stop?

[Benny]

17 minutes ago, James Lyon said:

 

5/5 if you like Star Wars and just needed something much better to come along after the last few attempts or 5/5 full stop?

 

5/5 full stop, period, and exclamation mark.

[Waggo]

Andor - 5/5 from me as well. Stupendously great TV, and as I just said in the dedicated thread it is objectively speaking the best Star Wars product ever produced.

 

2022 will be a year long remembered.  It has seen both the resurgence of Star Trek with ‘Strange New World’s’ and now Star Wars with ‘Andor’

 

 

[cassidy]

Andor 5/5. 

 

This is the same year I watched Ted Lasso, Mr Inbetween, The Bear and ST:SNW and Sandman finally became a telly show. 

 

I did not expect this from Andor. 

[James Lyon]

Wow. Better get it watched. Zero expectations for it before now.

[Hawklord]

Andor 5/5. Could be set anywhere and work as 4/5 but how it ties in to the bigger picture upped it to a 5

[Boothjan]

Andor

 

I'm one of those Star Wars shmucks that Disney love.  Because I've enjoyed all their TV shows and films - even the cheesy pew pew lightsaber stuff.  Actually, ESPECIALLY the lightsaber stuff.  Obi Wan was ace.  And as a huge fan of Rogue One, I was as excited as anyone about Cassian Andor's spin off series.

 

Well this is VERY good - and a massive change in direction and tone from anything we've seen on screen in the Star Wars universe.  It's definitely something that anyone can enjoy with no prior knowledge of Star Wars - it works perfectly as a stand alone, and I don't think that can be said for anything else they've done (Disney and pre-Disney).

 

Andor is beautifully shot, superbly acted, the music is spot on, the plot is clever - in fact, I can't really think of a negative.  A common complaint of Star Wars is that they don't explore other eras often enough, and the time period of prequels through to sequels is bloated with fan service and over-familiarity.  Andor manages to stick two fingers up to this and prove that if the idea is good enough, if the plot works and the writing/direction is good, there's more than enough life in the galaxy.

 

It's a tense, exciting, dramatic, bleak and engaging series that you MUST watch even if you don't like Star Wars.  If you do, I daresay you've already seen it.

 

5/5

[ScouserInExile]

Didn't realise Andor was getting such good reviews. We really enjoyed The Mandelorian (sp?) but fell off the Bobba Fett thing pretty hard. Do have been a bit wary about the new Star Wars output. Definitely going to give Andor a go now.

 

My missus hadn't seen Rogue One yet, does she need to before watching this?

[Boothjan]

20 minutes ago, ScouserInExile said:

Didn't realise Andor was getting such good reviews. We really enjoyed The Mandelorian (sp?) but fell off the Bobba Fett thing pretty hard. Do have been a bit wary about the new Star Wars output. Definitely going to give Andor a go now.

 

My missus hadn't seen Rogue One yet, does she need to before watching this?

 

No - if anything, it'd be awesome to watch Andor and have no idea what happens in R1.  I guarantee she'll want to watch it afterwards.

[pledge]

Ugh. I always get drawn into watching Marvel/Star Wars shows despite never liking them due to praise here. Last time was never again but all these 5/5 for Andor...

[PK]

2 hours ago, pledge said:

Ugh. I always get drawn into watching Marvel/Star Wars shows despite never liking them due to praise here. Last time was never again but all these 5/5 for Andor...

 

It's honestly nothing like any other Marvel or Star Wars show, it's more like a Cold War thriller set in space. It's superb.

 

5/5

[SpagMasterSwift]

Andor

 

It's a radical shift for Star Wars, a rebellious off shoot which sort of feels like it got away with existing some how. It asks what were the original ideas behind Star Wars and then takes them seriously. It makes the galaxy feel dangerous, the threats real and the cause worth fighting for. Plus its got a loveable droid in it. Don't expect any burping aliens tho...

 

5/5

[Masterbeef]

I’m honestly not trying to be controversial, but

 

Andor

 

2/5

 

and that’s being generous.  Not for me and I only carried on watching so I could watch Rogue One (which I’m not even sure I’ll bother with now). I’m happy everyone else loved it though. 
 

I dare not post my thoughts in the main thread as it’s such a positive vibe in there.