What was the last TV show you watched?

[MisterCairo]

Top Gear. Was the Orangutan, [AKA Jeremy] really fired for shoving an assistant? I am wondering if they were all doing so many other shows, so they just needed a way out.

The main three are creating a new show for Amazon, and I gather it will start airing later this year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Tour_(TV_series)

 

[MisterCairo]

Preacher
Still entertaining.

Our PVR receiver has gone wonky, and our hard drive was erased (you know, say what you will, that never happened to our VHS tape collection), so my Preachers are gone. I'm trying to find past episodes on repeat to catch up.

 

[Feraud]

I was thoroughly unimpressed with last week's Game of Thrones. All the hype for the big battle and John Snow knowingly walked into the same trap as Stannis? The blogs are on fire with praise for this episode but no amount of cgi and emotional slow motion could cover what was a pointless episode.

 

[Worf]

I was thoroughly unimpressed with last week's Game of Thrones. All the hype for the big battle and John Snow knowingly walked into the same trap as Stannis? The blogs are on fire with praise for this episode but no amount of cgi and emotional slow motion could cover what was a pointless episode.

Interesting take my man. I can understand your feeling. I too saw a disconnect in logic in Jon Snow doing exactly what Sansa warned him NOT to do. Still I had little worries, I knew the cavalry was coming. You don't bring a character back to life only to kill him/her 2 episodes later... but who knows with this show. I thought the battle was well done personally. I think most people loved the episode because you get to see multiple bad and I mean REALLY BAD people get what they deserve. The "kind and benevolent" Masters got new wind pipes and their ships jacked... while Ramsey got some serious payback. I personally thought he died too quick. He needed to be flayed alive, particularly since it was his favorite pastime. I wanted to watch with glee as strips of his flesh were peeled away,. I wanted to watch as that smug smile of his faded from his nasty face for the last time. Sansa was right though... his name, words, house and deeds will ALL disappear. It will be as if he never was. Wonder what it's going to cost Sansa in the end. She couldn't be tortured by three of the vilest individuals in Westeros could she? I mean Joffrey, Ramsey and now Little Finger is a pretty terrible trifecta if you ask me.

Worf

 

[Worf]

Catching up on "Poldark". Puddin' says the original series was better. She thinks the original actor in the title role fit the bill far better.

Worf

 

[AmateisGal]

Catching up on "Poldark". Puddin' says the original series was better. She thinks the original actor in the title role fit the bill far better.

Worf

Say it ain't so! Of course, I love, love, LOVE Aidan Turner in this role. I did try watching the original Poldark and just couldn't do it.

 

[Touchofevil]

I take it this is the current season you're watching? We need to catch up on last year's "first half", and will likely wait for the blu-ray to come out. Hopefully it all works out as a collection.

Yep, the second and final half of the series. Maybe, watching it from the beginning of this season would make it better right now.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I was thoroughly unimpressed with last week's Game of Thrones. All the hype for the big battle and John Snow knowingly walked into the same trap as Stannis? The blogs are on fire with praise for this episode but no amount of cgi and emotional slow motion could cover what was a pointless episode.

They haven't been developing much of a story. I said it last week (I think). They're relying on the big show (dragons, giants romantically giving their uber-dedication for no great reason, and just desserts) rather than adding complexity to the series, which is why the first four seasons shined so brightly. The lack of detail drives me crazy. Rickon wouldn't have known to zig and zag? Or no one would have been yelling it? It reminds me of The Night Manager, where I spent a lot of the time thinking "That wouldn't have happened." and "They wouldn't have done that." I don't think it was a bad battle scene, but it wasn't exactly a barn-burner, either. As for Ramsey being forgotten, I found that ironic, because you know who is going to forever remember, and be scarred, by Ramsey? Sansa. I thought it was a particularly stupid line, though great for the dramatic effect. The show is cheap like that now. The shield wall maneuver was...uh...kind of lame as well. All those resourceful, life-struggling, down and dirty Wildlings wouldn't have figured out to roll underneath the cumbersome longspears etc? Again, great dramatic effect, but also not believable if you think about it at all. I did think the mountain of bodies was a cool idea and a great representation of how Ramsey didn't value life at all. Not only sacrifice a lot of men with intentional friendly arrow fire, but enough men that the pile of bodies was literally 15-25' tall and a useful wall. Further with Ramsey, he was an expert archer. They showed his talents at least a couple times. Didn't he hit the threesome blond in the eye or neck from a long distance before the hounds ate her face? To think he couldn't hit Snow, face to face, at 20', with not one of three arrows, is absurd. He could hit a guy in the heart at a 200-300 yards, while he was running away, but he couldn't hit Snow? I know. Snow has a great destiny, but they had just exhausted that whole "he can't be hit" deal when he wasn't touched by a single arrow in several arrow showers as the wall of bodies was built. And that Dragon Mother/Iron Born flirtation scene? Is this a high school musical on the CW or Game of Thrones? How many times is a calvary going to save a battle? If we haven't already seen a lot of this, we've seen it coming from a mile away. Ramsey being eaten by his own starving hounds? I guess that doesn't bother me too much. He was a great character to hate and for whom to wish fury upon, but I was also plenty ready for that to be over. Dogs eating his face and audibly crunching his skull was good enough for me. I used to be fascinated and in wonder of this show, but now it is best to not think about it at all.

 

[Feraud]

Rickon wouldn't have known to zig and zag? Or no one would have been yelling it?

That is exactly what I was telling my son while Rickon was running a perfectly straight line towards the other side! Based on Snow's behavior in this battle he had better hope fate has something in store for him because the guy doesn't have any common sense.

 

[Feraud]

Interesting take my man. I can understand your feeling. I too saw a disconnect in logic in Jon Snow doing exactly what Sansa warned him NOT to do. Still I had little worries, I knew the cavalry was coming.

What about Sansa's disconnect of logic and common sense? What annoyed me after the cavalry saved the day was during the build up to this epic battle the characters insisted there was no more support to be had. Meanwhile Sansa apparently quietly reached out to Petry Baelish for support but didn't mention it to Snow the night before the battle? She didn't think to mention this small detail? Even while Jon and Sansa argued how outnumbered they were and how boo-hoo no one asked the great Sansa how well she knew Ramsay?
She didn't think that was the time to mention that little what was it...oh yes the battle changing number of cavalry support she secured!!
This episode had The Walking Dead level of stupid writing.

 

[Worf]

What about Sansa's disconnect of logic and common sense? What annoyed me after the cavalry saved the day was during the build up to this epic battle the characters insisted there was no more support to be had. Meanwhile Sansa apparently quietly reached out to Petry Baelish for support but didn't mention it to Snow the night before the battle? She didn't think to mention this small detail? Even while Jon and Sansa argued how outnumbered they were and how boo-hoo no one asked the great Sansa how well she knew Ramsay?
She didn't think that was the time to mention that little what was it...oh yes the battle changing number of cavalry support she secured!!
This episode had The Walking Dead level of stupid writing.

Now THAT was a wee bit harsh!

Worf

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Vinyl was canceled today, and while I weathered the season just fine, it didn't deserve another one. In more business news, and while we're talking Game of Thrones, the primary actors (I don't know who that is) got a $200K/episode raise for the final two seasons (7 and 8). They were making $300K; now $500K/episode. I find that impressive because of the size of the cast and productions costs, and they can't fill 40+% of the air time with commercials (think Big Bang Theory and Modern Family).

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ My uninformed instinct - based on just watching TV and reading the odd article about the industry here and there - is that there will be a bust or washout in "content" providers at some point as it seems, IMHO, there is probably too much content (shows) for the audience size and advertising dollars / pay-for-streaming dollars versus the cost of making these shows.

For now, it seems that companies like Amazon and Netflix will pay for shows whether they make money or not as they want to "grow" their businesses, "not be left behind," etc. Usually, that results in a period of time when a lot of money is thrown at projects and more things get funded or built than needed (think tech bubble in 2000 or housing bubble in 2007), but at some point, economic reality sets in (investors stop throwing money at money-losing ventures eventually) and the bust happens.

It seems to me there are many really good shows (and bad ones) that don't attract a big audience but keep getting made. Maybe there is enough "downstream" revenue / residuals to justify it all, but my guess is that there isn't.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Meanwhile Sansa apparently quietly reached out to Petry Baelish for support but didn't mention it to Snow the night before the battle? She didn't think to mention this small detail? Even while Jon and Sansa argued how outnumbered they were and how boo-hoo no one asked the great Sansa how well she knew Ramsay?
She didn't think that was the time to mention that little what was it...oh yes the battle changing number of cavalry support she secured!!
This episode had The Walking Dead level of stupid writing.

Crap writing, for sure. Spring crucial elements on the audience. Except this show is a strategy story, not a cheap mystery to manipulate and toy with the audience with stock TV tricks. I guess you could make the argument there's still a remnant of old Sansa, the Sansa who had no use for her ba***rd half-brother and thought of him as lesser and unworthy. Out of spite and/or frustration, just do it on her own and keep it to herself. I can understand that possibility. Or becoming weary of being an underestimated, undervalued woman who has grown into her own strategic force, much like Arya. After all, this show and world is going to be a war and making of powerful women. I think every kingdom and region at this point is being set up to be led by a smart and sharp woman. A council of women rather than a world war of men. Bran, Baelish, and the Robin Hood band are the only men at this time in questionable power or rise to power, though the Robin Hood band is ultimately under heel of Melisandre anyway. We all know Sansa is going to out play Baelish in the end.

 

[Feraud]

Now THAT was a wee bit harsh!

Worf

I guess you can tell how much I enjoyed WD and felt betrayed at the lousy writing last season.

 

[Touchofevil]

Another episode of The Night Manager

 

[Fading Fast]

Another episode of The Night Manager

and / thoughts?

 

[Touchofevil]

and / thoughts?

A better episode. Despite my nitpicking, I feel that it is better than most of what is out there (and there is quite a bit of good nowadays). I was not happy to see a certain villain killed even if he needed it. He is an entertaining actor. The relationship risks still bother me (maybe someone else needs to die).

 

[Fading Fast]

A better episode. Despite my nitpicking, I feel that it is better than most of what is out there (and there is quite a bit of good nowadays). I was not happy to see a certain villain killed even if he needed it. He is an entertaining actor. The relationship risks still bother me (maybe someone else needs to die).

Your comments and EPS' have merit on the deficit of the story's relationships, but I still thought the individual performances of Hugh Laurie, Hiddleston, Colman, Hollander (really good), Harewood and Debicki (a lot of nuance to what could've been just "the hot blonde girl" role) elevated the series enough to overcome some insanely serious plot flaws and questionable relationship bonds and relationship breakage.

 

[Touchofevil]

Law & Order