What was the last TV show you watched?

[MisterCairo]

Sharpe's Mission.

Beginning quite freaked me out, as the scrolling history said "1810, Sharpe newly promoted to Lt". When the prior episode had been set in 1813 with Sharpe a major.

Oh, it's a FLASHBACK scene to start...

 

[scottyrocks]

Ray Donovan. Like Dexter, this show relies on its formula to work through situations. Like Poldark, the characters could be so much more interesting. They were doing some nice work with Abby's death, but now, I can't see where they are going with any of the series.

Isn't it a good thing that it is not future-predictable?

 

[Fading Fast]

"Shot Heard 'Round the World" 2001 documentary on the Giants-Dodger's 1951 Pennant Race with a focus on the Bobby Thomson's Pennant winning homer.

Well done / well written / well narrated / wonderful film clips / great interviews / and cool quotes from Thompson, Branca and other key participants

Also, I caught this quote early on when Thomson was asked about being moved from center field - "his" position - to third base to make room for a twenty year old Willie Mays: "When I as told that I was going to be moved out of center field, I accepted it. I was brought up in a responsible way to do what I was told and to follow instruction."

There's something very Golden Era to me about that quote. I'm am sincerely not saying it is the right philosophy or a better one than today's view (we all learned the limits of "just following orders" from the Nazis), nor am I saying that everyone in the Golden Era had that attitude (my God, we have many examples of people from that time who didn't), but I am saying that it was an attitude (or, for our Millennials, a "meme") many in the Era did hold and, as a percentage of the population, one that was held by many more then than today.

That's it, just a Golden Era observation sparked by an enjoyable documentary.

Last thought, how crazy was it to be a New York baseball fan in that day - the Brooklyn Dodgers just lose to the New York Giants in the Pennant to, then, face the New York Yankees in the World Series.

I lied, one more thought: what are people opinions on the sign stealing controversy - did Thompson know what pitch was coming on his "shot heard 'round the world" homer?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Sharpe's Mission.

Beginning quite freaked me out, as the scrolling history said "1810, Sharpe newly promoted to Lt". When the prior episode had been set in 1813 with Sharpe a major.

Oh, it's a FLASHBACK scene to start...

I've only recently discovered Bernard Cornwell's work and have read Sharpe's Trafalgar, and was having trouble picturing him other than as a young Sean Connery. Sean Bean is a darn good choice. . . .

 

[MisterCairo]

I've only recently discovered Bernard Cornwell's work and have read Sharpe's Trafalgar, and was having trouble picturing him other than as a young Sean Connery. Sean Bean is a darn good choice. . . .

Fun fact - he was the second choice.

Paul McGann had the role, but broke his leg two days' into filming, and while they thought of working around it (injury to Sharpe), they couldn't pan it out in the story line. It was one of the most expensive insurance payouts in the industry at the time.

So Sean Bean went on to some degree of stardom, and Paul McGann, one of my favourite actors and sadly less known, got a big payout but little recognition.

This is what Sharpe was supposed to look like:

Paul M as Doctor Who:

 

[MisterCairo]

I've only recently discovered Bernard Cornwell's work and have read Sharpe's Trafalgar

I am a massive fan of Cornwell's fiction. I have read about half the Sharpes (reading in chronological story order, not as written), his Uhtred (Last Kingdom) series I have been reading since first introduced (also a tv show now, on Netflix), and much of his other series and one off novels.

http://www.bernardcornwell.net/

 

[Benzadmiral]

I am a massive fan of Cornwell's fiction. I have read about half the Sharpes (reading in chronological story order, not as written), his Uhtred (Last Kingdom) series I have been reading since first introduced (also a tv show now, on Netflix), and much of his other series and one off novels.

http://www.bernardcornwell.net/

His Gallows Thief was not only a good historical novel, but a mystery and a thriller with a ticking-clock deadline built in. Not everybody can mix those genres and have it come out so well.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Isn't it a good thing that it is not future-predictable?

If I was thinking something, "I don't know where they'll go next. I can't wait to see." But in this case, I'm thinking something like, "I don't know where they'll go next. They've been flopping around like a dying fish." One incites enthusiasm, and the other doesn't so much.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Another early episode of The Fugitive. This time Kimble is hired to be a "cutman" -- emergency first aid guy -- for a young up-and-coming boxer (and one-time medical student), Joe Smith. The trouble is, the trainer has a long history of shady deals, and the Boxing Commission details an undercover cop to pose as a writer for Ring Magazine, looking for misdeeds in the trainer's background, or in anybody else's . . . including Kimble's. Nice performances from a young Ruby Dee and Hari Rhodes.

Oh, and an episode of Checkmate from 1961, featuring Peter Lorre (yes!) as a mastermind villain recently released from prison and determined to revenge himself on Sebastian Cabot's Professor Hyatt. Civilized crime storytelling as it used to be.

 

[MisterCairo]

Season premier of The Walking Dead.

Oh my goodness, what a great start! I am not sure I'm into the whole flashforwards thing though, but otherwise awesome!

 

[AmateisGal]

More episodes of Drop Dead Diva and two episodes of Season 13's Supernatural. Wow. I am very impressed with this new season - the first two episodes have been very well done, almost like the writers upped their game and went back to the formulas that worked in the show's first few seasons.

Oh, and Poldark, of course, as I *never* miss that one! This episode (SPOILERS!) was quite adventurous as Ross and Tholly went to break Dwight Enys out of prison in France.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Good Behavior. Anyone following this show? It was never that great, but this new season is awful. One thing in particular is that Michelle Dockery's fingernails are different in nearly every shot of a scene. Fake nails. No nails. Clear coat. All in the same scene, let alone throughout the same day. I know it sounds like a small detail, but her hands are often front and center as she's on her cell phone. I can't believe nobody on the crew is paying any attention.

 

[MisterCairo]

I have been binge re-watching my favourite tv show, Millennium, season two. As it is approaching Hallowe'en, I am watching the episode "The Curse of Frank Black".

Any other fans out there?

'This is who we are...'

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

American Horror Story: Cult. I have to reiterate how ingenious this is. The historically solid acting continues, but most of all, the way they're integrating so much of our ill culture into the story in smart ways.

 

[Fading Fast]

Good Behavior. Anyone following this show? It was never that great, but this new season is awful. One thing in particular is that Michelle Dockery's fingernails are different in nearly every shot of a scene. Fake nails. No nails. Clear coat. All in the same scene, let alone throughout the same day. I know it sounds like a small detail, but her hands are often front and center as she's on her cell phone. I can't believe nobody on the crew is paying any attention.

We tried but couldn't make it past episode two. And my girlfriend and I wanted to like it 'cause we like her, but we have plenty of intense, life-is-brutal shows already.

Good catch on the fingernails and, yes, odd that they let that slip by.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

We tried but couldn't make it past episode two. And my girlfriend and I wanted to like it 'cause we like her, but we have plenty of intense, life-is-brutal shows already.

Good catch on the fingernails and, yes, odd that they let that slip by.

I wish it was as brutal as it is poorly done. That would be something. It's almost uncanny how sloppy everything is. Now that we're watching TV on 50inch plus, HD screens, things like makeup and wardrobe details are even more important to get and keep right. Continuity, man. Everyone on set has a cell phone. Take photos of the actors every scene and keep it all in line.

 

[MisterCairo]

More episodes of Millennium, season two. One episode was "Jose Cheung's Doomsday Defence". In addition to being an evisceration of Scientology, it is a) hilarious, and b) guest stars Charles Nelson Reilly!

 

[MisterCairo]

Millennium season two, episode called "The Mikado". About an Internet killer named Avatar. One of the earlier depictions of the young world wide Web referencing IPs, URLs, view counts and, of course, porn.

Three teen guys are amazed when a search for "naked girls" turns up 473 sites!

The show was broadcast in January 1998...

 

[Edward]

Been binging Big Bang Theory series 10. Big improvement on series 9, but if series 11 ends the show with the increasingly, painfully unconvincing Penny and Leonard relationship intact, I'll be disappointed. (And, of course, it will, and I will be.)

 

[Fading Fast]

Episode 6 of "The Deuce"

• A good show that is getting better: story lines are getting more detailed and characters more three dimensional and nuanced

• The physical representation of Times Square in the '70s is incredibly accurate

• The exposition of the 42nd Street area's machinations of the mob, the pimps and the police is thoughtfully done and connects a lot of dots about how and why seemingly illogical or random things happen (that really are neither illogical nor random) that are usually left unclear in other shows

• It's not "easy" TV as the graphic representation of the lowest end of the sex-trade market is not a pretty one, but it is smart, well-done TV