What was the last TV show you watched?

[belfastboy]

Netflix offering from Israel..."Blackspace". 8 episode police procedural. Well written and performed. The lead character is a hoot....he alone is worth the watch. Israel is producing some very good TV shows....have watched a goodly number and all have been first rate. If I had any talent I would be speaking Hebrew by now.....but I don't and I can't.

 

[Harp]

... and then Parks and Rec.

I do not own a television; caught occasional Cubs games in bars-pre Vid days, but two years ago
at my sister's for Thanksgiving saw Parks and Rec, coupla episodes. Very pleasantly surprised by
its quality, cast, script. I'll prolly never see it again but for a one shot deal not bad.

One show I fondly recall was Sharpe or some such title about a British Army mustang commissioned
in the field by Wellington during the Napoleonic era. Good look at grunt life back in the day
and a soldier's journey through History. Sharpe carried a short barrel musket that looked
as if its effective range was inside fifty yards somewhat below what I think was standard Brown Bess range.

 

[MisterCairo]

I do not own a television; caught occasional Cubs games in bars-pre Vid days, but two years ago
at my sister's for Thanksgiving saw Parks and Rec, coupla episodes. Very pleasantly surprised by
its quality, cast, script. I'll prolly never see it again but for a one shot deal not bad.

One show I fondly recall was Sharpe or some such title about a British Army mustang commissioned
in the field by Wellington during the Napoleonic era. Good look at grunt life back in the day
and a soldier's journey through History. Sharpe carried a short barrel musket that looked
as if its effective range was inside fifty yards somewhat below what I think was standard Brown Bess range.

He carried a Baker rifle as did all the Chosen Men. Much longer range than the Brown Bess.

No idea what is actually used on screen, but the books and the story are clear - he is a rifleman, not a musketeer.

 

[MisterCairo]

Note the title of the first film:

 

[Harp]

He carried a Baker rifle as did all the Chosen Men. Much longer range than the Brown Bess.

No idea what is actually used on screen, but the books and the story are clear - he is a rifleman, not a musketeer.

Ran a fast check on the Baker Rifle: a thirty inch seven twist grooved barrel fit .625 caliber for 200 yards standard effective range with at least a single confirmed at 600 yards estimate. Confirm achieved by
a soldier in the 95th Rifles who felled French general Colbert and within minutes his aide from the supine
position using his foot inside sling to steady aim.

The Brown Bess has a thirty-nine inch barrel so the Baker reduce is deceptive.

Like that box collection and your pig sticker letter opener.

 

[Touchofevil]

UFC Vegas 29 today and some PBS last night.

 

[GHT]

He carried a Baker rifle as did all the Chosen Men. Much longer range than the Brown Bess.

No idea what is actually used on screen, but the books and the story are clear - he is a rifleman, not a musketeer.

You are correct, The first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces, the Baker Rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel in East London. The British Army was still issuing the Infantry Rifle in the 1830s. You can see all of the weaponry of that era at Sharpe's Weapons.

My box set fades into insignificance against your magnificent collection. Nonetheless I treasure it because it was a gift. My collection looks smaller because there are two CD's in each wallet.

 

[MisterCairo]

You are correct, The first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces, the Baker Rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel in East London. The British Army was still issuing the Infantry Rifle in the 1830s. You can see all of the weaponry of that era at Sharpe's Weapons.

My box set fades into insignificance against your magnificent collection. Nonetheless I treasure it because it was a gift. My collection looks smaller because there are two CD's in each wallet.
View attachment 342318

That is awesome. I need in fact to replace Sharle's Rifles as I lost the disk. I have the slip case, so clearly I used it somewhere, likely military duty, and left it behind.

It seems these are no longer produced, at least in the North American format, so even used copies are expensive.

 

[Worf]

Trying to get into "Loki" and "Sweet Tooth" but its kinda hard. I personally can't stand when kids do exactly the opposite of what they're told. "Stay right here or you'll DIE". 2 seconds later the kid is skipping merrily through a minefield. Sheeya I hate that trope. That brand of stupidity is why I stopped watching "Fear the Walking Dead" after the season one finale. I just can't take it.

Worf

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Trying to get into "Loki" and "Sweet Tooth" but its kinda hard. I personally can't stand when kids do exactly the opposite of what they're told. "Stay right here or you'll DIE". 2 seconds later the kid is skipping merrily through a minefield. Sheeya I hate that trope. That brand of stupidity is why I stopped watching "Fear the Walking Dead" after the season one finale. I just can't take it.

Worf

Most of the time, I consider that poor storytelling and a lack of creativity. Not having an idea and taking the easy route. Not everything has to be original and walking a new path, but too many of these programs lack ideas. The basic "where am I, and where do I want to go with it?" isn't a priority. They have months and months in-between seasons, yet they feel like they were thrown together in the field. Paint by numbers. TV Making for Dummies. And as you said, pandering to tropes. Murder mysteries are the worst, but these fantasy shows love to go the safe route as well. The fact that some of these brain dead programs have aftershows makes me laugh. Trying to philosophize and go deep into character motivations, while nothing about the storytelling begs for that level of dive. Uh, that was stupid, and now you're trying to spend an hour explaining it?

 

[Harp]

You are correct, The first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces, the Baker Rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel....

American Shooting Journal published an article in 2018 about the Baker Rifle and its use during
the Battle of Cacabelos (1809) when a soldier named Plunkett in the 95th Rifles armed with a Baker
dropped a French general and his aide at 600 yards. During the Revolutionary War an American sniper
at Saratoga armed with a Kentucky long rifle felled a British general officer three hundred yards distant.

To some extent the British experience in colonial America awakened the need for a weapon like
the Baker, and Plunkett's marksmanship proved a seminal instance of individual effectiveness
when aggressiveness is armed with a reliable rifle.

Now I need to track down the entire Sharpe series-something I should have done much earlier.

 

[Edward]

Just curious - why is Britbox (in your opinion) a rubbish name, and what would you suggest as a not rubbish alternative?

Naff and a fair bit too flag-wavey for my tastes. For something combining BBC and ITV's brands, I'd have preferred Beeb-TV, though I'm sure there's some reason or other to do with marketing they went the way they did; the BBC brand is strong internationally, I know, but combining it with ITV prevents them from just sticking with that. Be interesting to see how it does long-term. I don't know whether it will last, but it's inevitable the Beeb at least will proceed on the streaming model as traditional broadcasting dies out - likely within a decade or so. The BBC archive content on Britbox is good, though I can't imagine (at least prior to traditional TV and thus the licence fee dying out) paying full price for it until they combine it with the new content from BBC iPlayer / ITV Player. The one big disappointment has been the 'new' Spitting Image... I'm sure it was much better than that back in the day!

 

[Edward]

Home from a week away from the web on Friday night, and a new series of Black Summer on Netflix; dark indeed, if doubtless a very realistic vision of the zombie plague, some months in, assuming ready access to weaponry. Not a new theme - humanity's greatest threat in a post-apocalyptic world being humanity itself - but convincingly explored. Also caught up with the end of series six of Inside Number Nine; a nice episode to go out on. Looking forward to series 7 already. First episode of The Handmaid's Tale series 4 lined up on catch-up for tonight.

 

[MisterCairo]

As a bit of a flag waver I do not see waving as a problem, and recognizing what the first B in BBC stands for means anything "beeb" derived does the same thing. I wish Canada had anything approaching the volume of UK production so we could create a service like that.

Whatevers.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Us. PBS-Masterpiece. When Masterpiece throws in these present-day series, it throws me off. And all the damn cell phone use in a show. Yuck. Only four episodes, presented as two in the USA? I think that's how it is edited here. I haven't seen a lot of Tom Holland, but he can sure play unlikable characters.

Kevin can F Himself. AMC. I only watched the first fifteen minutes because of bad weather knocking out the cable. The way it goes from visually looking and feeling like a sitcom to another look and feel as a drama series is interesting. As she moves from one room to the next, or through doors, it's meant to feel like two realities. The sitcom scenes clearly are meant to have that All in the Family vibe. I laughed at how they manipulated the titling sequence so they could get away with showing the entire word: F*ck. Priorities.

 

[Touchofevil]

Ken Burn’s The Tenth Inning on PBS.

 

[Harp]

Ken Burn’s The Tenth Inning on PBS.

His baseball series I thought remarkable, perhaps not as complete as I might have liked but well told.
Need to see The Tenth Inning.

 

[belfastboy]

Netflix series from Denmark..."Borgen". Just 4 episodes into season 1 of a 3 season arc but so far it is great TV.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Kevin can F Himself. AMC. I finished watching. It's a cross between All in the Family, Weeds, The King of Queens, and probably other things I'm not readily recognizing. It's nicely done, but I'm questioning how well it will wear several episodes down the line. The shtick is so heavy-handed, and some of the situations are absurd (not in a good way).

Dave. FX. One of those shows that I didn't think I'd like, but season 1 was a great surprise. I looked forward to more. This second season has started slow. The episodes focused around his music career can drag, and some elements feel weird just for the sake of being weird. When they feel more genuine and honest, the show rolls. I don't know what the industry term is for the Dave advertisements and tie-ins in-between commercials as the show comes back, but I do not like all the silicone body parts flowing and flopping. I've seen enough of them, and the season just started.

Mr Inbetween. FX. My favorite show on TV right now. It continues to deliver.

 

[Edward]

As a bit of a flag waver I do not see waving as a problem, and recognizing what the first B in BBC stands for means anything "beeb" derived does the same thing. I wish Canada had anything approaching the volume of UK production so we could create a service like that.

Whatevers.

Cultural difference, I think. Certainly seems to have a different resonance on the international market. The upside very definitely is the quality of the content, not least noting that ITV have produced their fair share of that over time as well, to their credit. Not in the same volume as Auntie, but more than is generally recognised. The first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was very strong social commentary at the time.

I remember a lot of well made Canadian kids TV in the eighties, particularly the Degrassi St stuff. I've little experience since of Canadian TV (other than Kids in the Hall, which was great fun, clearly took the Python influence and ran with it). Had the impression at least at a time they invested a lot in kid's TV?

I hope the Beeb survives for time to come yet, though it's inevitable in the next decade or so traditional broadcasting will begin to disappear.