What was the last TV show you watched?

[Edward]

After resisting it for some years (as I do their tech, wouldn't give an Apple product houseroom), I'm increasingly impressed with AppleTV. Currently well into season one of For All Mankind. https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7 This is an alternative history of the space race. Specifically, one where the USSR beats NASA to land on the moon, with a speculative look at how that may have affected NASA and the US (and geo) political impact on the space race thereafter. The timeline by the end of series 1 has reached early 1975, and Apollo 25 is running drastically late, leaving US crew stranded on a lunar base, eight miles from a rival, Soviet lunar base. Four Series to go, which I think runs up into the 90s in the alternative timeline.

I'm sure presents it plenty of opportunities for those much more knowledgeable about the space race than I to debate the plausibility of the alternative timeline presented. Well written, though, and I think worth a looksee for those with an interest in the space race and/or this sort of speculative alternative historical fiction.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

After resisting it for some years (as I do their tech, wouldn't give an Apple product houseroom), I'm increasingly impressed with AppleTV. Currently well into season one of For All Mankind. https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7 This is an alternative history of the space race. Specifically, one where the USSR beats NASA to land on the moon, with a speculative look at how that may have affected NASA and the US (and geo) political impact on the space race thereafter. The timeline by the end of series 1 has reached early 1975, and Apollo 25 is running drastically late, leaving US crew stranded on a lunar base, eight miles from a rival, Soviet lunar base. Four Series to go, which I think runs up into the 90s in the alternative timeline.

I'm sure presents it plenty of opportunities for those much more knowledgeable about the space race than I to debate the plausibility of the alternative timeline presented. Well written, though, and I think worth a looksee for those with an interest in the space race and/or this sort of speculative alternative historical fiction.

The first few seasons of that show were really really good. I actually watched the first two season 3 times. Season 03 was okay but the final season was so bad that I didn't even finish it.

 

[scotrace]

I am watching The Gilded Age and after a slow start, it's really got me hooked. It isn't a copy/paste of Downton Abbey as I expected. The sets and costumes are all excellent, as are the performances.
They took the time to get Agnes' parlor set just right. It's by J. H. Belter in the mid 1860's. Mary Lincoln bought a set for the White House. It's one of the few Victorian gewgaws that have held value.
Carrie **** is amazing, and it seems like it's populated with A-list actors--many from Broadway, as the first season filmed during lockdown and all the theaters were shuttered.

 

[Doctor Strange]

It's still loaded with great Broadway actors, the show is shot in New York (and all over Westchester, Long Island, and upstate locations like the historic district of Troy.)

The (ending-tomorrow) third season is the best yet. The show is really delivering this year after some rickety storylines and weak pacing in the first two seasons.

 

[Worf]

Well, in that it's filmed in Troy, NY where I currently hang my hat, puddin's been binging "The Gilded Age". She plays the "Look Look That's so and so's house" game all the time. sigh.

Now that that season is over I decided to use an Apple TV "Free Trial" period to binge two series I've been interested in.
"Master's of the Air" about the 8th Air Force over Europe in WWII (specifically the "****** 100th" Bomb Group). And "Foundation" based on Asimov's seminal work about predictive algorithms written in the 1940's. I found both to be enjoyable if a bit slow at times. MotA is the least of the three Hanks produced limited series about WWII. Band of Brothers is still top of the list with "The Pacific" second and MotA bringing up the rear. Just NEVER engaged with the central characters for some strange reason.

I found Foundation a little more engaging.... at first , as I'd read the trilogy in High School and remembered just enough to be able to tell the difference. Lot's of changes from the books and not all of them for the better. However, some of the "drama" slid between the lines to spice up the offering is pretty dismal. Still, despite this flaw, I find it's worth watching.

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

Well, in that it's filmed in Troy, NY where I currently hang my hat, puddin's been binging "The Gilded Age". She plays the "Look Look That's so and so's house" game all the time. sigh.

...

Please tell your wife, my girlfriend and I are with her as we do that with movies and TV shows set in NYC all the time. It's so bad, we'll stop the show and talk about the place.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Someone has posted up on youtube the Soviet adaptation of Sherlock Holmes starring Vasily Livanov (a quirky but fun Holmes) and Vitaly Solomin (my favourite Watson). These are overall excellent, and in my view second only to the Jeremy Brett series, although there are some odd bits here and there and the stories are blended. Here's the first of a playlist.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Recently I've been slowly working my way through The Sandbaggers, a British spy tv show from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It's unquestionably some of the best tv I've ever seen. It's smart, well written, and extremely well cast. It's mostly a talkie, with some action here and there, the polar opposite of today's spy movies/shows. I can't recommend it strongly enough!

This series has been re-posted on youtube, with a playlist. No doubt it will be pulled down eventually, so watch it if you haven't already. You can search for it via this user's profile:

https://www.youtube.com/@Forgotten-British-TV

 

[jchance]

Ballard featuring Maggie Q was pretty good. It was about starting up a new unit to solve LAPD’s cold cases.

 

[Corvette]

I watched most of the first season of Mr and Mrs Smith. I had read that much of the charm of the movie came from the star power of Brad and Angelina. I have to agree.

The show has found its own different take on the concept but it is decidedly different and I am unsure if it’s for the same audience. It is more quirky and awkward-funny. The two main characters’ relationship is more central.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I watched all of Kojak this last year (five seasons). It is one of the best shows I have ever seen. It also had some terrific leather jackets in it - particularly in the first few seasons.

I anticipated the last season to drop in writing, acting or production value, but the showed remained consistently smart and unpredictable until the end, with terrific acting and real Manhattan settings. There were literally only two episodes that I thought were dumb - every single other episode was intelligent and surprising.

Plus Telly Savalas has rizz like nobody's biz. The way he says "... and like that" is brilliant.

Kojak is my new favorite TV show. I might just start the whole thing all over again.

 

[Edward]

The first few seasons of that show were really really good. I actually watched the first two season 3 times. Season 03 was okay but the final season was so bad that I didn't even finish it.

I've seen all four they've done so far (I know more are in the planning...). I liked the Mars series and what they did in Season 4, though it's fair to say that the idea of it as an 'alternative history' does inevitably blur further into pure scifi the farther it steps away from the original change to the timeline, as it were. Some of the other changes they've committed to as they've gone alone will be interesting to see resolved - not least the intriguing idea of the Soviet Bloc as was in the 80s lasting into the 21st century. There's clearly a big John Lennon fan on the writing team, given they not only saved him from Mark Chapmann, but had him perform at the superbowl in the 90s...

I watched all of Kojak this last year (five seasons). It is one of the best shows I have ever seen. It also had some terrific leather jackets in it - particularly in the first few seasons.

I anticipated the last season to drop in writing, acting or production value, but the showed remained consistently smart and unpredictable until the end, with terrific acting and real Manhattan settings. There were literally only two episodes that I thought were dumb - every single other episode was intelligent and surprising.

Plus Telly Savalas has rizz like nobody's biz. The way he says "... and like that" is brilliant.

Kojak is my new favorite TV show. I might just start the whole thing all over again.

A lot of nostalgic love for that show. It's one I remember being very much aware of in 1976/77. I was 2/3 back then, and I'm not sure if I ever saw more than a few minutes of the show that young, but Kojak was such a huge pop-culture phenomenon then that everyone knew who he was - the bald detective with the lollipops. A pop-culture colossus on the level of Mr Spock. I have a very clear memory of being about three, and telling our neighbour - a balding man likely in his early 30s back then - that he'd gone bald like Kojack because, like Theo, he'd eaten too many lollies. Likely a parental "cautionary tale" against too many sweets, from the same era they got me to eat omlettes with gusto y telling me Spiderman had made them for me personally. Which I believed unquestioningly at the time...

For years I had a Corgi miniature Kojak car, bronze with the police light he used to lift off the dash and stick on the roof.... Race it against the Starsky and Hutch car many times.

Who luvs ya, baby?

Recently my tv watching has included a few more modern things I missed first time around. Tom Basden's sitcom, Plebs, set in Ancient Rome is fun. The Strain (2014-2017), now on Disney Plus, is a really nicely thought out 'real world' version of the vampire legend, with vampirism being a parasite spread between hosts. A fun reworking of the supernatural lore. There are a number of flashback sequences to the 40s through 60s which make me long for the still-to-happen steaming adaptation of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula novels, which merge classic, gothic literature and history, real and alternative, tracing the Dracula story from very late Victorian England (where Van Helsing and his team were defeated, Stoker was a dangerous subversive peddling his novel as an alternative history itself, and Dracula courts Queen Victoria to take over the country....), through the First World War, 50s Europe (a nod especially to the Italian cinema of the time), 70s & 80s New York City, and more. Such a rich world which would provide at least as many series as the seven published volumes in book form.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I've seen all four they've done so far (I know more are in the planning...). I liked the Mars series and what they did in Season 4, though it's fair to say that the idea of it as an 'alternative history' does inevitably blur further into pure scifi the farther it steps away from the original change to the timeline, as it were. Some of the other changes they've committed to as they've gone alone will be interesting to see resolved - not least the intriguing idea of the Soviet Bloc as was in the 80s lasting into the 21st century. There's clearly a big John Lennon fan on the writing team, given they not only saved him from Mark Chapmann, but had him perform at the superbowl in the 90s...




A lot of nostalgic love for that show. It's one I remember being very much aware of in 1976/77. I was 2/3 back then, and I'm not sure if I ever saw more than a few minutes of the show that young, but Kojak was such a huge pop-culture phenomenon then that everyone knew who he was - the bald detective with the lollipops. A pop-culture colossus on the level of Mr Spock. I have a very clear memory of being about three, and telling our neighbour - a balding man likely in his early 30s back then - that he'd gone bald like Kojack because, like Theo, he'd eaten too many lollies. Likely a parental "cautionary tale" against too many sweets, from the same era they got me to eat omlettes with gusto y telling me Spiderman had made them for me personally. Which I believed unquestioningly at the time...

For years I had a Corgi miniature Kojak car, bronze with the police light he used to lift off the dash and stick on the roof.... Race it against the Starsky and Hutch car many times.

Who luvs ya, baby?

Recently my tv watching has included a few more modern things I missed first time around. Tom Basden's sitcom, Plebs, set in Ancient Rome is fun. The Strain (2014-2017), now on Disney Plus, is a really nicely thought out 'real world' version of the vampire legend, with vampirism being a parasite spread between hosts. A fun reworking of the supernatural lore. There are a number of flashback sequences to the 40s through 60s which make me long for the still-to-happen steaming adaptation of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula novels, which merge classic, gothic literature and history, real and alternative, tracing the Dracula story from very late Victorian England (where Van Helsing and his team were defeated, Stoker was a dangerous subversive peddling his novel as an alternative history itself, and Dracula courts Queen Victoria to take over the country....), through the First World War, 50s Europe (a nod especially to the Italian cinema of the time), 70s & 80s New York City, and more. Such a rich world which would provide at least as many series as the seven published volumes in book form.

I also thought Kojak was just nostalgia bait. Like you, I was very young when it first aired and I only ever knew Kojak for his bald head and lollipops.

But a family member urged me to try it and I was quickly hooked.

I did also try "Starsky and Hutch" as well as "The Streets of San Francisco" and neither of them came close to the quality of Kojak. Kojak is hands down the best police procedural I have ever seen (I like Prime's original "Bosch" very much, to give a feel for my taste).

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Recently I've been slowly working my way through The Sandbaggers, a British spy tv show from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It's unquestionably some of the best tv I've ever seen. It's smart, well written, and extremely well cast. It's mostly a talkie, with some action here and there, the polar opposite of today's spy movies/shows. I can't recommend it strongly enough!

Here's the first episode:

Just finished the first two episodes. Excellent stuff, thanks for the recommendation. This show is very smart and engaging.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Kojak is my new favorite TV show. I might just start the whole thing all over again.

Back in the day I used to record it on VHS in case I missed an episode.

If you have never heard Telly’s paranormal story, check this out. You can still find the original interview in his own words but the tape quality has deteriorated somewhat. Plus this retelling includes research updates after Telly’s passing.

 

[Edward]

I also thought Kojak was just nostalgia bait. Like you, I was very young when it first aired and I only ever knew Kojak for his bald head and lollipops.

But a family member urged me to try it and I was quickly hooked.

I did also try "Starsky and Hutch" as well as "The Streets of San Francisco" and neither of them came close to the quality of Kojak. Kojak is hands down the best police procedural I have ever seen (I like Prime's original "Bosch" very much, to give a feel for my taste).

It's been a long time since I last saw it, but I do recall it having a harder edge and being somewhat more 'serious' than the others. Must hunt it down again. The cop shows of that era make for an interesting comparison with their British equivalents. Still the case now to a degree, but I think much moreso from back then before the internet made the world that much smaller and pop culture that much more universalised in the English speaking world.

I've always had a fondness for Columbo as well. Had that "I'm a dunny little man, so you underestimate me" angle like Poirot, or Miss Marple, and yet exploded the format so totally by nixing the Whodunnit in the opening minutes, to make it become a howdunnit and focus on the detection. Not sure if it was the first show to do that, but definitely the earliest one with that level of popularity I've seen.

 

[Worf]

I never dug the "name" detective shows of the era the "Barettas", "Kojack", McCloud's" etc... Too formulaic for me. Villain pops up, villain gets put down in under an hour. Yawn.

I did love "Hill Street Blues" though because it tended to focus on policing a neighborhood as opposed to catching the "killer of the week". I remember specific story lines like when the Irish gangs began to lose sway in the neighborhood due to declining population. Or when a specific detective helped an informant dying of AIDS when that subject was practically Taboo in mainstream media. The cops weren't all "squeaky" and the hoods weren't all mindless thugs. It was a more nuanced and personal view of law enforcement. When Hill Street ended the next cop show I picked up was "Homicide: Life on the Streets" Similar format, again with a stellar cast, some of whom went on to appear in "The Wire". Nothing is simple, NOTHING is just Black and White.

Worf

 

[EngProf]

I never dug the "name" detective shows of the era the "Barettas", "Kojack", McCloud's" etc... Too formulaic for me. Villain pops up, villain gets put down in under an hour. Yawn.

I did love "Hill Street Blues" though because it tended to focus on policing a neighborhood as opposed to catching the "killer of the week". I remember specific story lines like when the Irish gangs began to lose sway in the neighborhood due to declining population. Or when a specific detective helped an informant dying of AIDS when that subject was practically Taboo in mainstream media. The cops weren't all "squeaky" and the hoods weren't all mindless thugs. It was a more nuanced and personal view of law enforcement. When Hill Street ended the next cop show I picked up was "Homicide: Life on the Streets" Similar format, again with a stellar cast, some of whom went on to appear in "The Wire". Nothing is simple, NOTHING is just Black and White.

Worf

I agree with your choices of "Hill Street", "Homicide:", and "The Wire" for high cop-show quality, but would add "Police Story" and "NYPD Blue" as being in their league.
(From "The Wire", Omar was one of the greatest TV characters of all time.)
In my rating scale, "Kokak" was OK, not great. I was always amused that whatever crime scene he went to in Manhattan he could find an open parking place for his big Buick.
While we're on the topic of cop shows, let's bow our heads for a moment of silence in respect for the original early-fifties "Dragnet". "Just the facts, ma'am."... "The story you have seen is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." "Dun-duh-dun-dun..."

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I never dug the "name" detective shows of the era the "Barettas", "Kojack", McCloud's" etc... Too formulaic for me. Villain pops up, villain gets put down in under an hour. Yawn.

I did love "Hill Street Blues" though because it tended to focus on policing a neighborhood as opposed to catching the "killer of the week". I remember specific story lines like when the Irish gangs began to lose sway in the neighborhood due to declining population. Or when a specific detective helped an informant dying of AIDS when that subject was practically Taboo in mainstream media. The cops weren't all "squeaky" and the hoods weren't all mindless thugs. It was a more nuanced and personal view of law enforcement. When Hill Street ended the next cop show I picked up was "Homicide: Life on the Streets" Similar format, again with a stellar cast, some of whom went on to appear in "The Wire". Nothing is simple, NOTHING is just Black and White.

Worf

You apparently did not watch Kojak. Yes, it went down in an hour, but what they fit into that hour was astounding and absolutely not formulaic.

I have also tried other 70s "name" detective shows like Columbo and McCloud (haven't tried Barretta), Rockford, Barnaby Jones, etc. and found them boring, gimmicky, not particularly intelligent.

But Kojak truly stands (bald) head and shoulders above the rest that I have seen for consistently great, unpredictable stories that investigate the nuance of criminality - not the black and white.

Kojak s02 ep 18 "Queen of the Gypsies" is one of the single greatest tv episodes I have ever seen, if not the very best. Anybody who wants to give Kojak a try, I recommend starting there. All espisodes are on Amazon Prime video.

 

[Worf]

You apparently did not watch Kojak. Yes, it went down in an hour, but what they fit into that hour was astounding and absolutely not formulaic.

I have also tried other 70s "name" detective shows like Columbo and McCloud (haven't tried Barretta), Rockford, Barnaby Jones, etc. and found them boring, gimmicky, not particularly intelligent.

But Kojak truly stands (bald) head and shoulders above the rest that I have seen for consistently great, unpredictable stories that investigate the nuance of criminality - not the black and white.

Kojak s02 ep 18 "Queen of the Gypsies" is one of the single greatest tv episodes I have ever seen, if not the very best. Anybody who wants to give Kojak a try, I recommend starting there. All espisodes are on Amazon Prime video.

You're right I did NOT watch much if ANY Kojak I was busy living IN NYC at the time. It may have been well written or stellar BUT none of the other shows set in NYC matched what I saw and knew about City Life and its Policing so why would that show? I lived under the watch of the 103rd Precient in Queens... or "The Dirty Third" as it was called back then. There were no Kojak's in THAT bunch. Goggle "Clifford Glover" if you want an education instead of entertainment.

Worf