I think it's eventual expansion into the schools & kids is probably what makes it most unique/special for ostensibly a 'cops & robbers' show.

Yeah, I have since the beginning been interested in getting to the 'politics' part. I liked union politics in S2 (and realized police politics are in S1 and S2 - as Rawls cares far more about numbers than solving cases... as does Burrell.. and the Polish major, can't remember his name, just wants to act out his own grudge against Sobatka).

What do you think is the best show ever? What shows do you think are better?

It gets better which is amazing considering how good the first 2 seasons were.

anyone wants to watch a cute documentary on HULU with the family Superhero Dogs is really good.

Yeah if you like season 2's political arc I think after season 3 you may be on board as this being one of the best shows of all time. The politics and inner police workings are off the charts.

Season 4 is just brutal. I'm not sure any other TV has knocked me off-balance the way that season did.

Desperados is totally not funny. Dunno why it’s stayed in the Netflix top 10.

Among my top (drama) shows: Breaking Bad, The Leftovers, Sopranos, Mad Men, Deadwood. Well and the first 4 seasons of Game of Thrones.

I think I also mentioned that I watched Succesion at the same time as The Wire, and raced through Succession while leaving The Wire on the side for a bit. So I guess I really liked the first two seasons of Succession better than the first two seasons of The Wire as well.

I'd agree with this. Those 2 seasons put it over the top for me. Maybe not best of all time, but personal top 5

Speaking of shows that have an amazing first 4 seasons then a disappointing last one...

But yes, obviously the wire is amazing, and if you loved S1/2, S3/4 will be amazing too!

Liked, not loved ;)

Eh. I won't say totally not funny. It made me laugh a couple of times. Overall, it wasn't great. The co-stars out shined the star, and there wasn't enough there for them. It felt like a made-for-tv movie.

Just finished watching Betty on HBO. It was surprisingly good. A quick 6 ep series (30mins each). Wouldn’t have thought a show about female skateboarders in modern day NYC would be so interesting. Glad to hear it has been renewed for a second season.

Also watching (very slowly, tbh) Killing Eve on Hulu. Just finished Season 1. Really enjoy the stylish spy v. spy narrative. And the villian is so freaking cool. I have to remember to continue watching it (binging a show on Hulu is a bit annoying since we have the ad version - comes with no added cost with my wife’s Sprint plan).

Finishing up season 2 of Save Me tonight, which I'd describe as a sort of working class British spin on Taken. Pretty much every character is flawed and the story gets very, very dark, but we can't stop watching.

Also started on season 6 of Bosch. Season 5 was probably my favorite so far.

Giri/Haji is a really good crime series. Probably 50/50 or so English and Japanese with subtitles.

I am right in the middle of that one. Good stuff.

Watched Ford vs Ferrari on HBO.

I know that I enjoyed the movie when I google on fact vs fiction. Enjoyed the race & pit scenes.

Matt Damon, waiting on you to do the next Jason Bourne. Christian Bale, enjoyed your acting but not your real life so much.

Yeah we really enjoyed Giri/Haji also.

I thought this one was kind of a letdown. It looked great, but otherwise felt like a typical, flat, b-level 'true sports' treatment . I can't point to anything particularly cliched that stuck out, yet everything about the pacing and story arc felt like going to a fancy new amusement park I'd never been to before, only to find a roller coaster design that I had ridden a hundred times before.

Finished Harlots this morning - 3 season period/costume piece about rival brothels. I loved it - a lot of intrigue, backstabbing, and machinations, in addition to some LOL moments. Treat it as popcorn entertainment and it gets even better (the convenience of character locations being in just the right spots at just the right moments gets a little ridiculous at times).

Watched Ford v Ferrari back when it was in the theater and absolutely loved it. Though it may have helped that I am a racing fan and was somewhat familiar with the story before going in. It is one of the most famous events in motorsports and I was really happy they were able to do such a great job (even if they Hollywood-ed some of the racing)

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So far I've enjoyed the Unsolved Mysteries reboot. It doesn't follow the same formula as the original and is more of a formulaic take on a modern true crime series, but it's still a good watch IMO.

Alone (Season 6 is available on Netflix and I believe all seasons are on Hulu) has become the show to throw on in our home when there doesn't seem to be anything to watch. The premise is 10 people are dropped off in an area miles apart and have to survive within their geo-fenced location. Seasons 1 and 2 were on Vancouver Island, Season 3 is Patagonia, and I know Season 5 is Mongolia and Season 6 is on the southern edge of the Arctic. It's basically a last person left wins type of competition. No voting out or anything like that, they just play until they quit or they're forced out for health reasons.

We have done the first 3 seasons of alone. Really like it. Same as you we throw it on when nothing is on we can watch or have to focus on. Kids like it also.

Finished Ozark. I liked it but it also seems quite derivative.

Alone is excellent. We have been watching from the beginning of the series. I like formulas for Reality TV that doesn't feel like the whole thing is produced.

People are going to be pissed at me for this, I swear, but... Season 3 is starting to bore me (I'm 6 eps in). But Season 4, with the schools, is something I'm really interested in, so I'll tough it out, LOL.

Seasons 1,2 & 4 are my favourites, season 3 a clear 4th best, and season 5 jumps the shark for me

I love Alone. The current season is a bit different in that they have a 100-day challenge for $1M instead of a "last one standing" wins. Someone has to last 100 days or no one wins.

Well that's good to know. A lot of people were praising S3 as one of the best seasons of the show. I liked S1 a decent amount, I thought S2 was better, and then was prepared for ok, this S3 is going to show why this is such a great show... and then...

Yeah, I really had issues with Season 5, as great as the rest of the show is. It's been many years since I've watched it, but from memory, I think my ranking of seasons goes something like 4-2-1/3-5, with 5 being far behind the others.

It's interesting that the consensus seems to have changed over the years regarding Season 2. I remember at one point it seemed like there were many people who were not fans. It seems people have come around more on it now. It's always been one of my favourites.

Watching the series Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia

Watching the 1st season. If you like mobster stuff you will really like this one.

Good documentary. Talks to former FBI guys and mob guys and their battle.

Just got to the end of the first season of Yellowstone, and going to dive into Season 2 shortly. Good drama, really serious stuff, lots of messed ip people. I have a question I will spoiler.

So we started watching Warrior Nun and Cursed - as Netflix decides to get into CW sort of shows, but with extra gore for some strange reason? Only saw the pilot of Warrior Nun and seemed a bit too ridiculous. Cursed seemed more interesting as a telling of the King Arthur story. Though kind of interesting to have the main villains be obviously Christian fanatics.

I saw an ad for Yellowstone, thought it looked quite good, checked justwatch.com to see what streaming service it was on. 5 minutes later I started up my AppleTV and it's "suggested for you" was three episodes of Yellowstone. So I'm not watching it to prove to The Man that I'm not so easily influenced.

It does look good though.

I will say Cursed was ok. It was very teen angst-y and not very deep.



Yellowstone was just too dark. I made it through several episodes, but there was just no one likable in the whole show. A show like Succession can get away with that because of the fun element to it. There is nothing fun or interesting about Yellowstone.

Finished Season 3 of The Wire - the end of the season saved the season IMO. Poor Colvin. He was really onto something, but politics being what it is. the was a real surprise!

Time to visit the school kids in Season 4.

2/3rds through season one of Dark on netflix. Not quite sure what genre to call it, but Stephen King mentioning it on Twitter was what started me watching it, so that might give you an idea - dark, German sci fi/fantasy set in the modern day as well as 33 years ago. Can be a bit confusing at times but our patience has been rewarded so far.

Need to replace my Roku since the latest update seems to have killed it. I can't stream for more than three minutes without it kicking me out to the home menu, regardless of channel.

Have a Fire Stick on another TV but open to other options. Suggestions?

Related: What do you guys think the reasonable lifetime for one of these devices should be? I haven't had this device online for a few months until Saturday (long story), when it worked fine. It updated to the latest version (9.3.0) overnight that night and has issues since. Reboot, reinstall, factory reset... no luck. Seems like this has been reported to Roku as far back as June and no response.

I cut the cord in April of 2015 and I am still using the 2 Roku players that I bought then.

So is anyone here going to pay $30 to watch the live action Mulan movie on Disney Plus?

Probably. We would have seen it in the theater for a lot more.

I was going to watch it when it hit D+ eventually. Now, I wonder if that happens.

It's going to be very useful for families. I know of people who scoffed at the $30 charge, but it seems like those people don't have kids or know of some really cheap theaters.

Exactly. We did it with Trolls world tour and one other I can’t remember. I think this model could catch on and really hurt the theater industry. My kids really don’t care if they see it in the theater or at home, as long as they have candy and popcorn. Anyone complaining about this doesn’t understand the economics of taking a family to the movies. It’s easily close to $100 day. If we grab lunch our before and let them each bring a friend closer to $200.

It was briefly mentioned a couple of times earlier in the thread, but "Norsemen" on Netflix is hilarious. The setting is a Norwegian viking colony in the 900s, but they speak using modern language. Has a real Monty Python crossed with The Office feel to it. It is easy to binge watch, three seasons of 6-8 episodes each.

Here is the issue I have on my device. See as it was reported months ago without fix, I guess they aren’t going to bother and I’m not going to buy another Roku:

400 Bad Request

30$ for unlimited viewings as long as you subscribe to Disney + isn’t all that bad. I rarely go to the movies so I’ve passed on all the Home Debut stuff so far. I do rent stuff in the $5-6 on demand category 1-2 times a month

My Dad’s roku didn’t support the MLB app any more so he had to get a new one. Right now Roku has an fees dispute issue with HBO Max. I have a roku Sharp TV and a Roku sound bar on my older set. They better unfuck this quickly.

Yeah, we will definitely rent it. It's a bargain if our whole family watches it.

Apparently you own it as long as you subscribe to Disney plus, so it is an even better deal.

They will not unfuck this quickly. It seems Amazon and HBO Max are working on a deal (which is why Amazon now has a "HBO" app without Max while they are discussing). Roku doesn't seem to be budging at all.

Peacock is also in the limbo with Roku and Amazon.

I'm glad I have Chromecasts and an Apple TV.

So finally am starting to watch Better Call Saul. I'm not sure what took me so long. I LOVED Breaking Bad. I wonder if it was due to cord cutting and being on services without AMC for a while. But it has been on Netflix too. Anyways.. finally getting to it.

I'm also continuing The Wire. I've gotten to the election in Season 4. I find I'm not all the interested in the show (it's well done, but it's not for me), but I've gotten this far, might as well finish it.

Earlier on I mentioned that I'd been working through Netflix/Japanese TV co-production "Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories". I got to the end of it just in time for Netflix adding "Midnight Diner", the pre-Netflix production from Japanese TV. Still the same diner, still the same self contained stories, I've now got through all five seasons (Pre-Netflix Midnight Diner = Season 1,2 and 3, Netflix co-production = season 4 and 5). I'm now trying to find he spinoff movie.

Still on a Japanese TV kick on Netflix, I've moved onto "Samurai Gourmet". A 60 year old newly retired company man starts seeing visions of an ancient wandering Samurai and uses them as an inspiration to let loose and live like a samurai, mainly revolving around restaurants and cafes. In one episode he has a beer with lunch, in another he almost complains about a bad meal. He doesn't really go crazy with the Samurai inspiration.

Good viewing, a mixture of slice-of-life and Samurai strangeness.

WOO! I think most of us that loved breaking bad were afraid of better call saul initially but found it to be an outstanding show. Enjoy!


I've been following your comments on The Wire - I wonder if the level of hype that the show has received has set impossible or unreasonable expectations that it be head and shoulders better than everything else you've ever seen, so you're comparing against that likely impossible standard? Or, of course, maybe its just not for you, which is surprising to me knowing the other shows we've both chatted about over the years, but there's certainly nothing wrong if that's the case :D

Maaybe. The hype could be the issue, but generally hype doesn't have this effect on me too much. Many a show I started watching when it was multiple seasons in and I loved it - including Breaking Bad and The Sopranos (actually I don't ever recall if I saw the first season of The Sopranos... I need to fix that).

I've never been one for cop shows. The only ones I ever liked were sci fi ones - X Files, Fringe, etc.

The biggest thing for me that makes The Wire so great is the characters. I can't think of a single character that didn't seem real to me. There are always some characters in a show or movie where the acting isn't that good. That is not the case with this show.

I watched it again recently and it still holds up for me.

If you have a Roku and get HBO thru your cable provider this works.

So the wife and I have been watching Parks and Recreation. She watched it when it came on, whereas I didn't. I actually stopped middle of Season 2, right before it became very good. I had thought of picking it up since - because it got highly rated. But that hasn't happened until now. I'm really liking it, but what really amuses me is there is this sub-theme through the show where Leslie Knope has a massive thing for Joe Biden. And Biden even makes a cameo in the show. In the context of the 2020 election it's even more hilarious.

Oh, and I just finished season 4 of The Wire. My opinion has not changed.

It's ok, we're all wrong about something.

Ted Lasso is funnier than it has any right to be

Watching The Get Down on Netflix. The first half is strange and flawed, but it's interesting. The second half is terrible. The writing stinks, the acting stinks, the music is way out of period. It's so obvious why it was cancelled.

Finished watching ep 5 of The Expanse.

I tried watching it earlier this year and couldn't get into it. It takes 3-4 episodes I think to get the hang of the "world". Enjoying it now and hoping there are more space battles. The special effects are pretty cool.

Wife and I started The Leftovers after the recommendations here and so far we're both really enjoying it six episodes in.

Finished s3 of Ozark yesterday.

Crazy way to end a season. :D

Yeah, the season finale was great. I do think s3 wasn't near as strong as s1 & s2 but still pretty good.

I think Ben made s3 better. :D

I think I probably agree on that. I enjoyed s3 still, but I feel like the scale of the drama blew out a little quick, compared with s1 & s2.

World's Toughest Race on Amazon Prime is right up my alley. Two eps in so far.

Three episodes in on Ted Lasso. It's pretty enjoyable. I am pleasantly surprised.

It almost feels like if Parks and Rec was about Chris Traeger. With sports.

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So...Cuties. I saw an ad for it and thought it was a joke, but apparently it's real. I didn't click on the trailer because I was afraid I'd have to go all Pete Townshend on my explanation for watching it - "I was doing research!" - if I got caught.

I see there's a movement for Netflix to remove it. I don't know if it's as bad as it looks and warrants removal, but I'm not gonna find out firsthand.

I have no idea what this show is about. I just saw the promo photo along with a protest tweet and well it does not look like something I would have ever considered anyways.

Now High Score on the other hand might be my background noise for the day.

Just read a little bit about it, yeah, not interested.

Into Expanse s4 ep4.

Really been enjoying this series. Didn't like the "two mutinies" in s3, the first one was much better than the second. Also it started getting a little too much like the last part of 2001 and Contact. The world is fascinating and s3 really setup s4.

In s4 it's less space and more planet base story telling. It's not as good so far IMO as the previous 3 seasons but still entertaining enough.

If you are a sci-fi fan, I think you need to give this a shot. Be aware I needed about 3-4 episodes to really get into it.

Some folks on Reddit were trying to suggest that Netflix/someone-involved is building an outrage campaign against this show as PR.

Apparently the plot of the show is exactly the opposite of what the title & cover suggest FWIW. I have less than zero interest either way.

We're in season 3 now. Maybe the most complicated yet rewarding show I've seen. Tackles pretty much every fundamental problem/conundrum with time travel.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark is some top notch stuff. Highly recommended.

It was good but unfortunately, her death turned the whole thing into a split focus on GSK and her as opposed to being the definitive documentary of GSK. The last episode was fantastic because it gave details and interviews with people no one had heard before. I was looking for something a little different, which it probably would have been if she hadn't died.

And of course, if you're going to go there, having Oswalt as executive producer and main narrator kinda makes you think they didn't go as deep into her issues as maybe he was aware. Felt like a lot of unanswered questions there.

But overall, it was decent.

I would have liked it better if it was half as long. There was a lot of padding to get to six hours.

Just an incredible show.

This helped me out a lot. You can choose the season/episode you're on and it'll give you a rundown of the characters/family trees without spoiling things for you.

DARK | The Official Guide | NETFLIX

They could have made it 12 hours if they had focused more on DeAngelo and the crimes.

She became the main storyline which - again, considering her death - I get, but it fell a bit short of my expectations. More Paul Holes and discussion of the analytical/psychological side of the crimes would have been great too. There was a ton of information to fill the time, but they only weaved the crime information in and out to bridge her stories and the writing of the book. Should have been the other way around.

This wasn’t really supposed to be only about the Golden State Killer. I believe the documentary was sold around the same time as the book was sold. It just got delayed so long because she died and then furthermore because he was actually apprehended. I think it’s possible there will be more documentaries in the future and I agree it would be great if they had focus on near misses/more detective theory around that time.

Documentary was green lit before the suspect was found, but only by a couple weeks.

I know. But the focus became much more on her life/death than I think it would have had she been alive. And for so much focus on her death, I felt that part was somewhat compromised by Oswalt's close involvement.

High Score has been pretty good so far as we're a few episodes into it.

Been watching Cobra Kai and really enjoying it. Fantastic idea to bring back the old nemesis to see how he is doing post-karate kid and giving him additional back drop story.

Brings back fond memories with the 80's music and the flashbacks.

I am a little disappointed with the karate moves. With the success of the series, I hope they train more and choreography becomes more realistic.

Somethings are hyped up the wazoo and fall short and then you have shows that hit the hype and it's awesome. Cobra Kai meets the hype and surpasses it. Excellent fun show.

Ditto on Cobra Kai. Loved it. Such a heavy dose of nostalgia that worked well.

Cobra Kai is great. Agree with you all.

The karate isn't great but I wonder what kind of budget restraints they were working with. Youtube Originals were mostly low budget stuff. Hopefully the move to Netflix changes it. And by the quick teaser they put out for Season 3, it looks like they have increased the budget in one area.

Agree on Cobra Kai. We have been devouring it here. So much goodness.

And the fact the main characters of the original cast are in it is amazing. I sit here hoping for things to go a certain way and then they throw a curve ball. Good stuff.

Supposedly another old nemesis (and possibly love interest!) for s3.

Agree, it's cool they are bringing back the original cast (more so in s2).

Lesson learn here is: just talk it out first, tell the whole story of what happened without resorting to threats, fists, feet, and name calling. So many misunderstandings because they didn't explore what really happened and have empathy for both sides.

I remember starting it up and thinking: "ok cool, a view of Johnny Lawrence 35 years later trying to get his life together. Wait, they got Ralph Macchio in this?!"

I really didn't expect Macchio to be in it, especially since, IIRC, at the time he was starring in The Deuce as well.

I find it fun, but it isn't very good. A lot of the dialogue is cringey and there are major consistency problems in the filming.

But it is nostalgic fun.

How is that any different than the original Karate Kid? ;)

Truth

I think it works because they've done a good job developing the new teenage characters, and they aren't simple clones of Johnny and Daniel.

Cobra Kai is like a bad college humor skit. Whatever happened to the dude that got kicked in the face in a 34 year old movie? Maybe we could have a show about the black ship captain who helped Indy move the lost ark? Wonder what he’s up to 35 years later?

I'm waiting for the very special episode on teenage concussions.

That's a fair point. Those kids are different, in ways that annoy their parents, and actually seem like real people.

Yeah, it kind of falls apart if you think too much about it (why in the world does anyone care that Daniel won an All Valley Karate tournament 35 years ago? Who would make their entire luxury car business about it?), but you aren't really supposed to.

My problems are more with individual scenes. Why is a party at night while at the same time another part of the city is still sunny? How long does it take to get from the apartments to Danny's house after you steal a motorcycle? What were the people doing at the karate board meeting? Can you refurbish an entire dojo in one day, seemingly the same day as a major karate tournament?

etc.

Teenage Bounty Hunters is a must see. Yes, it looks like Riverale, but, NO it is not. It is a fantastic show about twins who are hardcore conservative christians that are teenage girls that become bounty hunters.

Trust me, I thought it looked like shit, but it is awesome.