I have COVID-19, so I have taken the miserable opportunity to watch "Band of Brothers" like I do every few years. Still amazed how well this show was done.

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Should be required High School curriculum.

Yup. That episode with the concentration camp still haunts me.

And I'm sure it was a lot, lot, lot worse in reality.

Hmmm, of the 9, I've only watched 1, 3, and only an episode of 4 & 7. I'm going to check out the others.

Netflix finally reveals viewing data across its entire catalog | Ars Technica

I don't know if anyone here watched The Keepers on Netflix, which was a murder mystery turned rant against the Catholic Church for covering up sexual abuse, but they've exhumed the body of one of the nuns who was killed in 1969. She was the second nun killed and may have known something about who killed the first nun (Cathy Cesnik) and why. Speculation is Cesnik knew a particular priest was sexually assaulting students and was murdered.

FBI to exhume body of Joyce Malecki, whose murder was featured in Netflix's 'The Keepers'

Oh yeah, I had the fortune of watching that. Hard to forget when a priest says the holy spirit is in his cum.

I just finished watch the Web of Make Believe episode about the murder of Seth Rich on Netflix. I know I heard of Seth Rich but I never dug into the story. OMG! That really happened huh?

It was absolutely crazy and was an obsession for months on end of the old "the donald" subreddit. The fact that people started harassing and threatening the family as being part of the deep state or paid off after they came out and asked people to stop using his name for political purposes was insane.

Blue Eye Samurai, which is the best show of 2023, and I will literally fight people about that, got renewed for Season 2 a couple days ago, and I am hyped.

More CarMasters.

Netflix spreadsheet on "hours viewed" for ALL its shows in 1H 2023

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/...gin=BROWSELINK

I remember that SNL game show skit about "Ginny and Georgia" being the most watched TV show in the country but none of the contestants ever having heard of it, despite all being TV enthusiasts.

I spend a decent amount of time on Netflix and it's never been recommended to me. Never seen any reference to it anywhere except for that SNL sketch and that spreadsheet of hours watched.

It's kind of fascinating how segmented we are, and how media companies have figured out how to target their content to people in efficient ways.

The Night Agent being so high is a little surprising. Like it was a decent show but nothing groundbreaking. Also people really got into Suits I guess.

I had never heard of that show until I opened up that Excel file and saw it at No. 2. At first, I thought it was that animated show with the two bird women, Tuca and whatever and was really surprised, because I thought that show hadn’t done well.

Never got into Warhammer but I'm all for more sci-fi and fantasy shows.

Games Workshop strikes deal with Amazon to make Warhammer 40,000 films and TV shows - MarketWatch

Max might be changing names again. Warner Brothers-Discovery is in merger talks with Paramount. That would bring HBO into CBS-Showtime.

Roadhouse remake next year. Patrick Swayze was never on my top tier of actors but his movies were memorable. Red Dawn, Point Break, Dirty Dancing, Ghost and Road House.

Jake Gyllenhaal is ripped in first look at remake of Patrick Swayze classic ‘Road House’ | CNN

Comparing Gyllenhaal with Swayze. Someone has been taking their 'roids.

Obliterated is pretty trashy fun. Insane amounts of boobs for a modern show. As well as a bunch of naked dudes also.

Enjoying "The Brothers Sun". Up to ep 4 and keeping my interest. Michelle Yeoh is great. Good MA choreography, comedy etc.

The one thing I don't really like is the movie involves the top guys of a Taiwanese Triad. Show humanizes (?) them and one of them is the protagonist. If Taiwanese Triads are anything like the Chinese/Hong Kong Triads, they don't need to be humanized. I know it's just TV but making top guy in the triad the good guy just seems wrong to me.

Did you have the same issue with the Sopranos?

No.

That comparison did come up when I was thinking about this and was tossed pretty quick. Sopranos did not try to portray the gangsters as heroes.

The Brothers Sun does have some blurbs about what they don't into (e.g. no human trafficking because the cost-benefit ratio wasn't good) but if the Triad (e.g. biggest in Taiwan) are much worse than just a NJ mob guy.

I'm into ep. 6 now. They are beginning to address my "issue" a little bit more.

I definitely still recommend checking it out. Other than for my "issue" the writing, acting and comedy is pretty good.

I've been watching some YT archaeology stuff like Neandertals, Denisovans and our lineage Homo Erectus (by the way, anyone find that name funny?).

Some good stuff but unfortunately, my feed is now full of Evolution vs Creationism stuff.

Also, from my earlier interest in Cop Cams, I'm also flooded with a bunch of police stops with Sovereign Citizens. If you guys don't know what that is, it's worth checking out a couple of the videos.

X-Files reboot.

I liked the stand alone episodes but the smoking man & alien arc was too confusing. I was totally lost when watching it first time around. Hope they take it easy on that stuff or at least make it less confusing.

I want more fluke man and inbred families!

Involuntary manslaughter:

BREAKING: Grand jury indicts Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting of cinematographer on movie set in New Mexico https://t.co/Uq7bIhv3vH

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 19, 2024

Finished HBO True Detective s1. Great show, hope it keeps up for the other season (unlike Fargo where s3 sucked).

Pretty good acting by Harrelson and McConaughey (although I'd say McConaughey ... overacted?). Easy on the eyes with Alexandra Daddario but very surprised she did the nude scene.

Spoiler alert: True Detective Season 2 wishes, in its wildest dreams, it could be as good as Fargo season three.

True Detective S2 is firmly in this "it's so bad, it's kind of good" territory. It's laughably bad.

Hah. Should I just skip to s3?

I can't say. Because of how bad season 2 was, I skipped season 3. I heard it was decent. I have watched the first episode of Season 4 and I liked it.

Season 3 is good and stars Mahershala Ali

S3 was really good tv.

I don't even think season 2 was that bad compared to other shows on TV. It was just that season 1 was so good that it made season 2 look so bad in comparison. Still think it's worth a watch. Not like they're crazy long seasons.

Enjoying True Detective s3. Currently on ep 5.

Made me read up on the West Memphis 3.

West Memphis Three - Wikipedia
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/project...spectswm3.html

I'm still not sure if it was a miscarriage of justice, I think so. It does seem there were some flaws in the process and there were recants.

Roadhouse remake looks like a fun movie. Coming to Prime on Mar 21.

I like the Florida Keys setting.

Meh, I'm not interested in anything with Connor McGregor.

Also there's no need to remake a classic.

They tried to do this remake with Ronda Rousey, but they they saw her act and shut down the whole production.

She couldn't even decently acquit herself in the Expendables movie, and those movies are tailor-made for people with limited or no acting range.

Of course, what's worse - getting a decent start like Carano did (i.e. Haywire) and then tossing it away, or never really getting started, e.g. Rousey?

Or maybe build a halfway-decent resume of B-grade action movies and then throw it all away to be Putin's puppet?

So, I started watching The Bear, binged it, and oh boy do I get the hype now. That's a fantastic show, even more so if you're from Chicago, love food, and/or both.

Yeah, she sucked in the Fast & Furious.

But McGregor looks halfway decent in the Roadhouse trailer.

Finished s3, it was great. s1 story was more intricate (?) but I prefer the slow plodding pace from s3. The reveal wasn't what I expected (e.g. since they referenced s1) so a nice surprise. The last 15 minutes was nice but kinda PO me also at the same time.

On a side note, I really appreciated the era accurate stuff like the cars, computers, phones etc. I saw some greenbar (!) paper printouts which I thought was pretty cool.

So overall, pretty different from s1 but not complaining. Looking forward to s4 with Jodie Foster.

Wife and I did the same, and while it is very good it isn't on par with some of the other Emmy winning series like Schitts Creek or Ted Lasso.

I haven't seen either of those. I actually kind of suck at picking up and watching TV series.

Anyone here try Monarch Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV?

Been rewatching the NBC series Las Vegas while wife is on work trips. Amazing it is 20 years old. It holds up really well. Lots of fun cameos. Been enjoying it.

When Amazon said they were going to bring ads to streaming, they were not kidding! It's borderline unwatchable for me now!

How many do they show? I've mostly just been downloading stuff and putting on Plex lately. But I was using Prime a lot.

Vanessa Marcil is so hot

I like how all the streamers have been removing content, adding ads, and moving 4k to a higher tier while also charging more. Not even sure why we have a 4k TV because everything is just upscaled from a 1080p stream.

That is just not a surprise. That's why we cancelled instead of going to an ad plan. I was on the Hulu ad plan to begin with, and it was also awful. The same ad over and over again, breaking into the show at the worst times. It completely killed my desire to watch, and I determined right then I would go without before I would pay for an ad-laden streamer.


edit: I will just go back to a cheaper plan cable if all the streamers stop offering ad-free plans. At least on cable the ads are planned around the shows, not just cut into many times mid-scene.

I was watching an old movie last night that was 68 minutes long. From the looks of it they put in 6 or 7 two-plus minutes ad breaks.

That's nuts. I could sort of understand on a TV show or between episodes. But I don't watch movies with commercials. Ruins the whole experience.

The Paramount+ Super Bowl commercial spot, presented without comment (but oh my god I promise you want to watch this) pic.twitter.com/bwDTH9etkv

— ComicBook.com (@ComicBook) February 1, 2024

That was pretty funny

Ok, I'm dead.

Really well done. Patrick Stewart is the best.

last scene with the voicemail was....rough.

I'm doing a binge of "The Morning Show" right now. Has there ever been a dramatic show that had as many comedy actors as this show? Most of the main cast and almost every guest are better known for their comedy roles than as dramatic actors. And they do a terrific job.

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Maybe it's just me, but I turned on The Greatest Night in Pop with no expectations, but damn was it enjoyable. Plus, knowing that Stevie Wonder was basically Bob Dylan's teddy bear is just so sweet

Finished True Detective s4 with Jodie Foster. Not as good as s1 but it was entertaining. Also, enjoyed how they weaved some Eskimo tradition/stories in there.

It did feel a little rushed but only 6 episodes instead of the regular 8.

We watched this last night on my boss's recommendation. Really good, better than I expected. A few thoughts:

1. I either forgot, or never knew, how big a role Lionel Ritchie played in WATW. I'm sure I knew at the time (although maybe not - I was only 13 at the time), but it was a surprise last night. He really did a great job of storytelling and keeping the ego in check narrating the whole thing. From some things I've read about him, that might have been a difficult task, but he pulled it off really well.

2. I wasn't a huge fan of most of those artists even in their prime, but last night was enjoyable. Nostalgia is a helluva drug.

3. Huey Lewis (now, in his interviews) could have been portrayed by a bearded Al Franken and I wouldn't have known. I thought 2 things when I saw his clips - he seems like an exceedingly cool, down to earth guy, and is... is that Al Franken?

4. I don't understand why Bob Dylan was there. I mean, I get it, but given the particular song... no. Jesus Crispies did he look uncomfortable throughout the entire thing, and that was BEFORE he got put on the spot to "sing." I feel like he's the definition of someone who caught lightning in a bottle at a specific moment in time and has coasted on that legendary short period and a specific sound that hasn't aged well for him or in American culture. Pull up any random social media post asking about the worst concerts you've ever attended, and like 60% of the posts will be about seeing Bob Dylan over the past 30-40 years.

5. I forgot that MJ was showing his weirdness as early as 1984. We tend to think about all of the weird stuff in the late 80s/90s (or at least, that's when I associate it with him) - separated by some years from the Thriller days - but I guess not. They did a good job highlighting his brilliance in the few audio/video clips they showed of him creating parts of the song on the spot.

6. I know it wasn't the purpose of this documentary, but I'd pay to watch another hour of the backstory on who didn't come and why. They went into it a bit with Prince, and Sheila E was obviously pissed that she got invited and promised a solo as a bait-and-switch to lure Prince to the studio, but that was about it. Prince insisting on a guitar solo in a room away from everybody is pretty on point. But I'd love to hear why Madonna wasn't there - she was standing next to Huey Lewis on the red carpet, so she was in LA - or Dolly Parton - she seems like an obvious choice - or anyone else they tried to get, or who wanted in but was refused. Give me some dirt!

7. Waylon Jennings walking out because they were talking about adding some Swahili to the song... I'll take "WATW participants most likely to vote for Donald Trump if they were still alive" for $2000, Alex.

8. Second to uncomfortableness to Dylan was Dan Akroyd. What the hell was he doing there? Yes, I know, Blues Brothers, etc. They didn't show him much, but when they did, he seemed to be taking a proper stance - in the back, out of the way, bowing in deference to the world of musical talent in the room. He seemed like he didn't belong, for sure, and it felt like he knew it.

Looking forward to Shogun (Disney+ for Germany but not sure for The US, Wiki says Hulu and FX).
The source material was already put into a short series (that was then also re-edited and released as a movie). Haven't watched that or read the book, which is a bit of a rarity for me with historical series/movies based on books so that's nice.

Don't read the Wiki article too closely if you want to avoid potential spoilers on who lives or dies as for some unholy reason the years of birth and death are next to the historical characters in the Cast tab.

I've never really understood the appeal of Dylan though of course I can recognize his contribution, even if through volume alone, to the 20th century's canon of popular music.

But I suspect the reason he's had such long-standing fame is that he was an easy avatar for what most Boomers wanted to be, but couldn't. A successful artist and free spirit not locked down by a 9-to-5 job, a connection to key events of the civil rights movement even if his involvement was mostly ancillary, and of course the sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll.

There are a lot of people who gained lasting fame and/or influence through being wish fulfillment for Boomers, and he's definitely one of them.

I am very much looking forward to this.


Edit: The early reviews have been incredible. Lots of comparisons to early Game of Thrones in terms of quality. The source material is really good.

I read the book way back when. And then watched the original TV series. Loved it.

I liked the new Season of True Detective but I think i would place it behind 1 and 3. The actors were all really good. They definitely stacked the cast with with elite talent(Foster, Hawes, Eccleston, Shaw) and Kali Reis was great in her first major role. Don’t recall seeing Finn Bennet before either.

If they tell the story as written I'd love to see it. If they think it needs to be "cleaned" so nobody is offended, then not so much.

Time will tell.

I mean it was Richard Chamberlain...what do you expected?
You should expect lots of tragedy but no sex and blood

seriously tho....I was a wee lad when this came out. All I remember was the opening intro credits and that song. The miniseries itself was boring to me.

Had to google on it. I didn't remember it.

Opening scene to new series. Love the outfits.

I've been traveling a lot, so I haven't had a lot of time to watch tv and specifically Masters of the Air. Surprised to have heard so little about it.

On an unrelated note, I have watched the first 4 eps of Curb (don't mind watching that on my phone). I'm not sure I've laughed once.

My wife and I have watched 3 episodes of Curb and have laughed plenty. Maybe it’s not your show.

I've enjoyed all the other seasons. This one is just doing nothing for me. I hate that Irma character.

Yeah, she adds nothing.

Bottoms is great if you're looking for a comedy about a high school, lesbian fight club. With Marshawn Lynch.

Curb is still a home run for me. Especially since they came back from Atlanta. And I love Irma.

"You've got a structured settlement and you need cash now!"

Edit: I also think Curb is grandfathered in to being able to do a type of comedy you couldn't do on mainstream TV anymore. They put blackface on a white lawn jockey to replace the one they broke for god's sake.

If you don't want to wait for Shogun, Blue Eyed Samurai on Netflix will probably scratch the itch.

I don't know why he popped up on my YT feed but I've started watching the guy below. It's fascinating what he can do with bamboo. I suspect he has a team behind him helping build some of the stuff but it's still pretty amazing.

So back to the whole we are the world thing, how is it that Michael McDonald didn’t have a spot on that song? He literally did harmony on a bunch of random tracks in the 70s and 80s and a lot of them were uncredited. It seems like he would be a perfect fit.

He tried, but he had to come from somewhere back in the studio. He was a sentimental fool who was trying to recreate what had yet to be created.

Also, I think it's because he didn't do soundtracks like Loggins.
Yacht Rock 12 HD - YouTube

I know Vulva. It's a great car. It's one of the safest cars out there

I haven't watched a network TV show since the mid-2000s (except for a summer run of that forensics geneology show a few years back), but when I hear Columbo comps mentioned, my ears perk up.

I guess the success of Poker Face got people thinking about how they can rehash old characters into new shows, so apparently there's a bit character from a couple of older CBS shows who stars in a Columbo-type howcatchem-style show that more or less can be watched as individual episodes, called Elsbeth. The reviews are good, and it sounds like a quirky version of Columbo. I'm going to give it a shot.

I loved that character on "The Good Wife." She was a personal favorite. I'm excited about that show.

If Shogun can keep this up I'm all here for it.

Shogun is really good.

Watched season 3 of Sunderland til I die. Only 3 episodes so an easy watch. If you haven't seen the entire series I highly recommend. If you have and haven't seen season 3 the end, oof...

My wife and I started watching The Traitors last night on Peacock. We ended up staying up late watching and immediately threw it back on this morning. Needless to say, we are hooked. It still has elements of reality TV that I don't like, but the actual game is fun. The challenge with the bugs and rats was very "Fear Factor" which I didn't like, but other than that I like the challenges.

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Shogun is great.

I love all the period pieces, it's fantastic. As a layman, it feels so authentic.

So, we watched Elsbeth last night. And yes, it's clear that it is intended to capitalize on the success of Poker Face and owes a great debt to Columbo. My wife liked it so that's good. I thought it was ... OK, but I'll continue to watch.

The biggest issues I have with it are (1) pacing and (2) you can tell it's a network show. First, this type of show absolutely needs to be a minimum 90 minutes (with commercials) or around an hour run time to really get it right. I thought the pacing, the directness of her questioning, how quickly the plot points moved, was way off and just felt rushed/forced.

The network thing... The character is too over the top quirky for my liking, and the rest of the characters just come in and out and are paper thin. A lot of this goes back to pacing and forcing this into a 60 minute show, but that's also a network thing. It feels like a show CBS would air - you know what I mean? No subtlety, clues are thrown in front of us and then immediately pointed out without giving them the chance to be found organically. She's way too direct in her questioning, almost to the point of absurdity.

The ending was aped from several Columbo episodes - I don't necessarily have a problem with that, and the "easter eggs" actually enhanced my enjoyment of Poker Face - but here, what took 10-15 minutes in a Columbo episode to play out (and pay off in tension and the climax), began and finished in literally 60-90 seconds here. Definitely not as satisfying a watch.

So, we'll continue to watch but I wish this had been picked up by Netflix or Max or something and given the proper treatment to find its full potential. I did read that it had strong numbers so that bodes well for continuing. One thing networks have over streaming services is that annual schedule they like to keep. Poker Face, as successful as it was, is just now ramping up filming for season 2, I believe. So we're looking at 2025, probably? That sucks. TV series shouldn't be on the same schedule as major rock band album releases. I'm still pissed Mindhunter stopped after season 2...

Also, I just read that the next episode isn't until April 4th. I get it - SOTU followed by March Madness - but I find it odd they'd run the premiere and then let it sit for a month before the next episode. I wonder if they were caught off-guard by the strong ratings and are going to wish they had scheduled this differently.

Shogun kicks a lot of ass.

Agreed. It’s super fun!

I'm waiting until it's finished. Binge or death

I had heard mention of it several times, but last night was the first time I had been served ads on Amazon Prime. Not a fan.

At least they've only dropped Dolby Vision, for now, on the ad tier. as far as I know, only them and Hulu do 4k with ads. I'm not entirely sure why we have a 4k tv since we can't actually get the content at reasonable prices.

Watched the Fallout trailer on Prime.

April 11th!

Enjoyed Roadhouse.

Preferred the orig ending fight but this remake was plenty entertaining.

Watched first 3 episodes of Netflix's adaptation of "Three Body Problem".

I know it's won the Hugo and a bunch of other awards, but it's pretty boring so far, somewhat painful. I'm not sure I'll finish watching it, has not met my (probably unrealistic) expectations.

My wife and I watched the original last night. It was one of my favorite movies even though I'm generally not a big action movie fan. It was still a fun watch. Probably watch the new one tonight.

Let me know if you agree with me re: remake.

We found the new Roadhouse good. I think Jake Gyllenhaal did a pretty decent job in the lead. Connor McGregor can't act, but he can be massive and intimidating enough to get by. It was fun enough.

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Watched "The Acolyte" trailer.

Would have preferred more Grogu but looking forward to it in June. It looks to be darker in theme and more action.