I saw that Severance S2 is finally releasing in January which reminded me of the shittiest part of the streaming era, which is the wait for new seasons. The gap between seasons 1 and 2 of Severance will be just under 3 years.

Yeah, it's made me avoid new shows more often than not. Prefer the limited series or anthologies.

OMFGGTFHOOHFFSTCBR!

I will most definitely buy a month of whatever streaming service I need (if I don't already have it, I can't keep track) to watch this!




On a separate note, has Twitter disabled the ability to embed posts now? I saw this from someone I get notifications from on Twitter, but I had to go find it on YT to embed it here. ElameMuskgo.

Yeah, I'm in on that too

Watching the original Bad News Bears with my daughter. Man, the scene in the dugout with Amanda and Buttermaker where she is basically begging to be a part of his life and he is pushing her away because he knows he simultaneously wants her in his life but knows he will disappoint her is really well done.

Cross on Amazon Prime is pretty fun if you like the books. I dog how Amazon is largely not changing much stuff from the books in their shows like Reacher and Jack Ryan too.

We are really big fans of Impractical Jokers. Took my kids this morning to meet Murr at a book signing. He was super gracious and nice as could be. Kids were thrilled.

I just bought tickets as an XMas present for my wife to see Joe Gatto in Louisville in May. We saw him in Toronto in June of 2023 while we were on vacation. Wife and I also saw Sal live almost exactly two years ago.

Say Nothing is really really good if you have FX/Hulu. One of my favorite books too.

Impractical Jokers and The Office got me through covid quarantine.

Agree completely. I've read a bunch of Reacher, Clancy (Jack Ryan) & Patterson's Alex Cross series. Having Tyler Perry or Morgan Freeman as Cross and Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was quite the reach by Hollywood (Esp since Reacher is 6-5, 250 in the books), so the Amazon adaptations have been much truer to the characters. I really liked Hodge as Cross and hope they continue with him like they have done with Reacher and Ryan.

The guy they have playing Reacher is perfect casting. It's been awhile since I read some of those books but it just feels spot on. The only minor change is they gave him a little bit of a sense of a dry sense of humor which works well.

I'm of the belief that if a book is really popular, you should stick to keeping it as close as possible. There is a reason the book was popular after all. A lesson for the people who made The Witcher.

I liked the Cross books (the couple I have read) and I really didn't have much of a problem with the Freeman movies. The Tyler Perry one was just bad. I need to watch the Cross show. I do think he is a very good character for a television series.
As for Cruise, I have never gotten how he is such a big action star. He played a good, cocky a-hole in Top Gun, but I have hated any other action movie I have seen him in (which isn't many).

I have such a hard time with any Patterson story after he was such a douche as a graduation speaker. The guy got bored and stood up and left half way through.

I don't know the story, and really rather not. Whether I can enjoy the art of someone I dislike/disagree with or despise is very case by case, and sometimes it better just not knowing anything about them personally.

This happened where I teach. He's from Newburgh.

I think you have to be able to separate a person from their art. Some of the most talented athletes/musicians/actors/artists have been awful human beings. But I would hate to not be able to listen to music or watch a good movie because I "didn't like them".

Thoroughly enjoyed “A Man on the Inside” on Netflix.

It’s not something I would watch but was surprised by it. A little detective comedy but also very thought provoking about Alzheimer’s. Ted Danson isn’t one of my must see actors but he was darn good.

I watched 2 Netflix true crime documentaries on my business trip to Denver last weekend.

The one on the Zodiac, to the extent the family members interviewed are to be believed (and they seemed to have some corroborating evidence here and there), seems like it makes a pretty compelling case that the guy who was originally on the short list of suspects is the guy (Arthur Leigh Allen). I haven't read any critiques or takedowns on it to know whether some of it was BS or whether people are giving it the benefit of the doubt.

The other was on the "Times Square torso killer" in the late 70s/early 80s. He also did some killin' in NJ at the same time, and of course, at the time, there was no CODIS or really much of any kind of inter-agency cooperation/communication - not to mention the war on prostitutes which kept them from coming forward - so he got away with way too many crimes for way too long.

The funny (to me) thing is, his name was Richard Cottingham, and he went by Richie Cottingham. And then I saw that Ron Howard was one of the executive producers. Close enough that I lol'd.

Finished up Arcane on Netflix this weekend. 10/10, phenomenal show, and this is coming from someone that has never played the game. The story and animation hold their own and I enjoyed every minute of it. My son watched with me and he does play the game and I think enjoyed it even more because he would giggle in delight when he recognized things.

Dune Prophecy has exceeded my expectations.

Netflix's Abigail was surprisingly entertaining. A horror movie with sprinkles of comedy. First half was kinda slow but second half was great. Nice special effects also.

Also watched some Monsieur Spade. Talk about slow as molasses, gave up on it. Also, the smoking was distracting and made me a little nauseous. I get it's in character but I wish we could go back to 00's and early 10's when smoking was much less in films.

Just saw that the people who made Friday Night Lights are doing a reboot with an all new cast. Not sure how I feel about it. Outside of Lance killing a guy and Street trying to go all Deep Blue Sea in season 2, it was near perfect.

However, I did see a blurb about Blue Bloods ending after 14 seasons. First, I didn't know it was still on the air. Second, I don't think I've ever seen a single second of any episode. Even on accident, I don't think I've accidentally channel surfed across a live episode or rerun for a show that has been on a major network almost as long as my daughter has been alive.

This was fantastic. It could have been longer and the geek in me would have liked some interviews with the second and third-tier participants (Player and the like), but the subject was treated with the lightness it deserved, while also doing a great job of explaining all of the tentacles of 70s lite rock/jazz/R&B that emanated from Steely Dan and the studio musicians who formed the core of Toto. I knew a decent amount of the connections, but still didn't realize the extent Porcaro, Paisch and others from Toto were all over mid-70s to mid-80s music.

The best part was near the end when they played about a 20 second audio recording of the director calling Donald Fagan and asking him for a short interview about the "genre" he was doing a documentary for. When Fagan asked which genre and he said "Yacht Rock," Fagan tells him to go fuck himself and hangs up!

The irony is that the first third of this documentary is basically idolizing Fagan and Becker for their own work and for everything that came out of their band members. It's like seeing the Bill Walsh coaching tree of lite rock.

Highly recommended.

Would love to see a series made. Need more sci-fi-fantasy and apocalyptic shows.

Odd to not even mention the original Stalker film on which the games are based.

Anybody watching Earth Abides on MGM+? A friend from grad school is the female lead.

Alright, going to fess up. Started watching K-drama love story "Crash Landing on You" with the missus yesterday and it was ... pretty decent.

Lots of K-dramas get tedious because the pacing is off, or there's is a ton of useless, redundant filler stuff but we're into Ep 4 and it's still engaging.

It is plagued with exaggerated stereotypes, but I appreciate seeing hints of life in North Korea; romantic tension; drama from some sort of mystery; the mini cliffhangers and reveals; and comedy tossed in etc. The acting by the lead actress is also pretty good.

So, if you can handle subtitles and don't mind the typical K-drama'isms (?), give it a try with the significant other. It is better than vast majority of K-dramas that I've seen (including the zombie ones).

A few years later but I'll add another vote for Mr Inbetween. Started watching it last week and just about finished the first two seasons.

It's very good, Breaking Bad is what I thought of too. Balancing his ordinary everyday life but with the background that he's an enforcer/hitman for organized crime.

I didnt need subtitles but I'm not American. I grew up with Home and Away, Neighbours and Rolf Harris on TV so maybe I'm more attuned to the Australian accent. Havent had any real issue understanding them.

I’ve been enjoying “Creature Commandos” on Max and “Secret Level” on Amazon Prime.

Looking forward to 2025 streaming shows ...

https://time.com/7201101/anticipated-tv-shows-2025/

Of particular interest to me ...

Alien: Earth
A Knight of the 7 Kingdoms
Andor s2
The Last of Us s2
Stranger Things s5
Wednesday s2

Not mentioned but I know is coming next year

Wheel of Time s3
Strange New Worlds s3
Starfleet Academy

Blasting through Silo on Apple. Really enjoying the character arc they have Steve Zahn this second season. I never intended to keep paying for Apple after my free trial but we've watched some great series. From the obvious with Ted Lasso, and For All Mankind to Shrinking and Silo. Really some top notch series.


Season 1 of For All Mankind might be the best first season of any series, ever.

Shrinking season 2 is fantastic. I hope they win all the awards. It really hits every note. The stuff with Roy Kent is really powerful. Best season of a show I have seen since maybe Ted Lasso season 1.

I didn't realize that he and Jason Segel are the primary creators for it. He's been so under the radar. It's really a great credit to him.

So i tried watching Shogun on Hulu...

Different issue than yours, but one of the reasons I stopped watching fictional shows is that I got sick of every show trying to out-do the last show with how many storylines they can cram into each season and how every individual show has to relate in some way to the characters' lives (thinking more along the lines of crime procedurals that I (used to) enjoy).

It started with L&O and then CSI, and in the early-mid 00's, I gave up on TV shows because the stories went from "crime of the week" to "crime that impacts characters and storylines." EVERY FUCKING WEEK. That's why I watch Columbo so much, and really enjoy Poker Face. There was really only one main storyline that ran through Poker Face S1, but each episode can be viewed in isolation. I hope S2 - which wrapped filming just before Xmas - continues that trend.

Wife and I picked up watching Ripper Street (well, I started and then she picked it up when she got interested in it while I was watching), a decade-old historical crime drama, and I do enjoy it, but the storyline thing is infuriating. Nearly every episode has to be tied into multiple evolving storylines, and I just don't need it.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is really good and I'm surprised he doesn't get more opportunities.

AppleTV had a free weekend so watched Masters of the Air and now up to date on Silo s2.

I enjoyed the early episodes of Air but skipped through much of the POW camp portions. I didn't mind some of that but there were episodes where it was 50%+ of the story. The Tuskegee Airmen arc didn't have much depth either. So good, but not as good as Band of Brothers or The Pacific

Also enjoyed Silo s2 but my big critique is the dark lighting in the new silo. I get it wanting to be 'realistic' but they could have upped it a couple notches. I do not enjoy having to strain to catch what is going on with my 85" TV. Otherwise, fantastic watch.

Also caught Wolfs with Brad Pitt & George Clooney. Fun movies. I'm glad these former/current A-listers aren't limited by big screen movie roles anymore.

I really enjoyed season 1, but season 2 is losing me. Season 1 was like 66% space fun and alternate history, which is unique and interesting, with some great character drama to back it up. Season 2 (so far) is like 80% character drama that is neither unique or all that interesting and 20% space and alternate history. Let's dig into 4 or 5 different marriages, let's follow one of the kids full college selection process, the Baldwin's buy a restaurant! Larry's got a boyfriend. Tracy has a new rich husband. Gordo doesn't like the speaking circuit.

It's certainly not BAD character drama, but it's not unique in any way and it's running roughshod over the more interesting parts of the show (to me).

I felt the exact same way. I really enjoyed the show and think it’s really well done, but I lost steam somewhere in the second season due to too much soap opera type stuff.

I'm not sure what season it starts but there is a really bad storyline that pops up either in season 2 or 3.

And agree with you both. Was way more fun when it was just a cool alt-history space show

Even the suggestion that Ed would send fatass, paranoid, alcoholic, 10-years-out-of-practice, Gordo to space, entirely on Ed's own whim, to fix Gordo's depression, was counter to the entire first season.

Never get my hopes up for Netflix shows but American Primevil seems cool.

A Man on the Inside with Ted Danson is easily one of the best new shows. For a comedy it hits some very heavy, emotional notes.

I wouldn't have watched it on my own, but I watched Laid on peacock with the wife and it's a pretty entertaining series. Far better than I expected.

We have been watching "The Sex Lives of College Girls" and have enjoyed it way more than we thought we would.

We've been watching The Americans. Really enjoying it so far.

Great series early on. Then it kinda dragged on but still enjoyed it. Wish they would do a spin-off series.



We just finished rewatching Stranger Things s1-4.

s4 was fun except the kids clearly outgrew the show. I hope they do something more believable for s5.

It's fantastic. The last episode is one of the best closers in series tv.

We’re mid-season 2 right now. So lots left to enjoy.

Really enjoyed season 2 of Shrinking on Apple TV. Tried to get through season 2 of Silo but it's so boring. And Common is such a horrendous actor.

For some reason I decided to watch the Korean zombie drama Happiness. A few episodes longer than it needed to be, but it was actually a really enjoyable show. Was pleasantly surprised and had an interesting though at times confusing twist on a zombie infection.

Also watched Clickbait from 2021. It's a lite but occasionally interesting series about a guy abducted for being a rapist, or is he? It's short enough that it moves quick which makes its holes easier to forgive.

Figure this is as good a place as any to ask...

Are there different levels of Prime Video? My kid wants to watch the 1992 Batman animated series, and it keeps telling me I'm not subscribed to Prime Video when I try to put it on. I'm logged in and everything, and can watch other shows on Prime Video, but for that show it keeps wanting to start charging me $15 per month for Prime Video.

Does that happen to anyone else when they try to watch that show?

I don't think there are different levels. Show works fine for me.

There aren't different levels of Prime that I know of.

However, not all shows on Prime are free and you have to pay for them. I wonder if that 1992 Batman is a series that gives you first show free and then you have to pay for the rest of the "season"?

Don't think that's the case here. It wouldn't say included with prime like my screenshot shows. I have it in the background as I'm working and I'm past the first ep

Yep, it was definitely implying it would be free if I had Prime. There were options to buy it, but instead of your "Included with Prime" line, I was getting a "Watch with Prime" line.

Problem solved, though. I logged out on my phone, and it kept me logged in, but it worked. On the Roku, I needed to log out, then sign in again, and it worked.

Thanks sov! I probably should have tried that in the first place, I think I just needed validation that it's supposed to work before doing that.

Watched Laid in an afternoon. Definitely a farcical show. Still can't stand Zosia Mamet, but the lead had the right energy. The male protagonist was bland. In all, similar in tone to that other Peacock show about Podcast murders. I will say it's one of the few magical mystery shows where I didn't really care about the why it was happening. It kind of reminded me of The Resort that was also on Peacock with Cristin Milioti, but not quite as good.

Watched On Call on Prime. It's a Dick Wolf 30 minute cop show. Gave a lot of Southland vibes and wanted to be Training Day. It's a quick binge since the episodes are short, but the male cop was too much like Freddie Prince Jr. Not good, but something you can watch quickly if for some reason you need Lori Laughlin popping up every 20 minutes on your TV.

I am enjoying The Pitt on HBO Max. Quickly paced med show with Noah Wylie, who seems to have achieved just the right level of fame. He's a solid actor who can carry a show but just doesn't quite have "it" to be a movie star breakout like Clooney. I find myself looking away every 15 minutes because it's kinda gory, but definitely hits that nostalgia juice

I've also been watching the 90s Outer Limits on Roku. Besides there being far less T&A than teenage me remembers, but there are a lot more misses than hits. And the production value is generally terrible and Canadian.

But, Season 4, episode 3, Hearts and Minds, was almost the exact same thing as the Black Mirror episode Men Against Fire. Like I'm surprised there wasn't a lawsuit. It is fun getting to see a bunch of random people who weren't yet starts. One episode had Kirsten Dunst and pre-Dawson's Josh Jackson. Ryan Reynolds still had baby fat. Autistic Neal Patrick Harris was basically just a non-horny Barney Stinson. Even Gary Cole shows up right before he becomes a that guy.

Watched Star Wars Skeleton Crew. It’s a fun kid adventure show that the whole family can enjoy. Really well done. Reminds me of 80s era movies like E.T.

Yes, enjoyed it too.

Kids were a little annoying at times but then I realized, pretty true to life.

Netflix prices are going up again.

I hate watching weekly shows. I will alomst always wait till an entire season is out before I start watching. Mainly because I will get into other shows with multiple seasons and just forget what was going on in a show between weeks. BUT, I'm really tempted to get into "The Pitt". I was going to wait till it was all out, but I just read they are planning a 15(!) episode first season, and I don't think I want to wait that long to get started. Basically early "ER" on cable? That just seems too good.

I’ve watched the first four episodes. It’s like “24”, hour by hour. At least so far.
Feels similar to er.

I'm the opposite. I rarely have the time to watch more than one episode or so a day. So, whenever there is a show drops on Neftlix, all the episodes at once, I tend to get pretty behind on my stories. I much prefer the once a week - Sunday nights on HBO for example - release schedule.

I mainly watch shows Monday and Friday mornings, since I work from home those days, and occasionally on another morning when the kids are gone. My wife doesn't really watch TV other than the very rare show, so I have to find time to do so when I can.

We barely make time to watch things, whether they drop one at a time or all at once. We are still cycling through a few series from last year. I really don't like watching more than 1 episode of anything at a time. The most we'll do is one episode of 2 series back to back at night and that's it. Unless I'm on a plane, then sometimes I can watch a 3-part series all at once.

I can't fathom sitting in front of a TV for hours at a time watching a TV series. Too much live sports content on for that nonsense!

So, what's the deal with Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni? Seems this is like another Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp.

Team Lively or Team Baldoni?


Details of the harassment below

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ent-rcna185113

Team Hollywood-Gets Too-Much-Attention-Already

Heh! Yeah, even when I do have extra time, I rarely watch more than one or two episodes at a time. I don't like to rush things and tend to want to savor and enjoy each episode. It's slightly different for a 30 minute show.

I do have a few work-related trips coming up - one to California - I plan to get through some shows and maybe a movie or two.

Watching TV is what my wife and I do together. It is our time, and we enjoy it.

That whole thing is a mess, and it is really hard to say who is right and wrong. I have a feeling it is much like the Heard/Depp thing and they are both just pretty annoying people.

The Pitt is so damn good and everything I didn't realize has been missing from TV in the streaming era.

They are bringing back Buffy! I do wonder what it will be like without Whedon writing it.

'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Reboot With Sarah Michelle Gellar At Hulu

It’ll be interesting to see. While the whole Whedon thing hangs like a dark cloud over the series, there are few shows I loved more than Buffy. I really loved that show for a long time. The first three seasons were amazing and while the second four were more hit or miss the hits remained pretty incredible.

Rumors on the new Ted Lasso series says that the focus is going to be on the formation of a new AFC Richmond women's team.
Report: Ted Lasso season 4 will focus on new AFC Richmond women’s team - 9to5Mac

Got an email saying I should expect to get this TV soon. Appears to be a 55" 4k TV with a second ticket screen below and a sound bar. Interested to see how I enjoy it. I'm sure my wife will be happy to have me take the PS5 out of the bedroom.

Lioness (Amazon? Hulu?) is an amazing series if you're into CIA ops and stuff like that. Zoe Saldana is top notch. Never a dull moment.

It's on Paramount+

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The first season was good but the second season I thought was way better.

Been watching Prime's "On Call" about a veteran cop and her rookie.

Enjoying it quite a bit. Some moral dilemmas and good action.

The way season 2 took a massive turn before the last episode didn't sit right with me. It was like the writer was told to scrap what he had planned for the end and had to ad-lib a finale. Seemed a tad preposterous.

I just finished this one last night. I really liked it and hope it gets a 2nd season. The 30 minutes episodes make it a nice quick watch.

Yeah I can see what you are saying. I almost felt there were a couple more episodes coming to wrap things up better.

Finished s1.

Good action, okay acting, enjoyed some of the side stories (siblings, dog), a little weak on the plot arc at the end, but I'd recommend it and looking forward to s2.

Just watched The Comeback on Netflix, the story of the 2004 Red Sox and it was outstanding. The tribute to Wakefield at the end had me in tears. Really fun to relive that series and amazingly well done.

Nice!

Hope they spend some money on it and have some decent directing and stories. Unfortunately, no ETA in the article.

'Dungeons & Dragons' Live-Action Series in the Works at Netflix

Finished watching Silo s2. Had to look up Georgia's 15th District :)

Fantastic series, nice ending. Highly recommend you do a 1 month subscription to AppleTV to watch it. The biggest ding was the lighting. Others have complained and they've acknowledged it.

My beautiful OLED was cranked up to 100 and I still had difficulty. I had to change it to "vivid" mode to make it bearable.

Enjoyed AppleTV's The Gorge.

The first 1.5 hours was great. Some logic holes in the story telling, the acting wasn't that great, but still pretty engrossing and fun action. The last 30 min was not as good but still fun.

It would be great if they continued to build on the world, maybe a prequel.

Last of Us s2 coming soon

Amazon just paid a billion dollars for the full rights to James Bond. That seems crazy.

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I'm finally watching Season two of Squid Games. It makes me sad.

Yeah, I would prefer more Bourne or John Wick like than Bond.

I can think of several other ways to spend the $1B. Many great other fantasy/sci-fi worlds (and books) to make into film.

Read up about the fight MGM (which Amazon owns) and the family that owned the rights to the franchise, I get why they wanted to get rid of them. They have stood in the way of several projects that might have made money, like a spinoff movie with Halley Berry in the early 00 based on her Bond role, and a possible Quentin Tarantino Bond movie. Of course, now the danger is it becomes corporate shill Bond, with 6 different tv shows and 5 spin-off movie franchises. All I would really like is a throw-back Bond, set in the cold war that has the grittiness of the book Bond. Alcoholic, and on the edge.

Sean Connery was the epitome Bond (but an asshole since he thought it was okay to hit women)

Daniel Craig was the best Bond. He had the most realistic fight scenes vs the comical ka-pow, chop crap.

I agree that Craig was probably the best, yet Connery is the eternal symbolic Bond. I have been kicking around doing a Bond marathon watching all the Bonds. I think the one I loved as a kid will be the hardest now to watch, Rodger Moore.

I have never seen a single Bond movie

dola- Wife and I are working through Better Call Saul.

Maybe it is just the hype, or my love for Breaking Bad, but it is just ok.

I am with you. I just didn't enjoy it. People claim it is better than BB, and I really think they are just playing a big practical joke on everybody. I finished it, but it was hard to keep going.

It is insane to claim it is better than BB.

We are about to start season 4 and yeah, slogging through it.

I think one of the problems with binge watching shows instead of watching them as they come out organically can hurt the experience. A lot of these shows repeat themes, Ozark was a big one with this, and when you binge watch it you really notice it, but when the seasons are 18 months apart you don't.

Yeah, I didn't last all that long with BCS.

McKean's "acting" killed the show for me, one of the worst characters AND portrayals I've ever had the misfortune to come across.

I really loved Better Call Saul. I definitely think it's on par with Breaking Bad.

Overall, I like Saul/Jimmy more as a character than Walter White - I found him easier to route for - and Kim Wexler was absolutely fantastic.