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.