Reply With Quoteindeed it is and recommended this series earlier in the thread :)Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana
Watch Killjoys too while you're at it too
indeed it is and recommended this series earlier in the thread :)
Yep, I'm up to date with that. Good fun.Watch Killjoys too while you're at it too
So clever my foot fell off.
Really, if you go in with low expectations, it's okay. It's not in the same league as Breaking Bad though. Anyone who expects that is likely going to be disappointed with how predictable and cliché-ridden it is. Could not be a starker contrast with BB.
It really is a run-of-the-mill American cardboard cutout soap opera masquerading as a gritty drama, similar to the likes of the 4400, Falling Skies, Under the Dome, The Walking Dead, etc. Lots of manufactured tension.
If that sort of thing appeals then it's probably fine. But it can't really be compared to Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Wire, Narcos, The Expanse, etc. Those are all several notches above in terms of writing, direction, acting, cinematography, soundtrack... everything really.
If they still had the 5-star system I'd have given it 3 stars for "watchable but meh; would rather have the time back".
Might check out S1 of that as it's on Netflix, though apparently it really takes off in S2, which they don't have yet :(Watch Killjoys too while you're at it too
Ordering Dark Matter on DVD now. A cross between The Expanse, Stargate SG1 and Firefly? Can't miss that! Shame it's not on Netflix. Also surprising that I hadn't heard of it before.
Really enjoying Ozark so far, 4 in and shaping up nicely so far. It's not a GOT or BB but then very few things are!!
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Two episodes in now and I think that's possibly the best summary. Very Buffy/Firefly esque.Yep, I'm up to date with that. Good fun.Watch Killjoys too while you're at it too
Some reviews said the effects & production in S1 was really low budget and bad. I was expecting something like Lexx*. It's actually fine. Some of the establishing shots are pretty cheesy, but honestly that seems in keeping with the tone of the series anyway. It's not trying to be 2001.
* Lexx is really good if you can look past how bad everything about it is... not sure I'm describing it well there, but it's not easy to do.
If you liked Buffy, Wynonna Earp starts from a similar premise - but it's a bit more adult and the Wynonna in question is a lot naughtier.
Spot on, it started as some generic cheap monster of the week series, but it grows over time and now it's a must-watch. A great overarching story, especially after the last episode.
Charming, quirky, it doesn't take itself seriously.
Annoyingly, it actually is on Netflix, but only in the US and Canada.
Another SyFy series? They really are cranking out a lot of good stuff all of a suddent, aren't they? Might have to check that one out as well.
The only trouble with things being like Buffy is that it's become a bit of a cliché. Even Firefly was, I think, let down a bit by repeating the trope, especially in Serenity, which just devolved into fanservice.
The difference with Buffy is that, at the time, it was completely original. Buffy, and a lot of Joss Whedon's writing in general, is about subverting tropes, and misdirection based on well-established viewer expectations. It's rather ironic that his ideas have themselves become clichés. But it's inevitable really:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...nfeldIsUnfunny
Of course the other reason Buffy is a classic is because some of the episodes, for example Hush, are individually brilliant.
So I have to be careful when comparing anything to Buffy. Killjoys seems to be good, in spite of borrowing from Buffy, not because of it.
I beg to differ, Buffy is not classic because of the few episodes, those episodes were icing on the cake, a standouts that transcended the genre Buffy was playing with.
Buffy was almost from the start consistently good. Interesting, funny, exciting with great underlying themes.
Granted, it was not for everyone, but I found it really groundbreaking at the time. Even more so with Firefly.
That's not what I meant (or what I said). But it hasn't aged well, and it ran for too long and was spread too thin with the Angel spin-off. Still, even a bad episode of Buffy is good TV. A lot of people aren't fans of that sort of thing (I hesitate to say genre because, again, it wasn't a genre beforehand), but even so, certain episodes really stand out and still hold up today. Much of it has been widely copied, and not everyone gets the self-parody, deliberately campy aspects of it, but few things ever get close to the sheer quality of writing and execution of the best episodes.
I agree that it ran to long, 6th and 7th seasons were unwatchable.
Speaking of oldies but goldies, I think it is time for annual Farscape marathon
Having watched all of it now, I think Ozark is more of a 2nd-tier, "entertaining but not outstanding" series. I agree that it's "by numbers", Jason Bateman was possibly miscast, and you can see that it was probably pitched as "Breaking Bad meets Justified", but it was enjoyable enough. There's an awful lot of TV in this category IMO - series like Billions and Riviera also fit this - glossy, well-made, but a bit cliche-ridden.
I think it also depends what you are into. Some of the other series being mentioned in this thread are only "ok" from my perspective, particularly some of the sci-fi stuff, which often start with a good (or even great) idea, but degenerate into pretty much the same twist/twist plotlines.
Horses for courses.
As came up in the other threads, outstanding TV is pretty rare, particular for the standard to be maintained. Case in point is The Affair - I really enjoyed the first two series, and it was quite fresh and innovative, but I think they really lost it in the third.
Muppets from Space got decidedly weird in this spin-off.
Casting miss piggy as Scorpio was inspired move
I really loved Buffy, but indeed not aged well at all. I guess the jokes etc were ok for the time, but we've move on since then. In many ways Angel has aged better, possibly the slightly more adult style was better.
Killjoys I think is quite different - it's a smaller group for one thing and I reckon the whole kick ass leading lady is now not so 'special'. Dark matter has the same sort of lead too.
On a completely different genre finished season 1 of Billions. Utterly fantastic and looking forward to binging on season 2!
Three episodes in to Timeless and I'm just about over seeing Alan Johnson from Peep Show there . . .
F.T.F.A.
Yep. I was just about to say ozark.
Yes, he’s cropped up in a few things since Peep Show, but he’ll always be Johnson to me. (Almost as weird as Eamon Walker turning up in Oz - I never even clicked it was him until about the third series).Three episodes in to Timeless and I'm just about over seeing Alan Johnson from Peep Show there . . .
Curb your enthusiasm
I really enjoyed Timeless :)Three episodes in to Timeless and I'm just about over seeing Alan Johnson from Peep Show there . . .
NBC had cancelled the series after series 1, but luckily there was such an uproar from it's loyal fan base, that NBC changed its mind and ordered a second series. Very rare thing for a US TV station, so it shows it a good series???
Just got finished watching The Trip To Spain (my planner is so full I'm late to most series by quite a time!).
It's very similar to both The Trip and the Trip To Italy, even the same voices being re-visited again and again, but these slightly sour and churlish versions of Coogan and Brydon I actually find quite charming and the slightly melancholy tone of it all is appealing too.
Probably appeals more to me as I'm a fan of travelogues of all kinds, so I'm quite forgiving when it comes to these series.
El chapo is pretty good so far, but I've only seen two episodes
We have started to watch Ozark and have got through 4 episodes and it's been quite enjoyable. It's not really fair to compare this or any show for that matter with Breaking Bad as for the most part shows of the quality of BB are not made all that often.
Don't want to pee on anyone's chips, but Ozark seems half decent for the first 4 or 5 episodes, less so after 6 or 7. For a drug cartel money-launderer he is remarkably dim - no home security, so anyone can walk in? Really?
At one point you will see he has to hand over 750,000 dollars to solve a problem - and you know it is only temporary. I couldn't help thinking he should have called Ray Donovan and given him the 750 grand, the problem would have gone away for good.
And why do American series now have to have the formulaic whining wife and arsey, me-me-me kids - Breaking Bad, Ray Donovan, Homeland, etc.
Definitely. There's a sense at the start of hey, this is good, I can't wait for it to get really good like Breaking Bad or Narcos. That turns to disappointment when the plot-holes start to become frustratingly more and more noticeable and the general weakness of the writing and characters starts to show through.
It's also being seriously over-hyped at the moment, probably due to the echo-chamber effect on certain sites, with very few people having actually finished the series yet (and maybe just a teensy bit of astroturfing by Netflix PR). I suspect there will be a Walking Dead style backlash eventually when it goes from being flavour of the month to a source of meme-based ridicule. The Snells in particular are prime targets for that sort of thing because they are such over-the-top clichés.
+Ozarks
loved it, bit cliche as somehave mentioned but still kept me entertained for 10 episodes.
Just finished Ozark and thoroughly enjoyed it, not perfect but well worth a look
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Midnight, Texas
True Blood on the budget, if you like bad acting, terrible dialogue and cheap effects, this is the one for you. I watched first two episodes and still can not figure out why I bother
Most realistic part of these programs if you ask me.
Cheers..
Jase
Hello,
Watch POWER you won't be able to stop....
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It's the rough and ready unwashed hillbilly that turned fudge packer after one stolen kiss that I'm not buying, other than that we have two episodes to go and still enjoying it.
You'll find out about that if you haven't seen all the episodes.
Finished it last night and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Neil.
My problem with a lot of US series is that I can't really get invested in any of the characters. They are all horribly whiny and self absorbed. Ray Donovan is one in particular - they're all utterly awful people, Ray included - he's a complete thug, and not even an antihero. They tend to be even worse in comedies.
[Getting old]
We will be sitting down a 8pm to watch the last two episodes. I've downloaded some stuff to watch as we head towards winter, House of cards, Fargo S2 and 3, Dark Matter and Power which I'm told is ok.
I'm watching s2 of Lucifer on Prime. Comedy supernational crime drama. Entertaining in a chewing gum way.
Ah yes, it made a bit more sense now. Really enjoyed the last two episodes.
Just started watching Ray and, while I'm loving it, totally agree with your whining wife and kids point.
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I'm on S4 of House of Cards at the moment. The first two series were excellent, but I can't help thinking the quality has dropped a bit in 3 and 4. (The hallucinogenic bits on 4 are a bit overdone and unnecessary imo).
Agreed, the standard really dropped. Not sure if I'll bother watching S5. I just don't care about it anymore.
Netflix seem to be developing a talent for stretching things out and watering them down, so the first season is promising, then it just turns to "meh". Really hope they don't do that to Stranger Things.
In fairness, that's what happens to a lot of TV. Sometimes an idea is only good enough for a couple of seasons, particularly when there's a central story arc. Something like Prison Break is a good example - great idea, but they could only run the initial idea for so long. It then went downhill rapidly when they tried to turn it into a generic thriller.
Homeland has been more successful imo - the Brodie story could only run for so long, so then they reinvented it as a more typical spy drama. (Although its probably run its course as that now).
Just watched the finale of The Leftovers - great end to the series, and probably just answered enough to stop me screaming at the TV.
True, but the disappointing thing about Netflix is that it doesn't exactly meet their objective to "become HBO before HBO becomes Netflix". Given the way they make these series' (not beholden to the whims of advertisers), they could easily, after a successful first season trial, commit to a fixed number of seasons and make sure they have a good story arc for that number of seasons, no more no less. It's almost like Netflix is trying to lose their monopoly, by churning out mediocre content while simultaneously losing their contracts with Stars, Disney, etc.
It sounds like the Stranger Things guys are aiming for exactly 5 seasons, which is usually about the right number. Hopefully they'll be allowed to stick to a plan like that and neither find themselves cancelled with no ending (like Sense8), or getting dragged out until all the life is sucked dry (like HoC, OitNB, etc.).
Although I didn't think it even warranted a second season, the way Sense8 was handled is perhaps the most worrying. They should have known well in advance that it was an expensive series (and to be fair, the cinematography is amazing) so they shouldn't have gone ahead with a second season without a firm plan for where it was going after that. I mean, if they couldn't afford 5-7 seasons (or whatever the Wachowskis' grand vision was), they could probably have invested in a few more episodes, wrapped it up cleanly, and produced something people would subscribe to binge watch as a complete story. As it is, it's just another mediocre Netflix Original added to the pile, which nobody will care about at all in a few years. To be fair I haven't watched season 2 yet so I don't know how big of a botch job it was, but the real fans of the series (who do exist) are not happy at all.
The Christmas special of Sense8 was a bit slow and long but season 2 was really excellent - building on and developing the characters, introducing characters from other clusters - friendly and not so friendly, and also showing the sensates fighting back and taking control away from Whispers. Not wanting to spoil the ending but it finishes on a bit of a cliffhfanger, all ready for season 3 - which apparently is now not going to happen.
I suppose they start off with noble ambitions, but the greed/fear of commercial reality get it the way.
Ironically, the same could be said of the BBC - although it's not commercial pressure in the usual sense, they need to justify themselves seems to result in a dumbing down of the content.
True, though I see that as largely political interference by those who don't believe the BBC should exist. Slightly OT, but I believe it provides an important service in that it creates a baseline for quality and fairness, which keeps the (heavily Murdoch-controlled) commercial market more honest and competitive, and is good value for money (although a portion of income tax would be fairer than the licence fee).
Yes, those are my feelings on it as well. There is political pressure, often influenced by the (privately owned, vested interest) press.
"The "Get Shorty" cable series just premiered last week in the U.S. on the EPIX channel. Starring Chris O'Dowd and Ray Romano, the first two episodes were excellent!
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