How does it compare to the US version? Also, is the censorship a Hulu thing?
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How does it compare to the US version? Also, is the censorship a Hulu thing?
JFarrell71
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Yeah, I think it's a Hulu thing. The version I'm watching now is untouched.
It's similar to the US version. A lot of the characters are close parallels (the Jim/Pam romance that's central to the US version is mirrored by Tim/Dawn in the UK version, for example). The humor is a bit different. Because it's British and has British references, of course, but also because it's more rapid fire patter style with lots of asides. One of the biggest differences is that as cringeworthy as the Steve Carrell character could be, Gervais' David Brent is 100x that. He's a masterpiece of clueless self-absorption.
If you like the US Office at all, I definitely recommend it. It's very short. Around 7 hours altogether.
Started watching "The Outpost", a low budget Fantasy show that made it to 4 seasons. It's not very good, but charming enough to provide me with some relaxed Sunday afternoon escape like Xena did back in the 90s. It's not based on a book or anything, which is refreshing in itself.
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JFarrell71
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Nearing the end of Peacemaker. It's grown on me (interesting considering the titular character says at one point that the same could be said of him) and I'm pretty invested in seeing how it ends, but at first it seemed like a 14 year old's idea of mature... characters who speak mostly in profanity, gags based on violence and pain and so on. The show is full of likeably unlikeable characters, if you know what I mean.... they're killers and bullies, but they're also endearing killers and bullies.
Carnifex
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I tried watching the Outpost when it first aired a few years ago, gave up after two episodes. I just found it too....average, I guess. Kind of like the current Superman show, last series was pretty good, yet this one is almost irksome to the extreme. Even Bizarro cannot redeem it.
I wrapped up my viewing of Line of Duty, the fifth series, last night. Man, this show delivers punch after punch, though I'm glad they've toned down the shown violence on screen, compared to earlier seasons. This whole "H" saga is really pervasive, threading through so much of the police and political system that it's difficult to even track the sheer damage that's been done, and what's likely to come. As far as police dramas go, this one is getting close to the likes of Wire and Luthor, it's just that bloody brilliant.
I wrapped up my viewing of Line of Duty, the fifth series, last night. Man, this show delivers punch after punch, though I'm glad they've toned down the shown violence on screen, compared to earlier seasons. This whole "H" saga is really pervasive, threading through so much of the police and political system that it's difficult to even track the sheer damage that's been done, and what's likely to come. As far as police dramas go, this one is getting close to the likes of Wire and Luthor, it's just that bloody brilliant.
I agree about Line of Duty. It is a great show.
I watched Suburra, the series. It takes place in Rome and features three young men who end up being friends, thinking they can run Rome, but it is a bit too complicated for them, with all the corruption taking place in politics and the Vatican. It starts out very well, but it becomes a bit predictable later on, still it was fun to watch.
Tried to watch Troy - Fall of a City, but gave up in episode 3. Obviously the story is known, with Helen leaving Sparta and going to Troy, after which a war breaks out and the horse at the end. Although I never made it to the horse part.
Knowing the main story, the surprise and tension has to come from other things, but I found it to be simply not happening. Everything is predictable and boring. It just drags on. I didn't check the IMDB rating before watching it, but should have, as the 3.9 it has currently is right on the mark.
After that I started watching Vikings Valhalla and that was more fun. I'm about half-way and the characters are not as charismatic as some in the original series and there are probably some other things to nag about, but I'm enjoying it anyway.
I watched Suburra, the series. It takes place in Rome and features three young men who end up being friends, thinking they can run Rome, but it is a bit too complicated for them, with all the corruption taking place in politics and the Vatican. It starts out very well, but it becomes a bit predictable later on, still it was fun to watch.
Tried to watch Troy - Fall of a City, but gave up in episode 3. Obviously the story is known, with Helen leaving Sparta and going to Troy, after which a war breaks out and the horse at the end. Although I never made it to the horse part.
Knowing the main story, the surprise and tension has to come from other things, but I found it to be simply not happening. Everything is predictable and boring. It just drags on. I didn't check the IMDB rating before watching it, but should have, as the 3.9 it has currently is right on the mark.
After that I started watching Vikings Valhalla and that was more fun. I'm about half-way and the characters are not as charismatic as some in the original series and there are probably some other things to nag about, but I'm enjoying it anyway.
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Carnifex
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Last night I finished watching the third series of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and man, what a packed episode the finale was. Seeing a female jewish performer at the Apollo was utterly fantastic, especially for that time period. And then the whole Baldwin fiasco, and Midge getting the boot off the tour, just wow. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, she could learn a thing or two about that creed. I hope this isn't the end of Shy, Reggie, and that ensemble, they all added so much to the show, I'd not like to see that segment end.
And Sue....where to even start with her. The whole gambling addiction is obviously way out of control, and the means she utilizes to get some money to pay off the debt...well, that's just daunting. I cannot help but think that, at some point, she'd going to get found out. In a few weeks or months I'll check out the fourth series to see what happens next!
And Sue....where to even start with her. The whole gambling addiction is obviously way out of control, and the means she utilizes to get some money to pay off the debt...well, that's just daunting. I cannot help but think that, at some point, she'd going to get found out. In a few weeks or months I'll check out the fourth series to see what happens next!
Good to know.
I'm 2/3 in Vikings, maybe I'll try that later. If you like the style, check out "The Last Kingdom", which is based on Bernard Cornwell's series and is releasing its 5th season later this month. I only watched 2 seasons before running out of episodes then I decided to wait until more were produced, but it was very enjoyable.Carnifex
SasqWatch
I can recommend the Saxon series to anyone, especially those that saw the show and perhaps want even more about that time period. Honestly, none of Cornwell's books have disappointed, from this series to the Sharpe and many others, this guy really knows how to bind a good tale with enthralling characters.
Still watching Season 2 of Raised by Wolves, but it's a slow process with HBO Max only releasing 1 episode a week this time. Very cool show though. I wish there were more sci-fi shows like this that actually make you think.
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Still taking a break for random interneting, but wanted to pop in and say that I did keep up with The Walking Dead. I'm around ep 4 of season 6. The one where they flashback to what Morgan's been doing. And this episode was one of the few decent ones for a couple of episodes now, even though it was very formulaic. But it was a little bit of emotion, even though not very original, in a sea of going through the motions in the last 5-10 episodes.
It was still very decent up until season 4 and a part into season 5, iirc. A lot of it is a blur for me since I've seen so much of it. But starting with season 6 I really felt they really took a considerable turn, both in quality overall (especially writing and story direction) and somehow they seem to be doing a hard turn into turning the characters into something they didn't really seem to be.
For a few episodes now (towards the end of s5 and start of s6) a lot of times you feel like the character are just slowing moving towards something that's not very clear. There also seems to be a heavy emphasis on action, and not very good action. Just kind of meandering.
About the hard turn I mentioned, for around 5-10 episodes now, I feel like they want to turn the gang into more cutthroat than they ever were. Maybe I missed it, but both Rick and Carol sometimes want to behave like ruthless survivors, but it doesn't really feel beliveable or earned. It's like, the script skipped a lot of stuff that could lead them there. Also, it's getting really annoying hearing the gang kind of bragging about how badass they are, and how hard they've had it and how badass that made them be.
Another thing, which I've only noticed in retrospect, is how they seem to be going through characters, that keep getting killed off. Very little mention or attention is given to the dead once they're out of the picture.
All of these issue are likely compounded by the fact that I've not had any breaks between seasons/episodes, as you would normally with tv series where one episode gets released at a time. That is how this was released, right? Or did AMC release season like Netflix does, one season at a time?
Anyway, even though I'm not very motivated to continue I think I will, as I have so far, one episode at a time when I get a chance. I kind of have a morbid curiousity to see where this leads. I particularly "love" the occasional episodic character that didn't have any involved or Was seen so far, suddenly get into intense talks with the main cast. It's kind of hilarious to me.
It was still very decent up until season 4 and a part into season 5, iirc. A lot of it is a blur for me since I've seen so much of it. But starting with season 6 I really felt they really took a considerable turn, both in quality overall (especially writing and story direction) and somehow they seem to be doing a hard turn into turning the characters into something they didn't really seem to be.
For a few episodes now (towards the end of s5 and start of s6) a lot of times you feel like the character are just slowing moving towards something that's not very clear. There also seems to be a heavy emphasis on action, and not very good action. Just kind of meandering.
About the hard turn I mentioned, for around 5-10 episodes now, I feel like they want to turn the gang into more cutthroat than they ever were. Maybe I missed it, but both Rick and Carol sometimes want to behave like ruthless survivors, but it doesn't really feel beliveable or earned. It's like, the script skipped a lot of stuff that could lead them there. Also, it's getting really annoying hearing the gang kind of bragging about how badass they are, and how hard they've had it and how badass that made them be.
Another thing, which I've only noticed in retrospect, is how they seem to be going through characters, that keep getting killed off. Very little mention or attention is given to the dead once they're out of the picture.
All of these issue are likely compounded by the fact that I've not had any breaks between seasons/episodes, as you would normally with tv series where one episode gets released at a time. That is how this was released, right? Or did AMC release season like Netflix does, one season at a time?
Anyway, even though I'm not very motivated to continue I think I will, as I have so far, one episode at a time when I get a chance. I kind of have a morbid curiousity to see where this leads. I particularly "love" the occasional episodic character that didn't have any involved or Was seen so far, suddenly get into intense talks with the main cast. It's kind of hilarious to me.
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TWD has always aired as a standard show. 1 episode a weak and most seasons also had a break at the midway point.
The major drop in quality, imo, is exactly where you're losing interest. It really starts to go to shit after season 5.
The last scene I can remember being memorable to me was Morgan sitting at a campfire when the "W" guy approached him and they had that conversation before things got violent. There was something about the way they did that scene that I really liked.
There are still a few good episodes here and there, but that was the beginning of the end.
Carnifex
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I've been re-watching another FX show that I enjoyed when it originally aired, Rescue Me. I'm a fan of Leary's and will watch almost anything with him in it, his sardonic humour has always appealed, and I saw him live a few times back in the day. I started watching this just before Christmas and have almost finished the first series, his make-believe Irish brood brings back a lot of....interesting memories for me!
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Holy shit, the episode I just saw from S6 just fell off a cliff in terms of plotpoints and execution. There are gonna be spoilers here, but it's so bad, that I don't even think I should bother with spoiler tags. Maybe I should? If anyone has any issue I'll put them up, but I doubt anyone cares, it's so bad.
It's the episode where part of the gang is trapped in the house, after the tall tower falls on the walls and the undead spew forth into the camp. They again cover themselves in guts, which is just the most lazy way for them to get out of there.
Besides just various pretty bad story beats, like Morgan keeps wanting to protect the W dude, while Carol wants to kill him, while they've already been invaded by the horde. Beside the awkward interactions between the W dude and the nurse he took hostage. Besides the fact that they're pretending to keep Judith, the baby, underneath those guts-covered robes. Just so many to name in this episode alone.
Besides all of these, there comes the moment where I really don't know what the hell they were thinking. The blonde's kid panics and gets himself eaten. Then the blonde mom starts screaming and gets herself eaten. And then the camera cuts to Rick, who starts having flashbacks to his 2-3 moments with her, now that he effectively lost her. Which was bad and cringe enough. But then they make a big case out of the fact that he has to cut her arm off to let go of Carl (who just by looking at how flimsy her grab is, could've easily just turned his wrist and gotten free). That was so bad, I actually paused the video and came to do this reply.
Holy shit. I would've loved to be a fly on the wall in the writers room when they came up with that. (rofl)
I'm really starting to question if I should just stop here with the series. I'm afraid it will just gradually taint the good stuff. But I also have a morbid curiosity to see how bad it gets. I'll have to see if I actually continue with it.
But it still got me a little bit intrigued, since this is the first time they mention Negan, who I've already been spoiled that he kills one of the main people from the first episodes. Yes, I know who. So that's a bit of a bummer for me that I already know that. But I'm curious as to how they build that antagonist, and if he's better or worse than the Governor. I'm betting he's worst?
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The actor who plays him, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is good, but the character goes downhill pretty fast in terms of plausibility, and, like everyone else, just gets worse as the show goes on.
What you'll really notice though is how tired and predictable most of the characters start to become. They just keep repeating the same loops - Rick always giving some emotional speech, Carol brooding, etc…
JFarrell71
SasqWatch
That's exactly where I took one of my breaks from the series. I came back 3 or 4 seasons later. There's both good and bad stuff to come from there.
Yeah there was a run of Walking Dead seasons that I thought were great - I think it was 3 to 6 - but I started losing interest when the junk yard gang appeared. I can't remember when I stopped watching it, but I mean to go back and pick it up again at some point - maybe I just needed a break from it.
I started watching 70s BBC classic Blake's 7, which I have fond memories of from when I was a kid. It still has a certain dated charm! And its interestingly darker than its contemporary 70s sci fi TV. I'm not sure I'll get through all four series but it's a nice change of pace from modern stuff.
I started watching 70s BBC classic Blake's 7, which I have fond memories of from when I was a kid. It still has a certain dated charm! And its interestingly darker than its contemporary 70s sci fi TV. I'm not sure I'll get through all four series but it's a nice change of pace from modern stuff.
Carnifex
SasqWatch
Nod, the first series of Walking Dead started off rather well, and I enjoyed the cast, and then the second series landed, I bailed out once they were on the farm and, like, I watched for a few episodes, nothing seemed to be happening. I love the comics and will cherish them always, this show started off ok and then devolved into something I couldn't stand. Fortunately, we live in an era where there is so much to read and watch that we can afford to be picky about what we spend our time with.