The TV Series discussion thread

Originally Posted by joxer
Will binge it next weekend and share impressions.


If that's the remake of Äkta människor, I suggest watching the original.
The remake is not bad, but not as brilliant as the original is.

Speaking of which I refused to watch the chinese remake which is btw being streamed for free at Tencent's platform.
I'll never understand remaking superb stuff that needs no remakes.
How about remaking garbage and making it watchable instead?

I understand remakes in other languages. Many people find watching in other languages not as relaxing and since TV is meant to be a leisure activity I understand it.

I'm not sure if it's the remake, but it's probably similar to it too.

That sounds like an excuse for everything wrong with remakes or corporate reasoning that is not really believable.

See this remake:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391034/
is an insult to this original:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065398/
And both are (mostly) in the same language.

Not the same country though.

Originally Posted by joxer
That sounds like an excuse for everything wrong with remakes or corporate reasoning that is not really believable.

See this remake:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391034/
is an insult to this original:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065398/
And both are (mostly) in the same language.

Not the same country though.

I'm not sure how it's an excuse for anything. It's what I think about remakes. I'm not excusing bad remakes. Obviously, there'll be bad ones. You know what ? Sometimes, there'll be good ones too.

I watched both versions of Humans back when they aired, they're almost equally enjoyable, imo. Certainly not perfect shows, yet I'd say each is above average.

I've seen the first episode and a half of Squid Game. Seems ok. Though the premise is not exactly very original. I hope it has some good plot twist. Visually it looks pretty cool, but again not very original visuals. Also, I just saw a tweet that practically explains the premise: Fall Guys in tv form. Anyway, I'll probably watch some more if it doesn't get too boring.

I'm finding myself quite enjoying the re-watch of Mr. Robot, and this is the kind of series that might benefit greatly from a second viewing, considering what's really going on in the first series, and most of the second. Knowing more about the protagonist and what's going on in his mind brings other things to attention as you watch, or at least that's how it's working out for me, so far.

I agree. The first time I watched it, I expected a different story based on the first episodes, then it became a little surprising. I did like it, but I appreciated it even more the 2nd time.

Like @danutz_plusplus, I think it may become one of my favourite series too.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
I agree. The first time I watched it, I expected a different story based on the first episodes, then it became a little surprising. I did like it, but I appreciated it even more the 2nd time.

Like @danutz_plusplus, I think it may become one of my favourite series too.

Happy to hear at least some people like Mr. Robot so much. I think I said this, but most people I've tried to convince to watch it either get bored of it, or get on board with it. About 50/50. And a lot of them drop off during the first season. That's sort of a baptism through fire.

I've now seen 3 episodes of Squid game. Again, pretty interesting. I'm also getting strong Parasite vibes with plenty of social class commentary, for a lot of people struggling to make ends-meet. But it's still nothing remarkable imo. Also, the whole thing feels a bit gitmicky and makes me wonder if this will all conclude in this lone season? Or do they plan on stretching it out? I honestly don't see them stretching it out.

EDIT: yeah, from the little I've read, it seems the director doesn't really have plans for a season 2. So it's likely self-contained in this one season. That's good to hear.

If you like Chinese dramas - I can recommend:

Legend of Fuyao
The Flame's Daughter
Eternal Love

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Happy to hear at least some people like Mr. Robot so much. I think I said this, but most people I've tried to convince to watch it either get bored of it, or get on board with it. About 50/50. And a lot of them drop off during the first season. That's sort of a baptism through fire.

I dropped off after the second season but not because I wasn't enjoying it. I just don't allocate much time to watching tv. I'm going to try to pick it back up within the next week or so.

I'd like to finish it before I start watching Foundation and the final season of TWD.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Happy to hear at least some people like Mr. Robot so much. I think I said this, but most people I've tried to convince to watch it either get bored of it, or get on board with it. About 50/50. And a lot of them drop off during the first season. That's sort of a baptism through fire.

I have a similar experience, the few people I know who watched the first episodes didn't like it.

It's a long series which focuses on several very peculiar themes: mental disorder, childhood abuse, drugs, IT, hacking, social engineering, … It's an interesting mix, but each of them has a good chance of making someone uncomfortable, or to put him/her off.

I always did enjoy Mr. Robot, yet like some shows such as Breaking Bad and others, I had major issues getting over some of the bad behaviour displayed in the show. Yes, I know people are usually mean and nasty in real life, yet I don't need it shoved into my face on a weekly basis, lol. I keep a book handy for when such upsetting proclivities occur, and manage best I can.

4 episodes into Squid Game, and I'm really getting into it. It's getting intense. It is a bit formulaic, but still sufficiently entertaining.

I saw the first episode of Foundation yeasterday, and the first one of Farscape while training on my exercise bike yesterday. I liked both of them (Foundation more than Farscape). They've got those Scifi elements I like in a show//movie. Regarding Foundation, it's more than 40 years since I read the books, which may affect how I like the series. Regarding Farscape, while I like it so far, it looks like a series I will eventually get tired of. As such it's comparable to Babylon Five. But for now, it's fine.

I don't watch many TV series. I only watch them on my bike, interspersed with science programs and movies. Never binge watching. All in all I watch 1-3 episodes a week. This means that I tend to avoid very loooong series (Game of Thrones), and if I don't fairly immediately like a series (Game of Thrones), I don't see the point in watching more episodes in case I eventually will like it. There are more series I'm likely to like than I'll ever be able to watch.

BTW: Regarding GoT. I know it's veeery popular, so I assume it's a good show. But it's not for me. I'm probably not that interested in fantasy shows, I also very rarely read fantasy books. I prefer sci-fi and horror.

pibbuR who is not easily scared (by movies), but perhaps easily bored (by movies). Or not.

PS. Favourite series iin the last couple of years (in no particular order): Dark. Katla. Beforeigners, Stranger Things. and the Haunting of Hill house. DS.

PPS. For some reason I tend to trust the 13th JDR (after all he made me watch Dark and another one I liked but can't remember) -not always of course. So .. any others of this type I should dive into? DS.

I had a very different reaction to the Foundation show, pibbuR, yet I'm happy you are enjoying it. Farscape took me a while to get into, now I'm into the second series and quite liking it! It's not perfect by any means, yet it does many things well, or at least in a fashion that I can dig. And about Game of Thrones, stick with the books imo, and even those lose serious quality after the third entry. If you must watch the telly version, I'd suggest bailing after the fourth series and just pretending that's where it ends.

Finished Squid Game. Pretty good overall, but nothing that I would say amazing. It has a particular climax that was very intense, towards the middle I think, but otherwise it was decent enough. It did feel a bit stretched out. I think Parasite was smarter and also shorter, so that also worked in its favor.

Did anyone catch that new La Brea show? I found most of the visuals rather lacking, yet the story is fairly interesting, as I believe the pit obviously opened some portal that threw a lot of people (and their collective garbage) back into the past. Right now I'm pretty keen on hearing more about the Mohave incident that was mentioned several times.

As a sci-fi show, I expect it will be cancelled any moment!

News is out that Babylon 5 will be getting a reboot. Straczynski will be back at the helm, so I'm expecting it to be a good thing. If I don't see characters wearing outfits with pockets, I'll assume Straczynski is being blackmailed into putting his name on it. ;)

I'm really against the very idea of rebooting Babylon Five, especially if it's going to be on CW, which is very hit or miss network, usually the latter. Babylon Five, as it stands right now, is almost perfect, even losing the original commander wasn't enough to derail the show, and in the end they made it work in their favor.

Now, another series in the same universe, with a whole new cast, that I'd be solidly behind. I like JMS, I've been a big fan of his for decades, yet in this case with a reboot, I think he's taking a completely unnecessary risk that could damage a science fiction iconic series.