The TV Series discussion thread

JackOfOwls said:

Produced by Jordan Peele, no less. Peele, of course, did the creative and unusual Get Out (2017) which means that it probably won't be a hit since folks seem to just want the same old thing and not something different, if most of the posters on this forum are any indication, who only seem to be able to relate to things like yet another Star Trek series or a prospective Lord of the Rings teevee show

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If you're doing The Twilight Zone, I expect it to be like The Twilight Zone (with different stories). Otherwise just name it The Not Twilight Zone.

wolfing said:

If you're doing The Twilight Zone, I expect it to be like The Twilight Zone (with different stories). Otherwise just name it The Not Twilight Zone.

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I kind of wish it was The Not Twilight Zone because then they can be more expansive instead of following the classic TZ templates (all of which failed except for the original series) and doing the occasional mandatory "remake" episodes. I do not need to see another The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street or The Night of the Meek. This is precisely why something like The Orville is so successful, both critically and with SF fans, because it's not forced to adhere to rigid & expected formulas. It can go wherever it wants to go.

JackOfOwls said:

I kind of wish it was The Not Twilight Zone because then they can be more expansive instead of following the classic TZ templates (all of which failed except for the original series) and doing the occasional mandatory "remake" episodes. I do not need to see another The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street or The Night of the Meek. This is precisely why something like The Orville is so successful, both critically and with SF fans, because it's not forced to adhere to rigid & expected formulas. It can go wherever it wants to go.

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OMG. IMO, Orville sucks. And it does the exact opposite of what you state. The only non formula involved in the show at all is its tendency for "jokes" that mostly fall flat.

Take for example the Black Mirror/rip off episode. The crime committed by the ship member made no sense unless you considered it was a Seth McFarland show and it is exactly what they would do in Family Guy.

Or the recent show where the ships doctor shuttle got sucked into a vortex because her kids would not sit down, unless you considered it was a Seth McFarland show and its exactly what they would do in Family Guy. (to be honest, they would also do the same thing in the Simpsons)


Thus far every single episode has been derivative of a prior Star Trek (TOS, Nex Gen, Voyager). And its not like the show has to find its footing. To many of the mechanics that make up the show are flawed. To be fair, comedy-sci fi is a hard nut to crack and the only show I can think of that succeeded was Red Dwarf (Not counting Futurerama[animation], or MST3K[compilation]). Lexx was another good effort but that show verged on Abstract Art.

I'm watching Orville because sci fi shows are the bulk of what I watch on TV. But right now I'm placing the current version of Orville in the same category as the original Battle Star Galactica or Buck Rodgers.

Currently Rotten Tomatoes, audience 93%, critics 18%

I liked the original BSG and BR (Season 1 only, season 2 was crap)!!

The Twilight Zone remakes didn't fail, at least not the one in the 80s, it lasted three seasons and I loved it (it's the one I watched first, the original series I only watched a couple of years ago).

The 3 seasons for the 1980s version of Twilight Zone was about 2/3 crap, imo, (violating Serling's Rule of Thirds) but there were a few gems, like George R.R. Martin's original teleplay The Toys of Caliban, and To See The Invisible Man based on the 1963 Robert Silverberg story. There was one excellent adaptation of Tom Godwin's The Cold Equations (some claim that Godwin plagiarized the classic 50s story) in one of the Twilight Zone incarnations that came after the 1980s network reboot but otherwise they were quite unmemorable. There was that awful sequel to It's a Good Life written by Bill Mumy

I thought the original Battlestar Galactica was pretty bad and it's certainly MUCH WORSE than The Orville. I also saw the pilot movie in a theatrical release where they tried to draw in audiences by offering Sensurround. It was horrible. John Dykstra's special effects looked far, far worse on a big screen than even the original Star Wars in 1977 before Lucas tampered with it to make it prettier.

The Cold Equations was definitely a great 80s episode. I've always remembered it.

JDR13 said:

I'll be curious to hear what you thought about it after you've seen all 9 episodes. Imo, it gets stronger as it goes on, and the third act is where it's really at.

There was one thing I definitely didn't like, but thankfully it wasn't focused on much. A certain plot device that had a touch of Jar Jar Binks to it.

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I enjoyed the whole thing. The plot is a bit all over the map, but they succeed so well with the characters and the atmosphere, that I found it very engaging. I was worried after the trailers, but unnecessarily so, as I'd say they pulled it off.

Just watched the lastest episode (s3e5) of Mr. Robot. Incredibly awesome. The entire episode was done in 1 take (or made to appear that way, at least).

Ugh the Inhumans show is just awful. I watched three episodes and I'd like a refund on some seriously wasted time. Such a rich history, I'm amazed it turned out to be so lame.

https://screenrant.com/lord-rings-tv-series/

Warner Brothers Television is in talks to develop a live-action series based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novels The Lord of The Rings.
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Warner Bros. is in talks with Amazon Studios about a potential Lord of the Rings TV series, according to sources for THR. The project is still in its earliest stages, with no writer attached and plenty of issues with the Tolkien estate to be worked out before work could really begin.

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I've had enough of no Tom Bombadil insults so if this is going to be another one, keep it out of my sight please.

Amazon has the money but I heard they are going to have to pay the Tolkien estate around 200-250 million. Then the first season would cost 150 million. HBO and Netflix turned it down. Amazon wants a series to go after Game of Thrones.

I enjoyed the second season of Stranger Things. It wasn't as good as the first season but the kids weren't playing D&D in the second. I did love the arcade scenes and the Halloween night episodes. God I use to love Dig Dug.

Warner Brothers Television is in talks to develop a live-action series based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novels The Lord of The Rings.

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Ok, I love Lord of the Rings like most of us who are into this stuff...but yea, I can imagine this being unbelievably expensive if they want to do it right. And it's so very important they get the right actors too. The whole thing could be totally ruined if they cast one wrong or miscast actor in one of the roles.

That is one reason why the movies were so amazing - they got the casting just right.
I'm open minded, willing to give it a chance, and would love it if they do a Lords of The Rings tv series that is respectful and traditional and pays proper homage to the spirit of the books, but there are so many potential pitfalls to pulling something like this off.

I'll just mention one that I would strongly suspect may happen...they will "modernize" the series and put in crap that doesn't belong just to try and please certain politics or certain popular social or cultural things that are popular right now among a segment of the population...you know how Hollywood rolls, yea, that would ruin it too.

That said, sure, I would be damn interested and would watch a few episodes of this, before deciding if it was crap or not.

We just finished binge-watching the Lie to Me series. Might watch the Merlin series next.

i watched the pilot for the returned, probably the most boring pilot ever, no way im watching the rest of the season

Peter Jackson did awesome job translating Lord of the rings books into film while respecting the source material. I will always treasure these films. So I doubt any tv-series could do better job.

So I haven't really watched a series on tv in 15+ years. If i were to pick just one which one ? (i did watch game of thrones but not on tv - but rather via blu ray)

porcozaur said:

i watched the pilot for the returned, probably the most boring pilot ever, no way im watching the rest of the season

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The french original or whatever remake?
Not that the original is something I'd widely suggest, the second season finale leaves too many questions open deliberately as a setup for spinoff or something but… I always say, avoid remakes.