What are you watching now?

[George K]

The Diplomat

The series centers on Kate Wyler, the new United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, as she has to defuse international crises, forge strategic alliances in London and adjust to her new place in the spotlight while also trying to survive her marriage to fellow career diplomat Hal Wyler.

I love Keri Russel ("The Americans"). She plays a foul-mouthed former Middle-Eastern diplomat suddenly becoming the US ambassador to Great Britain. Her husband is played by Rufus Sewell (another favorite).

Watched a couple of episodes today - pretty good, even though it tries to be "diverse" just a bit too hard. It deals with a potential Middle-Eastern crisis, and it's a bit too light-hearted for my taste. The dialog is just a bit too "snappy."* Nevertheless worth at least a look. Gets good reviews.

Link to video

• By "snappy," I mean, think of John Scalzi's prose. Yeah, like that.

[George K]

Binged through it.

First of all, DON'T YOU DARE end a series like this without a guarantee that a second season is coming.

Secondly, although I really enjoyed it, I found it waffling too much between being a "cute insider view of international diplomacy" and a thriller.

As I said, the Scalzi-like dialog, though fun, was a bit of a distraction. The obviously-talented writers seem to be trying to outdo themselves in telling the story. Let the (good) story stand on its own. It doesn't need the writers' cleverness.

Apparently, people who worked on "The West Wing" and "House of Cards" were involved in this. It shows. It has little (though some) of the moralizing of "The West Wing" and very little of the cynicism of "House of Cards."

It's a nice diversion, and I enjoyed. I'll certainly watch a second season, not only because I love Kari Russel and Rufus Sewell, but also because I think there's a place where a smart political/diplomatic thriller can go and keep me engaged.

[kluurs]

I started watching Night Agent on Netfllix - pretty decent. drama. It concerns an FBI agent who works in the White House that deals with off record assignments. A couple of people are murdered and from there it takes a bit before we find out the why and how it is part of a much bigger operation involving national security. It's got us hooked.

[Mik]

Tonight? Major Crimes reruns and the NFL draft.

[Renauda]

Just finished our weekly dose of Unexplained and Ancient Aliens.

As usual I dozed off during the latter.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Renauda said in What are you watching now?:

As usual I dozed off during the latter.

We've been on a kick of that lately, too. Goes well with Oreos.

[Renauda]

@Aqua-Letifer

Something about Robert Clotworthy’s voice…puts me to sleep in minutes.

[Mik]

I use David Ambien Attenborough. While I love his stuff, his quiet manner puts me right out if I'm the least bit sleepy.

[George K]

@kluurs said in What are you watching now?:

I started watching Night Agent on Netfllix - pretty decent. drama. ,,, It's got us hooked.

Not bad. I'm just a bit into it. It's a good weekend binge which I hope to finish by Monday.

A bit of a slow start, with some pretty stereotypical characters (cute girl who's thrown into something she doesn't understand, "outsider-loser" guy above his pay-grade in a conspiracy). Nevertheless, pretty engaging.

Thanks for the recco.

[kluurs]

@George-K said in What are you watching now?:

@kluurs said in What are you watching now?:

I started watching Night Agent on Netfllix - pretty decent. drama. ,,, It's got us hooked.

Not bad. I'm just a bit into it. It's a good weekend binge which I hope to finish by Monday.

A bit of a slow start, with some pretty stereotypical characters (cute girl who's thrown into something she doesn't understand, "outsider-loser" guy above his pay-grade in a conspiracy). Nevertheless, pretty engaging.

Thanks for the recco.

Best of all, while it is not a limited series - they will wrap up all of the loose ends in Season 1 so that it can stand alone. There is a season 2 planned.

[Horace]

Netflix has a documentary about the Boston Marathon bombings. I had forgotten some of the details. How the suspects went on the rampage soon afterwards, executing a cop. The older brother's indoctrinated American wife, who stood by him afterwards.

[Ivorythumper]

Perry Mason — Noir prequel in stylish 1920s LA where Perry (Matthew Rhys - The Americans) tries to work through political corruption and judicial favoritism and opportunism. Della Street (Juliet Rylance) is cast not as a girl Friday but comes out…. Not great, but watchable.

Succession - enjoyable glimpse into a highly dysfunctional uberwealthy family as the paterfamilias is trying to decide who will take over his global corporation. Story is well developed and the acting is good where the viewer begins to actually about the family and their trajectory. Completely bingeable.

Industry - a bunch of unlikable young banksters in a London trading house screwing each other in every configuration and doing drugs without any discernible plot other than to keep their careers by being as necessarily vicious as needed. Not even good Machiavellian intrigue. I don’t care what happens to anyone.

[George K]

@Ivorythumper said in What are you watching now?:

Perry Mason — Noir prequel in stylish 1920s LA where Perry (Matthew Rhys - The Americans) tries to work through political corruption and judicial favoritism and opportunism. Della Street (Juliet Rylance) is cast not as a girl Friday but comes out…. Not great, but watchable.

Agreed. I watched the 1st season, but it struck me as being style over substance. There was a lot of style, to be sure. Rhys was good as Mason, but there just wasn't much there there in the 1st season.

Succession - enjoyable glimpse into a highly dysfunctional uberwealthy family as the paterfamilias is trying to decide who will take over his global corporation. Story is well developed and the acting is good where the viewer begins to actually about the family and their trajectory. Completely bingeable.

Agreed. Like I said about Yellowstone - it's like Dallas, but the people aren't as nice. This is popcorn TV and the extreme dysfunction of the family is fun to watch. I even enjoy Cameron (Bueller? Bueller?).

Industry - a bunch of unlikable young banksters in a London trading house screwing each other in every configuration and doing drugs without any discernible plot other than to keep their careers by being as necessarily vicious as needed. Not even good Machiavellian intrigue. I don’t care what happens to anyone.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll not waste my time.

[Mik]

@Ivorythumper said in What are you watching now?:

Succession - enjoyable glimpse into a highly dysfunctional uberwealthy family as the paterfamilias is trying to decide who will take over his global corporation. Story is well developed and the acting is good where the viewer begins to actually about the family and their trajectory. Completely bingeable.

We watched the first episode, at the end of which I detested each and every character so much I hoped for the helicopters to all crash. World's shortest series.

[George K]

@Mik said in What are you watching now?:

We watched the first episode, at the end of which I detested each and every character so much I hoped for the helicopters to all crash. World's shortest series.

Be patient. As it progresses you get to hate them, all of them, even more. It's delicious.

Except for Logan Roy. He's the only one who is not evil AND crazy. He's just evil.

[George K]

"The Watcher"

Link to video

"The series follows a married couple who, after moving into their dream home in a fictionalized version of Westfield, New Jersey, are harassed by creepy letters signed by a stalker who goes by the pseudonym "The Watcher".

As they say, "Based on a true story..."

The series is based on a 2018 article for New York's "The Cut" by Reeves Wiedeman, which chronicled the experience of Derek and Maria Broaddus after they received threatening letters upon moving into their home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014,[5] which continued until they sold the home in 2019.[8] The character John Graff was based on John List, a mass murderer and longtime fugitive who murdered his family in his Westfield home in 1971.

As usual, Bobby Carnavale is over the top, Mia Farrow is weird (!), Naomi Wolf is hapless, and the kids are annoying.

Giving up after 2 episodes.

[George K]

Jury Duty

"The series chronicles the inner workings of a jury trial in the US through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, who is unaware that his jury duty summons was not official, and that everyone in the courtroom aside from him is an actor. Everything that happens, inside and outside the courtroom, is planned."

"On September 15, 2022, it was reported that a semi-improvised docu-style comedy series starring James Marsden and a group of up-and-coming actors with improv backgrounds had secretly been filmed for Amazon Studios.[2][4] The 17-day shoot was filmed in a real courtroom south of Los Angeles.[4][5] According to executive producer Todd Schulman, Jury Duty began as an attempt to make a sitcom like The Office about a trial, with a real person at the center of the show who doesn't know that he’s surrounded by actors.[1] Creators Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky both previously worked as writer-producers on The Office."

Link to video

[Mik]

Ted Lasso and Mrs. Maizel.

[George K]

Is Mrs. Maizel good?

I love Lasso, but I'm waiting to binge it. Lasso is a good example how comedy can be done without being insulting, sophomoric, scatological or just plain stupid.

[Mik]

Maizel is very good. Excellent characters, dialogue and stories.