What are you watching now?

[George K]

@Mik said in What are you watching now?:

Just finished Mayor of Kingstown S2.

Started to watch this but got distracted. Perhaps I should revisit?

[Mik]

An awful lot of f bombs but I liked it. Sheridan and Dillon make some great TV.

[George K]

I'm a sucker for musicals. Schmigadoon (on Apple TV+) is a take-off on the classic Hollywood musicals. Lots of nods to the musical hits of before, Great dancing, and just tongue-in-cheek enough.

Premise is two people, who're deeply in love, they think, find themselves in Schmigadoon. The songs sound like Oklahoma, the characters look like Carousel, Oklahoma and others.

Not everyone's cup of tea, of course, but I'm enjoying it. I'm 3 thirty-minute episodes in.

Link to video

Season two is "Schmicago," with much of the cast returning.

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The opening credits sound just like....

Link to video

[George K]

Schmigadoon was fun - a bit preachy and politically correct toward the end. It got a bit ghey.

That notwithstanding, high production values. Fun songs and choreography. If you enjoy musicals, and I've said, I do, check it out.

You got trouble tribulation:

Link to video

Done in one take.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K That looks like fun!! I dont have Apple TV but maybe it will come to a different channel.

[mark]

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Movie premiere tonight.

Just starting.

[taiwan_girl]

Just finished a Taiwanese rom-com series called "The Prince Who Turned Into A Frog". VERY Taiwanese in style, so I am not sure you will like it. It is a couple of years old. About a arrogant hotel chain chairman who gets bumped on the head and (temporarily) loses his memory and end up in a small fishing village.

It is in Mandarin language, but dont worry, they do have English subititle.

Link to video

[George K]

I had a weekend to waste, so I binged through a thriller on Apple TV+.

Link to video

Short version: Two Syrian hackers have proof that an international organization wants to terrorize Britain and/or France and take control of the EU.

Interesting premise.

What. A. Mess.

Irrelevant extraneous storylines (probably added to pad the 6 episode runtime), confusing main plot with terrible exposition.

DOn't waste your time.

[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.

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• 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.