The Conners 6.9/10

It made me cry several times, but it was well made. It was much better written and acted than the revival season.

[Edited 10/16/18 23:59pm]

Kidding. 5 out of 5 after just one episode. It's Jim Carrey, I have high hopes.

You read my mind! I was about to dig up the old post of this topic or start a new one.

This one is a pick-up where I left off on the last thread, but Ozark was really great. It almost feels like it could end where it's at, but I do hope there are another couple of seasons. Maybe to get them to a place of ease in life. 5 out of 5 stars.

Forever (Amazon Prime) was an unexpected surprised. We talked previously about how Fred Armisen always does this flatline, monotone, self-absorbed, dry wit type character that becomes very one note very, very quickly. And in this show, he does the same, but it has a balance with Maya Rudolph's quiet despair as his wife. He eventually sort of snaps out of his routine and scheduled world (and afterworld) and she leads him to new adventures. I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix) - fucking amazing show. I love a really good horror show. It's nice to see Henry Thomas in something again, as well as the legendary Timothy Hutton. We are making our way through it.

Episode 6 is my favorite (not giving out any spoilers) because of the direction. If you watch, the whole first 30 minutes or so is all one long shot. There are no cuts or edits. It's one camera and all the actors (and ghosts) coming in or out of the scene on queue. I noticed there is one hiccup with Henry Thomas walking across a rug and stepping on a flashlight. He kept going and didn't flinch but you could see what he did. It was obvious that wasn't supposed to happen. One of the other young actors picked it up before the scene shifted to another area. But I think that's the only boo boo I saw. I love when TV shows do something like that. It reminds me a lot of Absolute Beginnings director Julien Temple's approach to a one-camera shot. He directed "When I Think Of You" for Janet Jackson, and although that had 5 cuts in it, it was blended to look like one long shot.

The Conners (ABC) - while it just started, I liked the mix of dark material and humor. Having lost my own mother just a few short years ago, I could see myself in Dan, Darlene, and Jackie in their own methods of coping only three weeks after Roseanne's death.

The Romanoffs (Amazon Prime) - this is an anthology series, each episode is about 90 minutes, and has a totally different cast and story. But every episode has the common link of the characters being descendants of the Russian Romanov empire. Max Weiner, who created Mad Men is heading up this show. Noah Wylie, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, and a bunch of others I can't remember being in it. I think they are releasing it weekly, but the first two episodes came out together. I liked the first one (not giving away spoilers), it was mostly set in a hotel where some of these people live, although there are exterior shots. It centers around an old woman, a Romanoff, and her nephew Aaron Eckart who is dating an ungrateful and bitchy girl that the old woman hates. The old woman ends up with a Muslim girl to help her in her day to day life (a scenario in which she rejects out of racism). All these worlds collide in the end in a ver interesting way. I like how it was resolved.

The second episode is a dual story with a married couple's plans of going on a cruise thwarted by the husband's call to jury duty. Normally, the jury would be easy, but he is entranced with a beautiful woman and purposely elongates the jury to work over the weekend just to spend time with her (these are not spoilers, trust me). It's sort of a sexy take on 12 Angry Men. the wife's adventures on the cruise are totally different yet somehow reflective of what the husband is doing. I didn't enjoy the way that episode ended though. Seemed stunted. I think the new episodes come out on Fridays.

The Conners was okay-needs time to grow into their own thing. I loved the banter between Darlene and Becky.

Will And Grace reboot-Is great and ridiculous as ever.

Just watched the Netflix limited miniseries "Alias Grace" based on the Margaret Atwood novel last weekend... I had seen a few episodes of "Handmaid's Tale" also based on a Margaret Atwood novel when I went to visit my son and his fiancee and they are huge fans of that series. "Alias Grace" was riveting from the first episode--great cinematography, character development, story pacing, and acting. Stands up there with the best BBC series in my opinion. Well done, Netflix! 5 stars out of 5 for me. Well worth viewing if you like whodunnits and suspenseful period dramas. In fact, I couldn't stop, I binge-watched the entire thing from beginning to end...

Daredevil Season 3. While some of the story points might have felt a little forced, I feel like this was a major improvement over season 2. 7.5/10

The Tunnel - Season 3: Vengeance

The finale of this British-French crime drama had me near tears. It was a very surprising end to the series. 4/5

purplethunder3121 said:

Just watched the Netflix limited miniseries "Alias Grace" based on the Margaret Atwood novel last weekend... I had seen a few episodes of "Handmaid's Tale" also based on a Margaret Atwood novel when I went to visit my son and his fiancee and they are huge fans of that series. "Alias Grace" was riveting from the first episode--great cinematography, character development, story pacing, and acting. Stands up there with the best BBC series in my opinion. Well done, Netflix! 5 stars out of 5 for me. Well worth viewing if you like whodunnits and suspenseful period dramas. In fact, I couldn't stop, I binge-watched the entire thing from beginning to end...

Thank you for this. I wondered about this.

Pose - Season 1

The acting inexperience of the large transgender cast is well-compensated by the abundance of heart and positivity. Billy Porter (Kinky Boots) steals every scene. 3.5/5

[Edited 10/26/18 23:22pm]

This sounds really weird but "Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman" has been showing in re-runs lately; I never watched it in the '90s. Although I find it schmaitzy and unrealistic on many episodes, I find myself watching more of them. WTF?!! 2.5 for the whole series out of 5--but I find some episodes compelling gawd help me!

9/10

[Edited 10/29/18 14:28pm]

3 episodes in and it's really just a lot of fun. The purists will find any reason to dump on it, but the renew/cancel prediction sites are predicting renewal based on its numbers. 7.3/10

The Deuce - Season 2

One of HBO's best series in my opinion. I'm looking forward to how New York City and the cast change for the third and final season next year set in the eighties. 4.5/5

I finished Alias Grace, and it was really good. I'm still making my way through The Romanoffs. I'm considering Lore on Prime.

House Of Cards (2018) After binge watching Season 6, which only was 8 episodes! I believe that this series had jumped the shark. Sure Robin Wright was amazing and her outfits were on point.....however, compared to Season 1-5, this last season was a let down. Some of the new characters were dull and and a complete waste of time (eg. The Sheppards) Also, I was really annoyed how other important story lines remained unresolved (eg. Will Claire still launch a nuclear strike? and who is the father of Claire's baby? Frank or Tom Yates?). I give HOC Season 1-5... a 4 out of 5 and Season 6... a 1 out of 5

[Edited 11/5/18 20:49pm]

"Magnum, P. I." still AWESOME. The episodes are exciting, fast-moving and filled with humor. Jay Hernandez is a great Magnum. The writing is so perfectly spot-on. Little by little they pay homage to original TV series.

This week's episode ended with Higgins giving Magnum a shirt to replace one she'd used to train Zues and Apollo.

The shirt is a red Hawaiian shirt.

SO BADASS.

"Magnum, P. I." is a 10 out of 10. Aloha!

"Leave it to Beaver"

10 out of 10 Beaver Cleavers

sexton said:

The Deuce - Season 2

One of HBO's best series in my opinion. I'm looking forward to how New York City and the cast change for the third and final season next year set in the eighties. 4.5/5

I'm enjoying it. but a little soap opera for me.

The Deuce (season 2) - 5/5 it's everything I want in a tv show. Can't wait for the next season.

Pose (season 1) - 5/5 Love the story, love the cast, love the club scenes

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (season 1) - 4/5 a little campy, but mostly a fun dark take on Sabrina. Ambrose is a great character deserving of more than sidekick status.

Luke Cage (season 1) - 4/5 The main story dragged a little, but I enjoyed this overall. The finale was frustrating, but I guess things are resolved in season 2.

Harlots (season 1) - 4/5 Good show, but I hated every man in it.

Big Mouth (season 1&2) - 5/5 I don't seek out cartoons too often, but this was suggested to me because of its raunchiness. It is hilarious.

.

[Edited 11/13/18 9:41am]

thekidsgirl said:

The Deuce (season 2) - 5/5 it's everything I want in a tv show. Can't wait for the next season.

Pose (season 1) - 5/5 Love the story, love the cast, love the club scenes

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (season 1) - 4/5 a little campy, but mostly a fun dark take on Sabrina. Ambrose is a great character deserving of more than sidekick status.

Luke Cage (season 1) - 4/5 The main story dragged a little, but I enjoyed this overall. The finale was frustrating, but I guess things are resolved in season 2.

Harlots (season 1) - 4/5 Good show, but I hated every man in it.

Big Mouth (season 1&2) - 5/5 I don't seek out cartoons too often, but this was suggested to me because of its raunchiness. It is hilarious.

.

[Edited 11/13/18 9:41am]

That's a lot of TV

sexton said:

thekidsgirl said:

The Deuce (season 2) - 5/5 it's everything I want in a tv show. Can't wait for the next season.

Pose (season 1) - 5/5 Love the story, love the cast, love the club scenes

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (season 1) - 4/5 a little campy, but mostly a fun dark take on Sabrina. Ambrose is a great character deserving of more than sidekick status.

Luke Cage (season 1) - 4/5 The main story dragged a little, but I enjoyed this overall. The finale was frustrating, but I guess things are resolved in season 2.

Harlots (season 1) - 4/5 Good show, but I hated every man in it.

Big Mouth (season 1&2) - 5/5 I don't seek out cartoons too often, but this was suggested to me because of its raunchiness. It is hilarious.

That's a lot of TV

It's spread out over the 5 months since I was last on the org.

I guess Insecure should be on there too. That gets a 4.5/5. (Point off for bringing back a character I was ready to be done with...but half a point gained for using him well in the story)

.

[Edited 11/13/18 15:18pm]

over the past 2 months or so, i watched all 5 seasons of bojack horseman. it started off pretty aimlessly in the first season to me - i thought that it seemed to play like one of those satirical shows that wasn't really any more clever than the stuff it thought it was making fun of. but it either got a lot better as it went along, or it really grew on me, because i absolutely loved it & was totally wrapped up in it by the end of s5, and now feel very sad that i don't have another episode to watch before i go to sleep each night.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018) was the best in the 8 year series Sure Joan Collins was amazing, especially as Bubbles McGee, but the real MVP of this sesson was without a doubt Cody Fern as the evil and yet scrumptious Son of Satan, Michael Langdon This article, Cody Fern is the best thing to happen to American Horror Story in a long time https://www.popbuzz.com/t...rformance/ pretty much sums it up for me. I give this a 5 out of 5 and most def will get this on blu-ray Bring on Season 9

[Edited 11/16/18 19:40pm]

Deutschland 83 - Season 1

I rewatched this season before starting season two, Deutschland 86, to remind myself what had happened three years earlier (which is also how long ago it aired). It's a great companion series to The Americans. 4.5/5

RodeoSchro said:

"Magnum, P. I." still AWESOME. The episodes are exciting, fast-moving and filled with humor. Jay Hernandez is a great Magnum. The writing is so perfectly spot-on. Little by little they pay homage to original TV series.

This week's episode ended with Higgins giving Magnum a shirt to replace one she'd used to train Zues and Apollo.

The shirt is a red Hawaiian shirt.

SO BADASS.

"Magnum, P. I." is a 10 out of 10. Aloha!

It was ok.....better than I expected, I give it a solid 4 out of 5 however, I still prefer the OG from the 80s with Tom Selleck

[Edited 11/20/18 17:55pm]

sexton said:

Pose - Season 1

The acting inexperience of the large transgender cast is well-compensated by the abundance of heart and positivity. Billy Porter (Kinky Boots) steals every scene. 3.5/5

[Edited 10/26/18 23:22pm]

I loved Pose and Dominique Jackson who portrays Elektra Abundance is amazing

Stranger Things season 2. I give it 5 out of 10 stars. (1st season is 9 out of 10)

Big Bang Theory season 11. ( Actually this season made me laugh regularly-which previous seasons didn't really do that for me. (8 out of 10 stars for the season)

There was an HBO preview over the Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S. I DVR'd Sharp Objects. Just when you think you have it figured out, you have to sit through ALL the credits of the final episode, and it'll tell the whole story in about 10 seconds. It was great. It's a mini-series so don't look for anything past these 8 episodes.

Camping 3/5

[Edited 12/3/18 10:09am]