Author Topic: New TV Season  (Read 5354 times)

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Offline JMT

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Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #61 on: June 04, 2019, 05:49:12 am »
Anti nuclear propaganda designed to make it even harder for us to use the only useful non-CO2 emitting power source? No thanks. Not much different than a show celebrating anti-vaxxers.

Um.  No.  It's actually more edifying about the failings of Communism,  IMO.  In fact, several young people I have spoken to about the show were shocked as to how the regime worked.

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #62 on: June 04, 2019, 05:50:22 am »
There is a difference between learning the facts so we can learn from them and an emotion laden drama designed to attract viewers. The latter will always sacrifice facts for entertainment and, in this case, to support the ideology of the makers.

You argument is like saying a movie about the horrible consequences that rarely occur from vaccinations should be celebrated because it is good drama despite the anti-vax propaganda. Why is Chernobyl any different?

It has actually been lauded for its accuracy, from articles I've seen online.  It's about an incident, not the 'dangers of nuclear power'

Offline TimG

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #63 on: June 04, 2019, 12:37:50 pm »
Um.  No.  It's actually more edifying about the failings of Communism,  IMO.  In fact, several young people I have spoken to about the show were shocked as to how the regime worked.
OK. And a story about an incompetent government in charge of a nuclear facility is not going make people question if nuclear is worth the risk?

It has actually been lauded for its accuracy, from articles I've seen online.  It's about an incident, not the 'dangers of nuclear power'
I don't think that message can be avoided in a drama about an incident because a drama does not lend itself to providing an esoteric discussion of nuclear safety features in modern plants and the challenge of managing a risk that can never be eliminated.

But I am glad to hear that does not appear to be an over the top propaganda piece.


Offline Omni

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #64 on: June 04, 2019, 01:04:47 pm »
It has actually been lauded for its accuracy, from articles I've seen online.  It's about an incident, not the 'dangers of nuclear power'

I haven't read the articles but of course accuracy is very important when portraying an actual event of such magnitude. I also think we probably all know/knew the details of what happened 30 plus years ago in Russia and a TV drama of that event will not likely alter peoples current opinions of nuclear power. 

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #65 on: June 04, 2019, 04:15:36 pm »
OK. And a story about an incompetent government in charge of a nuclear facility is not going make people question if nuclear is worth the risk?

Well, of course it might.  But ?  I don't know how to respond to this.  A lot of people think Die Hard is really a Christmas movie too.

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I don't think that message can be avoided in a drama about an incident because a drama does not lend itself to providing an esoteric discussion of nuclear safety features in modern plants and the challenge of managing a risk that can never be eliminated.

But I am glad to hear that does not appear to be an over the top propaganda piece.

Well, fair enough.  The thing is, with each passing year we get father from Chernobyl and three mile island.  The number of people who die due to fossil fuel accidents must be the same toll annually at a minimum.  Lac Megantic, for example.

Offline kimmy

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #66 on: December 13, 2019, 03:43:38 am »
Do people still watch network TV anymore?  I still watch network TV sometimes.

Right now what I'm watching on network TV is Stumptown, starring Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother).

Stumptown is set in Portland, Oregon (Stumptown is a nickname of Portland dating back to settler days) and centers on Dex Parios and her messed up life.  Dex is a former US Marine suffering from PTSD and spending her disability cheques on booze and gambling.   Almost by accident she ends up working as a private investigator.

Each episode has a standalone mystery-of-the-week, but there's also an ongoing story as Dex tries to build some kind of life for herself, and for her younger brother Ansel, who has Down's syndrome.  Her care for her brother is one of Dex's few redeeming qualities, although in truth he's more often the one taking care of her.  He's the only thing providing her any stability in her trainwreck life.

Dex is an interesting character, because in a lot of ways she's not very likable. She's a dirtbag with a heart of gold.  She has a conscience and principles, but she's also selfish, self-pitying, and manipulative. She ruins everything she's part of. She creates chaos for everybody in her life as she self-medicates with booze and casual sex.  You want to root for her, but you also want to grab her and shake some sense into her. 

One of the treats of the show is Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal, in a recurring role as Sue Lynn Blackbird, the chief of the local native band and operator of a big casino. Sue Lynn is also the mother of Dex's late boyfriend which is an ongoing source of stress between the two.  Sue Lynn's morally flexible business practices and her personal connection to Dex result in Dex being Sue Lynn's go-to troubleshooter for jobs where discretion is required. 

I am enjoying this.

 -k




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Offline Boges

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #67 on: December 13, 2019, 09:58:42 am »
HBO's Watchmen is the best show of 2019, and the finale hasn't even aired yet.

Offline wilber

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #68 on: December 13, 2019, 05:55:16 pm »
Watched Stumptown for the first time. I liked it. Smulders was born and raised in Vancouver.

Mourning the end of the Jim Jeffries show. Bad language but a truly funny man with a social conscience. He covered all sorts of topics and was just about the only topical comedy network show that wasn't completely absorbed by Trump and US politics.
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Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #69 on: December 13, 2019, 06:50:15 pm »
New Star Wars series The Mandalorian is really good so far, surprisingly.  But then again, dead ghosts haunt people and don't have much time for the ol' boob tube!
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Offline kimmy

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #70 on: December 14, 2019, 01:46:31 pm »
HBO's Watchmen is the best show of 2019, and the finale hasn't even aired yet.

Are you familiar with the Watchmen-- the original comic book series or the movie?  I'm a huge fan of the Watchmen comic book series, so I am feeling a little trepidation over this.  On the one hand, I'd love to spend more time with that series. On the other, I'm concerned about tarnishing the legacy of the Alan Moore series, and I'm not sure it needed anything added to it.

I read the comics once as a teenager, again as an adult, and again a few years back. Each time I got more out of it and saw things I didn't understand in previous readings.  As a teenager I was too dumb to understand much of what the book was really about.  As an adult, and after spending some time trying to write and participating in a writing group, I was able to put a lot more of what Moore was saying together, and was completely mesmerized and enchanted.

I did like the Zach Snyder movie.  While it didn't manage to capture the full breadth and depth of the source material, it was at least a worthy tribute that touched on the main themes.

The missus isn't familiar with Watchmen at all, so I'm not sure if I should make her read the graphic novel, or watch the movie, or both or neither, before we dive into the new series.


 -k
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Offline Boges

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #71 on: December 16, 2019, 08:47:02 am »
Are you familiar with the Watchmen-- the original comic book series or the movie?  I'm a huge fan of the Watchmen comic book series, so I am feeling a little trepidation over this.  On the one hand, I'd love to spend more time with that series. On the other, I'm concerned about tarnishing the legacy of the Alan Moore series, and I'm not sure it needed anything added to it.

I read the comics once as a teenager, again as an adult, and again a few years back. Each time I got more out of it and saw things I didn't understand in previous readings.  As a teenager I was too dumb to understand much of what the book was really about.  As an adult, and after spending some time trying to write and participating in a writing group, I was able to put a lot more of what Moore was saying together, and was completely mesmerized and enchanted.

I did like the Zach Snyder movie.  While it didn't manage to capture the full breadth and depth of the source material, it was at least a worthy tribute that touched on the main themes.

The missus isn't familiar with Watchmen at all, so I'm not sure if I should make her read the graphic novel, or watch the movie, or both or neither, before we dive into the new series.


 -k

I never read the Graphic Novel. I watched the 2009 Zach Snyder movie. I've heard it's a rather detailed theatrical re-telling of the graphic novel. I know that's debatable but you can follow along with this Mini-Series by just watching the movie. You know who all the big players are.

The one big difference is that Ozymandias uses some sort of EMP to destroy New York in the movie. In the comic it's this weird Squid Monster.

The mini-series is true to the latter. Squids a plenty.

The Damon Lindelof "sequel" focuses on race and takes some huge liberties with the backstories of existing characters in the Universe. Commies aren't the enemies anymore it's racist.

I have not heard or read a bad comment on HBO's Watchmen. I saw the finale last night and was completely satisfied with how it ended.

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #72 on: December 20, 2019, 02:14:54 pm »
The Expanse on Amazon Prime TV is very good. 

From Google:
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DescriptionHundreds of years in the future, things are different than what we are used to after humans have colonized the solar system and Mars has become an independent military power. Rising tensions between Earth and Mars have put them on the brink of war. Against this backdrop, a hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain come together to investigate the case of a missing young woman. The investigation leads them on a race across the solar system that could expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.
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Offline wilber

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #73 on: December 20, 2019, 10:16:39 pm »
Been watching Shetland on Knowledge Network. An excellent BBC whodunnit police series filmed in The Shetlands, Scotland and locations in Norway. Each season covers one case. Great cast, complex characters and plot lines, stunning scenery. Fifth season and has been renewed through 2021.

Turns out it is also on Netflix.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2019, 05:21:12 pm by wilber »
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Offline wilber

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Re: New TV Season
« Reply #74 on: June 01, 2020, 11:23:29 am »
Anyone watching Killing Eve? Started watching season 3 on CTV Drama, now I will have to get Crave to watch 1&2. Great black comedy, Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh are dynamite.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC
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