TV Show Discussion Thread

Ah yes, more retconnes for the sake of retconnes. If you want your TV series based on books / video games to have support from the fans and be more or less successful then try and stick to the the already known lore and not try to rewrite it…
Easy skip for me :slight_smile: :man_shrugging:

I recently finished watching Sons of Anarchy, and its one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while.

Whats surreal to me is how similar it is to the plot of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” which I coincidentally studied for my A Levels. It turns out my suspicions were correct and the writers took great inspiration from it.

Some of the characters follow very similar storylines and even have similar names, for example:

King Claudius - Clay Morrow (President of the MC)
Gemma - Gertrude (Wife of Clay who quickly remarried him after J.T)

Thats about all I can say without spoilers, but there are many more :wink:

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I don’t think anyone here watches Spongebob, but I’ve just read that there will be Season 14. In words of Bart Simpson: “If I had a TV show, I’d run that sucker into the ground.” Quite ironic, looking at Simpsons season 32.

I’ve finally managed to check out the Animaniacs reboot. Only the first episode, but nonetheless…

I like it! It’s a lot more cartoonish and zany than I expected – and really feels like they’ve brought back the format and comedic style of vintage cartoons. Lots of visual gags, silly animated physics, and a quirky charm to the main Warner cast.

There definitely feels like there’s some context I’m missing, where some older references don’t make a lick of sense to me or the whole “Let’s check out the iconic characters 22 years later”, but it’s mostly enjoyable.
It’s too early to call, since it’s only Episode 1, but I much prefer the meta antics of the Warner siblings than the Pinky and the Brain segment (and judging by their flashy 3D title card, it seems like each episode might be split into 60/40 for Warner/P&B.) I’ll probably warm up to it later.

The music in the show is fantastic. Sounds like they brought back the brass band of old, gave them the recording of the show and let them play. It’s got all the usual music-timed-perfectly-to-character-action that is so prevalent in cartoons of old.

There’s even a nice song about reboots.

First impression: yeah, cool. I’ll continue with it if I can find the other episodes. It’s a nice introduction to them.

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Yakko would like to teach you geography!

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Okay, it’s either getting better, or I’m warming up to the Animaniacs [especially Pinky and the Brain].

Episode 2 done, and it’s a nice and more entertaining improvement.

I was hesitant that they could pull off a whole season satirizing the modern world, but it seems they don’t need to. This episode was very historical.

  • a segment about Homer’s Iliad and the trials of Odysseus.
  • a segment about a dragon thespian who is recruited to help take over the world
  • a segment about suffragettes and the Cartoon right to vote (feat. A bunch of Looney Tunes)

There was a lot of great out-of-left-field comedy bits in this episode, I really enjoyed the humor surrounding the dramatic actor dragon and the inclusion of the looney tunes in the final musical segment was cool, even if it felt like WB was tooting their own horn a bit.

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Just watched the first few episodes of Invincible that are out. It genuinely has some really fun interesting writing and a story with proper intrigue and stakes. I’m very much looking forward to seeing where the story goes

Despite the obvious medium difference of live action and cartoon it’s hard not to compare this show with The Boys. So if you liked that then I recommend giving this a shot

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The sci-fi short story series Love, Death, and Robots is getting a season 2 and it’s out next month.

There’s also a Season 3 in production already, due out next year.

YES!! SUCH GOOD NEWS!

https://youtu.be/Gj2iCJkp6Ko

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That’s very unexpected.
Just wondering but what’s your favourite one @TheChicken?

I haven’t watched all of them but I really liked Three robots and Zima Blue. Do you have any recommendations?

I think a show like this is a really good idea. It’s like a game jam where you put out any thing that fits a certain theme, allowing you to experiment with a lot of weird things. Glad it’s getting another run.

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I know I wasn’t asked :wink: but Beyond the Aquila Rift is just a fantastic piece of horror imo and the visuals are absolutely stunning, it’s definitely the one that’s stuck with me the most. Zima Blue, Helping Hand, and The Secret War were also phenomenal for various reasons too

Short films aren’t a new concept but I love them being packaged into one anthology and put onto the world’s biggest streaming platform for millions to access. I wish there were more ‘shows’ like Love + Death + Robots, and I’m so hyped for S2

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I hope more people will get to know more short films. To me, a lot of them are much more enjoyable than movies or tv shows but they’re always overshadowed by them (Maybe because a lot of it is indie/made by a small studio?).

Found this video (again) that shows a bit of tricks used in the show (well, a small part of it).

I think you’ll might like this (If not then possibly gain something new about it).

Nice! I forgot the show had another season. I really want to continue watching this show. I used to watch it a lot with my brother, but he’s been spending a lot of his time with friends (which is good but I never get to spend some time with him)

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Not for me, the season was announced in summer of 2020, and I’ve been waiting with bated breath ever since. :sweat_smile:

I only ever saw the show once, and that was on release. Watched it by jumping between episodes randomly. My absolute favourite (like many others I’m sure) is Three Robots. Probably because it’s the most tame and cute of the bunch.

The other episodes that really stood out to me were Sonnie’s Edge, The Witness, The Day The Yogurt Took Over, Beyond the Aquila Rift, Helping Hand, Zima Blue, and Alternate Histories.
I should probably check it out again before the next volume is out.

As a sidenote: it was brought to my attention a few months ago that the first season was a bit sexist in its nudity and portrayal of women, and thinking back on it, I kinda agree. Here’s hoping this season’s female supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson can rein in those horny writers.

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Ooh, Scribble Kibble! I enjoy watching some of those when they pop up in my Youtube page. I hadn’t seen that one yet. Wow, there’s a lot of cool details behind the animation of LDR.

You really should. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the first season, so I can’t reliably compare the two, but the second one was a lot of fun! There’s plenty of great episodes with interesting, sometimes dark plots. A few are some fun continuations of plots left unfinished in Season 1.

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This looks like it will be fun. No idea if this’ll be available outside of Hulu, since Hulu is only available in a couple countries I think.

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I’m rewatching Alias because I need some of comfort shows from my youth and I just got to the part where the two leads finally get together, right in the middle of the wreckage of the first big bad organization they’d been working for a season and a half to take down:

https://youtu.be/7qhfIgLtPs4?t=34

Two incredibly intelligent badasses, forced to stay away from each other by a shady organization until a weakness in the system gets exploited that takes it all down at once. I’ve apparently had the same tastes for 20 years. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Shadow and Bone
Netflix

Honestly, I stuck this on because I wanted something in the background and it felt like the crappy netflix original of the week. But the characters and the world really captivated me. It doesn’t have any huge names, Ben Barnes (who’s an absolute snack, as per usual) is perhaps the most famous person in it, but all of the actors were pretty decent imo. It has really strong YA vibes (fake nations, mystical powers, weird nouns, love triangles), so if you’re not into that then perhaps it’s not for you. But, despite it being pretty cliche on paper, it does have some ineffable aspect that makes it really compelling (or maybe I’m completely off base :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:)

Either way, it’s been an absolute treat to watch for me. Especially during an extra shitty week. Tbh it’s even made me want to read the books :smile: And I do think I’ll be genuinely upset if Netflix doesn’t commission another series

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Are RuPauls Drag Race fans around here? :see_no_evil:

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I’ve been watching Parks and Rec for the past few months, and there’s one thing that really bothers me.
The treatment of Jerry.

I don’t get it.
I’ve looked it up and the writers’ justification is that he’s supposed to be ‘the one guy at every job that’s a klutz and everyone can laugh at’ and some fans say “they give him a bunch of other good traits like being well-endowed, having a hot wife, three kids, and eventually becomes the mayor” but… The abuse is just so mean.

Like, he can be doing literally nothing and someone finds a way to make fun of him. And if someone laughs at him, then automatically everyone in the room must laugh at him, as if it’s some programmed reaction everyone has.
Maybe it’s humor that hasn’t aged well, but it’s so agonizing whenever he’s the butt of a joke. Lately in mid-season 4, people have been pretty civil towards him, but every now and then it just gets so uncomfortable with the teasing.

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Recently finished 2 shows (or just seasons of shows), Season 1 of Kipo and the Animaniacs Reboot


Kipo:

  • The show is another awesome hit from Dreamworks (man, who knew they could jump into the TV format so well?) The world of Las Vistas is super fun and unique. Plenty of mutant bipedal animals roam the land, with many of them seeking to gain supremacy over humans. There’s also a lot of crazier mutant animals that all mostly are 50-feet tall, have an obscene increase of appendages, or both.
  • Really loved the whole season through and through. The development of Kipo and her dad’s relationship, the look into Wolf’s past, the villain, the various antics in each episode… The Mod Frogs, Ratland, Newton Wolves, and Hummingbombers are all the coolest (the EDM Bees are a pretty neat character design too).
  • The style of this show is really fun to watch. They use music really well. Action scenes have the music blaring over what’s happening on screen, some of it is diegetic (coming from within the world – the characters are aware of it), the title card smash cut is so satisfying and unique… It’s great. Also, no idea who decided to put a 3-minute mental-trip-awakening in the season finale (the whole Purple Tiger Eye song) but damn was that well-made. Sterling K Brown can siiing, holy cow. :flushed:

Animaniacs:

  • This show is fun. Plenty of sketch comedy from the Warners, lots of satire, some of it pretty relevant to today… it’s good. Pinky and the Brain is also a nice break from the zany, insany antics of the Warners, providing a more sophisticated edge and cutting commentary of society and politics and pop-culture at times. Some of hte running jokes I feel are overused, but that’s probably the point. (the ‘Are you Pondering what I’m Pondering?’ gets a bit annoying, but I see the appeal.)
  • Some of the jokes rely on previous knowledge of the 90s show – something I don’t have, which is a bit sad, but that’s fine. Let the real fans have their desserts. They’ve been waiting for a comeback for a while.
  • Gosh, the satire is great. There’s a few skits where I’m not entirely sure what they’re spoofing (‘The Cutening’ comes to mind) but others are very fun and twist it in a child-like, cartoonish way so that it’s accessible for kids too. (This is a kids’ show… right?) Stuff like Homer’s Iliad, Breaking into the NSA with help from Snowden, lampooning divisive, hot-button US News Networks, or horror films like IT are all fair game, even if such topics might be out of reach or age-range for the kids.
  • If I have one complaint, it’s that the finale didn’t really feel like a finale. Or, the last sketch of the season didn’t have the big impact I think it should. It was just a 2-minute song that mentioned every First Lady and that’s it. Putting the previous episode there instead, ending it with a fun The Rock parody + Social Issue sketch ‘Manny Manspreader’ would have been more enjoyable, or ‘The Warner’s Press Conference’ from a few episodes before that, since that was very meta, very fun, and could have been very tease-y for whenever the Second season arrives.

Next, I don’t know what I’ll jump into. Maybe another season of Kipo, maybe the second Infinity Train, maybe something else… Haven’t decided yet. So many shows on my backlog ouch.

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I’ve only just finished the first episode of Invincible and it’s a pretty impressive premiere. (Decided to start it now, since I got spoiled on a finale moment recently – it’s a big meme)

Plenty of interesting celebrity voice roles, there’s a cool (but done before) angle of a young man who developed powers late trying to train under his father, some Justice League knock-off (even down to a very-Batman-inspired character). All in all, it’s a nice start to the series. I’d heard the comic is by Robert Kirkman and it actually gets pretty heavy and gory at times, but it looked like most of that was held back for Episode 1.

And then the ending happens.
Throughout the entire scene of… THAT… I kept saying different variations of the following.
“Whoa. What…?”
“What the fuck…”
and “Holy Shit!”
This show definitely has my attention now. :fearful: :astonished:

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