Speak Up Saturday: What are you watching?

[yourlibrarian]

Although Speak Up Saturdays will include other topics for discussion, our main questions each week will be: "What have you watched last week?" and "How are you liking it?"

Because a variety of shows may get referenced here, please do not include any spoilers in the comments. Thanks!

Comments

[rodo]

I just finished the third season of Warrior and loved it (mild, general spoilers)! (And I spent the afternoon drafting some ficlets to satisfy my yearning for MORE.)

[yourlibrarian]

Woohoo for happiness with how a season wraps up!

[8hyenas]

I've been watching The Diplomat and really enjoying the irreverent humor. I'm always a sucker for serious topics treated lightly. I wouldn't quite call it a dark comedy but it's a successor to Veep. I'm not quite finished so I haven't checked but I hope there's a second season!

[yourlibrarian]

I have seen several recs for The Diplomat! Don't have Netflix right now but am looking forward to it.

[violateraindrop]

I watched it recently and loved it! Keri Russell is awesome.
It has been renewed for a second season, but who knows what will happen with the strikes going on :/

[feurioo]

Out of curiosity: Is its humor very similar to Veep? While I thought it was funny, the mean-spiritedness didn't appeal to me after a while.

[shadowkat]

At the moment? Daisy Jones and the Six - and it's sigh, boring. I'm on episode 8. And honestly, Timothy Oliphant's Manager is possibly the most interesting thing in it, along with Maybelle, the singer who reminds me of cross between Nina Simone and Donna Summer. It's very cliche ridden - I think? (To say more requires spoilers.) I keep dabbling - every once and a while I'll watch an episode thinking - okay maybe it improved? And no, it hasn't. But hey, it has 9 emmy nominations, so what do I know?

I don't understand the Emmy Nominations on this one.

Also watched The Great American Barbecue Showdown on Netflix (S2). I liked S1 better. But S2 is interesting - it featured one woman who is so addicted to barbecuing, she lost her house, her canoe (yes a canoe), car, husband, and has moved back in with her parents - who are insisting she stop doing the barbecuing. (She's not a young woman - she looks like she's in her 50s at least). There's some drama in the second episode - where the contestants are told to use peppers, and the Carolina reaper and habaranoes are put on the menu. I honestly think the Judges got what they deserved for doing that one.

Now, I think I might move on to either another episode of Good Omens, which is quite good. The first episode of Season 2 was hilarious in places, or a Cillian Murphy or Chris Nolan flick.

[yourlibrarian]

I didn't realize Oliphant was in that series. I agree, it got a lot of buzz.

Wow -- I didn't realize one could go in debt over barbecuing!

[bleodswean]

I, too, found it boring and sometimes cringey and I WANTED TO LOVE it. Stevie Nicks said she was mystified the first time through but on a second watching fell madly in love with it and found it to ring true. For what that's worth, but perhaps something as they say it's modeled on those crazy Fleetwood 70's. I did not read the book and have been told it's far better. Hmmm...

My issue really was the male lead. I needed / wanted him to be someone else. Entirely.

[olivermoss]

I'm catching up on Nancy Drew, but I haven't seen the latest episode yet. I need to get on my Stranger Things rewatch for fall... just need to finish this video game first!

[yourlibrarian]

This is the last season for Drew, is that right?

[feurioo]

Tried getting into some newly released K-dramas:
- Behind Your Touch: Super silly premise (some people call it the "butt telepathy" drama). Great leads: Han Ji-min and Lee Min-Ki, so I had to check it out immediately. It struck me as something I might have liked if I was in a better mood, so maybe I will revisit it later on.

- Cold-Blooded Intern: Liked the first episode. Depending on how cold-blooded the intern character is going to be, I might continue or stop watching. Love the fact that we are seeing more shows about older women rejoining the workforce.

- The Killing Vote: Mainly giving this one a chance for Park Hae-jin. Currently watching the first episode and I'm already positively intrigued by Lim Ji-yeon's character. Here's hoping they know how to use her well. She was so good in The Glory.

Other Shows:
- This Fool S1: Started it because somebody mentioned it in relation to The Bear. Don't see the similarity but I think it's quite cute and feel-good. (Edit: "Cute" and "feel-good" specifically in relation to the fact that the protagonist is a member of an organization that helps to rehabilitate ex-gang members.)

- Heartstopper S2: Two wolves inside me: 1. All that queer rep gives me euphoria to the max. 2. They are all so young and bright-eyed, and there's just a part of me that cannot identify with that anymore, so yeah, it makes me feel old.

- I'm A Virgo S1: This show is really something else and I wish more people talked about it. That said, I find it hard to simply finish it because Prime Video suddenly doesn't show me anymore which episode I stopped watching. It really is a chore and a half to always go and find where I left off (particularly on low-spoon days). If anybody is into off-beat, highly surreal satires with social commentary, consider watching this one.

- Only Murders in the Building S3: Not really feeling it, so far. I hope the next episode gives us some more intriguing clues.

[yourlibrarian]

I've seen various recs for Heartstopper. I plan to look it up on my next Netflix round.

I remember hearing about I'm a Virgo. It was your comment about not saving your place that caught my attention though. One real drawback about YouTube TV is that it doesn't save your place in a recording -- so you not only need to remember episode but how many minutes you were into something (of particular joy with long sports games).

I've also noticed that Paramount+ will often not finish off those final minutes in an episode so that when you start up again it insists on popping into the last 3 minutes of credits.

[feurioo]

Watched the first episode of Deadloch today and I absolutely wasn't prepared to laugh *so* much. Some people on Tumblr have been recommending it for a while, so I thought I'd better check it out. Obviously, at this point, I cannot say whether the conclusion of the murder mystery will actually be satisfying but, so far, at least the characters delivered. It's queer (a town full of lesbians), absurdly funny, and gives me all the female buddy-cop energy that I didn't know I needed in my life.

[rocky41_7]

Making my way through Black Sails for the first time! I just finished S1 last night and I've got a library hold on S2 so hopefully I'll get to that soon. I also need to finish part 2 of The Witcher S3 but...not feeling very motivated for that.

[yourlibrarian]

Ooh, Black Sails was a big favorite of mine!

[rionaleonhart]

Having watched Lost earlier this year and loved it, I found myself in the mood for more protagonists who are named Jack and have severe emotional problems, so I'm having another crack at Stargate SG-1! I've just watched the feature-length first episode.

My main recollection of this show, having drifted away on my last attempt to watch it, is 'strong characters, wildly variable episode quality'. I'll be interested to see whether my fondness for the SG-1 team can pull me through the questionable episodes this time. For now, it's definitely scratching the 'characters named Jack with emotional problems' itch.

[yourlibrarian]

I watched SGA but never saw SG-1 -- a bit of a problem when reading fanfic given the crossovers!

[jo]

Mostly baseball and tennis (mostly tennis to be honest -- the Jays are just SOOOOOOO frustrating this season), but in terms of non-sports, I started watching The Afterparty on Apple+, which I'd never heard of until someone on DW kept mentioning how much they were enjoying the 2nd season. It is quite amusing, fairly light, so I don't have to concentrate too much, which is about all I can handle in the evenings. Also the 2nd series of Men in Kilts (Starz or your fave torrent site), but that's a weekly thing.

[yourlibrarian]

I remember seeing a promo for the show but I didn't have it on my Apple+ watchlist -- although there was so much stuff on there I didn't get through it all in 3 months.

I also heard about Men in Kilts. I take it it's a complete separate thing from Outlander, a travelogue?

[adafrog]

I am currently watching the new Nailed It! Baking Challenge. So far not as funny as the regular, but still good.

Very stuck on Antiques Road Trip (not show) on Pluto TV.

Watch a lot of Wipe Out. Either the European version on LG TV, or the US version on Hulu.

[yourlibrarian]

I've only ever seen gifs and online memes of Nailed It, but given I don't bake at all I couldn't even be a contestant!

Is LG TV its own streaming service?

[china_shop]

We actually watched some old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night (Restless and Hush), but mostly we've been watched Netflix stand-up comedy lately. My partner's about to have an operation, so we're saving a lot of new and comfort viewing for his recovery time.

[yourlibrarian]

Hitting the high points! And sounds like a good plan, I hope everything goes well.

[linky]

I've been watching Kamen Rider Kuuga, I'm little over halfway through and I really like how the story is unfolding so far. It's been very gripping! Looking forward to seeing more episodes this weekend.

I also saw last week's episode of Ultraman Blazar, it was a recap episode but the premise of it and how they went about it was cute and fun. Hoping to see the latest episode that aired yesterday sometime in the coming days!

[yourlibrarian]

A recap episode? Like, a whole episode was a recap of a previous season?

[kalloway]

Boyfriend has been watching One Piece for awhile now and since I mentioned being familiar with the main plot and cast (no need to start over for me) he's been bringing it over on weekends. The arc we're on right now isn't great (where they pick up a new unique crew member) and is getting overly long, but as a whole it's fun.

Earlier in the week, I watched through the first two arcs of Ayakashi, which I got on blu-ray for my birthday. I liked them quite a bit more than the last time around, which I wasn't expecting. Stalled out on the third arc, which is Bakeneko, and the English dub is a NOPE and the original Japanese is also... blrgh. (To the tune of the lead voice actor getting replaced for the upcoming movie featuring the star character of Bakeneko. Yeah, ow, but I don't really want to listen to him right now either.)

[yourlibrarian]

That must be frustrating. I much prefer to watch captioned shows rather than dubs. I'm sure some of the voice actors do a good job but I prefer hearing the original language. There was one show I saw a few years ago where I didn't have this option and I found one of the choices not ideal.

[makamu]

I'm currently doing a slow rewatch of Criminal Minds and will segue into Evolution once I'm done. Partly for fanfic research purposes and partly because I've just finished watching CSI (the original show set in Vegas), and while I liked the characters and will add it to my fandom catalogue (and watch the other shows in the franchise), I caught myself thinking that CM was the better show on average... (even withstanding US network TV procedural shenanigans when it comes to plotting). And I guess I just want to see if that was nostalgia talking :)

[yourlibrarian]

That must be a long rewatch! I was just thinking this week that it's so rare now to have not only a 22 season run but to have a show go on for 7 seasons. I've been watching Billions which will be ending with its 7 seasons. It started when cable shows were doing 12-13 episodes, which is almost long now!

[bleodswean]

Thanks to feurioo's fantabulous primer - https://tv-talk.dreamwidth.org/187013.html, I'm watching Somebody, Somewhere. It's GOOD. And deeply emotional. Short, sharp episodes. So much human drama. AND FRED ROCOCO!!!! Hill is a scene chewing marvel and brings all the right amounts of humanity and humour to the show. It is strangely filthy, ymmv.

I just finished Lambs of God and loved it!! A faerie tale and it works. Brilliantly so.

Also, the hot hot hot Danish crime series White Sands. Did I mention SMOKING HOT?!?!

[makamu]

Oh! Both Lambs of God and White Sands sound right up my alley. Thanks for the rec!

[makamu]

I adored Lambs of God! Do NOT read or watch anything to do with it. Watch it first. Although....I did buy the novel, wanted to re-immerse myself and kinda wish I had found the book first. They are different, but the book is something special!

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind

I would love to hear someone else's take on White Sands. They mystery was meh, but the male lead...*flails* Lots of simmering chemistry there.

Turns out White Sands was co-produced by our public television, so it's easy for me to get ahold of. Can I get back to you on that?

[bleodswean]

Glad you found it without too much work! I will look forward to hearing your thoughts!