tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

I'm finishing up Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. It's so disturbing and obviously, I know how it ends but I still feel compelled to see it through to the bitter end. The two actors playing the brothers are impressing me.

I streamed the Netflix limited series Midnight Mass in 2 days and I recommend it. The acting was top-notch.

I am going to try out the new show Grotesquerie on FX. Looking forward to it.

I want to check out Kristen Bell's new show Nobody Wants This. It looks cute and I need a little lightness after all the dark shows I've been watching lately.

And I've been watching the Charmed reboot and yes, believe it or not, I am enjoying it lol

Ludwig: British mystery/detective show about a guy who creates puzzle books under the name Ludwig, his twin brother goes missing and Ludwig steps into his life to find out what happened. Which sounds like its been done before, and yes, it has, but this was quite good, funny too. Along with the mystery of the missing twin brother, there's a crime every episode that Ludwig solves by using puzzle theory which is fun.

Matlock: watched the first ep and wasn't at all surprised by the "twist" at the end but I did like the ep and love Kathy Bates so will be watching next week.

Murder in a Small Town: first ep, which was ok. might need a few more eps to be hooked I think.

High Potentional: first two eps, I enjoyed them. The show doesn't seem that different to any other show where a consult has the ability to put things together before the cops but I like the characters.

The Circle: only 1 ep left! I'm excited to see who wins, glad my favs are still in the circle. Hopefully one of them will win. #StatenIslandFavs

the Old Man: enjoying S2. This show is so well done, such a good cast too.

The Circle S7: Dropping this because I dislike almost everybody who will probably make it to the finale.

Du gewinnst hier nicht die Million bei Stefan Raab: I don't understand the concept of this show. They should've given it another title if it's 50 % mediocre Instagram comedy and 50 % quiz show.

How To Die Alone: Mainly watching it for Natasha Rothwell and Conrad Ricamora.

No Gain, No Love: This is such a weird show. Some parts are genuinely sweet, refreshingly modern (for a K-drama), and very funny, while others are unnecessarily dark, stupid, and messy. Unfortunately, they've destroyed practically everything I found promising about the second-lead couple. Welp. For something new: They advertised a self-parking car?!

Normal People: I watched 4 episodes but it didn't grab me.

Only Murders in the Building S4: I should probably binge the remaining episodes because I dislike the never-ending "big" cliffhangers.

Starstruck S1: How can I root for this couple when they never get the chance to be together? I'm four episodes in. It's getting ridiculous.

Edited 2024-09-28 12:35 (UTC)

Thanks for mentioning Ludwig because I really need to check it out.

I will scream if Kevin or Madelyn make it, so your #StatenIslandFavs better win!

I watched A Very Royal Scandal (Prime), which is another take on the infamous Emily Matlis-Prince Andrew interview. This one is a 3-parter, versus the movie version on Netflix (Scoop). I think I preferred Scoop, which starred Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell. The Prime version starred Ruth Wilson and Martin Sheen.

I also watched the first episodes of Ludwig (BBC) and the new series of All Creatures Great and Small (whatever it airs on in the UK), and the new series of Great British Bake Off.

Also watched this week's episode of High Potential, which continues to be kind of mundane, easy on the brain viewing. Will Trent is far superior when it comes to neurodivergent types solving crimes. And this week's ep of The Ark.

What I haven't watched is this past week's first ep of The Traitors Canada (season 2) because I'm torn between watching it weekly and having to deal with the cliffhanger episode endings most weeks, or waiting until most of the episodes have aired and just binging on a weekend.

My family is working through our recorded episodes of S2 of The Ark, but we're definitely behind on what's airing.

We bounced off Doctor Odyssey (spoilers at the linked post).

We are enjoying Moonflower Murders, though. Initially it caught us off guard that having a different S2 name means the tv treats it as a completely different show instead of a continuation of Magpie Murders, but we caught that before accidentally having nothing record.

On Britbox I have been watching House of Elliot, almost finished with S1. Also went back to the start of Silent Witness as I originally started with S7. Am up to the latest season of Death in Paradise, and just started Tutankhamun.

On Disney+ watched the first two episodes of Agatha All Along. I liked the song but was otherwise rather bored. Also started watching Dancing with the Stars. Am very glad one of the two contestants was immediately booted, she creeped me out. Also saw Inside Out 2, which I thought was a very good sequel.

I so dislike this practice of not tying together the same show by use of different titles. It could have been Magpie Murders: Moonflower, though perhaps that would have caused the same problem. I'm still annoyed by how Masterpiece and Masterpiece Mysteries can no longer be recorded under those titles but rather the specific story.

* Grotesquerie - Hulu and F/X in US. Airs, I think on Wednesdays. And not all the episodes have dropped yet. It's not part of the American Horror Story anthology, and is a separate series entirely on Hulu. Stars Niecy Nash, Courtney B. Vance, Lesley Manville, Raven Goodwin, Nicholas A Chavez, and Miceala Diamond. A police detective and a nun investigate a series of grotesque mass murders with heavy Catholic metaphors in a small town. This is directed/produced and written by Ryan Murphy.

* Monsters: The Eric and Lyle Mendez Brothers - I've seen one episode so far. My attention wandered in the first episode and it reminded me of why I'm not crazy about true crime genre. But I may continue...not sure yet. (Netflix)

* Agatha All the Way - Disney, surprisingly entertaining. It stars Kathryn Hahn, and is rather fun. Follows along the lines of WandaVision, and then jumps into something else.

* Great British Baking Show S12 - new season appears to have dropped, but I'm thinking it was filmed over the winter or several months ago. Since they were talking about Barbie and that's last years trend? They fixed a lot of the problems from previous years. On Netflix.

* The English Teacher - Hulu comedy about a gay English Teacher teaching at a suburban Austin, Texas High School. So far? Uneven. But sticking with it, I think.

* The Perfect Couple - still working my way through it.

* Nobody Wants This - about a single young woman (Veronica Mars Kristen Bell), who isn't Jewish or Religious, and fairly cynical hooking up with a young rabbi (the OC's Adam Brody). It's apparently a series - I thought it was movie.

I keep watching one or two episodes of shows and then forgetting about them. I need to finish Scavenger's Reign, Perfect Couple, Mendez, Hacks, Spy X Family.

So, I'm waiting for all the episodes to drop to watch Rings of Power and Slow Horses. I saw the first episode of S2 Rings, and realized I needed more episodes to drop. Also this looks like a darker season and series than I thought - it should be, it's about all the hell that happened prior to The Hobbit and LoTR.

Just watched the trailer of Ludwig on youtube, and hee, that looks fun!

Glad to hear The Old Man s2 is good! We're saving it up (and also planning to rewatch season 1 before we start). :-)

Finished season 2 of We Are Lady Parts, which was really excellent. I'm glad it ended on such a high note (and I'm kind of hoping they leave it at that).

Two episodes of Nobody Wants This, which is delightful, and I'm looking forward to more.

More For All Mankind and Bad Monkey, both of which are still great.

In Kdramas, Love Next Door, The Time of Fever, and now I'm a few episodes in to Unintentional Love Story which is not as good as TToF and which I'm only watching to get closure for the secondary pairing. :-)

What do you think of Grotesquerie so far? I watched the first 2 episodes tonight and think it has some potential. The acting is pretty good so far. The best part probably.

I forgot to mention Agatha All Along which I watched without any WandaVision knowledge. Don't think I will continue.

Sunday update:
- Ludwig: I watched two episodes and thought it was very entertaining. Love David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin in this. I wish they gave Sophie Willan more to do.

- Taskmaster S18E3: I laughed a lot. Great tasks all around.

I agree - the performances are excellent. And it's among the better Ryan Murphy productions that I've seen of late. And definitely has potential. Reminds me a little bit of the films "Seven" and the series "Hannibal". And may well be Murphy's homage to that trope?

My only quibbles with it - is it reminds me of why I struggle with Ryan Murphy productions, series, and films. That writer/director/producer has a tendency to punch me in the face with his visual metaphors or attempt to shock me. He kind of goes over the top? Although in Grotesquerie he held back a bit more, and was more subtle than usual. We see the murder, but it's either implied, or done in quick takes. Which I found clever for Murphy. Usually he lingers on it - longer.

So, yeah, I'll probably stay with it? It's intriguing and clever in places. Less over the top, and more subtle.

I had so much work, I barely did any of the things I'd been meaning to watch this week. I didn't start anything new.

I watched two eps of Parallel World - but they were two boring "wrap up the fridged girlfriend plot" eps, and I'm losing interest.

I got reminded today that I already watched the first ep of The First Note of Love, a Taiwanese BL, a while ago, and liked it. I'm going to watch more of it - 8 of the 12 eps are released now. (It's on Viki.)

I watched Somebody Somewhere, the last ep of s1 and the first of s2, and... eh, the drug use is getting on my nerves at this point. The characters are trying to offset their depression with over-the-top hilarity, and it feels forced. Maybe that's the whole point, I don't know, I'll wait and see. Definitely not dropping it yet.

I fell into a Dawson's Creek hole last week and caught up with what Joshua Jackson is doing these days. Which is how I ran across the Doctor Odyssey trailer. It (negatively) reminded me of Love Boat, and the German variant of that, Traumschiff. Joshua Jackson and Sascha Hehn did not previously occupy the same space in my brain. *shudders* I'm probably going to check out the pilot anyway, but I'm pretty sure I won't like it much.

Speak Up Saturday

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