Speak Up Saturday

[feurioo]

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

In new stuff, am partway through The Jetty. Mixed feelings on it so far -- watched it because it was a 4 episode mystery. Kind of a depressing show though.

I apparently finished S2 of Funny Woman, which did leave off in a logical place but does beg a S3. I really wanted to focus on more industry stuff than personal drama, and the use of some Beatles-Monkee-esque chase scenes were just another factor that made the season seem uneven in focus and approach.

Otherwise have not watched as much TV this week (and likely won't the rest of the month). Am still moving forward with some shows like L.A. Law, Discovery's last season, and Moonlighting. This last has become a slog -- I find myself wondering how anyone could have wanted this couple to get together. We're up to the appearance of Sam and I want to tell Maddie to leave with him and go far away.

[colls]

How do you like Discovery's last season so far? What do you think of the new Number 1?

[shadowkat]

When I listened to the back stage story of Moonlighting on Audible - I thought, okay, I get why this series was cancelled, and why Cybil Shepard wanted out. (I felt sorry for Cybil Shepard, which was most likely the opposite of what the writer/narrator of the audible book intended). Willis also wanted out. Basically they had a show that by the second season? Both lead actors wanted out of their contracts, despised each other to the point that by the third they could barely stand to be in the same room together, and the show-runner wouldn't let them out of their contracts for obvious reasons. But the show-runner was charmed by Willis - Willis was basically playing a character that the show-runner based loosely on himself, and the showrunner had a unrequited crush on Shepard. Willis got time off to do a movie. Cybil didn't. Willis got time off for a broken leg. Cybil was harassed for asking for time off for maternity leave.

They had to keep shooting around the leads, and coming up with creative ways to keep them apart, since they couldn't stand each other.

Actually Remington Steele ran into similar problems. Bronsan wanted to do Bond, Zimbalist a producer of the show, wouldn't let him out of the contract. He had to pass initially - that's why we got, I think, Timothy Dalton? Finally he got out, and we ended up with someone else in the show for a bit, then he came back. But they disliked each other too - he was liberal, she was conservative, and they had very different perspectives and clashed. Great on-screen chemistry though.

Castle had the same problems. Those two leads hated each other as well, so much so, that the female lead left the show - I think they fired her? It was a toxic set.

Bones? Was among the few that didn't have that problem. Say what you will about David Boreanze, his female co-leads/romantic interest, loved him. Charisma did, Gellar did, and so did Deschanel.

[shadowkat]

Watching?

1. Daredevil - the third episode wasn't as good as the first two. I was kind of bored. But I watched the episode for the late actor who played the White Tiger. That actor died of cancer last year.
The third episode was kind of a snooze-fest? My attention kept wandering.

2. Matlock - the Paramount Plus series with Kathy Bates taking over the Andy Griffin role - it treats the original as a "television" series, and this one is a bit more serialized in that there is an unmbrella or overarching character arc. Other than that there are similarities.

I like it better actually than the old series. And Bates is fantastic.

What I'm flirting with watching?

* More Poker Face
* Yellowjackets (only seen the first season)
* Ted Lasso (half-way through S3)

I may watch movies. My attention span is kind of short at the moment, not sure why.

[colls]

Since you're flirting with Ted Lasso, I just saw someone on my DW circle post this news about a Ted Lasso season 4.

I canceled my Paramount when they canceled their DEI initiatives, but the annual service hasn't expired yet, so maybe I'll take a peek at Matlock

[yourlibrarian]

I totally forgot about Daredevil! I started watching it but am not caught up yet.

I watched the first episode of Matlock never having watched the original show. I liked it well enough but had a lot in the queue so it's not something I've gone back to.

[tinny]

I watched the Matlock pilot a while back and really liked it. Bates really is great in it. I'm not enough into the genre to continue, but I imagine it's going to be very good.

Ted Lasso (half-way through S3)

Oh man, same. I have dropped a lot of shows that I really wanted to continue. Gotta make time.

[colls]

I just finished a re-watch of Skeleton Crew and will be heading into a re-watch of Andor tomorrow. There's also a podcast by voice actors from Rebels that kicked off this week and I'd like to follow along with that. Re-watch #2? 3? I should just stop counting. Star Wars is a perma-watch feature for me lately. heh.
I'm very excited for Andor season 2.


I also have a deal for Hulu, so am trying to watch things on that service before the $2.99/mo runs out. I watched season 1 of The Bear not too long ago and loved it, but found is stressful (in a weird way). I'll go back to it, but thought I'd toss in something else first. So right now I'm watching Abbott Elementary season 3. This is a comfort show and while I don't get super-fannish about it I do enjoy it quite a bit.

Since it's on Hulu, I think I'm going to try The Orville next? Or season 2 of Reservation Dogs. So many things to watch! :)

[yourlibrarian]

Oh interesting about the podcast. Are they doing a Rebels watch or...?

Also very much looking forward to Andor.

Have you tried Only Murders? We've got Hulu on year round viewing so I've tried out a lot of things there and nothing else is springing to mind at the moment. I'm using it for Boston Legal, L.A. Law and quiz shows while I exercise right now.

[tribble_of_tarth]

I watched season 1 of The Bear not too long ago and loved it, but found is stressful (in a weird way).

The Bear is so stressful! I originally chalked it up to being a former restaurant worker and it reminding me of past stressful experiences, but I've seen a lot of non-industry people comment on how stressful the show is too, so I think it just does a wonderful job of creating and holding tension.

[violateraindrop]

I should really re-watch Andor. The first season was so good.

The Bear is so stressful and un-entertaining(?). I watch plenty of shows that are not funny, but with The Bear it feels as if the show is actively trying to make me less happy...(and this show is winning awards for comedy).

For me, The Orville is one of the few shows that absolutely peaked in its last season (it wasn't canceled, but I don't think we'll ever get more). Apparently, with the move to Hulu, Seth finally got to do the show he wanted to do in the fist place and it really shows. Don't get me wrong, the first two seasons are good, but a little uneven. I'd absolutely recommend it!

[jo]

Didn't watch much TV-wise this week because there was tennis in a more watchable time zone, so I favoured tennis over dramas.

But, I did manage to finish Paradise and Day Zero (finally), and a new 4-ep limited series called Adolescence (Netflix). MASSIVELY recommend that one -- it's... troubling, touches on the damages of social media and the "manosphere", but is all-around excellent, It's about a 13-yr old accused of murdering a classmate. Each episode is filmed as a single continuous shot. Episode 3 in particular is outstanding -- features the amazing Erin Doherty as a psychologist sent to assess the alleged murderer. The acting and writing is just really excellent. Two thumbs up.

I also started a new German series on Apple TV+ called Berlin ER. Not far in yet (only 2 episodes watched thus far), but like it.

I guess I am sort of looking forward to the season finale of Severance on Friday, but will be sad that it's done for now. I am looking forward to rewatching this season, either on my own or with my husband if I can get him to sit down and actually watch something. But he might watch it online with some friends on Discord. We'll see.

[yourlibrarian]

Wow, a continuous shot, that's remarkable!

[colls]

My boss recommended Paradise to me. Is the season complete now and what did you think of it?

[feurioo]

I watched (in order of enjoyment):
Undercover High School E1: I decided to give this one a chance after seeing a couple of cute Tumblr gifs. It is your typical action-comedy fare and Seo Kang Jun carries it well.

The White Lotus S3E4: My enjoyment increased with all the terrible people on this show having a bad time. I'm looking forward to them having an even worse time in the next episode.

The Witch E7: I will probably finish this but my interest has cooled. Initially, the ML's approach of explaining the FL's "curse" with statistics was intriguing, but the last couple of episodes felt underwhelming at best.

My Beloved Nemesis E7: This show has currently lost my interest after I spoiled myself for E8's ending.

Yellowjackets S3E6: Not a fan of this episode. And, wow, the adult timeline remains a mess. Still looking forward to see what happens next.

[yourlibrarian]

Heh to order of enjoyment! That's an interesting scale idea for a meme.

[china_shop]

This made me start Undercover High School, and now I'm nearly halfway through with my partner -- so thank you! :D

[volkameria]

Just started Season 4 of Stargate: Atlantis. I'm really curious what they'll do with Dr. Keller, but I like her so far! Season 3 was great, it might be hard to live up to.

I also started Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, a UC side story. It's not as long as other Gundam series and I like how it's relatively self-contained so far, just assuming you know the main factions and letting the focus be on the characters and the Gundams.

[yourlibrarian]

I'm fairly sure I saw all of SGA, though we first started watching later in the series. I've been wanting to try out SG-1 which I haven't seen available.

[violateraindrop]

Again, nothing new, played more Two Point Museum and watched Ghost: Rite Here, Rite Now though.

Last week, I totally forgot to mention the finale of Mayfair Witches. Well, it was as bad as the entire season. I can't really wrap my head around the fact that this taking place in the same universe as IwtV. Then again, maybe the show would be better if it was made by the same people. Alternatively, IwtV could also be an awful show in the hand of the wrong people...

Abbott Elementary and Ghosts both had really good episodes this week. The former with another great change of scenery. These are just my two comfort shows.

I feel like there is not much to say about Daredevil: Born Again. I like it so far. Maybe episode 3 didn't feel as shiny and new, maybe it was a bit boring to set up the rest of the season.

This season of Reacher continues to be solid and I also like Grosse Pointe Garden Society.

At this point, I'm actually enjoying Watson. The Sherlock Holmes connection still feels unnecessary though.

[yourlibrarian]

We need to get back to Ghosts -- we generally catch up when Daily Show and/or Colbert are unavailable and we're on the current season. But we've been trying to make progress on Discovery so we should be back to it soon.

[starfleetbrat]

Adolescence - this was so good. Every single episode was done in a single 90 minute long take. It was so well done. I read an article about how they did it, and apparently they filmed each episode at least 10 times, after weeks of rehearsal and fine tuning. The acting and writing was superb and the technicality behind it was amazing. Definitely recommend!

1923 - this show is so good, great writing and the cinematography is beautiful. Its taking forever for Spenser to get home though. Like, I know travel is slow in that era, but he started for home early in season 1 and its season 2 episode 3 and he still isn't home! This weeks was interesting though showing the process immigrants went through at Ellis Island in the 1920s, a great scene with Alexandra and the immigration officer who eventually approved her entry.

Hudson & Rex season final - I've been wondering why Charlie wasn't really in it this season and why they didn't send Rex off to look for him (as Charlie is "missing") but apparently the lead actor is being treated for cancer and that is why hasn't been in the show. I hope recovers! But the lack of worry from everyone (especially Sarah) over Charlie being missing is a bit concerning.

The Way Home (season final( - I really love this show and its timey whimey twists.

otherwise its just the usually weekly things. I'm yet to watch: Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, S3 of Preacher, or Long Bright River, so those are on my to watch list.

Looking forward to Happy Face and The Residence which both are coming up this week.

[colls]

I just learned about Long Bright River! I read the book on a whim because it was set in Philly and now am wondering how it translates to TV. I'll be interested in what you think of it.

[queer_scribbling]

I feel like I don't have much for the usual weekly for several shows (Will Trent, S.W.A.T., Grosse Point Garden Society, The Hunting Party, Watson). In trying to catch up with personal recaps (now that two shows will be off for March Madness), I'm mostly returning to a recent Fire Country plot point.

S314 & that Silver Alert for Walter:

The episode opened with a home health nurse giving Sharon and Vince brochures for memory care facilities because he wanted Sharon and Vince to have some time to choose one, but they both didn't think it was time to consider that route yet. It was the nurse's day off, so Vince takes Walter to the fire station so Sharon can make sure he takes his medication on time (and he's not entirely alone all day). Obviously, with all of this talk about whether Walter needs more care than Sharon and Vince can provide in-home, Walter goes missing. It was probably around the time that he needed his 2 PM medication, and Sharon couldn't find him. Someone in the station saw Sharon's car leave a bit ago, and cue the urgency over finding Walter. Now, a Silver Alert was issued [an emergency alert for this type of situation], but the way the show depicted the search seemed a bit underwhelming.

Narratively, it was more that Bode and Audrey got time to talk in the car ride to wherever with all the urgency of a search instead of actually searching for Walter. They supposedly found Sharon's car off the road in a slight ditch, but no one was called to start a foot search at that location. The scenes switched to night-time levels of dark, and still, there was just a vague driving around tactic. (Edgewater seems to have a lot of backroads where people just drive amongst trees for a while. Considering where I live, I'm aware this seems nitpicky to point out, but it just seemed like having Bode and Audrey drive back into town didn't make sense if Walter was truly lost out there. You should get some of those firefighters searching for Walter to spread out from that car, and call any 'neighbors' within a certain distance of that car.)

To the seeming surprise of everyone, Walter is found at Vince and Sharon's home [where he's been living with them]. He apparently walked himself home? There was no mention of anyone finding him walking, and he didn't seem to remember how he got home after 'going on a call' to [Somewhere]. (We weren't given any clues that he somehow misinterpreted an actual call at the fire station, so he was going [Somewhere] based on a memory.) Vince lies about taking Sharon's car in order to de-escalate Walter being upset that he was being accused of stealing her car, and Vince installs an alarm system so Sharon will get a text if someone opens the front door. Ultimately, the point isn't how Walter actually got home, but it's an unavoidable sign that Vince and Sharon have to actually consider a memory care facility as a real possibility now.

It's not that my family wanted things to end badly for Walter here, but we just found it very hard to believe that no one seemed to check the house, and it seemed like quite a few hours passed before someone found Walter at home (going from around 2 PM to after nightfall). Sure, the narrative seemed to need to accomplish other things and just have the urgency of the search, but it wound up coming across like a scattered, ineffectual search by a bunch of people who supposedly should be who you ask for help for searching for someone. I dunno; some of it may be that issuing a Silver Alert sounds like you ought to check something obvious, like if the person is at your home, before the alert can be issued. Some of it may be that some of my relatives have had to help other relatives [before I was born] with memory issues, and there's generally an expectation that you have checked common places before getting others involved in a search.

[yourlibrarian]

I've been spending time with meta works this month thanks to marchmetamatterschallenge so have been watching less TV but I expect things will zoom back up next month. It has been interesting to see the shows I did and didn't write about though as I've been going through older posts.

[ecto_one_spengler]

Mostly been watching movies - I totally forgot I was gonna watch S2 of the Ace Attorney anime. Crap.

That being said, I did watch some movies this week - all on DVD, since that's the type of disc drive my current computer takes. I tried a copy of Anna and the Apocalypse that I got from the library, but I ended up not really liking the named main character all that much compared to her cohorts. (I'm sure Ella Hunt has to be decent enough - her singing was good and her acting was as well, just.. I dunno about Anna).

I also watched Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.. which was kinda weird to me, but it was nice to find the source of the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme at last.

Oh yeah, also from the library I got One Cut of the Dead, Asteroid City, and Doctor Who Series 12. Also gonna rewatch Belle (the anime movie) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I'm especially excited about Doctor Who Series 12 and One Cut of the Dead - both are things I've been wanting to watch FOREVER, but never found a DVD copy of.

[yourlibrarian]

My partner and I were just talking today about wanting to watch SCTV which he never saw. But apparently it's not available anywhere on streaming. We're going to check the library and then see what other options there might be.

[firecat]

On my watch list this past week:

⁃ Matlock - mostly enjoying it; whenever they introduce a new trope that typically annoys me, they handle it deftly enough that I forgive them.

⁃ the Pitt - there’s a lot to like, and i also feel about half the time that it’s too heavy on death and loss and stress for my mood right now.

⁃ Sumo - when there’s a pro sumo tournament in Japan, the association web site shows 30 minute daily highlights. Such an amazing sport

⁃ Luke cage - rewatch, but I last watched it when it first came out, so it’s been a while. Really appreciating the music performances in most episodes.

⁃ 100 Years of Solitude - the visuals and dialogue and acting draw me in, in such a way that I lose track of the plot from one ep to the next (watching one episode per week).

⁃ Evil - I’ve watched it once and I immediately wanted to rewatch it. I convinced some friends to try it with me. I don’t think they like it much yet; they keep complaining that the tragedy of the week isn’t followed up on. It did take a few eps for the show to seduce its viewers I think.

⁃ The Leopard - watched 1st ep; I mentioned to my friend how much the hats and moustaches reminded me of the Wild West genre, and she said “spaghetti western!” I don’t know the history as well as I think the show’s audience is assumed to, so I felt kind of like I’d been dropped into the middle of a series rather than at the beginning.

⁃ Wandavision - just watched 1st ep, I know the characters ever so vaguely from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, otherwise I know zero about it. Ummm…different! Don’t know if I like it yet.

[yourlibrarian]

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Wandavision!

[tinny]

The best part of my week is still the watchalong/rewatch of HPI. We've arrived at the end of season 1 and I and my co-watcher love every minute of it.

I saw Flow at the theater today (yep, still nauseous, omg I can't do large screens anymore), and it was brilliant. I'm not sure I would have voted it higher than Wild Robot, but they're both extremely good, definitely deserving of the Oscar. The plot is a bit hard to describe, since there is no dialogue at all, and some things (both what's happening in nature and character motivations) are unclear. It makes you think, and that's always a good thing.

I watched eps 4 to 7 of North of North this week. Very much a keeper, this show! I'm still missing the last ep, but it's already a resounding rec. Siaja is a wonderful character, and the town of Ice Cove is a wonderful mix of characters, some loving, some eccentric, some traumatized. And the show's humor is always on point. It should be on Netflix soon, catch it if you can.

I also finished Saint-Pierre, which had one of the best cliffhangers I've seen in ages. I guess there will be a second season, or people who have gotten very invested might be a bit miffed. :) The longer the season went on, the more I enjoyed it, to be honest. All the great female characters, all the more-or-less bumbling or evil male characters - it made for a fun combination.

After a lot of people here talked about it, I also watched the first episode of Severance. It was a little too slow for my liking in places - especially the dinner party omg. But apart from that, this looks very much up my alley. I like psycho horror (without jump scares) and bureaucratic dystopia in general.

Nothing much else to report on. Still enjoying Doctor Odyssey (barely any gore in this ep, I'm happy to report, but the relationship plot is moving again yay). I had no inclination at all to continue any of my current cdramas.

[yourlibrarian]

That's good about Odyssey. I do plan to watch S2 at some point though it helps to have most of the season aired already, otherwise I tend to forget to go back to things.

[china_shop]

Oops, a bit late, but here I am.

I finished a rewatch of BL Kdrama Semantic Error. It's set in a university, and it's really good once one of the leads stops being a dick (and tbh, even that bothered me less this time, knowing how it plays out).

Started When Life Gives You Tangerines. I think it's going to be one of those gritty, dramatic Kdramas that's historically interesting but not super fun. But I'm not very far in, so I might be wrong. I mean to watch more, but haven't opened it in days, so who knows.

I began the first episode of Undercover High School, about an NIS agent going undercover as a highschool student at an elite private school to recover a cache of lost gold. (There is nothing elite about this school except the fancy buildings and the fact that a lot of the students are rich and unpleasant.) Warning for a lot of bullying at the school, and also in the NIS. I'm really looking forward to the worm turning. Also, the love interest is the agent's teacher, but they haven't caught feels yet. Anyway, I was watching it while my partner made dinner, and then he came in and we just... kept watching. We're now halfway through the 12-episode run. :D

I also accidentally started rewatching Family by Choice from the beginning, but only very slowly. Mostly gleaning canon details for fic purposes.

In non-Korean TV, season 1 of Orphan Black, mostly for everyone pretending to be everyone else. We may continue on to season 2 (I have the DVDs), but it's pretty brutal so we're taking a break first. Continuing Good Cop, Bad Cop as it airs -- that's just gentle case-of-the-week fun. Another episode of Doc, with Molly Parker as an amnesiac doctor. It's fine?

My sister and I are watching Slings & Arrows one evening a week. We have one episode to go in season 2. It's such a lovely blast from the past.

And a few more episodes of Ghosts (UK), and last week's Severance (re which: I really hope TPTB know what the hell they're doing!).