tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

If you haven't watched The Pitt, I highly suggest it - as long as you can stomach some realistic body medical practices (gunshot wounds, woman giving birth, and the like). This week's episode is one that you could see coming, and it was completely intense. The Pitt is probably the best medical drama on television of all time, period. Full stop.

Wow, that's quite an endorsement!

I've worked in hospitals almost my entire work career - and this is the most real-to-life depiction of an emergency room as I've ever seen.

100% agree with this. I've been in a lot of inner city hospitals and two emergency rooms in NYC, and yup. They got it down to the curtains.

Seconding this endorsement. I thought it was finished, but it has more episodes? Yay. It is by far the best hospital medical drama that I've seen to date. And I've seen most of them - the only one I haven't seen is the British one, which this feels similar to in description.

It reminds me a little of New Amsterdam meets ER in style, except I'd say it's a more realistic version of both. It is by the same producer of ER, John Wells, and stars Noah Wylie (who was the young intern in ER, and is now the Mark Green character in this one - although a far more realistic version of Green).

But note? It's hyper-realism. Each episode is an hour in a 15 hour shift in a hospital emergency room. You don't leave the ER, and it's focused on the medical procedure, not on the personal lives as much - they come into play, but it's mainly focused on the ER. The closest I've seen to it - is the television series ER. It's just a slightly better version of it. Also reminds me a little of The Bear in style and intensity.

Edited 2025-03-23 13:31 (UTC)

Yes, I describe it as ER updated to modern times. And it is a bit like The Bear (whyyy is The Bear billed as a comedy? — a subject for a different post).

I usually enjoy it, but during the week I was grieving more than usual, it was too painful. (I don’t get emotional catharsis for grief by watching TV, generally.)

100% agree. The show is so good! And the hook is interesting too, that the entire season takes place during one 15 hour shift with one episode per hour of the shift, so there's a lot of continuity throughout.

You're old enough to have seen ER, which in my mind held that trophy up to now. So I assume The Pitt is better/more realistic than ER was. I'll definitely check it out to compare it for myself.

(Also, Noah Wyle's in it? That's funny. Heeee.)

This past week, I watched a 3-part documentary called Devil in the Family, about the rise and fall of a youtube influencer I'd never heard of, but then again, I mostly use youtube for yoga and spin videos, and generally find the idea of "influencers" utterly ridiculous, so why would I have heard of her? Anyway, it was pretty horrifying (child abuse and such), but I "enjoyed" it (really not the right word for these sort of shows, but not sure what else to use).

I also started a couple of new shows. One is this absolutely lovely program that started a couple of weeks ago on Channel 4 in the UK called School Swap: UK to USA. It's about a student exchange involving a group of students from multicultural south London who trade places with a group of students from middle-of-nowhere Arkansas, a small (pop 5000), mostly white, extremely xtian and conservative town called Mena. Don't know if it will ever end up on anything accessible to people who don't want to torrent, but if it does, it's worth watching.

The other is Prime Target (Apple TV). This one dropped back in January, so it's not new-new. Anyway, only a couple of episodes in, but I'm quite enjoying it. It's a mathematics drama (?) I guess you could say -- about a brilliant Cambridge postgrad who believes prime numbers could unlock all the secrets of the universe... and of course, mysterious forces are trying to prevent him from doing just that. Or something.

I watched the season finale of Severance this morning, and WOW, and yeah... And yay, season 3 has been confirmed (not that I thought it was in any doubt, but always good to have the official confirmation). Now I need to rewatch it so I can pick up on all the things I missed the first time through. Also caught up with Mythic Quest, which I'd put on hold waiting for more eps to drop. I think the season finale is this week, and the spin-off, Side Quest starts this week.

Also continued with various weekly shows, and I second the sentiment expressed in the first reply here about The Pitt -- by far the best medical drama out there, possibly ever. And arguably the most accurate/realistic based on articles I've read by nurses and docs who actually work in US ERs.

And tennis -- the Miami Open is on. And spring training baseball.

Looking forward to checking out the aforementioned Side Quest, and also the final season of Bosch: Legacy which also arrives this week.

I saw a promo for that doc series but it sounded too grim for me. I hadn't heard that Mythic Quest is going to have a spinoff! It'll likely be another few months before we'll sign up to Apple but I'll be curious to hear more about Prime Target as well once you finish it.

Spin-off is maybe too strong... it's a 4-ep "expansion". The trailer: https://youtu.be/0D2IT2qPA7A?si=q0-CY9UxOHiOwQB3

The Pitt s01e11-12: I love this show. I love it. It's one solid 40-45min of fantastic television. Spoilers for e11 specifically:

THEY SHOWED IT ON TV

I'm still SHOCKED they showed a graphic birth scene with full on bush and a baby's head coming out of a woman's vagina. It was INCREDIBLE. I'm simultaneously so fucking thankful the show took the time to let viewers know what a vaginal birth looks like and so damn SURE of my decision to never get pregnant and birth a baby in my entire life. Hot damn. HOT DAMN.

And e12 is so fucking tense I need to lie down.

Adolescence e01-04: Had to watch this one after my auntie called and told me about it. I do need to mention how refreshing it is to have actors that look like regular everyday people on the show. Also, the scenes in the school were very upsetting to me as a teacher because: yes, it's like that sometimes. I very much appreciated how they explored toxic masculinity here, the damage it does, and the utter grief it can cause. Excellent and upsetting.

The White Lotus s03e02: I keep having to watch this by little bits because rich people are too annoying. Pretty much all of the subplots are keeping my interest, however, which is unexpected. My favorites are Rick and Chelsea, of course.

1923 s02e01-02: I just want to watch old cowboy Harrison Ford shoot and threaten people. This season so far has more wild animals than expected.

Edited 2025-03-22 17:00 (UTC)

I've got 1923 in my queue but haven't gotten to it yet. We should start that this week.

Have fun watching it!

I keep flirting with 1923 - to see Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren shoot and threaten people. Also I like Westerns. But haven't gotten to it yet.

Ah, I need to catch up on The Pitt - I also love that show, but didn't know it had more episodes. I thought it had stopped with six or eight for some reason. Streaming often confuses me in this manner.

Hmm, seen reviews on Adolescence, not sure I can watch it.

Another week with not much new. Started Far from the Madding Crowd and Our Mutual Friend. Other than spotting young versions of known actors, I can't say I'm much taken with either one. However, I've never read the books so I was curious.

I am behind on Daredevil but still watching. We haven't made any progress on The Jetty but are still planning to see the rest. We've been watching various nature shows like Animal Friends and Tales from Zambia.

We also finished ST Discovery this week. And we happened to rewatch TNG's Darmok episode which remains as terrific as ever. It's sad how genre shows are so overlooked when it comes to industry awards.

Yeah, I've been rewatching things too, or not watching much that is new. Everything I've been watching has been out since roughly 2023, with the possible exception of the movie Wicked.

What is the Darmok episode of TNG? I know I saw it.

It's S5 Ep2 of the show, and it's where they're trying to make contact with a new race and they understand their words but not the meaning of what they're saying. The other ship captain then makes a huge gamble to try and break through by beaming down to a planet with Picard.

I watched (in order of enjoyment):
Undercover High School: Currently on episode 9. The OTP is cute, the action is fun, and the plot is stupid. The only thing I don't like is the baddie even though the actor drew me to this show in the first place.

The White Lotus S3E5: It's slowly getting good. I loved the tension throughout. Since I've read so much about it: I didn't particularly enjoy this week's big guest star moment.

My Happy Marriage S1E1-4: It's cute. But I don't think I particularly care.

Yellowjackets S3E7: I thought this episode was stupid as hell and managed to do astonishingly little with last week's great cliffhanger. For the first time in this season, I am not looking forward to the next episode.

Edited 2025-03-22 17:41 (UTC)

The only thing I don't like is the baddie even though the actor drew me to this show in the first place.

She's such an OTT cartoon villain. /o\ (We stopped at the end of episode 8, and now I'm waiting for the last four episodes to drop so we can watch them all at once. I have no brain for this week-by-week pacing.) (And yes, omg, the OTP is so cute!)

I loved the actress in Beyond Evil, but argghh, I simply can't with this character! Hoping you'll enjoy the last couple of episodes. :)

Happy Face - first two eps. I really liked this one, especially Annaleigh Ashford in the lead role. I kinda dislike Dennis Quaid in most things he does, but he plays the role well in this.

Severence - watched the final ep of the season and whoo boy. So many answers. So many new questions. I'm still convinced that the world in this show is experiencing a slow apocalypse. Either an ice age that is just starting, or a birth rate decline. Maybe both. Will be interesting to see where they take S3 anyway!

Dope Thief - this is a great show about some dudes who rob people making meth by pretending to be cops. Then they rob the wrong group of people and it all goes wrong from there. Kate Mulgrew is in it too. Its very good!

Good American Family - watched the first two eps. I'm not a fan of dramatised real events, but I gave this one a go. Sadly, all I really have to say about this tv show is: Don't bother. Its terrible. TERRIBLE.

The Marlow Murder Club Season 2 - which was what you would expect from a british murder tv show. Was mildly entertaining, but nothing to write home about.

The Residence - I was a bit meh about this at first, but as it went on it got better. Lots of twists and turns although I feel like they dragged it out a little. Could have been 6 eps and still worked imo. I loved how they worked Birding into the plot (and the solve), loved ALL the characters, but I really loved the main character, Detective Cupp. Also had to LOL at the Australian delegation. As an Australian myself, that was probably one of the best representations of Aussies I have seen in a US tv show. Helps that there were aussie actors I guess. I especially loved Kylie Minogue complaining she had to sing "Can't get you out of my head" seven times. And it actually took me longer than it should have to realise it wasn't Hugh Jackman playing Hugh Jackman lol

Otherwise its mostly been weekly stuff.

Thank you for the review of The Good American Family - I'd seen a lot of trailer's for it, and read about it, so flirted with it, but like you, I am not a fan of dramatized real events. And it's good to know - that I should pass on it.

Dope Thief - another one I've flirted with - but I love Kate Mulgrew. So, I may have to check it out. It's gotten good reviews.

I didn't realize Marlow had another season already -- I'll keep an eye out. I agree with your take, I liked season 1 but wouldn't have felt it's loss.

I didn't think Good American was for me, but Hulu has been pushing it hard. Glad I didn't try it.

Up to the end of episode 8 of Undercover High School -- such delightful popcorn fun. (The hunt for the gold reminds me of Vincenzo, but the ending of that drama retroactively ruined it for me, so I'm liking this one better atm.)

Some Ghosts (UK). Some Krapopolis. Some Doc.

Episode 5 of Good Cop/Bad Cop, which I was enjoying up till now, but episode 5 contained what I read as anti-migrant worker dog whistles and other dubious ethical stances, and now I'm side-eyeing the whole show. Hm. (My partner was amused to notice it's shot in Australia. /random irrelevance)

And the finale of Severance. (Someone on my reading page wrote a short but great critique of the season's themes, if you're interested. Very spoilery, obviously.)

Slings & Arrows with my sister -- we finished season 2 and started season 3. It's very good, but it gets bleaker as it goes.

Where did this month go -- it seems like the new season of Severance had just started? Thanks for the critique link -- I may come back to it when I finally see the season.

Ahh, I know, the year is flying by already! (I think I need to rewatch Severance s2. I always get a more reading when it's not one episode per week.)

Hmm, I didn't realize The Pitt had more episodes. (YAY) I'd watched the first six that had dropped a few months ago. I'll have to go back to it. I loved that show. So another endorsement for it, if you like medical/hospital dramas/procedurals, which I do.

Watched Wicked via Peacock, where it is streaming for free with a subscription now. They even have a sing-a-long version. (I did not watch the sing-a-long version.) Wicked is a film adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of the book, Wicked, the true story of life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory MacGuire. It's worth noting that I didn't like either the book or the musical versions all that much, but could not remember enough of either to know why. Fifteen minutes into the film? I remembered why. It doesn't exactly end the way everyone thinks it is going to? The book is a tragic and somewhat convoluted soap opera. The musical is a bit more upbeat.

Also saw the musical SMASH on Broadway this week in previews, so felt the need to rewatch episodes from the television series upon which it was loosely adapted from? They are nothing alike - outside of a few musical numbers. The Broadway Show is far better, and switches out a lot of the problematic bits from the series. The Broadway Show is a comedy about trying to put a musical comedy about Marilyn Monroe on Broadway and failing miserably for multiple reasons. The Series is currently running on Peacock in the US. It's basically a soap opera about rich theater people in NYC with musical numbers liberally scattered throughout. Some of the musical numbers are related to the making of a musical, some are lounge or night-club or bar numbers sung by various people, and some are just out of the blue numbers that come seemingly from nowhere. The difficulty with the television series is it didn't have any direction - they didn't know what to do with it. It's kind of jarring, boring, entertaining at times, and offensive at others. It reminds me a little of Glee, actually, and is just as dated. (It does not age well.)

Been rewatching Buffy S1 episodes on Hulu in the US. Discovered that there are approximately five really good episodes, and the vast majority weren't part of the vampire story line. The series actually works better in S1 as an episodic monster of the week - it's the only season that worked best as an episodic monster of the week, making me think it was initially supposed to be just that. (Angel is incredibly creepy in S1 - I don't remember that? I remember really liking him when it originally aired. Very odd.)

Daredevil : Born Again - I heard this week's episode (Episode 4) was really good? But I found it to be too dark to see (not in content, although that too, but visuals), also for some reason or other I fell asleep during it? To date? I enjoyed the first two episodes the most. And I'm missing Foggy and Karen more than I expected.

Poker Face - also on Peacock - managed to see episode 3, it gets better as it goes. And is somewhat clever in how it resolves each mystery, and subverts the genre.

Ted Lasso - made it a little further into S3. Maybe I'll finish it by the time they start filming S4.

I hadn't read the Wicked book, so I was very surprised when I saw Dom Noble's review of it. Spoiler: he did not like it either. I'd only seen snippets of the musical, but I'm still planning to watch the movie.

I hadn't realized that Noah Wyle is on The Pitt, that definitely makes it shift to the top of my list. :D

Been rewatching Buffy S1 episodes on Hulu in the US. Discovered that there are approximately five really good episodes

Oh yeah, it took a while to find its feet.

Watching Dom Nobel's review of it? And yup, that's pretty much why I didn't like it. Although I don't remember most of that? I just remember it being a real slog to get through and wondering why people loved it? I read it, and managed to forgot ninety percent of it (apparently). [ETA: Oh dear, I discovered while listening to his...I'd call it more of a rant than a review? That Wicked was marketed to teens and kids, as basically the same as the movie/musical adaptation. It's really not. The musical adaptation is about 15% of the book.)

The Musical (and the Movie) veers away from it for the most part. Bog is barely in it, as is NessaRose. The Musical focuses mostly on Fiyaro (who survives in the musical), Glinda, Morrible, The Wizard and Elphaba. (It's a musical, it kind of had to. Also, there's a lot of things in the book that can't be shown in a musical on Broadway. In fact, I wondered how they were going to do it - at the time.) My issue with the musical is the same one I had with the movie - I can't stand Glinda. She triggers me on multiple levels. If Glinda/Galinda doesn't bother you - you should be fine.

Edited 2025-03-23 16:53 (UTC)

[ETA: Oh dear, I discovered while listening to his...I'd call it more of a rant than a review? That Wicked was marketed to teens and kids, as basically the same as the movie/musical adaptation. It's really not. The musical adaptation is about 15% of the book.)

IKR? I'd always assumed they were all the same (and apparently so had he), which explains our surprise - and the fact it turned into a rant. An entirely justified one, I think (not having read the book, but the examples he quotes omg).

I can't stand Glinda. She triggers me on multiple levels. If Glinda/Galinda doesn't bother you - you should be fine.

I can't say I *like* her. I've only watched the first half hour so far, and she's not what I'd call my favorite character archetype, far from it, but I'll see how much worse it'll get.

Ahh, SMASH! I've forgotten nearly everything else about it, but I really loved the Tom/Sam storyline in season 1, and I gave up as soon as they broke them up and reset for season 2. ;-p So interesting to hear about the Broadway show -- thanks for that!

Rewatching Season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was very disappointing to me as well -- and YES, OMG, YES does Angel hit differently!! I was actually a fan of Bangel at the beginning (die-hard Spuffy and Corgel fan now for life), and I watched it when it originally aired, when I would've been 14... I was head-over-heels for Buffy and Angel during season 1, ended up not being a big fan of Buffy AT ALL, but I still loved Angel. Rewatching the series, however, I have a considerably deeper appreciation for Buffy and all she goes through -- and I just KEEP being creeped out by their relationship!!

YES, OMG, YES does Angel hit differently!! I was actually a fan of Bangel at the beginning (die-hard Spuffy and Corgel fan now for life),

Agree on that. I was a major Bangel shipper until S4 Buffy and S1 Angel and the episode I Will Always Remember You - where the writers basically axed that relationship for me permanently. But now, re-watching - I'm thinking, okay, Angel is creepy, I don't remember him being this creepy? I can see why Buffy falls hard for him. But, he's really creepy. So is Xander in S1. Both are stalking Buffy. Giles is too adorable to be creepy, and kind of befuddled.

Xander definitely has his creep moments, but at least he does also have several moments where he, despite being a very mortal (and weak, physically speaking) human, does everything he can to protect his friends. So far, for me at least, it kinda balances out.

But Angel... WOW... He first falls in love with Buffy while watching her on her SCHOOL steps before/during the time when she's first called at fifteen???? And then there are moments later when even that seems to come in doubt. I honestly forget the exact wording, but there's something he says to Faith in Consequences that really makes me stop and wonder just how much he WAS in love with Buffy. And let's not forget that A LOT of his behavior remains selfish and he is ALWAYS quick to point fingers at others, especially Spike.

And he KNOWS. He may not understand what exactly will break the curse, but he KNOWS how YOUNG Buffy is -- and he does NOT stop himself. Even when we see him at times, like in the Bronze in season 3 when Buffy and Faith are dancing and he shows up and she bounces up on top of him, trying to obviously separate himself from Buffy -- he ACTUALLY doesn't. And as someone else pointed out the other day, Buffy breaks up with him, he pushes until he gets her back, and THEN he leaves her -- on HIS terms. Yeah, that sounds like a guy that would chase a fifteen year-old... :(

Even before the rewatch, though, I've always seen that Angel moaned and moaned about his soul, and then did little about it to stop the curse from being broken again, but SPIKE FOUGHT for his soul. Yeah, he went way overboard in Seeing Red especially, but he still didn't have a soul. He'd done all he'd done up until that point WITHOUT a soul, and that was the final straw that sent him to suffer through all kinds of trials until he could EARN his soul. I really wish we could have had at least ONE more season with Buffy and souled!Spike...

Well... what's new. I finished North of North, and immediately felt the desire to rewatch, which happens only rarely. I think I'll write up a rec once it's on Netflix.

Another ep of Severance (1x02), so far so good. Doctor Odyssey... eh, I think this ep (number 11) was overall the worst episode so far. Hoping for better again next week.

I picked up some things again that I'd dropped in the middle, like We are Lady Parts (now on 2x04), especially loved Bisma's Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. Awesome. I'll probably watch the rest of season 2 soon. And Somebody Somewhere (now also on 2x04 :D), which I also think I'll keep at for now.

I started Love Scout (because I hated Filter, but needed something fluffy and Asian, or, idk why), and hated the first episode, but liked the second. I'll keep going if I need more fluff. I am once more reminded how much I don't like the directorial decision to go into slomo as soon as the leads have anything resembling a romantic moment, underscored by significant music intended to make the viewer look up from her knitting/phone/conversation with grandma so they don't miss the hug. *sigh* Apart from that, I do like the genderswapped setup with her being the workaholic boss and him being the doting father and secretary. (Oh, yeah, and didn't he say he'd only take the job if he'd still have time for his daughter? There was nothing of the sort in ep2. Hmmm.)

Edited 2025-03-23 16:31 (UTC)

Aw, too bad about Doctor Odyssey but I like your icon!

And yay, do write up a rec 😃

Thank you! <3

And I won't be discouraged by one bad ep. I am way too invested in the throuple. :D

And yay, do write up a rec 😃

Will do!

(Oh, yeah, and didn't he say he'd only take the job if he'd still have time for his daughter? There was nothing of the sort in ep2. Hmmm.)

He still finds time for his daughter! But he also remains a super secretary who's still somehow everything the company needs. There's a ton of wish fulfillment going on here, and we better just roll with it because everything's so cute.

As someone watching for fluffiness, I hated the overarching CEO rivalry. The cases of the week were fine. The show truly shines when it comes to the romance/family aspect. Just as a word of warning: I remember several more scenes with significant music.

I am a bit miffed about the times he works - he's always late at the office, I would assume he never gets to see his daughter at all anymore. That part is somehow important to me, and not as easy to overlook as the CEO rivalry, which I already fast-forwarded through in ep 2. I will simply continue to do so. No big deal.

For the first time in a while I'm only keeping up with weekly shows (and playing a video game lol), meaning more than one or two. I'm really enjoying it tbh.

Daredevil: Born Again is still good. I didn't think that the most recent episode was a huge step up in quality though.

Reacher just had its penultimate episode of the season. I liked S3, but barely have any attachment to the supporting characters. Apart from Neagley, nobody stays for more than one season which bothered me during S1 and S2, but here I don't care as much. It feels shoehorned in how close Reacher suddenly is to them, especially with Duffy.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society will soon move to Fridays. I feel like this will become one of those shows that gets canceled after one season, but I will occasionally think about it and wonder if anyone else remembers this show.

Aw to your icon 💗

I recently re-uploaded it, but fell in love when

sietepecados posted it, years ago :D

Is there any Grosse Pointe in Grosse Pointe Garden Society, or could it just as well be called “Rich Suburb Garden Society”?

The latter, absolutely the latter lol
According to IMDB, it's shot in Atlanta.

Speak Up Saturday

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