tv_talk | Speak Up Saturday

Last week, the Guardian gave rave 5-star reviews to two different shows. I decided to check out both of them, with mixed results.

The first was the new Netflix series, House of Guinness, which everyone is describing as "Succession but with beer". I had my doubts about liking this one for a couple of reasons. The first being the "Succession" comparison --- I didn't like Succession and was never able to get into it at all, despite trying at least 3 times. The second was the showrunner, being the guy behind Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders is also a show I was never able to get into, again despite trying more than a few times. My issues with PB were partly the subject matter -- I generally do not like shows about organized crime, and a lot the style of the show. I especially disliked the use of modern music in a period piece and I was afraid the stylistic issues would be present in House of Guinness. Spoiler -- they are. So yeah, I barely made it through the first episode.

The second show was Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue, which turned out to be a delight. Which might sound odd given the title, but I really enjoyed this one. It's sort of a closed room mystery, but in the jungle. Nine strangers are stranded in the Mexican jungle after their small plane crashes; the plot thickens as members are murdered one by one and the remaining survivors must solve the mystery. It's on Crave in Canada, no idea where it's playing elsewhere.

Other than that, it was mostly the weekly episodes of network shows (High Potential, Brilliant Minds, Murder in a Small Town, Bake Off, etc.) and lots of baseball due to it being baseball play-offs. That will be the trend for most of this coming week as well. Of course, my enthusiasm for the play-offs will dependent a lot on how well/badly the Jays do. I guess the only thing I'm "looking forward" to is the season finale of Outlander: Blood of my Blood. Looking forward to seeing it, not looking forward to the fact that it's the season finale.

Intriguing about Nine Bodies!

I am not as bothered by modern music in a period piece but I don't care for modern elements in period settings generally. Why bother to make a period piece (which is more costly anyway) if you could make a similar story in current times?

I except romances from this because romances have almost always used period settings as a sort of historical fantasy rather than actual historical stories. (Also, I am not all that fond of romances so I am less likely to watch them anyway 😉)

I watched more of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and am almost current with what's on Hulu. I can get Kimmel via Hulu and decided to watch some episodes since John Oliver and Colbert had both been guests recently. I was also amused by Rob Lowe's visit, he should have done more comedies. Kimmel had a good visit on Colbert as well.

Went back to watching the final season available of The Dog House, will likely wrap that up this week and return to the game shows. The Floor is returning, which I'm looking forward to.

Also saw a bunch of shows on Britbox before it ended. I only got one more episode into Mind Games, as it wasn't catching my interest, though I might give it another chance next time around. I was speed watching Passengers, by which I mean I was skipping some of, or entire, episodes and relying on their recaps to keep up with developments. Unfortunately I was interrupted near the end of the final episode and by the time I got back to it, the subscription had ended.

While that's a bit of an Argh moment, I suspect it doesn't matter that much. Part of why I was speed watching is because the show was definitely leaning on character stories more than mystery resolution. I'm guessing that this is because the supernatural elements are essentially bait for telling a story about a small, dying town. I do appreciate the way they introduced a variety of characters and both serious and light hearted elements. But unfortunately I just didn't care much about any of them and wanted to get on with the overarching story. Yet I'm pretty sure there was no real resolution to anything by the end of that episode because the mystery needs to be dragged out another few seasons.

At least with Playing Nice, there was no concern about a S2. However I speed watched it as well, mostly because I found it uncomfortable viewing but wanted to see how it would resolve. I was pretty satisfied with that, although at heart it's a pretty basic story with a clear villain and the power of a mother's love.

Unfortunately real life stories contain less happy endings. I also saw Cruel Love, which was drawn from materials about the conviction of Ruth Ellis in 1955. I thought it was a good production, and depicted well how hopeless her case was because she was an inconvenient person, and her case came up at the wrong time.

Second Sight was also interesting, though short despite its 2 seasons. Starring Clive Owen it was about a detective losing his sight. The 2 part pilot counted as S1, with just 6 episodes for S2, with 3 stories. The one downside, I think, is that they seemed to want to keep pairing Owen with new women so kept changing some of the cast around him.

The next few weeks I'll be focusing on HBO Max content since we may soon be removing that from our bundle.

I finished Love Like The Galaxy last week and still miss it (whyyyyy) so I started a new period drama - one that AvenueX recced: A Moment But Forever. It's so over-the-top magical, with lots of very esoteric locations and sparkly visual effects that I am honestly charmed. (I remember Lost You Forever had quite a few of those kitschy locations as well, but even though I loved LYF *a lot*, I always had to laugh at those. This show does it better!) I can't say I like the ML's looks much (he's played by Liu Yueyi), but he has a nice and natural laugh - which is useful in this series, because it's quite humorous. I don't hate the humor in it, either, it's mostly subtle and underplayed, which I generally like. I'm relatively sure it's going to have a tragic ending, but so far I'm enjoying it. I'm on ep 5 of 36.

I made it to episode 5 of My Youth, a kdrama with Song Joong-ki, who I really like. It's very slow, lots of childhood and high school flashbacks (which I found mostly annoying because I'm watching for the ML and half the time his character is not played by him...). There are lots of nicely lit shots, and I like it a lot visually. The characters never seem to communicate with each other, often changing the subject mid-sentence or asking questions of each other that are never answered. There's this whole thing about his father remarrying and nobody knows anything about anything, like... does that couple never talk to each other at all? That's a whole pattern on this show, with all the characters. The romance is developing in a (to me) unusual way, with him being infatuated with her but trying not to overwhelm her with it, and her having been infatuated with him in high school but now... over it? Idk? Anyway, it's an unusual dynamic, and the slow, mostly observing, hardly ever explaining pace really worked for me. But by ep 5, there was some pretty clear foreshadowing of something I am relatively sure I am not going to like going forward, so I dropped it.

I watched two more eps of Dream Within a Dream. It's starting to bore me a little, I have too few costume dramas to compare it to/enjoy the parody. But it's still good, I'll likely continue.

Oh, and I watched Kpop Demon Hunters this week. It's as good as everyone says it is. I first thought it was going to go the Zootopia route of prejudice against others, but it went the Frozen route of don't be ashamed of yourself. Despite me constantly trying to compare it to other movies, it felt fresh and fun, and the music was good. Some of the animation went too far into "ugly anime" for me (but the popcorn eyes made me laugh), the tiger and bird otoh were very Ghibli. It was a strange mix but it worked. The boy band seemed to be moving in unnatural ways to me, but maybe that was done on purpose. I didn't find it attractive, in any case, and I usually like kpop boy band dances. Overall a solid rec.

I still haven't watched Kpop Demon Hunters, but I know that the two groups are animated differently/use a different frame rate. Unfortunately, I can't find a link right now.

Hee you just made me watch a lot of bts material! :D And I couldn't find it either, but it was still very interesting lol. :D

Found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3fSFyD_0Jc&t=156s - shift between 3D and 2D in action sequences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swDVdkyLzA8&t=69s- us of exaggerated expressions (also shifts between 3D and 2D)

https://www.reddit.com/r/animation/comments/1lwtypa/did_kpop_demon_hunters_have_choppy_animation/

"Did KPop Demon Hunters Have Choppy Animation? - Reddit
Jul 11, 2025 — It was a style choice for a very good reason. Humans are all animated in twos, the demons in one's. This made the demo...

Humans:
The Huntress members are animated on twos, meaning each pose is held for two frames of animation. This creates a slightly "choppier," staccato movement that feels similar to traditional comic books or frame-by-frame animation.

Demons:
In contrast, the demons are animated on ones, where each pose is held for only one frame. This results in a much smoother and more fluid movement, making their appearance distinct and unnatural compared to the humans.

Hybrid Use:
Some characters, like the half-demon hunter, may shift between styles depending on their circumstances.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Kpop+Demon+Hunters+different+animation+styles

[I'm good at finding stuff on the internet. ;-) ]

Awesome! Thank you :D

I finally had time to look at these. Thank you so much! <3

You're welcome! And my pleasure.

That's good to hear about Demon Hunters! Often when a show gets big fast with a lot of enthusiasm, it tends to get oversold, building up a lot of expectation.

I look forward to seeing it in December 🙂

It's a movie. (If there's a show too, I haven't seen it. But I wouldn't be surprised, the movie's immensely popular right now.)

I'd heard good things from everyone around me, so I took a chance on it, even though animation isn't usually my thing. I don't regret it!

Ah, yeah, I thought it was a show. Though you're right, ripe for a spinoff!

I think being a movie - makes it more popular somehow? Because there's less of it. It gives you just enough to want more, and just enough to be satisfied at the same time?

Also, it subverts/breaks the rules on so many animation tropes - it's getting critical praise from all corners. Story tropes, plot tropes, and animation styles, merging animation styles that people don't tend to merge. If you know anything about Anime - it will blow you away.

I was surprised by it.

Plus an original story, right? Good to see something breaking through the franchises.

Yup - it's original - or more so than a lot of the anime that I've seen. Does have the demon slayer trope - but a different twist on it. The demons are the boy band. LOL!

I was home sick all week and didn't feel like concentrating on anything. I watched some youtube...

The most recent episode of Only Murders in the Building was fine. Some of the acting, especially in the small theater felt kinda off? Like Meryl Streep and Martin Short can do better? Same with Mabel apologizing to Althea.
Someone online said that with someone so closely tied to the Arconia, they would have expected more of the investigation to take place at the building and involve more of the residents. I agree with that. I could do without the billionaires.

Abbott Elementary is back. I enjoyed the first episode, even though it wasn't super funny. I rarely laugh out loud when watching stuff by myself anyway. I watch shows like Abbott and Ghosts to have something short, sweet, and lighthearted. I'm really looking forward to Ghosts' new season.

I've been wanting to start the new Only Murders season, but I watch that with my partner and he's had only one night this week with any viewing time 🫤

I watch the show with my mother. We always watch Friday or Saturday, but my parents were on vacation when the season started, so I also had to wait to catch up lol

Mainly movies this week. And old television shows.

Movies on television:

* Juliet Landau's "A Place Among the Dead" - which is a semi-biographical metaphor laden horror tale about an actress and her photographer/film-maker hubby pursuing a serial killer in a Northern California small town winery, who has all the attributes of a vampire. It uses vampirism as a kind of metaphor for the psychological trauma of growing up with abusive narcissistic parents. (the parents in question are Juliet's own parents, Barbara Bain and Martin Landau (best known for Mission Impossible, Space 1999 and for Martin, Ed Wood, where he played a vampire). It's interesting, slow in places, hypnotic in others. Very low budget and arty.

* Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret: based on/adapted from the 1970s Judy Blume novel of the same name. To the best of my knowledge - it is closely adapted from the book. Since I read it in 1976 or thereabouts, and it was published in 1970, and the film takes place in 1970 New Jersey. I found it to be rather nostalgic? I didn't totally identify with the lead any more than I really did back then, since I think I read it when I was 9, and it's about a 12 year old. But I do remember loving it. And I enjoyed the movie adaptation. Whether it holds up now or not? I don't know?

* The Wrong Paris - it's a rom-com that is kind of a satire on the Bachelor, but not entirely. (UnReal, it's not). It's okay? Hits all the Hallmark/Netflix rom-com check boxes for the most part.
Nice and mindless, and comforting fantasy.

***

TV shows

* rewatching Angel the Series - S1. Skipping over the episodes I don't like - of which there are several. Such as "I Fall To Pieces" - about a surgeon, who stalks women but disconnecting various body parts. (Once was enough for that one - I still remember it vividly enough, never to see it again.) Room with a View - the Cordelia centric episode stands out - for both providing Doyle with character development, building on his relationship with Angel, and with Cordy, and for the humor. Kate, the pretty blond cop, clearly isn't working - and I can see why she's more or less gone by the second season. In the Dark - demonstrates the great chemistry that Spike and Angel have, and how well Spike works as a foil for Angel, and well Angel has better chemistry with Spike than he does with Kate. They brought in a bad guy to torture Angel, who is worse than Spike (but not as bad as Angelus was), for Angel to kill. They couldn't kill Spike - it would be like killing off Wile E Coyote, and just no.

* Also rewatching Buffy S4 - which I like better than Buffy S1-3, surprise, surprise. It may be because it's not about high school? And I find it to be more relatable? I don't know, I just like the later seasons better, the characters better, and the storylines better. Not to mention the metaphors, which I found to be a little less obvious. I think the writing kind of found its groove in the later seasons, and the writers felt more comfortable and open to playing with the material and characters a bit more? At any rate - I became a true fan of the show in the later seasons. Mileage varies on this, I know.

* Great British Bake-Off American Celebrity Holiday Edition - Halloween. (After I watched this week's Bake Off)

Comedians, Patton Oswalt, Leslie Jones, and two I don't remember the names of - volunteer to try to bake three challenges in Bake-Off tradition in the tent for Paul and Pru. They no longer bother having it in the US - they ship the bakers to Britain, have it in the tent, and have Paul and Pru officiate, while they pick new hosts. It was delightful. And kind of fun, watching the comedians attempt to bake things. (None are bakers. Many have never cooked before. What it kind of shows is that anyone can bake...even standup comedians who just order take-out.)

* Bewitched - first episode, popped up after Bake Off on Roku. Does not hold up well. (It aired in the 1960s, I saw it in reruns as a kid in the 1970s-80s). I found it offensive, and wondered how I tolerated it in the seventies and eighties as reruns. I didn't watch it that closely back then, and the later seasons were admittedly less offensive. I can't decide if it was meant to be a satire or not? I think it was. The first episode pokes fun at the All American Girl meets All American Boy romantic trope - with the reveal that she's a witch, and with one wiggle of her nose, she can move things across the room, or makes things appear. And she really doesn't have to do housework or cook or any of the things a suburban housewife does, since she can easily wrinkle her nose and its done. Then fly off to Paris for lunch. She promises her new mortal hubby, Darrin, that she will not practice witchcraft (after she tells him she's a witch), and learn to be a suburban housewife, and have dinner with his parents once a week, and they'll work up to her mother visiting them. He's in advertising. And I'm thinking...why would she want to? Also, I'm very happy I'm single and never had to be a housewife.

Edited 2025-10-05 20:37 (UTC)

I saw an ad for that Bake-Off special and was curious about it. Sounds like I should give it a go.

That doesn't surprise me about Bewitched (I've seen some episodes here and there but never watched it). Sounds like she's more into cosplaying a wife 😉

I can't help but wonder if whomever wrote it - meant it as a satire and kind of slipped it beneath the network's radar? Because Darrin is portrayed as an idiot. Samantha's family kind of hood-winks him. And she makes his career work. And it's clear from the get-go that she can kind of do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants.

The whole thing is "very loosely" based on the film "I Married a Witch" - which - I had to look it up, it was 1942 and starred Veronica Lake and Federich March - I've seen it on TCM. And it was also satirical. So most likely meant as satirical comedy? It's less offensive - if you view it through that lens? Kind of similar to WandaVision - which also makes fun of the suburban housewife television trope.

Celebrity Halloween Bake-Off is worth a watch, it's charming, and funny in places.

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