Current fav US TV series

[proggy_jazzer]

Watched episode 1 of season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale last night, as dark as usual.

Boy, you aren't kidding. My wife bailed a few episodes into S2 because she couldn't take the "a little to close to the truth for comfort" nature of the show. I was hoping to get her to reconsider with the start of the new season, but...

[Jerjo]

I finished watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. If you like Marvel stuff, this is red meat, served up right. The last two episodes are ridiculously tense. I think most viewers will realize early on that this sets up Falcon as the new Captain America but the way they did it made total sense. Anthony Mackie gives one of those inspiring Cap speeches near the end from a black man's perspective and it was great. Marvel/Disney is really killing it with these limited series and now I'm looking forward to seeing Loki in June.

[TheLoony]

Loved the show....though not the ending. Let me know what you think if and when you reach the end.

I thought the ending was kinda funny but what do I know. Stephen Root was excellent, as always, and just saw him in Get Out, which I only thought was ok. Not bad, not great, but I do think I liked Us better even though I'm not sure really what I thought was better about it. My sis just watched Us and had so many questions I couldn't answer as I could only remember parts of the movie.

I'm a dumbass.

[Hal...]

[SteveSly]

I thought the ending was kinda funny but what do I know. Stephen Root was excellent, as always, and just saw him in Get Out, which I only thought was ok. Not bad, not great, but I do think I liked Us better even though I'm not sure really what I thought was better about it. My sis just watched Us and had so many questions I couldn't answer as I could only remember parts of the movie.

I'm a dumbass.

Just got to the first episode of "High Castle" with Root in it . Agree, he is great in everything he is in. I always think of "Office Space" when I think of Root. He was also good in "Get Out".

[progmatist]

^^ He was also great as Jimmy James in News Radio.

[Burley Wright]

^^ He was also great as Jimmy James in News Radio.

And as the exterminator in season 1 episode 5 of Home Improvement titled "Wild Kingdom".

[TheLoony]

Root and Phil Hartman made Newsradio. It could have had a few more years of really good television had he not got murdered. Underrated sitcom, I'd assume, as it got cut short and I don't ever see much chatter about it.

[Hal...]

Root and Phil Hartman made Newsradio.

I think everyone was good on that show, but Root & Hartman were definitely the best. But then, Hartman was always my fave SNL cast member anyway.

Underrated sitcom, I'd assume, as it got cut short and I don't ever see much chatter about it.

I watched it the first 2 seasons but started losing interest during the 3rd. They brought in Jon Lovitz to replace Hartman for the 5th but it wasn't the same and the show got cancelled after that season.

I still, occasionally, catch reruns of it.

[Hal...]

Anyone heard of or seen Loudermilk? It's about an alcoholic former writer (turned addict counselor) with a very bad attitude and a "smart mouth". Sound familiar? (Californication)

The difference is that Loudermilk stars the actor who does nihilism/cynicism/sarcasm better than anyone: Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers, Office Space).

The show was co-created by Peter Farrelly of Farrelly Bros fame. He directs all the season 1 episodes and shares directing duties with his brother for seasons 2 & 3.

The other creator is Bobby Mort, who was a staff writer for the Colbert Report. And as I just discovered, his wife plays "Jan" in the Toyota commercials.

Anyway, this show is really funny. It's on Prime. Check it out.

[Jerjo]

I have had a crush on "Jan" for a long time. Despite my jealousy for Bobby Mort, I'll check this out.

[Scott Bails]

I have had a crush on "Jan" for a long time.

Yeah, she rates just below Lily from AT&T in the female spokesperson rankings. I like the Hyundai spokeswoman, too.

[progmatist]

Root and Phil Hartman made Newsradio. It could have had a few more years of really good television had he not got murdered. Underrated sitcom, I'd assume, as it got cut short and I don't ever see much chatter about it.

The show hit hardest by Phil's death, of all the show he was doing at the time. It was so so when Jon Lovitz replaced him.

Yeah, she rates just below Lily from AT&T in the female spokesperson rankings. I like the Hyundai spokeswoman, too.

Lily, or Ukrainian Milana Vayntrub in real life made a couple of appearances on @midnight, the fake Comedy Central game show. She was funny as hell.

[SteveSly]

Root and Phil Hartman made Newsradio. It could have had a few more years of really good television had he not got murdered. Underrated sitcom, I'd assume, as it got cut short and I don't ever see much chatter about it.

This is pretty interesting. Joe was on Newsradio as well:

[Hal...]

I have had a crush on "Jan" for a long time. Despite my jealousy for Bobby Mort, I'll check this out.

The dialogue in this show can be really funny and here's an example. But first, the setup. I neglected to mention before that Sam Loudermilk is a former music critic and a music snob who's written books on music, one of which he gives to his neighbor Allison, who he's interested in. To impress her, he buys her an album by Andres Segovia and when she informs him she doesn't have a record player, he goes out and buys her one. A few days later, he hears someone playing crappy music. Investigating the source of the crappy music, he discovers it's coming from her apartment and listens through the door. She opens the door to find him standing there and invites him in for tea. He walks over to her record player and discovers she's playing an album I was able to track down that's marketed to "tween" girls. He then begins looking through her album collection while she's in the kitchen. He reads some off that includes Wilson Phillips and Glee: Season 2. He ends up grabbing all of them, the record player, and leaves. The next day, they get into an argument about it and he ends up pissing her off even more. (that's a pretty funny conversation, too, with references to Dark Side of the Moon and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). The next day, he stops by her apartment and here's the ensuing dialogue:

Sam Loudermilk: Hey.
Allison Montgomery: Yes?
Sam: Uh, I just wanted to make sure that Ben got you your records back.
Allison: They're all accounted for.
Sam: Good, good, good, good. Um, are you gonna be listening to shitty music tonight, because I was just hoping to get to bed early.
– She begins closing the door in his face.
Sam: I'm kidding! I'm kidding.
Allison: You know, your musical taste isn't so impeccable, either.
Sam: Well, I never said it was impeccable.
– She grabs one of his books, holds it up, and points to it.
Allison: Spin Doctors, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, five stars?
Sam: All right, you gotta remember that when I wrote that review, the videos had not come out yet.
Allison: You said they were gonna be the next Grateful Dead.
Sam: Well, it's a rock-solid album, and I stand by the review. I didn't tell the guy to wear the freaking hat. He looked like a Peruvian sheep herder.
Allison: Odelay by Beck, one and a half stars. Really?
Sam: That was personal.
Allison: And yet you gushed over Limp Bizkit.
Sam: All right, listen, I was drinking and drugging pretty heavy when Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water came out, and I – I gotta admit...
that shit sounds pretty good on blow... mixed with tequila... and wine... on an empty stomach.
– She gives him a look.
Sam: Okay, fine, you got me. You got me. I just... I didn't come here to argue music with you. I just... You know, I just wanted to make things, uh...
Allison: You mean, like, apologize?
Sam: Whatever you want to call it. Um, I didn't mean to go off on you the other day. That's... That's all.
Allison: Okay. I will accept your apology, but you need to learn not to get so worked up over something as trivial as music.
Sam: Okay. Fuck it.
– He starts walking away.

There's a little more but that's the best part.

[Hal...]

Yeah, she rates just below Lily from AT&T in the female spokesperson rankings.

I really like her. She seems nice.

A number of years ago I saw a Jared jewelry commercial on ESPN that was repeated gobs of times. I didn't mind because I thought the spokeswoman was gorgeous, whose name is Erica Luttrell:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7uQI/jared-more-than-just-more

[wideopenears]

Anyone mention Shadow and Bone, new series on Netflix? First episode was good....

[NogbadTheBad]

Anyone mention Shadow and Bone, new series on Netflix? First episode was good....

We enjoyed the first episode

[Scott Bails]

We finished HBO's The Nevers last night. Spent the first half of the show wondering what the hell was going on, as a show that spent every episode thus far as a steampunky Victorian-era story began in what seemed to be a futuristic sci-fi setting with no explanation. New characters, weird and different setting, with dialog which seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with what they series had built so far. It became clearer as the episode wore on, but we were taken out of the show, so to speak, just trying to figure out what was going on. I even checked the channel guide to make sure we were watching the right show.

Apparently, the show ended abruptly once the allegations against Joss Whedon became troublesome, and there is more planned. But it was a real left turn.

[SteveSly]

I finished “The Man In The High Castle” last night. Overall, I enjoyed it, but at the same time it had some problems and as happens in so many series / films like this, I think they really botched the ending. I won’t post any spoilers in case people still want to watch it, but the final season seemed a bit of a rush job. Some characters were just kind of dropped, never to be heard from again. Other whole characters and groups were inserted into the final season seemingly at random. The BCR group plotline were a good story, but it just seemed weird having people that important to the story not playing any role in the previous seasons. I also did not like the way they wrote out one of the main characters for season 4 (anyone who saw it will probably know who I am talking about). Not sure if the actor just did not come back or what, but it seemed odd. I will say that this is one TV series that I thought was better than the book overall. I found the book to be very dull and lifeless, but the TV series at least kept my interest. Along with the ending, some of the writers’ choices for plot storylines seem like they could have been done better. On a positive note, I think the acting was all good to great with Rufus Sewell as John Smith especially standing out. Overall, I would recommend the show, but I could think of quite a few different ways to have ended it better. Curious, other thoughts on this one for those who watched it?

[Progatron]

We're really enjoying Mare Of Easttown, it's quite the dramatic mystery with strong acting from all the leads. I noticed a bit of an accent, which I looked up and sure enough there is an accent relative to that part of Pennsylvania that I never knew about before.

We've also been enjoying Atlantic Crossing, which is almost over now. Solid cast and production, well done on all fronts. I'm not sure how many historical liberties they've taken though.

When these are done, I guess we'll go back to Bosch. After binging five seasons, we needed a break from that. Anyone else watch it?

[Scott Bails]

We're really enjoying Mare Of Easttown, it's quite the dramatic mystery with strong acting from all the leads. I noticed a bit of an accent, which I looked up and sure enough there is an accent relative to that part of Pennsylvania that I never knew about before.

Everyone around here is cracking up at all of the local references and the accent. They're really doing a good job with it.

When these are done, I guess we'll go back to Bosch. After binging five seasons, we needed a break from that. Anyone else watch it?

Love it. One of my favorite shows.

[Jerjo]

We finished HBO's The Nevers last night. Spent the first half of the show wondering what the hell was going on, as a show that spent every episode thus far as a steampunky Victorian-era story began in what seemed to be a futuristic sci-fi setting with no explanation. New characters, weird and different setting, with dialog which seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with what they series had built so far. It became clearer as the episode wore on, but we were taken out of the show, so to speak, just trying to figure out what was going on. I even checked the channel guide to make sure we were watching the right show.

Apparently, the show ended abruptly once the allegations against Joss Whedon became troublesome, and there is more planned. But it was a real left turn.

They also ended production because of COVID. The new showrunners will take up the reins for the remaining six episodes and hopefully will do something with the show's potential and strip off some of its failings.

[NogbadTheBad]

When these are done, I guess we'll go back to Bosch. After binging five seasons, we needed a break from that. Anyone else watch it?

Love it. One of my favorite shows.

My wife has tired of it after 3 seasons but I still love it so its moved to my late night watch alone list.

[Progatron]

Everyone around here is cracking up at all of the local references and the accent. They're really doing a good job with it.

I noticed it right away, but my wife didn't. I kept hearing the way she would pronounce words like 'home' and 'cellphone' and thinking '...does that just sound weird because she's British doing an American accent?' So I looked it up and sure enough, it's a proper specific accent. You learn something every day!