The Golden Age of TV. So, what are you watching?

[me_in_japan]

yupyup, liking wandavision a lot. As a real seal of approval, even Mrs MiJ is enjoying it, to the point where it's become the standard Friday evening dinner time TV, which is bloody unprecedented, tbh*. Well done Marvel

*we dont usually watch telly at dinner time. WandaVision gets special exemption.

[Primarch]

This thread hasn't been updated in a while, and there are loads of new shows on.
After WandaVision, I enjoyed the slightly grittier Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I am excited about Loki too.
Recently though I've been watching Invincible, another comic book based TV series. It looks like a kids show, with lots of bright, colourful animation. It's really, really, not a kids show though. The creator is the same guy who did The Walking Dead, so expect something more in line with that. The story is basically "Hey kid, your dad is Superman, and one day you'll have the same powers as him. Awesome, right?"
I've also just started Jupiter's Legacy, yet another comic to TV property. It's written by Mark Millar, the creator of Kingsman and Kick Ass (and a hugely succesful comic writer). The story is basically "Hey kid, your dad is Superman, and one day you'll have the same powers as him. And nothing you do will ever, ever be good enough. God, you are such a disappointment."
Both shows are well worth checking out.

[Konrad]

This thread hasn't been updated in a while, and there are loads of new shows on.
After WandaVision, I enjoyed the slightly grittier Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I am excited about Loki too.
Recently though I've been watching Invincible, another comic book based TV series. It looks like a kids show, with lots of bright, colourful animation. It's really, really, not a kids show though. The creator is the same guy who did The Walking Dead, so expect something more in line with that. The story is basically "Hey kid, your dad is Superman, and one day you'll have the same powers as him. Awesome, right?"
I've also just started Jupiter's Legacy, yet another comic to TV property. It's written by Mark Millar, the creator of Kingsman and Kick Ass (and a hugely succesful comic writer). The story is basically "Hey kid, your dad is Superman, and one day you'll have the same powers as him. And nothing you do will ever, ever be good enough. God, you are such a disappointment."
Both shows are well worth checking out.

So...many...superheros..... That being said I did just watch "Deadpool 2".....
"Jupiter's Legacy" and the other assorted "Jupiter's" comics are great! It's "KIng Lear" and "Game of Thrones" meets "Justice League".

[me_in_japan]

I enjoyed Falcon and The Winter Soldier. It felt necessary to follow up on white and shiny Cap, and at least nod towards how real America operates. Also, it was a fun show in general, and I thought the flag smasher leader was good. Evil Cap also has potential to be interesting down the line (I haven’t read the comics, and would rather not see spoilers.)

Loki is interesting, particularly in the way it recontextualises the prior movies. A drawer full of infinity stones, indeed. And Tom hiddleston and Owen Wilson have good energy together, which helps a lot. I also strongly suspect that it’ll lead in heavily towards Dr Strange 2 once we get near the end. In fact, I’m increasingly wondering how they’ll handle the multiverse side of things in that movie for people who haven’t been keeping up with WandaVision and Loki. (I didn’t notice any multiverse related things in FatWS, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, maybe?) Even Spider Man Far From Home leans into it a bit. Definitely the next big MCU story arc.

The Bad Batch over on the Star Wars side of thing is pretty good. It explores an interesting time in SW history, just as the empire rises from Order 66, and how the galaxy responds to it. I’m not a huge fan of Omega - I don’t feel she’s necessary, but the way they’ve handled the character is reasonable, and I particularly like how they show her learning skills in one episode that she utilises in later episodes, rather than just skipping straight to the “yeah, she can do that because the plot needs her to” stage of things. I do very much like the various Bounty Hunter action we’re getting, as I’ve always had a soft spot for the scum and villains of the setting.

Over on Netflix, I started watching Shadow and Bone. It’s…meh. It leans in a bit too hard to the YT genre side of things (everyone is pretty. Everyone. And gosh, fashion is exciting, isn’t it?!?!?) but other than that the setting is interesting and the acting is fine.

Other than that, I’ve mostly been spending my chill out time playing Doom Eternal, which is tremendous fun. I haven’t played a serious FPS for a long while, and this has it in spades. I’d forgotten how it feels to get so in-the-zone that you start tracking enemy movement before they actually move. Dakka dakka dakka, indeed…

[Konrad]

Loki is interesting, particularly in the way it recontextualises the prior movies. A drawer full of infinity stones, indeed. And Tom hiddleston and Owen Wilson have good energy together, which helps a lot. I also strongly suspect that it’ll lead in heavily towards Dr Strange 2 once we get near the end. In fact, I’m increasingly wondering how they’ll handle the multiverse side of things in that movie for people who haven’t been keeping up with WandaVision and Loki. (I didn’t notice any multiverse related things in FatWS, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, maybe?) Even Spider Man Far From Home leans into it a bit. Definitely the next big MCU story arc.

I watched most of WandaVision last weekend. Just got up the the big duh duh DUHHHHH! reveal. Very, very, very, (very, very!) clever. They just nail the theme, style, manner and language of every period TV program that particular episode is set in. Very enjoyable. These people are actual actors! Surprise!
I think the uninitiated will handle multiverses pretty well. Just takes a few lines of dialogue.
"Isn't he dead?"
"No, that was an alternate universe version of Marvelman."
"Oh, okay. Let's go get the glowing thingy and blow stuff up."
Pretty standard plot device in superhero/sci-fi world. Now not only can anything happen anywhere at anytime as the plot requires it, everything happens everywhere all the time as needed to tell the story. I think I even saw a trailer for an animated "What If?" series. Multiverses generate more material. I remember DC did quite a few "Alternate Worlds" type things. "Red Son" a "What if Superman's space capsule had landed in Soviet Russia not Kansas?" comic was quite interesting. I notice it has an animated version.

[Balloonacorn]

I watched most of WandaVision last weekend. Just got up the the big duh duh DUHHHHH! reveal. Very, very, very, (very, very!) clever. They just nail the theme, style, manner and language of every period TV program that particular episode is set in. Very enjoyable. These people are actual actors! Surprise!
I think the uninitiated will handle multiverses pretty well. Just takes a few lines of dialogue.
"Isn't he dead?"
"No, that was an alternate universe version of Marvelman."
"Oh, okay. Let's go get the glowing thingy and blow stuff up."
Pretty standard plot device in superhero/sci-fi world. Now not only can anything happen anywhere at anytime as the plot requires it, everything happens everywhere all the time as needed to tell the story. I think I even saw a trailer for an animated "What If?" series. Multiverses generate more material. I remember DC did quite a few "Alternate Worlds" type things. "Red Son" a "What if Superman's space capsule had landed in Soviet Russia not Kansas?" comic was quite interesting. I notice it has an animated version.

I was laid low with my second covid shot so I watch all the WandaVison - you said it perfectly. Enjoyed it thoroughly

[me_in_japan]

I've been watching a bit of telly recently, so here's my take on it...

The Bad Batch (Disney+) - better than it should be. I feel the season finale was a bit meh, and in fact didnt even realise it was a finale until I read up on it a bit. But, taken as a whole, it's a great series that does a good job at filling in the blanks between "all your clones are belong to us" (ie order 66) and the birth of the rebellion, leading up to the Rebels TV show. And massive props to Dee Bradley Baker, who voices like, three quarters of the cast for pretty much every episode. Also, Omega is less annoying than I feared she'd be, so that's good. If you have even a passing interest in Star Wars outside of the main films, this show is worth your time (and will probably tie in to future shows like the Mando and Ahsoka and whatnot, too. Maybe Kenobi, even.)

Loki - I figure most folks here will already have watched this, but my two cents is: it's...ok? I mean, Hiddleston and Wilson are great, and I'd be happy to just watch them do buddy cop stuff for a whole season. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the evolution of Loki as a character, though. I watched the original Avengers movie recently, and I think I liked him better when he was proper malevolent. That smile when he steps out of the teleporter near the start (just before he mind controls Hawkeye) is spot on. But, we are where we are, with old loki, boy loki and croc loki. Ah well. I'll be tuning in for season 2, for sure, I'm just a little leery as to how they'll be able to connect it to the events of ongoing films without making the events of the films feel completely pointless.

What If... - Episode one, which is all we've had so far, is great. Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if we had bubbles with "WHAM!" "SHAZAAM" "POW!" come up as cap'n Carter was smiting Nazis left, right and center. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this, and tbh I hold out hope that they might even take a few of these "what if" characters and give them their own standalone TV shows. Certainly worth your time.

Rick and Morty Season 5 - I keep seeing rather negative reviews of this online, and while I agree it isnt laugh-out-loud funny, I don't know if this show ever has been? I'm certainly enjoying it, and there's been the odd bit that made me snortle into my coffee.("I am an individual character and I represent no group!" ) and the president's speech in the bar (in the turkey episode) stood out for me. So, yeah, it still gets my vote.

That He-Man series on Netflix - actually pretty good. It seems to have balanced the nostalgia factor/old school silliness with the more modern sensibilities required by kids these days. Great cast, and it even got a laugh out of me when Evil-Lyn's magic staff thingy ran out of juice just as the 'orrible great monster was about to eat her. Ah, bollocks, indeed.

Trolhunters: The Big Grand Finale Movie Thing - I've been keeping up with the Trollhunters show and its various subsidiaries for some time now, and it's one of the few shows on Netflix that my kids will religiously binge watch as soon as a new season appears. This film does a reasonable job of wrapping up the story that's been building for 3 seasons of Trollhunters, as well as 3Below and Wizards. Also, the animation is great. It is, to be fair, a kids show, and doesnt get too in-depth when it comes to emotional complexity. However, as kids shows go it's one of the better ones, and certainly bears all the hallmarks of a Guillermo Del Toro production. It also has a great cast.

What say you all? Any TV worth watching recently?


oh, and there's been a few movies, too:

Black Widow - I went ahead and bought this, cos the kiddoes needed something to do last week due to incessant rain. It's pretty good. Florence Pugh is as good as the reviews say she is, and will be a welcome addition to whatever MCU shows/movies she turns up in later. The rest of the Widow-fam are all good, too, and the post-credit scene makes The Falcon and the Winter Soldier even more eyebrow raising than it already was. I feel Ray Winston was a bit wasted, but hey ho, can't have everything. Overall, it was an entertaining movie that I, the kids, and even Mrs. MiJ enjoyed.

Raya and the Last Dragon - a really beautiful movie, and it builds an interesting quasi-fantasy world - it has a few scenes that are fairly inspirational (visually speaking) for anybody wanting to make post-apocalyptic fantasy terrain. Great costume design/colour use, too.

Isle of Dogs - reaaaaally good. For me, the benchmark of a good movie is one that I put on myself, and that actually pulls the kids off Minecraft and has them asking "dad, can I watch this, too?" This movie managed it within about 30 seconds, and held them right up to the end. Just really clever writing, animation, and use of language. It's just generally a very good film, but the fact we all live in Japan and have some understanding of the language/culture adds an extra layer of entertainment to it. The scene where the foreign exchange student stands up to speak and apologizes for having an opinion made me smile, not just for what she says, but how she says it. Defo written by someone who's been there...

Godzilla vs Kong - well, it's Godzilla. And Kong. Innit? I went to see this in the cinema, because if you're going to watch giant monsters smash the bejeepers out of each other, you may as well do it right. The movie was pretty fun, actually, and clipped along at a good pace. Was it great? Eh, it was fine. It does exactly what you'd expect it to, but is no bad thing for all that. Worth your time, I'd say.

*edit* an astute reader will notice that, Rick and Morty aside, there's a lot of kid-related stuff on my watch list. This is because I've been at home for the past 3 weeks with my sons, so anything that kept them occupied was GREAT. Bonus if it was entertaining for me, too. Hence the list. FWIW, Minecraft YouTubers are the spawn of the devil, and if I have to watch one more episode of Teen Titans Go I will commit seppuku.

[Primarch]

Well it looks as though M_i_J has managed to cram a year's worth of TV and movies into a three week period. Well done!

My own TV intake hasn't been quite so impressive. I watched Loki of course. Tom Hiddleston is magnificent, and the rest of the cast aren't bad. Owen Wilson plays Owen Wilson, Time Cop. SPOILER The fact that he is a variant should surprise no-one, as every character he has ever played is just an Owen Wilson variant END SPOILER. The show itself was okay, serving as a semi-introduction for the next MCU Big Bad. Hopefully season 2 won't be as focused on supporting the movie series and they can actually do more of their own thing.

What If? Seems like a cool idea. Captain Carter was a neat twist on Captain America, and the T'challa story was fantastic. Looking forward to more of these.

Beyond that, I've been working my way through The Expanse, I'm about mid-way through season 4 now. Excellent hard SF show.

[Balloonacorn]

Well that's it. It is over. I have finished watching every official Star Trek show, movie and cartoon, including Lower Decks.

Some of it was harder to get through, like a couple years of Voyager and DS9, while others I enjoyed more than the first time I saw them. Enterprise was much better than I remember. I thought Lower Decks would be funny and interesting but it comes off as tired and repetitive.

The original Star Trek is still my favourite and holds up really well but then again I am a big fan of camp.

What to do next? Hmmmm, maybe I will try painting. I hear watching Bob Ross can be quite stimulating.

[Primarch]

@Balloonacorn - That's a lot of Trek! Discovery's new season is coming soon, and Strange New Worlds looks fun, so you should have something to watch if you feel you need more Star Trek in your life.
The first few years of all the 90's shows were pretty tough going, but once they hit their stride, they were awesome. Personally, the second half of DS9 is some of my all time favourite television. Great stories, fantastic character development and a gritty twist on the bright and noble TNG style.
I actually rewatched Encounter at Farpoint last night. The pacing was abysmal, actors were still figuring out their characters, dated special effects, obviously painted in backgrounds and a wonderfully nostalgic feeling.


As for my own recent viewing, I watched the full 3 seasons of a show called Moral Orel on YouTube over the last 2 weeks. It starts as a cynical satire of the American Religious Right and ends as some of the bleakest stuff I have seen. Each episode is only about 15 minutes, so it's pretty easy to get through.