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

[Balloonacorn]

Just finished the second season of Rome. Not as good as the first but still worth watching. Anyone know a better historical drama?

[Primarch]

Just finished the second season of Rome. Not as good as the first but still worth watching. Anyone know a better historical drama?

Better? That's pretty subjective. I enjoyed Rome (season 1) a lot, but there are other shows I liked more.
Personally I enjoyed Sharpe, Band of Brothers and Vikings more than Rome, but then again, I'm more interested in those periods than the birth of the Roman Empire.

[Balloonacorn]

Better? That's pretty subjective. I enjoyed Rome (season 1) a lot, but there are other shows I liked more.
Personally I enjoyed Sharpe, Band of Brothers and Vikings more than Rome, but then again, I'm more interested in those periods than the birth of the Roman Empire.

Oh, better is definitely subjective. I liked Vikings alot but I don't think it had the acting or the big historical reveals that Rome had. I haven't seen Sharpe but I have had it recommended to me alot. Is it on any of the popular media?

[me_in_japan]

On a more definitely-not-historical note (although it does take place a long time ago...) I’ve been very much enjoying season 7 of Clone Wars recently. Some of the choreography in the latter part of the season is really top drawer stuff, as is the character interaction and facial animation. As an example, there’s a scene where Ahsoka is talking to Anakin, and without anything actually being said, there’s a hella lot of chemistry going on, to the point where my wife even looked up from her book to ask if the two characters “had a thing for each other”. Rather than explain at length about 7 full seasons of character development, shared history, and the existence of Padme Amidala, I merely pointed out that she may have been reading into the nuances of an animated look over an animated shoulder just a tad too much. But still - it’s good storytelling. And of course lots of pew-pew fazoom schwoop. I also noticed that they’ve got Ray Park in to do the mo-cap for a certain well-known Zabrak, and it dang well shows.

Very much looking forward to the last few eps, as well as the next season of the Mandalorian (where I predict certain plot threads may well be picked up. Not that there’s any hint of any Mando in the near future. Just me getting excited, lore junky that I am )

[job]

Just finished the second season of Rome. Not as good as the first but still worth watching. Anyone know a better historical drama?

Better? That's pretty subjective. I enjoyed Rome (season 1) a lot, but there are other shows I liked more.
Personally I enjoyed Sharpe, Band of Brothers and Vikings more than Rome, but then again, I'm more interested in those periods than the birth of the Roman Empire.

Amen. I own season 1 of Rome and have rewatched numerous times. They really did an ace job with some of the characters. Season two... well there’s a reason why I think some of the best shows out there never had a sequel (ie. Firefly).

As for other historical shows:
John Adams - I haven’t seen it in its entirety because how expensive it is to obtain, but everything I’ve seen of it is really good.
I, Claudius - old, old BBC TV drama, but it has Derek Jacobi as Claudius, John Hurt as Caligula, Patrick Steward as Sejanus, and Brian Blessed as Augustus. And Robert Graves telling of a fiction history penned by Claudius of the decline of Julio-Claudian dynasty is just awesome pseudo-history.
Horacio Hornblower- If you like Sharpe and you liked Master and Commander, it’s fun swashbuckling in His Majesty’s Navy.

[Balloonacorn]

As for other historical shows:
John Adams - I haven’t seen it in its entirety because how expensive it is to obtain, but everything I’ve seen of it is really good.
I, Claudius - old, old BBC TV drama, but it has Derek Jacobi as Claudius, John Hurt as Caligula, Patrick Steward as Sejanus, and Brian Blessed as Augustus. And Robert Graves telling of a fiction history penned by Claudius of the decline of Julio-Claudian dynasty is just awesome pseudo-history.
Horacio Hornblower- If you like Sharpe and you liked Master and Commander, it’s fun swashbuckling in His Majesty’s Navy.

Great Picks!

I have watched the complete Hornblower series a couple of times including last year on Youtube. Master and Commander is good but I am looking more for series. I remember watching I Claudius 3 or 4 decades ago - it might be time for another look... I am a completely different person now.

Any others like this would be great.

I started watching Westworld - I am in the middle of the third episode and the jury's still out.

[me_in_japan]

@balloonacorn - obvs ymmv, but fwiw, I'd recommend giving Westworld time. It's a bit of a slow burner, but once it gets going it's really quality TV. Great writing and acting throughout, and definitely worth your while.

[Konrad]

As for other historical shows:
John Adams - I haven’t seen it in its entirety because how expensive it is to obtain, but everything I’ve seen of it is really good.
I, Claudius - old, old BBC TV drama, but it has Derek Jacobi as Claudius, John Hurt as Caligula, Patrick Steward as Sejanus, and Brian Blessed as Augustus. And Robert Graves telling of a fiction history penned by Claudius of the decline of Julio-Claudian dynasty is just awesome pseudo-history.
Horacio Hornblower- If you like Sharpe and you liked Master and Commander, it’s fun swashbuckling in His Majesty’s Navy.

Great Picks!

I have watched the complete Hornblower series a couple of times including last year on Youtube. Master and Commander is good but I am looking more for series. I remember watching I Claudius 3 or 4 decades ago - it might be time for another look... I am a completely different person now.

Any others like this would be great.

I started watching Westworld - I am in the middle of the third episode and the jury's still out.

I remember watching "I Claudius" as a kid too. That would be well worth a re-watch, I can only imagine a lot went over my head. And 2nd that "Westworld" recommend. Ist couple seasons are terrific. Suffers a bit at the end, sort of like the Matrix, as the answers given are not as interesting as the questions themselves.

[job]

@ Konrad: “the answers given are not as intriguing as the questions asked”. Brilliant! Summarized the way I felt. I really enjoyed the beginning of Season 1. I watched the first episode on iTunes for free and then found myself easily forking over 3.99 an episode to watch one episode after another. Upon reaching the final episode, I found myself oddly disenchanted and haven’t rewatched the show or seen the second season.

I just might have to find a way to see the first episode of Season 2.

[Primarch]

I'm mid-way through season 3 of Westworld. I'm really enjoying it, though I agree with Konrad's take on it. The acting has been fantastic throughout and the writers have done a great job of adding twists and turns to the stories so that what I expected was not at all what happened. Characters develop nicely throughout, so that you can never be 100% sure if they are going to wind up as the hero or the villain of the piece.
Great TV.