TV Show Discussion Thread

[Voice_of_Reason]

Any House of the Dragon fans out there? I thought this season was really good. Nowhere near peak Game of Thrones, but pretty gosh darned good.

Just finished season 1 of Ransom Canyon with my wife. Liked it. It is built on the Netflix suspense formula, a few twists and turns, a few emotional swings. They are formulaic, but pretty good. Also, some of the most attractive people on the planet in this show.

I've watched a few seasons of Industry. Man oh man. Now that show is an acid trip. It's HBO, so not the Netflix formula. But it's twisty, well made, and totally insane.

 

[Knightingale]

Any House of the Dragon fans out there? I thought this season was really good. Nowhere near peak Game of Thrones, but pretty gosh darned good.

Just finished season 1 of Ransom Canyon with my wife. Liked it. It is built on the Netflix suspense formula, a few twists and turns, a few emotional swings. They are formulaic, but pretty good. Also, some of the most attractive people on the planet in this show.

I've watched a few seasons of Industry. Man oh man. Now that show is an acid trip. It's HBO, so not the Netflix formula. But it's twisty, well made, and totally insane.

We've been watching House of the Dragon and enjoying it. You're right about the comparison to GoT though.
It feels like the GoT producers got a little skittish about doing a spin off/prequel so reined in the budget a bit. It's not so sprawling, doesn't feel like as many storylines/characters, and the battles aren't quite at the same level as a spectacle. Still good viewing though.

We've also been watching the World War II documentatry series narrated by Tom Hanks. I'll admit I'm a bit of a WWII junkie when it comes to this stuff, but I think this has been an excellent documentary series.

 

[Chris]

We are watching it, too. For the life of me I can no longer tell who is loyal to whom, who is fighting for whom, who is not in an incestuous relationship or from one, etc. 🤣

I would be more interested if there was, at least, some gratuitous nudity (beyond Lord Ormund, please).

 

[Boone]

We just finished 'The Fall' which was very good. I have been watching the WW2 Hanks show as well. Just started 'The Outsider' and it looks intriguing. I don't think I've ever seen anything with Jason Bateman in it that wasn't really good.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

We've been watching House of the Dragon and enjoying it. You're right about the comparison to GoT though.
It feels like the GoT producers got a little skittish about doing a spin off/prequel so reined in the budget a bit. It's not so sprawling, doesn't feel like as many storylines/characters, and the battles aren't quite at the same level as a spectacle. Still good viewing though.

We've also been watching the World War II documentatry series narrated by Tom Hanks. I'll admit I'm a bit of a WWII junkie when it comes to this stuff, but I think this has been an excellent documentary series.

I don't know about the budget. I also think seasons 1-4 of Thrones were by far the best, and there was an amazing amount of people talking in rooms in those seasons. Some big battles. Season 1 had no dragons until the absolute las shot of the season when Danny pops out of the funeral pyre naked with 3 dragons.

I think the big thing is the story is a family civil war, and really focused on a much smaller number of characters. A lot more dragons. It's also mad depressing. I think what I like about it is there is all the characters are flawed in very meaningful ways. Even if you're rooting for a character, they've either done a lot of dumb stuff or are really a bad person.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Vikings is good, and there is also Vikings Valhalla.

Very violent, the both of them. But good.

 

[Ashburn Dave]

Vikings almost lost us in season 2 when they filleted the guys back. The wife needed to take a few weeks off after that episode.

 

[Knightingale]

I don't know about the budget. I also think seasons 1-4 of Thrones were by far the best, and there was an amazing amount of people talking in rooms in those seasons. Some big battles. Season 1 had no dragons until the absolute las shot of the season when Danny pops out of the funeral pyre naked with 3 dragons.

I think the big thing is the story is a family civil war, and really focused on a much smaller number of characters. A lot more dragons. It's also mad depressing. I think what I like about it is there is all the characters are flawed in very meaningful ways. Even if you're rooting for a character, they've either done a lot of dumb stuff or are really a bad person.

You’re right! At its peak, GOT cost about $10m per episode. HotD is at $20M.
Wowsers!
I’d have to watch GoT again for those early seasons, something I’ve been reluctant to do knowing how it all ends! 😂
It just felt like a bigger more expensive show to me somehow. Probably just my memory playing tricks.

Although, we did by a new 4K TV last year, and it took some adjusting to. Sports looks amazing, but watching TV shows was weird. It seemed so clear in hi-def which shows were shot on studio stages and which were out on location.
Anybody else witnessed that? 😂 or is it just me?

I’m used to it now, but at the time it was jarring.

I’ve also just settled into a rewatch of Luther. (British BBC cop drama series with Idris Elba) Highly recommend if you like that sort of thing.

 

[NickyJ]

Vikings was a frustrating show for me. The last couple seasons leaned a bit too heavy into fantasy. That, and there weren't many characters I liked or respected anymore. I really missed having an Athelstan-like character whose main purpose in the show was having someone for the Vikings to teach parts of their culture to.

And the gore. I know for medieval shows, it's pretty much always gory, but I didn't all the details shoved in my face for their ways to torture people.

 

[Chris]

When did this thread become a walk down memory lane? I personally resist opening it anymore most of the time. Sorry I did this time. Someday I’ll Get Smart.

 

[DixieFlatline]

When did thread become a walk down memory lane? I personally resist opening it anymore most of the time. Sorry I did this time. Someday I’ll Get Smart.

Now...Get Smart....that was a good show. ;-)

 

[Boone]

Yeah, I think we can all agree M*A*S*H was pretty good, but I think the intent of the thread is to highlight new (or not well known) TV content that others would enjoy