TV series, news, recommendations

[Jennkryst]

@Coin said in TV series, news, recommendations:

Also Star Trek SNW is amazing.

It is really making me want to start looking for TrekMUs again, and as much as I love SPACE SIM, I also kind of want them to use the Modephius rules, and I do not think anywhere exists.

[BloodAngel]

I am loving One Piece so far. On EP 2 of the live-action, oh my! It feels excellent, I mean it’s one thing! But it still has lots of the feel, no spoilers here for now! The changes they have added, do great things for the story!

Love how they introduce Zoro this time!

[Twinkle]

I don’t watch television in general, and I’m not someone who ever really watches anime but I randomly tuned in to the One Piece live action this weekend and finished it, it was great.

[Wizz]

I am also really enjoying it! the only complaint about it I have was that my kiddo was so excited to see it, he’s a big fan of the original, but like…man, that’s some TV-MA violence for a TV-14 show, just imo. he’s 11, gonna have to wait.

[Arkandel]

Maybe it’s confirmation bias on my part, and obviously the following is very subjective… but in my opinion there is a significant difference between a adapted series the showrunners care (and like) the material, and where they are just using it as a vehicle.

It’s part of the reason you adapt a book, comic etc in the first place. You inherit its fan base. There are folks who’ll watch it because of what it is, and they want it to succeed; they have favorite characters, arcs, badass moments, whatever they’d love to see depicted. It can elevate the series’ quality even further than it has a right to, just because of that synergy.

For example Ahsoka is not perfect, but damn if you can’t tell the folks who made it liked the cast of characters and their history. They keep making references to their past. It’s written to evolve and progress their storylines, and they’ve definitely made changes compared to Rebels, but those are expected both because it’s set in the future and the different cadence of a live-action work versus an animated series.

Then (and apologies to anyone who likes those, this is just my personal opinion!) I watched Wheel of Time or The Witcher… man. I can’t say the same thing. I don’t know the showrunners liked the original material much at all. They’re using it to tell some other kind of story kind of similar but with different beats, different directions, just… something else.

If they had the talent to write something of their own, and I’m sure they do, just do that, dammit. If it’s good enough then maybe I’ll be a fan of your original new work too.

Anyway. Ahsoka. It’s fun!

[Prospero]

@Arkandel said in TV series, news, recommendations:

Then (and apologies to anyone who likes those, this is just my personal opinion!) I watched Wheel of Time or The Witcher… man. I can’t say the same thing. I don’t know the showrunners liked the original material much at all. They’re using it to tell some other kind of story kind of similar but with different beats, different directions, just… something else.

Creating a character wholecloth for the series just to fridge her in the opening episode to turn generally the most optimistic (until things happen) character into a dark, twisted, regretful, self-loathing figure full of pathos for unknown reasons was one of the worst “changes” I’ve seen in an adaptation of anything in a long time.

I ended up watching all of Season 1 anyway, begrudgingly, but don’t plan to watch more of it. That really soured me on the whole thing.

(This is re: Wheel of Time)

[Kestrel]

I’m very late to this party, but I watched Our Flag Means Death on @Selira’s recommendation and loved every second of it.

It’s largely known as the gay pirate show and I’m not a gay man, so I’ll leave better equipped individuals to express what that representation means to them. (Other than just, from my perspective, the romantic storylines are all wholesome as heck.)

What I wanna say is that for a show with (expectedly) very few women characters, it’s kind of amazing that every single one who shows up, without exception, is genuinely three-dimensional, interesting and fun. My favourite character ended up being Mary Bonnet and I didn’t expect to like or even care about her. She could’ve easily been sidelined as a joke character, and instead ended up a dark horse frontrunner for me.

Spoiler

Also as someone with a male ex who came out as gay, and whom I remain very close friends with, the hug at the end was heartwarming and relatable as heck.

After an endless parade of gritty shows like Game of Thrones, at every turn I also expected shock value and trauma, and was pleasantly surprised by how it subverted expectations by … not trying to subvert expectations so hard? Man it’s just a nice show to watch. It’s endless smiles. I feel like we need more of that, actually.

[Faraday]

YouTube helpfully summarized my childhood.

30 '80s TV Show Opening Themes

Missing Battlestar, but otherwise pretty thorough. Eerie how many of the theme songs I can still hum despite not having seen the shows in decades.

[Cobalt]

The Fall of the House of Usher is really good, but very gorey and brutal and if you are sensitive about depictions of animal harm you may want to pass.

I’m usually very good about it but there’s a scene involving a cat and it was really shocking and upsetting.

[GF]

Heartstopper is so stinking cute it makes me squee in ways that I thought only playful puppies could do. I want to rub Charlie and Nick’s bellies and tell them what good boys they are.

[OnceWas]

@Cobalt 10/10. Loved the series, contained many references to Poe works, did enjoy greatly. Cat-based trauma scene notwithstanding, good times to be had.

[Cobalt]

@OnceWas It is really good and shocking. The cat scene had me just pausing the show for several minutes while I processed what happened and reminded myself it was CGI. Because oh my god.

The scene an episode prior with the villain on the exam table in the lab, where she starts beating on her chest was spine chilling.

[Smile]

I didn’t think I’d see so many horror scenes with

Spoiler

chimp attacks

this past year.

[Cobalt]

I just finished The Fall of the House of Usher tonight and holy crap.

[OnceWas]

@Cobalt The show’s writer, Mike Flanagan, currently owns the film television rights to “The Dark Tower”, and had the strongest-possible blessing from King himself on his work for “Gerald’s Game” as a movie.

So, y’know, in case you’re curious about cause for excitement in the future.

Edited to reflect reality

[GF]

@OnceWas I really don’t know how the Dark Tower can be translated out of the medium it was created for without completely disregarding the metanarrative that is the entire point of the series, but I’d nevertheless be very interested to see.

[Pyrephox]

@GF said in TV series, news, recommendations:

@OnceWas I really don’t know how the Dark Tower can be translated out of the medium it was created for without completely disregarding the metanarrative that is the entire point of the series, but I’d nevertheless be very interested to see.

I think of current directors, I’d trust Flanagan to do it over anyone else, if anyone can. Provided he’s given the SPACE to do it, which is the part I don’t see happening. Doesn’t feel like anyone wants to commit to something the right length to do the whole story right.

[SpaceKhomeini]

If you’re not the type of person who is put off by animation and really like an atmospheric Moebius-style SF vibe, you could do a lot worse than Scavenger’s Reign.

I’m only two episodes in so far but I’m really enjoying just how much they lean into an alien world being, well, alien.

[Floof]

@SpaceKhomeini Holy shit, I just finished this last night. Definitely second the recommendation!

[TNP]

Just watched the 4 new Dr. Who episodes on Disney+. (The first three came out in November, the Christmas special today.) Gotta say, I LOVE the new doctor. And just to make it even better, he is totally hot.