Good TV

[Ganymede]

@auspice said in Good TV:

It's been said, repeatedly, that a large part of WB's issue with DC vs. Disney's with Marvel is that Pixar/Marvel (and part of why the partnership has worked so well is both studios took the same approach pre-merger) always gave a single person creative control / the buck stopped with them. WB has a board of directors at the helm over their movies who make decisions based on marketing.

I disagree. I am of the opinion that the DCCU is failing because, unlike the MCU, the execs at WB decided it was a bad idea to actually give each of the main members an origin tale so that you would actually give a shit about them.

Prior to The Avengers, Captain America got one film, Thor got one, Iron Man got 2, and the Hulk got 1 or 2, depending on your perspective. Either way, when The Avengers opened, you had a feel for the characters and their background, and didn't need to waste time in the film going through that.

With the DCCU, you had Man of Steel, and then Dawn of Justice. Aside from Snyder's terrible direction, the central protagonist in Dawn of Justice -- Bruce Wayne -- is largely an enigma before he is launched into this head-to-head confrontation; although you generally know who Batman is (who doesn't?), it's pretty clear that there are a lot of bits and pieces of information missing about him, making him hard to relate to (beyond the fact that he's fucking Batman, but the Nolans still presented his background in Batman Begins).

Then you have Wonder Woman, which was magic because DC did what Marvel/Disney does and allow the directors to see their creative vision through.

So, Justice League has a lot of problems without even discussing the script. Aquaman has zero movies; The Flash has zero movies; Cyborg has zero movies; and Batman, arguably, has zero movies. You have to wedge some of that into the movie, and that's going to make it rushed and jumbled. Whedon didn't have to deal with that when he did The Avengers. Add to it Snyder having to drop out -- and good for him for doing so for the right reasons -- and WB should have fucking delayed the project to get their shit right the first time.

I would have zero concerns about Disney/LucasFilm delaying Han Solo due to the massive changes in direction.

It's theorized that a large part of why Wonder Woman did so well is they thought 'eh, female hero, female director, no one's gonna like it anyway. let's just get it over and done with so we can prove it won't do well.' and they let Patty Jenkins actually do her job.

Yeah, well, serves them fucking right.

I'll admit that I was a bit leery when I found out Sir Kenneth Branagh was going to direct Thor, but, boy, was I wrong.

[Auspice]

@ganymede

Oh, this has a large part to do with it also. And I almost added on to my post that giving the non-super side of the persona a story is a massive part of things (but then I got distracted by work and just hit 'Submit'). It's something we witness, too, with Wonder Woman. The story is about Diana, not Wonder Woman.

However, that, too, can go back to DC and their 'board of directors / marketing'. You can't market a person. You can market a toy. That's why they haven't wanted to do things the Marvel way. They want Superman and Batman toys. They're still caught up in the whole scheme of 'girls don't play with action figures' despite so many articles and videos of people saying 'My daughter wanted more Rey toys' after The Force Awakens.

Both tie into one another. Warner Bros. is still stuck 40~ years ago with shitty gendered bullshit and they're hyper-focused on the male side and it's giving us bad movies.

[Arkandel]

@tragedyjones I heard they just fired the Supergirl director (or I guess one of them?) for sexual misconduct.

[surreality]

@arkandel There is simply not enough facepalm on the planet all of the multiverse earths for that.

[Rook]

@auspice
Well with a name like WARNER BROTHERS, no one would have seen THAT coming. AMIRITE?

[Auspice]

@rook said in Good TV:

@auspice
Well with a name like WARNER BROTHERS, no one would have seen THAT coming. AMIRITE?

[Auspice]

Netflix options Sabrina the Teenage Witch

y'all.

y'all.

I didn't even know I needed this.

Quote:
"The general description of what the show will focus on is this:

The new project reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist,this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit."

(From the new comic "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina")

[Jaded]

@auspice
Is this even necessary? And what is it with all the new tv shows coming out having to be edgelord emo dark? I mean isn't this what the very premise of that SYFY show The Magicians was? Except it had more people?

[Auspice]

@jaded said in Good TV:

@auspice
Is this even necessary? And what is it with all the new tv shows coming out having to be edgelord emo dark? I mean isn't this what the very premise of that SYFY show The Magicians was? Except it had more people?

The most recent version of the Sabrina comics released in 2014 is 'darker:'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_Adventures_of_Sabrina

This is the version they plan to use.

I'm sorry that's a problem for you.

[Jaded]

@auspice Its not really a problem for me. It's just a trend that I've noticed and it confuses me as to why this is a trend.

[Auspice]

@jaded said in Good TV:

@auspice Its not really a problem for me. It's just a trend that I've noticed and it confuses me as to why this is a trend.

It's kind of a shitty way to phrase it. 'edgelord emo dark'? Really?

Is Stranger Things 'edgelord emo dark'?

The Magicians, the SYFY show, was based on a book series. And no, it wasn't just 'edgelord emodark' (thanks for that, way to put down something just because it's not your cup of tea).

It's darker, yes. It's not 'happy fun magic tiems yaaaaaay!'

I like horror. I love horror. I'm thrilled that we may get a take on Sabrina that focuses more on the horror done by the network that did Stranger Things which made my horror-loving self very, very happy.

The article even says it's unknown whether it'll be in the same universe as the CW's Riverdale (which I haven't watched yet). Now I watch some CW shows. I enjoy the ones I watch, but I have a lot of issues with some of the tropes the CW loves to use (their whole 'NO MOAR LIES!!!!!1111' needs to die).

But it is definitely not an 'emo edgelord' trend unless it's just a thing you don't like and you want to poopoo on everyone else's fun by throwing everything you don't like into a single bucket. The Magicians show had its issues, I'll give it that, but it was based on a book series that was very intense, very brutal in places and the show did have some of that in ways that was very much not just 'emo.' The same goes for many other shows. And something horror/occult/etc. does not automagically make it so.

[TwoGunBob]

Does it have Clarissa in it? Or Caroline Rhea? I love Clarissa but dislike Melissa Joan Hart kind of if that makes any sense.

Finished the Punisher, ready for season two of it if only because I think they'll make a better villain. I'm really thinking that Marvel Netflix shows are more defined by the quality of their villains than the heroes.

[Thenomain]

@jaded said in Good TV:

And what is it with all the new tv shows coming out having to be edgelord emo dark?

While I think that popularity of TV reflects the perception of the United States TV viewing audience, I do note that Battlestar Galactica had an effect from 2003 to 2012.

2009 brought Stargate Universe and its grimdark so I think we've been playing around with the concept ever since BSG proved its viability.

Marvel releases more light and positive movies but dark and heavy TV shows, both are exceptionally popular, so it must be working.

[Ganymede]

@auspice said in Good TV:

Is Stranger Things 'edgelord emo dark'?

No, but Shadowhunters is, as is The Immortals and The Vampire Diaries.

I consider Strangers Things to be "80s horror." I hope that The Witcher is similarly a horror series. Netflix is good at putting out darker series that appeal to a certain audiences.

I think "edgelord emo dark" is going away, or being relegated to The CW.

[Auspice]

@ganymede said in Good TV:

@auspice said in Good TV:

Is Stranger Things 'edgelord emo dark'?

No, but Shadowhunters is, as is The Immortals and The Vampire Diaries.

I consider Strangers Things to be "80s horror." I hope that The Witcher is similarly a horror series. Netflix is good at putting out darker series that appeal to a certain audiences.

I think "edgelord emo dark" is going away, or being relegated to The CW.

I will give you that, but I'll also point to how I was excited about the new show (Sabrina) being on Netflix and specifically that Netflix was at the helm. Who have proven that, as you say, they can do dark without it becoming 'teenage emo for the same of rebelling' style. Which is the feel the CW shows I don't like have.

And, well, I mean, those shows do fit a niche. Teenagers need an outlet somewhere.

But I like dark and hard-hitting and we need that somewhere. BSG did good for sci-fi for that. The Expanse? I love dark sci-fi. Space is hard. Space is brutal. It's not all happy whee fun time. And so can the occult and supernatural. Netflix has done stellar keeping properly on the dark side without being 'teenager who just doesn't like mommy and daddy right now'

[Ganymede]

@auspice said in Good TV:

Netflix has done stellar keeping properly on the dark side without being 'teenager who just doesn't like mommy and daddy right now'

Netflix knows its audience: people that have disposable income. They tend not to be teenagers.

[Cupcake]

A show I discovered on Netflix; Greenhouse Academy. It is based on an Israeli young adult show of the same name (only y'know, in Hebrew) but is an English language/mostly American cast version. They actually filmed the updated version in Tel Aviv, with Israel standing in for LA, with a few of the main cast being Israelis with really good American accents, and more than a few supporting characters not-quite-right American accents - it's kind of like if you've got the ear and watch shows produced in New Zealand, you can sort of tell how a Kiwi sounds when trying to do a 'flat' American accent.

It reminds me a lot of Tower Prep. Some of the acting and present are a bit over the top/young adult Teen Nick, but the storyline is pretty interesting: The teen children of a female astronaut who died in a shuttle crash end up going to their mother's alma mater, a very exclusive high school known as Greenhouse Academy. The school is divided into two teams/Houses, the Ravens, which focus primarily on arts, science, and intelligence oriented skill, and the Eagles, who emphasize physical skills (there's some crossover in talent, etc.) There's a whole conspiracy going on with the reason the kids' mother died going on behind the scenes, the leadership training the kids are going through, along with the usual romance and teenage angst foo going on.

[Cupcake]

Bunheads is now on Hulu. It's from the lady who created Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I am a very pleased Cupcake.

[Thenomain]

Watched the first episode of Happy! last night. I was pleasantly surprised, in spite of its absolutely glaring issues. Hoping this does well and doesn't overstay its potential.

[Karmageddon]

Just finished binge watching Jean-Claude Van Johnson. So lulz. I do wish there were more Easter eggs from his films like they had with the Timecop stuff. His acting has definitely improved, Luis is adorbs, Gunnar is hilarious (more so if you've worked in the film industry), and I love love love Phylicia Rashad for so many reasons.

***=SPOILERS***

click to show

She is so fabulous as a ruthless, conniving, badass HBiC. Loving her turn on Empire, too. Good bye, Clair Huxtable!

Also? The ending. Bwahaha.

ETA: I have no idea how to make the SPOILERS bit not look awful. HALP!