Good TV

Runescryer

You know, it just occurred to me: It's possible Netflix is cancelling the Marvel shows because Marvel wants the characters for potential movie outlets.

We'll never know, but it makes as much sense as Netflix not wanting to admit if the shows were too costly.

I think it's a little of Column A, a little of Column B. The Marvel shows are a big investment for Netflix, and Disney launching their own streaming service and putting Runaways on Hulu and Cloak & Dagger on (Disney owned) Freeform also sent some signals, I'm sure. Netflix probably saw the writing on the wall and decided to get out before there was any more financial commitment to the series' (i.e. maximize the money they'd put in).

For their own part, I think these are pieces of a larger plan for Disney. They've got a chance at a fully unified TV/Movie universe once the Fox merger goes through, along with the perfect vehicle for an overall reboot of the movie & TV franchises with Endgame. And the biggest single complaint about the Marvel TV shows has been that there's not greater interconnection between the TV series and the movies; a consequence of Ike Perlmutter getting his undies in a wad and trying to engage in a penis-measuring contest with Kevin Feige (Perlmutter is in charge of Marvel TV and a member of the Board since before the Disney buyout). So while the cancellations might be directly Netflix, I'd wager good money that Disney's been dropping enough subtle and unsubtle hints to guide Netflix in that direction.

Jaded

The next season of Punisher will most likely be the last on Netflix. And if Cloak and Dagger Season 2 does well on its network then it will most likely be moved for a third season.

Coin

Okay.

Two things.

One. Young Justice: Outsiders dropped its first three episodes and I am still riding that high like an extra on Breaking Bad.

Two: I finished watching You yesterday. Disclaimer: it is a stalker show from the viewpoint of the stalker and it is definitely meant to be (and should be) supremely disturbing at several points. But it is also very well-written, very dynamic, and interestingly (in a good way) framed. I don't particularly recommend it if you have been stalked before (especially if you are a woman who has been stalked by a man) and are sensitive about the subject matter, but I do recommend it for general viewing and especially as a way to understand the (very realistically portrayed) psychology that goes on inside the brain of stalkers.

I mean I ruin nothing by telling you that at one point the protagonist (stalker) literally thinks he is the only feminist the deuteragonist knows, highlighting the irony of his entire method of thought and perspective. It's just... watch it, if you can bear it, because it's really good.

surreality

@coin I started You, and you are spot on. It's excellent, but because... yeah, it's a hard watch, and I keep having to pause for lighter fare in between episodes.

Arkandel

Orville. It's everything Star Trek used to be, focusing on diplomacy and meeting weird races to solve convoluted diplomatic emergencies which reflect on real life issues... plus 12 year old boy humor.

He refuses to make time for the sexual event!

AeriaNyx

@arkandel I cannot overstate how much like Star Trek this is. Like, it's like Star Trek, but with real people, rather than idealized versions of people. I am continually amazed at how good the episodes are and how they can make a show about coming to terms with stuff through absurd things. Like.. the whole thing with Bortus' kid being born female in an all male species, the forced gender transition to male and how by watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer dude learned a valuable lesson -- like it SOUNDS ridiculous but it was so smart and heartfelt in execution. And how that thread was carried over into the last episode about porn addiction -- again, a ridiculous thing, but it is treated with such respect and understanding. I dunno. I can't say enough good stuff about it.

ZombieGenesis

@aerianyx @Arkandel I adore The Orville but look at the creative cast listed in the credits; Seth Macfarlane(a huge TNG fan), Jon Favreau, and probably most importantly Brannon Braga(an executive producer from TNG). The show as destined to be great. I feel like it's a great mix of TNG, the first season of Battlestar Galactica(they deal with some heavy stuff sometimes), with just enough lighthearted comedy to keep things from becoming too grim. It is currently my favorite show on TV.

Arkandel

@aerianyx said in Good TV:

I can't say enough good stuff about it.

What I always loved about sci-fi is that it's not about lasers and giant monsters (at least for me). That's just a filler, and it's what the new movie versions of Star Trek somehow managed to miss completely. They just didn't get it.

Science fiction is about examining aspects of humanity in a vacuum by putting them on show through viewpoints that don't exist. Gender equality in a society completely different than ours, addictions to things we don't possess yet, discrimination over traits not found in our species, figuring out how to coexist with cultures absurdly different than ours.

Orville does this well. Not only is your colleague a slug-like thing but you commiserate with them over your dating woes. They are as dumb as you are, they hate going to work in the morning as much as you do, they make idiotic jokes and don't have it together any more than you do.

That's amazing stuff.

ZombieGenesis

@arkandel I'll say this for the new Trek movies; I thought the cast had decent chemistry. They still pale when compared to the TOS movies but I enjoyed them more than most of the TNG movies.

Arkandel

@zombiegenesis said in Good TV:

@arkandel I'll say this for the new Trek movies; I thought the cast had decent chemistry. They still pale when compared to the TOS movies but I enjoyed them more than most of the TNG movies.

Oh I enjoyed them for the most part - as movies. They entertained me. If I was judging them as space opera, generic sci-fi or just on the merit of what was on the screen they'd have been fine; flawed, but I'd pay a ticket to watch them.

They are just not Star Trek. Obviously this is a subjective issue but what Trek means is overcoming problems through intellect, logic and relying on multiple individuals you trust as a team to overcome obstacles and not just shooting your way out of them. There wasn't one time I thought James T. Kirk was brilliant, pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat by coming up with a plan no one had seen coming; I saw a guy who rode motorcycles and shot at evil aliens.

There's still lots to like about that, but it ain't Trek - for me.

Now Star Trek Discovery is a different beast. I quite enjoy it as well, even if after its first two episodes I wasn't so sure. But that's definitely Trek.

Auspice

I admit I kind of love The Masked Singer.

Partially because music and a lot because the costumes are just so wild. I did not expect the costumes to be just so wildly insane. I love them.

Arkandel

I started The Kominsky Method on Netflix yesterday just to watch something during supper without expecting to finish the first episode. I ended up binge watching the whole thing.

Damn but those old farts made me give a damn about them, their family drama and their friendships really fast.

Cupcake

@auspice I am convinced the Bee is Gladys Knight. I am less certain of the Peacock, but my bet is David Hasselhoff.

I'm curious about how Ken Jeong as an MD feels about being seated next to one of the most notorious anti-vaxxers in America. I imagine he secretly wants to slap Jenny McCarthy.

Auspice

@cupcake said in Good TV:

@auspice I am convinced the Bee is Gladys Knight. I am less certain of the Peacock, but my bet is David Hasselhoff.

I'm curious about how Ken Jeong as an MD feels about being seated next to one of the most notorious anti-vaxxers in America. I imagine he secretly wants to slap Jenny McCarthy.

Oh man the reactions when the Bee said she began singing in the 50s. The whole audience! Because she fucking KILLED IT.

I love Ken Jeong. Because he's an awesome actor and comedian... and a doctor. But I hadn't even thought of that fact, with him being up there with Jenny McCarthy. Honestly, being in Hollywood, the poor guy probably has to put up with it on a regular basis. I'm hoping he uses it to try to educate her.

Jaded

@cupcake
My mom is convinced that is Bee too. The moment Bee started singing she said, "That's Gladys Knight."

She is also convinced the Raven is Bette Midler.

Roz

This post is deleted!

BetterNow

@cupcake My alternate guess on the bee is Tina Turner. She is 5'4" tall like the bee. There is a book about her with the word Empress in the title. She's a 50s rock queen. Plus she has a musical about her life heading to broadway this year which would be a good reason to do a show like this for promotion. Her figure is also similar to the Bee.

Wretched

Sex Education is a great show, Gillian Anderson is amazing and Lily is my favorite character and not just because she shares a name with my cat.

Update Edit: This show made me cry.

Thenomain

The portrayal of Good Place employees makes me smile.

No spoilers, but yeah, smiles.

Auspice

OK. So I gotta share my theory for the Monster on the Masked Singer.

I think it's Rick Astley. I know I'm probably crazy but it sounds kinda like him, some of the clues fit, and they keep coming back to the monster costume and does anyone else remember when he showed up on the Foster's float at the 2008 Macy's parade?

This has been floating (ha) in my head for a few days now. >.>