Category Archives: TV
To prepare for season two of HBO’s Westworld (by husband-and-wife team Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy), I’m very thoroughly watching the first season again… and taking careful notes!
By “thoroughly” I mean that I plan to watch each episode multiple times. I’ve just watched the first episode three times (twice in a row last night, once the night before), and I plan to watch it again so my buddy can see how absolutely stunning it looks on my new LG 65″ OLED TV in 4K HDR off the Blu-Rays I bought. (And it is truly stunning that way! I gasped when I first started watching.)
I’m transcribing my notes from last night here, in part, because my handwriting is so bad I just have to type them up, but also to share them for whatever they may be worth. Obviously: Serious Series Spoilers!
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8 Comments | tags: AI, Anthony Hopkins, artificial intelligence, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, robotics, robots, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
Some of you may know that NCIS (the one with Mark Harmon) is one of my favorite TV shows. And, absent the occasional clunker, they still are turning out very good episodes in their 15th season. It’s quite an accomplishment to remain a top, and high quality, show for 347 episodes.
Some of you may also know that I forsook the first spin-off, NCIS: Los Angeles, because it is — in my view — a silly-ass, lame-ass, stupid show (with too much gun play). I haven’t watched it in quite some time, and I haven’t missed it one iota.
And now it looks like I’m going to forsake their second spin-off, NCIS: New Orleans, because it also has gotten too stupid for me to enjoy anymore.
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6 Comments | tags: NCIS, NCIS:New Orleans, pirate treasure, pirate treasure map | posted in Rant, TV
I want to tell you about Assassination Classroom, an amazing Japanese anime series I discovered, but it’s going to be a bit of a challenge, because I just don’t know that much about anime — it’s not something I’ve ever watched a lot of. In fact, the anime series (as is often the case) is based on the manga series, and I’ve never gotten into manga at all.
But I was so enthralled by this anime series that I have to give it a best effort. If you like anime, or even just animated storytelling, and especially if you like hard science fiction (the good kind), you have got to check this one out.
For one thing, it’s surprisingly deep! And it made me weep.
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4 Comments | tags: anime, Assassination Classroom, Cowboy Bebop, Dark Matter (TV series), Fairy Tail, Final Fantasy, Ghost in the Shell, Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese anime, Tachikoma, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, The Expanse (TV series), Yoko Kanno, Zoie Palmer | posted in Opinion, TV
Last post I mentioned the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, a show I’m currently mini-binging[1] on Hulu. When I wrote that, I was still very much on the fence as to whether I even liked the show. In fact I was puzzled about why I liked it at all, since it’s a fairly standard sitcom in many regards.
Ever since I’ve been paying more attention to my reactions while watching, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not a matter of being undecided — it’s a matter of having developed a strong like/dislike for the show. As I wrote with Halt and Catch Fire, my feelings are mixed, not vague.
And it turns out to really tap into what attracts or repels me to sitcoms.
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7 Comments | tags: 30 Rock, Assassination Classroom, Community (TV series), Dan Harmon, Fresh Off the Boat, Futurama, Matt Groening, Rick and Morty, Scrubs, South Park, The Good Place, The Office, The Simpsons | posted in Opinion, TV
When I first started watching TV there were only the Big Three: CBS, NBC, and ABC. We had just a handful of shows we loved and followed, maybe a few others we watched with family members or friends. Often, we just played outside.
There were various local channels, but they offered mostly re-runs, news, or sports — not much original content. It wasn’t until the Second Era, of cable TV, that original content offerings exploded into so many choices. We had to pick what we watched among all that new content.
Now the Third Era, streaming TV, with even more original content to choose among. On the other hand, also the chance to catch up on content we missed along the way!
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Leave a comment | tags: 30 Rock, Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice (TV series), Community (TV series), Constance Wu, Cougar Town, Dan Harmon, Fresh Off the Boat, Jeffrey Donovan, Jonathan Nolan, Leverage (TV series), Once Upon a Time, Person of Interest, Rizzoli & Isles, Sharon Gless, The Good Wife, The IT Crowd | posted in Opinion, TV
My last post ended up with a misleading title (oops). When I started it, I planned to rag on more than just the Fargo TV series — figuring I didn’t have all that much to say about it — but the post become a total spleen vent about that one show (with a bit of shade for Hulu). Ah, well, better out than in.
This post, and at least two I’m planning after, will fall on the other side, my good side. To Yin the Yang of the previous two posts, these will be about shows I’ve really enjoyed (or even loved).
This post is about shows I’ve enjoyed that are produced by Netflix.
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2 Comments | tags: Black Mirror, Chewing Gum (TV series), Dear White People, Eric McCormack, Grace and Frankie, Greg Egan, Justin Simien, Michaela Coel, Netflix, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Travelers (TV series), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | posted in Opinion, TV
Last post I recorded my love/hate relationship with AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, and despite major problems with computer gibberish throughout the show, still found it interesting, engaging, and ultimately a show I would recommend.
Today’s main entry, FX’s Fargo (based on the Coen brothers movie with the same name), is another critically acclaimed show that I missed when it aired and which I’d been looking forward to finally seeing now that I’ve joined the ranks of the video streamers.
Sadly, I disliked it from the first episode and reached my breaking point in episode eight, which I stopped watching followed by removing the show from my Watch List.
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6 Comments | tags: Billy Bob Thornton, Coen Brothers, Fargo, FX, Hulu, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg | posted in Opinion, TV
So I finally joined the streaming video generation. I joined Netflix back in November, Hulu in December, and it’s only now that I’m starting to come up for air. It’s true what they say: That shit is addictive!
After several months of my new addiction, I’ve now burned through a number of shows that either I missed when they aired or that are only available on streaming platforms. I never got to watch Burn Notice, for instance. Now I have. All seven seasons!
Another one I missed (and have now seen) was AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, and I have very mixed feelings about this one. Kind of a love/hate thing…
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5 Comments | tags: CPU, HCF, The IT Crowd | posted in Opinion, TV
At one point in HBO’s Westworld (don’t worry, no spoilers) Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) gives a speech about stories, about the value of fiction. He references a belief that fiction elevates — or at least illuminates to good value — the human condition. The belief also holds that those who read a lot of fiction are in some sense “better” people.
The idea is controversial on several grounds. Firstly, it’s hard to define what makes people “better,” and you can’t measure or test what you can’t define. Secondly, even if “better” is defined, not everyone will agree with the definition. Thirdly, there’s a nature-nurture aspect that makes comparisons like this very hard to tease out of any data you can gather.
Maybe a place to start exploring the idea is to first define “fiction” and go from there…
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8 Comments | tags: facts, false, Fiction, lies, storytelling, theory of mind, true, truth, wisdom | posted in Books, Movies, TV, Writing
The previous posts avoided spoilers and talked about HBO’s Westworld in general terms of its themes and characters — stuff that is apparent just from the trailers and basic setup. This post isn’t like that! Do not read this post unless you’ve seen all of season one!
Or unless you really like spoilers or just don’t care about the series. But if you do, you should trust me on this: You do not want this spoiled! It may even be all the better if you avoid any interweb discussion … the fans really did figure out some of the secrets before their big reveal. (On the other hand, the show’s creators have made it clear the truth was always in plain view. And so it was.)
Here are my questions and observations about the last episode and the season as a whole. I think we all have a few questions…
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10 Comments | tags: AI, Anthony Hopkins, artificial intelligence, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Isaac Asimov, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, killer robots, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, robotics, robots, robots-as-menace, robots-as-pathos, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
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