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What was the last TV show you watched?

Messages
19,124
Location
Funkytown, USA
I am more of a fair weather fan. Given that the Jays reside in (the much disliked as they consider themselves the centre of the universe) city of Toronto and I live on the west coast they get my allegiance only by default as the only team in Canada.

I understand. I'm geographically and genetically a permanent Reds fan. Even if I lived in another Major League city, I'd still be a Reds fan.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
An episode of the Nick Adams Western The Rebel, written by Mission: Impossible creator Bruce Geller. A tense little story which would make a great one-act play, it all occurs in a saloon in the hour before dawn. A bounty hunter (Claude Akins) wants to make one last score, against a fast-draw outlaw called the Yellow Sky Kid. But the aging bounty hunter is not sure he can outdraw the Kid. So he is perfectly willing to shoot Johnny Yuma (Adams), say he's the Kid, and claim the reward -- provided the Kid's wife and the bartender will go along with the story. If not, the bounty hunter will have to kill not only Johnny, but the woman and the bartender too. Nicely staged, with a literal ticking clock and only 5 characters, it's a great example of how TV once used to stage good drama in only 30 minutes.
 
Messages
16,869
Location
New York City
Last episode of "Feud"
  • As an ending to the Davis-Crawford season, it struck a different but appropriate tone of less fighting more reflection
  • The lessons are not new ones
    • If you sacrifice attention to your family for career advancement, there will be a price to pay. But in this case, despite their later-in-life regrets, neither of these women would've made a different decision even knowing those regrets were coming - they were striving for career success first / that's who they were
    • Getting old and sick ain't fun
  • According to the LA Times, when Davis received word of Crawford's heart attack and subsequent death in 1977, she allegedly said, "You should never say bad things about the dead, only good… Joan Crawford is dead. Good.”
    • Sarandon could not have delivered this line better
    • Sometimes hate is just that, hate. It isn't masked respect, hidden fear, repressed something or other - sometimes it's just hate. Methinks Davis hated Crawford (and vice versa)
  • Considering that Davis smoked over a billion cigarettes in her life, that she didn't succumb to cancer until 81 is kinda impressive / How crazy is the Crawford story about the "buckle:" Having six of her molars removed to "suck in her cheeks to highlight her cheekbones?" Holy Criminy, that's a hell of a sacrifice for a marginal improvement in appearance.
  • Final thought: the show took a few episodes to get going and it always felt like the material was stretched too thin. However, Sarandon's Davis, the feud itself, Aldrich's insecurities, Jack Warner's Freudian office and the period details were enough to keep it interesting. That said, I'm glad it's over - there was nothing left to say or show
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,228
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
I ended up liking Feud much more than I expected to, and was moved by the last episode. The miniseries was uneven in its storytelling, but wonderfully acted all around and very well produced. Jessica Lange deserves an Emmy nom for her heartbreaking work in this episode. Of course, the other leads - Sarandon, Molina, Tucci, Davis - will likely be nominated too.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Having PVR'd a billion episodes, I'm catching up on Storage Wars from 2015 that I missed while deployed. Watched four last night in a mind-numbing festival of crap. I have the newest available episodes to look forward to.

Don't judge me...
 

Benzadmiral

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,815
Location
The Swamp
The first episode of Tim Allen's 2011-current comedy Last Man Standing, which I'd never seen. The casting is almost the same, with the only difference being another actress plays his oldest daughter the single mom, and the house and office/store sets look the same. The actor playing Kyle, the sweet-natured semi-doofus who will eventually become Tim's character's son-in-law, was there, but was clean-shaven and with shorter hair -- I almost didn't recognize him. Charming and funny in the right places, as befits Allen, who knows how to set up a joke and make it pay off.
 
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Julian Shellhammer

Practically Family
Messages
861
A couple of Jail: Big Texas, the last of the Son of 24 mini-series, and the twin-spin of the The Blacklist return. In there somewhere was the reboot of MST3K, The Beast of Hollow Mountain. (Not in one sitting--)
 

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,220
Location
Midwest
The Affair. season 3 (about half way through it). After the way season 2 ended, I planned to turn my back on this series. Season 2 was good, but courtrooms, pleading guilty, and blah blah blah. One thing about this show I should have learned after two seasons was that you can't assume much about it, and in that, they don't often come about the surprising in a cheap or common way. I was wrong. Season 3 might be the best so far. All the knowledge and judgment (especially the judgment) about the characters is proving questionable because of the interesting and smart building of backstory. It isn't because they lied to us. It's not because of the weak use of the switcheroo or "gotcha" illusion. It was time to reconsider because of real character development and exposed depth. I'm impressed.

The use of perspective has always been at the cornerstone of this series. Showing the same time frames, or events, from usually two perspectives. It's been neat and exhausting. They've done well with it. It's been of even better use in this season 3.

The downside to this season is I'm less interested in the Allison/Cole arc. Because Noah and Helen are so well executed on various levels, I want more time with them.
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,228
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
I enjoy The Affair when it's running, then forget about it when it's not. I think it's essentially a trashy soap about awful people (especially Noah, possibly the most privileged and reprehensible protagonist ever - I don't care if his backstory explains it, he's a monster), though its use of the Rashomon approach sometimes adds some extra interest. Generally, I think its female characters are a lot more nuanced and interesting, and better acted, than the male ones.

I don't think it's all that well-observed or believable, and it's not especially outstanding television in this age of Peak TV. It's well made, but not good. It's like a car wreck: I can't look away when it's there.
 

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many
Messages
1,220
Location
Midwest
I think I dislike Helen more at this point than I do Noah, and that is saying something. Jennifer Esposito drilled her with some harsh truth in the last episode I watched. Helen's backstory isn't exactly pretty either, though. I have empathy for it, but it is dwindling. For me, the real monster in this series is Helen's father. I have no time for men like that, and there are plenty of them out there.
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,228
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
Agreed that Helen's father (*) is a major nightmare... but he didn't personally break up a marriage and screw up four kids' lives over a waitress. Then screwed up her life (even more than it was). Then screwed up a visiting French professor's life. And so on.

Helen is a rich girl, and she definitely has some of the issues that come along with that privileged upbringing. But she usually puts her children's needs first, unlike walking-disaster-area Noah. WORST. DAD. EVER.

(* That the same actor plays a scary mob boss on Gotham doesn't help!)
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,053
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Testing a few new resistors in the horizontal output section of my TV set with a cable-tv rerun of "The Untouchables." I'd forgotten how hilarious this show could be for the way in which various 60s television icons turn up in oddball supporting roles. In just a few minutes I've seen John "Sgt. Schultz" Banner being grilled by Robert Stack for his connection to an illegal brewery -- he knows NUFFING about it -- and Leonard "You Know Who" Nimoy as a grinning chucklehead of a gangster minion. I expect the appearance at any moment of Richard Deacon as an officious bookkeeper and Jerry Van Dyke as the hapless patsy.
 

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,241
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
Testing a few new resistors in the horizontal output section of my TV set with a cable-tv rerun of "The Untouchables." I'd forgotten how hilarious this show could be for the way in which various 60s television icons turn up in oddball supporting roles. In just a few minutes I've seen John "Sgt. Schultz" Banner being grilled by Robert Stack for his connection to an illegal brewery -- he knows NUFFING about it -- and Leonard "You Know Who" Nimoy as a grinning chucklehead of a gangster minion. I expect the appearance at any moment of Richard Deacon as an officious bookkeeper and Jerry Van Dyke as the hapless patsy.

I seem to recall one episode where Ness and the Boys were investigating a mob hit (or perhaps it was a suicide where a guy jumped in front of the train from the platform... memory's a little foggy.) that had taken place in a Chicago subway station. Quite an accomplishment, really.. since Ness was transferred out of Chicago in 1933 and the (first) State Street Subway didn't open until 1943. But, as I always say..."You're not supposed to know that."
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,175
Location
Troy, New York, USA
We just finished the return of Gotham, possibly the best episode this season, and this season has been brilliant!

I concur.... about the ONLY D.C. superhero property that I currently enjoy though I do watch "The Flash" and "The Arrow". Lot's of twists and turns... though I did think the surprise at the end of the episode... really wasn't much of a surprise.

Worf
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,175
Location
Troy, New York, USA
I seem to recall one episode where Ness and the Boys were investigating a mob hit (or perhaps it was a suicide where a guy jumped in front of the train from the platform... memory's a little foggy.) that had taken place in a Chicago subway station. Quite an accomplishment, really.. since Ness was transferred out of Chicago in 1933 and the (first) State Street Subway didn't open until 1943. But, as I always say..."You're not supposed to know that."

Now you're just showin' off!

Worf
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,175
Location
Troy, New York, USA
"Dimension 404" - Think updated "Outer Limits" for the digital age. Seen 2 episodes thus far and both were "passable". Something to watch till "GoT" returns.

Worf
 

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