What was the last TV show you watched?

The Jackal · Jun 12, 2019

I'm currently watching American Gods.
I know I was supposed to pick up Game of Thrones like everyone kept telling me, but the first episode of American Gods hooked me better than the first few episodes of GoT.

But I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman in general anyway, so it makes sense that I would gravitate to something based on his work.

LizzieMaine · Jun 12, 2019

One of the high-number cable channels has recently picked up "Green Acres," giving me the chance to revisit this childhood favorite for the first time in many years -- and to realize just how dark and dystopian a series it really was.

At the time of its original broadcast, this show was widely derided by critics as a symbol of the "vast wasteland" mentality that saturated 1960s television, a dumb, corny sitcom with unbelieveable plots about ridiculous, caricatured people. Since the '80s, though, a revisionist view has evolved, praising the series for its "surreal comedy," asserting that a kind of pre-Pythonish meta-humor is really the core of the program. But rewatching the show now, what strikes me the hardest is just how bleak and even Kafkaesque its vision really is.

You all know the storyline: wealthy, middle-aged Manhattan attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas becomes obsessed with his lifelong dream of becoming a farmer -- and in the grips of what appears to be a whopper of a midlife crisis, he abandons his law practice and his penthouse and, with his unwilling Hungarian wife in tow, buys sight-unseen a dilapidated farm in the isolated backwater town of Hooterville. TV viewers already knew Hooterville as the setting of "Petticoat Junction," a gentle country-themed sitcom that had been running for three years by the time "Green Acres" came along -- but the Hooterville Oliver Douglas discovers is, the viewer will soon learn, a very different town.

Oliver is a man absolutely convinced of the correctness of any course he chooses to take -- and he prides himself on being a man who acts only on the basis of logic, reason, and "common sense." And yet, he soon discovers that the Hooterville he has landed in conducts itself in a way that utterly contradicts everything he believes to be true. Nothing is logical. Nothing is rational. A childless, elderly couple raises a pig as their son -- and this is accepted without question by the community. The con man who sold Oliver the farm has an uncanny, seemingly magical ability to produce any item Oliver wants at the moment that he wants it, at an inflated price -- and is able to convince Oliver to buy it. The local USDA representative, presumably an intelligent and educated man, speaks only in senseless riddles. The contractors he hires to renovate his farmhouse labor steadily on the job for six years without ever accomplishing anything. The local utilities install his electricity and his telephone in ways that require him to climb poles to gain access to service. Even the local storekeeper -- seemingly a sane, rational man -- accepts the local status quo without question. And in the final blow to logic and reason, Oliver's wife Lisa -- a dizzy "Gracie Allen with a dialect" type -- comes to accept and fully embrace the Hooterville worldview.

But Oliver doesn't. Oliver *can't.* He is a Rational Man who refuses to accept the basic truth that he does not live in world governed by laws of logic or reason. He clings desperately to his fantasy vision of "The American Farmer as the bedrock of our society," to the point where his fantasies take on a physical manifestation of patriotic fife music playing whenever he gives a speech -- a manifestation of his delusional state that everyone else notices and comments upon while he himself remains oblivious. And yet he goes on and on and on, convinced that because he is "right," he can influence the world around him by the sheer force of his rightness. But he never does -- and he never wavers, he never questions, he never looks around at what he's doing and why he's doing it. Oliver is trapped in his own Hooterville nightmare, as surely as Gregor Samsa was trapped in the body of a giant insect. There is no way out. There is no longer even any New York to go back to -- even on those rare occasions where Oliver leaves Hooterville on some errand in the outside world, the spectre of his new reality follows him there. Those who once acted "rationally" now act with the same oblivious irrationality as any Hootervillian. Dignified authority figures now respond to Oliver's desperate appeals to logic and reason with the same blithe disregard as Newt Kiley and Uncle Joe Carson. The whole world has become Hooterville.

Critics have often referred to Oliver as "the one sane man in the asylum." But the evidence of the series paints a far bleaker picture. It is Oliver himself who is insane, fully and desperately insane -- and the distorted Hooterville reflected back at him by the funhouse mirror of his own mind is merely the twisted image of his own desperate dreams, his own inability to accept the reality of the irrational world we live in, turned against him. There is no escape from Hooterville when you *are* Hooterville. The program's opening sequence is less a theme song than a manifesto for the shattered nature of Oliver's reality -- "Green Acres -- We Are There!"

Doctor Strange · Jun 12, 2019

Jackal... I have really enjoyed American Gods, but note that it's a pretty loose adaptation of the book. Gaiman is one of the exec producers, so he's onboard with all the changes. Some are good, some aren't. I hope Starz keeps it going for another couple of seasons: it's only barely made it out of the story's first act by the end of the current season. Anyway, Ian McShane is having the time of his life as Mr. Wednesday: Best. Casting. Ever.

Ernest, I haven't watched Billions. I tried Big Little Lies when it premiered, but it totally turned me off in the first fifteen minutes in spite of the great cast. I have problems sympathizing with uber-rich, uber-beautiful, uber-privileged characters.

And Lizzie, that's one helluva commentary on Green Acres!

Ernest P Shackleton · Jun 12, 2019

Green Acres is one of the funniest shows ever to hit television, at least by my kid-self metrics. Laughed until it hurt. I don't know if it was lack of maturity or what, but as you said, I didn't notice until later how truly dark it could be. It remains an all-time favorite.

I can see that criticism of Big Little Lies. There's a lot there to be off-putting. A LOT. Woodley is set in a role to offset the rich and privileged. Kravitz, Kidman, and Witherspoon's husband (sorry, too lazy to look up the actor) are there to offset the rest of the despicable characters. I get the impression there's a season two only because of the acclaim of season one, and if so, that bugs me a good bit. None of these actors need work or acclaim. I guess it is real handy for most of them to work in town rather than be pulled to set away from home. Understandable. It's not a show I'd recommend for any specific reason. If you like good, it's good. That's it really. There's a lot of good TV out there. Skipping this one ain't no thing.

Edward · Jun 13, 2019

Couple of episodes of What We Do in the Shadows, an American television series based on the original New Zealand film of the same name. For my money, while the original was good, this is even better. It's a mockumentary 'fly on the wall' type show about the lives of four vampires living in present-day Staten Island. Very funny. In the latest episode I watched, they were up before the Vampire Copuncil, made up of Evan Rachel Wood (“True Blood”), Danny Trejo (“From Dusk Till Dawn”), Wesley Snipes (“Blade”), Tilda Swinton (“Only Lovers Left Alive”) and Paul Reubens (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). A lovely bit of in-jokery for those familiar with the vampire genre.

Also been watching the Prime miniseries take on Gaiman and Pratchett's Good Omens, which is to The Omen as The Life of Brian is to The Jesus Story. Quality entertainment.

ChiTownScion · Jun 15, 2019

LizzieMaine said:
One of the high-number cable channels has recently picked up "Green Acres," giving me the chance to revisit this childhood favorite for the first time in many years -- and to realize just how dark and dystopian a series it really was.

At the time of its original broadcast, this show was widely derided by critics as a symbol of the "vast wasteland" mentality that saturated 1960s television, a dumb, corny sitcom with unbelieveable plots about ridiculous, caricatured people. Since the '80s, though, a revisionist view has evolved, praising the series for its "surreal comedy," asserting that a kind of pre-Pythonish meta-humor is really the core of the program. But rewatching the show now, what strikes me the hardest is just how bleak and even Kafkaesque its vision really is.

You all know the storyline: wealthy, middle-aged Manhattan attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas becomes obsessed with his lifelong dream of becoming a farmer -- and in the grips of what appears to be a whopper of a midlife crisis, he abandons his law practice and his penthouse and, with his unwilling Hungarian wife in tow, buys sight-unseen a dilapidated farm in the isolated backwater town of Hooterville. TV viewers already knew Hooterville as the setting of "Petticoat Junction," a gentle country-themed sitcom that had been running for three years by the time "Green Acres" came along -- but the Hooterville Oliver Douglas discovers is, the viewer will soon learn, a very different town.

Oliver is a man absolutely convinced of the correctness of any course he chooses to take -- and he prides himself on being a man who acts only on the basis of logic, reason, and "common sense." And yet, he soon discovers that the Hooterville he has landed in conducts itself in a way that utterly contradicts everything he believes to be true. Nothing is logical. Nothing is rational. A childless, elderly couple raises a pig as their son -- and this is accepted without question by the community. The con man who sold Oliver the farm has an uncanny, seemingly magical ability to produce any item Oliver wants at the moment that he wants it, at an inflated price -- and is able to convince Oliver to buy it. The local USDA representative, presumably an intelligent and educated man, speaks only in senseless riddles. The contractors he hires to renovate his farmhouse labor steadily on the job for six years without ever accomplishing anything. The local utilities install his electricity and his telephone in ways that require him to climb poles to gain access to service. Even the local storekeeper -- seemingly a sane, rational man -- accepts the local status quo without question. And in the final blow to logic and reason, Oliver's wife Lisa -- a dizzy "Gracie Allen with a dialect" type -- comes to accept and fully embrace the Hooterville worldview.

But Oliver doesn't. Oliver *can't.* He is a Rational Man who refuses to accept the basic truth that he does not live in world governed by laws of logic or reason. He clings desperately to his fantasy vision of "The American Farmer as the bedrock of our society," to the point where his fantasies take on a physical manifestation of patriotic fife music playing whenever he gives a speech -- a manifestation of his delusional state that everyone else notices and comments upon while he himself remains oblivious. And yet he goes on and on and on, convinced that because he is "right," he can influence the world around him by the sheer force of his rightness. But he never does -- and he never wavers, he never questions, he never looks around at what he's doing and why he's doing it. Oliver is trapped in his own Hooterville nightmare, as surely as Gregor Samsa was trapped in the body of a giant insect. There is no way out. There is no longer even any New York to go back to -- even on those rare occasions where Oliver leaves Hooterville on some errand in the outside world, the spectre of his new reality follows him there. Those who once acted "rationally" now act with the same oblivious irrationality as any Hootervillian. Dignified authority figures now respond to Oliver's desperate appeals to logic and reason with the same blithe disregard as Newt Kiley and Uncle Joe Carson. The whole world has become Hooterville.

Critics have often referred to Oliver as "the one sane man in the asylum." But the evidence of the series paints a far bleaker picture. It is Oliver himself who is insane, fully and desperately insane -- and the distorted Hooterville reflected back at him by the funhouse mirror of his own mind is merely the twisted image of his own desperate dreams, his own inability to accept the reality of the irrational world we live in, turned against him. There is no escape from Hooterville when you *are* Hooterville. The program's opening sequence is less a theme song than a manifesto for the shattered nature of Oliver's reality -- "Green Acres -- We Are There!"

Always loved Oliver's pompous speeches about the American Farmer, with the rising flourishes of patriotic music.

On the other hand, I have no use for the notion of "crossover" episodes, particularly when they brought the Beverly Hillbillies to Petticoat Junction. I don't think that the Clampetts ever appeared on Green Acres, though, and that's a good thing.

LizzieMaine · Jun 15, 2019

The Clampetts seem to have been fictional characters on GA -- once the Hootervillians put on a community theatre production of their favorite TV show, "The Beverly Hillbillies," with Kimball as Jed, Lisa as Granny, and Oliver as Jethro, who loses all remaining tatters of his dignity in the role.

And yet, not long after, when the Clampetts made one of their visits to Hooterville on PJ, Eb -- the Douglas's handyman -- falls in love with Elly May. The Clampetts are both real and unreal in Hooterville, with Oliver's perspective seeming to be the key -- more support for my theory that the Hooterville of PJ is the "real" one, and the Hooterville of GA is the hallucinatory product of Oliver's psychotic delusions.

belfastboy · Jun 15, 2019

After almost 3 months on the road, away from all TV we are waaaay backed up on our Netflix. Where to start? Finally settled on GoT, 2 episodes in and so far so good. Looking forward to seeing if all the criticism is valid. We figure it is a win/win for us.....we either enjoy it or enjoy trashing it. I am sick with a cold so today might be a 5 episode marathon....a git it done kinda day.

Ernest P Shackleton · Jun 15, 2019

Gentleman Jack. HBO. Only the season finale to go. I've thoroughly enjoyed this, I'm surprised to say that. Not because I thought it would be awful, but as I previously said, a couple things about it are cringy to my tastes. But Suranne Jones is a powerhouse and plays the character so convincingly and well, and Sophie Rundle is also impressive, though not as uniquely. I love me some TV, and it isn't often I think, "I should check out the book." Not even with my beloved Game of Thrones have I been greatly inclined to read the books. Here, I'm feeling like I might check out Anne Lister's diaries. This is fun.

Zombie_61 · Jun 16, 2019

ChiTownScion said:
Always loved Oliver's pompous speeches about the American Farmer, with the rising flourishes of patriotic music...

My favorite Green Acres "gag" was when Oliver would finally blow his stack for whatever reason, and as he's ranting and raving in mid-sentence they would cut to another character in the scene who isn't paying any attention to him. Even the show's production staff gave Oliver no respect.

EngProf · Jun 17, 2019

ChiTownScion said:
Always loved Oliver's pompous speeches about the American Farmer, with the rising flourishes of patriotic music.

On the other hand, I have no use for the notion of "crossover" episodes, particularly when they brought the Beverly Hillbillies to Petticoat Junction. I don't think that the Clampetts ever appeared on Green Acres, though, and that's a good thing.

When they brought the "Beverly Hillbillies" to "Petticoat Junction" must have been when Aunt Pearl magically transformed into Kate Bradley.

EngProf · Jun 17, 2019

Zombie_61 said:
My favorite Green Acres "gag" was when Oliver would finally blow his stack for whatever reason, and as he's ranting and raving in mid-sentence they would cut to another character in the scene who isn't paying any attention to him. Even the show's production staff gave Oliver no respect.

One of my numerous favorite "Green Acres" gags was something I didn't notice until a day or two ago.

Arnold is watching TV, as he likes to do, and the view was such that you could see the TV screen and on there were the usual end credits for "Green Acres".
I think what this means is that there was another Arnold "in the TV" watching "Green Acres" and one increment further down there was another Arnold watching "Green Acres" and so on and so on... to infinity.
I have to admit that "Green Acres" is far too "deep" for me to fully comprehend it.

(This is similar to the time that Lisa notices the end credits going by and starts reading them out loud. Oliver, of course, can't see them and doesn't know what she's talking about.)

MisterCairo · Jun 17, 2019

Some more Shetland on Neflix. Really liking this show. We also recently finished watching the newer Jack Taylor episodes. Wondering if they'll make any more?

belfastboy · Jun 17, 2019

Finished GoT. Sadly it is over. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and was okay with the ending. Not sure what all the kerfuffle about the ending was about....

belfastboy · Jun 17, 2019

Also watched Deadwood the movie on Netflix. Weirdly dissatisfied. At first blush I liked that they avoided any great drama or grand OK Corral shootout but a lingering dissatisfaction percolated. I think I missed the BIG dramatic ending, the grand Hollywood shoot'em up. I am slightly embarrassed at having these thoughts as normally I love the understated endings. But perhaps it was resistance to how nicely they wrapped up all the assorted story lines....a bit too complete and perhaps too pat???

The Jackal · Jun 17, 2019

Finished up season 2 of American Gods last night. It was good enough that I may go read the book now.

I've got a back log of unwatched and half-watched shows to try to make it through. I think finishing Black Lightning is probably next, followed by Runaways on Hulu.

Ernest P Shackleton · Jun 17, 2019

Big Little Lies. HBO. episode 2. should I be satisfied with really good acting? I don't know, but I think I am. And to go shallow, what a gorgeous cast. If anyone has complaints, that might not be a bad place to start. Not sure one could reasonably draw a line about this anywhere in Hollywood. It's standard, but... I love when Laura Dern goes off.

Euphoria. HBO. Um. This show appears to be about nothing, at least by what they've released so far. HBO's fill for a specific demographic? An MTV series without the language and sex restraints?

City on a Hill. Showtime. I watched this the other day, as they released it early for streaming. Good cast. I swear NBC, or some other network, had tried this exact recipe in the past few years. It'll probably be worth watching, but I'm also not getting the point. That is, if we've already been here, and I think we have. Has Hollywood ran out of interesting ideas, or at least different situations for old ideas? Or taking chances isn't much appetizing in such a competitive market?

MisterCairo · Jun 17, 2019

belfastboy said:
Finished GoT. Sadly it is over. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and was okay with the ending. Not sure what all the kerfuffle about the ending was about....

To each their own, of course, but five books, nine years of speculation and drama, and they ELECT the next king? Someone NOBODY wanted or expected, but gives the dramatic line "What do you think I've been waiting for"? As if HE was "the one" we all should have seen coming?

After a VOTE?

Ick. If and when the next book comes out, I'm getting it for free at the library, in case Martin decides to follow the show instead of doing his own thing.

Absolute arse chowder...

Again, my views. Your mileage clearly varies!

belfastboy · Jun 17, 2019

MisterCairo said:
To each their own, of course, but five books, nine years of speculation and drama, and they ELECT the next king? Someone NOBODY wanted or expected, but gives the dramatic line "What do you think I've been waiting for"? As if HE was "the one" we all should have seen coming?

After a VOTE?

Ick. If and when the next book comes out, I'm getting it for free at the library, in case Martin decides to follow the show instead of doing his own thing.

Absolute arse chowder...

Again, my views. Your mileage clearly varies!

I on the other hand would still be yelling at my TV set if John Snow had risen to the throne! I liked the ending as it came out of left field. And Jamie was killed so Breanne (sp?) is still single so I do have a chance still.

Zombie_61 · Jun 18, 2019

EngProf said:
One of my numerous favorite "Green Acres" gags was something I didn't notice until a day or two ago.

Arnold is watching TV, as he likes to do, and the view was such that you could see the TV screen and on there were the usual end credits for "Green Acres".
I think what this means is that there was another Arnold "in the TV" watching "Green Acres" and one increment further down there was another Arnold watching "Green Acres" and so on and so on... to infinity.
I have to admit that "Green Acres" is far too "deep" for me to fully comprehend it...

What was the last TV show you watched?

The Jackal

One of the Regulars

LizzieMaine

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many

Edward

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab

LizzieMaine

belfastboy

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many

Zombie_61

EngProf

Practically Family

EngProf

Practically Family

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up

belfastboy

belfastboy

The Jackal

One of the Regulars

Ernest P Shackleton

One Too Many

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up

belfastboy

Zombie_61

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