General TV Discussion and Thread for Shows Without A Thread Thread

Really good season finale for Hacks.

I don't know if it's been renewed for season 4 yet, but I'm worried we won't get one. Or at least it won't be for quite awhile.

Sounds like they're testing the waters to see if the audience is there. There is literally a huge amount left in the series.

Minor book spoiler below.

They already know the answer to that question and the announcement was their response to it.

Another option would be more episodes for less money per episode but D&D probably don't want that because that might interfere with their "artistic freedom".

yeah i think the problem with 3bp is that they spent waaayyy too much money on it for whatever reason. i heard that d&d went over budget with it (shocking), not sure by how much though. resulted in one of the most expensive shows out there, which seems completely unnecessary for what it is. and then massive cost demands probably impossible viewership numbers. but then they dropped it all at once, which kind of seems like they gave up on it ahead of time. anyway, predictably it wasn't a massive hit and now here we are.

obviously plans can change, and i could be wrong, but from what i understood their announcement the other day said that however many episodes they put out for season 2 (if any) will be the end of it. i guess the emmy nominations come out in july, and if anything can turn the situation around it might be winning some awards. but then again maybe not, who knows.

Oh, well. Maybe I'll go back to the Chinese version on Prime. 54 episodes.

I watched one episode and liked it. But then I saw the viewership was down so I quit. That's a Netflix problem as I don't trust them to finish shows.

is the show better or the books?

Anyone feel like Outer Range reminds them of Lost; a show trying to find answers to questions it doesnt know how to ask? It feels like each episode the writers are just winging it, as in they want to come up with something interesting but lack the creativity to conclude it. I feel like the ScreenRant Pitch Meeting guy could have a field day with their writing.

Producer: hey make me a cool show we can stretch out for 8 seasons if we had to.

Writer: Ok, but the only idea I've come up with so far is a mysterious black hole in a field

Producer: Lets run with it, maybe time travel?

Writer: yeah yeah yeah! Ok, so the heroes go back in time and encounter people they know from before they were born

Producer: wow this is going to get complicated with all of the paradox implications

Writer: actually it'll be super easy, barely an inconvenience! You see each person who goes back in time will have absolutely no bearing on their future timelines, yet in the future there are hallmarks of their time travel to interconnect their past with their present! But none of it will have any real consequences.

Producer: Perfect! Make sure to randomly introduce 'mysterious' characters along the way who sound highly intellectual with profound wisdom of all things in the universe but dont really contribute or influence anything in the show whatsoever

Like I swear, the 2 writers feel like they probably assumed this time travel stuff cant be that hard, after all Back to the Future didnt require a PhD to write, and then half way through writing each episode they just get stuck looking at each other with a "now what?" expression on their face until someone just pulls something out of their ass to move the story along.

Finished The Sympathizer. I do recommend it but be ready to read a lot. With most shows, I prefer to doodle on my geetar but this show is sort of all over the place so I needed to pay closer attention. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It time jumps constantly but it works. And Robert Downey Jr plays 4 different characters, all very well!

The books are excellent. In some ways, a strange and convoluted story, but it works. First 50-100 pages, I was like "How is this SciFi?" Then it kicks in. One part that hooked me was a look at a modern Chinese author's description of aspects of life in modern China as the underpinning to the story.

The Netflix show does a great job of distilling the main plot points of the first book, but it changes the location to the UK and changes the ethnicity/gender of some of the characters (this does not get in the way of the plot lines, though).

The Chinese series on Prime is structurally weird to me as a westerner, and it seems to move very slowly getting to the main plot points, but I'm only 10 episodes in and it is nowhere near the end of the first book.

I get some of this sentiment, but that's also just a joyless way to watch TV. Believe me I understand why some need it all to make sense, but I stopped worrying so much about that.

As it relates to Perry

First 2 episodes of The Acolyte are good not great. I thought some of the acting was bad but it happened during the worst writing so not sure if the actor(s) are to blame.

Presumed Innocent on AppleTV

I'd pretty much watch anything with Jake Gyllenhaal at this point and this was a very solid first episode

Restarted 3 Body Problem. I don't really know what is going on but it is keeping me engaged every episode.

I agree with the first part but I'm assuming you've never seen the movie or you couldn't possibly have liked the 1st episode.

Dark Matter on Apple has been getting interesting lately, two more episodes to go apparently.

I've also watched half of Ripley, really liked it so far.

i've never been able to fully embrace chinese film/tv culture because the structure is just beyond bizarre and the entire time i just think about what I'd have done if i were in charge of editing instead of just enjoying it for what it was

the wandering earth is also based on a book by the same novelist, it was one of the biggest films the yer it came out - i recommend watching it, but as you will see, not even the trailer makes sense to a westerner

the film is an incredible visual treat and deals with new and novel concepts so i strongly rec watching it, but there's going to be a good 2-3 dozen times you're left with a "wtf why would they do that" and it's not bad writing/production, it's just asians being asians and making decisions that make utterly no sense to us whatsoever

Nope, didnt even know it was based on a movie. Worth a watch then i guess? Probably a good idea wait until after the show now

i binged it while sick recently

shower scene felt way out of place, i liked it, but it was way out of place, then shortly after they have the wholly unnecessary nude pta meeting which served zero plot purpose whatsoever (my guess is they were probably contractually obligated to give that asian girl some screen time so slammed that in much like they brute forced her briefly into an episode of season 2 as well - she also have gained a ton of weight since her last role)

so after seeing all these needless titties out of the blue, i'm now beginning to think perhaps it's a new show runner or they decided to make it sexier a la typical hbo playbook of titties sprinkled in whenever - but then no more

it got renewed for a 4th season last month - but agree that means it could be a while given we had a 2 year break between 2 & 3

did not like the ending

the movie is phenomenal.

they've basically gotten rid of all the best parts from the movie (well obv the acting across the board in the film was elite the musical score awesome and the writing exceptional so there was a bunch they were never gonna be able to replicate) so don't think it matters if you watch the movie they are not including any of the awesome twists in the film so won't get spoiled but it will probably make the series worse so maybe that's reason enough to wait.

but def make sure you watch the movie at some point because it's absolutely fantastic.

Way behind but just binged this show. I thought the twist was a serious "wtf", but ended up liking the series and could go for another season.

BIG discussion containing a spoiler for Presumed Innocent. Do not click if you haven’t read the book / seen the movie.

except so far (and according to every review I've read) they don't introduce anything particularly new or clever or interesting they just got rid of all the best parts of the book/movie.

The Curse. Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone, Benny Safdie.

Only watched the first episode last night, but what an episode it was. I have no way to describe it other than it being a mashup of Fielder and Safdie's minds and senses of humour. Will continue and see where it goes.