Television, drug of the nation

totally guilty pleasure, mentioned it a while ago on this thread.

The BBC4 three-parter on house music is pretty good, doesn’t just regurgitate the usual old clips we’ve all seen before.

First two episodes of kidding down and quite enjoying Jim Carey’s mr Rogers going off the rails so far.

So, last night's #GBBO - wtaf right?

RIP Manon :/

After the first 4 or 5 episodes I thought the new haunting of hill house on netflix was really good, basically a very long haunted house horror movie but as it was episodic they didn't have to cut so many corners in the story and rely solely on cheap scares, they could also build up some tension and play with the story pacing and jump around the timeline to provide backstory and the like.

they were also able to dig into what happens after someone dies and how those around them grieve while the other shit is still going on and the emotional strain of caring for an addict in the family.

sadly when it come to wrapping the whole thing up it feels like they got bored and just tacked on a bittersweet paint by numbers ending that took away all the horror of the slow build up and basically walked back everything that had been remotely scary about the whole show until it was a shitty ghosts of yoda, luke and anakin standing by the fire saying goodbye finale.

worth watching? at episode 5 I would have said absolutely, end of the series eh not so much.

we watched 4 episodes of it on Sunday - my GF wanted to carry on, I wanted out - it just wasn't interesting for me - might persevere for her sake but low expectations

Is saw 5min of it and thought it was shit. Should it be given a second chance?

Finished binge watching S01-S05 Brooklyn Nine Nine. Now have to wait for the new series.

Should it be given a second chance?

As much as any other formulaic dross should be given a chance.

My take on most of this stuff is that if it grabs you enough in the first episode, you may as well stay for the rest.

If not? Forget it.

A harder sell is the non-formulaic stuff (Parks & Rec, for example).

The first few episodes are a bit "whut?", but then you find that you're lamenting the series as it finishes for good.

We worked out the other day that almost all of our favourite "switch brain off" shows are cop-related. Dexter, Breaking Bad, B99, Mentalist, The Bridge (this isn't exactly switch off being sub-titled), I'm currently watching Instinct which is cheesey as shit but all these shows are just for switching off after work so I don't care if they're funny or clever but they have to have something interesting. I've got half a series of Ghosted recorded but have no idea what it's about.

Parks & Rec

?

I watched the first episode of parks and rec and didn't get it at all and the intro made me think it was some shonky cable show, put it aside for about 2 or 3 years before finally getting round to watching it because of the hype, absolutely loved it after that.

I think it relies heavily on running jokes about the characters so it kind of builds up on you as you progress as the wacky stuff is pretty lame when done just because but when it's become wrapped up in the characters other idiosyncrasies it becomes funnier.

I've got half a series of Ghosted recorded but have no idea what it's about.

it's a very dumb comedy, pretty much filler for when you want something on the telly to wind down before bed but dont care what it is so long as it doesnt require any mental capacity.

got 3/4ths throught the first episode and gave up. So much incomprehensible exposition and am-dram acting. off.

"Punch me in the face!"
"Mooooooom!"

I watched the first episode of parks and rec and didn't get it at all and the intro made me think it was some shonky cable show, put it aside for about 2 or 3 years before finally getting round to watching it because of the hype, absolutely loved it after that.

Ditto. I must have watched the first episode about 4 times before making it to episode 2.

I see. I think I recorded it because I saw the guy from Brooklyn99 in it. The car thief. But I only have episodes 7-15 so waiting for tivo to fill in the gaps. If I run out of space first I delete it.

Parks & Rec

?

Give it a go.

Do it.

Michael Schurr devised P&R,
then wrote Brooklyn 99.
His follow up is 'The Good Place'.

What about that fitness show? Saw 5min of that and it looked somewhat quirky. Comedy with Jane what's her face Medicine Woman in it.

you probably missed the "leaving the house for the last time" bit at the end of the episode which is where it pretty much gets going.

as far as acting levels the benchmark for me is other horror fims so it's a low bar. it's not oscar worthy by any stretch but it's done just as well if not better than any of the 30-odd haunted house films in the last 3 years

But he didn't write P&R? There's a lot of filler in B99 but there's some pretty clever gags too.