2018 TV Thread

[whomario]

2017 Version with a side order of 2018: 2017 TV Thread - Front Office Football Central (https://forums.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=90885)


Has anybody watched the first few episodes of The Terror ? Adaptation from Dan Simmons book from 10 or so years back, a fictitious take on the doomed* Franklin Expedition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition), which in 1845 set out to find the Northwest Passage through the arctic.
The book was great, basically taking the few confirmed facts and dates as well as the most popular/probable theories and then filling in the blanks with 1) great character building and 2) a good old fashioned horror plot. Basically i got cold reading it in the middle of summer. The first couple episodes are equally "atmospheric", great acting, visuals and score as well.

The ending got some mixed reactions admittedly. Going to be interesting what direction the TV show takes here and if they incorporate new scientific findings (like a more profound look into Inuit oral history, that contributed to both ships being found in 2014 and 2016, at a considerable distance from each other)

* Which isn't a spoiler even for those not aware of the historical event, the series tells you as much in the first 5 minutes of screen time ;)

[Lathum]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ew.com/tv/2018/09/13/modern-family-character-death-season-10/amp/

Going to be interesting who it is. My money is they hedge a little and kill Dylan. He is in the show enough to be a main player but not a core cast member. Jay seems too obvious. I could see Cam. Seems like his movie career may take off. Could also be one of the kids as they also may have other opportunities. What makes it great is I could make a case for just about any of them.

[RainMaker]

Just finished Jack Ryan the other day. Given all the hype and the actors involved I thought it would be better. It's not bad, just wasn't as deep as I thought. If you like 24 you'll enjoy it. Basically a modern version of that show with the word Fuck being used a lot.

Sharp Objects was good although I have a preference for these limited series. It can be a bit slow at times but I thought the payoff at the end was worth it.

[whomario]

Just finished Jack Ryan the other day. Given all the hype and the actors involved I thought it would be better. It's not bad, just wasn't as deep as I thought. If you like 24 you'll enjoy it. Basically a modern version of that show with the word Fuck being used a lot.



Overall i feel similar. Acting and production value were fantastic, but things felt kinda rushed and some of the plot twists were just stupid and need a whole lot of "suspension of disbelieve". I do think it will work well as an ongoing series.

I felt like they tried to hard to put a moralistic spin on things, making some subplots feel disconnected (especially the drone pilot parts felt forced). I did appreciate how they managed to give us a view of the alienation of the main antagonist and used the story to give a glimpse onto the 'logistics' of the refugee crisis.

As an aside: Nice to see that Chuck Bartowski did indeed end up as a CIA Agent :D (the similarities of the actors in their roles are pretty striking, even speech patterns and body language)

[Shkspr]

So my wife recorded the series premiere of Manifest last night and I watched it with her. It's a slow build, and I can't see it running much more than a season, but I checked out audience reaction in a few fora online, and noticed something that intrigued me. It appears that the consensus among viewers is that the show's formula is cliched and a ripoff of another show, but what amused me to no end is that nobody can agree on what show it's ripping off.

You have your Lost adherents, of course, and several people are already convinced that aliens are to blame, making it a 4400 ripoff. Or, possibly, time travel is involved, making it a Millennium clone. Still another contingent rolled their eyes at the Biblical references that convinced them this is going to be another Touched By an Angel story. Still others are arguing that no, the setup is almost exactly like Fringe. As for me, I reflected several times on the last act of Cast Away.

For now, I think I'll watch it just to see which group is right...and maybe hope just a little bit that a writing staff that can evoke so many different stories that tread similar territory has a trick or two up their sleeve to differentiate themselves from those tales.

[Scoobz0202]

I watched it as well and it was.... alright. I also read some general reaction stuff online and saw quite a bit of the same. Generally, just Lost fans getting their hopes up for another special show and inevitably feeling disappointed based on the pilot. I do agree with some of the criticisms, though.


1.) I, like many I saw, were hoping for more... sci fi? In regards to the plane, it was all very cliche, generic, vanilla response to it. There was no real investigation of it shown as far as discussion or even light scientific talk. And they just throw these people back into real life right away?


2.) My guess is it will go the biblical route and a distant second is Bermuda Triangle route.


3.) The main reason I may not last long is I felt like the dialogue was pretty atrocious at times and the lead chick was very mediocre.

[Butter]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ew.com/tv/2018/09/13/modern-family-character-death-season-10/amp/

Going to be interesting who it is. My money is they hedge a little and kill Dylan. He is in the show enough to be a main player but not a core cast member. Jay seems too obvious. I could see Cam. Seems like his movie career may take off. Could also be one of the kids as they also may have other opportunities. What makes it great is I could make a case for just about any of them.

I heard it was probably going to be a recurring guest star like one of the grandparents. I haven't watched the show in a while, but thought it was interesting enough that I remembered that nugget. So it's probably not a person in the main cast.