The TV thread

Watching season 1 of True Detective which I somehow missed. What a great show and performances by the 2 leads.

 

For some reason, I was watching Monarch with my better half. Until last night.

Susan Sarandon is hyped as the big name in the cast. After episode 1, she hasn't been seen again. And last night, they began using a body double to replace her in a few scenes.

As cheap as anything I've seen in a while. An absolute insult to the viewer.

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obses...it-officially-killed-the-network-drama-review

Monarch just seems to be a countrified version of Empire.

 

I’d never heard of Beth Ditto but it seems like i should have.

 

OK, just started watching the new season of Survivor. Not going to declare it's "over" - but they started playing on "heartstrings" before the first commercial break, Probst acting like he doesn't know each and every one of the contestants names when they're introduced (he's an EP and involved in the casting process) is bogus, while the color coordination kind of helps, I kind of liked it better when people dressed to their personalities - but first and foremost - No "marooning?" Honestly, there was something truly great about teams being forced to work together when they hadn't even met their teammates before, making critical mistakes etc. Again - I'm not even 15 minutes in. And I won't even go into the shorter time period - "for a faster-paced game" the producers say, "to save money on production costs" reality says. They lopped off almost two weeks of the show.

 

Alaska Daily is off to a promising start. The newsroom parts seemed mostly realistic and Hillary Swank is believable in the role. I hope they remember she’s a reporter and not turn the character into a detective.

 

How far along are you?

 

Just started episode 6

 

Ehhhh, I didn't like it. I guess I was hoping for or expecting a whimsical offbeat Northern Exposure atmosphere; it didn't have much of that, except for a couple of lame attempts at humor or slapstick sight gags.
Swank herself seems to be playing her character as aggressively obnoxious; in that regard she's doing great.

The mordant gallows humor of the newsroom resulting from continually contracting budgets, staffing and office facilities, does ring true.

 

Interesting series finale to Kevin Can F—k Himself. I felt this second season started slow but ended strong. There was some fantastic stunt casting in the finale.

 

I tried at the start of the series. And I tried again at the start of this season. But Kevin is just such a total douche that I can't stand watching him.

 

"The Mole" on Netflix is pretty cool (and not just because Alex Wagner is the host). Loved the earlier ABC version (with Anderson Cooper). Really the only reality show I ever liked.