The TV thread

Could be fun. Love Luis Guzman as Gomez.

 

Started Blackbird, well paced.

 

So, I finally watched The Office. I started it in December and just finished about a week ago. Bittersweet. I loved it, of course, and am amazed at how often I lol'd. Truly. Sitting on the couch laughing. I wonder about one thing though. I spent nine months with Dunder Mifflin. It was fun and it was sad when it ended. How would that have hit though had I spent nine years watching their story? I suspect it would have been more devastating when it ended.

Also, just finished rewatching all of Stranger Things. Really glad I did. I loved season four, but had forgotten so much of the earlier seasons turns out. It was really interesting to watch minutiae from the first seasons play a role in the last two. Really, really well done TV.

 

Now hop onto Severance before S2 starts.

 

For binging vs. week to week - I find the highs and the lows hit harder with the latter, at least for me. "The Office" kind of limps to the finish for me, but it's still a very watchable show, and it gives you catharsis. It's not actively bad, in the way that "How I Met Your Mother" is. But man, "Parks and Rec," "The Good Place" and "Schitt's Creek" all hit really hard at the end for me, because they all stick the landing pretty well.

 

A little bit of James Spader goes a long way. I thought it was better at the end after he left.

 

She-Hulk, Attorney at Law. 10/10, will watch. I want more.

Do-not-miss after the credits scene.

 

Episodes for season 2 of “Reservation Dogs” are dropping Wednesdays on Hulu.

We like the series a lot for its story telling and detailed character development about the lives of four young Native Americans in rural Oklahoma. The cast, crew and writers are predominately Native and bring a fairly rare perspective to a part of America that many folks might not encounter.

 

I thought all the late insertions -- Spader, Maura Tierney, Ferrell -- all detracted from the series. And I like all those people; I just liked the original vibe better.

 

Tehran threw Glenn Close into S2. She didn't make it worse but she didn't really add special pop either.

Tehran earned one more season but needs to end it after that.

 

I just finished the first season of Only Murders In The Building. I expected Martin and Martin to be good. Selena Gomez was the big surprise. She was amazing.

Stranger Things is on my TBW list.

The Office is something I've watch on and off over the years. I plan on watching it straight through at some point.

Having just finished Season 1 of Sandman...meh.
Sturridge is the perfect choice for the title character. The casting was hit or miss. Thewlis as John Dee, Viviane Acheampong as Lucienne, Eddie Karanja as Jed, and John Cameron Mitchell as Hal came to win, and they did. Sturridge is no slouch, but he was steam-rolled by Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death and Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian. They dominated every scene and drew you in by force of art and an embrace of the script. As far as casting goes, the weak points weren't horrible. How should I put this? If you saw the 2013 live broadcast of The Sound of Music, you saw Carrie Underwood try to measure up to Audra McDonald. That's what it felt like watching Jenna Coleman as Joanna Constentine, Razane Jammal as Lyta, and Vanesu Sumenyal as Rose in scenes with better, more experienced performers. They were okay on their own, but put them with stronger performers and you could see where they fell short. I was also not a fan of the Kewpie Doll version of Lucifer. Bleh.

Moments I could have happily missed:
Dream killing Gergory
The man drowning his cat's kittens. (Okay. This one is personal. I had a relative who would do things like that to stray kittens. His kids thought it was hilarious to hear them cry in the garbage can he put them in to take them to the creek. I spent the part of the evening feeling sick and sad.)

Moments I loved:
Gault's (Ann Ogbomo) smile when Dream resurrected her.
Gilbert's (Stephen Fry) insistence on being Rose's knight errant and his transformation back into Fiddler's Green.
All of Hob Gadling's (Ferdinand Kingsley) scenes with Dream.
Finally, the fact that Unity Kincaid (Sandra James-Young) could handle Dream better than anyone save Lucienne.

 

Trying is getting intense and edgy.