The Glass Teat, or 'Television'

Picard is not worth a watch. The recommendation I got was “watch part of S1, skip S2, and watch S3 because it’s fan service.” So I did that. Still not worth it.

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Lately, I find that I prefer my ST and SW content to come with fewer risks. I’ve grown tired of writers and directors “subverting expectations” just for the hell of it.

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Yeah, I watched all of Picard. It required second-screening for me.

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I liked Picard, Season 3 was a lot of fun for the fan service, but I thought the whole thing was entertaining.

I have been working my way through Discovery, it has been my airplane series (my wife was not interested and I am traveling on business between NY and SF a lot lately) and I am really liking it. I am 5 episodes into season 2 and it really reminds me of the writing for DS9, which is my favorite ST series.

Will wait to finish Discovery before I get into Strange New Worlds.

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OH. Ok, sold. I watched the first couple eps when they came out and decided I hated it for some reason. But DS9 is the gold standard Trek IMO, so I clearly need to give this another chance. Thanks Ken!

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I wanted to like Picard a lot. Like really wanted it to be good. But it’s just not. The casting was terrible (aside from returning Trek people), the dialogue is about 50/50 between “perfectly fine” or “embarrassing”, and while they set up a pretty interesting long arc, they seem to lose the thread a lot.

S2 is painful. S3, as noted by others here, is fun but tonally different than S1 and S2 IMO. And I was ok with that. Enterprise’s last season was a lot different (and way better) than the seasons that came before it, so I can roll with shifts on a show. I guess I wanted PIcard to break some new ground and feel like a show from 2020-something rather than a show they could have made in 1990-something.

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This is a general statement but I can tell you it was prompted by Yellowstone S3E10.

I do not know why writers cannot hire professional advisors to give even a modicum of believability to professional jargon. I’m an attorney and the legal jousting in Yellowstone makes my brain bleed. The stuff in the mentioned episode is absolute nonsense. Heck, they can fly me out there and I’ll tell them how Trusts and Powers of Attorney 101 works. They can give me a cameo or something.

My wife is a medical professional and she gets just as irritated with a show that fumbles medical jargon.

I understand that the writers are trying to create drama and it probably works with most lay people but it can’t be that hard to find someone who can give you a little advice on at least getting basic concepts right…

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My predicament now is that I’d like to read the e Silo books but don’t know if that will ruin the show for me, or if knowing how the story will progress will ruin the shared viewing experience with my wife. It could take years for a TV resolution, though…

I suppose I could just read Wool and then try to not pick of the subsequent books.

IMHO the follow ups were some of the best parts of the story.

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I agree with Jon. Wool felt, in retrospect, like a lot of set-up for some great stuff that came after.

I know that’s not helpful… : /

You better knock up a gallows, gents, because I thought the books were awful.

I can’t even right now.

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Daisy Jones and The Six, Amazon Prime.

10 episode miniseries based on the book of the same name, which in turn was based loosely on the trials and tribulations of Fleetwood Mac. Told in an interview / narrated style, it reminded me a bit of the movie The Commitments.

There’s some good music in this and the acting is overall decent. Riley Keough has a great voice (she’s Elvis’ granddaughter, so she should?) and Suki Waterhouse is easy on the eyes. The rest of the cast plays well together and makes for a good show overall. It won’t change your life, but it was an entertaining ten hours of television.

Knowing the backstory behind Fleetwood Mac and also having half a brain, you can see where the show is going; however, just because you know the destination doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable.

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Oh goodness yes. Mrs StC and I are both intellectual property professionals, and have a mutual cringe whenever anything patent-related is a plot point. There was one episode of Suits that was particularly unbearable. The thing is, it’s not that hard to get right, or at at least use the right terminology. Just ask a pro. :grimacing:

On topic, part way through Poker Face. @OhBollox damned it with faint praise unthread, but i rate it rather better than okay. Episode 1 was a rather neat heist caper story. A couple of episodes so far have done the Knives Out/Glass Onion narrative twist of showing you the same story twice. For bonus darkness, Charlie inadvertently causes some of the deaths she investigates. Not going to argue with with „quirky“, but I mean it in a good way.

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Thanks to @biffpow and @js619 for the Diplomat recs. Watched it, loved it. I agree it’s not perfect, and found some those imperfections irritating, but it feels surprisingly fresh. That counts for a lot.

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As the thread has reminded me, I am now watching The Diplomat. It’s good. Keri Russell is excellent.

Am I rewatching Peep Show?


I identify more with it every passing day.

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Hijack, on Apple TV+ since they couldn’t come up with a different name for the streaming platform versus the hardware so now I’m forced to type a +.

5 episodes out of 10 in and I’m forced to echo comments above re: Yellowstone on lazy fucking writers / directors / whoever is responsible for this could have been a good show ruined by sloppy and inept weapon handling, tactics, and just plain common goddamned sense. Spoilers ahead.

Summary

The trigger discipline is absolutely fucking absent. Every. Single. Bad guy. Has their finger on the trigger of their handguns. All. The. Time. Even bad guys practice safe weapon handling ffs.

No one has holsters. Not a one. I get it, you want to be intimidating, but it’s a six hour flight people. You’re gonna hold that thing for the entire time? Ah, I see, let’s just shove it in the BACK OF OUR PANTS movie style. You know why you don’t see anyone do that? Cause it’s fucking insecure, that’s why - the weapon will either fall into your sloppy ass crack or get GRABBED BY THE GUY BEHIND YOU THAT YOU DIDN’T SEE CAUSE HE’S BEHIND YOU.

You walk in and see two dudes dressed like Walter White in full hazmat gear and still decide to go upstairs and check on your friend who everyone else knows is fucking dead in the bathroom? Come the fuck on here.

The bullet drawing killed me. You couldn’t google that most blanks are flat on the front? What the guy drew was a full metal jacket and what could’ve been a blank but was more likely a penetrator type bullet which are popular with some of the hunting crowd but also not really cause they cost a fortune and really fuck. shit. up.

The scene where the fighter pilots see the hijacker but just diddle back to base cause the choices are shoot the plane down or fuck off for a cuppa? No escort? No? Armed guys on the plane, okey-doke, let’s let the ground folk sort it out la-de-dah.

I’ll keep watching cause it feeds my vitriol but lord’s sake, this is trash.

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Trigger discipline is one of the first things I notice in a show and it is so obvious from such a simple thing which shows have lazy writers/directors/actors.

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https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000349851463.html

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BTW, just because I am in an ornery mood this morning -

Wheel of Time Season 2? I am enjoying it just like I did Season 1. And those of you who hated Season 1, would double hate Season 2!

:laughing:

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