Television (no longer temporary)

[serrano]

Ted Lasso still rules.

I cannot wait to watch this Xmas episode in December! It is absolutely perfect.

[Pruitt]

Ted Lasso still rules.

I cannot wait to watch this Xmas episode in December! It is absolutely perfect.

I HATE Christmas shows.

But my God, that was so sweet and funny that it made me smile.

[Ryan]

“What if we put out a Xmas episode in the middle of a summer streaming season and 1/3 of it is about an 8-year-old’s bad breath?”

“They’ll fucking love it”

[Pruitt]

White Lotus finale...

[+] spoiler

Loved it. Poop scene and all!

[tennbengal]

[+] spoiler

She ended up back w/ the guy. Just...fuck.

[Pruitt]

[+] spoiler

She ended up back w/ the guy. Just...fuck.

[+] spoiler

Looks aside, she was a pretty vacant and not very sympathetic person. Mid-20s, aimless, bad at her chosen profession. Nicole ripped into her for her sloppy unprofessional "listicle" writing. And she went through a courtship with him and his awful mother and must have enjoyed the lifestyle to even get married. She is as suited for the lifestyle as teen "rebel" Olivia is. To be honest, I had more sympathy for Shane in that last scene.

[tennbengal]

I don't have sympathy for her. I hated her choice. Her surrender.

[Pruitt]

I don't have sympathy for her. I hated her choice. Her surrender.

[+] spoiler

Poor Armand

[brian]

Mike Schur is going to be doing a Field Of Dreams series for Peacock.

[The Sybian]

Mike Schur is going to be doing a Field Of Dreams series for Peacock.

Don't try to tell me it'll be free.

[brian]

Mike Schur is going to be doing a Field Of Dreams series for Peacock.

Don't try to tell me it'll be free.

It’s free for me so not sure what your deal is honestly. I setup a (free) account and can watch all of P&R, The Office etc

[A_B]

I thought only the first three seasons or so were free on peacock.

[brian]

I thought only the first three seasons or so were free on peacock.

Yeah I honestly don’t know what the deal is. I was able to watch an ep from the last season of P&R the other day.

[sancarlos]

I thought only the first three seasons or so were free on peacock.

Yeah I honestly don’t know what the deal is. I was able to watch an ep from the last season of P&R the other day.

The damn lib media givin’ free stuff to the mexcans .

[brian]

Just saw the White Lotus finale as well.

[+] spoiler

Way I looked at it is all of the rich guests ended up “fine” despite how horrible they were and all of the staff were destroyed to varying degrees especially poor Armand.

[brian]

I mean White doesn’t beat you over the head with it but a pretty good analogue for how things work in the year of our lord 2021.

[brian]

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that watching this the last few days has given my wife — who used to work in one of the most expensive resorts in the United States — a bit of PTSD.

[tennbengal]

I mean White doesn’t beat you over the head with it but a pretty good analogue for how things work in the year of our lord 2021.

Yes. Brilliant writing , really.

[The Sybian]

Mike Schur is going to be doing a Field Of Dreams series for Peacock.

Don't try to tell me it'll be free.

It’s free for me so not sure what your deal is honestly. I setup a (free) account and can watch all of P&R, The Office etc

I set up a free account and watched some stuff. Almost all of what I'd want to watch has a purple banner with a white feather, meaning it's for Premium members.

ETA: Actually curious now. P&R I can watch the first two seasons, 3-7 subscription only. Office, first 5 seasons free, last 4 require subscription.

Looks like Premium is $5/month with ads, Premium Plus is $10/month for ad free.

[P.D.X.]

Seems like ads are creeping into pay services more and more. Poppycock has always been like that but Prime has gotten really bad.

[The Sybian]

Seems like ads are creeping into pay services more and more. Poppycock has always been like that but Prime has gotten really bad.

Interesting, I've been getting a brief trailer for Prime Original shows, but there is a skip button, so not an issue.

[P.D.X.]

Oh I rarely watch any of their own content. I've noticed it mostly with movies lately.

[brian]

Watching Dave now and the second season is vastly superior, definitely one of the best shows of 2021. Realized Ben Sinclair (of High Maintenance) joined as a producer and occasional director and feels like you can really sense his influence.

[Giff]

Watching Dave now and the second season is vastly superior, definitely one of the best shows of 2021. Realized Ben Sinclair (of High Maintenance) joined as a producer and occasional director and feels like you can really sense his influence.

Ah no shit! I was happy to see him make an appearance, but didn't realize he was doing things behind the camera.

[The Sybian]

Watching Dave now and the second season is vastly superior, definitely one of the best shows of 2021. Realized Ben Sinclair (of High Maintenance) joined as a producer and occasional director and feels like you can really sense his influence.

Nice. I really enjoyed the first season, been meaning to start season 2. I love High Maintenance, so I'm intrigued.

[wlu_lax6]

Doing a good bit of FX on Hulu...ads on hulu are the WORST. 90 seconds worth of ads that come nearly every 2 minutes. And the ad inventory is low so WAY too much J.B. Smoove as cesear, Dell, and such. Nothing like watching something with my son and he looks at me and says.."you would think with today's technology and profile they would know dating apps, women's pharmaceuticals, and that cat food are wasted spend".

[Pruitt]

Similarly, I don;t even bother recording stuff from AMC.

The amount of ads is astounding and the frequency seems to pick up as the show goes on.

[The Sybian]

Doing a good bit of FX on Hulu...ads on hulu are the WORST. 90 seconds worth of ads that come nearly every 2 minutes. And the ad inventory is low so WAY too much J.B. Smoove as cesear, Dell, and such. Nothing like watching something with my son and he looks at me and says.."you would think with today's technology and profile they would know dating apps, women's pharmaceuticals, and that cat food are wasted spend".

Oh, maybe I should have continued DVR'ing Dave instead of planning to watch on Hulu.

[tennbengal]

The new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm sounds wild....

[DaveInSeattle]

Ted Lasso still rules.

I cannot wait to watch this Xmas episode in December! It is absolutely perfect.

We watched it last night. And yeah...it was super weird to watch a Christmas episode in August. My GF asked 'Why didn't they do a Ted Lasso Christmas Special and release it in December?'.

But it was funny. We laughed a bunch. Few observations:

• Roy Kent is the best character. Turns out the actor, Brett Goldstein, has a podcast called 'Films to be buried with'.

• I wonder if Hannah Waddingham has it in her contract to get at least one singing bit a season.

• I'm pretty sure footballers don't drink that much on Christmas when they have a boxing day match.

[The Sybian]

Just saw the White Lotus finale as well.

[+] spoiler

Way I looked at it is all of the rich guests ended up “fine” despite how horrible they were and all of the staff were destroyed to varying degrees especially poor Armand.

Thanks to all who mentioned the show, would have slipped through my radar, and I really enjoyed it. Horrible, but realistically portrayed people. I think the only likable character in the end was Belinda, the Spa manager. Maybe Kai, too, he was a good kid who made some bad decisions for the right reasons (and pressured by lust, in a way). I guess Greg was a likable guy, but didn't get to know him all that well.

I just couldn't get over Pete from the Office being the Ivy League rich asshole. Actor was brilliant, but I just kept thinking "Pete, what happened to you!" One scene made me think he was an evil Andy Bernard, then the next scene he is in he is wearing a Cornell hat! Wonder if that was intentional.

I have been vaguely aware of Alexandra Daddario for a long time, but that's the first thing I've ever seen her in (excluding her credit as "another woman" in an episode of the Sopranos". She reminds me a lot of Tiffany Amber Thiessen.

[+] spoiler

-Armand may have been spared a hellish downward spiral, I did feel for him though.
-Really shitty how Steve Zahn redeemed himself and gained everyone's respect and love by one act. Realistically, he did nothing other than get punched. The whole family walks away happy while Kai probably goes to prison.
-So shitty how Jennifer Coolidge's character fucked over Belinda after all she did to help her. Just dropped her instantly when Greg came along. Ultimately, probably saved her, imagine going into business with that insecure nut bag?
-I agree with Rachel not being sympathetic. I wanted to like her, but while she doesn't want to be a trophy wife, she really offers little beyond her looks. Not very bright, no opinions, just blandly pleasant. She had to see what a horrible cunt her husband was, and his mother! Fuck. I usually can't stand Molly Shannon, but she played it perfectly, I could see her playing that character way over top and ruining it.

[Nonlinear FC]

White Lotus stuff:

[+] spoiler

* - I didn't really have a ton of sympathy for Armand. As much as the husband was an absolute piece of shit, Armand fucked up the reservation, and instead of doing what most 5* resorts would've done (which is admit the mistake and upgrade them/comp the shit out of at least part the stay/etc.), he doubles down and basically calls the guest a liar. Again, I get that he was doing it because the husband was being a prick, but, c'mon... Easily half the people with that kind of money come through with shitty demeanor.

He then proceeds to steal what probably amounted to a couple of thousand dollars worth of drugs. All he had to do was siphon off a percentage and just give it back and all that drama would've been squelched. I know that's not great storytelling, but if we're picking things apart... That just annoyed me. He's in Hawaii, it's not hard to get your hands on drugs.

* - You could see where the Belinda storyline was going almost the second it started taking shape. Just going to agree with the character and whoever said it upthread: There's no good long-term outcome that doesn't end in misery if Belinda gets tangled up with that (self-admitted) nutjob. I actually thought that her self-awareness made her one of the more sympathetic characters by the end.

* - Overall, what really made the show was the incredible casting. Whether you liked or loathed a given character, they really fit the part across the board.

[brian]

[+] spoiler

My wife (the former spa employee) didn’t really feel a whole lot of sympathy for Belinda, partly because like you guys said she dodged a bullet and partly because that was a shitload of money she was given. Money doesn’t excuse stringing her along a little but if you’re a massage therapist you’re used to getting stiffed on tips from rich assholes. A rich asshole giving you a $10K (or so from the looks of it) tip for wasting your time is NOT a tragedy relatively speaking.

[The Sybian]

[+] spoiler

My wife (the former spa employee) didn’t really feel a whole lot of sympathy for Belinda, partly because like you guys said she dodged a bullet and partly because that was a shitload of money she was given. Money doesn’t excuse stringing her along a little but if you’re a massage therapist you’re used to getting stiffed on tips from rich assholes. A rich asshole giving you a $10K (or so from the looks of it) tip for wasting your time is NOT a tragedy relatively speaking.

[+] spoiler

Excellent point, but she let herself believe she had a ticket out of her current life. I get her being disappointed, and she was initially not trusting, her son talked her into trusting a rich white lady, and she got burned. All that said, she got way too excited way too quickly from a clearly wacky person saying "you should have your own business, I want to back it." You hear something like that, you should expect a way lower than 1% chance it ever happens. And the wad of cash is ultimately better than the hell of working with her.

As a side note, I loved that she got fed up and walked out on Rachel needing advice.

[Pruitt]

White Lotus stuff:

[+] spoiler

* - I didn't really have a ton of sympathy for Armand. As much as the husband was an absolute piece of shit, Armand fucked up the reservation, and instead of doing what most 5* resorts would've done (which is admit the mistake and upgrade them/comp the shit out of at least part the stay/etc.), he doubles down and basically calls the guest a liar. Again, I get that he was doing it because the husband was being a prick, but, c'mon... Easily half the people with that kind of money come through with shitty demeanor.

He then proceeds to steal what probably amounted to a couple of thousand dollars worth of drugs. All he had to do was siphon off a percentage and just give it back and all that drama would've been squelched. I know that's not great storytelling, but if we're picking things apart... That just annoyed me. He's in Hawaii, it's not hard to get your hands on drugs.

* - You could see where the Belinda storyline was going almost the second it started taking shape. Just going to agree with the character and whoever said it upthread: There's no good long-term outcome that doesn't end in misery if Belinda gets tangled up with that (self-admitted) nutjob. I actually thought that her self-awareness made her one of the more sympathetic characters by the end.

* - Overall, what really made the show was the incredible casting. Whether you liked or loathed a given character, they really fit the part across the board.

[+] spoiler

Agree with you about Armand. The morning after he fell off the wagon the first time he told Belinda that he couldn't control himself around pills and booze. He had a chance to get rid of the drugs but didn't. And an addict's personality would have made this very hard, but he turned into a monster.

And the acting was great throughout. Especially Murray Bartlett (Armand) and Jennifer Coolidge

[A_B]

Nickelodeon has some show called Young Dylan unfiltered they are promoting. Unfortunate timing.

[brian]

Good article about upcoming season three of What We Do In The Shadows (if you can deal with Rolling Stone's 9,000 videos and ads).

[Pruitt]

Watched the first 2 episodes of "Shmigadoon" on Apple TV. Laughed my fool head off. Absolutely amazing.

[Nonlinear FC]

Somewhat of a profile on Brett Goldstein, AKA Roy Kent from Ted Lasso.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-feat ... WSLaiJV44Q

Pru - Dude is from a Spurs family.

[Pruitt]

Somewhat of a profile on Brett Goldstein, AKA Roy Kent from Ted Lasso.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-feat ... WSLaiJV44Q

Pru - Dude is from a Spurs family.

No wonder he plays angry so well.