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men in power commit life-changing abuse, etc etc

but yeah the depiction of college friends/old friends was great and weirdly not seen that often on screen.

That's interesting, I didn't really catch a particularly prominent theme of abusive men in power. If anything there was a theme of powerlessness, told through the lens of various midlife crises.

Did we watch the same show? The whole story hinges around Claire Danes' breakdown after a male doctor reached into her cervix and broke her waters, while she is asking him not to do so. And how that birth trauma reverberates through her entire life (and by extension, the husband's, and kids').

I'm genuinely flabbergasted that this is seen as somehow not important. Or as 'some really sad stuff'.

Huh? No, that's absolutely accurate, as far as her character goes. But the Lizzy Kaplan character is going through something else totally unrelated, as is the more conventional midlife crisis of Adam Brody. And of course while Jesse Eisenberg is most directly impacted by the aforementioned (which is truly horrifying), he has his own shit to unpack. So no, not saying that wasn't a part of the story, just not a main theme, imo. It is for her particular story, though, for sure.

(To be clear, I wasn't even thinking of that event as an example of "some really sad stuff." I just meant the general ennui faced by the protagonists. What happens to Rachel is definitely a prime mover of the show, and something much worse and more specific than what Brody and Kaplan are dealing with.)

I haven’t watched the premiere yet but I’m really glad that Somebody Somewhere is back. First season was a real delight.

Termination List is even dumber than the Jack Ryan series, I didn't think that was possible.

Started this comedy Jury Duty on Amazon and it’s pretty hilarious so far.

It plays like a documentary and exactly one guy on the jury is an actual dude who showed up for jury duty. But every other juror, the judge, the lawyers and witnesses are all actors.

Thanks for the rec, watching it now. There’s a great bit of casting, haha (It’s on Freevee, btw)

we just started Jury Duty too - v funny, enjoying it so far!

omg that looks great!

ok this should be good: Bob Odenkirk joins S2 of The Bear.

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/bob-odenkirk-the-bear-season-2-1235595584/

Hometown hero!

Yaaaaaay

I'm gonna have to get Hulu again eh?

I don't dislike Bob Odenkirk — I've never watched Better Call Saul, but the movie Nobody was good — but I liked the show as it was and don't think it needs him.

He could definitely chew too much scenery in that cast.

Episode one of Jury Duty was funny! I don't see how that dude could even be fooled by the premise/ruse, but whatever, it doesn't matter.

Seems like they just found the right guy... my wife told me about hearing one of the actors talking about the show on a podcast; he said the ruse worked so well, they (the actors) almost suspected that they were somehow the ones being punked.

I like how it's not a mean-spirited prank thing... it's good-natured (at least what we've watched so far), and yeah, the ruse part of it doesn't even really matter so much, it works as its own thing.

(I can't imagine how they were able to commandeer the Superior Court building for the production...!)

My wife also listened to an interview today with the main guy (Ronald). When asked if he suspected anything, he said so much weird stuff was happening that he thought something may be up... but since he didn't know what it was, that would mean it was all being staged for his benefit, and he just wasn't able to wrap his head around that.

(Sounds like he shared some other interesting details about the production, but I'll save it.)

speaking of Odenkirk, anyone watching Lucky Hank? I've seen a couple enthusiastic reviews but more that are neutral, wondering whether I should bother watching

I love Bob but I couldnt get with that show. I could see the audience that would LOVE it - other college prof/uni worker types - everyone just seemed so awful. Maybe it needs time? I only watched the first 2 eps.

I read the book it was based on, but keep forgetting that it was based on a book I read.

I was less interested in the main white dude than in ... most of the other characters tbh ... he had that anodyne Matt Damon quality where he is likeable, but not particularly interesting ... the sociopathic hired assassin couple was more compelling.

This was one of my problems with The Night Agent (which was grand, really, we zipped through it and I could knit while following it, which is sometimes what I want). If a show is this light and generic, I would like to have someone to fancy, and I could see that you were supposed to fancy lead actor whatshisface, but nope. "Anodyne Matt Damon quality" sums it up very well.

The great thing about Jury Duty is that, in a way, the fact that one guy is not in on the premise is actually not the point. They’re playing him as the straight man rather than the butt of the joke. I love that some characters have storylines with each other that have nothing to do with him.

I’m four eps in and absolutely loving it. I was roaring when the one juror sighs at a witness named Cody.

It’s like if there was one guy on The Office who actually thought he was working for a paper company.

xp Yeah that was so funny... (I'm also 4 eps. in). The way they set up these "storylines" and gags, it's pretty amazing

I had to rewind and watch twice the self-introduction of the blonde influencer / "certified lash tech" on the witness stand, it was so well done. The parade of characters almost plays like a Christopher Guest movie.

I did as well

Christopher Guest vibes otm. It's kind of a neat hybrid, if I understand it correctly. Like, scenes with Ronald have to be a mix of scripted and improvised (when anyone interacts with him). But there are scenes without Ronald that are fully scripted and, I assume, somewhat blocked. A lot (most?) reality shows are in a sense "written" in the editing bay. This one is kind of being written in real time. (Again, only one ep in.)

The judge and bailiff are so convincing, I want to believe they’re not actually actors (I haven’t looked this up).

The judge is Ike Barinholtz's dad (tooth gap should have given it away) and his prior handful of credits are basically all things with his son.

I recognize character actor comedy guy on the jury. Kirk Fox?

Yeah, I instantly recognized him. After a little bit, also recognized Noah (virginal guy) as the college humor mag editor that the Mindy Kaling stand in hooks up with in The Sex Lives of College Girls.

max had a nice bit about it https://maxread.substack.com/i/115972138/a-perfect-new-mixed-reality-sitcom

I also recognized the Sex Lives guy, but couldn't immediately place from where

Biff Wiff at the table that was taking forever at Margaritaville lol

Started watching Mrs Davis on Peacock, the new Lindelof thingo starring Betty Gilpin

it’s kinda fun & weird, i’m into it
tonally sorta like the Preacher tv series crossed with Lodge 49 but cheesier with more Roger Corman vibes

mrs davis rules so far, like if you did all the dumbest pynchon stuff at once love it

lol that’s a great description

Amazon reportedly spent $300 on this stupid-ass looking generic spy show "Citadel"? I saw a trailer for it in the theater the other week, and I figured it was a strait to streaming afterthought. Looked terrible. Like, literally looked bad.

I dunno $300 seems pretty low budget to me.

You can see every dollar on screen.

Don’t think it’s even a dollar a pixel maybe that’s why.

Actual scene:

https://i0.wp.com/www.memoriabit.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/1.png

I only recently started watching Avenue 5 and grew to really like it - once you realise there aren't really any stakes and it's just daft, it flows a lot better. 2nd series poss better than the first.

Friends, there are so many shows to fold laundry to, and many of them don’t rely on the remote being out of reach for viewers to slide into episode 2. Citadel as it exists now is barely entertainment. It’s an invitation to a hotel conference room, where people are about to sell you on a bunch of other shows they’ve got coming.

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23700740/citadel-prime-video-review

A show this stupid needs massively charismatic actors to pull it off. Priyanka Chopra and Stanley Tucci can do it, but Richard Madden is way out of his depth.

Saw a trailer for a new AppleTV prestige sci-fi show “Silo” which looks pretty good… although the presence of a new prestige sci-fi show makes me concerned/frustrated that they still haven’t followed up new seasons of Foundation or Invasion, both coming up on two years old now.