The Amazon Prime Video thread

Actually, if you look up thread, I also like having one show going that’s good in the background. So, something like the Great British Baking Show, or Top Gear or Grand Tour or Giant Beast That is the Global Economy, shows like that, which I can have on while I’m eating or playing with my son, where I don’t have to pay attention to everything that happens. Time Team sounded like a potentially good candidate for that slot.

Oh yes, then, by all means!

Fleabag is 10 times better than Upload.

You should probably also check out the many comedy specials Amazon has added, unless you’re not a stand-up comedy person of course.

The americans was so god damn good. One of my top shows of the decade. And you get to watch the whole story from beginning to end in one go. The last season is possibly the best season of the show too, so it doesn’t pull a battlestar galactica on you.

That depends a great deal on what you’re looking for. They’re not exactly the same subgenre of comedy.

True. I still think it’s a lot better. And I quite like Upload. But Fleabag is one of the very best things on TV in my lifetime.

Stephen Colbert recently had Waller-Bridge on, and just his sincerity of praise for her was so over the top, I thought “wow, I’ve got to watch Fleabag”.

To each their own, of course. As near as I can tell, Fleabag is following in the Seinfeld and Always Sunny model of “everyone on this show is awful, isn’t that hilarious?” which has never really worked for me.

I didn’t make it through the first episode of Fleabag. Just couldn’t stand the characters.

The point about Seinfeld is well-taken. I couldn’t stand that show either. I just don’t enjoy “cringe” comedy. Always Sunny, on the other hand, is so outrageous that I actually enjoy it. The characters are basically cartoons.

The Americans was one of those rare series where the finale didn’t disappoint at all.

Seinfeld and Fleabag utilize awful characters in entirely different ways and toward completely different ends. It’s a little odd to throw them into the same box like that, imo.

I mean, the box in question is “shows full of awful characters that I don’t find funny” so in that sense they’re of a kind. I will freely admit that I don’t really know what Fleabag is trying to accomplish.

I watched the first episode of Fleabag and had a similar reaction. Then when all the praise was being heaped on the second season, I tried again and I’m really glad I did. It puts its ugliest foot forward and then takes its time giving you some context and empathy for Fleabag (although she’s still immensely flawed). I don’t generally like “so awful its funny” humor, but this goes deeper into the character’s brokenness than other comedies. And some of the side characters are priceless.

Yeah, its a bit tough to get into it, but if you stick with the show, the initial “gimmick” of breaking the 4th wall takes on more meaning and thus deepens the show quite a bit with its insight into her character.

Bosch is a police procedural, not a private detective show, but it’s a very good one!

Amen to that.

Regarding Fleabag, a lot does get explained down the line and there is a fair amount of character development/change, as I recall.

I’ve been corona-binging on Prime a lot lately. They have a pretty robust selection these days and their original series have turned out to be pretty good. I watched the latest season of Bosch, which was pretty dark. I then binged The Boys, which was even darker. And now I am watching Tin Star and damn if it isnt dark as hell. I think, once I am done with Tin Star, that I need to find me something a bit lighter in tone.

I’ve been going with Psych as my go to show while making kid lunches, working on something else, etc. I’ve seen quite a few episodes but never watched the whole series. Great stuff!

I love Patriot. Great for black humor.

I thought Catastrophe was better than Fleabag personally, but I haven’t seen Season 2 of the latter.