It also is a big boon to those of us with ADHD. Something to help keep us focused.
I turn it off for anything live or just a few hours old, like Colbert’s monologue / interviews, SNL etc. because the algorithm just can’t keep up.
Maniac (with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill) is a couple years old but is among the better things I’ve seen on Netflix.
I enjoyed Maniac a lot. Very creative storytelling.
Put me down as a Maniac fan as well.
Anyone seen the new Dead to Me?
I rather liked the first one, at least while the main characters were this awesome duo helping each other go through life.
Yeah, I’ve watched a couple of episodes of S2. Interesting new reveal, and I really like that they aren’t afraid to shoot Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini in an unglamorous light.
While I haven’t finished it, it looks like they’re moving away from black comedy and toward straight drama, which I’m not sure is the best direction for them. I’m enjoying it, though.
Drama is so much easier than comedy. It can be totally derivative and yet, still draw you in. Comedy shows can’t.
I was a little disappointed in the tonal shift as well, but the comedy picks up some at the end. Still a good season, if not as strong as the first.
Bluddy
1593
Haven’t watched S2 yet, but my reaction at the end of S1 was “they’re really taking this concept into another season?”.
Uncut Gems is now on Netflix. Got too tired to finish it last night, but it’s very good and super tense, as advertised.
Was not expecting to see Tig Notaro in Star Trek
Anyone else watch Hollywood, the 7-parter by Ryan Murphy?
As a fan of the “golden age” of pictures, I thought it started out strong but degenerated into a mashup of old-school cliches (pimp with a heart of gold!) and an attempt to make the 1946 studio system appear “woke” (I’m pretty sure “actress of color” wasn’t a term anyone used back then).
Plus if I had a hand in Rock Hudson’s estate I’d be suing.
I watched the first couple of episodes of Hollywood. Good-looking, and I really liked the setting. But false, predictable (what I saw of it) and dumb, and not in a good way.
I didn’t hate it. But it dropped off my list when the new season of Dead to Me arrived, and then a friend convinced me to give Schitt’s Creek another try.
Yeah, it morphed into a 2020 version of what 1946 Hollywood “should” have been, then tacked on a contrived, fairy-tale ending.
Pfui.
Tim_N
1599
I completely agree, it started off good enough but by the end it was terrible. The last episode was the most self-congratulatory pat-ourselves-on-the-back hour of wishful fantasy I think I have ever seen in a TV show. It was like the last 40 minutes of Return of the King extended edition but without having deserved it.
I ran across a nice short comedy series yesterday. Middleditch & Schwartz. It’s 3 30-minute improv shows from the guy who plays the lead in Silicon Valley and the guy who played Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Rec.
They ask the audience for ideas when they grab an idea, they spend about 5-10 minutes grilling the person, getting more detail, background, etc. Then they begin around 20 minutes of improv, using the ideas. My wife loves comedy and doing improv so it hit the spot.
Improv is very hit or miss but these guys are good at it, and the episodes are short enough that just when you’re getting a bit weary, it’s over! We saw the first two last night and will finish it up tonight.
Aren’t all three episodes an hour? I watched the first one and really enjoyed it, and it certainly doesn’t feel like an hour.
I thought the first two or 30 minutes each but it’s possible I was wrong.
DeepT
1603
Has anyone watch the Medici series? I just have a question about season 2 vs season 1.
Is season 2 just some kind of reboot? At first I thought they simply went back in time and were showing things like 20 years prior to season 1, but then the father figure dies in season 2 which kind of makes it impossible to be a prequel to season 1.
