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Recommend TV Shows Not From The States. The Sequel


_MJ_

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I just got done watching Atlantis and although it wasn't horrible it was incredibly hokey and predictable not too mention most of the time it lacked any real story telling. I know its made by the same guys that made Merlin and you can tell. Its the same corny humor, monster of the week, chosen one, kind of stuff. Not a lot of it makes sense. Jason knows all of these stories of Madusa and others only when he gets to Atlantis they haven't happened yet. Well how could anyone tell these stories if the events haven't happened yet? Virtually the entire season nothing happened and even less was explained until the final two episodes. I might give it another watch Addy as Hercules was the best part of the entire show. 

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Seventeen Moments of Spring is an eternal favourite of mine. It's a Soviet series from the early seventies about a Russian spy having infiltrated the Nazi intelligence service near the end of the Second World War. It hasn't aged particularly well, I can imagine, but it's still very good and definitely worth a watch.

 

Another overlooked (mini)series is Edge of Darkness. They did a movie with Mel Gibson about it a few years ago, which I thought was decent (if mainly for Ray Winstone), but the series is much better.

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Is Mr. Selfridge any good? I just started looking up what Piven was up to since I thought at one time he was supposed to be a big breakout star from Entourage and outside of that Ace's movie I don't recall him doing much. Turns out he's on some WWI period British show. 

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Is Mr. Selfridge any good? I just started looking up what Piven was up to since I thought at one time he was supposed to be a big breakout star from Entourage and outside of that Ace's movie I don't recall him doing much. Turns out he's on some WWI period British show.

For me, Fair to middling. B-/C+

But i dont really care for Piven.

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-- The Fall (Ireland).  Great 5-parter starring Gillian Anderson.  Plot could have been a standard serial killer procedural, but manages to find a fresh take on the material.  Cast was strong, though mostly unfamiliar to me.  Besides Anderson, the big names were Archie Punjabi (supporting player on the Good Wife) and the guy cast as the lead in 50 Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan.

 

I have a question:

 

How did Gillian's character made the connection that the perpetrator of the rape victim (Archie's friend) is the same guy they're after. I could not figure out how she made that leap.

 

 

Just watched this, and people should definitely check it out. It's on Netflix (in Canada, at least) I had no idea Dornan, who plays the serial killer here, had been cast in 50 Shades of Grey, but I can see what those producers saw in him. He plays a guy who stalks young, successful career women, murders them and then poses them in idealised, almost pornographic, poses. It sounds like somewhat standard psychological serial killer thriller stuff, but it's much better than that. The show has something to say about the role of women in modern life and how they are treated by men - the victims, the killer's motives, domestic violence, sexual attitudes, strong women, etc. The show is genuinely dark too. The murders in particular are quite unsettling, seeming to last much longer than a usual portrayal on screen.

 

As to the spoiler above...

Agreed that it is a pretty huge leap. I guess the thought process is that the Nietzsche quote tied in with a degree in literature, and he obviously matched the profile of a potential serial killer with the same M.O. Still pretty flimsy though.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Is Mr. Selfridge any good?

 

Yeah, I like it anyway and the current series was set during WW1. I think Jeremy Piven's good in it too, he was better in the first series though, as he was acting a bit more OTT & wacky with his ideas for the Selfridge store etc. So I'd start from the first series if you want to watch it and go from there. 

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I started watching UTOPIA when it first premiered, but didn't know if I could keep up with the "Holy shit! what the fuck?!?!" violence in it, so my viewing fell off.

 

I decided to pick it back up when I heard HBO was doing a remake of it, and when trying to figure out where I'd left off, discovered that I'd only seen THE FIRST EPISODE.  So I'll go on record and say that UTOPIA has the best first episode since THE SOPRANOS.  It's pretty tough to get through - Man of Steel is like a My Little Pony cartoon in comparison, but I would definitely recommend it for someone looking to challenge themselves.

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I may have told this story before, but...

 

When Fox announced its new fall line-up, they listed UTOPIA after NEW GIRL and THE MINDY PROJECT.  I was giddy at the thought of a fan of those shows tuning in to the wonderfully horrific first episode of an American version of this show.  I was utterly crestfallen when it was announced it was just another terrible "reality" game show.

 

I think UTOPIA's palette adds to the sense of hopelessness, because all these terrible things are going on in seemingly idyllic, or in the worst case, absolutely normal surroundings.  The following episodes slow down a bit on the batshit violence, but there's still an overarching sense of dread.   If you like BLACK MIRROR (Charlie Brooker's TWILIGHT ZONE, basically) I'd give it a chance.

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Anyone like Ripper Street? It's a police show set in Whitechapel after the last Jack the Ripper killing. It got two seasons on the BBC, was cancelled, then got brought back by amazon funding (BBC are airing season 3 later though.)

 

I'm kind of intrigued to see if they write in the recent news about researchers using DNA to confirm it was the Polish hairdresser guy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There was this show called Marvellous on last week. Toby Jones played Neil Baldwin, he's probably going to win a Bafta for it. Actual Neil Baldwin was in it too, playing himself. I don't want to give anything away, but the review is in the title.

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Is not anywhere legit that I know, but I do love the show Grand Designs. I don't know that it would work in the US (would ruin it by doing "uplifting" backgrounds on the people) but the UK and Australian versions are generally schadenfreude in action as people get in WAY over their heads building crazy ass dream homes.

Actually, the best thing is that 75% of the show is generally "Look at these idiots trying to project manage a building site with no experience" but then the final segment is (if they finished by air time) a tour of the finished home, and the host REALLY knows his stuff when it comes to architecture.

It's gone 14 series, and I think it would do wonderfully as filler/marathon fodder on DIY/HGTV.

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I highly recommend you guys check out Jack Whitehall's sitcom Bad Education. It's one of the best British sitcoms in years. The final season finale aired today and it was amazing. I definitely can't recommend this enough.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

 

-- The Fall (Ireland).  Great 5-parter starring Gillian Anderson.  Plot could have been a standard serial killer procedural, but manages to find a fresh take on the material.  Cast was strong, though mostly unfamiliar to me.  Besides Anderson, the big names were Archie Punjabi (supporting player on the Good Wife) and the guy cast as the lead in 50 Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan.

 

I have a question:

 

How did Gillian's character made the connection that the perpetrator of the rape victim (Archie's friend) is the same guy they're after. I could not figure out how she made that leap.

 

 

Just watched this, and people should definitely check it out. It's on Netflix (in Canada, at least) I had no idea Dornan, who plays the serial killer here, had been cast in 50 Shades of Grey, but I can see what those producers saw in him. He plays a guy who stalks young, successful career women, murders them and then poses them in idealised, almost pornographic, poses. It sounds like somewhat standard psychological serial killer thriller stuff, but it's much better than that. The show has something to say about the role of women in modern life and how they are treated by men - the victims, the killer's motives, domestic violence, sexual attitudes, strong women, etc. The show is genuinely dark too. The murders in particular are quite unsettling, seeming to last much longer than a usual portrayal on screen.

 

As to the spoiler above...

Agreed that it is a pretty huge leap. I guess the thought process is that the Nietzsche quote tied in with a degree in literature, and he obviously matched the profile of a potential serial killer with the same M.O. Still pretty flimsy though.

 

 

Finally got around to seeing The Fall - Season 2 has just started in Ireland this past weekend.

 

Dornan is so well casted in this

 

 

Season 5 of Love/Hate also finished this week - I really hope this was the final season

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  • 1 month later...

There was this show called Marvellous on last week. Toby Jones played Neil Baldwin, he's probably going to win a Bafta for it. Actual Neil Baldwin was in it too, playing himself. I don't want to give anything away, but the review is in the title.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZfC5Uts4_g

 

Apologies for the flag; it's also back on BBC iPlayer for those in the UK or able to pull shenanigans .

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Saw a great doc on BBC4 about the riseof darts in the 70s and 80s. Made by same folks who made the ITV wrestling special last year.

http://youtu.be/TtPQlxR1L38

---

Also just learned the 1950s BBC Quatermass stuff is on youtube. So is the 2005 live play with Mark Gatiss and David Tennant (also Jayson Fleming plays Quatermass).

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Anyone like Ripper Street? It's a police show set in Whitechapel after the last Jack the Ripper killing. It got two seasons on the BBC, was cancelled, then got brought back by amazon funding (BBC are airing season 3 later though.)

 

I'm kind of intrigued to see if they write in the recent news about researchers using DNA to confirm it was the Polish hairdresser guy.

 

I love Ripper Street and it is one of my favorite shows.  News about cancellation was devastating, so I was very happy the show got a second lease on life.

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