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Recommend TV Shows Not From The States. The Sequel


_MJ_

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Wonderful return to form for Sherlock, not sure if it's enough to make up for the first two, but the third episode was terrific. Not a big fan of Moffat in general, but when he's great, he's really great.

 

"Do your research, I'm not a hero, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Merry Christmas!"

 

Although:

 

No fucking clue how they explain the Moriarty thing.Presumably we're going to get two years of "How Moriarty faked his death" theories like we did with Sherlock.

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Since this topic went so well on the last incarnation of this board, lets get it going again.

 

Right now, I'm watching this BBC show called The Wrong Man.  It's a comedy thriller(wait, don't stop reading!), where this down-on-his-luck type of guy unwillingly gets involved in a kidnapping plot with his loser friend tagging along.  Hulu has the first 6 episodes.

 

I've seen The Returned (Les Revenants) popping up on a bunch of "Best of" tv show lists and the plot has me intrigued.  Anyone seen it?

 

I believe that it only had 6 episodes. Twas quite short - what I saw was fun though.

 

For a comedy, Fresh Meat is quite good.

 

 

Misfits and Fresh Meat, now they should be on your must watch list.

 

I checked out the first two episodes of Fresh Meat through Hulu.  I'm not sure if it's actually good or not, but I'm such a sucker for coming-up-age shows set in a college environment that I'm sure I'll watch the whole thing.

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I still dislike their version of Moriarty.

 

I really like their Moriarty. I tend to prefer Elementary overall, but I think they have the better Moriarty. Andrew Scott is ridiculously great.

 

The one major problem I had with BBC Moriaty:

 

Was the notion that he would kill himself simply as a final "fuck you" to Sherlock. I know the guy was nuts, but he wasn't that nuts. He'd want to be around to know he'd won.

But they have retconned that now, seemingly.

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More Sherlock thoughts:

 

-His Last Vow felt like a good, stylish thriller movie, which has been this show's best quality.

 

-I still don't think this show has any real depth, but the way Magnussen clearly got off on humiliating people was actually one of the darkest things they've done so far. Moriarty might have been a psychopathic mad man, but even he had some villainous flair. Magnussen, however, was just skin-crawlingly petty and mean-spirited. Not a villain you love to hate, just a villain you hate. He was the only thing about this season that felt "real."

 

-The newspaper headlines were a funny easter egg: "Shag-A-Lot Holmes" and "He Made Me Wear the Hat" in particular.

 

-the writers spend way too much times focusing on Sherlock's sexuality considering he never actually does anything about it.

 

-Mycroft hinting there was a another Holmes brother he disposed of was...kinda interesting, I guess. They'll probably just go somewhere ridiculous with it though.

 

-I love how Sherlock

basically shot a guy and got away scot-free.

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Granted, I'm a big Vic and Bob mark, but their new sitcom that started last night - House Of Fools was fantastic. Just an old-fashioned, daft sitcom that I'm fairly sure is filmed in front of a studio audience. Aside from Vic and Bob, it's got Matt Berry, Morgana Robinson, Dan Simonsen and that guy who played Angelos on Shooting Stars.

 

It'll have to go some way to match their opus, Catterick, but it's a good start.

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For the guy who was asking for British Crime drama - Accused. Especially Tracy's Story, if you want to see Sean Bean playing way against type.

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http://www.avclub.com/article/its-elementary-sherlock-how-the-cbs-procedural-sur-200870#

 

Great piece about why Elementary is actually way better than Sherlock these days. Even the first two (enjoyable) seasons of Sherlock were mostly style rather than substance, and the third one 2/3 comedy saved only by a good finale.

 

That said, I still think Sherlock has the way better Moriarty.

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Bouncing all over the UK stuff on Netflix/Amazon/Hulu lately.

 

The Thick of It: Oh man, can't believe I never watched this before.  Up through season 1 (though I inadvertently watched the first ep of Season 4 first) and while some of it goes over my head because the UK system of politics often feels entirely made up in the real world (even though it's probably more sensible than what we use in the States) I'm enjoying it greatly.

 

Little Britain: Another one I'm kind of shocked I missed on its TV run.  Fun, but the seven or eight years of distance keeps it from feeling as revolutionary as I expected based on the way people talk about it.

 

Peep Show: Nope, still can't watch it.  My threshold for cringe comedy is somewhere between The Office and here (Tim and Eric straddle the line, about half of it I think is hilarious and half makes me want to destroy the planet to save us all from it).  Love David Mitchell, love the M&W duo, but even after multiple attempts I can't handle this show. 

 

Coupling: Not as glorious as it felt ten years ago, but "The Girl with Two Breasts" is still a masterpiece of the half-hour sitcom format and Jeff is still a damned fine character.

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I'm also really enjoying The Thick of It.  While I'm not really political, I really enjoy the show and all the machinations and backstabbing.  While I don't think it's great, to me its a show where the parts are greater than the whole.  It's very watchable and incredibly paced.  I really zipped through like three seasons in what felt like 2 and a half hours.  Capaldi is insane as Malcom Tucker.  He's a force of nature on this show.  

 

I agree that Coupling is a really solid show.  Basically the UK's own version of Friends.  I also loved Jeff except at the end I think he became way too much.  I can understand why the actor got tired of playing him.  Still Sally is probably my favorite female TV character of all time.

 

On Sherlock vs. Elementary, I will say that a lot of Sherlock's grandstanding this season got really annoying.  The premiere felt like a massive troll job with a lot of long-winded masturbatory sequences.  It feels like the show has become aware of itself and that's been reflected in the content of the show.  It's gotten very gimmicky.  

 

Elementary on the other hand, while I don't think its a great show, is consistently watchable.  Miller and Liu are a good duo and they have good chemistry.  Miller's casting in the role was actually a big reason that got me to tune-in in the first place.  The focus on Elementary is more on the cases and stories.  My only problem with Elementary is that the seasons are way too long at 20 episodes.  We often see Sherlock and Watson getting involved with cases that IMHO aren't worth their time and any detective in the NYPD could've figured out.  So it has the trapping of a lot of TV procedurals, with a lot of dull and repetitive cases.  Some of the cases they've dealt with on the show are so basic, it doesn't feel worth the great detective's time.  Also because the episode's are shackled to the traditional TV drama five-act episode structure, it causes Sherlock to look a lot more stupid than he should.  He makes a lot of mistakes and false deductions in order to drag out the cases so it fits the structure.  One thing I do like about Sherlock is that it generally marches to the beat of its own drum, typical structure and conventions be damned.

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Don't worry it's not just you who can't watch Peep show, the first few seasons were fine, but it actually gets MORE cringeworthy in the latter seasons, I'd find myself turning over the channel for 2 minutes then flipping back to see if their situation had improved. It hadn't! I have a huge crush on Dobby though.

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One issue with Sherlock is how much they've Mary Sue'd the lead character. He's not Sherlock Holmes anymore, he's James Bond with Aspergers.

 

-All the girls want him.

 

-The guys too

 

-No matter how much of a prick he is, everyone still loves him all the same.

 

-Moriarty appears to have no life outside the guy, as evidenced by the the fact he publicly exposed himself, risked his entire criminal empire and (possibly) even committed suicide soley to screw with Sherlock. You'd think the world's No. 1 criminal mastermind would have other things going on in his life, but no. 

 

-also a top level secret agent with mad fighting/shooting skills and the ability to go undercover (despite a complete lack of social skills) and infiltrate terrorist groups and criminal orgsanizations with relative ease.

 

At least Miller's Sherlock feels like somone who could feasibly exist in the real world, and his characterization isn't Moffat just writing his various fantasies down on paper. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

R.I.P. Roger Lloyd-Pack who passed away today at the age of 69 with pancreatic cancer. Pack was best known for his great character, Trigger in Only Fools and Horses.

Had no idea, so sad.

 

Him calling Rodney "Dave" was hilarious every time.

 

RIP.

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R.I.P. Roger Lloyd-Pack who passed away today at the age of 69 with pancreatic cancer. Pack was best known for his great character, Trigger in Only Fools and Horses.

Had no idea, so sad.

 

Him calling Rodney "Dave" was hilarious every time.

 

RIP.

 

Well said.

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I finished watching the first three series of Fresh Meat.  I enjoyed it and I hope they make a series 4.  The Josie character gets a lot hate, but the actress plays the character very well.

 

The British are not afraid to make their lead characters unlikeable people, huh?  I remember a couple of posters in here said they could not get into The Peep Show because there were too many cringeworthy moments and the leads were detestable.  I think The Peep Show has fun with it and it's worth watching.  The leads only become worse human being as the show goes on though.

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Recently watched two imports I enjoyed highly.

 

-- 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. 

 

-- Rake (Australia).  This was fun.  Much better, and more distinctive than the US version that just started airing on Fox.  God, I wish they simply aired this on US tv.  Better written, probably better acted, and they didn't neuter the main character.  I guess a Fox exec watched the Aus version and decided a adulterous drug addict wouldn't fly as a lead in the US.  Kinnear plays the US lead more as a likeable loser with some issues.  Roxbury's character is truly repellant at times.  Lost in the translation to the US is much of the bite of the series.  The original show is more social satire, an indictment of a system that allows Cleaver Greene to mostly thrive despite himself.  Rake really needed to be brought to cable, not network tv.  The show necessarily had to ditch the sex and drugs of the original, and the result is kinda bland so far. 

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Granted, I'm a big Vic and Bob mark, but their new sitcom that started last night - House Of Fools was fantastic. Just an old-fashioned, daft sitcom that I'm fairly sure is filmed in front of a studio audience. Aside from Vic and Bob, it's got Matt Berry, Morgana Robinson, Dan Simonsen and that guy who played Angelos on Shooting Stars.

This show is so repetitive. I don't personally think it's that good. I also have no idea why they have Matt Berry playing the same exact character in he's played in the IT Crowd and in Toast of London. It was funny in the IT Crowd, but they did a good job of burying the enjoyment of it in Toast of London and it's beyond stale by now.

 

Peep Show: Nope, still can't watch it.  My threshold for cringe comedy is somewhere between The Office and here (Tim and Eric straddle the line, about half of it I think is hilarious and half makes me want to destroy the planet to save us all from it).  Love David Mitchell, love the M&W duo, but even after multiple attempts I can't handle this show. 

 

Coupling: Not as glorious as it felt ten years ago, but "The Girl with Two Breasts" is still a masterpiece of the half-hour sitcom format and Jeff is still a damned fine character.

Like both.

 

And I maybe the only person on the face of the earth who got bored watching the Thick of It.

Watched the first ep. of Lee Mack's new panel show Duck Quacks Don't Echo and I despite enjoying his humor and bits on panel shows, I thought it was underwhelming.

The format is new with having 3 famous panelist bringing strange facts and them analyzing them with them being scored on each.

 

I'll probably watch a couple more eps. either way. Hopefully it gets better.

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I love House Of Fools 10 times more since I first posted that. I think I just like things that are so wilfully stupid.

 

Totally unrelated, I see that Jonathan Meades has a new thing on BBC4 this week, about Brutalist architecture. He makes these rambling, stylish documentaries that are usually about architecture. I've been going through youtube watching a lot of his stuff I hadn't seen and I just can't get enough. Fascinating stuff even if, like me, you're not at all knowledgeable on the subject. His film about Surrealism is a total head fuck too.

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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.

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