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JULY 2017 TV THREAD


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I watched the first two episodes of The Gong Show this week.  It's fun when the judges are having fun (And NO ONE has more fun than Ken Jeong or Elizabeth Banks, they just seem to be greately amused by everything!), but the whole thing feels a little too pre-conceived and set up in order for certain acts to win or get gonged.  Also, as for the host, was baffled but mildly amused by Tommy Maitland having no idea that

it's Mike Myers in makeup pretending to be a British comedian.  I mean, it sounds exactly like him, he keeps yelling "Cheeky monkeys!" but I just assumed Myers had stolen the line from an old British comic I'd never heard of who had some really awful face lift.  My mom watched it for like 2 minutes before saying "That's a guy in a mask", googling it and finding out it was Myers.  I feel like kind of idiot, in all honesty.

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6 hours ago, EVA said:

I feel like it'll be difficult to capture that lightning in a bottle again, and they'll probably get way too cute with all the references...but I'm still ALL THE WAY IN on that.

We only caught a couple of quick glimpses, but Steve's hair still looks amazing, so I think everything's going to be fine.

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Season 2 of LAST CHANCE U quietly went up on Netflix this weekend.  I know we had a group of viewers here during season 1 who might be interested.  

And if you didn't watch season 1...what the fuck are you doing with your life?  Season 1 was a masterpiece of reality television that transcended it's humble premise (a documentary about an ultra-successful junior college football program that is the "last chance" for many troubled players) and became a bellwether for where our culture is at when it comes to the intersection of sports, education, and race.  At once thought-provoking and massively entertaining, featuring one of the best (worst?) villains on TV in head coach Buddy Stevens.  MANDATORY VIEWING.

It seems almost impossible for the second season to measure up, but I'm anxious to see how it plays out.  The first episode is largely about everyone at East Mississippi reacting to their newfound fame, for good and for ill.  Stevens finds himself trying on a new face as a more soft-spoken "players coach" who gives himself pushups when he swears, and I imagine much of the tension/entertainment of this new season will be anticipating the moment he has a meltdown and reverts back to his old ways.

Part of me worries that moment will never come and what we'll be getting in season 2 is the antiseptic version of events, that everyone will be more self-conscious of the cameras and we'll lose a lot of the unvarnished truth that made season 1 so special.

The top player to watch for is DeAndre Johnson, former Florida State QB who was kicked off the team for punching a woman at a bar.

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I saw that pop up a couple days ago. I just need to find the time to get into it.

Yeah, it's really good. I was expecting the first season to be like Go Tigers! and it's not quite like that. It's also not as anger inducing as a couple other documentaries on Netflix where the focus is on kid athletes. At least with Last Chance U, I don't feel like throwing something.

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17 hours ago, caley said:

I watched the first two episodes of The Gong Show this week.  It's fun when the judges are having fun (And NO ONE has more fun than Ken Jeong or Elizabeth Banks, they just seem to be greately amused by everything!), but the whole thing feels a little too pre-conceived and set up in order for certain acts to win or get gonged.  Also, as for the host, was baffled but mildly amused by Tommy Maitland having no idea that

 

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it's Mike Myers in makeup pretending to be a British comedian.  I mean, it sounds exactly like him, he keeps yelling "Cheeky monkeys!" but I just assumed Myers had stolen the line from an old British comic I'd never heard of who had some really awful face lift.  My mom watched it for like 2 minutes before saying "That's a guy in a mask", googling it and finding out it was Myers.  I feel like kind of idiot, in all honesty.

 

Lol, you should :P I saw the first  commercial and thought "why is (spoiler) aping some old British comedian?"

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I don't get the point of a new version of The Gong Show. The joy of the Gong show was how bottom of the barrel and cheap it was... also how coked out of his mind Chuck Barris was

James

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10 hours ago, EVA said:

Season 2 of LAST CHANCE U quietly went up on Netflix this weekend.  I know we had a group of viewers here during season 1 who might be interested.  

And if you didn't watch season 1...what the fuck are you doing with your life?  Season 1 was a masterpiece of reality television that transcended it's humble premise (a documentary about an ultra-successful junior college football program that is the "last chance" for many troubled players) and became a bellwether for where our culture is at when it comes to the intersection of sports, education, and race.  At once thought-provoking and massively entertaining, featuring one of the best (worst?) villains on TV in head coach Buddy Stevens.  MANDATORY VIEWING.

It seems almost impossible for the second season to measure up, but I'm anxious to see how it plays out.  The first episode is largely about everyone at East Mississippi reacting to their newfound fame, for good and for ill.  Stevens finds himself trying on a new face as a more soft-spoken "players coach" who gives himself pushups when he swears, and I imagine much of the tension/entertainment of this new season will be anticipating the moment he has a meltdown and reverts back to his old ways.

Part of me worries that moment will never come and what we'll be getting in season 2 is the antiseptic version of events, that everyone will be more self-conscious of the cameras and we'll lose a lot of the unvarnished truth that made season 1 so special.

The top player to watch for is DeAndre Johnson, former Florida State QB who was kicked off the team for punching a woman at a bar.

I cannot second the recommendation to watch season 1 enough. It's a good show and then, halfway through, it just goes absolutely off the rails bonkers. Must see TV. 

I've just started season 2 myself. 

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I just finished watching all of the new Netflix show Ozark.  For obvious reasons it's getting a lot of Breaking Bad comparisons.  It centers around  a law abiding middle class man who uses his skill set to get in over his head with a criminal enterprise (in this case, an investment banker who winds up laundering money for a drug cartel).  There are also lots of parallel characters and plot points to BB and while it's not on the same level it's a really good show.  With only 10 episodes it's got just the right amount of time to tell a story with no extraneous filler.  The acting, even that of the kids, is quite good and all the characters are pretty well fleshed out.  Plenty of them are awful people but it does a good job of explaining or hinting at their backstories and motivations.

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11 hours ago, J.H. said:

I don't get the point of a new version of The Gong Show. The joy of the Gong show was how bottom of the barrel and cheap it was... also how coked out of his mind Chuck Barris was.

The joy of the Gong Show was finally figuring out that Gene Gene The Dancing Machine and The Unknown Comic were on the payroll and weren't just guys at first not succeeding and trying again.

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So I am binging on King Of The Hill right now. My most interesting character is Peggy. She breaks so many molds and tropes of the TV mom. She was the first female lead on an animated show that was arrogant, boisterous and obnoxious. But at the same time she was never stupid. She was just a fairly intelligent person who greatly overestimated herself. 

That said there is a big difference in Peggy before season 3 and after. Naturally the real world explanation is writers fine tune and develop characters. But I found there is an in universe reason too. 

When Peggy fell out of that plane and broke her body, her brain broke too. I have heard when someone suffers a physical trauma that it effects the mind as well. The brain is putting so much energy into healing the body, that some mental illness grows worse. 

In Peggy's case it was her ego. Pre plane crash Peggy had a healthy ego that was right on the edge of arrogance and occasionally got her in trouble. 

Post crash, every slight against her ego is an international incident. Pre crash, she expressed jealousy at an inanimate object and a dog. Post crash Peggy had an insane jealous fit that her own son was a better cook than her. 

Actually Peggy's most insane moment might have been her riding a bicycle in pajamas holding an uncooked turkey. 

Next Time: Is Hank Hill autistic? 

No no he is not. 

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2 hours ago, Victator said:

I think Hank is based on him never offering Bobby a hand gun to kill a panda. Though I do baby the children in my family like Dale does Joseph.

Hank could never show Bobby how to use pocket sand though.

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I'm two episodes into the second season of Last Chance U, and it is just as interesting as the first season so far.  The thing that really kills me when watching this show is how much you like the players, despite some of them doing absolutely heinous things.  D'Andre Johnson, who is best known for punching a woman in the face, is seemingly the most mature person at the school.  He legitimately seems like the last person on earth who would haul off and punch a woman in the face.  The scene with his parents discussing him punching that woman was heartbreaking.  His mom could barely form sentences about it, you can see the disappointment on her face.  I don't know what is going to happen with him in the future, but I'm rooting for him.  I hate calling something as egregious as punching a woman in the face a mistake.  He made a decision to punch that woman, it wasn't an accident.  With that said, he made that decision as a 19-year-old and I don't think a terrible decision you make at 19 makes you unredeemable as a person.  

Chauncey Rivers, a kid who got kicked out of Georgia because he couldn't stop smoking weed, has a 3.8 gpa, and seems to be a monster on the field.  He had a really poignant moment int he first episode where he asked the academic advisor, "why do all the kids from Mississippi, think that you have to go to JUCO first?  It must be the school system."  That kid has no business whatsoever being in a junior college, and he knows it more than anyone.  

 

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Funny you mention Last Chance U b/c I just started watching it too. It's kind of frustrating/heart breaking to watch b/c on on the one hand you want to reach through the screen and shake them for being fucking morons (why buy headphones instead of the goddamn books you're supposed to get?!) but on the other you see the fucked up circumstances a lot of them grown up in. 

Oh and the academic adviser lady is hot as hell.

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The makers of LAST CHANCE U are experts in pulling your heartstrings.  2nd episode of season 2 spends a fair amount of its run time getting you invested in seeing Isaiah Wright succeed, and then they hit you with the gut punch at the end when he gets the concussion.  

Granted, it's a concussion and not a blown knee or anything, but it being 2017 and knowing what we know about concussions, it still feels like a terrible thing has just happened to him.  Especially with the way they (smartly) let the whole thing play out in excruciating detail, allowing us to see Wright go from "I'm fine!  I can go back in the game" to "Oh, shit, I am SO not fine" to the point he can't even stand anymore.  Like watching a slow motion car crash.

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