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JAN/FEB 2018 TV DISCUSSION


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Anyone planning on watching The Alienist yet? It's an interesting murder mystery I'll watch this season. Very dark visually though. I originally thought there would be some steampunk sci-fi in it, but oh well.

I received a screener from Turner for the first two episodes. My thoughts on them are here: https://redheadedmule.com/tv/tnt-alienist-review/12089/

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6 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Is anybody gonna watch the Waco miniseries on the Paramount Network tomorrow night? It's got Michael Shannon, so pretty much a lock for me. 

I may skip that.  The ABC documentary was pretty good, though.

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I fear that only fans of novel will enjoy the miniseries, The Alienist.  It depends too much on lurid details and atmosphere and doesn't really allow the viewer to embrace the emerging science that solves the crimes. 

I've read the novels a couple of times and know what's going on and even I felt like I was being led by the nose through most of the pilot.

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13 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

I watched Waco: The Rules of Engagement years ago and it did not paint the feds in a good light. Wonder how sympathetic they're gonna make the Davidians out to be in this series.

Truth & Lies:  Waco was far more balanced, IMO.

It was interesting to see more story about David Koresh the person rather than David Koresh the Doomsday Prophet and it was rather eerie to see the interviews of former cult members and notice that even now after his death, they spoke about him in very respectable tones even when being critical of his actions.

The documentary also doesn't color the feds in a favorable light, but it is interesting to note that you don't hear much of the "well if they'd (The Branch Davidians) just done as the cops told them to, they'd still be alive" bullshit in this documentary that you seem to get whenever the awkward subject of police violence towards black men ever comes up.

I'm always astounded by how much sympathy they get even though it is well documented that children were abused in alarming numbers under his watch. 

I'm not so critical of the allegations that they stockpiled weapons as it appears that none of their firearms were obtained illegally or sold illegally.  The legal trade of guns is one of the ways the cult members supported themselves financially.

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8 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Seeing a tank used as a flamethrower to burn a building full of people will do that. 

Well, Koresh preached about the apocalypse being brought to their doorstep by the feds and it is highly likely that he meant it to be a self fulfilling prophecy. 

There is some evidence that suggests that the BDs started some of those fires on their own, but you also read about how the JD used CS as its crowd control chemical agent of choice and when ignited, it produces a large amount of Carbon Monoxide.

If you believe the conspiracy tales on both sides of the coin, the BDs counted on the JD trying to smoke them out using this chemical and set the fires to insure that everyone inside the compound died from the apparent symptoms of smoke inhalation.

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2 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Seeing a tank used as a flamethrower to burn a building full of people will do that. 

Dude, this should be shown to all the gun nuts who think they're going to defend themselves against government oppression.  That AR-15 you're clutching ain't stopping a tank.  They won't even use a tank these days, they'll be some dude in a computer chair taking you out with a drown strike from 500 miles away.  I don't know much about what Koresh was doing in Waco, but I'm pretty sure that a flamethrower tank was a bit of an overreaction.  

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Oh man another show revival?
I can hardly wait for more Space Rangers and th return of Scarecrow a& Mrs.King!

OTOH, The Wife has been wtching ER on Hulu and I thought I remember hearing that NBC is looking to bring it back. I mean they left it open for Rachel Greene to be the new lead so that could be cool

James

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Waco started out okay. It's gonna be your typical potboiler melodrama. Shannon, Kitsch, and Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) are all fine as usual. It opens with the Ruby Ridge shootout which was pretty cool, laying out the reasoning behind invading the Davidian compound in the first place. Oh, and you get David Koresh singing and playing guitar on a cover of "My Sharona" which is... strange. 

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14 hours ago, supremebve said:

Am I the only one watching Top Chef?  Does everyone unanimously hate Claudette?

I kind of feel a bit sorry for her actually. I more annoyed by the bearded buy who always makes meatballs(can't remember his name), because he seems to think he's a ton better than he has proven to be.

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11 hours ago, Kuetsar said:

I kind of feel a bit sorry for her actually. I more annoyed by the bearded buy who always makes meatballs(can't remember his name), because he seems to think he's a ton better than he has proven to be.

He doesn't really bother me.  I don't know if it is because he just became a father, or that all of the other chefs hold him in a high regard, but he seems like he belongs to me.  Claudette not only blamed everyone else for her failures, and bad mouths all the other chefs who consistently outcook her.  

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6 hours ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I'm watching some 2008 Chris Rock stand up right now. He's making fun of John McCain getting captured. I wonder if he realizes that someone's been stealing his material. 

The only thing worse than your stuff getting stolen, is your stuff getting stolen and butchered. 

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The following reboots were announced this week (all for just pilots but who knows)

Mangum PI

Cagney & Lacey - Will be in LA instead of NY

Greatest American Hero - The Hero will now be Indian-American

Charmed - Adding a "feminist" storyline

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