TV Shows: What are you into right now?

[raynev1 1,887]

   Childhood's End , new show started on Sci-fi network on the 14th of this month . TV shows and movies tend to be predictable , but this one threw me off twice so far . And I only watched two episodes so far . 

   I've also had a couple different dogs over the years . A pair of Australian Mini Pinchers , got them from a friend that was moving and couldn't have pets . So I took them in , a male and female . They were both dark brindle . Our female passed away from parvo on an easter morning , real bummer on a holiday . The male pulled through and was a great companion for several years . My last dog was also kinda like a rescue , a Norwegian Elkhound and Shepard  mix . Another great friend , I don't know how old he was when I got him , but he was my buddy for ten years . When I buried the last one that was it . I can't go through with that stuff anymore and had no more . They become family , and so heartbreaking when they pass . 

   @A Nonny Moose @blade2k5 Seems all three of us have bummers of health problems . Best wishes to you guys .

[blade2k5 1,523]

21 hours ago, raynev1 said:

   Childhood's End , new show started on Sci-fi network on the 14th of this month . TV shows and movies tend to be predictable , but this one threw me off twice so far . And I only watched two episodes so far . 

   I've also had a couple different dogs over the years . A pair of Australian Mini Pinchers , got them from a friend that was moving and couldn't have pets . So I took them in , a male and female . They were both dark brindle . Our female passed away from parvo on an easter morning , real bummer on a holiday . The male pulled through and was a great companion for several years . My last dog was also kinda like a rescue , a Norwegian Elkhound and Shepard  mix . Another great friend , I don't know how old he was when I got him , but he was my buddy for ten years . When I buried the last one that was it . I can't go through with that stuff anymore and had no more . They become family , and so heartbreaking when they pass . 

   @A Nonny Moose @blade2k5 Seems all three of us have bummers of health problems . Best wishes to you guys .

Childhood's End was interesting, building up to an epic finale.  I won't say it delivered or not in case you haven't watched the final act yet, but I will say that it was interesting enough to watch all the way through.  Let me know when you finish the mini-series.

Your right, it is tough when a pet you've cared for passes.  Takes a while for the heartache to pass (though it never really does, but after time pases and the years roll by, it becomes less painful when thinking of them).  Don't know how old you are, but I'm 51 and I still mourn my first dog, a Samoyed Husky I named Husky that I had for ten years.  Loved that dog more than anything.  He died at age ten and as the years passed, it became less painful to draw those old memories of my beloved pooch from the memory banks.  Like you, I didn't have another dog until several years later.  Lets see there was Husky, Apollo, Buddy, Ruthie and now Solo.  There's at least five dogs that had good lives and I'm glad that I decided to adopt all of them as puppies and got to spend most of their lives with them.  The good memories far outweigh the emotional pain of previous dogs passing.  So give it time, you may decide someday to adopt another pooch.  If it helps, think of it as one less dog that ended up in a shelter.

You too huh?  For me and Nonny it's old age set or setting in.  You take care Bud.  

Ok, I'm done talking about dogs in this thread.  There's another for that.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Canadian TV channels have gone marathon crazy this year.  I had to time shift to watch NCIS tonight on the Detroit CBS station instead of Global Toronto. 

One thing about having a wide subscription is that this is possible.  It also gives me the U.S. PBS stations in addition to TVO.  Unfortunately this seems to the time time of year when PBS stations are begging.

[raynev1 1,887]

14 minutes ago, A Nonny Moose said:

Canadian TV channels have gone marathon crazy this year.  I had to time shift to watch NCIS tonight on the Detroit CBS station instead of Global Toronto. 

One thing about having a wide subscription is that this is possible.  It also gives me the U.S. PBS stations in addition to TVO.  Unfortunately this seems to the time time of year when PBS stations are begging.

   The PBS channels this time of year can be less desirable . But they usually do have interesting shows on without those annoying commercials . Years ago I use to enjoy watching NOVA , hosted by Leonard Nimoy  on PBS . I thought it was an interesting show .

   Finished Watching Childhood's End mini-series on the Sci-Fi network . All in all , it wasn't to bad for network produced . 

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Having read Arthur C. Clarke’s original novel, I refrained from watching the TV show.

[blade2k5 1,523]

14 hours ago, raynev1 said:

Finished Watching Childhood's End mini-series on the Sci-Fi network . All in all , it wasn't to bad for network produced . 

It didn't really deliver on that big finish.  Really anti-climatic.

The Expanse on the other hand is pretty good so far.  A decent SyFy series, never thought I'd see that again since that network seems allergic to good sci-fi series.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

El Rey Network was showing a 4-day long Godzilla marathon this past weekend for their now annual "Kaiju Christmas."  That was a lot of badly dubbed Godzilla movies, but nothing says "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" like "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah:  Giant Monsters All-Out Attack"!

 

El Rey was also running ads throughout for their upcoming "V" miniseries marathon in two weeks.  This was more like a dark "Childhood's End" crossed with "To Serve Man" and smothered with a heavy dose of NASDAP, but Jane Badler as Diana was the sexiest gerbil-eating alien dominatrix on television back in the '80s.  Egads, I'm an M!

 

Currently, I am streaming SBS's 2008 saguek historical drama "Iljimae" (일지매), featuring a virtuous Korean thief in the mode of Robin Hood, Goemon , and Nezumi Kozō.  The intertwining family dramas are a bit convoluted, the harsh depiction of a corrupt Joseon society and the traditionalist absence any notion of human rights almost makes me sympathize with the People's Liberation Army, and if masked criminals and night robbers are going to look like sensitive pretty boy Lee Joon-gi...

...every housewife in Asia in going to be leaving the locks off their doors.

 

[blade2k5 1,523]

15 hours ago, Odainsaker said:

El Rey Network was showing a 4-day long Godzilla marathon this past weekend for their now annual "Kaiju Christmas."  That was a lot of badly dubbed Godzilla movies, but nothing says "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" like "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah:  Giant Monsters All-Out Attack"!

 

El Rey was also running ads throughout for their upcoming "V" miniseries marathon in two weeks.  This was more like a dark "Childhood's End" crossed with "To Serve Man" and smothered with a heavy dose of NASDAP, but Jane Badler as Diana was the sexiest gerbil-eating alien dominatrix on television back in the '80s.  Egads, I'm an M!

 

Currently, I am streaming SBS's 2008 saguek historical drama "Iljimae" (일지매), featuring a virtuous Korean thief in the mode of Robin Hood, Goemon , and Nezumi Kozō.  The intertwining family dramas are a bit convoluted, the harsh depiction of a corrupt Joseon society and the traditionalist absence any notion of human rights almost makes me sympathize with the People's Liberation Army, and if masked criminals and night robbers are going to look like sensitive pretty boy Lee Joon-gi...

...every housewife in Asia in going to be leaving the locks off their doors.

 

I watched El Rey all day on Saturday and had fun watching all those Godzilla movies, though I can watch them anytime since I own all of them on dvd, plus the 2014 American version.  AS for V, never liked that mini-series or the series.  Found it rather boring and uninteresting.

[Terring 6,476]

Childhood's End has come in Greece. It's one of my favorite stories made by Sir Arthur Clark and I'm very curious to see what they have changed. I've seen the first episode. It was decent enough. Of course I knew they would have changed some of the parts from the book (the book was written in 1953, so some changes to the plot will make sense), so let me the rest of the series with open mind.

[Terring 6,476]

I saw the other 2 episodes of "Childhood's End" and I have mixed feelings. The second episode was a mess. Parts from the original story removed,  new characters and events that has nothing to do with the book added, overall a mess. The first half of the third episode was horrible! Forced romance? Really?! Are you mad or something?! The second half was better, especially the scene with the Overmind, but it still gave me the feeling that something is missing.

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see one of my favorite stories under a new, different light. But that specific new, different light was too weak to support such an epic story. My advice? Buy the book! If you have it, read it! If you have already read it, read it again!

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

As usual with a good science fiction story, media producers just can't resist pissing in the soup.

 

[blade2k5 1,523]

I've been watching the Shannara Chronicles the past few weeks and it's pretty good.  Don't know what kind of budget they have for the series, but wow! are the FX fantastic for a television series.  I believe they started with the Elfstones of Shannara instead of the book that launched the book series, which kind of sucks because the first book IMO was the best in the series.  Hopefully, MTV can keep this series going for a few years.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

I watched the first pair of episodes of the Magicians (on Showcase) the other night.  I gather it is on the SyFy channel in the U.S.  Everyone please remember that SciFi is the plural of ScumFum.

Somewhat disjointed as staggering epics can be at the beginning, and I'll watch at least a couple of more to see if I can figure out how many counter plots are really running here.  I believe there are at least three competing factions so far.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I got Star Trek TOS on DVD for Christmas so my wife and I have been watching our way through it.  We've enter the second season and just finished up with The Apple.  What a great series that was.  I'm looking forward to adding the movies to our collection and watching those, as well as hoping Santa brings me TNG for Christmas this year.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Just watched the latest episode of Pit Bulls and Parolees.  If you want to see a real reality show, this is probably as good as it gets, even if it is getting a little formulaic.

[raynev1 1,887]

America Unearthed , seen a couple older episodes yesterday . I found them kinda interesting , they were suggesting europeans may had been here before Columbus . I guess anything is possible . I mean , why not ?

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

6 hours ago, raynev1 said:

America Unearthed , seen a couple older episodes yesterday . I found them kinda interesting , they were suggesting europeans may had been here before Columbus . I guess anything is possible . I mean , why not ?

Yes, Columbus was somewhere between 1,000 and 500 years late.  The Viking settlement at Anse au Meadows (Newfoundland) has been positively dated to around 1,000 a.d.  and there is evidence of earlier arrivals on the west coast across the land bridge in the Aleutian Islands.  The difference is that the Spanish had better press.

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

I recently found a website that hosts copies of ll Top Gear episodes from 2002 to 2015. It may or may not be legal, but meh. I'm not condoning anything here. Just saying, I'm into Top Gear.

[LexusInfernus 908]

Dutch Netflix recently acquired the second season of The Blacklist, so I've been enjoying that. Also, rewatching random episodes of Elementary. 

[krbe 193]

Inside the War Room. You may have to fiddle a bit with your IP or VPN to get access if you're outside Britain, but an interesting look into apparently unscripted war games where a those who would have done the discussions a decade ago are reacting to a hybrid invasion similar to the Donetsk/Luhansk situation only in the NATO country of Latvia. Complete with a LibDem dove about to collapse when pressed on whether she would back a second-strike launch on Russia.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I got Star Trek (TOS) for Christmas, and my wife and I finished it in its entirety last night.  It was every bit as entertaining and fun as I remember it being.  Next year, uh, I mean, this year I want to get TNG for Christmas to watch next year!  We're probably going to tackle Glee next.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

There is a new 'facts of vet care' show on Animal Planet called Dr. Dee, Alaska Vet (or something like that).  The lady vet flies to isolated villages to care for all sorts of pets and other animals.  This show is not for the faint of heart.  Unlike a lot of vets, she is not all gung-ho on neutering pet animals, but she does it on camera. 

So far, some of the more interesting action has been with bison and large horses who have special problems.  Last night she took special care of a nanny goat that had a problem with a dual teat, and found that there was indeed a valve on each outlet.  If not, could have led to some serious mammary infections.

I've also been watching Bondi vet from Melbourne.  A couple of the shows have dealt with Tasmanian Devils.  This is an endangered species, and they are really serious about capturing females and checking them for Joeys (they are marsupials).  Unlike Warner Brothers representation, these small animals are rather cute, if wild.  But they do have the nastiest growl I think I've ever heard except for, maybe, wolverines.

TVO ran a special on wolverines that included footage that had never been seen before by a naturalist who spent years in the boreal forest filming them.  He actually managed to locate a den and get some insights into wolverine family life.  Fascinating stuff.

These days, I don't watch much TV, mostly nature and animal shows.  The present 'drama' is too contrived for words and most of the reality TV is too well rehearsed.  One reality show I do watch is Pit Bulls and Parolees.  It is rather formulaic, but the animals are quite interesting and there are training lessons there for any dog owner.  Based in the Big Easy, this show sets out just how much care should be taken in adopting an animal (dog) out of a shelter you are running.  These people will travel anywhere in the lower 48 to deliver an animal with home check.  There is one episode where they adopters were fraudulent, and were caught by the film crew.  And, of course, the shelter in this case, Villalobos, is a family affair with some interesting interactions in the family.  Kind of like Mama Does Her Damnedest.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

There's this drama on NBC about this woman who's got clues to crimes tattooed all over her body.  It's such a ridiculous premise I just can't take it seriously at all.  If they were playing it as a comedy it would be one of the most brilliant shows ever aired, but it's supposed to be super seriousand it's just an awful show.  Got some actors from Avengers in it, though.

[MintberryCrunch 83]

Right now I'm really into The Man in the High Castle. It's awesome. It kind of makes me wish I had read the book first, though. 

[Bdub01 201]

This may be a bit of a bump and if it's too much of a bump, my bad!!! Anyway I'm really into the new show Designated Survivor. It's a great show thus far. 

[Odainsaker 2,137]

I haven't been able to catch the new "MacGyver" series, but one of the cable channels has been cashing in by doing marathons of the original "MacGyver" series, and I have been watching those like a junkie.  The channel flipping is now primarily between all-day "MacGyver" and all-day "Star Trek."

My Saturdays from anime land:

"Days" -- Geeky, klutzy, scrawny kid joins the high school soccer team, and now must struggle with his new teammates to triumph through each challenging match to reach the Big Game.  It's "Yowamushi Pedal," but with football rather than bike racing.

"Kiss Him, Not Me" (aka "Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda") -- Otaku girl's sudden beauty transformation attracts the hottest guys in school.  However, her type of anime is Boys Love, and she doesn't want her new suitors to kiss her, she want them to kiss each other!  Squeal!  It's a silly romance comedy full of wacky BL reverse harem tropes and anime fandom parodies, and, I admit, it's oddly addictive with a fleet's worth of character shipping.  Mutsumi x Igarashi yay!

"Poco's Udon World" (aka "Udon no Kuni no Kin'iro Kemari") -- Young man's bittersweet return to his hometown in Kagawa to settle his recently-deceased father's affairs is turned upside-down when he inadvertently takes in a helplessly orphaned boy, who is actually the bubbling tanuki spirit of family joy transformed into an innocent child.  Like the similarly-themed "Barakamon," this sentimental slice-of-life show is impossibly sweet and even relaxingly therapeutic, though I sometimes suspect that the message of rediscovering the happy bonds of family through the parental love of childrearing is actually meant to boost Japan's declining birthrate.

 

[raynev1 1,887]

      Here lately , I've been viewing some Youtube videos about metal detecting and gold prospecting . I like watching the Youtube videos , those are average people . You know , no scripts and still get to learn something . I like metal detecting , it is a great hobby and you never know what you might find . Now the gold prospecting looks very interesting to me , but no reports of gold being found here where I live . I think I may still have a go at it in a couple streams and creeks around my area just for s***s and giggles . Panning looks easy enough , whats to taking a couple scoops of dirt and swishing it about and rinsing out the lighter material . Who knows , something interesting may pan out .  

[Mewds45 132]

Been lately getting interested in Always sunny in Philadelphia...

 

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

The Grand Tour is providing us many laughs and I like it just as much as I liked Top Gear.  On a couple of car blogs there seem to be many people who hate this show, but I think -they're missing the point: it's supposed to be extravagant, self-indulgent idiocy, and if you're watching it as a comedy, it can be pretty funny.  Hammond, May, and Clarkson are clever guys and the fact that I'm enjoying it at all means something as I usually avoid watching TV series.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

BBC America has now been showing marathon episodes of "Star Trek:  Voyager."  Maybe we can hope that DS9 will eventually be in the pipeline.

I've been streaming "Love Storm"《狂愛龍捲風》("Kuáng Ài Lóng Juǎn Fēng"), a 2003 Taiwanese romantic comedy starring Vivian Hsu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou.  So far it has played out not unlike Alicia Silverstone's "Clueless," with Vivian Hsu running around completely bubbleheaded after her F4 idols, with Hsu chasing Chou and Chu chasing Hsu.  We'll see where this goes, as there is only so much high-schooler airheaded childishness I take at sitting, though it is mitigated by Zaizai sporting the hottest hair in the Sinosphere.

Humidity, what humidity?  In Taiwan, no less...now I know this show is complete fiction.

"Love Storm" comes on the heals of my finishing last year's "Seisei Suruhodo, Aishiteru"「せいせいするほど、愛してる」(aka "For the Romantic"), an adaptation of the shōjo manga starring Takei Emi and Takizawa Hideaki.  Naïve young Tiffany's sales rep falls in love at first sight with the company's new, dreamy, vice-president Tackey, and she won't let a little minor detail like the sacred wedding ring already on his finger deter her plans for a blissfully illicit office romance.  Again, I wanted to strangle the heroine for her dumbfoundingly childish choices:  "Please, make me one of your mistresses..."  What!?!?  Egads, I know this is a dorama and all, but try to have at least some self-respect, ladies!

Umm, err, nevermind...  Ring, what ring?  Please, make me one of your mistresses!

The show was hackneyed and over-the-top, with its central relationship being completely and hopelessly misbegotten, but at least Tackey's steak knife-wielding, Psycho Wife from Hell kept things rolling at an axe-crazy clip.  I'm never going to forget her crazy eyes!

I'm thinking we can just forego the marriage counseling.

The manga was unreadable.