BobO'Link

I have Ash vs. Evil Dead on BR and almost watched it during the Horror Challenge - just ran out of time. I keep looking at it on the shelf but keep saving it for later. While I really like the first 2 "Evil Dead" movies (The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2) the first is a pure horror movie with the 2nd injecting some comedy elements before they went off the rails with Army of Darkness. They were also the movies that made me pay attention to the Raimi Brothers, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell. And then they did Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and it's cousin, Xena: Warrior Princess, a pair of guilty pleasures, with Jack of All Trades (a superbly entertaining series with Campbell) thrown in roughly when those concluded. I have a few seasons of Xena unopened on the shelf. I should watch them this month - I'd pretty much given up on the series by the middle of season 5, the next I have to watch, as they'd taken the series in a very strange direction that I didn't particularly care for. I've only seen a handful of the episodes in those last 3 seasons.

I started with S3 of Monty Python's Flying Circus - the BR version released in 2019. I'd watched it early last year but stopped before season 4. It was handy and I really, really, like the series so I started with that season rather than season 4 (which will be watched at some point this month). The BRs look and sound excellent - far better than I thought the series could ever look considering it was produced on 2" video tape. My copy is one of the US "Norwegian edition" which has the "booklets" (more like books - 260-270 page perfect bound soft covers) of copious production and show notes. They were worth the price of the set by themselves.

Interspersed with "Monty Python" I watched a few episodes of The Untouchables, a highly fictionalized 1959-1963 BW series about Eliot Ness, a US Bureau of Prohibition agent, and his hand picked group of special agents battling organized crime in 1930s Chicago (in reality, they mainly worked to bring down the bootleg empire of Al Capone). It's quite entertaining and very well produced. CBS, who'd aired the 2 hour "pilot" in the "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse," which depicted them bringing down Capone, passed on the series and it was picked up by ABC. It drew harsh criticism from some Italian-American groups who felt it promoted negative stereotypes of them as mobsters and gangsters. The production was also sued, unsuccessfully, by members of the Capone family because of its depiction of them in that pilot episode. Because of that pressure the series stopped using Italian names on criminals and added Italian-American agents and authorities who were helping to eliminate the criminal element in the city. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, also expressed displeasure as the show depicted Ness and his agents doing work that was the province of the FBI. It also drew negative responses from some groups for its excessive violence and surprisingly frank depictions of drug abuse and prostitution. The series ran 2 years longer than The Untouchables' worked in Chicago. They disbanded shortly after Capone's conviction. Quinn Martin produced the first season and it has his distinctive touch. The list of guest stars includes many people who would become famous for other TV series and movies. So far I've seen Jim Backus, Joseph Ruskin, William Bendix, Whit Bissell, Anthony Caruso, Anne Francis, Leonard Nimoy, Alan Hale, Jr., Martin Landau, Jack Lord, Gavin MacLeod, Dick York (Elizabeth Montgomery makes an award winning appearance in S2E1), and more and I'm not even done with season 1.

This is a first time viewing of that series for me. I was far too young to watch during its original airings, being 4yo the fall the series started and still not being old enough for such product when it concluded. I'm finding a show that's not all that far removed from many of the noir gangster movies of the 30s and 40s in its production style and on-screen action and events.

Then in a much lighter vein I added series 27 of Last of the Summer Wine, the longest running sitcom in the world (31 series - or seasons in the US). I discovered this series on the local PBS affiliate 20+ years ago when it was aired in their Saturday late night (10pm-midnight) block of British comedy series. At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of the series but it grew on me and became a favorite. Series 27 is a first time viewing as I'd stopped watching the series when a regular from episode 1 died (Bill Owens) and his character also died in the series. At the time it just didn't feel the same. However, I'm finding it's still just as good and funny as it was when he was around, just in a different way. They've kind of filled his shoes with a very similar character and added a few more to the ensemble to the benefit of the series. It's essentially a low key comedy series which follows the antic of a small group of retired men in a small town in rural England.

And my "late night" show (usually a comedy chosen in case I fall asleep - easy to pick back up later) right now is season 2 of Father Knows Best. I watched this one as a kid but it wasn't a favorite - mostly due to the theme song (to me it doesn't fit a comedy series and has more of a dramatic feel) and the moral lectures given to the kids by the father, Jim Anderson (Robert Young). I'm not seeing much of those this season and don't recall many from when I watched S1 some time back. Maybe these came into the series as it aged but I really don't remember as I turned 5 just as it ended. I just recall a funny episode would end with what seemed like a lengthy dramatic turn as dad reinforced to one of the kids why what they did wasn't the "right" solution to a problem. I always felt it was unnecessary as you got that already from the episode and it felt like that lecture you'd get from your own parents at times. So... in spite of that, I'm enjoying the episodes though I still feel the theme song is somewhat inappropriate. That theme always reminded me of the one for the early theatrical "newsreel"series "The Passing Parade," a time filler used by a local TV station when movies ran short, which almost always was quite dramatic and frequently mildly depressing.

MrTerrific

I started The Simpsons back on July 31st for the Animation Challenge. My plan is to watch up until the newest episode of season 32. Lots of great stuff (mostly in the earlier seasons), but never a dull episode. In Season 29 they passed Gunsmoke with their 636th episode.

Also planning on catching up on The Expanse, Mr. Robot season 4, Fargo season 4 and Killing Eve season 3.

shadokitty

There is just something that feels good about watching shows that you watched as a kid. Maybe it’s something to do with harkening back to a simpler time. Even before the challenge started, I had started a rewatch of Voltron. I remember coming home from school every day and turning it on. I’m in the Lion Force right now, the early episodes when Sven was still alive. The Complete Series that I bought also includes Vehicle Voltron, and I have a digital copy of The Fleet Of Doom as well. To me, these were the best Voltron series.

Giles

well I'll 'try' this but I have a slew of movies: UHD's, blurays, streaming titles I need to catch up on.

BobO'Link

I'm a huge Star Trek fan, watched the original series in first run, watched the first season of TNG first run, watched DS9's first 5 seasons first run, watched Voyager's first 5 seasons first run, and the first 1/3 or so of Enterprise first run until scheduling and the horrid theme song took me away. Since those times I've seen Star Trek dozens of times, TNG completely through twice, DS9 and Voyager 3 times each, and finally watched Enterprise in its entirety. So, I was quite excited when CBS announced a new Star Trek series, Discovery, but then found out it was to be streaming only (IMHO a big middle finger to the fans of the franchise). A friend came to the rescue as she'd won the big final price on The Price is Right around that time and subscribed to the service to have a watch party for everyone to see her big moment. Knowing I'm a Star Trek fan she lent me her login so I could watch the series. She kept the subscription long enough for me to see the first 8 episodes, after which I told her "Don't keep it just for me! If you're not using it, cancel!!" and she did. I was less than enthused about those episodes I'd watched. Things didn't play right and it didn't feel like a Star Trek TV series to me. Several months later I purchased the S1 BR when they went on sale at what I felt was a "reasonable" price for a series I wasn't so keen on watching - at least not keen enough to subscribe to a streaming service just for a single show. Then the buzz for S2 from people who were on the fence about S1 came in and was generally positive. The show runners who appeared to be clueless about what makes Trek, Trek, were out. So.. this year I purchased S2 of the series when it went on sale before Christmas.

All that to say that I started that rewatch of the series yesterday. It's short enough and I've stalled long enough and with S2 in hand I can continue to see for myself if it does get better *and* if I still feel the same about S1 since I'll now be able to see the entire season.

So far, after 4 episodes, I'm still less than enthused. The writing's just not that good with lots and lots of little plot holes and inconsistencies. I still don't like the main character, Michael Burnham, feeling that she's the "Wesley Crusher" for this series - the "Machina Ex Wesley" who comes to the rescue when things just don't quite go right. A former mutineer belongs on the bridge and among the working crew acting as such just as much as a teenage boy who's never been to the Academy, no matter how "gifted." She also violates security protocols on the Discovery and *nothing* is done about the transgressions! The rather lame backstory for Burnham also plays rather hollowly, coming off as half baked fan service, as her current actions mostly do not reflect that upbringing. She is *not* a good character nor one I can ever want to "root for" to make it through a situation. Much like I was with Wesley, I want her on the away team wearing the "Red Shirt" so she won't come back.

I still very much dislike the practically constant musical score playing under almost everything. It's distracting and not needed,often feeling like it's attempting to generate tension where none is indicated in the dialog (maybe that's to correct the consistently poor writing). That the Klingon's always speak in Klingonese is very off putting and feels like it's being done in slow motion. At least in some E4 scenes it flows more naturally but there are still those subtitles to deal with. I don't have an issue with subtitles as I watch all foreign language films that way if possible. It's just that they feel out of place in this series and I find myself becoming distracted by the visuals so miss what's being said necessitating rewinding to read the dialog.

Visually, it's stunningly good. I just wish the script and plotting were as good. It seems to have potential but has, at least to me, a somewhat misguided vision so far. I plan to watch another disc's worth of episodes today.

Mr Awesome

Gonna start on Flintstones where I left off in DVD. I have the blu-ray now. Saw a good stretch of season 5 episodes on MeTV today. Gonna dive into my sitcom sets this month. Maybe rewatch Bionic Woman, I got the complete series last January and watched thru it during February. Great show, adored Lindsay Wagner as Jamie. The 6MDM cross-overs being the cherry on the cake.

shadokitty

Seeing the posts about Star Trek, plus listening to a podcast about the latest episode of Discovery got me in a Trek kind of mood, so this afternoon before dinner, I booted up YouTube on my PS4. What’s nice about that is all of your Google Play purchases are available to watch through YouTube. I have the collection of the first 10 movies, so started with the first one. I know it gets a lot of hate, but I’ve always enjoyed it.

BobO'Link

I watched the next 8 episodes of Discovery yesterday and have now seen 4 "new to me" episodes. Most of my original complaints are still valid - sloppy/poor writing and music/score in "inappropriate" places being the main ones. There are some absolutely unnecessary character developments - things stuck in seemingly "just because" that don't advance the story in any shape or form. And events that come out of left field - most of them hinted at or partially set up earlier - but still somewhat jarring to the plot when they arrive. I'm finding myself laughing at some of the events that absolutely aren't there for laughs because of them being a bit on the ludicrous side (poor writing strikes again). It's also, surprisingly, somewhat cliche' in the way several events are handled although there was one I just knew would go a specific way, echoing/ripping off a TOS episode, and it did not. In all fairness, it *has* gotten a bit better in the last few episodes I watched. I also can't get past it not really feeling like TOS era Trek but more like "Kelvin" era Trek with its many unnecessary changes and events. It also feels more like 2 or 3 movies broken out into individual segments and padded with rather lame "character development" (aka Soap Opera dramatics) than it does a TV show. That's partially due to the over use of the musical score and the continuing nature of the story. It's done with "modern" storytelling methods (like an extended mini-series or Soap Opera) rather than those normally used in Star Trek series.

Right now, it's at the bottom of my "Best to worst Star Trek series" list.

shadokitty

Last night, on a lark, I decided to browse YouTube. There’s a veritable treasure trove of shows on there. I found a bunch of 80s cartoons, plus Wild Kingdom is on there, outdoor shows, like Primos Truth About Hunting and astronomy shows with The Sky At Night ​​​​​​, a BBC show on space. I also pulled the trigger on Discovery+, and found that among many other shows, there is an entire section devoted to BBC Earth shows. There are two subscription tiers, 4.99 with ads, and 6.99 without.

BobO'Link

And I finished S1 of Star Trek: Discovery this evening. It did not improve at all, rather it got worse, in those final 3 episodes with the last episode being almost laughable it was so bad and rushed feeling. I kept wanting Burnham to be killed and others, barely seen, to have more to do. It was a mistake to focus an entire season on a traitor/mutineer, especially when the character was written so uninterestingly. But then the writing in this season rarely held up well. The absolutely best episodes were the 2 or 3 "bottle" episodes yet they had little to no impact on the season as a whole, feeling like throw away episodes existing only to fill time and/or serve solely as fan service. They *never* let up on the "theatrical" musical underscoring that I found so distracting. It never felt like a Star Trek series outside the vague references and occasional tech that's somewhat familiar. It absolutely does not fit in the original series cannon in execution or feel but would work well in the "Kelvin" timeline of the "New Trek" movies. It's the only Trek series whose first season I disliked even more than the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Had I not already purchased S2, I'd absolutely not have made the purchase after watching this first season in its entirety.

LJG765

I'm not sure if you like old game shows, but Youtube has a bunch of What's My Line? on. The originals. There's some I've Got a Secret on there too.

shadokitty

Lately, I’ve been thinking about cartoons that I grew up watching, so I’ve gathered some of my DVD sets together to possibly get some in. The past few days, I’ve been working on the first GI Joe mini series. There is just something about nostalgia that makes me feel better, especially in these hard times.

BobO'Link

I watched both of those regularly as a kid - during the original airings. IIRC, both came on in prime-time hours. I may watch a few out of curiosity/nostalgia.

BobO'Link

I'm currently watching S2 of Star Trek: Discovery. Wow... what a roller coaster of episodes. There'll be one that takes me back to the general dislike of S1 which will be followed by one that's up there with the best Trek has to offer. Overall, S2 is a vast improvement over S1 though some of my main complaints are still there - I don't like the character Michael Burnham and there's too much musical underscoring which, IMHO, detracts from rather than enhances the episodes. And for some reason they chose to film it in 2:1 rather than standard 16:9 WS. Was this to make it feel more "theatrical?" It's OK but unnecessary and I've seen no shot composition that yells for a ratio this wide with several that would have worked far better in 16:9 if the same width were kept - that is, they needed more headroom.

**EDIT**
Finished the season. It was more "bad" than "good", although not "bad" in the same sense as S1, with far too much focus on off-the-wall stuff and character interactions that were little more than filler and did nothing to advance any story line (Stamits and Hugh most notably with Bernham and Ash coming in a close second). The truly interesting characters got little screen time and no back story at all. The best episodes were mostly bottle episodes. At least the ending cleaned up the mess the writers made of S1 and explains away why none of the things that happened are ever mentioned in Star Trek. In fact, it ended in such a way that I don't feel compelled to bother with S3. It remains my least favorite Trek series in spite of the improvements made in S2.

The best thing to come out of S2 was the time spent with Christopher Pike. I'd absolutely watch a series produced about his time aboard the Enterprise.

BobO'Link

How are we doing the Batman '66 viewings? With tomorrow being the anniversary and start date I'm just curious. I normally binge seasons at roughly a disc a night but don't want to get too far ahead of everyone else.

mrcellophane

I watched The Queen's Gambit after friends recommended it to me, and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of how much I love chess as well as how below average I am at it. Anya Taylor-Joy is fantastic. Between her performances in this and Emma., she reminds me a lot of Keira Knightley. I've also been watching a lot of Columbo. I get the complete series during Black Friday and am working my way through the latter television series which I've never seen. There are a few episodes that mess about with the typical formula to differing results.

Travis McClain

I've fallen into one of my stronger depressive episodes and largely withdrawn, so I can't promise I'll be as much of a discussion thread participant as I intended. I did manage to stream my way through seaQuest DSV/2032 on Peacock (it's free) over the weekend, though. I felt at the time that it was likable enough, had a decent cast, and plenty of potential but far too little support from NBC. Even now, when you stream through the series on Peacock, they present the episodes in the same disjointed, out-of-continuity airdate order they arbitrarily imposed on the show at the time. Episode A may have something significant happen, but nothing related to it will carry over into Episode B. It's not that Episode B pretends Episode A didn't happen; it's that Episode B was supposed to be Episode A and NBC got antsy and just yanked it, hoping to push something bigger that week.

No one quite knew what to do with that series, I don't think. The first season is pretty typical scientific discovery of the week fare, then the second season is wacky sci-fi with psychics and aliens, and the third is borderline navy propaganda. I enjoyed the first season most. It was relaxed and had some charming enthusiasm. That second one is just a mess, trying too many things, and trying too hard at each of them. The final season is just plain unpleasant, though I should note that it has several of my favorite episodes. And I did like Michael Ironside as Roy Scheider's successor. The contrast was good, and I thought they did a better job of making Captain Hudson more of a mentor figure for the crew in general than they had done with Bridger (with the glaring exceptions of Tim Raimi and Darwin).

Part of the problem is that I was never really clear on just what the hell the geopolitical makeup of the series was supposed to be. Was the UEO an aquatic offshoot of the UN? Had countries formally merged into confederations? I just didn't care after awhile. Another problem is Jonathan Brandis. I don't know how much of what came across onscreen was what he was dealing with personally and how much was on the page, but the guy became palpably sour. They wrote it that he was "maturing" after having enlisted, so maybe it was in-character. If so, they made an egregious mistake by making the wide-eyed wunderkind a brooding sourpuss.

Ultimately, I think the key problem is that the show just never knew what questions to ask. They set it in the oceans--75% of our planet's surface--but it always felt small. If I didn't have a graphic pop up and tell me where we were, I'd never know where it was and I definitely never learned anything about what made that place different from where we were last week. This week we're in the Mediterranean, next week a reef near New Zealand.

(Also, the show's oblivious-white-leftist world view is as frequently hard to stomach as its horribly primitive CGI. Even in the mid-90's when the show was on, I though it was pretty conspicuous how often this week's baddies were stand-ins for Latin America and southeast Asia.)

Still, as I said, I find it likable overall and I'm glad I was able to revisit it after a quarter century. It's wild to me that we're now living in the gap between the second and third seasons. Which brings me to one last thing. In the third season opener, Captain Hudson summarizes the 2020's by stating, "The last decade was a bitch for humanity." They didn't get much else right, like Colin Powell becoming president or the Marlins playing Havana in the World Series, but so far that prediction looks sturdy.

Travis McClain

Oh! About Batman! I'm planning to start tonight at 8:00--I think that was the right time slot, wasn't it? For anyone really committed, I discovered last night that Tubi has The New Adventures of Batman animated series that they made after the live action show was canceled, with West, Ward, and Craig voicing Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. If I've ever seen any of that, I don't have any memory of it so I may incorporate that into this Bat-fest... if I don't get bat-burnout.

BobO'Link

6:30pm CT - We left for Wednesday church services at 6:45pm so I always missed the first half of part 1 of the story.

One episode per day? One "story" (aka 2 episodes) per day? I'm OK with whatever but don't want to severely overshoot things due to my "normal" viewing tendencies.

Travis McClain

I'm planning to squeeze in the whole box set. That's 13 discs, not counting the ancillary things I'm also planning on like the movie, the Legends of the Super Heroes special, Return to the Batcave, etc. I'll need to knock out at least one disc daily to finish all that before the challenge ends. Just go at your own pace, and post whenever you have something to say. Someone'll catch up and reply eventually. Besides, it's not like it's a show that relies on plot twists. I don't think anyone's worried about finding out that Batman and Robin escape the convoluted death machine.

LJG765

I watch them every once in a while. I have them set to tape on my DVR when they show up on GSN. For the most part, they do hold up and they have interesting guests come on the air that I'm still interested in watching.

I quite enjoyed both seasons myself when I watched them in May. I was not working so had plenty of time to watch these and Picard. I see your critiques but I guess they didn't bother me like they did you! So...if you really don't want them, feel free to send them my way! lol! I did hate the CBS app that they aired on though! I likely will subscribe for a month here and there to catch up on the seasons of those two and then drop it again.

I'm sorry to hear that, Travis. Let me know if you ever want to chat!

I loved this show when it first aired. I thought the CGI was good, loved the premise and will admit that Brandis was one of my first celebrity crushes. I do feel like he wasn't given a lot to work with and HATED the last season. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Like, they thought the series would be over with after s. 2 but instead, got an extra 3rd one and had to come up with something. NBC playing episodes out of order really was frustrating and the lack of follow up on some of the story lines did drive me batty. I wanted to know what happened next! And keep in mind these were airing pre-internet (or at least before the internet was something that everyone had access to). You couldn't just go and look up information about the show!

I have to admit to watching...pretty much nothing for the last couple weeks. I do plan on starting the Mandalorian tomorrow and getting through at least season 1, but hopefully both. Just haven't had the energy to turn on the tv lately and instead have been reading. I do still have good intentions on getting through a couple seasons of random shows, though. Just have to start!

BobO'Link

Two story lines into Batman and we've already had 2 of my absolutely favorite TV series villains - The Riddler and The Penguin - plus I'd forgotten we got the "Batusi" in episode #1.

I love how in "Hi Diddle Riddle" Molly (Jill St John) disguises herself as Robin (actually Burt Ward playing Molly disguised as Robin) and walks away from the table on which Robin is strapped with that very distinct swish of a walk. Ward must have had fun duplicating *that* walk and feminine mannerisms.

When I was a kid, watching this in first airings, I didn't "get" the camp aspect of the show and took it all at face value. It played like a live action version of a Superman or Batman comic book from those years, both of which I regularly read, and neither were that much different from this series in tone or execution.

Question: I've looked at Batmobile miniatures on Amazon and elsewhere but don't purchase them because the pin striping on almost all of them is done in *orange.* I've *always* thought they were *red* as that's the color I see on the DVD/BR and what I remember in the original airings (when I could see them in color), magazine photos, and the movie (and I painted my Revell Batmobile with red pin striping based on the box and what I saw on TV and in magazines). Do you guys see orange or red pin striping?

I don't recall if the DVDs did this - but when selecting an individual episode on the BR set it will continue with subsequent episodes in "play all" mode even though that wasn't chosen. I hate discs that do that - I like to play episodes 1 at a time with *me* deciding when it's time to start the next.

lisadoris

Yeah this is a series that doesn't age well at all and I really liked it when it originally aired as well. The first season is the best because it's based in science IMHO and it kinda dissolves from there. The CG is so dated but there are some episodes that are worth watching. As an aside, I wrote about this show in my master's thesis on racial representation in sci-fi - thanks Don Franklin.

shadokitty

The past couple days I’ve been reliving my youth by watching Wild Kingdom on YouTube, along with cartoons from the 80s that I have on DVD. There is a Wild Kingdom channel that has over 300 episodes on YouTube. There are a good mix from different eras of the show. One might be from the 80s, which is what I grew up with, while the very next one might be from the 60s. I’m thinking of watching more cartoons as well, since I’ve gotten back into collecting the toys.

BobO'Link

Wild Kingdom was one of those Saturday evening shows I'd always watch. I purchased the DVD set that was released years ago and thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the series. I'll have to look up those youtube entries as there are far more of them than was on that set.

Marlin: "While I sit in the relative safety of this tree, Jim will wrestle the 300lb. crocodile and get it into the boat."

I always wanted Jim to say "You come wrestle the croc and let *me* sit in the tree for a change!"

And those built in Mutual of Omaha commercials were mostly cleverly integrated into his segment wrap ups.