diving after season 4, likely. at least. Definitely wasnt good after, the stronger ones were the first and the third if I remember correctly
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The fifth was okay but the sixth didnāt work for me at all. Although, in all fairness, I appear to be in the minority with that sentiment.
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PBS New Jerseyās been showing this recent German Detective show Iāve been checking out called SOKO Potsdam, and one of the episodes took place at a family run Western village.
The showās not too bad, but I feel like the crimes are solved way too fast and not enough detective work is shown. Also, whoever works on the English subtitles needs more training, not that Iām having trouble following the show, but as a veteran network PBS should know better.
Just finished watching Fallout. I havenāt played the games so I had no expectations of what should or should not have been in the show, but I liked it. Decent bit of gruesome black comedy-drama which looked the part and which, at eight episodes, didnāt outstay itās welcome.
I was a bit wary that it was created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy who also created Westworld which, for me, started brilliantly before becoming needlessly obtuse in its second season. And they are hanging a fair bit of the narrative through-line on a Nolanesque tale of things happening in the present and the past, and nothing is quite what it seems (Iām waving my arms about now in a spooky fashion, for effect). But, so far, so good. Canāt ask for more than that. Iāll definitely be tuning into season two whenever it rolls around; I might even take a gander at one of the games.
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the last TV serie I watched was BLUE BLOODS with Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg
Reyka
Something completely different for a change: A thriller series in 8 parts from South-Africa. But itās a thriller series about the hunt for a serial killer, and thatās a thing weāve seen before, too often if you ask me. The script is based on the hunt for a real-life serial killer, named Thozamile Taki, who was responsible for the death of 13 young girls, but they have mixed the storyline of the police-investigation with a background story of child abuse: the female police detective was abducted as a child by a psychopath and still visits her abductor in prison because she wants to know what exactly made him do what he did. Of course he knows more about other psychopaths, such as serial killers, so a sort of āSilence of the Lambs effectā is added to the script. As said weāve all seen this before and whatās worse is that this backstory slows the whole thing down: like most police detective series, Reyka (thatās the name of the female police detective, the series is also called The Cane Field Killings) goes on far too long. But thereās also a good thing to say about: thereās a second background story about land ownership and racial tensions within South-African society and we really get a frightening image of a society that is torn apart by racial hatred (and the whites are not the only racists in this case!) and social and religious extremism. The acting is very good, the abductor behind bars ā the Dr. Lecter of service so to speak ā is played by the excellent Scottish actor Iain Glenn, best known to most of us from Jack Taylor and Game of Thrones.
*** out of 5 (Well-acted and atmospheric, but overlong)
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Just finished watching Fallout. I havenāt played the games so I had no expectations of what should or should not have been in the show, but I liked it. Decent bit of gruesome black comedy-drama which looked the part and which, at eight episodes, didnāt outstay itās welcome.
I think it has some decent stuff but the preachy woke moralist stuff ruins it. The first few episodes especially feel like a lecture on how morally righteous and virtuous the writers are. Too much pandering/virtue signaling. Felt like a Disney movie.
Also not a very good adaptation of the games, but then again, I never liked bethesdas self parody version of fallout, and I guess itās true to that vision.
Just finished watching āThe Adventures of Robinson Crusoeā, for the umpteenth timeā¦and it has been an absolute joy on every occasion!
This beautiful B&W 13-part TV series was originally produced in 1964, and starred Austrian leading man, Robert Hoffman (āSpasmoā 1974), as the ship-wrecked adventurer.
In my child-hood, this was usually shown in the school Summer holidays, and was a must-see every morning.
The amazing soundtrack, by Robert Mellin (1902-1994), became an integral part of the action on screenā¦
Unfortunately, Robert Hoffman died, aged 82, on July 4th, 2022, in Salzburg, Austriaā¦R.I.P.
Below: The beautiful opening themeā¦
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A total classic ā¦ beautiful TV show. Amazing what can be achieved without a massive budget.
I loved this show too.
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Hereās a recommendation from me which will soon be internationally available;
In October 1981, a Soviet submarine ran aground by Karlskrona in southern Sweden and caused a severe diplomatic incident with NATO and our neutral country. After nearly two weeks of tense complications, the U-boat was allowed to be towed back home.
Thatās all an interesting idea for a TV series, but perhaps a bit too thin to create any real tension or entertainment value, right? Unless you enlist the author Jonas Jonasson (of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared fame) to come up with a reworking of the incident, keep the basic historical facts but take a generous amount of liberties with historic accuracy and steer the entire narrative a tongue-in-cheek overtone while not entirely dropping some more dramatic moments. What you will then have is Whiskey on the Rocks, the most entertaining TV series iāve seen in several years.
In the center of this tall tale loosely based on a true story stands Swedenās then-Prime Minister, Thorbjƶrn FƤlldin of the Centre Party, here portrayed by Rolf LassgĆ„rd. In advance this casting felt a bit speculative, as he does not resemble historic person the very much appearance-wise, like the creators thought āWeāre doing a big-budget series to premiere on Christmas Day, so we canāt go wrong with the countryās perhaps most popular actor, whoās a Northerner just like FƤlldin was, can we?ā. But the lack of portrait-likeness is compensated by a right-on recreation of several other recognizable traits, such as his pipe-smoking and down-to-earth personality, as well as his often satirized slow talking and limited english. All in all, while LassgĆ„rdās popularity probably had something to do with the casting, its still clearly a case of ability over appearance. Equally adept, more portrait-like albeit a bit underutilized, is Anders Mosslingās recreation of the liberal minister of foreign affairs, Ola āDullest politician everā Ullsten, who is here steered into a gawk.
The senile Leonid Brezhnev and the trigger happy, slightly-too-short-on-screentime Ronald Reagan (both of Egon seem unaware of terms such as ādiplomacyā a and āPeaceful solutionsā) try to get their upper hand iver the situation, but neither is portrayed as the bigger villain (much less the bigger hero) - instead - bitch arr equally poked fun at. The true antagonist of the story is a fictional character, namely the comically hawkish Supreme Commander Bƶrje Lagercrantz, who is longing to ābeat the shit out of the bolsheviksā even if it means taking initiatives against the will of the government (and, by extension, trig a world war). Heās hardly a realistic character but works well nevertheless thanks to the generally satirical atmosphere. Further there is the Soviet Ambassador, cleverly gender-flipped from her real-life counterpart, and two innocent bystanders - namely the two south-swedish fishermen who discover the submarine (one of which i happen to have interviewed).
You might get the impression that this is all one long giggle. Itās not: The root of the series is still a fairly serious historical drama-thriller with the comedy as more of a stylistic touch. The press conference near the ens of the series is authentically restaged, as is several other television news and reported events endured by militaries and politicians during the incident. The scene where the swedish military tries to trick the Soviets by sending out nearby excersising conscripts along the coast is both historic and played completely seriously, to the point where you completely forget the goofier stuff which occured a fes minuters before. Rather than being jarring, these alternating moods spark each other in a good way.
Still, it would have been fun to see even more the historical approach that contrasts so nicely to the comedy. It seems like Ullsten was written as some kind of foil to the more aggressive Supreme Commander, but this is underdeveloped. I would have liked to see more of such interior and international embroilment, maten om betald of trimning the scenen in the submarine.
All in all, a really well made series. Itās also Quitos relieving to see someone lampoons the miltitary (or even suggests those may not be consensus-creating oracles) in a time where even conflict researchers are compared to racial biologists over here (and the guy who wrote that intelligent reflection has of course lambasted this show). Unless you agree With him, give this a shot.
Also about submarines, and rather good is the series Vigil (season two is not about submarines, and not as good).
I tremendously enjoyed Black Doves, that one was really great.
Also currently digging Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Silo and Feud.
What is the title of this series @JohnBaxter ?
Sorry, it would probably have been better to write the name in bold (and also sorry for all the autocorrect wrongs, iāll fix it). Itās Whiskey on the Rocks.
American Primeval is a waste of time. Skip it.
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I have just finished watching thisā¦excellent!
According to some reviews on āIMDBā, this series is not historically accurateā¦
Well, forgetting the āaccuracy brigadeā, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every moment of this ten-part TV epic.
Bill Paxton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Ray Liotta, were stand-out performancesā¦
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āThe Thin Blue Lineā (BBC, 1995)
What can I say about this excellent Ben Elton comedy concerning the boys and girls in blue police regulation uniform. I canāt speak highly enough. I never paid much attention to it when it was first broadcastā¦but now, Iām a fan for life.
Without doubt, one of Britainās finestā¦beacons for law and orderā¦and laughs.
The two series of this exceptional latter-day BBC comedy, are bloody brilliantā¦
So stop fannying around and treat yourself to some good old law and order, haughty, taughty, highty, tighty, laughsā¦
I also donāt mind admitting that I have a soft spot for the character, Sergeant Patricia Dawkins, (Serena Evans)ā¦What a lovely lady she is.
Does anyone remember āNot the Nine O-Clock Newsā?
Without realising, was Rowan Atkinson, perchance, preparing for his role in āThe Thin Blue Lineā?
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Rowan Atkinsonās less talked about comedy classic, some funny stuff for sure. Iām planning on picking up the German import of the complete series they titled Inspector Fowler after Atkinsonās character.
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Iāve only been able to see the first two seasons of this French language crime drama, but I do love it. What drew me to it is that the main character Astrid is on the Autistic Spectrum with a heightened form of Aspergerās Syndrome. Having been diagnosed myself with Aspergerās back in 2019, I was curious to see how the character would be portrayed. Sara Mortensen gives a very authentic and touching portrayal of a woman slowly breaking out of her shell, proving she can function with others, and using her incredible talents to help solve crimes. A terrific show that also gives a good depiction of people on the Spectrum.
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