Box Set / Series Binging - Catch All Thread

Anybody here watched, It's A Sin ?

Set in Londons gay community, 81 - 91 as the AIDS epidemic rips through their lives, some in denial of it, some unaware, some trying to spread knowledge. Backdrop is heavily their small town provincial families who wouldn't have known they were gay now handling these lads coming home sick, to die, terribly badly as the stigma of the illness is too much for them.

I thought it was absolutely brilliantly acted, written, the lot. But be prepared to be pretty upset also, some harrowing end of life moments. Highly recommend though.

I did a total binge last weekend, S01 of The Consultant and S02 of The End of the F***ing World. Really enjoyed both, although I have to wonder if the same could be said of the former if it wasn't for Waltz. I also finished The Dry, which was a bit drawn out but rounded out pleasantly enough in the end.

Nothing decent on my watchlist now, saving Succession and Barry for full seasons so time to start rooting through the archives again. Tried The Power, the premise sounded good although I was a bit concerned about it being a bit too feminist for this old fart, but no, the awful writing, terrible direction and cinematography, woeful CGI and appalling acting got there first. 2 episodes, I'm done.

I'm going to have one more go off Parks and Rec. I've tried it multiple times, including jumping into different seasons, and I can never get into it and have never understood the acclaim. And I'll watch any old sh*te when it comes to sitcoms. I watched at least 2 seasons of 2 Broke Girls!

Personal Favourites with not a lot between some of the choices.

1 Gomorrah
2 Homeland
3 Breaking Bad
4 Sopranos
5 Fargo
6 Ozark
7 Mindhunter
8 Better Call Saul
9 Yellowjackets (Just started but looks good)
10 Yellowstone

I'm probably forgetting a few but Baptiste must get an honourable mention.

Currently rewatching Game of Thrones, just started series 5.
I know it all falls apart in the last season and a bit, apart from one or two episodes, but man alive that was good tv

Don't bother with Loot btw. Formulaic tropey dross.

By the way has anybody watched the 2 series of Yellow Jackets and tell me I'm not wasting my time?

Ted Lasso is a comedy I wasn't expecting to like, but a fellow football fan recommended it. Jason Sudekis plays a homey southern gentleman type who is hired as a manager by a fictional English Premiership club out of the blue. His experience is in amateur American football. He has no idea what he's doing, but is the type to bring the best out in people. It's funny and sweet, and surprisingly not too irritating on the football side.

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Originally Posted by John83

Ted Lasso is a comedy I wasn't expecting to like, but a fellow football fan recommended it. Jason Sudekis plays a homey southern gentleman type who is hired as a manager by a fictional English Premiership club out of the blue. His experience is in amateur American football. He has no idea what he's doing, but is the type to bring the best out in people. It's funny and sweet, and surprisingly not too irritating on the football side.

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I was wondering who would be brave enough to mention it!

On paper it should be absolutely brutal but it has a good heart and throws out some great one liners. I'm enjoying it. Can't believe they made 3 seasons out of a fairly basic (but funny) comedy sketch.

Ted Lasso is too... nice for me. I enjoyed the 1st season, but couldn't watch another one.

I may give in to Hannah Waddingham at some point in the future.

Everyone was telling me to watch it, so I got stuck into it and watched the two series before the new one started, and it really is excellent. Deals with a lot of issues in the game and around masculinity, quite well.
Would watch again.

Alcatraz, one episode, nope!

EDIT: Started Welcome to Wrexham last week, more out of Reynolds / McElhenny interest than football, let's be honest, enjoying it so far.

Lillyhammer for those Soprano fans

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Originally Posted by SkStu

Comedies:
1. Curb Your Enthusiasm
2. The Office (USA)
3. I’m Alan Partridge
4. Fawlty Towers
5. Arrested Development
6. Spaced
7. The Office (UK)
8. Only Fools and Horses
9. Flight of the Conchords
10. Scrubs

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Sorry - Peep Show should have been in this list and very high up.

I'd add That Mitchell and Webb Look to make a 12-item top ten ...and that's numberwang!

Red Dwarf, The Fast Show, Friday Night Dinner, The Thick of It and Veep have to nudge us closer to a top 20. I think somebody mentioned Parks and Rec a page or so back - top stuff as well. Season 1 is different because they realised it wasn't working: Leslie Knope was too alike other comedy tropes like The Office, so they emphasised her ability and amped up her eccentricity, dropped a major character and went an entirely new direction - it really gets monumentally good from Season 2. Archer had a duff season or two, but was usually reliable, and handled Jessica Walter's death just perfectly.

Longer format than a sitcom, but Resident Alien has been good - Alan Tudyk is perfect for the role.

Late to the game with this one - Barry. Three episodes in, and it feels like it has something going for it. Anybody else watching/watched it?

Watched S1 of Barry and enjoyed it a lot but we just haven’t been able to get into the subsequent seasons.

Veep is excellent! Surprised I didn’t have it in my top ten!

Finished up Mad Men this weekend and it is a great show. Some great characters, great mix of drama and comedy with a number of great storylines that were set in the forefront of major events of 60's America. Not sure it nudges any higher in the list though.

We started watching the last season of The Marvellous Ms Maisel last night and I’d recommend the series to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Well worth a watch.

Mitchell and Webb's radio show was good craic, particularly the first season as it didn't include stuff they used for the TV show. This is my favourite sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KlckKFFc0

Mitchell and Webb on form were amazing. I could have watched the Numberwang sketches forever.

Myself and the SO have started on Bridgerton recently, which is a great good/bad watch, amazingly saccharine period romances with all of this silly anachronistic touches, like the music, perfect for poking fun at without making you think too much.

In terms of bingable series, all of Justified just went up on Disney+. It's a very strange TV show, in that I have never really encountered much in the way of negative criticism of it, but it seems bizarrely under noticed in the zeitgeist. It's the kind of thing where I sometimes just go down rabbit holes on Youtube watching individual scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcfNK3D7TiE

Isn't Justified coming back, in some form?

Watched the Landscapers miniseries over the last few days, about the 1998 murders of of William and Patricia Wycherley. More like a play than a TV show, with some bizarre scenes, but it was very enjoyable. But then I'm not sure there's anything with Olivia Colman I wouldn't like.

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Originally Posted by SkStu

Watched S1 of Barry and enjoyed it a lot but we just haven’t been able to get into the subsequent seasons.

Veep is excellent! Surprised I didn’t have it in my top ten!

Finished up Mad Men this weekend and it is a great show. Some great characters, great mix of drama and comedy with a number of great storylines that were set in the forefront of major events of 60's America. Not sure it nudges any higher in the list though.

We started watching the last season of The Marvellous Ms Maisel last night and I’d recommend the series to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Well worth a watch.

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Veep was definitely good. I'd completely forgotten about it. Maisel is very enjoyable. Better than the writers other efforts that I know of i.e. Gilmore Girls. The quick fire dialogue is stuffed full of great lines and there's some quality characters in it. Great shout on both there Stu.

How do people rate the West Wing and the Newsroom? I enjoyed both for a while but they got a bit repetitive.

Not sure if it's come up so far but I loved Fleabag.

Also, this is only personal preference but I think sketch shows are their own breed. I never include them in my top 10 lists of comedies or tv shows. Animated comedies and purely satirical shows like The Day Today or Alan Partridge fall into a similar bucket. It's complicated.