Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

[Sly Boots]

I really enjoyed Breaking Bad when I eventually watched it a few years after its run, but for some reason any time I've considered starting Better Call Saul I've hummed and hawed about actually putting it on. In general, I'm often pretty wary of prequels, I guess.

It's really, really good. The best compliment I can give is that there's no noticeable quality drop from BB... in fact I know people who rate it more highly.

[Animalmother]

I was a huge fan of BB but just couldn't get into Better Call Saul. Must give it another go at some stage.

[ManBearSquid]

I do hear almost nothing but good things about it. Maybe one day the mood will be right.

[Snowy]

I am betting what puts people off is that he is not Saul Goodman from the get-go. It is absolutely worth sticking with, just like Breaking Bad took a couple of seasons to really hit its stride. I think I prefer it myself, a better show about better characters.

[Raid]

It is absolutely worth sticking with, just like Breaking Bad took a couple of seasons to really hit its stride.

I agree with that, but only because it gets unbelievably good later on. The earliest episodes are still fantastic, Odenkirk sells the series right from the start. Jimmy Mcgill is every bit as good a character as Saul Goodman. I'm continuously amazed at how interesting they made legal office politics work in a world surrounded by murderous drug barons.

And I'm holding off from calling it better than Breaking Bad until the series is over, but I'm definitely leaning that way. It's better written and better produced than Breaking Bad, I just don't think it stirs the imagination quite as much from the start. I tend to describe Breaking Bad as a comic to Better Call Saul's novel; they both have the same subject matter, but the former's just a little more fantastical.

[eny]

I agree BCS is a shade better. I love it for it's exposition of Mike, by far my favourite character in the BB universe. I've only managed to watch the end of the last series again, and watch the first of this so far, excited to catch up fully before I hear any spoilers...

[Snowy]

I tend to describe Breaking Bad as a comic to Better Call Saul's novel; they both have the same subject matter, but the former's just a little more fantastical.

That's a good analogy

[Sly Boots]

Quite enjoying this S4 of Stranger things, we've watched the first 3 so far and feel safe enough saying it's the strongest since S1.

Also, did anyone else catch the Rick & Morty reference in, I think, ep2?

Spoiler

When they're searching for Eddie, one of the names on their screen of 'Ricks' at the video store is Rick Sanchez...

[Sly Boots]

Quite enjoying this S4 of Stranger things, we've watched the first 3 so far and feel safe enough saying it's the strongest since S1.

Also, did anyone else catch the Rick & Morty reference in, I think, ep2?

Spoiler

When they're searching for Eddie, one of the names on their screen of 'Ricks' at the video store is Rick Sanchez...

Talking of powerful TV (eg Saul), ep4 of ST S4 is a good'un.

[Animalmother]

Stranger Things S4 is pretty good alright. It's definitely going with a more gruesome tone this time...

Spoiler

That first bone bending death was not expected!

[elgaucho]

I think I've made it to season 2 of BCS, but I still can't get into it. I think it's a good quality show, and I believe everyone who tells me it's excellent. I struggled with Breaking Bad too until about season 3 as I really just hated all the characters, and it's the same kind of thing here. I know its good, it's just hard for me to enjoy it. I'll keep at it slowly and hopefully it'll stick.

I recently watched Tokyo Vice. As with most things HBO, it's a damn good quality production. I love the cinematography and the editing, and I'm loving seeing this dark yakuza japanese culture through the show. I can't speak at all for how realistic it is, but it paints a pretty believable world.

It's a good drama, and I think it will be better still. The end of S1 was very frustrating though as it doesn't wrap one key thing up that it should have!

[Sly Boots]

Nice, just seen that the Orville S3 just started screening on Disney+ (which also now has both previous seasons as well). Only one episode so far so might give it a few weeks before I dive in, but delighted to see it back - this is the show that all recent iterations of Star Trek should have been!

[Raid]

Yeah, I noticed that the other day too, so I started re-watching season 2 (which I watched probably three years back). It's good, but I still wish Macfarlane had just made a straight sci-fi show rather than shoe-horning in his usual brand of comedy (which I don't find particularly funny). I have no problem with it being light hearted, but it's pretty low-brow; there's an episode where the setup is the crew heading to Bortus' home planet to watch his annual urination ceremony, which is an obvious setup for some bad jokes that maybe would have been funny 40 years ago.

But Strange New Worlds is still better. They actually did a light-hearted episode last week, which was brave for a show that was only 4 episodes old - usually comedy Star Trek episodes (think DS9's baseball episode) rely on well established character traits, but they pulled it off. It's honestly surprising, as one of the two story arcs relies on a well-trodden trope that you wouldn't think Star Trek would ever attempt (my initial reaction was "wait, are they really doing this?!"), but it shows just how good the previous four hours were that I could accept and really enjoy it.

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, but they're airing SNW where no-one gets to see it -_-

[Sly Boots]

Obi Wan Kenobi

I can't say I'm that impressed by the first couple of episodes. They've decided to heavily feature a young character whose back story I'm not really that interested in, and then they've given the young actor lines that don't feel remotely realistic for a character of that age. And then the antagonists are squabbling and unprofessional, which is largely at odds to the way they've been portrayed in the past.

Room for improvement then, but there are only going to be six episodes, so the first third of the series hasn't really grabbed me.

Just watched the first one, and I think I largely agree. I did like it overall, but my enjoyment of the Obi-Wan parts greatly exceeded my enjoyment of the Leia parts, during which I eventually started checking my phone, which wasn't a great sign.