TV Tips

[Geoff Grace]

Can quality shows have so much graphic violence for you to the point where you feel kind of sorry after you watch?

“Peaky Blinders” ran for six seasons and a film is coming out and it has been widely praised as one of the best shows in years. I hadn’t seen it until yesterday, when I watched the first two episodes, and this morning when I started to watch another.

It’s as good as advertised, especially Cillian Murphy, but jeez, I felt kind of sickened by it and I don’t think I want to watch more.

Any of you react that way to that kind of show, quality though it may be?

I’ve never liked gratuitous or graphic violence, Jay. I even struggle with violence that has an educational aspect, as it did in Band of Brothers.

I typically watch TV to escape from stress rather than embrace it. As a result, (American) football and the news are usually the most violent things I watch.

Best,

Geoff

[Guy Rowland]

Can quality shows have so much graphic violence for you to the point where you feel kind of sorry after you watch?

“Peaky Blinders” ran for six seasons and a film is coming out and it has been widely praised as one of the best shows in years. I hadn’t seen it until yesterday, when I watched the first two episodes, and this morning when I started to watch another.

It’s as good as advertised, especially Cillian Murphy, but jeez, I felt kind of sickened by it and I don’t think I want to watch more.

Any of you react that way to that kind of show, quality though it may be?

Like Geoff I have a really low tolerance for graphic violence, I can't stand it. A few shows I've made it through, I guess Breaking Bad would be one example, but I so nearly bailed after the 2nd or 3rd episode - I think I'd heard that the violence was infrequent and so it turned out to be (in fact I I'm not sure Season Two had any at all). Sometimes it's vital that it is in there - American History X or All Quiet On The Western Front just two film examples, but I've noticed even though I think both are excellent and the violence was right, I can never bring myself to re-watch them.

I've never done Peaky Blinders, unsurprisingly.

[Lawrence]

In most of Tarantino’s films, the violence is not only gratuitous, it’s gleeful. However, it’s so over the top that it crosses over into the comedic. The fight scene in “Kill Bill” that featured the Crazy 88’s is a prime example- lots of hacked off limbs, all of them deliberately spurting gallons of blood that spray everywhere-it’s ridiculous but left me feeling sort of queasy.

Peaky Blinders, Deadwood-these were period series in violent times and incredibly well written. All of Scorsese’s Mafia oeuvre, The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now by Coppola, fantastic films regardless of violence, great writing, amazing cinematography.

Some films that include psychological as well as physical violence are too hard for me.
Two I can think of-“Hostel “and “Funny Games.” Couldn’t make it through either.

Peaky Blinders is, in my opinion, can’t miss entertainment regardless of violence. Fantastic drawing of characters, great acting, great writing, amazing sets, interesting material about ethnicities.

[Ashermusic]

Like it’s two predecessors in the Knives Out series, Wake Up, Dead Man is big time fun!

[Guy Rowland]

Spoilerful thoughts after seeing the finale of ep 1 of Pluribus:

► Show Spoiler

Adore this show beyond words. Every episode I wrestle with huge philosophical issues from a perspective I've never considered before. I'm immersed into every second. Everything rings true though character and grounded in a wildly fantastical world whose rules are invented from the ground up, and quite unlike anything I've seen before.

My overall feeling at the end of Ep9 is that although the show is about many, many things, it feels at this point that most pertinently it is a show about cults. The series - even right from ep 1 - is about lovebombing Carol. She seems a hopeless case, an angry volatile misanthrope grieving her wife that they killed. How could they possibly get her onside?

Abandonment. Give her enforced apparently blissful solitude, and add time. It won't take all that long.

Indeed it doesn't. They get her to a point of maximum vulnerability and milk it for all its worth. Carol feels loved. She even realises at one point that her partner is really her chaperone - "exactly" Zosia confirms. They're not even hiding it - they can't. And STILL Carol is in. She tells herself she can live with that because the alternative is so much worse. She "feels" amazing. And it must do - she is being globally love-bombed.

The feeling that you - squirty, failing, hopeless little you - are actually the centre of someone else's world is such a heady part about being mutually in love. It feels unbelievable, you pinch yourself - can it even be true? Yes! It is true! Oh my God. It is overwhelming. Well never mind that, Carol is the centre of 7 billion others' world. Everything is designed to make her happy. Limitless, boundless. Zosia herself is designed to make her happy, the person plucked from 7 billion as the most likely to be able to woo, seduce her and then fulfil her every conceivable wish. And these others totally believe in it too. Completely. It's all for one purpose.

The cable cars quietly stop the moment Carol and Zosia have departed.

This is cults, pure and simple, only on the largest scale possible. Cults are masters at exploiting vulnerability (often not a negative vulnerability at all, eg compassion). They make you feel like you are the centre of their world. And slowly they become the centre of YOUR world. In fact, not just the centre, your periphery too - they are your ENTIRE world. You cannot leave because if you do you lose everything. You are shunned, rejected, utterly alone. Everything you believed in, the reason you got up in the morning, the purpose that you put your heart and soul into, shattered.

Having an entire city move away to avoid you is the perfect metaphor for what that would feel like. And they do it to her TWICE.

There were times when I thought Carol wouldn't have gone so far down the rabbit hole, but by the end I realised it was inevitable she would.

So. Delightfully... now what?

[Guy Rowland]

PluribuS

► Show Spoiler

Vince Gilligan holds the rights to Raven, the biography of Jim Jones. He knows how this stuff works.

[Guy Rowland]

Good to see Rhea Seehorn winning best actress in the Critics Choice awards for Pluribus - she never won anything for her incredible performance in Better Call Saul.

I also see Tramell Tillman won best supporting actor for Severance. All the cast are strong, but he is exceptional. Even though season two was a major disappointment for me, great to see he won.

The biggest TV winner - best drama, best actor, supporting actress - was The Pitt. I don't recall anyone mentioning it here. We have a good excuse not to in the UK - it STILL hasn't been released, but this is about to change I believe. Very much looking forward to trying it.

The Studio picked up the comedy awards - it was okay, quite clever and well executed in places but I honestly didn't love it. I think my tolerance for industry navel-gazing has diminished over the years.

Adolescence won best Limited Series and quite right too - that was exceptional. It picked up almost all the acting awards, including the extraordinary young actor Owen Cooper. But I was most thrilled to see Erin Doherty win, she was only in one episode (3) but she was phenomenal. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

No music awards at the Critics Choice! Boo.

[wst3]

I can't remember the title, but Kevin Bacon starred as your stereotypical burnt out FBI Behaviorist who was (predictably) called back to help with an especially difficult case. The series was dark, and had more violence than I like, but it was, at the same time compelling. I got sucked in. Judi did not, and after a couple of episodes opted out of watching it. So I ended up watching it when she was busy or asleep.

And now I'm wishing I hadn't. I won't spoil anything, except to say that the finale was over-the-top dark and violent, and left me feeling like I had wasted my time watching it.

Quality is important. It is especially important for shows that lean towards the darker side of humanity. Maybe I've just watched one too many, but I am a lot less likely to watch all the way through.

The same can be said for a lot of shows though - I find myself getting bored, even when there are plenty of twists... they just don't interest me.

[Ashermusic]

Bill it was called “The Following” and James Purefoy was the villain.

I though it was brilliant. It’s being streamed for free on Tubi, along with my “Zorro” tv series,which is considerably less dark

[wst3]

Jay - that's the one. It was brilliant, well written, well cast, well acted, well directed, well produced, and I enjoyed it, right up until the end. The end disturbed me, and I am not easy to disturb.

[Erik]

I’m having a hell lotta fun watching FallOut season II.
I’m at EP5S2 and it’s a very good one.
I liked 1st season, though not moonstruck. It was a slow burner - usually not a fan of post-apo in the movies, except for a few titles like MadMax Fury road - and I was watching Severence S1 almost at the same time so the comparison was unfair for this trashy, grostesque, fantasy narrative.
Then it dawned on me it’s an all-out dark comedy with lots of incoherences but with this retrofuturism art direction I’ve always enjoyed, some dark background-flashbacks - think « evil corp. » - not very original per se but with a few twists here and there.
There are multiple threads, plots and story lines and I now find each of them equally fun to watch.
Interesting to note that the producers enrolled writers who had only written dramas and writers who worked exclusively on comedies. The two teams had to work together, sharing ideas for each and every episodes. Hence the versatility of moods.

[Guy Rowland]

For anyone else into Pluribus, a curious interview here with Vince and Rhea on - of all things - the Music Gear Network. At one point the host talks about NAMM and Vince ends up asking him about AI in music. I've no idea why this is a thing, but it's a really good interview.

Rhea Seehorn is 53. I mean... damn.

https://www.youtube.com/live/HtuQNsF0-p ... dwLOEPyYCN

[Ashermusic]

“Young Sherlock” on Prime Video has little to do with Arthur Conan Doyle, but it’s fun.

[Guy Rowland]

We only got The Pitt here in the UK a couple of months ago, a year behind the US (we now have Season 2 as well).

It's worthy of all its praise. We used to love ER back in the day, and this is very clearly a spiritual successor, with much of the same chemistry (and of course a lead actor in the excellent Noah Wyle, who also sometimes writes and directs here). The two biggest differences - change of location from Chicago to Pittsburgh, and each 15 episode season following a 15 hour day, one hour per ep to be almost real time. Other changes are that this is no longer PG-13 rated - adult language and adult body parts (both gruesome and non-gruesome) are on fully display. In general this is more unflinching, more realistic (and I do spent at least a part of each ep with my hand obscuring really gruesome stuff cos I'm a wuss). It almost feels European in its aesthetics here.

Part of the DNA remains humour, and the characters are excellent. In particular I'm enamoured with the trainees, through whose eyes we see much of it. Taylor Dearden is the standout for me - such a well written, highly plausible and utterly delightful twenty-something who is somewhat on the spectrum and her sister far more so, brining a different feel to the 1990s - this is a show of its time, as ER was. The show highlights many big, real issues to do with contemporary healthcare in America, but never feels preachy.

Occasionally it goes a bit too big in terms of the scale. I always have the subtitles on - it's so fast, so many accents, so much lingo - but that works for me (and it's amazing how much detail you can still absorb on-screen while reading the words). The use of music is more restrained than in ER, almost solely limited to the moments of propulsive action but fairly simple and low in the mix within that. I kinda wonder if it would be better without anything.

I always said ER was the best that a soap opera can possibly be. Maybe I was wrong - THIS is the best a soap opera can possibly be.

[Lawrence]

I think The Pitt is the best show on television. It DOES go by at a blistering pace, but Wyle is an excellent anchor and the story arcs of all the characters are well developed and congruent. It’s a beautiful ensemble.

I will say this-it’s not for the faint of heart or the hypochondriac. The medical scenes are EXTREMELY realistic and there are so many conditions that everyone can find one they might have. The tension….!

[Guy Rowland]

I think The Pitt is the best show on television. It DOES go by at a blistering pace, but Wyle is an excellent anchor and the story arcs of all the characters are well developed and congruent. It’s a beautiful ensemble.

I will say this-it’s not for the faint of heart or the hypochondriac. The medical scenes are EXTREMELY realistic and there are so many conditions that everyone can find one they might have. The tension….!

Amen.

I remember one of my first thoughts was that 99% of people watching this will think "I would never ever ever ever work an in ER" and 1% would say "Bring it on". Good luck to 'em - those who do that job at any level and any position are incredible.

[Ashermusic]

I thought when I heard about The Pitt, oh lord, who needs another medical drama. I was wrong. It's terrific.

[Ashermusic]

I am not much of a fan of superhero shows but I love noir. Still, I didn’t much expect to like Spider-Noir but it’s really fun and well done. Nicholas Cage is great in it.

[Mike Greene]

We used to love ER back in the day, and this is very clearly a spiritual successor...

Don't tell the lawyers. Michael Crichton's estate is suing WB and the Pitt producers. (It's always estates in cases like this. Greedy fucking leeches who never created anything themselves. I imagine Crichton, like Marvin Gaye, would be rolling in his grave to see his family doing this.)

It's worthy of all its praise.

I'm with you all the way on this. One of the best shows ever IMO, especially season 2.

Plus ... gravity keeps working through the entire series, which I've decided is my new metric for whether I like a show or not.

The show highlights many big, real issues to do with contemporary healthcare in America, but never feels preachy.

True, and it's a sad indictment of our heath system, made sadder by the fact that they didn't need to embellish or over-dramatize anything to make this clear. Heck, I *have* health insurance, but I still fear the financial consequences of going to an emergency room. (Am I sure Auto-Pay is turned on? Once it wasn't, and luckily it didn't matter, but it could have.)

I always have the subtitles on - it's so fast, so many accents, so much lingo

Too funny! We usually have subtitles on, especially for British shows, but we didn't for this one.

The use of music is more restrained than in ER, almost solely limited to the moments of propulsive action but fairly simple and low in the mix within that. I kinda wonder if it would be better without anything.

I can't remember the music in Season 1, but I was thinking this year how much I loved the music choices, especially the end credits music, which was the perfect way to leave each episode. Not amazing in an Emmy-winning sort of way, mind you (which not every show is an opportunity for award music), but my hat's off to the composer and music supervisor.

[Guy Rowland]

Don't tell the lawyers. Michael Crichton's estate is suing WB and the Pitt producers. (It's always estates in cases like this. Greedy fucking leeches who never created anything themselves. I imagine Crichton, like Marvin Gaye, would be rolling in his grave to see his family doing this.)

Oooh I hope they lose.

On the one hand they don't have a leg to stand on. You can't actually copyright an idea - drama set in an e.r is absolutely not copyrightable. If they stole the characters then that's different, but they didn't - they stole an actor. Which isn't copyrightable.

Where they might get somewhere is that I believe there's a chain here of the producers trying to acquire the rights to e.r. and failing. Certainly in music that's been a sticking point - I remember an ad tried to get a singer (IIRC Tom Waits) and failed, so they got a soundalike and were successfully sued. But The Pitt isn't TRYING to emulate e.r.. It's just an emergency room drama. They have a distinct angle of one hour per ep, unlike e.r. they never leave the emergency room's interiors and exteriors, both clear USPs.

Less definable is the tone, and that IS similar. The fast pace, the humour, the tragedy, the social issues. But gee its a thin (and surely non-copyrightable) list when you write it down - it comes down to the producers and writers just doing their jobs well. And visually & musically it is distinct - the look and production design is starkly different, we'd all stand up in court and say the sparse score in The Pitt is very different to e.r's much more in-your-face style. In no sane universe it The Pitt deliberately copying the specificity of e.r., the only thing they are "copying" is doing their jobs well.

One other thing that could trip them up - same producers. I presume that would rely on anything in their contracts that forbade them working on any other medical dramas set in emergency rooms for the rest of their lives, and that seems doubtful.

So I sincerely hope the case gets thrown out. The final insult is that Crichton has bugger all to do with e.r. anyway after the pilot IIRC. His estate are money-grabbing bastards.

Meanwhile back in the UK we've run out of episodes to watch, currently Season 2 episode 10. They release them on Fridays, one week at a time, old school. NO SPOILERS!