I'm too young to have any emotional connection with the original show, although I have caught a few episodes on TVs in randoms hotels over the years. I can only really base my opinion on the quality of what I see before me, and the quality is incredibly high.
The cast is uniformly superb and the storyline is gripping. Direction is tight and fat-free. The show is indebted to noir, without being beholden to it - a tribute rather than a pastiche. I am grateful that they made the choice to set the show in the 1930s, rather than bring it into modern times, which has been done with other classic franchises, usually with a poor outcome.
This is thoroughly worth your time. Ignore the whiners and naysayers who watched one episode before they decided to be offended or disappointed because of the shows divergence with the original. If anyone doubts that people spoke or acted like this in the 1930s in that world, they've been watching too much old network TV. This show is great and will continue to improve, I am sure.
Reviews
15 Reviews
Batwoman
(2019–2022)
Just give up, DC.
21 January 2020
I have started to watch countless DC TV adaptations, inevitably abandoning them after a handful of episodes due to the dreadful writing, disjointed plotting and mediocre acting. I have decided to switch my game up and jump ship on this one after one lousy outing.
What a lame, unimaginative, exploitative bucket of fish innards. It's just ridiculous stereotype after lame boilerplate. Just because it's 'woke' don't make it good, kiddies. If you want an example of how to do a feminist anti-hero, go watch Stumptown, which has more intelligence and integrity in its end credits than this crock has in a whole episode.
Mrs. Fletcher
(2019)
Superb - if you're not a wilting violet.
14 January 2020
I was not certain I was going to like this. As a white, middle aged, married, cis male, I am guessing I am not the target audience, but I ended up adoring it.
I confess that a few scenes had me squirming, but that is just a reflection of my own limitations and social conditioning. I am guessing that some of those scenes sent a few alt-righters and fundamentalist religious types to the hospital, though. Oh well, so sad, never mind.
What helps immensely here is that the cast is superb across the board. In particular Kathyrn Hahn, of course, but all of them are just great. I was engaged and invested in the characters before I had time to second guess myself. I just had to know they all ended up OK.
At its heart, it's a love story - but not as we know it. One has to overcome several challenges to one's own deep-seated prejudices and preconceptions to get that far. If you can get past those, you are rewarded with something that is, dare I say it, sweet and almost old-fashioned. The payoff is superb and the ending, although you can see it coming (literally :), is gorgeously, sensitively and tastefully done. Erotic, but not prurient.
It is a very brave show and thoroughly enjoyable. I desperately hope for a second season, but given the sheer volume of content out there and the probable difficulty of the material for some of the more uptight citizens among us, I have my doubts. I really hope I am wrong and that HBO sticks by this one. It is a gem.
You're the Worst
(2014–2019)
An utter waste
21 November 2019
What a squandered opportunity. All this show needed to do to go down as the Seinfeld of its generation was to keep on the same track as its first season, which was a slice of darkly comic genius.
So what do they do for season 2? Decide to take themselves seriously and then, heinously, break the Seinfeldian rule #1 - No Hugging, No Learning! After that it was a wild descent into melodrama and emo tearjerkery. It never recovered. 10 stars for the superlative first season. An indifferent shrug for the rest. What a waste.
Miracle Workers
(2019–2023)
Verging on good.
21 November 2019
I'm not sure why everyone has to go to extremes. It's either 10/10 or 1/10 for most people. In fact, it is neither terrible nor great. It's certainly something of a disappointment, given the calibre of the cast.
It seems like there was a meeting where someone said "Hey - how about Parks and Rec, but in Heaven?" Even the news segments are an obvious lift from the Perd Hapley bits of that great show. Now, there's nothing wrong with this, in principle, but the humour just doesn't hit the mark. The thing with Parks is that it was a genuinely subversive show disguised as a gentle sitcom. The humour was wicked and nuanced. What we have here are a whole bunch of ideas that must have seemed hilarious in the writers room (the Bill Maher dick explosion, which should have been a riot, but somehow wasn't) that just do not achieve lift off on the screen. Perhaps it is the lack of a genuine comic actor in the cast? The best bits obviously belong to Buscemi, who is capable of genuine hilarity, but the rest of the cast, while all good actors, just don't have the comedic chops.
I see that the show has been renewed and I hope that there have been lessons learned. It could be genuinely great - but it requires a far more cutting edge approach. The humour needs more danger and the cast need to have more to work with.
As it stands, it's a diverting and fun little show with unrealised potential. Worth watching, but could be so much more. Fingers crossed for season 2.
2 Dope Queens
(2018–2019)
Abysmal
18 February 2019
As if they weren't irritating enough in podcast form, now we have to watch them too?? African American women deserve so much better in terms of creen representation. Aisha Tyler could have done this so much better, but she's condemned to Whose line Is It Anyway oblivion now, sadly.
These two are just garbage. A complete waste of time and terminally unfunny.
Dear God...
18 February 2019
Russian Doll
(2019–2022)
You want it darker.
4 February 2019
If dark humour is your thing, you'' like this. If New York Jewish humour is your thing, you'll like this. If intriguing supernatural stories are your thing, you'll like this. If all of those are your thing, you'll never stop watching. The best thing on the small screen since 'Happy'. If you let the Groundhog Day comparisons dictate your choices, I really can't help you.
Idiocracy
(2006)
A litmus test of a movie.
7 December 2017
It's an imperfect movie for an imperfect world, but its ungilded truth shines through, clear as day. It is possibly the most subversive film ever made, for those who are ruminating about why it was buried. One day it will be required viewing for history classes, if there are any schools left. If you want a clear and reasoned argument against the long term survival prospects of our species, look no further. If you don't get it, don't worry, it's probably your genes which are to blame. If you watched it and gave it less than 8 stars, this movie is about you, not for you.
I'm Dying Up Here
(2017–2018)
Most excellent.
10 June 2017
If the first episode is anything to go by, this one will be a keeper. It strikes a beautiful balance between the dramatic and comedic. There is tragedy, but it never becomes maudlin. There is laughter, but it never becomes silly. There is nostalgia, but it never becomes sentimental. I call that a home run. It is always interesting to explore what drives comedians, who give us so much joy and yet so often are deeply flawed and unhappy themselves. There is a pathology to it and the greatest among them often seem the most broken. They are a tribe unto themselves and this show shines a light on the workings of their community and their compulsions. The characters are well drawn and believable. Given time, this could become something great. To those who are comparing this to Vinyl - it's a valid point of comparison. The main difference is that this is good.
Archer
(2009–2023)
It's jumped the shark.
4 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I have loved nearly every minute of every episode of Archer, right from the start, but season 8? No - just no. It would be tragic if this were the last season or the one by which the show as a whole was judged, but somebody has been taking the bad drugs at Archer Central. It's a bit of a travesty, let's be frank. My advice? Watch the first seven seasons and pretend the current one never happened - kind of like the plot.
The Good Place
(2016–2020)
A tale of 3 seasons
7 January 2017
The first season was original, often hilarious and had a great twist. The second was good, often funny and not quite as surprising. The third season has, tragically, jumped the shark in no uncertain terms. What a pity.
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
(2016–2017)
The trainspotters need to get a life.
18 November 2016
I will keep this short. You should watch this because is is sharp, funny, well written, well acted and engaging on many levels. Yes - I know it's nothing like the books. BBC UK tried that and it failed. Nobody has ever come close to doing Douglas Adams justice on screen because the insane intricacy and sheer scale of his stories make it impossible. BBC America has been very clever. They have taken the core concept and characters and done something utterly different with it. It is its own thing and stands on its own merits, which are many. If you are a person who gets terribly upset when a script is not faithful to the source material down to the last semi-colon, this show will make your brain implode. If, like me, you can let go of those expectations and enjoy what it is, rather than what you would like it to be, you might just enjoy it as much as I do. I love the books too and if I want the books, I read the books. This is a TV show and a pretty damn good one. If you can't separate the two, this is not for you. Try the UK version - but it ain't half as much fun.
Highston
(2015– )
Quirky, fun and strangely moving.
30 December 2015
This is a wonderful and very off the wall concept which could be turned into something truly unique, if Amazon has the balls to run with it. It will definitely not be for everyone, but it will definitely attract a large cult. It has a solid and intriguing cast with a plethora of back stories waiting to be told. Many genuinely funny moments and a few rater touching ones as well. I hope it gets picked up. There are many, many far worse shows out there clogging up the airwaves. Flea and Shaq are not the greatest actors, but in a way that feeds into the whole premise of unreality upon which the show rests. Flea in particular is so hyperkinetic that one can't help but be swept along by his enthusiasm and joie de vivre. I can think of far worse ways to spend a half hour.
Absolute tosh.
5 October 2014
I have loved The Doctor since I was a boy, a looong time ago. I have loved Peter Capaldi since the first episode of The Thick Of It. I think he makes a superb Doctor, reminiscent of Jon Pertwee's rendition in many ways, but I feel he is being served very badly by grindingly mediocre scripts in this series. Kill The Moon is a culmination of everything that is poor about the show at present. Hopefully it will turn the corner soon, but I am not holding my breath. There have always been certain episodes that veer into silliness, but this one is just breathtaking in the sheer scope of its utter inanity. To review it is not so much a matter of singling out the bad parts as trying desperately to find any redeeming qualities at all. I will not even bother to describe the plot, as others before me have done so very capably already. I will just say that even children should feel insulted by its total stupidity. What I will say is that I feel there are casting issues looming alongside the poor writing issues. Jenna Coleman was an excellent foil for Matt Smith, but I just don't see the chemistry with Capaldi. I think the sooner she moves on, the better it will be for the show. This is not a dig at Coleman; I think she is a very talented young actor. I just don't think the pairing works. As for Ellis George, who plays Courteney Woods, it's like they held a competition to choose the least talented young actress for the part as some kind of twisted joke. She is beyond awful. I know she is young and inexperienced, but I am certain that there must be far better choices out there than her. Her appalling delivery and wooden acting were the final nail in the coffin of an episode that was already DOA. Samuel Anderson is not a great deal better either. Wake up Steven Moffat and co., or this incarnation of The Doctor could well suffer the same fate as Sylvester McCoy's and drown in a puddle of its own mediocrity. Don't take your audience for granted!
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