What TV shows are you watching?

[Janszoon]

You're in for a treat! The gay musical episode of season 2 is one of the most amazing episodes of any TV comedy. Just about everything else is great too.

They actually got together for a one-off as well some years ago.

I think it was maybe the second episode—the one where you see Jen's toes after wearing the tight shoes—that I decided it was my kind of show. I could not stop laughing at the quick foot shots. A few days later, my wife and I were out at a bar and we started talking about that episode. Once again I couldn't stop laughing.

[Trollheart]

No, best bit was when they presented a router with a load of cables in a plastic box or something and said, "This... is the internet!"   

[grindy]

We started watching The IT Crowd recently. I've been meaning to watch it for a very long time and I've been pleasantly surprised by how much it makes me laugh. I was expecting it to be more along the lines of The Office and wasn't expecting how bizarre it is. 

Watched trailer, heard laugh track, noped out.

[Guybrush]

Katherine Parkinson is so funny as Jen and probably my favourite character overall. I'm a little saddened that I haven't seen her in much else. I should trawl through her IMDb page and find something.

[Guybrush]

People seem peeved about the ending of House of the Dragon S2. I actually thought it was good! I get the impression people miss the spectacle of Game of Thrones S8 big dragon war scenes. I much prefer the drama and it's great in HotD.

[Lisnaholic]

Watched trailer, heard laugh track, noped out.

^ Now that you mention it, the laugh track is pretty intrusive, but is worth tolerating for the humour of the scripts.

Jen is a great character, but I think the Richard Ayoade guy is the real star of the show. I really like the episodes when the IT guys try to be normal: there's one where Jen needs them all to impress her friends at a dinner party, and another in which Maurice and Roy try to be a pair of regular , football-loving lads.
I loved the first couple of series, but in the later shows, I thought the boss, Douglas Reynholm, was given too much attention: he didn't strike me as a very amusing character at all.

[Lisnaholic]

I also enjoyed Bodkin, another crime thriller.



An Irish journalist living in London and working for The Guardian is sent (back) to Ireland. Her latest story has gotten too hot. To evade the heat, she's to cooperate with an American podcaster who is researching a cold case of three people who went missing on Samhain 25 years ago in the small seaside village Bodkin.

That's the basic premise. It actually shares some themes with The Red King, but is a bit slower paced and not quite as dramatic. Siobhan Cullen's character's extreme cynicism feels a bit tiring and parodic at times, but Will Forte's podcaster is endearing enough. The star of the show may actually be David Wilmot who plays early suspect and criminal fisherman Seamus Gallagher, combining both danger and warmth in a layered character.

It won't be anyone's favourite from 2024, but if it looks like a good fit, you'll probably enjoy it.

Thanks for this rec ! Sounds good - I'll be checking it out later

[Janszoon]

People seem peeved about the ending of House of the Dragon S2. I actually thought it was good! I get the impression people miss the spectacle of Game of Thrones S8 big dragon war scenes. I much prefer the drama and it's great in HotD.

I wish it had been more climactic, but I still thought it was decent. The amount of time they spent on Tyland was a weird decision for the finale though.

[Lexi Darling]

@Janszoon Have you ever seen Garth Marenghi's Darkplace? It has some of the same people as IT Crowd and it's one of my favorite things ever.

[Janszoon]

@Janszoon Have you ever seen Garth Marenghi's Darkplace? It has some of the same people as IT Crowd and it's one of my favorite things ever.

No, I've never even heard of it. I'll have to look for it.

[Lexi Darling]

No, I've never even heard of it. I'll have to look for it.

Luckily the whole series is on YouTube, this playlist has all 6 episodes and the dvd bonus features.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC046BB28463E1459&feature=shared

If 80s horror anthology spoofs and meta narratives are your thing, then you are in for a treat!

[Trollheart]

Okay, time for an update:

Recent shows watched or watching:


The Twelve: Courtroom/murder drama based on the Belgian original (see below). Looks good so far, this one is Australian-based and stars Sam Neill. UPDATE: Finished now, and had an interesting ending. I'm not sure if the original had the same one, but giving the tendency of "foreign" drama to not exactly gush with happy endings, I wouldn't be surprised.

Poldark Season 3: Already mentioned, still watching, still great. UPDATE: Into season 4 now, still great.

The Brothers: Still watching this. Oh, the fashion and the music of the 1970s!  UPDATE: Have recently found out that the channel showing it also shows it the previous day, and it's not the same episode, so I'm not sure if I've been missing episodes. The continuity has seemed okay though. Well, at least it means I get two episodes a week instead of one.

House of the Dragon season 2: Just waiting till I have them all (one to go I think) UPDATE: Finished now; I've already given my view on the ending. Still look forward to season three though.

DI Ray season 2: Gripping cop drama. Enjoyed season 1, the new season only begins tonight. UPDATE: Just saw this a few days ago. Very much worth waiting for; wrapped things up nicely.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: No idea, but it looks good. Collecting it as I write. UPDATE: Finished this, very very good, lots of twists and turns and just when you think you have it figured out...


The Cleaning Lady season 2: Loved season one, just doing the usual, getting it all together before I begin watching it. UPDATE: Just gets better each season. On season three now.

Under the Banner of Heaven: I think this is an Australian murder thingy. Same as above. UPDATE: This was truly exceptional. If you want to know what it's like to live as a woman in the Mormons, check it out and prepare to be shocked. Based on true-life events.

The Dropout: Watched some of it, then caught up so now waiting for the rest to be shown before I complete it.  UPDATE: Also based on real-life, really good and makes you want to just give her a slap. Terrible person, but good drama.

Belgravia: The Next Chapter: No idea, but I think a Downtown Abbey/Bridgerton thing? Just started. UPDATE: Missed recording about three episodes so putting it to one side for now.

The Jetty: Another murder drama. Ongoing. UPDATE: Very impressed, well worth watching.

End of Summer: Murder drama in which it seems the victim may not be dead after all. UPDATE: Excellent story and as usual with Scandi-drama there's no happy ending.

The Serial Killer's Wife: Needs no explanation. Ongoing. UPDATE: Truly excellent with a shocker ending which will have all you ladies up on your feet applauding and high-fiveing each other. Superb.

Sommerdahl Murders: Another of my scandi-drama/Nordic noir deals. UPDATE; Good, but it had a really terrible ending, and I don't mean it was disappointing. Well I do, but it was jsut stupid and hard to believe, and very unsatisfying.

Klangor: May be about a prison, not sure. Might be a psychlogist involved too. UPDATE: It was, but it's also about a missing kid. Really really good. Highly recommended.

Granite Harbour: Scottish murder drama thingy. UPDATE: Very impressed.

Heat: Family become trapped by a brush fire, secrets come out, yadda yadda. UPDATE: Excellent drama with Danny Dyer and an explosive (no pun intended) ending.

Colin from Accounts: Quirky little Australian comedy about a couple who rescue a dog, who then brings them together. Gets a little icky with some of the (to me) unnecessary sexual stuff, but not bad. Quirky, as I say.

Sherwood: Was not a huge fan of season 1, found it a bit silly but season 2 sure as hell makes up for it. Set in Nottingham, England in the wake of the miners' strikes and pit closures. Gripping stuff.

Secrets of the Hells Angels: Documentary in which five ex-presidents of the most famous and feared motorbike club speak out, and have they something to say! Well worth watching. Scary stuff.

Spanish Empire: Rise and Fall: More or less the story of the conquistadores, charting the rise of the Spanish American empire and its eventual fall and defeat, after taking down two major civilisations with them.

Kavanagh QC: Highly gripping series from the 1990s starring John Thaw as a barrister. Great if you're into that sort of thing. I am. Watched all five seasons now.

Scientology: Going Clear - The Prison of Belief: Eye-opening documentary about the Church of Scientology, with testimony from ex-members and officers. Harrowing and very scary. People are idiots.

Bent Coppers: Crossing the Line of Duty: Documentary tracking the corruption in the London Metropolitan Police during the 1970s and 1980s. All coppers are what? Well, some are.

Corridors of Power: Fascinating and often upsetting eight-part exploration of America's role as World Police force. When they intervene, do they do the right thing, and if they don't, should they? Features graphic footage of massacres from Bosnia, Libya, Darfur and Rwanda among others. Strong stuff and often very hard to watch.

Waiting to be watched:

Big Little Lies: Suburban drama comedy? I'll give it a go. Seven episodes now.

Bergen: Power and Glory: Season four I think of the Norwegian political thriller.

Interview with the Vampire: Well duh! As if I would miss this. All episodes shown, but they've sort of mixed up season two with season one, so a little untangling and some possible downloading to be done before I can watch this.

The Ex-Wife: Going to take a mad stab in the dark and assume this is about an ex who wants to cause trouble with the new wife?

Dead and Buried: Woman can't forgive the man who killed her brother, who is now out of prison, and intends to take an eye for an eye.

Billy the Kid: Loved season one, this should be just as good if not better. As someone once said, I love this sort of shit.

Nightsleeper: Terrorists hack an overnight train, with hilarious, I mean deadly results.

The Boy That Never Was: Hmm. Pedant mode: Surely that should be The Boy WHO Never Was? People aren't things. Anyway, couple think their son is dead but then seem to see him walking along the street. Didn't I watch something similar? I'm sure that sounds familiar...

Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime: Ah, me and my foreign dramas. This one's from France, and seems to be about a certain stretch of road where a serial killer prowls and abducts women.

The Tower: Gritty crime drama, third season, enjoyed both the other two.

Apples Never Fall: I think this is about the disappearance of a child?

Cuckoo: Another series about a woman trying to make life difficult for a family. No cuckoos were harmed in the filming of this series.

Desperate Measures: A worker in a bank must help drug dealers in order to save her son from prison. Or something.

Finders Keepers: Detectorists find treasure and have to decide whether to keep it or give it up to the govt/museums

Hostage: Another from Walter Presents. A plane is hijacked remotely. The things they can do these days. I hear you can even get the Internet on computers now!

[Guybrush]

That's quite a list, @Trollheart 🙂 The only thing we're watching is Rings of Power S2. It feels like they improved on the series with season 2. I definitely am less bored.

It's grittier and more violent now, perhaps less cheesy.

[Trollheart]

Yeah, my SKY box doesn't thank me. "20% space left! Stop recording stuff!!" 

[DJChameleon]

I'm watching How to Die Alone and Agatha All Along.

How to Die Alone is a great comedy about this lady working out of an airport terminal. JFK in NY.