Topic: The Unoffical TV Show Mega Thread

I don’t know how you can make a better opening scene for a comic book villain than this. Amazing start for probably the best comic book villain on any TV show or movie.

@Colonel_Mustache Dick Van Dyke was in a car crash. Pass the news on to Eagly.

@Colonel_Mustache I loved knock-off Mace Windu, he lasted so long that I hope he didn't probably die.

Kerosene, tensile twine, incendiary explosive devices. Should you require essential commodities, such utilities shall be exchanged as your collateral possessions, my compatriot, inasmuch as you, the principal consumer, acquiesce the proper amount of monetary units to the indicated financial compensation.

My sincerest apologies, Link, but I cannot forbear a negative fiscal amount and therefore must withhold my merchandise. Please return upon the acquisition of a substantial positive balance.

@Colonel_Mustache Oh crap, wrong thread! I thought this was chit-chat!

Just saw a commercial for the upcoming series, Unicorn Warriors Eternal on Adult Swim.

First impressions, looks really cool. I do have high hopes for it since it's from Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory, Primal and Samurai Jack.

Cat Planet Cuties (Blu-Ray)

With a name like "Cat Planet Cuties", you know what to expect from this, and it delivers on it, really no more no less.

It's your standard fare harem fan service anime, with light themes and nods to classic & b-movie sci-fi properties (like "Star Trek"), plus a lot of cat (& dog) puns.

Angel Cop (Blu-Ray)

80's-90's OVA set in near future (I think 2000, lol?) Japan that sees an extra legal police force combating "communist" terrorists who want to destroy Japan's booming economy.

With cybernetically enhanced police, a trio of telekinetic assassins, hyper detailed, gritty, & gory animation, it's sort of a mixture of "Ghost in the Shell", "Akira", & other such seminal works that delivers a generally awesome blood soaked time.

Unfortunately it is held back by some mean spirited elements. At first blush it's "merely" nationalistic, with a jealous America pulling the strings of the terrorists & assassins (Japan will agree to be the next state, or else they will tank the economy & turn the country into a nuclear waste dump), and if you're watching the dub or "censored subtitled" versions that's as deep as it goes (& those are probably the only variants available on streaming platforms).

However, the Blu-Ray release also includes an "uncensored subtitled" track, with a warning upon startup that says it "features dialogue offensive to certain nationalities & ethnicities", and urges you to watch the dub or "censored subtitled" track if you are bothered by such things. Long story short, it features blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments, with the extra context being that America's hostile behavior is due to it being controlled by Jews, who want to exert that control over Japan's economy as well (even Lucifer, the crazy telekinetic big bad, is ultimately described as just wanting to protect America from further damage by them).

Credit to the publisher, one of the special features included is a lengthy article exploring the history of anti-Semitism in Japan, how it peaked in the 80's/90's, & how it likely found it's way into this project (it's a good read, especially as context if you decide to watch the "uncensored subtitled" version).

Of course, you could always just watch the dub (or "censored subtitles") if you want to leave behind some of the more questionable elements, as it's generally a really good watch otherwise (& even then it doesn't outright blow it's top until the final part, although there is a hint a bit earlier on).

I'm really enjoying Pokerface from Rian Johnson the writer-director of the Knives Outs, Looper and Brick with Natasha Lyonne and flashy guest of the week.

After watching Poker Face a Columbo type murder mystery it's put it into perspective how everything gets turned into a procedurals now, the one that took the my biscuit was Neil Gaiman's Lucifer where the devil goes around with cops and forensic teams for some stupid reason.

Also why is this called the unoffical tv thread? What happened to the official one?

@Colonel_Mustache 1984

@Colonel_Mustache If I can weigh in... BCS has a muuuuch slower startup than Breaking Bad does. However, all of it is completely needed to tell the story it's going for effectively. It's much more character-driven and story-focused, as opposed to Breaking Bad which definitely has that, but it is also a lot more action-packed and violent. At the start of BCS, I was honestly unsure if I would like it as much as Breaking Bad, but after just watching the midseason finale of Season 6 myself, I can say that I actually prefer Better Call Saul over Breaking Bad, making it my favorite show of all time. If you stick with it, you'll be treated to one of the best-written stories of all time.

@Colonel_Mustache The first two seasons are definitely like that. As for season 3 onward… prepare for some stuff. That’s all I’ll say.

I dumped Better Call Saul somewhere in the second season. Just felt slow with seasons streeeeeetched out. One by one my family dropped out, until I was the only one left. And then I gave in as well. Saul was such an incredibly hilarious character in Breaking Bad, but I did not enjoy the prequel explaining how he got to be the lovable dirtbag he becomes. Apparently the series ended incredibly strongly, so the Internet says, but there's no way I would endure another 4 seasons to discover that myself.

@Colonel_Mustache I think watching Breaking Bad first is the intended experience, as BCS has a lot of references to BB throughout that you wouldn't understand unless you had seen BB first. I would recommend watching BB first as even though BCS is a prequel, knowing the events of BB helps give context to some events in BCS.

@Rambler You forget Americans are bit backwards though which is why they are getting confused. Look at how they format their dates and how they called the first Star Wars film number 4.

The Middle-earth films are American/New Zealand adaptations of English books and they made the first film number 4 with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
But they only retroactively made it film number 4 once they made The Hobbit Trilogy.
If you ask me, I personally consider The Fellowship of the Ring film number two, with film number one being Rankin-Bass' The Hobbit from 1977 (24 years before The Fellowship of the Ring). It captures the spirit of the book much better and doesn't drag as much as the Peter Jackson prequel trilogy. And the original LOTR Trilogy still flows well as sequels to the animated Hobbit musical.

@Rambler I blame Star Wars for this rise of interest in inter-family love in society nowadays. Those poor young impressionable kids have now grown up thinking its normal which is why there so many ahem videos with that theme and Rick & Morty keep making "jokes" about it. It's all in the symbolism like Obi, the old man who lives in a cave and must go by a different name to avoid being caught, likes to invite into his secluded cave a young boy to play with his "lightsabre" whilst calling him master. Back To The Future is just as bad!

This is why I prefer more wholesome films like Requiem For A Dream!

@Colonel_Mustache If you want more of my observations on Star Wars, I have a theory why Star Wars two biggest rival franchises Indiana Jones from the same studio and Star Trek the other space opera aren't as popular.

People like to fetishise the space Nazis Stormtroopers, you go to Disneyland where you have a photo taken with good ‘ol Darth Vader and the movies have to make you feel sorry for poor Darth Vader who was just “following orders” when he was committing genocide of the Jedi race. Whilst Star Trek has a load of hippy woke nonsense about boring equality and Indiana Jones has you clapping when the Nazis have their faces melted…

Don’t even get me started on all the evil things that wrong ‘un Paddington Bear gets up to!

@Rambler that’s easily explainable. Notice Spock’s eyebrows and ears, they are very satanic right? Then remember the left’s beloved Hillary Clinton was involved in that Devil worshipping cabal where she and her friends Bill Gates and Obama would go to a pizza shop to sacrifice babies!

Gene Roddenberry who created Star Trek was a wrong un truth be told. He couched cast the actress that played Uhura which explains why he wrote Kirk to be so aggressive with the ladies and some of his ideas were nutty like wanting Deanna Troi to have three bewbs. It’s been repainted to emphasis he view of wanting Star Trek to show a better future and forget what a silly billy **** he was.

Seems like a fun thread, I'll continue it!

Recently I watched:
JAG (local H&I reruns)
Yellowstone (Paramount Network, CMT)
ER (Pop TV reruns)
The Good Doctor (ABC, local CW reruns)
Quantum Leap (remake, NBC)

Forget that silly Star War's The Mandalorian finale, I don't want adorable heart warming baby aliens and chuck full of edge of your seat pew pew action. I want series finale for a man's man space opera with elderly people hiding their sagging guts as they give long pretentious philosophical monologues like Star Trek Picard!

I'm happy with the ending, yes it was indulgence but their other Trek shows are pushing the envelope so I’d give them a pass and now a scattering of my thoughts on it.

It is odd with so many of Starfleet killed none of the Next Gen crew were brown bread and even somehow managed to bring back Data who has died multiple times now but at it avoids the death at the end of a franchise cliché. I know folk weren't keen on the bait and switch of the baddies changing from Changelings to Borg however Picard has been a show about legacy and Picard's life so it's only fitting that it is the Borg which are the biggest tarnish on his legacy. There was a lot of the deep cuts in this season like Ro and Shelby yet there was no Miles plus with a throwaway joke in Lower Decks which says he was the most important man in Starfleet history so Borg problems with the transports being solved by a transporter exporter like Miles is a missed opportunity. I loved the Aliens homage of peeping sensors and a big fat queen. Ending it with them playing poker and Q getting the last word was a nice touch. I'm all for the tease of a Seven Of Nine Enterprise show as she's been a consistent highlight of Picard, shame it wont be with Shaw though as those two played off each other so well.