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Last show Ive attempted to watch is "Ballers", by far the weakest show Ive seen in years. It really, really sucks. It has Dwayne The Rock Johnson in the lead, so that explains a bit. That man is so insecure, it is oozing off the screen. Plus he can not act. And the show is about footballers and their managers, and has a lot of scantily clad and very repulsive whores in it. No women, just whores. It sucks.


Ballers: just sucks.

The show I watched before that is the last season of Silicon Valley, which is one of my favourite shows. It is created by Mike Judge who also did Beavis And Butthead.


Behind the scenes of Silicon Valley

Ive further tried the shows Taboo, The Crown, Game of Thrones, Harlots, these all suck.

The quality of tv as we all know radically improved around the year 2000, starting with The Sopranos, which as an artwork can go toe to toe with any renaissance art. Its fantastic.


Christopher Moltisanti in his own dream, in The Sopranos

The best of all these shows that Ive seen is The Shield. The story of a police department in Los Angeles, in particular focusing on an out of bounds "Strike Team" headed by a cop that is rather thorough in applying pressures where he sees it fit.


Vic Mackey, The Shield

Unlike any other show Ive watched, The Shield is a single narrative, one giant story-arc that has no sideshows. It consists of seven seasons, all of them riveting, and the end of the last episode is a pitch perfect consequence of the beginning of the first. It surpasses Renaissance art; it is Greek. Perhaps not coincidentally, the leading actor, Michael Chiklis, is of Greek descent.

For anyone who has watched the show I can recommend the making of - this shows you how emotionally involved the actors and the writers were with this show. It had become absolutely indistinguishable from reality for them.

One great discovery of this show is Walton Goggins, who as hillbilly cop Shane Vendrell gives the performance of the century.


Shane Vendrell, The Shield

Well, I was debating on whether I should start watching Game of Thones or not (I’m not sure if I’m up to the task, or whether it’s even worth it, despite the ravings), but decided for now to give McMafia a try (also came with high ratings).
This show reminded me of Dexter, in that it draws the viewer to sympathize with essentially a fucked up character. Does rot run in the family? Apparently it does.
Not for a single second did I believe that Alex started as an innocent angel who got mired in filth by circumstances beyond his control. And this is an important detail, which can be brought up in the second season (or any time, for that matter). Remember, Alex is supposedly a good person who’s drawn into the crime world through noble and “justified” revenge; he’s really just a pretty poster child for all the ugliness that stands behind him. But what happens when he accomplishes his task, what excuse will he have for whitewashing himself while he continues down his family path? Because, after all, he started as an innocent angel? On what grounds should the viewer continue to sympathize with him?
Anyway, this is what I predict may happen in this series if they continue with Alex down this line: by season 3 or 4 Alex will probably graduate to arms dealing, or have large politicians involved (and will eventually become a glorified Scarface character of the series); he will expand his international criminal network; gain/lose new allies/enemies; Kleiman, if they let him live, may outplay them all, or become the main competitor in the long run; and the gift-giving Mexican will eventually turn on him.
Another recurrent troublesome theme - family. What purpose or value does it have in the crime world? Leverage? Liability? Excuse?
For now, I am going to rate it 5/10.

(Next up on my list - Altered Carbon)

I'm not a big TV person. But I can tell you that the show "shameless" is pretty entertaining. When you start to watch it, you think, "this is unrealistic nonsense". Then as it goes on you think, "wait, this is actually more true to life than most people want to believe".

Mr. Robot
Mindhunter


Both are good, Mr. Robot is a masterpiece in my opinion.

Speaking of McMafia: https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief ... ismantled/

Legendary scene. Major spoiler.

Seems like a decent show. Ill give that a try.
As far as non American shows go, Italian ones are the best. This one is not bad.



I very much dislike British shows, like Sherlock and Utopia and what not. Self consciously wannabe clever, utterly pointless, gutless, spineless pedantry.

The Leftovers, an HBO series

Incorporated

Fixed, you should watch Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown.

Pandora wrote:Incorporated

Critic's rating?

not in any order

Breaking bad, though I lost some interest after a certain 'bad' guy died.
Game of Thrones
Walking Dead
Sopranos
The Wire
Top of the Lake
True Detective
Narcos - not as good as the others, but his character is so extreme and interesting, I put it in
The Handmaid's Tale -only seen one season
Taboo - one season

WendyDarling wrote:

Pandora wrote:Incorporated

Critic's rating?

I liked it. I’d give it 8/10. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after 1st season.


Reverie. 7/10

What I like the most about this show is the idea itself, which is not only potentially realistic, but quite scary as well; specifically the part in which an implanted AI, acting as a surrogate subconscious of sorts, learns the individual’s reactions and adjusts accordingly, thereby, essentially, facilitating a psychosis (or derealization, as they call it in the series), so not only does one go into his dream world, but the dream world comes out into the real word, thus blurring the distinctions between the two.

The Good Place (I love this show! Joker even loves this show! OMG! All about philosophy too. )

Currently keen on..

Gotham
Swat
Hollyoaks
Come Dine With Me
The Undateables
Buying and Selling
Lip Sync Battle
Jools Holland
The Jonathan Ross Show
Sunday Brunch
New Made in Chelsea: Croatia
Ninja Warrior UK

Most of these are weekly (sadly), and most of the remainder.. half an hour. I don't spend all day watching TV.

Homeland is definitely my fav

I also like the wire

The Terror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l328p5sSEmc
I thought it was well-done. I liked the main actors in this series. It got me thinking: how do we go about imagining what it must have been like, in real life? (btw, Erebus was finally found in 2014, and Terror in 2016)

Currently on my radar:

Weekday year round airing
Hollyoaks
Seasonal airing
House of Saudi: A Family at War
Celebs Go dating
Celebrity Hunted
Zapped
Made In Chelsea
The Apprentice
The Graham Norton Show

Currently on my radar:

Weekday year round airing
Hollyoaks - annoyingly stupid storylines at times, but still riveting viewing.
Seasonal airing
The Graham Norton Show - funny as always:Kevin Hart and Will Smith were hilarious on last night's show.
Gotham - the final series, in this current portrayal of the dark knight.. why must it end!
The Looming Tower - Powerful portrayal of the actual events leading up to September 11th 2001.. addictive viewing.. a well-written, well-acted, and clever script, so not your usual 9/11 portrayal