Podcast HTF Podcast Episode 10 - Hey Kids, Whatcha Watchin’? (2020) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Yep. It's baffling to me why ads for the Masked Singer run during Cosmos is what set me off. Two different audiences.

BECAUSE the good stuff has moved to streaming. Maybe American horror story is good but the meat of really excellent 'TV' shows is on streaming. And I agree with you that it sucks that it's all siloed off into disparate services but that doesn't mean you should avoid them all. Get 1-2 and worry about what's missed down the road.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Get 1-2

one day man, one day!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

We got rid of cable around this time last year and the money saved from that more than makes up for subscribing to streaming services. We generally rotate what we have. So we don’t think of ourselves as an HBO house or a Disney+ house or define ourselves by what we subscribe to the way people used to think of it as an immutable fact of life that they were this or that. We go where the show we want to watch is and then leave when it’s over. Sometimes that means watching a show after all of the episodes have come out and sometimes it means watching it week to week. But I had kinda hit a wall with broadcast/cable where all of the shows I liked had ended their runs and nothing was really coming along to replace them, or new shows with promise would be canceled almost immediately because the networks still demand viewership numbers from a pre-digital age.

I sincerely miss the old system of getting 22-39 episodes in a season and having shows air on a reliable basis. I do think many streaming services have great shows which run too short, which is compounded by how long it takes them to return - waiting two years for an eight or ten episode season is ridiculous but commonplace now. The whole concept of a TV season has basically been abandoned - the idea that you’d have your shows for 2/3rds of the year and then reruns in the summer is basically gone, and the idea of TV characters being there reliably in the background of your life day in and day out is also basically gone. It is an adjustment. But once you make it, I find it fairly easy to manage.

 

[DaveF]

I felt that way ten years ago. But I've come around: quality over quantity. I so much want a brilliant, tightly plotted, ten episode season over 22 episodes that are half filler and a meandering plot.

The gap for me is in lightweight, background, dinner-time shows. I can't get enough British Baking Competition, because that's comfort food. We're catching up on missed scifi shows from 10-60 years ago over dinner timer, currently with Farscape. I don't care, and in fact don't want, shows that demand my attention. So medium grade shows with 20 episodes a season are fine because there's no rush, and I'm watching five or more episodes a week.

But for shows I care about: I want The Expanse with 10 to 13 episodes in a season. And I'll wait 18 months to get a great next season.

 

[DaveF]

Haven't finished the podcast yet. Probably tomorrow when I'm wrapping presents I'll have podcast-time again.

The first half of the show thus far is all movies. And it reminds me how disconnected I am from movies. I'm 95% TV. My movie watching is really down, for various reasons. So, I've felt at sea with that discussion. I've seen Quarantine. Was disappointed to hear Hellboy (2020) was bad, because while I'd forgotten about it, I was excited when the trailers were out. And that's about it. Most of them I've not even heard of.

TV...let me tell you...

The British Baking Competition - This is pandemic comfort watching. Doubly so if you're been upping your baking game in 2020.
The Greath Holiday Baking Show - Holiday specials for british baking show. Holiday comfort watching
Great British Baking Show Masterclass - How-to on recipes used in the british baking competition. If you are into baking and want to learn more, including some fundamentals, this is recommended. Also, more baking comfort watching

Star Trek: Picard - If you're a ST:TNG fan this whole first season is worth watching for the penultimate scene in the final episode. That was most satisfying five minutes of Star Trek I've had since DS9 ended.
Star Trek: Discovery - It's modern Star Trek. I've have some mixed feelings, but mostly I really like Discovery. I'm hoping Santa's been listening to me and gets me a "DISCO" t-shirt.
The Good Fight - The Good Wife was one of the best network TV shows. Period. Brilliantly acted. Some stupendous writing. The Good Fight, its successor was announced...only for CBS All Access. And CBSAA at the time was garbage, and who would pay for that when there was Netlflix and maybe Amazon Prime? Jump Cut to 2020, and now I have almost all the streaming services, and we're catching up. And OMG!!! The Good Fight is nearly as good as Good Wife! And how have I not been hearing about Good Fight the past four years? It is so topical and delicious! So, yeah, recommended.

Ok, need a break, will pick up again later.

 

[Sam Posten]

We definitely get to tv!

 

[DaveF]

I’ve just gotten, I think, to the pivot into tv

 

[DaveF]

Im intrigued to get Quarantine on disc for special features. I watched via Amazon Prime or Hulu, I think. I love good features than reveal a movie more deeply. Get Out had great commentary that elevated the movie for me.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

We got rid of cable around this time last year and the money saved from that more than makes up for subscribing to streaming services. We generally rotate what we have. So we don’t think of ourselves as an HBO house or a Disney+ house or define ourselves by what we subscribe to the way people used to think of it as an immutable fact of life that they were this or that. We go where the show we want to watch is and then leave when it’s over. Sometimes that means watching a show after all of the episodes have come out and sometimes it means watching it week to week. But I had kinda hit a wall with broadcast/cable where all of the shows I liked had ended their runs and nothing was really coming along to replace them, or new shows with promise would be canceled almost immediately because the networks still demand viewership numbers from a pre-digital age.

I sincerely miss the old system of getting 22-39 episodes in a season and having shows air on a reliable basis. I do think many streaming services have great shows which run too short, which is compounded by how long it takes them to return - waiting two years for an eight or ten episode season is ridiculous but commonplace now. The whole concept of a TV season has basically been abandoned - the idea that you’d have your shows for 2/3rds of the year and then reruns in the summer is basically gone, and the idea of TV characters being there reliably in the background of your life day in and day out is also basically gone. It is an adjustment. But once you make it, I find it fairly easy to manage.

Deep.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

The first half of the show thus far is all movies.

I left Nurse Jackie off the list simply because I had just got done watching season 7. So if I watched that many seasons it really wouldn't have been hard to guess that I enjoyed it. I think I mentioned at least three shows in this episode. American Horror Story 1984, True Detective season 3 and Masters Of Sex.

 

[Citizen87645]

I think I'd rather see a Rambo vs. Rocky matchup.

Or if it's got to be an Arnie character, maybe Dutch from Predator? I'm sure this has been talked to death already.

 

[DaveF]

I left Nurse Jackie off the list simply because I had just got done watching season 7. So if I watched that many seasons it really wouldn't have been hard to guess that I enjoyed it. I think I mentioned at least three shows in this episode. American Horror Story 1984, True Detective season 3 and Masters Of Sex.

I finished listening last night; the latter half-ish was where most of the TV talk was found.

Would you recommend AHS to non-horror viewers? I'm not into "horror" but the anthology concept is intriguing. I've never watched any of the seasons -- again, not a gross-out horror fan. But wondering if the concept and execution are strong enough to try despite not getting into the genre per se?

True Detective has been on my wishlist since Season 1. But I don't subscribe to HBO. And when I did have a trial to HBO, I only had time for Westworld S1. I plan to do an HBO sub for a bit to watch Westworld S3, Wonder Woman 1984, and maybe Raised by Wolves. I'll have to keep in mind True Detective for my priority HBO watch list.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Would you recommend AHS to non-horror viewers?

Yes! Dude, I'm not even a horror fan! It transcends the genre.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m not a huge horror fan either but I found AHS to be a letdown. The first couple seasons were enjoyable enough but what made me bail was that each season, the same actors would essentially be playing the same type of character, getting into the same predicaments and showing the same temperaments. It’s not that I didn’t like any of the performers, but just that it felt like I was getting the same thing again and again and it got old faster than it should have. YMMV, but rest assured that if your interest wanes you’re not the only one it happened to.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For True Detective, the seasons aren’t really related - the first one is by far the best, the third is reasonably good, while the second is meandering and uneven. If the second season turns you off (but you like the first), don’t let that dissuade you from trying the third.

 

[JohnRice]

I was working my way through all the Bond movies in release order, but it was interrupted by the 4K release of Game of Thrones. I've sworn to savor it and not binge. No more than two episodes a day, which I've only broken once.

I'm working an absurd number of hours this month, so not much viewing time.

 

[Sam Posten]

New additions to the basement studio!

 

[Johnny Angell]

New additions to the basement studio!

The little white thing on the right, is that Spiderman? What is the spikey green thing?

 

[Sam Posten]

The little white thing on the right, is that Spiderman? What is the spikey green thing?

yes a 3D printed Spider-Man bust and a 3D printed goblin mask

 

[Sam Posten]

I 3D print a bunch of masks from Wekster and Zane Rogers on Patreon