Ben Gibbard seems like a pretty genuine guy. When Covid hit he spent days doing Youtube videos of him at home playing his DCFC/Postal Service/solo catalog just to keep people connected and entertained.
As for FAM, how the heck is Ed still in space? Wasn't he a Korean War pilot? I know shows don't like getting rid of their stars, but I'm not sure 70 year olds should be traveling to Mars.
Love For All Mankind and I'd be happy to see your coverage of it here. The Curse is something I'll check out after being a fan of The Rehearsal, but we'll see how it goes. What a fantastic few weeks for Emma Stone though with Poor Things coming out soon. Glad she'll be able to promote this new material now that the strike is over. YAY.
I went to college with Oriana! Bummer about Pratt and Wilde.
I will always maintain "The O.C." owes a debt of gratitude to "Beverly Hills, 90210" for setting the stage for how music could be incorporated (and for many other things the show set the blueprint for).
I've just watched the first episode of 'The Curse and was really really intrigued by it. Your review had prepared me for the uncomfortable nature of it but I liked the fact it felt somewhat grounded. It didn't, at least this first episode didn't, feel weird for weirds sake which is something I can't get on board with. It's the reason I couldn't get excited or invested in the OA or Mrs Davis. Those were felt as if they were going to weird places for the sake of being weird but this first episode I understood and bought everything. Emma Stone is excellent. On the Fargo and For All Mankind front, I would really appreciate a weekly check-in here if you can. I always look forward to reading your views on these things. I'm really excited about Fargo which is probably dangerous but I love how Noah Hawley takes that show to such surprising places and the teases I've seen have looked really impressive. So if you could recap your thoughts here as each episodes goes by that'd be great.
Danny didn't murder a random bad guy in a parking lot, but it wasn't hard for him hooking up with Karen to be far worse than one of the most derided twists in TV history. I can't stand Karen either now, fwiw. I doubt FAM is ever going to recover my previous emotional investment but I'm still going to give Season 4 a try. However, it reminds me that as BSG progressed into later seasons, it really dragged as Moore and crew had to string us along with Cylon mythology and other fairly soapy but otherwise forgettable subplots. As great as Moore is at certain things, he struggles to get the "long" of long-form storytelling right (and he's certainly not the first).
Would love recaps of FAM. Found this show because you hyped it up so much and have been spreading the gospel. Since it's been embargoed, seems like the timing of the newsletter shouldn't be a huge issue for the first seven episodes?
Alan, since you touched on animation in this one, have you had a chance to see Scavengers Reign on Max? Totally blew me away and I hadn't seen you mention it.
I've only watched the first episode here, but it's on the list... I like how it kind of dropped us into everything, which confused me at first, but then I found it interesting. The storytelling was felt a bit obfuscated at times but was still ultimately intriguing.
Alan, I slightly disagree with you about “a normal tv schedule by spring”. I think they’ll be the current schedule may become the norm (of course with broadcast tv added). It seems unlikely we’ll be getting even 300+ shows again.
I still have CDs that a friend made for me of all the songs from the OC. That and Chuck really informed my music taste (so thanks Josh!) and I don’t think I have listened to music in the same way since. I feel like I found “my” bands/artists through these shows and nothing has changed since then to really evolve my taste. Going to the DCFC/Postal Service concert in September and seeing how many other people were elder millennials made me wonder how many of us really discovered this band and others like them thanks to the show.
As for FAM and Fargo I will take whatever you can give us! Cannot wait to dive back into both shows and love reading everyone’s takes.
I'm so, so happy to have For All Mankind back. For all of the flaws and melodrama, it really is one of the most entertaining shows on TV. I mean, you have an accident with a death of a notable character, another character going through PTSD, and in the middle of it all is Margo speaking Russian in her heavy Alabama accent making me laugh hard. And yeah, when the woman on the other bench started speaking English I did a double-take to confirm it wasn't actually Margo Martindale or Alison Wright.
Weirdly, with the way they talked about him in the premiere...I kind-of WANT to know what's up with Danny? Not coming back as a part of the show but, is he dead? Is he in prison? Is he still in what amounts to Martian solitary confinement? Just a 30-second scene of someone delivering him food and other resources while he looks like starving Mark Watney.
The season-opening alternate-history montages may be my favorite part of the whole series, too. John Lennon played the Super Bowl!
Yeah, I also need at least like a 30-second throwaway scene of what happened to Danny. He was such a large part of season 3, it would just be bizarre to not have him season 4 even for a moment haha.
Really enjoyed the first episode of The Curse, but then again, I am a huge Fielder/Safdie fan. Stone was great as well. It didn't feel remotely too uncomfortable for me personally - I loved those moments. Highlights were the cock shots, of course; Paul telling Asher that he just adds a drop of human urine to the soil of the food Asher is currently biting into followed by Paul full-on whipping out his dick to pee straight into the plants then show it off to Asher coupled with an extremely uncomfortable conversation; and finally slimy-ass Dougie with the grossest hair ever blatantly hitting on Whitney and making her extremely uncomfortable as she's trying to do ADR. I also enjoyed the very one-sided Whitney-Asher dynamic. Can't wait for more of the show!
Love For All Mankind coming back! I didn't expect it to, honestly. Ed still flying missions to bring in asteroids at 70+ is kind of hilarious, but I can't fault them wanting to keep Kinnaman in the action as much as possible. When Grigory and Tom went back out of the spaceship to try to stabilize the asteroid, it seemed immediately dumb to me, and sure enough... but still good to have the show back and I enjoy watching it in general. I'm very pro- you recapping both FAM and Fargo, if you have the time/inclination/enough to share about each episode of them weekly. Is anyone else's Friday TV viewing rapidly filling up? I now have FAM, The Curse (seems like the episodes air Sunday but drop onto streaming on Friday a la Yellowjackets because it's on Showtime), Lessons in Chemistry, Invincible, *and* Goosebumps (this one isn't really worth watching, but only 1 episode left this season) all coming out on the same day and virtually nothing on other days of the week. I suppose Rick and Morty is on Sundays, Colin from Accounts drops on Paramount+ on Thursdays, and A Murder at the End of the World will start tomorrow and be on Tuesdays, combined with various documentary and reality TV show obligations, but still strange that so much TV I'm watching would all come out on Friday.
I loved the music of the OC, but you seem to be skipping over 90210- the bait shop is clearly a copy of the Peach Pit After Dark.
Even Buffy has The Bronze. But neither as relentlessly integrated into the show as Bait Shop.
YES.
Ben Gibbard seems like a pretty genuine guy. When Covid hit he spent days doing Youtube videos of him at home playing his DCFC/Postal Service/solo catalog just to keep people connected and entertained.
As for FAM, how the heck is Ed still in space? Wasn't he a Korean War pilot? I know shows don't like getting rid of their stars, but I'm not sure 70 year olds should be traveling to Mars.
Love For All Mankind and I'd be happy to see your coverage of it here. The Curse is something I'll check out after being a fan of The Rehearsal, but we'll see how it goes. What a fantastic few weeks for Emma Stone though with Poor Things coming out soon. Glad she'll be able to promote this new material now that the strike is over. YAY.
I went to college with Oriana! Bummer about Pratt and Wilde.
I will always maintain "The O.C." owes a debt of gratitude to "Beverly Hills, 90210" for setting the stage for how music could be incorporated (and for many other things the show set the blueprint for).
I've just watched the first episode of 'The Curse and was really really intrigued by it. Your review had prepared me for the uncomfortable nature of it but I liked the fact it felt somewhat grounded. It didn't, at least this first episode didn't, feel weird for weirds sake which is something I can't get on board with. It's the reason I couldn't get excited or invested in the OA or Mrs Davis. Those were felt as if they were going to weird places for the sake of being weird but this first episode I understood and bought everything. Emma Stone is excellent. On the Fargo and For All Mankind front, I would really appreciate a weekly check-in here if you can. I always look forward to reading your views on these things. I'm really excited about Fargo which is probably dangerous but I love how Noah Hawley takes that show to such surprising places and the teases I've seen have looked really impressive. So if you could recap your thoughts here as each episodes goes by that'd be great.
Danny didn't murder a random bad guy in a parking lot, but it wasn't hard for him hooking up with Karen to be far worse than one of the most derided twists in TV history. I can't stand Karen either now, fwiw. I doubt FAM is ever going to recover my previous emotional investment but I'm still going to give Season 4 a try. However, it reminds me that as BSG progressed into later seasons, it really dragged as Moore and crew had to string us along with Cylon mythology and other fairly soapy but otherwise forgettable subplots. As great as Moore is at certain things, he struggles to get the "long" of long-form storytelling right (and he's certainly not the first).
Would love recaps of FAM. Found this show because you hyped it up so much and have been spreading the gospel. Since it's been embargoed, seems like the timing of the newsletter shouldn't be a huge issue for the first seven episodes?
Recap FAM!
Alan, since you touched on animation in this one, have you had a chance to see Scavengers Reign on Max? Totally blew me away and I hadn't seen you mention it.
I've only watched the first episode here, but it's on the list... I like how it kind of dropped us into everything, which confused me at first, but then I found it interesting. The storytelling was felt a bit obfuscated at times but was still ultimately intriguing.
Random...they’ve filmed last 2 seasons of Fargo in my town. Specifically, one block over. Wonder what my odds might be of a Hamm sighting?!?!
Alan, I slightly disagree with you about “a normal tv schedule by spring”. I think they’ll be the current schedule may become the norm (of course with broadcast tv added). It seems unlikely we’ll be getting even 300+ shows again.
I will say...I really need to know if Danny is still in Space Prison or whatever! - J
I still have CDs that a friend made for me of all the songs from the OC. That and Chuck really informed my music taste (so thanks Josh!) and I don’t think I have listened to music in the same way since. I feel like I found “my” bands/artists through these shows and nothing has changed since then to really evolve my taste. Going to the DCFC/Postal Service concert in September and seeing how many other people were elder millennials made me wonder how many of us really discovered this band and others like them thanks to the show.
As for FAM and Fargo I will take whatever you can give us! Cannot wait to dive back into both shows and love reading everyone’s takes.
I'm so, so happy to have For All Mankind back. For all of the flaws and melodrama, it really is one of the most entertaining shows on TV. I mean, you have an accident with a death of a notable character, another character going through PTSD, and in the middle of it all is Margo speaking Russian in her heavy Alabama accent making me laugh hard. And yeah, when the woman on the other bench started speaking English I did a double-take to confirm it wasn't actually Margo Martindale or Alison Wright.
Weirdly, with the way they talked about him in the premiere...I kind-of WANT to know what's up with Danny? Not coming back as a part of the show but, is he dead? Is he in prison? Is he still in what amounts to Martian solitary confinement? Just a 30-second scene of someone delivering him food and other resources while he looks like starving Mark Watney.
The season-opening alternate-history montages may be my favorite part of the whole series, too. John Lennon played the Super Bowl!
Yeah, I also need at least like a 30-second throwaway scene of what happened to Danny. He was such a large part of season 3, it would just be bizarre to not have him season 4 even for a moment haha.
Really enjoyed the first episode of The Curse, but then again, I am a huge Fielder/Safdie fan. Stone was great as well. It didn't feel remotely too uncomfortable for me personally - I loved those moments. Highlights were the cock shots, of course; Paul telling Asher that he just adds a drop of human urine to the soil of the food Asher is currently biting into followed by Paul full-on whipping out his dick to pee straight into the plants then show it off to Asher coupled with an extremely uncomfortable conversation; and finally slimy-ass Dougie with the grossest hair ever blatantly hitting on Whitney and making her extremely uncomfortable as she's trying to do ADR. I also enjoyed the very one-sided Whitney-Asher dynamic. Can't wait for more of the show!
Love For All Mankind coming back! I didn't expect it to, honestly. Ed still flying missions to bring in asteroids at 70+ is kind of hilarious, but I can't fault them wanting to keep Kinnaman in the action as much as possible. When Grigory and Tom went back out of the spaceship to try to stabilize the asteroid, it seemed immediately dumb to me, and sure enough... but still good to have the show back and I enjoy watching it in general. I'm very pro- you recapping both FAM and Fargo, if you have the time/inclination/enough to share about each episode of them weekly. Is anyone else's Friday TV viewing rapidly filling up? I now have FAM, The Curse (seems like the episodes air Sunday but drop onto streaming on Friday a la Yellowjackets because it's on Showtime), Lessons in Chemistry, Invincible, *and* Goosebumps (this one isn't really worth watching, but only 1 episode left this season) all coming out on the same day and virtually nothing on other days of the week. I suppose Rick and Morty is on Sundays, Colin from Accounts drops on Paramount+ on Thursdays, and A Murder at the End of the World will start tomorrow and be on Tuesdays, combined with various documentary and reality TV show obligations, but still strange that so much TV I'm watching would all come out on Friday.
But Danny was SOOOO bad. Even his brother's storyline was awful. Can't get much worse than that.