Just finished the Expanse, it was pretty okay, idk some of it was too predictable but it was still entertaining enough to just watch it while shit posting.
Really my only preference is that it isn't just some AI written show with every predictable and unoriginal trope imaginable.
I don't watch much TV stuff at all, but due to a house fire we just had last week (everyone is okay) I no longer got my gaming rig so I got more free time to watch something in between work and my normal reading sessions.
Cheers, chapos ♥️
Edit: damn you all rule, thanks for all this, way more than I imagined
I loved The Expanse precisely because its central themes were a return to old-school idealism. With so many shows these days trying to one-up each other in cynicism as to how shitty human beings are, a show thats all about how well-intentioned people can come together, do the right thing, and have their faith in their fellow man rewarded is a breath of fresh air.
That's a great way to put it. I liked it for that reason as well and some of the supporting cast were really well acted too. I wish Holden didn't over do that scrunchie mad face he does so often,it's a small, inconsequential gripe but I laugh every time he does it, which is often lol
I would recommend the books if you have the time/means! They're way better i feel and go beyond the show quite a bit at this point
Dope, that is a good idea for a birthday I got coming up, I usually ask for books for it.
Babylon Berlin is a cop show but has communist characters who occasionally act like heroes.
If you haven’t seen it, DS9 is the best Trek by far and has a few leftwing episodes. I recommend watching the first episode, then skipping all the way to the third season. Someone will bite my head off for saying this, but that’s how I finally got hooked on the show.
Someone here recently recommended F is for Family. Technically a historical show as it takes place in the ‘70s and definitely seems to have a lot of rage directed at American society.
Babylon Berlin also pretty clearly shows the cops as bad much of the time.
Like when they just open fire against the trade unionists and socialists on May Day.
The main character Gerion also sucks and seems pretty empty. I watched the show for Lotte, who still unfortunately enables the awful Weimar system.
The thing about Gereon is that he's deliberately written as a vaguely-conservative shithead who tries to be apolitical. They actually accentuated some aspects of his character to make him more of a shithead (his vaguely fratricidal cowardice, adultery, and jealousy) while mitigating other aspects (in the novels he is an unapologetic ladder-climber and office backstabber who fucking hates his co-workers, and also consciously manipulates Charlotte through seduction for his own gain). He's very much a call-back to classic self-destructive film noir protagonists, as well as the "Good German" demographic that easily bent to Nazi collaboration.
I checked out one of the books because I liked the show so much but I just couldn’t get into it. He honestly sounds much more interesting there. In the show the guy is such a cipher. His brother’s wife was also incredibly annoying.
The show adds a lot more elements compared to the books, especially in making Charlotte a more prominent and expanded character. The plotline with Gereon cucking his own brother is also something that was brought in by the show. Overall its more accurate to say the show in loosely based on them.
The books are pretty straightforward noir mysteries in a fun setting, so if that genre doesn't already appeal to you you probably won't care for them. Theres eight total, with only five published in English so far, I thought the second one was the best.
I'm in season 2 now and it's getting good, definitely better than the first.
Haven't heard of Babylon Berlin but that sounds cool. DS9 is one of the few series I've actually watched, it is great, it's so binge worthy too which I like doing when they got time. I'll have to check out F is For Family, thanks for this
I haven't watched many of these, but maybe:
- Boardwalk Empire
- Peaky Blinders
- Babylon Berlin (watched a few eps)
- The Wire (Obama's favorite show lol)
- Firefly (I did watch this one a while ago)
- Orphan Black
- the new show from the Rick & Morty creators was alright, especially the sideplot of The Wall
- Spartacus, Blood and Sand
- that Jason Momoa Canadian fur trapper show
I occasionally watch clips of it because it's so good. The fuck scene is so funny https://youtu.be/t08saKOZs9M - NSFW
Wow great list, I haven't heard of most these so that is awesome, thank you
Peak Blinders is great if you haven't seen it. 1920 romani/British crime family getting increasingly ambitious and drama ensues
It might just be called "1963" but the James Franco/Stephen King miniseries was pretty entertaining
I suppose that's true. The ending was pretty satisfying, though. If a bit...simple.
should I start with season 1 of Doctor Who? I've seen so many people talk about it so that is probably a great recommendation for what I'm interested in, thanks dude
Holy shit lol that was a solid write up, very helpful. And no, I didn't know most of that so that was insightful. Appreciate it
Channel 4's "Utopia" Was way better than the amazon remake, beautiful music and cinematography as well.
Black Sails (historical, about the Golden Age of Piracy, plus it has a surprisingly Marxist view on which class is necessary for a potentially successful revolution. Costumes, production values and elaborate action pieces to die for).
Utopia (sci-fi/conspiracy/alternative history with some of the darkest top notch humour to grace the small screen, amazing casting, superb cinematography, snappy editing and an insanely good soundtrack). The British 2013/2014 original though, not the American remake.
If animation is also ok: Rick and Morty, Kaiba and Space Dandy (in that order) for your high concept sci-fi needs.
Black Sails sounds cool as hell, didn't know about that. Utopia has been recommended a lot to me, it is also going to the top of the list.
It is, surprised no other company cashed in on the "serious pirate series" niche ever since. And do give Kaiba a look - it is not well known at all but despite its cutesy visuals it grapples with some (depressingly) serious social/political issues and futuristic concepts.
Does it have to be live-action? There's plenty of good sci-fi anime:
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is honestly one of my favorite series. Great cyberpunk (well, technically considered to be post-cyberpunk by some)
- Bubblegum Crisis (the original OVAs) isn't anything special, but it's alright cyberpunk, revolving around robots called "Boomers" causing all kinds of trouble, which is pretty funny in a modern context.
- Cowboy Bebop's a masterpiece, of course. A lot of episodes are basically standalone stories, you've got space cowboys, space truckers, space noir detectives...
- Lain is weird, but cool.
- Texhnolyze is one of the most depressing things I've ever witnessed. It's great, although probably not for everyone.
As for historical (live-action now):
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if you're into Roman history - I'm seconding the I, Claudius recommendation someone else made. It's great. There really isn't a lot of action - it's all about characters, and there's some great acting. Brian Blessed as Augustus is amazing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-ohKuKy4_s Rome is also awesome, although it got cancelled too early and it's second season has the material for four crammed in one. Spartacus has lots of gory violence and nudity, oiled-up muscular men, and kinda shoddy CGI. The dialogue is great fun to listen to - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ymB4Ls76T8
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for medieval stuff (well, Renaissance really), particularly Italian politics - Medici was pretty alright. First season was kind of rough, the second and third are much better, and actually have a whole new cast of characters (a new generation of the family), so I guess you could skip the first one if it's not doing it for you. The Borgias was pretty good too (the Showtime one, there's also another Borgia series which came out around that time, but I haven't watched it). Jeremy Irons is great in it.
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Versailles is about Louis XIV. Not for the faint-hearted anti-monarchists, 'cause the whole series is following a guy who is a megalomaniacal piece of shit (the "let's just get rid of the legal protections for protestants, it will be cool" episode is pretty rough), but it's got great set design and costumes, I guess.
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The Great has basically nothing to do with the actual history around Catherine the Great, but it's a lot of fun.
I have watched a couple of those animes mentioned, they are great. But it's not something I watch often, it's usually when I'm on discord and a friend is streaming it every other week or so. I gotta kinda be in the mood for anime in all honesty.
Also spartacus was great, i enjoyed the story quite a bit. Ended up bringing it and don't regret it. Definitely going to check out Cladius though soon. Might chain watch some of your other roman show recommendation, thanks for all that ♥️♥️
For real though Godless is a great western mini-series. It’s on Netflix in the US.
The best thing that's ever been on TV is the I, Claudius miniseries. Legit the best thing that's ever been on TV.
Chernobyl was very entertaining all propaganda aside. Most of the actors were great. I enjoyed it, I made myself not get caught up the finer details
Yes, totally agree. I felt the same way for The Death of Stalin. It was also similar to chernobyl in that it you just enjoy it as a film, and not care about accuracy, and embrace the entertainment value of it-- it was enjoyable
Hell yeah, I did watch that, I need to get caught up with that last season. But I appreciated the rather original story and how they combined tech with a westerns in a good way modernizing it
Vikings is extremely ahistorical, but lots of fun and does have some twists.
The Americans is semi-historical, in that a lot of the big events shown happened, but not in the way they are shown.
I like Deutschland 83 & 86 (83 in particular is very good), haven't made it to 89.
Edit: "The Terror" Season 1 is pretty good, S2 isn't.
Hell yeah, I've been meaning to check out if Vikings was worth watching. Haven't heard of the other ones so I'll add it to the list, thanks
The first season of American Crime Story is pretty great for a lot strange reasons. It follows the OJ Simpson trial. Its a pretty detailed retelling since it's a full season long but also the casting choices are kinda hilarious. Nathan Lane says the gamer word, Cuba Gooding Junior is OJ and best of all is David Schwimmer as Joe Kardashian
