TV/Movies Megathread

[The Larch]

Dog doesn't die.

Not only that, it was a hero! 

[The Larch]

New What We Do In The Shadows...

[spoiler]Simon the Devious! The Cursed hat![/spoiler] 

Also, I learned that the actress playing Nadja is in the Netflix Eurovision movie.

And Colin Robinson being an online troll!  [spoiler]And then the real troll...[/spoiler]

[The Larch]

What we do in the Shadows has been renewed for a 3rd season! 

[FunkMonk]

Jojo Rabbit. What a great little movie. 

[Syt]

One of the common themes in the backlash to the new Star Trek shows was that it had an overarching storyline as opposed to the episodic format that's been a staple of the franchise (even though late TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT all had longer story arcs to some degree or other).

Now, I don't agree with this particular thrust of critique - I believe you can tell compelling stories in 45 minutes or 450 minutes if done well.

That said, it seems that episodic TV has fallen out of favor in this age of streaming and binge watching.

Without streaming, and generally having to catch a show when it airs means it's easy to miss an episode and being "out of the loop". Hod knows I missed quite some Babylon 5 when it first aired in Germany during my college years and military service. Similar with X-Files after season 3 or 4 (because we were teh poor, we didn't have a VCR at first and later my dad was very unpermissive in what I could record or watch).

So in those days, any episode of a show might be a person's first exposure to it, and therefore standalone was a valuable format. Also, you didn't have to worry too much about missing an episode, because there was little or no continuity to keep track of.

These days the long form is the default. You can tell extensive stories over 6, 10, 20 episodes, because people will be able to watch them all on demand whenever and wherever they like.

Which makes me wonder: are there still major episodic TV shows? I'm excluding comedy and cartoon from this as they generally do their own thing. I'm sure there are (probably tons of doctor or cop shows), but I honestly haven't watched "normal" TV in many years, so I'm VERY out of the loop.

[Josquius]

What I always hated with old treks approach was you never knew if the next episode was episodic or part of the continuing story line.

The main standout episodic show to me is Dr Who.
And yeah, as you say many detective shows.

[Admiral Yi]

I can't think of a OS Trek show that wasn't self contained.  Maybe by old treks you mean DS9?

[Syt]

I can't think of a OS Trek show that wasn't self contained.  Maybe by old treks you mean DS9?

To quote myself: "even though late TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT all had longer story arcs to some degree or other"

There's a reason I excluded TOS.

Though for TNG, besides a few two-parters, it was mostly a case of continuity, rather than overarching plot.

[Josquius]

Voyager and DS9 were the main two I meant.

[Admiral Yi]

To quote myself: "even though late TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT all had longer story arcs to some degree or other"

There's a reason I excluded TOS.

Though for TNG, besides a few two-parters, it was mostly a case of continuity, rather than overarching plot.

Sorry wasn't clear; was responding to Squeeze.  Didn't realize he was riffing off you.

[Eddie Teach]

Tales From the Loop is another. Black Mirror, Twilight Zone.

[celedhring]

Tales From the Loop is another. Black Mirror, Twilight Zone.

Heh, those are the ones I mentioned in the post I was writing... But Black Mirror/Twilight Zone aren't really standard episodic TV, they're antology shows (you have an entire new set of characters and setting each episode).

There's of course load of procedurals still out there, but I don't think there's anything too noteworthy atm.

I would dig an old school Star Trek "anomaly of the week" show.

[Eddie Teach]

Watched Hollywood on Netflix. A fantasy loosely based on 1940s Hollywood. It was very gay(they got that part right).

[Duque de Bragança]

Watching an '80s action movie on TV.

Licence to Kill, with a young Benicio del Toro in a supporting role.

[garbon]

Watched Hollywood on Netflix. A fantasy loosely based on 1940s Hollywood. It was very gay(they got that part right).

I'm not sure it is very gay but it is pretty dreadful.