Television Round Up...or I clearly watch too much TV

[shadowkat]

Should go to bed, but still up, because of digestive issues. I ate something or drank it, not sure what, that made me gassy.

Television shows...

1. The Company We Keep - this is the one starring Milo V (from this is US and Gilmore Girls), Polly Draper, Sara Wallis Callis, William Fichtner, and various other. We have a Chinese American political family (at least I think it is Chinese-American), and a lower middle class, Italian-Irish Con family. Charlie is a con man, who runs a bar with his family - but the bar is really a front for their con business. Emma is a CIA agent hunting down an Irish Crime Syndicate, which Charlie's family recently conned, and is now forced to work for and with. Charlie falls for Emma, Emma falls for Charlie - neither know what the other does for a living. Oh, and one additional wrinkle - Emma's family is in politics, Washington Politics, and turns out? They might be a bit dirty. It takes place in Baltimore and DC. It's fun, the dialogue is good, the actors likable, and the plotting tight.

Airs on ABC, and can be streamed on Hulu.

It's my new favorite show - that I look forward each week. Mother and I both watch. (I'm waiting for the Citadel to premier on Prime.)

2. Daisy Jones and the Six

God, can this show be any more cliche? It's trying to be feminist but failing miserably at it. Let's see - we have Daisy, who is rich but her parents didn't want or care for her. She goes off to be a singer, but can't quite make it. Writes songs - which men steal. Gets drunk, and gets up on pills. But she's insanely talented. Teddy Prince takes a liking to her - but thinks she needs to be paired with a band (made up of all men and a hot male front man, along with one female keyboardist).

Then we have Billy, who is you by the numbers 1960s rock star wannabe. He gets married, when he discovers the girlfriend/groupie touring with the band is pregnant. He starts drinking and doing coke on his tour, while she's having the baby - because the idea of becoming a father terrifies him. Teddy throws him into rehab - because he can't handle visiting his daughter - while high and drunk, and a wreck. Meanwhile his brother is in love with his wife, and resentful of him.

Teddy pairs Billy with messed up Daisy, they do a great concert together.
So start writing songs, and hate each other - but at the same time can't keep their hands off each other - so end up making out a lot. Not sleeping together yet, just making out. Until Billy declares it's just an act, and Daisy gets pissed. (Honey, he's married with a kid.) Daisy tells Rolling Stone about his rehab issues, he tells Rolling Stone about Daisy's deal, Daisy takes off for Greece in the middle of creating their album.

I'm thinking...okay, I feel like I've seen this before, and why was everyone so gung-ho over this? It's so cliche.

I'm disappointed by it. It's streaming on Amazon.

3. Picard

I don't like the villains...which is a problem. Amanda Plummer is kind of over the top. I prefer Kate Burton to Amanda Plummer. She's more restrained in her acting. Amanda tends to rant and whine, and throw her hands around. Also Lore annoys me. He's whiny too.

It's also taking the storyline that I disliked the most about DS9. (The Dominion War and the how it was resolved.) And reminding me of why I stopped bothering with DS9. Good news? I now feel no need to attempt to rewatch that series. So you can stop suggesting it now - Picard managed to remind me of why I disliked it.

It kind of went against Roddenberry's entire screed for Star Trek - Roddenberry wanted to do a positive sci-fi series, where humanity had progressed in a positive way, and utopian future. He basically wanted to show the best in humanity. The folks who did DS9 were decidedly more nihilistic and wanted to depict the worst, aka Ron Moore, who loves doing war crime series and rape as a plot point - it's in all his series, DS9, Caprica, BSG, and Outlander. Berman also went along those lines. Both were controversial. They were also heavy with the manpain. Ugh. Basically - how men dealt with women being abused, and showing male rape.

The other issue I have with it - the whole Jake Picard Crusher being an extra special person borders on Marty Sue, and reminds me of the difficulties people had with Westley Crusher. What is it with Beverly Crusher's kids being a bit too special? Can't the woman have ordinary children? Isn't it enough the kid is Picard's - does he have to be extra special? Really? This so cliche. Ugh.

And we have the Lore/Data problem again. Giving Brent Spiner the chance to play multiple roles. Because he gets bored just playing Data. This has been a thread throughout Picard. In S1, we were dealing with Lore as an ambiguous villain/friend, in S2, it was Lore, Song, and Data, and now, much the same.

At any rate, this season isn't a favorite. I like the reunion. Also it keeps referencing Voyager characters, which I appreciate - since I preferred Voyage to both DS9 and Enterprise. We got Tuvok, or rather the Dominion's version of Tuvok from Voyager. I want Janeway (but I'll be shocked if Kate Mulgrew pops up), and my other two favs...Rosaria Dawson (doubtful) and the guy who became a television director and producer like Jonathan Frakes and whose name I can't remember, but was involved with Dawson's character.

Six episodes in, and while suspenseful, and thankfully giving Beverly a bigger role - it's not the best of the Picard's to date. I don't know why Troi doesn't have a bigger role - because it is Troi.



This is streaming on the Paramount App - which is a horrible app, and possibly among the worst, next to HBO and Amazon. It throws you out, as does Amazon and HBO. All three are hard to find stuff on.

Seriously Disney, Hulu, and Netflix are the best of the bunch, and that's saying something.

4. Alaska Daily ended well. It's done a good job of focusing more on the investigative process than on the characters personal lives. Reminds me a little of Lou Grant. However, it does get preachy at times on social issues, albeit necessary ones. I could do without the nasty father and the attempts to take down the newspaper and the free press, however realistic it might be. But the season long arc on finding the missing Native American girls, and bringing one of the abusers to justice, was good. As was the attack on the government not doing a better job regarding it.

Plus, good cast and acting all around. I rather like Hillary Swank, Dove, and the actor from Scandal. Plus all the other supporting characters. It's a well cast series.

Clearly filmed at least partially on location, it works well overall.

It's available to stream on Hulu, I think. Although the episodes don't stay up there very long - due to distribution rights.

**

The change in temperatures - has resulted in thunderstorms. We went from 66 degrees to 32 degrees in less than five hours. Hence thunderstorms. And lots of lightening. I tried to photograph it - but got nowhere close.
Shame - there was one that looked like it came from the ground, it had five lightening strikes clicking out from it. I could see the streaks come down from the sky - as if someone were actually throwing them at us.

Hello, Climate Change.

Comments

[conuly]

We went from 66 degrees to 32 degrees in less than five hours. Hence thunderstorms.

And the increase in temperature over the previous day was *almost* as dramatic.

[oursin]

Daisy Jones and the Six - I read the book of this recently (it was a Daily Deal at 99p) and, meh, as you say, the story is totally cliche. It was not bringing anything to the narrative with the conceit of an oral historian interviewing the various players in the story years afterwards, with very late reveal of who they were. I guess if you haven't come across that kind of thing before it looks shiny and innovative???

[shadowkat]

Thanks, I wondered if the book was better or different. Apparently it's a closer adaptation than I thought, which doesn't bode well for the book?

It was not bringing anything to the narrative with the conceit of an oral historian interviewing the various players in the story years afterwards, with very late reveal of who they were. I guess if you haven't come across that kind of thing before it looks shiny and innovative???

I'm thinking much the same thing? Did they never hear of This is Spinal Tap? I mean that's kind of a parody of it. It was done a lot in the late 20th Century.

It's annoying - since most bands break up for other reasons. The Beatles and The Who breakups are actually more interesting as was Queen.

[oursin]

I think it might be what's classified as NA fiction? a bit mature for YA.

Possibly it also wasn't great timing reading it so soon after the Cosey Fanni Tutti memoir, which was a lot grittier.

[iddewes]

We did have big temperature changes like that here too - at least now it seems a bit more stable, but who knows. It seems like everywhere is getting some climate change craziness.

[cjlasky7]

Daisy Jones and the Six is an attempt to dramatize Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac (mixed in with a little A Star is Born).

The problem is that no scripted musical drama could ever match the real life drama of the Mac or even approach the quality of their music.

As for your other rock and roll breakup stories:

"Let it Be" showcased the clash of personalities and internal pressures that eventually broke up the Beatles.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was... a terribly written movie with good performances. Classic era Queen had four fascinating personalities creating wildly popular music, but the movie barely touched on what made these people interesting. Could have been so much more.

As for The Who? Well, there's been a Keith Moon biopic in Hollywood Development Hell for decades. BUT... given what Hollywood did with Queen, maybe a band biopic is better off unmade. (I'd be perfectly happy if 1978's The Kids Are Alright documentary was the last word on The Who.)

[shadowkat]

Have I told you my Who story? Apparently Roger Daltry had a falling out with one of the band members (I can't remember which one - I can't remember the names of any of the band members - I doubt it was Moon, considering he was dead.) Anyhow, that member popped up at the Launch of the DVD Release for the Kids are Alright Documentary. (I used to own it - I don't now). And Daltry and that member reunited - exciting their marketing manager and promoter, Martin Lewis (who I was working for at the time as a "marketing intern"). (*Side note: you got to go the Beatles DVD Release Party because of that job.) Anyhow - this launch party was the first time the two had talked since the band broke up.
I can't remember what the falling out involved, but it was a heck of lot more interesting than Daisy Jones.

Daisy Jones and the Six is an attempt to dramatize Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac (mixed in with a little A Star is Born).

Have you watched any of it? Because no, really not. There's no Star is Born in there at all. Billy Dunn is not the wrecked rock and roller has been - he and Daisy are the same age. And she's not some wet-behind-the-ears wannabe. She'd been performing and writing at the same time, more or less.

I'd say really really loosely based on Fleetwood Mac. It reminded me of Fleetwood Mac at first - but Mac's was more interesting.

What's the set-up? Daisy is thrown together with the Six (Billy, his brother (Eddie who is in love with Billy's wife), Camilla (Billy's wife and the group's photographer), Graham (the bass), some guy who is the drummer, and Kendra (the keyboardist).) Outside of Billy and Daisy, no one is really all that developed. And all feel like stock characters.

It's told in flashbacks interview style.

I've seen about 6-7 episodes now, so I'd say I've got a good handle on it. The songs? Lackluster. I can't remember them. Fleetwood Mac, they aren't. And the singing - so so. Sam Clafin isn't that great and having seen him in three things now - I'd say he was at his best playing the fascist in Peaky Blinders. I think he's too old for this part. Everyone looks like they are in their twenties, he looks like he's in his late thirties early forties.

It reminded me of Fleetwood Mac until about the fourth episode and I thought, eh no.

[cjlasky7]

Since Moon died in 1978 and John Entwistle (bass/brass) died in 2002, it couldn't have been them. Townshend? Kenny Jones (Moon's immediate replacement)? Zak Starkey (Jones' replacement)? But I didn't think Daltrey and Townshend ever really stopped talking....

No, I haven't watched a full episode of Daisy Jones. Selected highlights on the internet and recaps. (I'm curious but not that curious.) I might have gotten some things wrong..

[shadowkat]

You can't really comment effectively on a television series that you haven't seen without getting most of it wrong. LOL! Be like me commenting on Rick & Morty.

It's about a so-so garage band that goes to LA and tries to make it big, finagles a tour and an album, and has a whiny/depressive alcohol/drug addicted poor little rich girl, who can write great songs and kind of sing, thrust on them by their record producer. Mainly because the only songs the front man can write are guilt-ridden love songs about his desire to be a good guy to his wife, and he ignores the rest of the band - basically a self-serving dick. The dickish front man (aren't they all?) and the new gal fight, write songs, make out, and try to avoid having an affair (because he's married and has a kid). They briefly hit it big with their release of their first album, but during their first big tour - they have a falling out and break up. Years later for some reason or other, a documentary crew decides they want to get to the bottom of why they broke up. It's blatantly obvious - so not quite sure why? Also, they only had one hit album, and one hit tour.

New Adult genre. You'd hate it. Fleetwood Mac it's not.

I'm thinking it's probably Zak Starkey. But I've really no idea. Lewis made a huge deal about it. But everyone else was kind of like, eh, meh.

[shadowkat]

Amended...How politics and the Cold War Destroyed the 1970s rock band Blood Sweat and Tears is more interesting. We have a documentary out about that now. Weirdly I recognize their songs, but forgot the band existed.