Binging Television Shows..
Jan. 20th, 2025 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOutside mother calling and telling me about the inauguration? I avoided it.
Boycotting the social platforms except for this one, of course. And binged My Lady Jane, also Ally McBeal.
My Lady Jane is a series adapted from a YA AU historical fantasy book about Lady Jane Grey (as a kind of what if - what if Lady Jane wasn't executed?). Unfortunately only part one was adapted to date, and the series was cancelled before a second season could be produced and aired. It didn't get enough viewer interest. I can kind of see why - it's on the wrong streamer - Amazon Prime as opposed to Netflix, and it fits the Netflix demographic model better (although I think Netflix would have cancelled it too).
I like it well enough - but I can see why it didn't catch on, and it's not like I watched it until now. I like most of the characters (although I wish they'd kill off Mary already - she's grating), and the Ethian twist where various characters turn into animals, and apparently insects? One guy turned into a cricket. Which may have been one of the issues folks had with it - fantasy audiences tend to like clear rules with their world-building and Lady Jane doesn't appear to have any There's no one more nitpicky about world building than a fantasy and sci-fi fan.
It's an AU series about Lady Jane Grey - where she marries an Ethian (who turns into an interesting animal) and fights for Ethian rights (they are the demonized/ostracized other). I think that was another issue audiences may have had it with it - the demonized/discriminated against other are fantastical creatures" trope. It follows the historical period up to a point - the difference here is that the conflict is between Ethians and Verity (people who don't turn into animals and are in power), as opposed to the Catholics and the Protestants. It's told in a cheeky matter, with a narrator who makes fun of the story and characters. The romance however works - and the leads are attractive and have good chemistry. There's a lot of explicit sex, and upper male nudity. No female nudity. There's a modern feel to it - both with language and music, which worked for me, but it might not work for someone else.
Also been watching Ally McBeal on Hulu. This is a late 1990s to early 00s show. It started in 1997-98 and ended in 2002. So on around the same time as Buffy, Dawson's Creek, Angel, Friends, etc. By David E. Kelly and starring Calista Flockhart, Coutrney Thorne-Smith, and Greg German.
It's about a young woman who is being sexually harassed in her law firm, quits and joins a classmate's firm, only to discover their head litigator is her high school sweetheart, worse he's married, and his wife also works in the film. It's a comedy, kind of satirical in spots, and reminds me a great deal of the Mary Tyler Moore show - I'd say it's basically Mary Tyler Moore in the 1980s and in a law firm.
I didn't like it when it premiered in the 1990s, and didn't have time to watch it back then. But it is interesting in how many people guest-starred on it - and later became A list actors in their own right. Also it tackled a lot of issues - confronting women in the workplace and dating in the 1990s, much like Mary Tyler Moore's show did in the 1970s. Does it hold up well? Yes and no. But it is reflective of the time period. (I like the Mary Tyler Moore show better, but there are definite similarities, and in some respects Kelly's series is slightly more advanced in that we don't have the kindly older male mentor, but a younger one who keeps screwing up.)
Finally, watched Project Runway - S18 episode 8, I think. And while I love watching the process and the designs, I can't stand the judges, and some of the contestants I want to smack. I think the editors are editing it in a way to paint certain designers in a bad light - to push the entertainment value. Which is my problem with US reality series. The British shows, Great British Bake Off and Pottery Throw Down are easier to watch and don't do this, they play up the fun, and we don't have the greed factor. (A bunch of designers desperate to win a big cash prize - emphasizing how this is a glamour job.)
I know something about fashion and textile design - because my sister-in-law is a textile and fashion designer who runs her own boutique business, and has gotten some acclaim in her nitch - she design luxury Hawaiian wear for people in the US and elsewhere. It's not a business that you make a lot of money in - and it requires a lot of self-promotion and marketing, which is true of all the arts, unfortunately. Professional creative artists, fashion designers, and fictional novelists - have to constantly market and promote themselves. And Project Runway is about self-promotion and marketing.
In this season - Dayoung - the Korean contestant, is struggling with chronic illness. Per AI Overview? "Dayoung, a contestant on Project Runway Season 18, left the competition due to a pre-existing health condition called dysautonomia, which caused symptoms like chronic fatigue and digestive issues that ultimately became too debilitating to continue filming; she experienced several on-camera health scares before deciding to withdraw from the show."
It's a shame, I actually liked her. The other problem with this incarnation of Project Runway is the hosts, Kari Kloss and Christian Sirano, who are kind of irritating. And the judges. I don't see myself continuing with it past S18. And can see why Netflix only has two seasons of it. Tim Gunn and Heidi Klumn left Project Runway and moved over to Amazon to do their fashion series.
I also completed another watercolor of another person. This time an MTA NYCT conductor. So I wasn't completely lazy on this cold holiday. Plus it snowed last night - not a lot, just a dusting really - maybe four inches? And not in the courtyard. But hey it was pretty outside my living room windows.
Boycotting the social platforms except for this one, of course. And binged My Lady Jane, also Ally McBeal.
My Lady Jane is a series adapted from a YA AU historical fantasy book about Lady Jane Grey (as a kind of what if - what if Lady Jane wasn't executed?). Unfortunately only part one was adapted to date, and the series was cancelled before a second season could be produced and aired. It didn't get enough viewer interest. I can kind of see why - it's on the wrong streamer - Amazon Prime as opposed to Netflix, and it fits the Netflix demographic model better (although I think Netflix would have cancelled it too).
I like it well enough - but I can see why it didn't catch on, and it's not like I watched it until now. I like most of the characters (although I wish they'd kill off Mary already - she's grating), and the Ethian twist where various characters turn into animals, and apparently insects? One guy turned into a cricket. Which may have been one of the issues folks had with it - fantasy audiences tend to like clear rules with their world-building and Lady Jane doesn't appear to have any There's no one more nitpicky about world building than a fantasy and sci-fi fan.
It's an AU series about Lady Jane Grey - where she marries an Ethian (who turns into an interesting animal) and fights for Ethian rights (they are the demonized/ostracized other). I think that was another issue audiences may have had it with it - the demonized/discriminated against other are fantastical creatures" trope. It follows the historical period up to a point - the difference here is that the conflict is between Ethians and Verity (people who don't turn into animals and are in power), as opposed to the Catholics and the Protestants. It's told in a cheeky matter, with a narrator who makes fun of the story and characters. The romance however works - and the leads are attractive and have good chemistry. There's a lot of explicit sex, and upper male nudity. No female nudity. There's a modern feel to it - both with language and music, which worked for me, but it might not work for someone else.
Also been watching Ally McBeal on Hulu. This is a late 1990s to early 00s show. It started in 1997-98 and ended in 2002. So on around the same time as Buffy, Dawson's Creek, Angel, Friends, etc. By David E. Kelly and starring Calista Flockhart, Coutrney Thorne-Smith, and Greg German.
It's about a young woman who is being sexually harassed in her law firm, quits and joins a classmate's firm, only to discover their head litigator is her high school sweetheart, worse he's married, and his wife also works in the film. It's a comedy, kind of satirical in spots, and reminds me a great deal of the Mary Tyler Moore show - I'd say it's basically Mary Tyler Moore in the 1980s and in a law firm.
I didn't like it when it premiered in the 1990s, and didn't have time to watch it back then. But it is interesting in how many people guest-starred on it - and later became A list actors in their own right. Also it tackled a lot of issues - confronting women in the workplace and dating in the 1990s, much like Mary Tyler Moore's show did in the 1970s. Does it hold up well? Yes and no. But it is reflective of the time period. (I like the Mary Tyler Moore show better, but there are definite similarities, and in some respects Kelly's series is slightly more advanced in that we don't have the kindly older male mentor, but a younger one who keeps screwing up.)
Finally, watched Project Runway - S18 episode 8, I think. And while I love watching the process and the designs, I can't stand the judges, and some of the contestants I want to smack. I think the editors are editing it in a way to paint certain designers in a bad light - to push the entertainment value. Which is my problem with US reality series. The British shows, Great British Bake Off and Pottery Throw Down are easier to watch and don't do this, they play up the fun, and we don't have the greed factor. (A bunch of designers desperate to win a big cash prize - emphasizing how this is a glamour job.)
I know something about fashion and textile design - because my sister-in-law is a textile and fashion designer who runs her own boutique business, and has gotten some acclaim in her nitch - she design luxury Hawaiian wear for people in the US and elsewhere. It's not a business that you make a lot of money in - and it requires a lot of self-promotion and marketing, which is true of all the arts, unfortunately. Professional creative artists, fashion designers, and fictional novelists - have to constantly market and promote themselves. And Project Runway is about self-promotion and marketing.
In this season - Dayoung - the Korean contestant, is struggling with chronic illness. Per AI Overview? "Dayoung, a contestant on Project Runway Season 18, left the competition due to a pre-existing health condition called dysautonomia, which caused symptoms like chronic fatigue and digestive issues that ultimately became too debilitating to continue filming; she experienced several on-camera health scares before deciding to withdraw from the show."
It's a shame, I actually liked her. The other problem with this incarnation of Project Runway is the hosts, Kari Kloss and Christian Sirano, who are kind of irritating. And the judges. I don't see myself continuing with it past S18. And can see why Netflix only has two seasons of it. Tim Gunn and Heidi Klumn left Project Runway and moved over to Amazon to do their fashion series.
I also completed another watercolor of another person. This time an MTA NYCT conductor. So I wasn't completely lazy on this cold holiday. Plus it snowed last night - not a lot, just a dusting really - maybe four inches? And not in the courtyard. But hey it was pretty outside my living room windows.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-21 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-21 10:44 am (UTC)I liked early seasons of Ally McBeal, it was fun, it helped that I also liked the music in the bar they went to. Later seasons got a bit too silly for me, Suits did that too. Knowing something of the law, as you do, I'm glad that the TV drama view of legal practice doesn't prevent you from being able to enjoy the show!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-23 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-23 11:00 pm (UTC)Suits has gone on longer with nine seasons. (Ally only had five, and it went off the rails in the fifth season. It started going off the rails apparently in S3, when Billy and Georgia finally gave up on it. ) I started watching Suits last year - oddly, it's more realistic than Ally, although also satirical but in a different way. It's satirical about legal procedures. I watched a few episodes in the first season than lost interest.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-24 01:18 am (UTC)Well that's disappointing. :/
no subject
Date: 2025-01-24 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-02 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-02 05:23 pm (UTC)