[TV] Talk about the last TV you watched, the catchall thread

The combination of show writers saying they don't actually like the original stories and they want to deviate even further, with all the liberties already taken and Cavill - who was a fan of the original and supposedly one of the strongest voices involved trying to keep it true to the spirit of the books - leaving, has me quite apprehensive. I liked the series so far, but looking at some other Netflix "adaptations" with little input of people forcing them to hew close to the source (in contrast to some like Sandman which had enough authorial input) leaves me thinking it'll go wrong soon.
I like Liam, mind you, but still.
 
Earlier today (or maybe yesterday), a fake Twitter account pretending to be Discussing Film posted an announcement that Netflix cancelled the Sandman series after only one season. To which trolls swarmed at Neil Gaiman, shouting "get woke, go broke" and utter nonsense.

Meanwhile, he was probably gleefully sitting on this, laughing and waiting to unleash the news:

 
Has anyone else been watching Chucky? Because it's like an endless parade of "what the fuck!?" surprises.

Just got through Season 2, Episode 5, which ALERADY had a "WTF!?" surprise, but the ending was doubly so for multiple reasons.
 
For anyone who's interested, yes Sky just aired the John Oliver piece on the monarchy. Guess this section was too large for them to try & censor.
 
Watched the latest episode of Rick & Morty and uuuuuuuugh. It's basically a sequel to the "Story Train" episode from Season 4. Which I hated.

The problem with both it and the this episode is it's so fucking quickfire with metatextual jokes and references that it doesn't really have much of an actual story. The running "gag" is that Rick hates it all as he points it out. But it's clearly the writer being so up their own fucking ass proud about pointing out all the meta and gags. Which makes it annoying. It's like a whole episode of explaining the joke.

It's a shame because Season 6 has been a blast so far. Usually, every season is hit and miss, but so far, Season 6 has been knocking it out of the park. Until now.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Watched the latest episode of Rick & Morty and uuuuuuuugh. It's basically a sequel to the "Story Train" episode from Season 4. Which I hated.

The problem with both it and the this episode is it's so fucking quickfire with metatextual jokes and references that it doesn't really have much of an actual story. The running "gag" is that Rick hates it all as he points it out. But it's clearly the writer being so up their own fucking ass proud about pointing out all the meta and gags. Which makes it annoying. It's like a whole episode of explaining the joke.

It's a shame because Season 6 has been a blast so far. Usually, every season is hit and miss, but so far, Season 6 has been knocking it out of the park. Until now.
Yeah, who would have figured that the meta-story about how shitty writers write shitty meta-stories would itself be shitty?
 
Wednesday
Something that I never realized bothered me until now is that in all of the Addams Family films there is this bizarre world of creepy individuals that seem entirely alien to the normal world. Every single interaction that anyone has with an Addams or their kin is basically of complete apprehension of their behavior and macabre sensibilities. The films have always shown that there is a non-size specified community of weirdoes like the Addams out there, so why does every normal person act like they have never seen anything like the Addams before?
Wednesday gives the "outcasts" a place and finally integrates them into the world at large. Now it is perfectly acknowledged by a socially connected world that things such as witches, vampires, werewolves, gorgons, and other supernatural creatures exist in the world. They still have realistic reactions to the weird, but at least they aren't 100% blindsided by it. It's just something I never knew I really wanted in an Addams family production. The movies were too short to really expand on the idea, and the original TV show was just a half hour of "look at the creepy things they do and how they make everyone uneasy.". Luckily Wednesday lets us explore this community and I also appreciate that even the titular character is a bit of an outcast amongst her own kind.
The series is darkly humorous, fun, and gives some good twists along the way as Wednesday goes to a boarding school for outcasts (after nearly killing a student at a public school) and gets caught up in a mystery surrounding a serial killer plaguing the nearby town.
Cast wise I think they perfectly nailed almost everyone. Jenna Ortega is perfect as Wednesday. She's cold, dark, and in the rare cases where Wednesday shows emotion, Jenna pulls it off with class. Emma Myers plays Wednesday's perky werewolf/blogger roommate and is always fantastic in every scene. Catherine Zeta Jones is wonderful as Morticia. And anyone who was concerned about Luis Guzman being suitable for Gomez really needs to check out his performance in this series. The only misstep I feel is Fred Armisen as Fester. But to be fair it may be more the writing for Fester that doesn't work. He sticks out like a soar thumb in this series as the only character who carries over the slapstick weirdness of the original show into a series that up to that point hadn't really relied on using it for the humor. He's only in one episode really, so it's not a huge problem.
Definiately recommend this series though if you're an Addams fan.
 

Dave

Staff member
Based on @Shawn ’s recommendation I tried watching Wednesday. And I was successful! It’s a better show than I expected it to be. I was waiting for it to be a teen angst drama kind of like what you’d get on CW channel, but I found the high school drama to be almost secondary to the larger plot. Although Wednesday finds herself enmeshed within some of this teen drama she does so in a completely (and on brand) detached way, as if the rigors of daily teen life elude her. But not in a Sheldon way where he doesn’t understand the interpersonal play by play; she absolutely understands it in all its nuances, she just doesn’t understand why anyone gives a shit.

So yeah, it’s a good show. And I’m glad the actress is over 20 because…well, I’ll let Bhamv say it.
 

Dave

Staff member
Fred Armisen as Fester sucks balls. They'd have been better off getting a decrepit Christopher Lloyd. Or pretty much anyone else.
 

Dave

Staff member
Okay final note on Wednesday. The first half to 3/4 was great. The last few kind of slipped in my opinion. They started making Wednesday have emotions and "vulnerable", which is REALLY off brand. Additionally, the bad guy/gal was telegraphed quite a bit. It was no surprise at all. Lest, there were several edits that broke continuity. Like Wednesday running after someone in a pouring rainstorm and when she finds them suddenly it's blue skies and clear. Or the time she had to "be back" at a certain time and it went from day to night back to day.

So in the end it's worth a watch, but the quality slips a bit in the second half.

Oh, and she was visibly scared of the monster. Wednesday Addams. Scared of a monster. Come on, man.
 
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Okay final note on Wednesday. The first half to 3/4 was great. The last few kind of slipped in my opinion. They started making Wednesday have emotions and "vulnerable", which is REALLY off brand.
Oh, and she was visibly scared of the monster. Wednesday Addams. Scared of a monster. Come on, man.
In defense of Wednesday having a few emotions:
Any of the older series or the films always depict her as cold and emotionless because that's the joke. She's the only one in her family that ever has that trait, but it's never explained as any kind of supernatural compulsion or anything. The Wednesday series has decided, of which I am thankful for, to depict Wednesday's cold and calculated demeanor as an emotional defense that she has been using for years up to this point. This is obviously because the new series is more than just a comedy and Wednesday is now the lead instead of just a a one-note joke that shows up occasionally (sadly that's what they made Fester in the new series). Her demeanor even makes her an outcast amongst her own kind, as others are perfectly capable of showing emotion. But Wednesday is human and I think the series wants to explore her humanity a bit. There should be points where a little happiness/sadness/excitement squeaks through. Maybe even a little fear too. What's great about Wednesday is when this does happen you know it's a big deal.
This actually isn't the first time that Wednesday has shown some emotion.
In the Broadway musical she begins to come to terms with how being in love starts to make her think a little differently. One of her songs about it is my favorite in the show.

 
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GasBandit

Staff member
I guess I'll have to wait until I've actually watched it, but I do remember two things -
In Addams Family Values, Wednesday both
1) fell in love
2) smiled genuinely (granted, at the prospect of burning someone alive)

She managed to do both without surrendering her aloofness, though. How "vulnerable" is vulnerable? Is it growth, or is it breaking character? I'll probably watch and see.

Also, in the black and white TV series, Wednesday was not really portrayed as emotionless. That was more an invention for the 90s movie version. 60's TV Wednesday was portrayed more in line with the rest of the family - sweet and nurturing but also macabre and interested in things that others found revolting (I recall her having unconventional, off-putting pets). So, IMO there's some wiggle room on character interpretation. After all, Uncle fester was originally Morticia's uncle, not Gomez' brother. So, I have a hard time really generating dissatisfaction from the idea of a new medium taking a new interpretation.
 
in the black and white TV series, Wednesday was not really portrayed as emotionless. That was more an invention for the 90s movie version. 60's TV Wednesday was portrayed more in line with the rest of the family - sweet and nurturing but also macabre and interested in things that others found revolting (I recall her having unconventional, off-putting pets). So, IMO there's some wiggle room on character interpretation.
Same. The early movies took the kids from "siblings" to "Let's make the boy a dumb-as-rocks cliché for the girl to play with" which I was honestly not happy with.

--Patrick
 
I kinda like this portrayal of Pugsley as an "emotionally sensitive and caring person who just happens to love blowing shit up" kid. He's definitely got a bit of both Gomez and Fester in him, along with a bit of Morticia as well and it's a strong departure from some of his takes. I kinda hope if we get another season that he joins the main cast.
 
I'm digging it so far, but as for Gomez I feel Guzman is speaking a LITTLE too softly at times. Like,he's got the look and emotion of the character perfect,but the literal voice of the character could be more pronounced, by like two or three volume levels. Not a bad performance mind you, but still .

I do find Wednesday's hatred of social kind of basic though, like really? You're really gonna tell me Wednesday isn't well versed in the weird side of Tumblr? Bullshit.
 
I'm digging it so far but it also feels VERY...young adult novel series. Primarily due to the factions of students. There's gonna be a book midquel,mark my words.
 
Just finished Wednesday, LOVED it a lot, felt Luiz could be too hushed at times but I liked the family adaptation wise, it WAS insanely genre though. Like, if Riverdale was done right, didn't sexualize the main cast, and didn't stretch the plot out for 12 more episodes. ALSO...the love triangle...yeah....television.
 
And the fact they called it her first kiss means that they are not considering Addams Family Values as canon.
Indeed, honestly I wish they adapt Joel into the show season 2 as Xavier and Tyler were just SO love interest. Especially Xavier, a lot of fans think Percy's acting was the problem,I stipulate NO ONE could have made him interesting.
 
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