Maelstrom

I so appreciate that Terry does his research on the sport he’s covering, and knows when to defer to those with more experience - and he doesn’t feel the need to fill every second of air with inane chatter like some I could name 🙄

Because Johnny excels at being annoying. I had to laugh during the gala when Johnny name-checked himself as inventing the "Johnny Weir slide", and Terry responded, "Never heard of him." 😁

Lots of articles surfacing in the last week - here are a few: https://ew.com/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-cover-story-what-to-expect-8551028 https://www.ign.com/articles/avatar-the-last-airbender-live-action-release-date-trailer-cast-and-story https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/avatar-the-last-airbender-release-date-photos-news https://comicbook.com/anime/news/avatar-the-last-airbender-netflix-aang-controvery-explained/ (the tone is unnecessarily flame-baity here, IMO, but it has a new tidbit I hadn't seen elsewhere)

Hmm, I wonder if there could be any connection between NBC's hide-and-seek coverage and the lack of conversation here... 🧐 It took a lot of work, but I think I've finally gotten my DVR to automatically record every block of figure skating that airs on NBC, E, and USA (hopefully I didn't just jinx myself like Tara by saying so) by setting it to record all new on all three channels... and then I check upcoming recordings and make sure everything that should record is actually set to do so. But the average casual viewer is not going to go to so much work... good job, NBC.🤬 And I haven't watched yet, but... yay Amber!!

I know, I’ve been wondering if Tara’s getting paid by the word or something, because she just. Never. Shuts. Up. It’s been infuriating to watch.

Crazed Spruce, they can't give away all the good stuff in the trailer 😉 Found a trailer breakdown with the four leads (the Gaang and Zuko) and they sound just as excited and dedicated as the producers (also, casting was spot-on for Aang and Sokka). The more I see about this remake, the more excited I'm getting

I'm getting pretty excited for this too, even though part of me is wondering if this is how Charlie Brown feels when he starts to play football with Lucy. Even so... I kind of can't wait! Yay, Sokka has a sense of humor! The actor even seemed to get the same kind of dry cadence to his speech as Jack deSena did. The Katara actress captures the perfect amount of wide-eyed optimism Zuko seems to have the same misguided yet strangely rootable intensity as the original, too - and is that the Blue Spirit I see? Also, do we actually see Zuko getting scarred in this? Yikes. Is it wrong I'm finding Daniel Dae Kim kind of hot considering Ozai's a total psychopath? Whatever else this may be, the look of the characters and the world are damn near spot-on to the original

I would hazard a guess it has something to do with getting to be a big fish in a small pond 🙄🤢

That’s what giant purses and oversized coats are for!

So Show’s new year’s resolution is to become unwatchable? Well, mission accomplished, and less than a week into the new year. Job well done, Show! 🤬

Heartbreaking news - Lee Sun-Kyun, a.k.a The Voice, has died https://mydramalist.com/article/breaking-actor-lee-sun-kyun-passes-away https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/589764-parasite-film-actor-found-dead/ Such a tragic, unnecessary loss of an incredibly talented actor. By all accounts he was a truly good guy and a generous co-star (he apparently remained friends with the actress IU long after they finished work on My Ajusshi). He was one of my favorites though I only watched a few of his dramas. I first saw him in Coffee Prince, a fairly standard rom-com where he played the second lead. His starring role in My Ajusshi was a standout in his career, IMO, and showed what a remarkable actor he was. But my favorite drama of his was Diary of a Prosecutor, a fun workplace comedy that showed his comedic chops - and that it was an ensemble role spoke to his lack of ego. An incredibly talented man with an incredible voice who died way too soon. RIP :(

Also, no one ever comes home to find their childhood bedroom has been repurposed into a sewing room, or a study, or a workout room, etc - said bedrooms are always left intact, exactly as they were when the MC was in high school. And of course no one's parents ever downsize to a smaller house for any reason (financial, practical, the rest of the neighborhood turned into AirBnBs, etc).

NuMolly #5? It’s like a contest between the number of Mollys and the number of RoHo characters they can come up with.

If by formidable one means pathetic, laughable, absurd, or giant turd in the shape of a man, then sure, I'll go with that. Agreed, years of watching Julian be the town punching bag was bad enough. Now watching Nina be the new Julian is pretty much unwatchable. PC is full of hypocrites. I think she just grabbed her purse (unless the takeout packages were bright pink and sparkly).

I'm simultaneously excited and wary. I still don't really think this remake is necessary, because the original is pretty much perfect, and is one of my two very favorite shows of all time so please don't fuck it up, but also... parts of this look kinda awesome? Omashu, the Kyoshi warriors, and the Fire royals really stood out to me in this trailer. Appa and Momo are definitely the weak points CGI wise, but if TPTB can still capture the creatures' personalities then I'll overlook iffy CG. I agree with Overtherainbow that what makes ATLA such an incredible story is the heart and the humor, and if this version can capture that then it might just work after all. I'm guessing the voiceover is Roku?

Yup, from next week on the only Grand Prix coverage is the highlights reel on Sundays. Thanks, NBC. 🙄 At least we should get better coverage of the final in December.

Ah, oops, I guess I’m thinking of some of the bigger competitions 🤷🏻‍♀️ Never mind me, then!

Also, the coverage on E!, USA, etc generally only shows the final two flights of any given discipline, so too bad for anyone who would like to watch the lesser-ranked skaters.

Finally got around to watching season 5, and I found it a disappointing mess. Though there were a few slight improvements from last season, it still has the same general problems with a few new ones thrown into the mix. There is a lot going on but next to nothing happens; a lot of new story threads and plot points are revealed, then promptly forgotten or left unexplored. There is waaaay too much pointless filler that serves no purpose in developing any aspect of plot or character or world. Like last season, most of the plot was stupidity-dictated which is a surefire way to piss me off. Really, you could sum up this season in two or three sentences. Soren continues to be the best developed and my favorite character this season, even if he doesn’t get much screen time. Callum and Rayla felt more like their old selves and less flat than last year, and Viren (what little we got of him) continues to be a fascinating study in morally grey characters. However, I still can’t stand Claudia and Terry, and sadly Ezran has become pretty useless. Amaya and Janai and the rest of the Sunfire storyline are off in their own little world, and I hate to say it but I couldn’t care less about any of it. (Though I did smile at Translator Elf nerding out over the library.) Where be Aaravos? For yet another season with his name in the title, why was he in it even less than last season? Give me my sparkly magnificent bastard! Callum’s quest to learn the Ocean arcanum felt completely unearned, considering we got barely a mention in the first ep and then him randomly understanding in at the end. And the Ocean theme was also disappointing - a brief glimpse of the arch-dragon, no exploration of the creatures and societies of the Ocean. Up until this season the Tidebound Elves have been the least discussed, so I was really curious to see what they would be like. And instead we get one generic weird old lady and a bunch of caricature pirates who serve absolutely no purpose? Gimme a break! One of the things I loved so much about the first three seasons was how strongly the elements affected everything in Xadia, how all of the different beings of the different elements had their own unique cultures and views on the world. I loved the elemental magic and how interwoven it was throughout every aspect of Xadia. That is completely missing from the show IMO, and it’s incredibly disappointing to me. I was really hoping season 5 could be a return to that, but alas. Also, the overall tone of the season was wildly uneven - very juvenile but with random bits of some pretty dark and/or violent stuff thrown in. Nightmare fuel, indeed! The first corrupted banther reminded me of the Red Bull (from the Last Unicorn) and would have for sure given me nightmares if I’d seen this as a kid. The beatings and torture of our heroes in the pirate ep, Claudia’s Ursula/evil squid witch vibe, the Blood Moon Elf lady (wtf was that? Why couldn’t she have just been a Moon Mage that turned evil? Why wasn’t another Moonshadow Elf like, oh, I don’t know Rayla our freaking heroine involved in this storyline to give it some context or connection to the rest of the show or Moonshadow society), all had me wondering just how the hell this was supposed to be aimed at kids. Overall I just found all of the darker aspects of this season very incongruous with the tone of the series, not to mention largely unnecessary. Like, sure we’ll spend even more time on more bathroom humor, but then add in a lengthy scene of someone getting tortured to prove how adult our story is! 😖🙄 I said it last season and I’ll say it again, they really need to recast Ezran’s voice actor. The young lady has done a fine job but Ezran is looking grown up enough now that it’s very jarring to hear him speaking with a young woman’s voice. And I maintain that the female dragons were miscast, as their high, breathy voices feel super out of place on powerful dragon queens, but YMMV. The Baitlings were cute but at this point our band of heroes has become a traveling menagerie. Though I did find Rayla's little monkey thing less creepy this year (could he make portals and hide stuff in them last year? I don’t remember that, though maybe I’ve blocked it out along with most of s4. Though I gotta say I’m a little jealous, that would come in super handy. Infinite storage space!) Still wishing we could have gotten some of what we missed in the time jump between s3 and s4 explained, like if Rayla’s been back to her home, what’s been happening with the other human kingdoms, and how the Sunfire Elves came to set up their human-shared refugee city and why they’ve been unable to reclaim Lux Aurea, etc. The “Argonath” at the entrance to the Sea of the Castdown cracked me the hell up. Clearly the Xadian mage/architect/sculptor responsible for it wanted to make sure everyone knew how awesome he was with the giant sculptures of himself lording over defeated Aaravos kneeling at his feet. 😆 Overall, better than season 4 but not great. I’ll tune in next season, though at this point the thrill is gone and I’m mostly watching for more Aaravos.

Here's the US airing schedule for this year - NBC's coverage looks like about the same level of shittyness as last year. 😣 But better than nothing, I suppose. https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/2023/8/11/television-schedule.aspx

Thank you annzeepark! I had to track it down on Youtube because the video wouldn't play for me (I suspect due to my various adblockers) but it always makes my heart happy to hear from Jason. ❤️ (For anyone who'd like the direct YT link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-OtL1_LJrc )

You know what this show needs... is more cowbell! ABCDisney has always been quick to drop actors like a hot rock if they threaten Disney's squeaky clean image (except Steve Burton after he made those racist comments at a fan event, however 🤨) Best of luck to you! We'll be rooting for you as NunununununuMolly 😄

Interesting interview with Andrew Walker about A Safari Romance (which was pretty cute with gorgeous scenery - and lions!) and also he talks a bit about the execs behind the scenes and praises how they’ve improved Hallmark. Sounds to me as though the VP in charge of programming has been as instrumental as Wonya Lewis in upping the quality of their movies, so I’m hopeful that the network won’t backslide into blandness with Lewis stepping down. https://heavy.com/entertainment/hallmark/andrew-walker-first-ever-top-billing-on-movie/

I've always heard very good things about Misaeng, though I haven't watched it yet. I finished the excellent Hospital Playlist last month (coincidentally starring one of the guys in Misaeng) and trying to decide on my next drama 🤔

So season 5 is apparently available on Netflix as of today 🤷🏻‍♀️ (Also, look at me with the last three posts on this thread - I swear I’m not trying to take it over, lol)