[S03.E04: Frenemies - Chapter Four: The Evidence]

19 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

The next new episode is October 5, 2022.

Thanks, though the wait's annoying.  The story took some interesting turns.

[Reboot - General Discussion]

I love the acting.

Judy Greer looks too young to be an adult 15  years ago, but she's a great actress, and make it work.

It's delightfully meta (they didn't even cover every reboot; I don't think they mentioned MST3K, but there's a point where a joke can go on for too long.)

I'm in for the season, at least.

[S01.E01: July 13, 1985]

I liked it, but also thought it could have been better in spots.  

Liked:

How they gave some explanation for Ben jumping into the accelerator.

That Ziggy's new code had some bugs, so they could reverse dues ex machina it.

Some of the reverse lampshading:  "This is going to sound crazy, but..."

Ernie Hudson! 

That Ben could speak Romanian and "several other languages"; that fit that people on the project were smart (if not always good at making decisions.)

The dance sequence at the robbery.

Most of the acting generally

Disliked:

The O.G. Quantum Leap team was MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE; find some of the others.  Maybe this is coming.

The bad guys had a very Batman (1966) plot, to...rob a bank in order to buy a fake that would let them steal a diamond that everyone would see them stealing?  Also, robbing a bank in D.C, which has a LOT of police, but apparently only 3 cop cars available?  (Handwaving that as it was Virginia or Maryland's suburbs.)

The relative lack of chemistry between the leads, as a newly engaged couple.  They could have kept it co-workers, or one of them having a secret crush on the other,

The secret reason for leaping, where he was leaving a vague video message instead of getting to the point, especially if that point could protect the woman he loves.

Jury's out:

I didn't like that project Quantum Leap was abandoned, but it would fit if Sam Beckett died on one of his leaps, and also that this is what they'd be building to.  Also it fit that they were under budget scrutiny in the O.G. series.

Ziggy as a super-Google.

Is the evil leaper still a thing?  Was she behind the bank robbery?  (Probably not; when she and Sam touched, they could see each other.)

Is the Hope Diamond no longer stolen?  I'd like it established that Ben is changing their history line.  This would also create doubt in non-Project people, e.g. "what do you mean the Hope Diamond was stolen?"

[S01.E05: Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans]

On 9/15/2022 at 7:08 PM, paigow said:

The Avongers mug has been in the end credits all season... waited half season for the payoff...

Avongers...Arrive!

It's one of their best running jokes since Rogers:  The Musical.  Also, as Ailianna notes:

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That story arc dies a pathetic death if it takes her years to get there or years to make everything legally exact.

Most cop/legal shows have this issue.  And they can't keep using "several months later", because that raises questions about the timeline.  It'll be a nice reverse lampshade if Jen breaks the fourth wall to address it, but I'm not waiting for that to happen.

[S17.E22: Finale Results]

Congratulations to the Mayaas, and the up side is that if you split the prize enough, taxes are almost nothing.  Also, that's almost-nothing for decades, so in addition to other work, it'll help, I hope.

Thanks everyone for the insight and laughs; I am in and out, but appreciate your posts.

Have a good autumn/winter, or I'll see you in another chat, or both.

[S01.E04: Is This Not Real Magic?]

2 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I thought that, too!  I haven't gotten to the end credits, so I'm guessing it's not her, but that would have been awesome.

IMDB says it was Patty Guggenheim, who was also a voice actress on SuperMansion, which is an interesting pseudo-crossover.

She could play Wanda's cousin or something, though.

[S17.E19: Qualifiers 5]

Late to the party, but I noticed the Mayaas and the magician got a friendly camera angle--the camera was pointed in one place the entire time, so you could actually watch the act as if you were live, kind of.

The magic trick worked better that way, but it's a tell of producer meddling--and not every magician got that edit.  (I LIKED the magician.  It was a good variant to me of an oil-and-water trick, and I figured out how he did the page-in-a-book trick.)

Spoiler

Heidi called out "page 49", and in most normal books, page 49 is on the right.  His was on the left, so he probably had places early, middle, and late in the book with the right word on them.  We never saw the numbers.  There are more complicated ways (like using a sticky note with the word printed on both sides), but that would be the easy way.

[S01.E01: A Normal Amount of Rage]

I'm on the fence between "like" and "love":

Loved:  Fantastic acting, with what is still a very fictional premise, especially the leads.

Missing the spaceship was a very plausible accident, because really, how often do you look up when you're driving compared to forward?  Also that they were sending a message is either an Easter Egg for something else in the MCU, or just really good, really expensive world-building.

The spaceship CGI.

The "normal amount of rage" speech, and that they didn't have her get visibly greener/stronger, because she still had it under control.

The "I'm ready for my closing argument now" button line. 

Liked:  the rest of the CGI.  I'm not sure if they cleaned it up since the promos a little, or I got used to it, or both?  It's better, though it's not great.

That Jen didn't pick up on how Bruce didn't want to discuss Steve's sex life; this would be a "dislike" but it set up the end credits scene.

That it's still a little unclear as to if Jen is superheroing in her spare time, or has solely focused on being a lawyer, since she got back from Mexico.

That she told her team.  This puts them more in danger, BUT it lets them help out, as with the shoes.

[Quantum Leap in the Media]

NBC has started running an ad (that tells us very little):

But:  Ernie Hudson!  (And thanks for the links.  Showing a later episode instead of the pilot didn't work well for Firefly, so I hope they find another way to fix it without pre-empting the show for Team Appliance Repair* semi-finals or whatever.)

* For Firefly, they rescheduled it for baseball in the US.  Some of us are still bitter, but don't blame baseball for a network not reading its own schedule.)

[S17.E09: Auditions 8]

On 7/28/2022 at 8:16 AM, ChitChat said:

The joke was lost on me.  I don't remember him at all. ;) 

He does different costumes (right on the puppet/costume line), but it's basically the same act (puns about his costume.)  He usually gets 4 Xs, and they keep putting him back on, because...OK, I'm not sure why either,  Maybe they hate the "two yes" acts?

It was interesting that RCC beat them to the punch about "you've never seen an act like this before", for an act that most of us have seen on this show earlier this season.

ETA:  It was a good act, and they were up against some challenges--maybe the difference is technical, like when two singers do different Taylor Swift song covers.

[S03.E05: A Tale of Two Topas]

This episode was full of paradoxes:

It's Emmy gold, without being intentional Emmy bait.  It's too important for that.

It's a science fiction show set in the future that was disturbingly timely.

Chad L. Coleman acted incredibly well as Klyden, and he was the antagonist.

Isaac was the hero, several different ways (disabling traps, providing the macguffin to unlock the climax, etc. )

And yeah, the whole Yaphit doesn't wear pants.  How good does a show have to be that you care about such small details?

Also, mad credit to Seth MacFarlane for giving the Admiral and Isaac some of the best one-liners (like "Tell Topa I wish her well.")

Thanks, this episode meant a lot.

[S17.E05: Auditions 5]

Did anyone else think Dremeka Choir was an effort to have the opposite of a Christian choir?

Maybe just me.

Either way, this was an "I'm out for the season" episode, but good luck.  (I'll still be here, enjoying the recaps, so thanks there.)

[S03.E03: Mortality Paradox]

I wasn't sure why Ed wasn't madder at the aliens.

I fan-thought Ed's reaction was some combination of:

1.  He was still shocked by everything he'd been through.

2.  He knew on some primal, survival level that the aliens were extremely powerful, and could destroy him if he annoyed them.

3.  Kelly made a mistake that screwed up their history (as the alien reminded them), so this was a little bit of payback.

4.  The alien was, by human standards, very pretty, and Ed is not entirely above his feelings.

5.  "Yeah, we just didn't want to spend time explaining, even though we don't have time limits we used to have."

6.  I overlooked something.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was mostly 1, 2, and 4, but that's a guess.

Fake-Charley not trusting Fake-Isaac was some good detail.

[S17.E03: Auditions 3]

I liked the stand-up comic more than some of the posters here.

For whatever reason, the knife/axe throwing act, although very good, didn't give me that "someone's going to get hurt" fear/threat reaction you sometimes get from those acts, though they did it well and their practice mattered.

I only knew that the Bella sisters had a podcast.  The ending to their bit had a "Masked Singer" vibe, which (checks ratings) OK, that explains that.

I wonder how often Howie will eventually say "You're not just talented for ...,, you're talented for anyone."  They're setting that up a lot.

The NFL as a feel-good choir was a twist I wouldn't have seen coming, so well done there!

[S03.E04: Glorious Five Year Plan]

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Under the “don’t eff with the money” rule, the next member who joins The Seven better have MBA as their super power…

"Having a lot of money is the best superpower." --Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Ted Kord, Scrooge McDuck, etc.

Also, I wonder if Homelite tools exist in The Boys universe.  (This was either #homelight/"Homelander is a tool!" or a funny coincidence for my inner 5-year-old.)

Also, the way The Seven keep going through members, I wonder who would be the best next member.  Spider-Man would be an interesting choice, though they could use someone else who could fly.  Iron Man might fit?

[S03.E02: Shadow Realms]

As soon as Claire offered to engineer a virus, I wondered if they'd do "War of the Worlds" comparisons.

Or they did and I missed it, because it's been too long for me.

I'm also open to the Krill pointing out that until recently, their words for "demon" and "alien" are/were the same, and any mis-translations aren't their fault.

[S03.E02: Shadow Realms]

10 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Why is Charly there, is she that high a ranking crew member?

I can think of two overlapping reasons, both set up in the pilot:

1.  The Union is stretched thin, and is grabbing/fast-tracking all the talent they can.

2.  When someone is super-talented (like Alara from the pilot) they fast-track them.

Usually I avoid "teacher/student dating" plots, but the acting and writing sold this one really well.  The framing (starting with the apology, and Dr. Finn not really accepting it, but appreciating the gesture; Issac and the admiral bonding over feelings and regrets, etc.) was really well done, and is so often the case, Penny Johnson Jerald for the win with her acting.

I also find it fascinating they didn't seem to have Kelly and Ed as ex-spouses; I wonder if they're going to mention that or do a return to last season's change to the timeline in a bigger way.  I'm open to that just not happening, or a passing reference to Kelly remembering that it didn't work out, and having told Ed, and them both (now) being cool with it.

[S17.E02: Auditions 2]

The whole Madison Taylor Baez sequence had me initially, but the Golden Buzzer was too much (it'd be like a magician making a $5,000 bill disappear at a carnival.)  At first, I thought she was giving her all for one lucky chance, and then I went from impressed to suspicious to cynically admiring the strategy to get more singers into the audience in future years.

It also reminded me of Episode 3 of this season's The Boys, which...made The Boys even better.

[S03.E03: Barbary Coast]

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On a non-Deep note, I love that their flashbacks to the 80s and 90s actually feel right.

That's one of the things that makes this show better.  Someone is trying hard with the continuity, and the details, and it's working.  Even details like Homelander's "you're my one birthday save", and then, a few minutes later "I wasn't asking." This shows the depth of how screwed up he is.

Also, it was one of the smartest gunfights I've seen:  "I can't hit him directly, so I'll angle a shot..." and "I can't hit him directly, so I'll set off car alarms."  Then, the way it changed after Butcher powered up, and the side effects after, all felt real.  (Gross, but real.)

[S17.E01: Auditions 1]

On 6/1/2022 at 5:28 PM, Tango64 said:

This show about audiences reacting to things is pretty neat. Can’t help wondering what they’re looking at, though. 

If only we had some sort of "screen-splitting" technology; some way to show two different, albeit smaller, images at once on the same screen.

That would have to be some kind of crazy 1960's FutureTech Sci-Fi techno-wizardry.

(Just kidding, I know they do it all the time for sports, and have had it since the '50s.)

[S17.E01: Auditions 1]

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Were the Rainbow Brite children awful or am I just too old for that crap? 

I've been going through a similar "I'm not sure if this act is bad, or just if I'm not the audience for it."  This seemed like some of both.

That said, I liked that there were fewer backstories, and it seemed like a good mix of good and bad acts.

I especially liked "Why is it that when you hate your job, they don't fire you?"  I don't know if a comedian can win, but he's got a chance.

Also, I'm glad the live audience is back, but this is rife for a spoof, where they cut to "audience shots" of the Super Bowl, or a third-party political rally, or something similar.

[Masking tape: ideas for improvement]

I've seen some discussion of how to improve the show, so here is my list:

1.  Increase the amount of singing relative to other stuff.  Some of that might be a rights issue, and if so, it's good to know where to focus the improvement efforts.  While we're at it:

2.  MUTE THE JUDGES WHILE THE CONTESTANTS ARE SINGING.  Showing them having fun, dancing along, etc. is fine; showing them saying "OMG THIS IS SO HARD!!?!??!?!" distracts from the performance.

3.  In a show that rewards audience attention for the clues, you have an audience that's trying to be perceptive.  Therefore, if you don't show the actual studio audience reacting, people are more likely to spot a fake.  (This is an SNL sketch waiting to happen:  showing an "audience" of cosplayers at Comic-Con, or a political convention, or watching the NFL playoffs.)  Real is fine; none is fine--the costumers worked hard and should have their work showcased.

4.  Casting matters.  The strongest contestants seem to be people who are famous, but not for singing (Chloe Kim!), followed by singers either signing outside their area, and a few non-singers who are better than you'd think.  Someone's got to go home the first week, but the fewer people you want to leave, the less the audience will.

5.  You don't have to refer to everyone behind the mask as a "superstar".  "Celebrity" is fine.  If the mask comes off, and I don't know who the person is, that's fine...unless you told me how famous they were, and then I feel uninformed.

6.  You can draw from other areas of fame than sports, politics, and acting, although those are all high-profile groups.  Getting people who can "also sing" is great.

Note that this whole list is hopes, not expectations, and somewhere, whoever monitors social media for the show is underpaid and deserves a raise.

 

 

 

[S01.E11: The Big One]

I'm sad it ended, but glad they ended on a hopeful note.  Good luck to the crew and cast.

When one of the main characters has a heart attack, that's a good episode to experiment with not using a laugh track.  (Note that I feel this way to some degree about any episode, but especially ones with a dramatic twist like this.)

[S07.E11: Season Finale -- I'm Team Good, Thanks For Masking]

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When Ringmaster (Hayley Orrantia) sang 'I Will Always Love You', I was floored. She should have saved that for the final.

That's a big part of it.  I thought she had the best voice, and I was surprised she wasn't a major recording artist already, but Waking Up In Vegas did her no favors.  If the voting was only on the last songs, I understand it better, though for overall body of work, I'd have given her the trophy.

I know they keep trying new things--I hope they try more singing next time, because that would save me some fast forwarding.

[Orvillian Media: Wireless Telecommunications Facility]

The titles for the first two episodes are on IMDB:

S3E1:  "Electric Sheep."

S3E2: "Shadow Realms".

Make of these what you will.