New Tv series (REMEMBER: No Spoilers)

lordromford said:

orpingtonRED said:

Not new but 'new' to me-  The Office US.

I watched the 1st season years ago but didn't really rate it as I think I was comparing it with the UK version too much in my mind. I tried it again recently after seeing a few on here rate it, and forgetting the comparison I just enjoyed it as its own series. I'm up to the final season now and really glad I gave it another try. So many proper laugh out loud and cringe moments.

The first season does have a lot of the same jokes and situations as the British version, but it becomes its own thing after that. 

A truly excellent show for 6 out of 9 seasons, but really didn’t work half as well after Steve Carell left. Some of the Andy Bernard stuff was just plain awful and the whole Robert California storyline was just idiotic.

But by Steve Carell leaving you got D'Angelo 

The whole thing for me is just a vehicle for Dwight K Schrute, its a ballad of comedic excellence. Rainn Wilson was born to play the role. The fire drill episode still gets me and I've seen the whole lot multiple times 

@AFKABartram its on prime and Netflix and also shown on comedy central. 

Can't recommend the experience of the US office enough 

I am currently rewatching Spiral and am just finishing Series 5. Audrey Fleurot is in series 1 @PragueAddick

Dwight is without a doubt one of the greatest comic creations in history. So, so many great moments

PragueAddick said:

Davo55 said:

We've massively overdone watching TV during lockdown but when the only other excitement is going to buy food it's understandable. We are really enjoying Spiral (French, first series 2005) and Amsterdam Vice (Dutch, recent). I don't much like sub-titles as you lose a lot of the richness of the dialogue, but these are good enough to make that worthwhile.

Ah good, I was wondering about Amsterdam Vice, will add that. Lucky you , that you are only on series 1 of Spiral. You have seven more to come, and I’m here to tell you that it never flags for a moment. And best of all, if my memory serves me well, you still have not encountered Audrey Fleurot...

We're on Series 3 now and, yes, Audrey is fantastic.

Funny enough she also features in Call my Agent (Netflix, French) which is good too. Light comedy.

MrOneLung said:

Grace is new series starting tonight on ITV. 
Have read a few of the books years back so be I interested to see how John Simm plays him. 

I know @Algarveaddick reads all the books  - thoughts on Simm in main role ? 

The filming for Grace was based at Brighton Racecourse, really lovely people can’t wait to see it.

robinofottershaw said:

Read all the Grace books. I visualise Grace as being a tall burly guy so be interested to see how John Simm comes over in the role.

I was on a flight back from the States about 5 years ago and one of the crew saw me reading one of the books. She said an ex-colleague had married Peter James, the author of the books. I remember saying to her that the books were tailor made for a TV series.

I have read a couple of the books but some years ago so had no recollection of how Grace was portrayed.

Sadly, I thought the whole 2 hours was an extremely poor watch.

For a well known, respected actor like John Simm to come across as wooden & totally lacking in character of any kind, was a huge disappointment. 

In fact, the acting in general was sadly below par IMO.

We rarely watch ITV drama so am not very surprised by the quality of this episode, although Unforgotten is by far the best for some time on that channel. 

Interested to hear the views of those who are far more familiar with the RG novels. 

Davo55 said:

PragueAddick said:

Davo55 said:

We've massively overdone watching TV during lockdown but when the only other excitement is going to buy food it's understandable. We are really enjoying Spiral (French, first series 2005) and Amsterdam Vice (Dutch, recent). I don't much like sub-titles as you lose a lot of the richness of the dialogue, but these are good enough to make that worthwhile.

Ah good, I was wondering about Amsterdam Vice, will add that. Lucky you , that you are only on series 1 of Spiral. You have seven more to come, and I’m here to tell you that it never flags for a moment. And best of all, if my memory serves me well, you still have not encountered Audrey Fleurot...

We're on Series 3 now and, yes, Audrey is fantastic.

Funny enough she also features in Call my Agent (Netflix, French) which is good too. Light comedy.

Yes, Started on that recently, and like it a lot. I wasn't quite sure at first, but it seems that a hook of the series is, that in each episode a real life famous French actor plays her/himself. But until Audrey appeared, the previous ones were unknown to me (e.g Cecile de France in the very first episode - but she was very good). They are flagged up towards the end of the opening title sequence with "avec le participation de..." 

I finally tracked down Amsterdam Vice last night and watched the first episode. definitely adding it to my 'roster'.

Line of Duty 6 this Sunday, is that right?

robinofottershaw said:

Read all the Grace books. I visualise Grace as being a tall burly guy so be interested to see how John Simm comes over in the role.

I was on a flight back from the States about 5 years ago and one of the crew saw me reading one of the books. She said an ex-colleague had married Peter James, the author of the books. I remember saying to her that the books were tailor made for a TV series.

I've seen a couple of Crime dramas recently where there has been a recurring theme where the main investigator has a 'missing' wife or partner.

Fanny Fanackapan said:

robinofottershaw said:

Read all the Grace books. I visualise Grace as being a tall burly guy so be interested to see how John Simm comes over in the role.

I was on a flight back from the States about 5 years ago and one of the crew saw me reading one of the books. She said an ex-colleague had married Peter James, the author of the books. I remember saying to her that the books were tailor made for a TV series.

I have read a couple of the books but some years ago so had no recollection of how Grace was portrayed.

Sadly, I thought the whole 2 hours was an extremely poor watch.

For a well known, respected actor like John Simm to come across as wooden & totally lacking in character of any kind, was a huge disappointment. 

In fact, the acting in general was sadly below par IMO.

We rarely watch ITV drama so am not very surprised by the quality of this episode, although Unforgotten is by far the best for some time on that channel. 

Interested to hear the views of those who are far more familiar with the RG novels. 

I think that if you've read a novel, the TV production usually tends to be a disappointment. I suppose you have already created the characters and situations in your head so that what is served up on the screen won't match up to your imagination! Its also difficult to cram a novel in to a 2 hour drama. And producers love to tinker. I watched all the Morse series before I read the novels and I enjoyed both immensely. But the plots in the Tv series seemed radically different from the books sometimes.

But I was disappointed with acting last night as well as some too implausible aspects of the plot.

Binge watched Marcella and wished I hadn't. What nonsense unless the producers believe their audience suspend credibility. Was their intention just to aim for a further series!

MrOneLung said:

Bloodlands obviously written with a second series in mind.
yet another incredulous ending

'He shot the woman with a 9mm, I know you said I was Goliath, but he must Goliath, don't you think?' 'Yes.'

MrOneLung said:

Bloodlands obviously written with a second series in mind.
yet another incredulous ending

The last two episodes were pants.

Finished Series 6 of Last Chance U on Netflix - interesting storylines and characters as per the other series. The coach is a really impressive person and the series is ultimately impacted by Covid.
Not as brutal as some of the previous series given that this one is on basketball rather than American Football. It again shows how competitive American sport is.