Anything Good on TV ?

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  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    COBRA KAI

    A series which is set 34 years on from The Karate Kid movies in the 80’s.

    Danny LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence lock horns again decades after their karate championship battle. This is surprisingly good as the original actors get to reprise their roles from the smash hit movie series, and everything is not as you may imagine. There’s a lot of flashbacks which work well with the present day action as Johnny Lawrence reopens the infamous Cobra Kai dojo.

    Fans of the movies will love it, I know I am as I hit Season 2 after an excellent first season. Great nostalgic stuff!

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent

    I have found the complete run of Department S on a certain dodgy Russian video streaming site. That's the ITV show that introduced Peter Wyngarde's Jason King character before spinning him off into his own solo series. I can see why, from the episodes I've watched it seems a fairly conventional spy/mystery type show except for when Wyngarde's onscreen, then he hogs every scene with his outrageous behavior to the point I forget there's a mystery they're supposed to be investigating. That's the kind of acting I can really appreciate!

    If I end up watching the whole season I may post a full report in this ancient Jason King thread.

  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    THE PERSUADERS (1971)

    At long last I have completed the series. Moore and Curtis make a good partnership but are let down with some pretty dismal scripts at times. When it’s good, it’s really good, when it’s not so good it’s tedious viewing. My favourite episode is “A Death In The Family” where Roger gets to play several Sinclair characters who keep getting bumped off.

    What is interesting is the number of Bond alumni who appear across the series, it’s always fun to spot them.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent

    Have I got it wrong or was the NTTD cast on Graham Norton last Friday?

  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent

    It's on this week. I've earmarked it to avoid because of potential spoilers!

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent

    Jamiroquai Live in Verona.

    Occasionally an artist with talent and ambition comes along who can't be ignored. Jay Kay is one of those, whose driving post-disco funk was one of the regular attractions of the nightclubs of my twenties. I saw them back in the early days [1994, The Forum, Kentish Town] and he was a consummate performer with energy and vigour. This is a great performance, caught it on Sky Arts. His between song by play is bit naff, but the music is the thing: roll on Love Fool, Virtual Insanity, Little L, Cosmic Girl, etc etc A really splendid two hours of fun. I almost wanted to get up and give Leila a spin, sadly she ran off with someone else sometime after that gig. Happy and sad at once. Memories, love 'em.

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent

    Is the Graham Norton show over yet?

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent
    edited September 2021

    Why? What's happening?

    I didn't realise it was a OO7 special. I wouldn't've watched it anyway

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent

    The 007 special is happening. I doubt there'll be any real spoilers so I hope someone puts it om YouTube.

  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent

    I think I am going to have to reassess my marriage. I said to my hubby last night 'Daniel Craig is on Graham Norton tonight shall we watch it?' His reply? "he's a bit up himself. Takes himself too seriously' so we didn't watch it!!

    Hubby has a point though. Craig makes me feel uncomfortable watching him being interviewed because it very much depends what mood he's in as what kind of interview you get. Timothy Dalton makes me feel the same way though Tim has got much better in later years.

    No one comes close to Roger for an entertaining interview.

  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent

    I agree the interviews depends a lot on Craig's mood. But this one was one of his best IMO, he was relaxed and funny.

  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent

    I recorded it, so will catch up with it at some stage.

  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent

    Connery was always game for an interview to promote his movies in the 80s but lacked Moore's easy charm, it could be a stressful watch sometimes, esp when in front of a TV audience. He was better on a one to one, say Barry Norman's Film series.

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    Grantchester (Season 6)

    I’m watching this latest season of the popular series set in the 1950’s, (thank goodness for BritBox), and it’s excellent as usual, this time there is a long running back story about the homosexual curate played by the excellent Al Weaver, perfectly reflecting the attitudes of the times. Tom Brittney is good as the Reverend who helps Robson Green’s detective in his cases. The previous Reverend was played by James Norton who is being touted by some as the new James Bond.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent

    In the UK on BBC4 tonight at 8pm there's 'Looking for Mr Bond: 007 at the BBC - Timeshift' which promises to be the usual look at the way Bond has been presented on the telly via interviews and promo pieces over the decades. Followed at 9pm not very intuitively by the modern movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and then Mark Kemode's Secrets of Cinema: Spies.

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent

    In amongst all the Bond stuff on BBC4 this week, I caught Shirley Bassey at the BBC. Some great performances from her TV shows, including Something, Goldfinger, This Is My Life (a really emotional Shirley on this one) and a blissful duet with Neil Diamond on Play Me, one of my favourites of his. There were rumours she fell in love with him, but she countered that cheekily by saying the only thing she really loved of Neil was the diamond necklace he wore. Oh, Shirley, you teaser ! I kept thinking, in fifty years time will there be a Billie Eilish at the BBC. I doubt it.

  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent
    edited October 2021

    CUFFS (2015) Season 1

    I’ve finished watching this on BritBox and it’s pretty good, a police series set in Brighton. It only lasted 1 season which seems strange to me as it was full of interesting characters. It followed the lives of a group of police officers at work and at home. A good cast including Shaun Dooley who I like very much, he can play both good and bad to equal effect.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    THE AVENGERS Season 5 Episode 17 Return of the Cybernauts

    This is a superb episode directed by Robert Day. Peter Cushing is excellent as the brother of Michael Gough who was killed in a previous episode. He is after revenge for the death of his brother and he continues his brother’s work in creating a new Cybernaut to wreak vengeance. There are lots of effective scenes and Aimi MacDonald turns up as a sexy receptionist. Lots to recommend in this episode, one of the very best of the series.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    US (2020)

    Just before a married couple embark on a “holiday of a lifetime” around Europe to celebrate their son leaving home for university, the wife announces to her husband that she is leaving him. Over the course of the holiday he tries to win her back. The story unfolds in the present and in the past as we learn how they first got together.

    This 4-part series is excellent as we get drawn into the lives of a middle class couple who have drifted apart over the years. Recommended.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent

    thatd be a good Avengers episode to recommend to someone who'd never seen the series before and didn't want to sit through two full seasons (the Rigg seasons I mean). And its unusually serious for season 5, all the silliness is is concentrated into Aimi Macdonald's lines.

    Another key episode to recommend to a new viewer would be A Touch of Brimstone, with Peter Wyngarde as the villain and Diana Rigg undercover in a dominatrix costume. Which other episodes could count towards a Top Five Best Of, for those who don't have the time to watch all 50?

    (that said, the Emma Peel dvd megaset compiling both her seasons is still easy enough to find and should be essential to an BondFan's video library)

  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH (1996)

    This is my third viewing of this stunning series, firstly when it originally aired and again about 10 years ago. It is of course important to Bond fans because it was Daniel Craig’s breakout role, although I defy anyone who would have thought he could have been James Bond at this stage.

    The story concerns 4 friends in Newcastle from 1964 to 1995, each of the 9 episodes correspond with a UK general election year. Christopher Eccleston is Nicky, a left wing ideologist, Mark Strong is Tosker Cox, a womanising would be pop star, Daniel Craig is Geordie Peacock who runs to London after getting a girl pregnant and Gina McKee is Mary who is Nicky’s girlfriend but ends up with Tosker because of his lack of attention.

    Over the years the series follows real events, and incidents are adapted into the storyline such as corrupt councillors and police. There is a wealth of well known faces all putting in fabulous performances such as David Bradley as an MP, Peter Vaughn as Nicky’s father who descends into a tragic Alzheimer’s case, Alun Armstrong as a councillor, Malcolm McDowell as a London gangland boss, David Schofield and Donald Sumpter as corrupt police officers and many more.

    Daniel Craig’s character rises to become the right hand man of the gangland boss and descends to poverty as a homeless vagrant. He puts in a truly epic performance.

    I would love for there to be an update for this series to see how they are faring today.

    If you haven’t seen it I recommend this wholeheartedly, it may just be the best TV series of all time.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent

    Yes. A very good series, although I've not seen it since it premiered on TV. I think it was voted one of the ten best television series of all time.

  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    BLACKPOOL (2004)

    I hadn’t seen this series before and I loved it. Ripley Holden is an arcade owner who is wanting to open a casino hotel in Blackpool. The discovery of a body in his arcade one morning unravels a series of events that effect everybody. What makes this different is the use of original pop songs where the characters join in the singing and they dance to the tunes, which are relevant to the plot at that time. David Morrissey is brilliant as Holden and David Tennant stars as the detective assigned to the case.

    6 episodes of sheer joy which I didn’t want to end.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • HowardBHowardB USAPosts: 2,736MI6 Agent

    Enjoyed "The Defeated" on Netflix. Takes place in Berlin shortly after the end of WWII before the wall when the city was divided into sectors, British, American, Russian and French. The basic premise is a New York City Police Detective is sent to Berlin to help organize, train and assist the new Berlin Police Department which is made up of an unlikely bunch of people who only have in common that they are German, were not Nazis or Nazi sympathizers. Things get much more complicated from there. Nazi war criminals, unsavory diplomats, the Russians, and a criminal master mind that could have come from the mind of Fleming. Excellent show IMO with a very good German, American and British cast. The setting of post war Berlin is fantastic.

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent

    GUILT (Season Two) finished this week. They're repeating Season One on BBC4. This was better than the first series.

  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent

    I watched this evening's ITV's documentary on Tuam, an Irish town where once local resident discovered there were hundreds of young kids from a Catholic convent buried in unmarked graves, with no burial certificate. In a sewage tank, actually. This began a process to uncover the scandal of the Bon Secours sisterhood, if I've got that right - a massive and lucrative adoption scandal between Ireland and America, carried out with the complicity and collusion of the local Galway Council, freight aircraft and the American Embassy. Bon Secours is now a multi-billion dollar firm with its hooks into private medical care.

    The scandal outstrips that of another lucrative and abusive adoption wheeze carried out by an Australian couple in the 70s and 80s. What is mad about all this is how they all get away with it. The mad woman in that instance lived to a ripe old age and only died recently. The Irish Govt still refuses to arrest any nuns relating to Tuam and is clearly engaging in a cover-up still, it's just the way of things. Likewise, the UK state I understand is using adoption as a lucrative racket to fund local authorities as was clearly happening here - Surrey is one of the county councils among the suspects. The Family Courts are notoriously corrupt and secretive but you can't do much about it because journalists just can't report on it.

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • CoolHandBondCoolHandBond Mactan IslandPosts: 6,030MI6 Agent

    ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (2021)

    Steve Martin and Martin Short reunite in this comedy mystery series. Following a murder in the block where they live, they team up with lovely Selena Gomez to solve the mystery, meeting lots of quirky characters along the way.

    I enjoyed this series, which is on Disney+, very much, it is well acted and intriguing, even if I did guess the killer well before the end. The only down part for me was the over use of unnecessary swearing.

    Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    edited November 2021

    Atlantic Crossing (2021)

    Last night this historic drama won the Emmy's for Best International TV movie or mini-series.

    The mini-series is about crown princess Märtha of Norway and her experiences during WWII. When Norway lost its military resistance against nazi Germany's invation in 1940 the government and the royal family went into exile. The king and crown prince went to England while the crown princess and the children (including the current king Harald) ended up in the US. She became close to president Roosevelt and she and the kids even lived in the White House for a while. It can be argued that Märtha had more influence on FDR than anyone other than the first lady and central members of his administration. Sofia Helin (The Bridge) plays Märtha and Kyle MacLachlan plays FDR. If you like content like The Crown I'm sure you'll like this too. It's on Amazon Prime and PBS in the states.

  • chrisno1chrisno1 LondonPosts: 3,172MI6 Agent

    Repeats of The Millennium Trilogy.

  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,238MI6 Agent

    I am late to the party when it comes to the acclaimed US series Breaking Bad.

    As most of you will know, it's about a chemistry teacher and family man who, at the age of 50, has something of a midlife crisis, precipitated by some disturbing personal news that he keeps to himself. In need of funds, he hits upon the idea of using his expertise to cook up crystal meths - and it's superior stuff at that. Much of the humour comes from his interaction with his new, young accomplice in crime.

    It's kind of Ferris Bueller's Day Off - from the perspective of beleaguered head principal Ed Rooney - mixed with Pulp Fiction in terms of grisly, unexpected deaths and the way random events conspire to set life off on a tangent, helping or hindering.

    Not quite a comedy, but the situations are humorous - there isn't a 'funny' or witty character you root for exactly, but you do root for them anyway. Not least because the first episode sets up our lead character as the underdog. How it endures for a few series you'd never guess from the opener. It does spread itself a bit thinly and upon scrutiny it doesn't stand up, but like early Bonds you don't want to scrutinise it, because it's enjoyable. The plot thickens because his bullish brother in law is with the drugs enforcement agency. Again, it's not plausible in terms of how he can keep his new sideline a secret from his family, and other stuff that is thrown in is a bit ho-hum, but the ensemble cast really helps - there isn't a weak note among them.

    In some ways it's the familiar trope of Clark Kent/Superman, Jason Bourne fame - everyman underdog who surprisingly to us or him discovers he's got an unusual, handy and very effective skill-set.

    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
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