What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to now

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Norman Bates
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

Anyone catch Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone that dropped yesterday? I know they released the first episode for non-CBS All-Access people to watch, but they dropped another as well. They do feel like The Twilight Zone, but it's hard not to compare it to Black Mirror, especially when they got one of BM's director's to direct the first episode. Both of them seemed like premises and subject that could (and have) been brought up in the original series, but updated.

"The Comedian" feels more Black Mirror than "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet". It is pretty slow, but does fit the many "be careful what you wish for" TZ episodes. For me it was a few too many scenes and was pretty basic. Tracy Morgan is a pretty good in his "devil/genie/etc" role. The payoff at the very end is pretty good, seeing Kumail's character and realizing all of the forgotten ended up on the wall (or all the people Tracy Morgan tempted, I'm not sure which). It was just way too long getting there and you would think at some point the character would actually care he's basically murdering a lot of people and try to stop?

"Nightmare" was much, much better. I'm glad it wasn't a straight retelling of the original two of the slightly modified name. It's about the same themes, but goes about it a different way. It has the guy that does the best history podcast narrating something (Dan Carlin), who I first thought was Booger from Revenge of the Nerds. Adam Scott plays a nervous, possibly delusional man pretty well. The only thing that I'm not a fan of is the very end. I believe it should have ended with "Good Night New York."
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Ron Burgundy
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Nope, first ive heard of it W. I never watched the Twilight Zone- and i still dont understand why its regarded so highly.

Im looking forward to a couple of TV shows out in the next month:

One Punch Man

Game of Thrones
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

Ron Burgundy wrote:Nope, first ive heard of it W. I never watched the Twilight Zone- and i still dont understand why its regarded so highly.
But you've never seen the original series? In a time where people were jailed and put out of work for their beliefs (and perceived beliefs) this show was able to take on McCarthyism, civil rights, nuclear proliferation, class struggle, etc without having the hammer brought down on them. It was the absolute standard of the time. And it was/is good. It used scripts from some of the best sci-fi writers of the era (Tim Matheson, Jerome Bixby, Bradbury). It's very influential on about any genre film of the past fifty years whether it's Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery...

In a TV world of "Golly gee, ma." And "Let's shoot some Injuns!" it was cramming into one 22 minute episode (Eye of the Beholder) the issues of conformity, marginalization of minorities, the concept of beauty, and "normality". It did it in a great, stylized way that kept you guessing until the reveal, which put everything into focus. It certainly had some clunkers. Any time you make 156 of something there will be some.

If you've actually never watched TZ, I can give you a few episodes to watch.
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Ron Burgundy
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by Ron Burgundy »

W: If you've actually never watched TZ, I can give you a few episodes to watch.
please do, its true
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

There's the obvious few that you probably have absorbed from pop culture even if you haven't seen it:
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (though I prefer Lithgow in the TZ movie): Shatner going crazy because he thinks there's a monster on the wing of the airplane. Richard Donner directed, Tim Matheson written.
Eye of the Beholder: A facially scarred woman wants to look like everyone else. Her face is bandaged and it is shot in a shadowy way.
To Serve Man: Aliens arrive on Earth and offer knowledge that technology that would end all human suffering and want. A linguist tries to crack their language to learn about them. Features a young Richard Kiel.
Time Enough at Last: A henpecked book lover finds himself blissfully alone with his books after a nuclear war. Featuring Burgess Meredith

My personal favorites that didn't get a ton of love:
The Obsolete Man: My favorite. Obviously influenced by 1984. A librarian (Burgess Meredith again) is deemed obsolete as the State says books now serve no purpose. He is sentenced to death and is allowed to choose his method of execution.
Five Characters in Search of an Exit: An army major wakes up in a circular room with four other people and cannot remember who he is. With the help of the other four other people who are dressed in various uniforms, they try to escape.
The Invaders: A silent episode where a poor rural woman is accosted by aliens. Agnes Moorehead as the woman, Matheson writer.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street: Unexplained occurrences happen on a quiet suburban street. Paranoia runs wild.

Others favorites:
Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up
The Silence
The Howling Man
Nick of Time
A Stop at Willoughby
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by Buscemi2 »

The Twilight Zone was one of the best shows ever. But do not watch the finale. It makes Seinfeld's finale look brilliant.
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Ron Burgundy
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by Ron Burgundy »

I can't even remember the last Seinfeld episode, but i did see a pic on Quora last year when everyone in Times Square in New York stopped to watch it on a big screen.

Forgive me for being naive, i just hate spoiling good shows- but this show sounds like the Black Mirror of yesteryear. And it sounds pretty fkn cool.

Pop culture episodes(?) i think i might know:

Nightmare at 20,000 feet - Is it The Simpsons Halloween of Horror? Except the one on the bus with bart?
Eye of the Beholder - sounds like something i should know. but i cant rack my mind, its not Vanilla Sky
To Serve Man - Ahh, this sounds alot like Arrival...does that make the film worse?
Time Enough at Last: No idea what so ever, im probably the worst book reader in the world so yeah
Five Characters: Sounds like this B grade asian movie i watched last year on TV
The Monsters- this sounds like my favourite...

I did a little digging coz i knew the name Matheson, and yeah ok: the I Am Legend Matheson.

But this is OLD!!! I suppose its time to see this TV show, almost makes me feel silly for not seeing it already
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

In third or fourth grade we did a The Monsters are Due on Maple Street as a class play. My over/under on amount of episodes referenced in The Simpsons is 17.5. I bet you it's been referenced at least 50 times. Actually Wikisimpsons says there's 15. I mean each of the first two Madagascar movies included a reference.

Arrival follows in the footsteps of To Serve Man a bit, but both owe something to The Day the Earth Stood Still at least. There's a different thing I'd say is a complete ripoff of To Serve Man, but it'd absolutely spoil the episode if I said it.
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BanksIsDaFuture
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by BanksIsDaFuture »

The Twilight Zone is pretty old, all of the eps are in black and white and the acting predates Brando, so you get a bit of that style (which I think most people hate).

But I've watched a few episodes on Netflix to get ready for Peele's version, and they're pretty good. It's definitely Black Mirror's precursor.

I'm more interested in watching the 2002 version, but it's not streaming anywhere. W, did you watch those? Or the mid-80s run?

I signed up for All Access just for the new Twilight Zone, but haven't had time to watch them yet. I've been catching up on the last season of Broad City, and the series finale of You're The Worse just aired (it was perfect).

Veep and Barry are back and they're as good as ever.

The FX version of What We Do In The Shadows is really funny too, though they don't care over any storylines from the movie.
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

I sub CBS All-Access for Survivor. I would have subbed it for TZ, though. I've seen some of the 80's version, but none of the 2000's. Also, thought not TZ related, Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" in the 1980's and Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes in the early 2000's had a few good episodes.

Have you seen the 80's TZ movie? There are three remakes (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, It's a Good Life, Kick the Can) and an original ("Time Out") in the TZ movie all directed by big time directors (Landis, Spielberg, George Miller, Joe Dante). The three remakes are far better than "Time Out"... and "Time Out" did have a very egregious accident where three people died.

In that one John Lithgow plays the Shatner role in Nightmare and there's a pretty fun short opening scene between Albert Brooks and Dan Akroyd. Here's that scene (about a minute), thought it's chopped up probably to get past Youtube's music copyright filter Creedence's "Midnight Special":



The chopping up doesn't really do it justice. They go into, "Remember the one where the guy did this?" "Wait, wasn't that Outer Limits?" You know, conversations I actually have had with old guys.
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

Anyone been watching Criterion Channel? It's supposed to be region locked, but supposedly it isn't on some devices. I literally bought an Apple TV 4K for it since my PS4 won't play it. It was a good choice as it's faster, more streamlined, has channels/apps I can't get on PS4, and I can remote play things it doesn't have (including my parent's DISH account and things needing a VPN).

So far on Criterion I've only watched The Wages of Fear. Excellent, but I thought the ending was just a bit too cute with the swelling music and swerving off the road and then her fainting. Maybe if he hit the can they left behind or he was swerving to miss something in the road. I don't know. It was suspenseful as Hell though. Very deserving of it's place in the pantheon.
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by Buscemi2 »

I watched The Haunted Strangler a couple days of ago. My list mainly has Agnes Varda and Chantal Akerman residing.
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by W »

Disney is really jumping into streaming with both feet. Yesterday they announced The Sandlot and Love, Simon TV shows. The Sandlot is supposed to have the same characters (maybe actors?), but set in the 1980's when they're parents. Mandalorian, Loki, Falcon/Winter Soldier, Rogue One series, Vision/Scarlet Witch series, Monsters Inc. series, Clone Wars, Marvel: What If?... I'll be seeing that Imagineering series, Jeff Goldblum is going to explain shit to people, and every episode of The Simpsons will be available at launch.

I think they may be shooting themselves in the foot by having all new releases available unless they have some kind of grace period. If you can see stuff like Aladdin the day it releases on Digital/Physical, why would you buy/rent it?
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Re: What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to no

Post by undeadmonkey »

I think that's the point though, Disney is one of the only companies that can still sell physical copies of their movies. This will make them obsolete.

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