[barmar]

 Winstonm, on 2016-May-18, 10:17, said:

Has anyone else been captivated by Bates Motel?

Very creepy when Norman was in therapy and he started channeling Norma.

My speculation is that the series finale will align with the events in the movie Psycho, and I just read an article that suggests I'm somewhat right. Bates Motel Season 5 to Introduce Psycho Icon Marion Crane

[Vampyr]

 barmar, on 2016-May-19, 09:35, said:

Very creepy when Norman was in therapy and he started channeling Norma.

My speculation is that the series finale will align with the events in the movie Psycho, and I just read an article that suggests I'm somewhat right. Bates Motel Season 5 to Introduce Psycho Icon Marion Crane

I was enjoying the show, but my recorder doesn't catch when a new season starts, so I have missed loads.

[sharon j]

Anyone else watching the mini series "Mars" on National Geographic channel? Check it out. I'm finding it entertaining and educational.

[Winstonm]

This will be the final season for Bates Motel, now that Norma is dead. I have read that this last season will recreate the famous Hitchcock "shower scene" - though how it will be filmed is not known.

Somehow, I would like to see a flash forward with young Freddie Highmore morphing into Anthony Perkins and using the some part of the original film as the ending. Heck, they look enough alike to be brothers.

[barmar]

My expectation is that the series finale will be the overlap with the movie.

Rather than actually recreating the shower scene, I think it would be quite satisfying if it ended with Norman checking in Marion Crane. We all know where it goes from there.

[barmar]

The new show I'm really enjoying this year is "This is Us".

The show is about a family, alternating between the lives of the grown children in the present day, and flashbacks to the 80's when they were children. The parents (Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia) were originally expecting triplets, but one of them was stillborn. On the same day that she gave birth, a black baby was abandoned at a firehouse, taken to the hospital, and they decided to adopt him.

On his 36th birthday, the adopted son finds his birth father, a homeless former drug addict with stomach cancer, and invites him to come live with his family.

The show follows the struggles all of the family members face during their lives. The birth son is an actor who made it big on a stilly sitcom (he was the title character of "The Manny"), but he quit the show to try to do more meaningful work. The daughter is obese and trying to lose weight; she met her boyfriend at a weight loss support group, but their relationship is a roller coaster. The adopted son is intellectually gifted, and grows up to be a successful commodities trader. When he was a child, his parents had to deal with raising a black child in a white, middle-class family, and the show addresses many of the issues this raises.

This fills the void of high quality family drama that was left when "Parentood" ended last year. It's very emotional, and the emotions all seem very real.

[Winstonm]

 barmar, on 2016-December-01, 18:27, said:

My expectation is that the series finale will be the overlap with the movie.

Rather than actually recreating the shower scene, I think it would be quite satisfying if it ended with Norman checking in Marion Crane. We all know where it goes from there.

I like that idea. A final look at the camera and that Anthony Perkins smile.

[y66]

 kenberg, on 2013-October-07, 08:26, said:

We saw the pilot episode of Masters of Sex, based (realistically?) on the life and work of Masters and Johnson. We weer channel hopping, got in after about five minutes had already passed, and almost dumped it. I'm glad we didn't. It is very sexual, no surprise there, but Becky and i also thought it to be very good. The portrayal of Virginia Johnson was impressive, and I like to think accurate. For a woman of that era, she stepped pretty far out. . Masters comes across as a very weird duck. Interesting, not particularly pleasant, and very weird.

Anyway, I hope the rest holds up to the promise of the pilot.

Just watched season one episode nine. The writing, direction, acting and cinematography are so good. Hope it continues. This scene blew me away partly because a friend and I had just been discussing the floating topic:

Quote

Old man [holding up a prayer card]: St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes.

Young doctor: Well, you don't look like a lost cause.

Well, actually, I have two prayer cards. Would you like one? The other is St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things.

Thanks, but I haven't lost anything. At least, I don't think I have.

You're not catholic?

No, I'm nothing. I mean, I'm Jewish, but I'm a doctor.

Well, that's a religion of sorts. My son's god was Pythagoras. He always worshiped numbers, starting when he was a boy. He's at M.I.T. now.

That's a good school.

And what did you want to do when you were young?

I'm not sure. I played baseball. I was a decent pitcher but, um I gave it up after high school. I always tested well, was good in math and science, so Professor McAlary suggested I go pre-med. My parents, of course, always wanted me to become a doctor, and so I just I don't know.

Floated that direction.

You know, the one time I really did go after something it didn't work out.

Well, only the young think floating is an option. When you get to my age, you learn floating is for boats.

This also reminds me of the role chance encounters can play in our lives even here in the water cooler.

[Kaitlyn S]

 barmar, on 2016-December-01, 18:46, said:

The new show I'm really enjoying this year is "This is Us"....This fills the void of high quality family drama that was left when "Parentood" ended last year. It's very emotional, and the emotions all seem very real.

Agree. Enjoy both of those shows.

[kenberg]

I had never heard of This is Us until I saw it referenced on this thread. Thanks. We are finding it interesting, and yes I know "interesting" is not quite the same as "enjoyable". We have now watched five episodes. Becky has liked it from the beginning. I have been more tentative. Roughly it goes like this: The female characters make intuitive sense to me, including the very overweight Kate and Beth and Randall's two little girls (they don't yet have major roles, but what I see of them I like). The guys seem far less believable to me, and to the extent I find them believable I find them, for the most part, unlikable. William has the flawed saint role, tough to make believable. Jack and Kevin I don't like. With Jack it's just that I don't like him, with Kevin I find the character to be simultaneously unbearable and unbelievable. I recognize that Toby plays a positive role in Kate's life, but I am hoping that she decides she can do better.

For example (no great spoiler alert needed here) Rebecca has this interaction with an African-American mother at a swimming pool. I found the initial hostility completely believable, and I found the follow-up conversation, after Kate thinks a bit, equally believable Something that I could both believe and like. .I see very little of that with the guys.


But interesting it is, and we will keep watching. Thanks.

[barmar]

It seems like the guys in This is Us are pie-in-the-sky dreamers, while the women are more down-to-earth. Which is often the role that women have to play in families, making the practical decisions.

[kenberg]

 barmar, on 2017-January-17, 10:54, said:

It seems like the guys in This Is Us are pie-in-the-sky dreamers, while the women are more down-to-earth. Which is often the role that women have to play in families, making the practical decisions.

Yes. There is the old joke where a woman is asked who makes the decisions in her family and she explains that her husband makes all of the important decisions such as whether the country should go to war, she makes the mionor decisions such as where they should live, where the children should go to school, just stuff like that.

Now rt some plot elements (Take this as a spoiler alert!)

Kevin in particular seems extremely underdeveloped emotionally. He is unsatisfied playing in a silly tv show so he goes to NY to try theater, but shows up for an interview totally unprepared. He goes to his brother's house uninvited and without notice and simply stays. He babysits the kids and can't do that. He brings them a painting he has done, Wikipedia says it is Jackson Pollard like. I am no art critic but I think a Jackson Pollard painting can come together if you are patient. I thought what he had done looked like a good portrait of the stat of his mind, random nonsense. Pie-in-the-sky definitely, but I seem him as underdeveloped to the point of pathology. In the childhood scene where ha might have drowned, and then blamed his father, I think this might have been a great time to explain to him that if a person is determined to act like an idiot there is not always going to be someone to rescue you.

Jack and Rebeca: There is a scene at the hospital where the doc is talking to Jack about this wonderful thing he is doing bringing home the abandoned child. I asked Becky (aka my Rebecca) if I had missed the scene where someone even asked Rebecca what she thought about the idea. If there was such a scene, Becky missed it too. Becky and I disagree some about Rebecca, with me liking her more, maybe much more, than Becky does.

Randall and Beth: Randall brings William home, ok, Randall is in uncharted territory. But after a few days Beth tries to bring up just how long he will be staying. She starts by expressing difficulty with saying what she means, Randall jumps in with a full harangue about self-censorship and how could she have any difficulty speaking right up and so on. Now this gets a line presumably intended for irony or laughs, as after she does say what is on her mind he says she should have self-censored. But the arrogant self-righteousness of the lecture was what got my attention. And then later, when Randall is trying to get to the point with Kevin about overstaying his welcome, it is Beth that gets to the point, and then Randall sabotages it by suggesting Kevin stay on a while longer to watch the kids. Besides, I wouldn't leave a bowl of goldfish in Kevin's care.

[barmar]

 kenberg, on 2017-January-17, 12:28, said:

Jack and Rebeca: There is a scene at the hospital where the doc is talking to Jack about this wonderful thing he is doing bringing home the abandoned child. I asked Becky (aka my Rebecca) if I had missed the scene where someone even asked Rebecca what she thought about the idea. If there was such a scene, Becky missed it too. Becky and I disagree some about Rebecca, with me liking her more, maybe much more, than Becky does.

They've been filling in the gaps as the show goes along. The promos for tonight's episode have been saying "See where it all began", and it looks like there will be lots of flashbacks to what went on at the hospital.

Rebecca is a very complex character. She puts on a very strong face, and she's the glue that keeps the family together through all the difficulties, but there have been scenes of her crying out of frustration when she's alone. I don't know if I'd still be watching if it were just the story of Kevin, Kate, and Randall.

[barmar]

You need to get caught up. Rebecca was great in last night's episode.

[kenberg]

 barmar, on 2017-January-18, 09:47, said:

You need to get caught up. Rebecca was great in last night's episode.

We are halfway there, we watched episode 6 last night. If we pick up the pace just a little we may be up to date by next week's episode (assuming there is one next week, I haven't checked). I'll say this for the show: Becky and I talk about it, and here you and I are chatting about it. Contrast that with Elementary. We regularly watch that, after which one of us might say "One of the better episodes" or "I didn't follow all of that", the other will maybe nod or say "right", and then we go on to talk about something else.

Contrary to some of what I said earlier, in episode 6 I found most of the actions simultaneously believable and favorable. Jack was better, even Kevin was sort of tolerable, and I had great sympathy for Randall trying to speak to a bunch of eight year olds at career day. And Beth trying to help him prepare for this, but ultimately having to confess that she really had no idea of what his job consisted of was great. My older daughter has often explained to me what she does. Maybe I should take notes.

[barmar]

 kenberg, on 2017-January-18, 13:05, said:

We are halfway there, we watched episode 6 last night. If we pick up the pace just a little we may be up to date by next week's episode (assuming there is one next week, I haven't checked). I'll say this for the show: Becky and I talk about it, and here you and I are chatting about it. Contrast that with Elementary. We regularly watch that, after which one of us might say "One of the better episodes" or "I didn't follow all of that", the other will maybe nod or say "right", and then we go on to talk about something else.

Right. The only procedural that I can imagine generating real conversation like this is "Law and Order: SVU", since it tackles important issues, often ripped from the headlines, on a regular basis. After "Elementary" you might have a brief discussion of how clever or convoluted it was, but what else is there to talk about?

Quote

Contrary to some of what I said earlier, in episode 6 I found most of the actions simultaneously believable and favorable. Jack was better, even Kevin was sort of tolerable, and I had great sympathy for Randall trying to speak to a bunch of eight year olds at career day. And Beth trying to help him prepare for this, but ultimately having to confess that she really had no idea of what his job consisted of was great. My older daughter has often explained to me what she does. Maybe I should take notes.

It's a general problem for people who don't have traditional construction/manufacturing or service jobs that everyone interacts with. I've never really been able to explain some of the jobs I've had to people outside the computer industry.

[barmar]

This Is Us was renewed for 2 more seasons today. Very good news. We need a quality heart-felt family drama amidst all the procedurals, super-heroes, and reality shows.

[kenberg]

Progress reprt: We watched episode 10 last night. Almost caught up.

Meanwhile I have a question: Spoiler alert.

Much is made of Randall's early search for his biological father. Unless I missed it, he has never shown any interest in his biological mother. Of course this fits the general theme of the show. His biological father is this very wise man who has now fir into his family, expressed great regret over what was done, offers sage advice and so on. For the sake of comparison, I mention that I have always had a strong interest in learning more about the early livf of my adoptive parents. I have an interest in the life of my biological parents, and not just for medical reasons, but that interest pales compared to my interest in the life of my adoptive parents. And my interest in the life of my biological mother is about equal to my interest in my biological father. Of course I was a white child adopted by white parents, and yes that makes a difference. But I still don't get the strong interest in the biological father and the apparent;ly zero interest in the biological mother. For an obvious example, as far as I recall Randall has never said "Tell me something about my moter".

[hrothgar]

I quite enjoyed the first season of "The Good Place".

I am looking forward to Powerless and Santa Clara Diet (SCD is done by the folks who made Better Off Ted which is one of the greatest shows ever)

Waiting for the return of

1. Rick and Morty
2. Broad City
3. Game of Thrones
4. Archer

In the mean time, slumming with "Lucifer" and willing to give "Riverdale" a chance...

[barmar]

 kenberg, on 2017-January-20, 07:38, said:

Progress reprt: We watched episode 10 last night. Almost caught up.

Meanwhile I have a question: Spoiler alert.

Much is made of Randall's early search for his biological father. Unless I missed it, he has never shown any interest in his biological mother. Of course this fits the general theme of the show. His biological father is this very wise man who has now fir into his family, expressed great regret over what was done, offers sage advice and so on. For the sake of comparison, I mention that I have always had a strong interest in learning more about the early livf of my adoptive parents. I have an interest in the life of my biological parents, and not just for medical reasons, but that interest pales compared to my interest in the life of my adoptive parents. And my interest in the life of my biological mother is about equal to my interest in my biological father. Of course I was a white child adopted by white parents, and yes that makes a difference. But I still don't get the strong interest in the biological father and the apparent;ly zero interest in the biological mother. For an obvious example, as far as I recall Randall has never said "Tell me something about my moter".

I have a feeling it's a "black thing". Much has been said in the show about the role that black men play in their family and community, and Randall needing a role model. On the other hand, the mother-son relationship seems to be more related to the nurturing that the mother provided, so his attachment will be to his adopted mother.

Lots of TV shows have made a big deal about biological parenthood. The most notable one is the show "Switched at Birth", which is about two families (an affluent white family and a lower middle-class Latino one) who discover that their now-teenage daughters were switched at the hospital. Of course you expect to take home the child you gave birth to, but after 15 years, why would someone really feel the need to form a relationship with someone who just happened to be genetically related to them? I can certainly understand being curious about your biological parents, but is there really more to it than that? On other shows, a long-absent parent has come back and tried to get custody -- it seems crazy to me that the law actually supports this. After a certain amount of time, the biological relationship should become irrelevant.