Category: TV Shows (Page 3 of 4)

Alone is a survival show different from all the rest.  The difference is that the participants are completely alone.  There is not a group of camera men and producers just off screen.  Participants are dropped off in a harsh wilderness environment with limited equipment.  Someone could die, but nobody has yet.  The participants are spread out, five or ten miles from any other participant.  Each has a few cameras to film themselves and a radio to call in when they are ready to quit.  The last person remaining wins a big money prize.

Alone is a great show to have on in the background because there isn’t a plot, but each participant is doing something interesting.  After watching several seasons, there is dependable sequence to the seasons.

First episode:  Participants get dropped off.  A tarp is thrown over a tree for an expedient shelter, then each person does a little recon of their area.  They spend the night terrified of getting eaten by the local apex predators.  Each person talks about how prepared they are for this experience, but by the end of the episode, one or two have dropped out.

The next few episodes:  Participants build a shelter, set snares, gather plants and mushrooms and start fishing.

Episodes after that:  Some people get really hungry, somebody gets injured, a few try hunting.  It starts getting really cold.  A few more people drop out.  People who stay are making musical instruments or patio furniture to keep busy.

The last few episodes, there are three or four people toughing it out.  Somebody accidentally burns down their hut, some else is delirious from starvation.  One by one, they drop out until the last person wins.

To keep the seasons from getting repetitive, the producers vary the situation.  The first few seasons are on the Western Canadian coast, so the terrain is mountainous and miserable, fishing is the best approach and water may be scarce.   In Mongolia, water is available and it’s flat, so fishing can work along with snares for small animals.  In central Canada, big game hunting is feasible.  Moose, bear and musk ox are hunted.

Another way to mix it up is to vary the participants.  One season, they choose people who didn’t win from previous seasons.  In another, they use teams of two, rather than individual participants.  Loneliness is a big issue, so that could have helped, but it didn’t change things much. 

Alone is not a show to watch with your full attention, but in the background, it works great.  I’d give it 8 out of 10.  It’s showing on Hulu, Netflix and the History Channel.

Scavenger’s Reign is a lovely animated series.  The animation is visually stunning.  The music is creative, soothing and creepy, all at the same time.  The plants and animals are completely alien.  Nothing looks like anything on Earth, but it all looks like it could exist.

The plot is simple.  People get stranded on an alien planet.  Each person gets into some trouble while trying to get to the main spaceship.  The series is more about an alien planet than it is about the characters.  I found it very engaging.

Colin from Accounts didn’t sound like my kind of TV show, but I gave it a try.   I’m not usually a fan of Australian comedies.  Too many of the characters treat each other poorly and they can be too much.  Like, too wacky, too dumb, too confident, whatever.  Deadloch on Amazon Prime is one that I tried recently.   Colin from Accounts isn’t like that at all.

The premise is that a Gen X guy and a Millennial woman meet over a dog that was hit by a car.  How is that a supposed to be a comedy?  The dog was seriously injured, and I thought that first episode might be the end of the show for me.  Nothing was graphic and the visit to the veterinarian, the surgery and the dog are treated respectfully, but events around that are dark humor that was actually funny.   It helps that the dog has Sparky’s cute good nature.

The main characters are what D & D would call chaotic neutral people trying to be good.  Much of the comedy comes from the difference in ages and outlooks, but it isn’t stereotypical or cliched.  It feels natural and plausible.  Both characters are in an uncomfortable situations, but by trying to do the right thing, they are placed in awkward situations.  They do the best they can, and it leads them along an interesting journey.

The supporting characters all feel like real people with a backstory.   That it is an Australian production, means that a lot of little lifestyle details are different.  You don’t get the American approach where it’s a waitress in a $3000 per month studio apartment or working class family in a squalid house. 

Colin in Accounts is showing on Paramount +.  I really enjoyed it.  8/10

One Piece is really entertaining.   Yeah, everybody says that, but I was surprised.  There are a few anime series I like, but it’s usually the silly stuff.  I wouldn’t watch One Piece, Cowboy Bebop or Dragon Ball Z as anime.  Making an anime into a TV show is even less likely to work out.   The trailers weren’t enticing.  I thought it would be some sappy Mexican kid moping around.

The Mexican kid, Iñaki Godoy, is convincing.  He is stupidly optimistic, but has skills and attributes that make it plausible that everything always works out.  The rest of the cast have charisma and believable quirks.  The show is occasionally quite dark and violent.

One Piece is best viewed as adventure fantasy.  Many people have powers that are beyond human, but the origin of the powers are explained if necessary.  You just accept some of the fantasy elements.   The level of technology is undefined and flexible.  They use long ships and swords, but some people dress in suits or other modern clothing.

It’s a fun show and worth watching.  9/10.

I will explain what I mean by the silly anime that I’ve enjoyed.

Ghost Stories is hilarious because of how it was dubbed.  They didn’t go with a direct translation, but said whatever they wanted to move the story along.

Girls und Panzer is a stupid premise that the creator to seriously.   The girls attend a private school that is located on an aircraft carrier.   One club at the school is “tankery”.  The girls compete in tank battles against other private schools.

Upotte! is similar.  Every student represents a type of rifle and attend an international private school that emphasizes shooting sports.   The Swiss girl represents the Swiss Sig PE57 battle rifle.  The American girl is an M16.  Like that.

Like I said, I like mostly silly anime. 

Extrapolations is a bracing drama from writer, director and executive producer Scott Z. Burns that introduces a near future where the chaotic effects of climate change have become embedded into our everyday lives.

Extrapolations is Green Porn with a great cast.

I watched a few episodes because this TV series was eagerly anticipated by swampies.  They felt that when people see how Climate Change impacts regular people, then…I don’t know, we will all join their church or something.

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