Category: TV Shows (Page 6 of 7)

One aspect of Monarch:  Legacy of Monsters that hurt the show is that the young characters aren’t appealing.  They aren’t attractive, charismatic or clever.  One Asian girl, Cate, is petulant, whiny and aloof.  I wasn’t familiar with the actress, Anna Sawai, so couldn’t tell if it was the writing or the actress. 

When watching Shogun, I didn’t realize it was the same actress.  The character, Toda, is alluring, strong and sympathetic even though she is rarely talking or even doing much.  For Sawai to do so much, so subtly, she should get an Emmy.

The writers and director for Monarch:  Legacy of Monsters, clearly want us to not like or be sympathetic to the young characters.  I don’t know why.  That could have been a good show.

Shogun, on ABC and Hulu, is one of those rare TV shows that gets my full attention when I watch.  It’s along the lines of Game of Thrones, but without the dragon fantasy.  Palace intrigue  shows suffer if everyone is too grim and earnest, and the line between good and evil is too clear.  That’s what Shogun and Game of Thrones gets right.

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This isn’t a TV show review, but a complaint.

While cleaning up the hard drive, I was checking out the TV show, Once Upon a Time, to see if it was worth burning to a disk.

The premise is a bunch of characters from the Enchanted Forest live in a little town in Maine called Storybrooke.  Initially, none of them know they are from the Enchanted Forest, but they figure it out as the story progresses.

All the supporting female characters are hot brunettes with heaving bosoms.  All the supporting male characters look kind of like Keanu Reeves.   It’s kind of hard to tell them apart.

It’s the main characters where they missed the boat.  The actor in the blue sweater isn’t even supposed to be a guy.  That’s Snow White.  She has little charisma and isn’t a handsome woman.  Her worst feature is her protruding ears.  Why she’d sport this hair cut is anyone’s guess.  The male antagonist is a weaselly fellow with greasy hair.

There is a 10 year old boy who is the center of attention.  He is an unbearable little prick.  I blame the director.

The Atlantic: Reacher Review

I started watching the TV show, Reacher, a couple of months ago, and really enjoyed it.  On social media, it gets criticized quite often.  That’s fine, not everyone likes the same shows, but the review in The Atlantic is illuminating.  Sophisticated people don’t like Reacher.

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I guess I’m not a Doctor Who fan.

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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.

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I really wanted to like Monarch Legacy of Monsters currently showing on Apple TV.

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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.