Netflix/Prime/Hulu/BritBox Binge Watching: Coronavirus Edition

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re Indian Matchmaking
sk9tingfan said:
I would have liked to have seen the outcomes of some of the matches.
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I finished watching yesterday and immediately did a search to see if there was going to be a second season. Stuff came up about the outcomes so you can find out if you want to. ;)
My favorite person was Vyasar. I'd take him as a SIL any day.
 
annie720 said:
re Indian Matchmaking

I finished watching yesterday and immediately did a search to see if there was going to be a second season. Stuff came up about the outcomes so you can find out if you want to. ;)
My favorite person was Vyasar. I'd take him as a SIL any day.
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Thanks for suggesting looking up the outcomes.
I am so relieved that the Akshar arrangement did not go through. The woman specifically said she wanted to work and he wanted a stay at home wife. Plus his mom would be a nightmare MIL.
I didn’t mind Aparna knowing what she wanted, she was just a bit too negative for me. I didn’t like her mom calling someone a loser to the cameras. I also couldn’t believe she was offended by her date being polite to the wait staff.
 
I watched some of Indian matchmaking. Why are they so hung up on petite women? The mothers were all saying not under 5 3, huh? I had some thoughts on a couple of the guys. It was interesting anyways. I knew a woman who was in an arranged marriage but not with a matchmaker.

I’m all out of shows to watch so I’m looking for recommendations. My favorite shows are pbs ones. I like mysteries but can’t handle really creepy ones.
 
gkelly said:
Just out of curiosity: Do you tend to prefer shows where there is one main plotline across a whole season of, say, 3-13 hours? Or Series where each episode has its own main plot that is wrapped up by the end of the episode, even if there may be ongoing developments in the protagonists' personal lives?
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It depends, but I tend to prefer the former over the latter. I usually apply this to legal shows where I hate how cases end up wrapped up in a single episode, which is so false. That’s why I loved Damages because the whole season revolves around one case....and it was all pretrial stuff! No trial scenes usually. Of course, the other stuff was television thriller stuff but I can stomach that for more accurate (not accurate but more accurate) depictions of legal procedure haha. Still, nothing beats My Cousin Vinny in showing the accuracy of legal procedure and practice - even if Vinny seemed like he didn’t pay attention in law school or the bar exam for not knowing things like “disclosure”, :lol:.
 
I prefer my procedurals to wrap up in an hour and not have some Big Bad who terrorizes the main characters over the course of a season. Criminal Minds got really annoying in the later years when they started doing that.

I don't mind small items through the course of a season to show character growth or other changes. But these are more reoccurring themes than a big plotline.

The difference would be a show where that's the whole point. Like the Man in the High Castle. Or Brave New World.
 
Teamgracie said:
I’m all out of shows to watch so I’m looking for recommendations. My favorite shows are pbs ones. I like mysteries but can’t handle really creepy ones.
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We just started watching 'Sanditon', based on an unfinished book by Jane Austen, her last book IIRC.

It does look interesting - we've just watched one episode. And the settings and costumes are stunning.
 
I definitely much prefer shows with a plotline running over the whole course of a season. It just feels more realistic and allows more character development.

There are some episodic shows that I do enjoy, like the British series Call the Midwife and Unforgotten, but most of the shows I watch are more longform.

I was one of the people who wasn’t fazed that The Killing took 2 seasons to solve a crime. ?
 
clairecloutier said:
I definitely much prefer shows with a plotline running over the whole course of a season. It just feels more realistic and allows more character development.

There are some episodic shows that I do enjoy, like the British series Call the Midwife and Unforgotten, but most of the shows I watch are more longform.
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Call the Midwife also has longer plot lines occurring at the same time. And then the historical timeline - I am so looking forward to how the show tackles the late 60s, with women's lib and reproductive rights at the fores.

I was one of the people who wasn’t fazed that The Killing took 2 seasons to solve a crime. ?
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I didn't mind it either - quite enjoyed The Killing.
 
All you Call the Midwife fans - which streaming service has it moved to? I had been watching it on Netflix, but then it disappeared. :fragile:
 
JoannaLouise said:
All you Call the Midwife fans - which streaming service has it moved to? I had been watching it on Netflix, but then it disappeared. :fragile:
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That's odd, because the first 8 seasons still show up for me on Netflix. If you're talking about the most recent episodes (season 9), those are available at pbs.org, at least in the U.S.
 
vgerdes said:
That's odd, because the first 8 seasons still show up for me on Netflix. If you're talking about the most recent episodes (season 9), those are available at pbs.org, at least in the U.S.
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I'm actually in Canada; maybe our Netflix just doesn't have the licensing for it anymore. I was wondering how everyone else was managing to watch it, and was hoping it had shown up on another streaming service.
(We normally can't watch stuff on pbs.org either. Our local affiliate is called "Buffalo-Toronto", but most of the content is still geoblocked.)
 
I watched Call the Midwife on TV, PBS. I've only ever watched it on TV, as we don't have any streaming service.

And all the seasons, excepting probably the last, are available at one of the libraries here.
 
The problem I do have with shows like Call the Midwife, which I loved, is that it deals with heavy material, but after so many series where we don't see any of those one-episode characters again, I feel like I've grown numb to any drama or at least I don't feel that emotional connection anymore. I guess I lost the sense of being invested. I do admire how shows that do a whole new case/situation every episode can keep up the writing load, especially on classic 26-episode seasons. I guess that's why they have a team of writers and switch them out every-so-often, and why the quality can become inconsistent or drop.
 
That's how I feel about the endless series of prestige murder shows. It's just gotten so dull and formulaic.
 
VGThuy said:
The problem I do have with shows like Call the Midwife, which I loved, is that it deals with heavy material, but after so many series where we don't see any of those one-episode characters again, I feel like I've grown numb to any drama or at least I don't feel that emotional connection anymore. I guess I lost the sense of being invested. I do admire how shows that do a whole new case/situation every episode can keep up the writing load, especially on classic 26-episode seasons. I guess that's why they have a team of writers and switch them out every-so-often, and why the quality can become inconsistent or drop.
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Well, the nurses and nuns in Call the Midwife are dedicated to child-bearing, which a woman didn't do that often at the time. So they always have new pregnant women to take care of.

But Call the Midwife does have a through-line of characters who persist through the years, with a few having made graceful exits.

I am very invested in the Call the Midwife characters. And am wondering if we will even get the Christmas special this year. . .probably not. :(
 
clairecloutier said:
No, I haven't watched that one. Maybe I will give it a try!
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Check out “Trapped” on Amazon Prime. That was the series that pulled me into the world of these mysteries and a new fan of the terrific lead in that series.

Two documentaries have me transfixed: One is the mystery about the Golden State Killer and the determination of ordinary people to find him. Michelle McNamara was a fascinating person in her own right. The docu is “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark.”
The other is on Netflix and called “Fear City” about NYC in the 70’s and how these intrepid FBI agents and prosecutors brought five powerful mafia families down. Good stuff.
 
Japanfan said:
Well, the nurses and nuns in Call the Midwife are dedicated to child-bearing, which a woman didn't do that often at the time. So they always have new pregnant women to take care of.

But Call the Midwife does have a through-line of characters who persist through the years, with a few having made graceful exits.

I am very invested in the Call the Midwife characters. And am wondering if we will even get the Christmas special this year. . .probably not. :(
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I have seen all 8 series and the Christmas specials. I just find it all too formulaic now that it's been running for so long. Patient of the week helping the main cast chug along but I'm starting to feel less invested in the cases because I know the formula by now. Even with "surprise" endings, I'm like ok... That said, when they do it well, I get affected by it. That's not just a problem with this show but all shows that use this formula after a while. At least it makes sense in this setting (somewhat) and other medical shows.
 
I think it would be hard NOT to become somewhat formulaic after 8 seasons. But I still do enjoy Call the Midwife. I thought this most recent season was really quite good. The case involving Valerie's grandmother definitely got me thinking a bit, and I loved the scenery in the Hebrides Christmas special. The main characters keep drawing me in too. I have a girl-crush on Lucille. :) But my favorite this season was really Sister Julienne. Actually, she's one of my favorites every season. That scene with her in regular clothes at the market, when Sister Monica Joan saw her ... that got me.
 
We just watched "13th" on Netflix. It was very intense even if I knew most of what they talked about. I recommend it for a good summary of the ongoing impact of slavery in the US on the criminal justice system.

I have to say, it's a bit weird to see your childhood is now historic enough to be in a documentary! It's always nice to see Angela Davis though. I remember watching her trial on TV and being so impressed with her.
 
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I'm about half-way through the HBO limited series Mrs. Fletcher. It's a Tom Perrotta adaptation (that he adapted himself) and mainly directed by film director Nicole Holofcener, whose work I admire. Other episodes are also directed by some notable women. Has anyone seen it yet? I want to know what other people think about it.
 
^^ We watched Mrs. Fletcher. I thought it was interesting. A lot of it felt emotionally believable to me. I did like the characters, too. The porn was OTT though. (For me.)

What do you think?
 
clairecloutier said:
^^ We watched Mrs. Fletcher. I thought it was interesting. A lot of it felt emotionally believable to me. I did like the characters, too. The porn was OTT though. (For me.)

What do you think?
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I'm holding my judgment so far since I haven't finished the season yet, but I really am enjoying it right now.
 
I really enjoyed Mucho Mucho Amor , Netflix’s documentar on Walter Mercado. I grew up watching him but never knew much about him beyond the flashy persona. It was a very humanizing look at him and it made me really like his positive outlook and what a trailblazer he was! I was one of those who thought he and died many years ago.

My current crack is Indian Matchmaking. Aparna is insufferable and there will be no woman that Pradyuman will like because a woman is not what he wants.
 
I am absolutely flabbergasted that Tom Pelphrey was snubbed for Supporting Actor for Ozark. I thought he was almost a lock for a win.
 
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