What Shows are you currently watching?

[King Postwhore]

I spend so much all ready.

[lonestar]

Episode 6 was fantastic.

That was absolutely fucking bonkers...what an episode, the acting was top notch as was the writing. My left eye will be twitching for a while from the second hand anxiety 


For me...Ep7 was even better, watching Richie fall in love with the beauty that is foodservice was so perfectly handled, and brilliantly executed. I love how they dropped the seed in the previous episode with him begging his Uncle to get him out of "wrapping sandwiches" to show his frustration with the industry in general. So well done.

[lonestar]

Ok, finished the Bear S2... such an outstanding finish, just so brilliantly done. Gonna put thoughts below to help avoid spoilery stuff...





















So yeah, that was fucking brutal, and hit home on so many fronts for me, leaving me a blubbering mess by the end of it. First, how they nailed that deep in the shit weeds feeling with Syd right as Carm got locked in the walk in, and how Richie pulled it together and got the team to get through in style (the line of "we'll all be smoking soon" is fucking brilliant, nothing like that feeling of just one more ticket to go knowing you could finally go burn one after 4-5 hours of getting your ass handed to you). The stuff that made me a mess was Carm's breakdown, and how his emotional immaturity for all his life was channeled into the business, creating that identity of 'Chef' and making it be everything morning to night. His inability to allow that identity and the intimacy of a relationship occupy the same place and time in his life... I know that, because that is me, the childhood trauma and using the industry as a safe coping mechanism, burying myself into the work at the cost of any semblance of a normal life, extensive addiction issues, and an endless stream of relationships shattered by the conflict of having to put one in front of the other without ever learning that both can exist. (I am getting better with sobriety and shit tons of therapy btw lol)

Fucking show straight up called me out on that bullshit, nailed it, and I don't fucking like it one bit.


So damn good.

[Stadler]

That's a cool post, RJ (not the right word, but...).   In an odd way - and I hope you get this - I'm happy for you that you could find something to connect with, even if it was maybe uncomfortable or a challenge.  99 times out of 80, I see lawyers on TV and its like "yeah, I suppose there was some douche like that back in law school, but the majority of lawyers I know are NOTHING like that."  Other than Law and Order - and even then, I like the "order" side better; the investigation, I watch zero law or legal shows on TV because they always blow.

Except for Ally McBeal, but that's because Lucy Liu and Portia De Rossi were (and still are) hot.

[lonestar]

That's why Anthony Bourdain was such a success with Kitchen Confidential..he told our story, he spoke for us.

I mean, I've always connected with my fellow chefs, and have processed this a lot especially in the past 12 years. Just to see my story so blatantly on the screen caught me so off guard. I said it before but I'd bet any amount of money the showmakers lived this live, they just nailed it way too closely.


As for lawyers, after half a year of working in a law firm, they're pretty much a boring ass lot of people. No offense 

[pg1067]

I've gotten back to Cheers over the last month.  The first season was strong.  The second and the start of the third must less so.  Man...the people who bitch about Friends would have heart attacks over Cheers.  It's interesting to see proto-Frasier Crane, and I think I'm getting close to Coach dying.

[jingle.boy]

RJ, I can't watch The Bear. I don't have Hulu. Dammit.

Dude...both seasons are up now...just spend the dime for a month and binge it. Totally fucking worth it bro.

Luckily, Disney+ Canada gets Hulu distribution rights - albeit delayed.  S2 doesn't drop until July 19th up here.  Which gives me time to watch S1 while I'm on PTO starting next weekend.

[lonestar]

RJ, I can't watch The Bear. I don't have Hulu. Dammit.

Dude...both seasons are up now...just spend the dime for a month and binge it. Totally fucking worth it bro.

Luckily, Disney+ Canada gets Hulu distribution rights - albeit delayed.  S2 doesn't drop until July 19th up here.  Which gives me time to watch S1 while I'm on PTO starting next weekend.

Yeah, all the Canadian cooks in my Facebook groups are bitching about us Americans spoiling the show. 

[Cool Chris]

I've gotten back to Cheers over the last month.  The first season was strong.  The second and the start of the third must less so.  Man...the people who bitch about Friends would have heart attacks over Cheers.  It's interesting to see proto-Frasier Crane, and I think I'm getting close to Coach dying.

I first started watching Cheers after Rebecca and Woody joined and loved it instantly. Soon I wondered who my parents were talking about when they lamented the loss of Coach and Diane. It wasn't till much later when I ended up watching those first seasons, and had a hard time adjusting. I didn't like the Sam/Diane dynamic, enjoyed Woody's humor more than Coach's, and missed what Frasier brought to the table bar. Then I saw episodes with Harry the Hat and thought OMG Judge Harry Stone!

[pg1067]

I've gotten back to Cheers over the last month.  The first season was strong.  The second and the start of the third must less so.  Man...the people who bitch about Friends would have heart attacks over Cheers.  It's interesting to see proto-Frasier Crane, and I think I'm getting close to Coach dying.

I first started watching Cheers after Rebecca and Woody joined and loved it instantly. Soon I wondered who my parents were talking about when they lamented the loss of Coach and Diane. It wasn't till much later when I ended up watching those first seasons, and had a hard time adjusting. I didn't like the Sam/Diane dynamic, enjoyed Woody's humor more than Coach's, and missed what Frasier brought to the table bar. Then I saw episodes with Harry the Hat and thought OMG Judge Harry Stone!

I was a sophomore in HS during season 1.  I think my mother may have watched, but I don't think she was a big fan.  I saw episodes here and there throughout the show's run, but I never watched regularly.  My only background is that earlier this year, I binged the entire run of Frasier, which I also didn't watch regularly when it was on.

Coach has been one of the best parts of the show, so it'll be sad to see him go.  From what I recall, Woody was fairly similar, but I'll see soon enough.  The actor who played Coach died in February 1985 - during season 3.

I didn't even know Harry Anderson had been on Cheers.

By the way, I watched the Night Court reboot, with Melissa Rauch as Harry's daughter, and it SUCKED.

[lonestar]

Harry the Hat was one of my favorite recurring characters, another good part was their later ongoing feud with Gary's Olde Town Tavern.

[Glasser]

MANIFEST final season was excellent! Finale was very well done, was not expecting what happened at all.

[Cool Chris]

I was a sophomore in HS during season 1.  I think my mother may have watched, but I don't think she was a big fan.  I saw episodes here and there throughout the show's run, but I never watched regularly.  My only background is that earlier this year, I binged the entire run of Frasier, which I also didn't watch regularly when it was on.

Coach has been one of the best parts of the show, so it'll be sad to see him go.  From what I recall, Woody was fairly similar, but I'll see soon enough.  The actor who played Coach died in February 1985 - during season 3.

By the way, I watched the Night Court reboot, with Melissa Rauch as Harry's daughter, and it SUCKED.

I never watched Frasier. I was in college and rarely watched any TV. But later in reruns I just couldn't get in to it.

While I wouldn't call Coach "dumb" I hate characters who appear "dumb," for lack of a better word. Woody worked better for me because his "dumbness" was rooted in his naivety.

I've said before Dan Fielding is a Top 3 TV character of mine, so I was mildly curious about the new Night Court, but only watched a couple clips. I never know why execs think that a style of show that worked 30 years ago could work today.

[pg1067]

Harry the Hat was one of my favorite recurring characters, another good part was their later ongoing feud with Gary's Olde Town Tavern.

I figure I have a lot of good stuff still to come.

I never watched Frasier. I was in college and rarely watched any TV. But later in reruns I just couldn't get in to it.

While I wouldn't call Coach "dumb" I hate characters who appear "dumb," for lack of a better word. Woody worked better for me because his "dumbness" was rooted in his naivety.

I've said before Dan Fielding is a Top 3 TV character of mine, so I was mildly curious about the new Night Court, but only watched a couple clips. I never know why execs think that a style of show that worked 30 years ago could work today.

I was so happy with Frasier.  I obviously knew about it when it was airing, and it won tons of awards at a time when I actually paid attention to the Emmys.  Don't know what I was watching instead.

Coach makes sense because he talks about having been beaned a bunch when he was a player.  Looking forward to the contrast with Woody.

I see people talking about remaking Friends or even something fairly recent like The Big Bang Theory, and I think it's just an awful idea.  There's no way a reboot/remake could do it justice - especially in the "woke" era.

[KevShmev]

I know I have said this before, but the people who criticize Friends now for certain non-woke aspects are f'ing stupid.  That show was very progressive in real time (a lesbian couple being a regular part of the story from the start is commonplace now, but was unheard of in 1994). 

The only Cheers episode I can think of off the top of my head that the current Twitter mob would lose their minds over was the Season 1 ep where some of the patrons was The Boys in the Bar (link below), but that was pretty realistic for its time (Norm and Cliff's comments are probably how a lot of guys talked in bars about a homosexual in the early 80s), and trying to reassess it now based on modern/current views and standards just reeks of today's takedown culture of getting outraged just to be outraged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Bar

[jammindude]

I tried to watch The Bear last night, but it just hit me wrong, and I had to turn it off.

It’s listed as a comedy and I’m just not seeing it that way at all. It was good, high intensity drama, and I might try to pick it up again when I’m in a different mood, but my wife came from an abusive past with an emotionally abusive father, and a physically and emotionally abusive ex-husband. Sometimes, if we watch shows with a bunch of fighting and yelling and screaming at each other, it can really set her off.  We were only about 10 minutes into the first episode, and when all the arguing in the kitchen was really starting to get under her skin so we had to shut it off.

It seems more like high intensity drama. Is it supposed to be listed as a comedy? I mean, there were a few funny quips, but I generally wouldn’t classify it as a comedy.

[lonestar]

I tried to watch The Bear last night, but it just hit me wrong, and I had to turn it off.

It’s listed as a comedy and I’m just not seeing it that way at all. It was good, high intensity drama, and I might try to pick it up again when I’m in a different mood, but my wife came from an abusive past with an emotionally abusive father, and a physically and emotionally abusive ex-husband. Sometimes, if we watch shows with a bunch of fighting and yelling and screaming at each other, it can really set her off.  We were only about 10 minutes into the first episode, and when all the arguing in the kitchen was really starting to get under her skin so we had to shut it off.

It seems more like high intensity drama. Is it supposed to be listed as a comedy? I mean, there were a few funny quips, but I generally wouldn’t classify it as a comedy.

If I were her I'd stay away then, whole S1 is mostly just high intensity kitchen stuff, S2 has a lot of unprocessed trauma all over it, and not just in the kitchen. Lots of triggering stuff for sure.

[jingle.boy]

Cheers is my fave sitcom of all time, only slightly ahead of Seinfeld. I really should rematch it again. I watched probably 80% of Frazier … that’s a top 5 sitcom of all time as well. So well written. We watched in Uni over a few drinks before heading out to the pubs on Thursday nights.

[Stadler]

LOVED Cheers (still do; the episode where Sam proposes to Diane in the office, she says "no, Sam, it has to be special" so he rents the boat, yada yada, asks her and she still says no is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life) but never warmed to Frazier the series.  I just didn't connect with it.*

Anything with Cliff was priceless (Shows a blackboard with the helix:  "DNA.. Dames are Not Agressive"; then turns the blackboard sideways and says "now we're going to talk about the steam engine."  Hilarious.)

*Though I went to my local bar last night with my step son for a sandwich, and the woman across from us was a DEAD RINGER for Peri Gilpin. 

[faizoff]

Knocked out the first season of The Bear yesterday. Helps that they average 30 mins per episode. Will probably take two days to watch season 2.

Really enjoying it so far. I did work in a kitchen eons ago though it was a very different experience from what's on the show. I do understand the chaos though.

[lonestar]

Knocked out the first season of The Bear yesterday. Helps that they average 30 mins per episode. Will probably take two days to watch season 2.

Really enjoying it so far. I did work in a kitchen eons ago though it was a very different experience from what's on the show. I do understand the chaos though.

A lot of what's portrayed as kitchen culture in this show is ripped directly from the culture Thomas Keller developed at the French Laundry.

[pg1067]

Anything with Cliff was priceless (Shows a blackboard with the helix:  "DNA.. Dames are Not Agressive"; then turns the blackboard sideways and says "now we're going to talk about the steam engine."  Hilarious.)

*Though I went to my local bar last night with my step son for a sandwich, and the woman across from us was a DEAD RINGER for Peri Gilpin. 

Cliff is the kind of character I should like.  He's good, but his know-it-allism is so over the top sometimes that it grates.

Also, Roz >>> Daphne.

[King Postwhore]

Norm had the best line ever in that show.

"Women, you can't live with them...............Pass the beer nuts."

[jammindude]

Anything with Cliff was priceless (Shows a blackboard with the helix:  "DNA.. Dames are Not Agressive"; then turns the blackboard sideways and says "now we're going to talk about the steam engine."  Hilarious.)

*Though I went to my local bar last night with my step son for a sandwich, and the woman across from us was a DEAD RINGER for Peri Gilpin. 

Cliff is the kind of character I should like.  He's good, but his know-it-allism is so over the top sometimes that it grates.

Also, Roz >>> Daphne.

Add a few more >’s and I say +100. Peri never got enough credit for how hot she was on that show.

[Stadler]

Well, easy.  Comparing two is one thing, but neither one of them could carry Kirstie Alley's brastrap back in the day.  I saw a taping of Cheers once in.... '92-ish, and Kirstie said a few words to the crowd and my god she was jaw-droopingly beautiful.   

[pg1067]

Well, easy.  Comparing two is one thing, but neither one of them could carry Kirstie Alley's brastrap back in the day.  I saw a taping of Cheers once in.... '92-ish, and Kirstie said a few words to the crowd and my god she was jaw-droopingly beautiful.

Hard to say.  Most of my memories of Kirstie Alley involve overly foofy hair and stereotypically oversized '80s dresses.  I think the first thing I watched with her was Look Who's Talking, but I can't say I have any particular memory of her in the movie.  As my Cheers watch-through progresses, I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on her.

[KevShmev]

Norm had the best line ever in that show.

"Women, you can't live with them...............Pass the beer nuts."

I always liked...

"What are you up to, Norm?"

"My ideal weight if I were 11 feet tall."

 

[King Postwhore]

 

[faizoff]

Knocked out the first season of The Bear yesterday. Helps that they average 30 mins per episode. Will probably take two days to watch season 2.

Really enjoying it so far. I did work in a kitchen eons ago though it was a very different experience from what's on the show. I do understand the chaos though.

...and knocked out the 2nd season. What an amazing ending run of episodes from 6-10. Just fantastic stuff through and through. I kinda hate they ended sorta cliffhangerish but overall just unbelievable season. I liked it a lot more than season 1, not that it was a slouch. But S2 completely upped the game.

[SoundscapeMN]

I don't watch Wheel of Fortune much, but this is kind of head scratching

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/ryan-seacrest-will-succeed-pat-sajak-host-wheel-fortune-rcna91432

[cramx3]

Righteous Gemstones is back! Enjoyed the first episode so far.

[Harmony]

Knocked out the first season of The Bear yesterday. Helps that they average 30 mins per episode. Will probably take two days to watch season 2.

Really enjoying it so far. I did work in a kitchen eons ago though it was a very different experience from what's on the show. I do understand the chaos though.

...and knocked out the 2nd season. What an amazing ending run of episodes from 6-10. Just fantastic stuff through and through. I kinda hate they ended sorta cliffhangerish but overall just unbelievable season. I liked it a lot more than season 1, not that it was a slouch. But S2 completely upped the game.

I'm almost done with S1 based off the recommendations here.  I'm definitely enjoying it and am thinking about it a lot throughout the day.  I can't quite put my finger on the appeal - I mean the acting is great and the story is great.  But there is something....deeper than all that.  It is resonating with me.  My mom ran her own business for 20 years and while it wasn't food-related, I can certainly remember days when the shit was literally hitting the fan.  Just that level of chaos.  Might have to do with that.

[pg1067]

I don't watch Wheel of Fortune much, but this is kind of head scratching

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/ryan-seacrest-will-succeed-pat-sajak-host-wheel-fortune-rcna91432

I mean...he seems like a reasonable choice.  I may actually start watching Wheel (I'm typically pretty bad at it).  I wonder if they'll bring back the OG hosts for Sajak's final episode:  Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford.  Both are still alive, although neither apparently have been involved in TV for quite a while.

[El Barto]

Harry the Hat was one of my favorite recurring characters, another good part was their later ongoing feud with Gary's Olde Town Tavern.

Which Harry the Hat won in spectacular fashion.    The only stunt better was Sam's revenge on the rest of the gang for the ghost gag.

[pg1067]

I watched the snipe hunt episode last night.