The Goggle Box Thread

[Parkins left foot]

Excellent final episode of Happy Valley. One of the things that sets it apart for me is humorous little details like the farcical car chase and leaving the handbrake off. Even though the storyline is far-fetched in Midsomer Murders kind of way (all that crime in one little town, all major developments brought about the by the heroine) these bits keep it feeling real. Brilliant writing.

Agree with this - had a worry that there was too much to tie up in 1 hour which would either mean truncating something with an implausible ending to get it out of the way or rushing the whole thing making it confused

None of that happened

 

[So Long Architect]

Agree with this - had a worry that there was too much to tie up in 1 hour which would either mean truncating something with an implausible ending to get it out of the way or rushing the whole thing making it confused

None of that happened

The only thing that kind of dropped of the radar was the people trafficking story and the Knesivices. Perhaps that's going to form the basis of series 3.

 

[Parkins left foot]

The only thing that kind of dropped of the radar was the people trafficking story and the Knesivices. Perhaps that's going to form the basis of series 3.

Forget about that as has had little coverage in the last 2 or 3 episodes

 

[Sniffer]

Excellent final episode of Happy Valley. One of the things that sets it apart for me is humorous little details like the farcical car chase and leaving the handbrake off. Even though the storyline is far-fetched in Midsomer Murders kind of way (all that crime in one little town, all major developments brought about the by the heroine) these bits keep it feeling real. Brilliant writing.

I think you're spot on SLA, I think this particular facet was done so well by the Sopranos and Happy Valley has that same feel for the writing.

Agree with this - had a worry that there was too much to tie up in 1 hour which would either mean truncating something with an implausible ending to get it out of the way or rushing the whole thing making it confused

None of that happened

At the end I felt a sense of relief that my predicted storyline of her grandsons cancelled sleepover at a mates house followed by a petrol bomb attack didn't come to fruition. A truly excellent series.

 

[So Long Architect]

At the end I felt a sense of relief that my predicted storyline of her grandsons cancelled sleepover at a mates house followed by a petrol bomb attack didn't come to fruition. A truly excellent series.

That was another strength of it, wasn't it? It didn't take any of the storylines too far. It would have been easy to make Frances a complete petrol-bombing psycho, but having her as a deluded confused woman who'd taken a wrong turn felt much more real.

But the final scene was dark as fuck though.

 

[Sniffer]

That was another strength of it, wasn't it? It didn't take any of the storylines too far. It would have been easy to make Frances a complete petrol-bombing psycho, but having her as a deluded confused woman who'd taken a wrong turn felt much more real.

But the final scene was dark as fuck though.

The music of the series that accompanied the dark plots and that final scene gave me the shivers too. Still does now when I think about it.

 

[Kenny]

Steve Coogan wants to do another Alan Partridge chat show but this time using actual famous people rather than the made up ones like in Knowing Me, Knowing You.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Wouldn't that be rather Alan Partridge does Mrs Merton (oo-er)? Have to find some way to distinguish the two.

 

[Kenny]

Wouldn't that be rather Alan Partridge does Mrs Merton (oo-er)? Have to find some way to distinguish the two.

and Ali G and a few others who have done the Character in real life type stuff.

I guess the difference will come down to how the character is done and what angle he goes at. If he keeps it as he does for the "fake" Interviews it will be very different to Merton and Co

 

[lemonjelly]

Seem to recall the alan partridge original radio show stuff is a record store day release this year.

 

[Boozad]

I think I'll stick with The Night Manager but it's really not tickling my fancy. I like Tom Hiddleston as an actor but he's fucking awful in this, so hard to work out what his character's actually supposed to be and watching him bed every woman that looks at him is boring as fuck. The supporting cast is pretty weak as well in my opinion and the plot line is holier than Corpus Christi at 12:00 on a Sunday. Very disappointed.

 

[Kenny]

Watched Seasons 1-3 of House of Lies over the last few weeks. Don Cheedle is ace in it. Also great for fans of near soft core Porn as well, although this does get reduced as Season 3 kicks in.

Just need to get S4 watched and I believe it has got a 5th season from Showtime.

 

[Parkins left foot]

I think I'll stick with The Night Manager but it's really not tickling my fancy. I like Tom Hiddleston as an actor but he's fucking awful in this, so hard to work out what his character's actually supposed to be and watching him bed every woman that looks at him is boring as fuck. The supporting cast is pretty weak as well in my opinion and the plot line is holier than Corpus Christi at 12:00 on a Sunday. Very disappointed.

Will continue with this though Hiddlestone isn't convincing in the lead role

Supporting cast is OK with Hugh Laurie & Tom Hollander standing out - both are suitably menacing

 

[So Long Architect]

I think I'll stick with The Night Manager but it's really not tickling my fancy. I like Tom Hiddleston as an actor but he's fucking awful in this, so hard to work out what his character's actually supposed to be and watching him bed every woman that looks at him is boring as fuck. The supporting cast is pretty weak as well in my opinion and the plot line is holier than Corpus Christi at 12:00 on a Sunday. Very disappointed.

I thought the Night Manager was excellent last night. I like the fact that it's not clear what/who the Hiddlestone character is. He can be excited little boy and complete psycopath in the space of one scene, much like the Hugh Laurie character, which I guess is the point.

I agree about the women though. The Olivia Colman character is not bad, but the rest have been just two dimensional dummies, there to do the bidding of the men around them. It's really glaring after watching Happy Valley which was chock full of proper female characters.

 

[lemonjelly]

Hugh Laurie aside, I'm not that gripped by TNM. Indeed, on occasion I have been a bit bored.
It does the suspense thing pretty well, as I'm constantly convinced Hiddlestone is about to get caught. At the same time, a couple of "plot twists" seem a bit obvious, and if I can see them coming, then most can surely.

 

[Boozad]

I like the fact that it's not clear what/who the Hiddlestone character is. He can be excited little boy and complete psycopath in the space of one scene

Personally I haven't seen the psychopath side of his character to be honest, whenever he's supposed to have been a 'complete bastard' he just comes across as a well spoken hotel manager trying to be a complete bastard. Just doesn't work for me. Completely agree about the women though, as shallow as you can get and could have been played out by cardboard.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Last episode of The Night Manager tonight - lost interest & don't think I was following this as closely as I would if it was any good

Tepid ending - and Hiddlestones innapropriate smiling throughout the series was irritating

 

[SLA]

I enjoyed it. It was quite refreshing that there wasn't some massive twist at the end. And it was good and tense all the way through.

But agree about Hiddlestone's smiling and apart from Burr, the female characters were awful cardboard cutouts just there to flash their tits and be manipulated by men.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Anybody else watching The People vs OJ Simpson? I always wondered how he managed to get off but watching the trial unfold, you can see how the defence team managed to do it. A great cast in it too, although John Travolta's face is slightly freaky!

 

[Kenny]

Anybody else watching The People vs OJ Simpson? I always wondered how he managed to get off but watching the trial unfold, you can see how the defence team managed to do it. A great cast in it too, although John Travolta's face is slightly freaky!

Its a great watch. Some of the stuff they are showing isn't a true reflection of what happened though