What are you watching right now?

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Criminal Minds: "Amplification"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Gotham Knights: Pilot episode, far better than I expected. 

[Richard Willis]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Gotham Knights: Pilot episode, far better than I expected. 

I've recorded it and Superman and Lois but haven't watched them yet.

I just watched Night Court and Quantum Leap. Anyone who passed on the continuation (not rebooot) of Quantum Leap should binge it and catch up. It's really great!

[JD DeLuzio]

We just finished Mayfair Witches, season one. Well-acted, high production: I just couldn't get invested as much as my wife was.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Gotham Knights is a curious mixture of lore, both old and new, as well as elements wholly unfamiliar to me. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

"Landmark: Part 3," the series finale of Barney Miller. it always brings a smile and tears of joy, no matter how many times I've seen it.

[ClarkKent_DC]

"Ramon," the second pilot episode and series debut of Barney Miller. The first pilot had a largely different cast with only Hal Linden and Abe Vigoda making it to be series regulars, although there was a character similar to Wojciehowicz that was played by Charles Haid (best known as Renko on Hill Street Blues).

That first pilot, tiled "The Life and Times of Barney Miller," played up the original idea of being split between Barney's life on the job and life at home. The opening credits were done in the style of a Keystone Kops comedy reel that followed Barney's trajectory from rookie uniformed officer and newlywed husband through promotions to sergeant, lieutenant and captain as well as becoming father to a daughter and son. The homelife stuff wasn't terribly interesting -- something about teen daughter Rachel and boyfriend troubles, plus Barney's wife Liz fretting about his safety -- but things livened up when he went to work and found a panicky young man who had grabbed Fish's gun and demanded to leave, but Barney talked him down.

There was different not-terribly-interesting homelife stuff in the second pilot, although Liz continued fretting about Barney's safety, but they largely kept the business about the panicky junkie with the gun. One of the best parts of the whole scene is when the kid says he has a great idea -- I'll give you the gun and you just let me leave and we'll forget the whole thing -- and Barney says no. The detectives who are being held at gunpoint all say, "Hey, it's fine with us!", but Barney tells him, "If you give me that gun and try to walk out of here, the boys are all going beat the hell out of you." Then he tells the detectives, "Tell him!" and they begrudgingly admit, yes, if he tries to leave they will beat the hell out of him.

Barney says to the kid, Ramon, "That's because I want you to know that nobody lies to you." 

That's what I love about Barney Miller; his way of treating everybody with courtesy and respect, and setting that tone for the operation, is a huge contrast from the average '70s cop show which was all about kicking in doors and shootouts and the macho attitude that abiding by the Constitution is for pansies. With what we have seen of policing today, the Barney Miller way almost seems like science fiction. 

[Richard Willis]

Now, having watched it, I was pleasantly surprised. The story and the acting were top-notch, IMO. They even had the police blimps from the animated series.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Gotham Knights is a curious mixture of lore, both old and new, as well as elements wholly unfamiliar to me. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

WOLF PACK: Started watching Sarah Michelle Gellar's new show last night, eight episodes, Paramount+. It does for werewolves what popular culture has already done for vampires. All I could think of the whole way through the first episode was: "A werewolf can kill a vampire. Did you know that?" 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

SHERLOCK HOLMES: Only five episodes of the BBC's celebrated Sherlock Holmes series survive. Inspired by the stories I'm currently reading, I've started watching them on book order. So far I've watched only A Study in Scarlet, which was a very faithful adaptation except it left off the Mormon backstory. When I was a kid, I saw several of Basil Rathbone's outings as  Sherlock Holmes on the weekend afternoon "Super Movie," but they never quite clicked with me. (Perhaps I need to revisit some of them.) the TV series co-stars Peter Cushing as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson.

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES: Inspired by the opening credits of the new Gotham Knights TV show, I've started watching TAS, but I started with season two. I didn't watch this series when it was on the air (or not much of it, anyway), but I bought the whole thing on DVD in the early 2Ks. Regarding season two, I'm fining that I don't remember much of it. I prefer the episodes which don't feature big name rogues. 

OUR GANG: I started watching the Hal Roach talkies (1929-1937, six DVDs) in random order, then I watched the remaining 52 MGM shorts after Roach sold the rights, then I watched the silents (1922-1937), almost all of which are available on YouTube. After that, I re-watched the Roach talking in order, now I am watching the MGM ones for a second time. (There are 221 shorts total.) I am also reading Leonard Maltin's book about the Little Rascals along with the shorts.

WOLF PACK: We finished this last night. There are only eight episodes and it ends on a cliffhanger. It's very "21st century" with lots of hardbody teens of various sexual persuasions. It was okay but, whereas we'll likely watch a second season, it's nothing I would ever watch a second time. 

[doc photo]

Last week while wondering the aisles of the local Target store I noticed Batman: The Animated Series 30th Anniversary Collection. Oh my gosh - 30TH ANNIVESARY!! I well remember the day the show premiered on Labor Day 1992. With the new school year starting the next day I took my daughters out for a last day of summer treat at Dairy Queen. We then hurried home to catch the first episode of the new Batman cartoon. This was my doing as they had no idea who Batman was at that point. Although I wasn't able to see very many episodes after that they became regular viewers and have been Batman fans ever since. 

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

I recently finished the first season of Poker Face on Peacock. Thumbnail synopsis: its Lady Columbo. Charlie Cale is quirky and disheveled. Each episode you see how the murder is committed, and then it rewinds to Charlie's involvement and how she solves the crime. She also has the supernatural ability to tell when someone is lying. In the first episode she says it isn't of use for anything except poker, because people lie about little things all of the time.

She crosses her boss in Las Vegas and is soon on the run across the county. This is pretty old-school with the "guest star(s)" of the week thing. The either end of being the murder or the murderee. I loved how Charlie has the self-awareness of all of the death she has been seeing lately. There was only one episode I considered a real clunker "Rest in Metal" Either Natasha Lyonne is wearing a terrible wig, or her hairstyle is just terrible.

This was a good series, that kept me watching until I finished the first season. I would recommend it.

Last thing, this is a reminder just how much of a Pop Culture Illiterate I am. Sometimes I think I don't know somebody/something because of my age. In this instance I had no idea who Natasha Lyonne is, but I had 3 friends discussing this show and they all knew who she was. I guess it was just me. Also, I have no problem being Pop Culture Illiterate.

[Richard Willis]

Natasha Lyonne also stars in the Netflix series Russian Doll, which debuted in 2019. So far it has had two seasons totalling fifteen episodes. It's on my to-be-watched list (as is Poker Face) and is a version of the "Groundhog Day" concept. She's stuck in a time loop.

Russian Doll (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb