Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you WATCHING?

I'm really liking the new UK Channel 4 miniseries Utopia.

The Utopia Experiments is a legendary graphic novel shrouded in mystery that appears to have predicted some of the worst disasters of the last century. But when a small group of previously unconnected people find themselves in possession of an original manuscript, their lives suddenly and brutally implode. Targeted swiftly and relentlessly by a murderous organization known as The Network, the terrified group are left with only one option if they want to survive: they have to run.


Rewatching one of my favorite shows, Life. Cancelled well before it's time.


Checked out the 2011 unaired pilot to WB's Wonder Woman. It was OK, nothing to write home about.

House of Cards: Episode 1 was free on Netflix. It's an American remake of a superb British series from the 80s. Kevin Spacey plays the House Majority Whip and he's a devious, smooth-talking manipulator. When he's passed over for the position of Secretary of State, he goes into overdrive for behind-the-scenes political power.

I really enjoyed it. Spacey did a great job as a soft-spoken Southerner wielding a big stick. One of the charms of the original series was when the Whip (played by Ian Richardson) would turn and address the audience, explaining what he was doing or commenting on another character. Spacey handles that well. He seems so likeable and he's such a corrupt, devious rat.

The whole series is on Netflix, which I'll likely watch, although we currently have a household dispute over the merits of the production.

I have just found the British Channel Four and am loving it.

I watched the first season of Black Mirror ... which was very well done ... I found it a bit annoying at first as it is a social commentary and seeks to disturb it's audience out of it's banal and complacent lifestyle. (One i don't feel I have to boot)

It is a futuristic sort of tales from the darkside / twilight zone type series about where society could go ... if current trends of media and technology continue.

However, episodes 2 and 3 were so well done that I gave over ... (and was able to ignore the arrogant writer of the series trying to educate me ... the poor pleb ....)

episode 3 especially was fantastic and could be in any context (sans sci fi) and would have been brilliant.

I can't wait for Season 2.


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I watched the Secret State with Gabriel Byrne which is inspired by A very British Coup ... which I have to watch now.

FC you might like these ones as they are in the same style as House of Cards. but much less wacky.

Anyway, the Secret State about a Deputy Prime Minister who comes to power when the PM goes down in an airplane, and everyone is vying for the position of Prime Minister, yet there is also a conspiracy ... is excellent. The later part of the miniseries is balls out! but they set something up at the end which I would be interesting to explore but ... they ended the series instead.

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I also started watching this show called Dead Set ... which is about a Big Brother type show ... during a zombie apocalypse. They get the Big Brother type people and the producers dead on ... but beyond the initial lunacy of the context ... it gets kind of boring. I will keep at it though.



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FC thanks for your review! I was especially curious about this one ... because I liked House of Cards but thought it would be challenging to a) cross the Atlantic to a different audience and governmental system and b) it was done a while ago so trends and habits in tv have changed so much.

The original House of Cards was very very dry ... which I liked ... but not sure how it could be adapted ... I have only heard good things about the American one though. I will try it!



I noticed this one as well and was curious! thanks. I'll try it out!

I saw Secret State and enjoyed it - realistic, to the degree that things didn't work out for the idealist Gabriel Byrne character, although I thought he was too good to really have survived in politics. Also, the "good guys" seemed pretty slow on the uptake regarding surveillance of their own activities.

Black Mirror sounds good, hadn't heard of that one - or Utopia - and thanks for the warning on the preachiness - I'll reserve judgment until Ep. 3!

re: Black Mirror episode 1.

FC, episode one is pretty disturbing. I might skip it or find a review online before watching.

The snow... since we are in the middle of a blizzard!

Decent reviews, but not much character development. I'm waiting for the sequel.

So true. I almost never rewatch a series, even one that I love ridiculously. But Life is one of those exceptions.

I tried following Sarah Shahi to some law show (Perfectly Legal?) and the dude to Homeland, but neither show really did it for me.

My latest temporary obsession is The Following. I'm not a huge fan of Kevin Bacon, or have any idea what makes James Purefoy so popular (although he was a great Marc Antony in Rome), but, by episode 4, the sub-plots and second tier characters are really starting to develop.

Most of my TV comes from the CW (Supernatural, Nikita, Arrow, Vampire Diaries) or USA (Burn Notice, Suits, White Collar), so it's cool to see something interesting from Fox.

Being Fox, they'll probably cancel it immediately. I'm still feeling the burn from Firefly.

I'm enjoying the following too ... I liked episode 3 a lot and then end of episode four kept the ball rolling.

I am surprised I am following following. But its a pleasant surprise.

(I expected it to be a soft hitting derivative version of some more mature show ... that are everywhere now)

... Episode 1 and 2 were all right IMO.

I don't think Bacon or Purefoy have the acting chops to make it a Prime Suspect, or Whitechapel but ... I am really enjoying how it is not all shouty and jarring (like a lot else right now ... Homeland ... Newsroom ) It dosn't seem to have a huge budget either unfortunately.



Those two boys are damn cute though. Their subplot is stealing the show!

Another vote for "The Following" here.

I haven't seen last night's episode yet, so I might be totally off base with this, but...



Not sure if that needed to be spoilered or not. Better safe than sorry.

Also really loving the following!

Following Spoiler, kinda;

The bloom is starting to come off of the Following a bit for me. The plot holes and stretching are starting to add up a bit. I know it's a TV thriller and you give it some leeway, but it's presenting itself as a smart show, so I hold it to that standard, and the convenient ineptitude of the task force in key areas is a bit grating. That said Kevin Bacon is still great as the tortured Ryan, and the triangle is interesting, I just want to invest more in it but it won't let me.

Cross-posting from the "What are you READING" thread:

I'm currently almost finished with Clash of Kings, the second volume in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, being serialized on HBO as Game of Thrones. I'm interested in getting the HBO series on DVD but am leery of spoilers. Can anyone tell me how the first two seasons synch up with the actual book series? I saw [i]Bleeding Cool" has a preview for the third season. Any non-SPOILERy info is greatly appreciated.

I believe the second season is essentially Clash of Kings with a few added characters and deviations.

Okay, that jives with what my librarian said about the first season and the first volume. Thanks Dave! Guess I'll skip the season 3 preview Rich J's got up on BleedingCool.

Robot and Frank. I really enjoyed this. I could watch this again, alone, on a date, with family. Just can't think of anything I didn't like about it yet I'd never heard of it. Just saw it on the library listing.

Glee (Season one). Hadn't seen any of these. Some of the story threads are kind of boring but I liked the one where the kid became the kicker on the football team. Usually they drag that "reveal" out for seasons. It was good to get it one and done in a good story that made me really root for the underdog and I'm not even a Beyonce fan.

We just started watching Dollhouse a few days ago.
We've only managed to watch the first 3 episodes so far but I am loving the premise and what they are doing with it so far.
Disappointed to learn it only ran two seasons

Dollhouse was a great show, but difficult to process as a weekly drama.

A lot of the first season was necessary to establish Echo and the dolls and play out a specific subplot over the long term, but it was torturously slow having to take it week to week, and that ultimately killed it on network TV.

By comparison, the second season was very fast-paced (perhaps too much so, but they knew they were on borrowed time).

In many ways it was a show before it's time and would have benefited greatly from a Netflix-style model like House of Cards or Arrested Development, where they just dump a season at a time.

MST3k reruns. I lack the energy for anything else. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I saw a fun movie last night from a couple years back called, "Real Steel".

Trust me, it's by no means high art, but sometimes you've got to just shut off your brain and go with it. It was a little bit corny, a little bit sappy, but a "lotta bit" just cool fun.


In a nutshell... it's Hugh Jackman fending off Keamy from "LOST" - and smooching up Kate from the same - while building and training an underdog machine for a robot boxing championship.


Robot... boxing.

With Wolverine.


Yeah... sold.

"Real Steel" was a fun movie.

Homeland Season One: since I don't have cable this is my first look. Not really grabbing my interest. Kind of over the top and I don't really like any of the characters.

Skyfall. Typical Bond fun but I did get the distinct impression I was watching a Batman - Joker movie.

The past few days I've been gorging myself on seasons one and two of Game of Thrones thanks to a special free promotion from my cable provider.

Having just watched the final of those twenty episodes tonight, I offer my two-word spoiler-free review:

Fuck Yeah!

Just finished season 2 myself. Man, it's good. Almost too much excellence going on to speak about it all!

The penultimate ep in the 2nd season featuring the Battle of the Blackwater was incredible to behold.