Amph What was the last tv episode you watched?

Cribb: Wobble to Death (1980) – Gordon Flemyng

About the only good thing about this episode is the setting which revealed a part of history to me that I had never heard about before. This episode takes place during a pedestrian competition; in this contest, a bunch of men get together in a big warehouse and they spend the next several days simply walking in a circle. At the end of that time, the winner is the person who has walked the farthest. This is incredibly bizarre; the competitors sleep in the warehouse in tents, are served meals in the warehouse by the sponsers (!), and, yes, there is an audience that comes and goes throughout the lengthy event. Unfortunately, the story here is the worst of the entire series, I think. It ends up making almost no sense and is totally dull. Kudos for the weird history, but that’s about all I found in this episode. 1 star.

tl;dr – aside from the bizarre setting, a pedestrian competition, this episode has nothing to offer. 1 star.

 

Stranger Things S2, Ep. 6-8 (2017) - While the overall threat feels a bit lacking and the its story less focused than S1, the extra time spent on the characters has started to pay off. Everyone has their role here in the penultimate, and figures to play their part in the finale.

 

Narcos S3, episode 2

Really like the actor who plays Pena so I’m glad he has such an expanded role this season.

 

The Six Million Dollar Man (season 1, Episode 2) We came into this about 10 minutes in so I missed some important details: Steve and Oscar are on plane that is hijacked by thieves who want to make sure they're not caught with several millions. One of the stewardesses is in with the crooks. Ehen the plane gets caught in a nasty thunderstorm, an engine is stuck by lightning and the plane crashes near an island. Most people survived including our OSI folks, the crooks, a shell-shocked military medic, JoAnne Worley! (I laughed when I saw her, dressed in the same Laugh In camp chic including her headband) and other uninteresting cast members. The crooks apparently know who Oscar is, and are trying to kill him (on the plane and then on the island.) They never get a chance thanks to our six digit Colonel in his beige 70s leisure suit. The shell shocked medic eventually learns of Steve's bionic self (yes, they used wires from Steve's hand as a defribillator on Oscar's heart since the evil stewardess tried to poison Oscar.) At this, the young soldier almost faints at the sight of wires inside Steve's finger.

Did we see those wires. No!

Mom frequently interrupts with: "Why are we watching this show? It's awful." I say, "Because there's no more Clint Eastwood on."

Which brings up a more nagging question about Steve Austin's wardrobe. Mom: "Doesn't he wear a uniform?" Me: "No mom. Those awful leisure suits, or if we're lucky, a track suit." And then I went off on a tangent in how I haven't seen this show since the 70s, but the part of the tagline of "We can rebuild him. Stronger, Better, Faster..." suddenly came to me while watching The Deadly Breaking Sword about 6 months after I fell in love with that movie and since adopted that part of the tagline for my fave character from DBS.

Though mom was sort of waving her arms in that "Stop the car, I want to get out" way, she agreed that info dump was infinitely more interesting than watching Steve Austin do his thing without sound effects. Yeah, the no sound effects bugged me as I still remember the strange noises concocted for Steve's female counterpart Jamie Sommers whenever she did her bionic stuff. I thought Steve's maneuvers were also accompanied by 'futuristic noises.'

Final coda, of course JoAnne Worley gets a silly comedy relief line (she was on the wrong plane), Oscar is okay. the crooks are busted and Steve gets to wear another one of those marvelous leisure suits. I make a crack about how it would probably cost $6 billion to make someone like Steve now and mom says, "What about Bucky?" I love my mom.

 

Cribb: Something Old, Something New (1980) – Oliver Horsbrugh

If you set aside the double-length pilot, this is the best episode of the series and the one that really finds the perfect balance of humor that is sly and witty without being over the top. In this episode, Sergeant Cribb, finding himself at loose ends, accompanies Constable Thackery to the wedding of a family friend. Cribb’s suspicions are aroused at the ages of the bride & groom, he a doddering, but wealthy, old man, she a vivacious young woman. You’ll probably have it figured by about that point too, but the witty way the story unfolds really breathes new life into what could have been a clichéd old plot. This episode had me laughing out loud repeatedly and the final comeuppance for the villains of the piece is surprising, funny and absolutely perfect. The show has struggled with its comedic voice after the pilot, which perfectly wove in some splendidly dark humor; this one isn’t dark as that one was, but it’s genuinely clever and funny. Best of the series. 4 stars.

tl;dr – perfectly tuned comedic episode finds Cribb investigating a suspicious marriage with hilariously sly results; best episode of the series. 4 stars.

 

Cribb: A Case of Spirits (1980) – Bill Gilmour

This episode wraps up the eight episode first season of Cribb. No big reveals or anything; this is truly episodic television. No difference in this episode from all the others. In this one, Cribb investigates a series of burglaries; they all took place soon after a séance was held in the burgled houses. The real star of the show here is Mick Ford who plays a dashing, aristocratic medium who is, surprise surprise, actually a low-class con-artist. He gets both parts right and is a lot of fun. Judy Cornwell is also very good as an investigator of spiritualists; at first she’s just a comic character, and a lot of fun, but then she gets a really nice dramatic scene near the end. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the ultimate solution to the central mystery really makes sense. Either I missed something or it’s sporting a quite large plot-hole. Regardless, this one is a lot of fun. 3 ½ stars.

tl;dr – Cribb enters the world of séances and spiritualists in this fun romp; a couple of really great performances compensate for a plot-hole or two. 3 ½ stars.

 

Modern Family, season 2, episode 22.

It's the one where Jay and Gloria get the dog.

 

i binged season 2 of lady dynamite. i loved it. watch it now. watch season 1 first if you haven't already done that.

 

been watching a 6 part series on Rolling Stone magazine , good stuff .

 

If you have Netflix and love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia you better get your fix now as Seasons 1 - 11 will be removed come December 1st.

 

Finally got to watch the new Gotham last nite on my I-Pad as my wife watched “Dancing with the Stars”. I happen to think it’s a very underrated show.

 

Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 3


This had, by far, the greatest moment ever in the entire life of this show as far as I'm concerned. When Grand Maester Pycelle (General Veers) sees The Mountain enter the room as he's talking about him behind his back as it were, he audibly farts and it's hysterical.

 

been watching Quarry again .

I tell you if I could only recommend one show it would be this one , its the best thing I've seen since Breaking Bad .
Vietnam vet returns from the war , early 70s , can't re-adjust , gets involved in crime . It looks like it was shot in the 70s by Lumet or Hal Ashby , captures that period so well .
Plus its just really well written , acted etc.

.

 

The Blacklist Season 5 Episode 1 " Smokey Putnum"

8.5/10.

 

Rick and Morty season 3. The episode where Rick and Jerry go to a resort. Madness ensues.

 

This week's Arrow (or as I joke: Not Quite Green Arrow.) At least he was in the

Spoiler

suit. Have to admit not a fan of the whole thing with William, Felicity and Diggle's current condition.

I'll probably watch the crossover Monday and Tuesday, because it looks like trashy fun.

 

Cribb: Mad Hatter’s Holiday (1981) – June Wyndham-Davies

In this episode, Cribb & Thackery travel to Brighton after a severed hand is discovered. This episode is really inconsistent. It has some really bad stuff and some really good stuff. An actor named Derek Fowlds is the main character and he’s really awful. On the other hand, Adam Richardson is very good as a louche young sociopath & Conrad Phillips gives one of the best performances of the show so far as a troubled doctor. Phillips last scene in the episode is a real masterwork. This episode goes from legitimately emotional to downright cartoonish in the blink of an eye. If not for Phillips in particularly, this might be one of the worst. As it is, it just kind of washes out to the middle of the road. 2 stars.

tl;dr – wildly inconsistent episode features some of the best & some of the worst acting of the series; cartoonish and tragic by turns, this one washes out to the middle of the road. 2 stars.

 

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. One of the Mount Rushmore of Holiday Specials

 

Local sports

 

Blasphemy.
However, it is on Hulu as well.

Last TV episode: Barney Miller - S05E24 Jack Soo, A Retrospective

 

Future Man

just been watching this , it's pretty good , written by Seth Rogen and Howard Overmann (MisFits) , comedy action spoof , mash-up of all the time travel stories , lots of in-jokes .

 

Getting ready for Vikings S5 in a few minutes! Watching the Lagertha recap special now.

 

I enjoyed that first season. What attracted me was that it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It is so stupid it works.

 

Bizarre Foods, "Shanghai".

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas