The Swamp

Shows returning in the next several days: Togetherness, Broad City, Walking Dead, and Better Call Saul. Plus, new show Vinyl, which my buddy who is a producer at HBO assures me is a good one, with Scorsese and Terrance Winter involved. Plus The People vs O.J. continues. White Bronco chase episode tonight. Golden age.

howard wrote:Shows returning in the next several days: Togetherness, Broad City, Walking Dead, and Better Call Saul. Plus, new show Vinyl, which my buddy who is a producer at HBO assures me is a good one, with Scorsese and Terrance Winter involved. Plus The People vs O.J. continues. White Bronco chase episode tonight. Golden age.

The ads for Vinyl look incredible. So psyched for Saul.

Syb, and other Stern fans, I am hoping against hope that Mr. Higgins makes an appearance in the OJ episode tonight. "Now lookie here…"

I got a haircut last night, and the barber (a woman in her mid 20's) asked me if I was watching the O.J. show...and I just laughed and said "No, I lived through it".

But she said it was really good, and very well cast. May have to check it out.

Have I mentioned we love Superstore?

I don't have HBO, and I am sad that I will be missing Vinyl. It looks great, to me.

If it is even possible, what and when are alternative options available for watching HBO/Showtime shows?

Meantime, next Monday, before the Better Call Saul season two premiere, they are showing all ten of the season one episodes.

sancarlos wrote:I don't have HBO, and I am sad that I will be missing Vinyl. It looks great, to me.

If it is even possible, what and when are alternative options available for watching HBO/Showtime shows?

Meantime, next Monday, before the Better Call Saul season two premiere, they are showing all ten of the season one episodes.

For HBO if you have a friend with a subscription via cable or DirecTV you can watch HBO Go online or via AppleTV/Roku/FireTV, etc.

ETA: Presumes the friend is kind enough to hook you up with whatever information you need to access the account. If they have one already you probably just need username/password.

brian wrote:

sancarlos wrote:I don't have HBO, and I am sad that I will be missing Vinyl. It looks great, to me.

If it is even possible, what and when are alternative options available for watching HBO/Showtime shows?

Meantime, next Monday, before the Better Call Saul season two premiere, they are showing all ten of the season one episodes.

For HBO if you have a friend with a subscription via cable or DirecTV you can watch HBO Go online or via AppleTV/Roku/FireTV, etc.

ETA: Presumes the friend is kind enough to hook you up with whatever information you need to access the account. If they have one already you probably just need username/password.

For HBO you can also just subscribe to HBO Now on your device or computer...no cable subscription necessary. I think its about $15 a month.

DaveInSeattle wrote:

brian wrote:

sancarlos wrote:I don't have HBO, and I am sad that I will be missing Vinyl. It looks great, to me.

If it is even possible, what and when are alternative options available for watching HBO/Showtime shows?

Meantime, next Monday, before the Better Call Saul season two premiere, they are showing all ten of the season one episodes.

For HBO if you have a friend with a subscription via cable or DirecTV you can watch HBO Go online or via AppleTV/Roku/FireTV, etc.

ETA: Presumes the friend is kind enough to hook you up with whatever information you need to access the account. If they have one already you probably just need username/password.

For HBO you can also just subscribe to HBO Now on your device or computer...no cable subscription necessary. I think its about $15 a month.

I went with Brian's approach.

I'm sure I'll be talking to myself here, but I need to vent for a minute:

I was laid up in bed the last couple of days, which allowed me to 1) binge watch the entire season of Better Call Saul (yes!) and b) sit through a horrible series on NatGeo called Badlands.

Badlands was terrible on a number of levels. It is on one part a dissection of a fringe border town and the type of people that live there, but it revolves around the murder of a popular local icon. I think they started out making/producing something interesting and then got caught up in producing something that fell in line with the Serial/true crime buzz of today. The murder occurred in 2014 and they started filming last year... This story got a lot of attention in 2014, pre-Serial.

So, right off the bat, I think that led to a series that didn't ever establish what it wanted to be. It was 8 episodes that could've been handled in a 90 minute "special." The development of the murder and subsequent trial is so painfully slow, if I hadn't been bed-ridden I would've given up on it after 2 episodes.

The other thing that really bugged me is that it kept trying to paint the town where it is set, Terlingua, as some desolate ghost town with 50 residents. I've read about this place before... It is one of the key entry points to Big Bend National Park, which has about 350,000 visitors every year. The town may not have a lot of permanent residents, but it is by no means a dying, desolate or completely off-the-grid town.

Yet, the series repeatedly focuses on two or three residents (who are kind of nuts) to paint a picture of town opposed to outsiders, suspicious of anyone creeping on their turf. The town is a tourist town. This series is just bunk on this front.

And, finally, without giving the entire thing away, the verdict just isn't explained in a satisfactory way. Much in the way Making a Murderer leaves you wanting more perspective and more voices that aren't totally biased one way or another... This series does a horrible job providing context.

They also do this weird thing with a guy who you sort of figure out deep into the series is just a narrator. Turns out he's an actor from a nearby town... but they don't paint him that way at all. You start to figure it out when his aphorisms are just too on point after awhile. The identify all the other people on camera, not him... Just an annoying device to use.

I just finished S1 of Saul too. I think it can do better S2. The ending seemed to indicate that we're going to get the character closer to the guy in BB. Not that he wasn't great.

Jerloma wrote:The ending seemed to indicate that we're going to get the character closer to the guy in BB.

Gold from SNL.

Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend:

[+] spoiler

and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend, and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

Well I was going to watch part two of restaurant wars this evening but.

Spoiler tags man.

BSF21 wrote:
Well I was going to watch part two of restaurant wars this evening but.

Spoiler tags man.

Sorry!!!!

March 31st archer comes back.

sancarlos wrote:

howard wrote:Not exactly television, but I bet this ends up on the tv. Louis CK did something pretty amazing. He produced (and wrote, directed and starred in) a one hour dramatic show, called Horace and Pete. It is very well produced and shot, TV quality, and harkens to the type of live drama of 50s television. Set in the current time, (complete with references to Cam Newton in the Super Bowl and recent developments in the presidential race) in an old school bar in Brooklyn, run by the seventh generation of two Irish families. One critic tabbed it as "Cheers meets The Iceman Cometh", which nails it.

Starring with Louie are Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange and Edie Falco. Featuring fellow comics Steven Wright, Nick DiPalo, Kurt Metzger and Aidy Bryant, a current SNL cast member.

Louie has made it available only on his website, for $5, as he has offered several of his comedy concert shows. He did it with no publicity, other than a brief email announcement to his mailing list. "Hi there. Horace and Pete Episode 1 is available for download. $5. We hope you like it."

So, presumably there will be further episodes, although this piece stands on its own. It is an excellent hour of drama, with some great laugh lines. Hearing Alan Alda curse, a lot, is pretty cool. There are reviews all over the internets, Howard sez check it out.

Fascinating. As the buzzword cliche' goes, this might be disruptive business model. I wonder if CK pays the other actors and crew a salary/wage, taking all the risk and reward himself? Or, if he pays them on a percentage of profit or revenue basis. (I suppose most likely he has financial backers [producers] who handle all that.)

Heard Laurie Metcalf was amazing in episode 3. I really need to get around to watching this.

Is it $5 for all episodes or just per episode? $5 per is pretty damn pricey.

DaveInSeattle wrote:

BSF21 wrote:
Well I was going to watch part two of restaurant wars this evening but.

Spoiler tags man.

Sorry!!!!

[+] spoiler

It's cool. I was rooting against that douchenozzle the whole way.

This post changed to protect the innocent, which I originally bitched about.

brian wrote:Is it $5 for all episodes or just per episode? $5 per is pretty damn pricey.

First episode was $5, second $2, third $3. I think the rest will be $3 each. Price discovery isn't pretty.

I like how since DiS went back and added the spoiler tag to his post, BSF's post complaining about the spoiler is now the actual spoiler.

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

I have been watching. I think he went home for the combination of his crappy strawberry salad and how poorly he ran the front. Otherwise, risotto would have claimed another victim.

bfj wrote:

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

I have been watching. I think he went home for the combination of his crappy strawberry salad and how poorly he ran the front. Otherwise, risotto would have claimed another victim.

I laughed pretty hard when the Guest Judge said "I bet he's at the other tables, talking about the Restaurants he runs here locally", and sure enough, they cut to him doing exactly that.

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend:

[+] spoiler

and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

Even my kids were cheering, after calling for said contestant to go home every week.

[+] spoiler

The guy is so fucking annoying, arrogant and lacking any sense of self awareness. I can't stand contestants who tell the judges they are wrong and challenge their criticisms. The woman who came back this season is the worst. Every fucking time she lashed out. You'd think she would have learned the fist season she competed. It cracked me up when Phillip said he was more confident than any other challenge, when his service was terrible and his dish looked and sounded disgusting. Loved when they showed him talking to all the customers about his real restaurants, the customers clearly just wanted him to STFU, then cut to Padma and Tom saying they bet he is talking about his restaurants.

My wife has gotten into Lucifer and since I was trying to get into my wife last night, I watched along with her.

Wow - glossy and well-produced, but so very, very, very stupid.

The Sybian wrote:

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend:

[+] spoiler

and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

Even my kids were cheering, after calling for said contestant to go home every week.

[+] spoiler

The guy is so fucking annoying, arrogant and lacking any sense of self awareness. I can't stand contestants who tell the judges they are wrong and challenge their criticisms. The woman who came back this season is the worst. Every fucking time she lashed out. You'd think she would have learned the fist season she competed. It cracked me up when Phillip said he was more confident than any other challenge, when his service was terrible and his dish looked and sounded disgusting. Loved when they showed him talking to all the customers about his real restaurants, the customers clearly just wanted him to STFU, then cut to Padma and Tom saying they bet he is talking about his restaurants.

[+] spoiler

He still didn't get it ever after he got cut. "I went home for making the wrong food but I made it the right way." No you fucking didn't. But hell, what does Tom know? He only owns 372 joints and has seen every major chef in the world go through the wringer of his show for the last 10 years. I hope people saw him on the show and decide they can't eat at a place associated with such an insufferable douche.

Rooting for Carl, Issac, and to a lesser extent Karen and Amar. After the first 3-4 eps I thought Kwame was going to run away with this thing, but that's clearly not the case anymore.

BSF21 wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend:

[+] spoiler

and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

Even my kids were cheering, after calling for said contestant to go home every week.

[+] spoiler

The guy is so fucking annoying, arrogant and lacking any sense of self awareness. I can't stand contestants who tell the judges they are wrong and challenge their criticisms. The woman who came back this season is the worst. Every fucking time she lashed out. You'd think she would have learned the fist season she competed. It cracked me up when Phillip said he was more confident than any other challenge, when his service was terrible and his dish looked and sounded disgusting. Loved when they showed him talking to all the customers about his real restaurants, the customers clearly just wanted him to STFU, then cut to Padma and Tom saying they bet he is talking about his restaurants.

[+] spoiler

He still didn't get it ever after he got cut. "I went home for making the wrong food but I made it the right way." No you fucking didn't. But hell, what does Tom know? He only owns 372 joints and has seen every major chef in the world go through the wringer of his show for the last 10 years. I hope people saw him on the show and decide they can't eat at a place associated with such an insufferable douche.

Rooting for Carl, Issac, and to a lesser extent Karen and Amar. After the first 3-4 eps I thought Kwame was going to run away with this thing, but that's clearly not the case anymore.

[+] spoiler

You are talking about Greyson...and yes, she was awful this season. Which is surprising, because she was a pretty fun contestant when she was on before, and did pretty well. When they did they challenge where she had to do vegetarian stuff, and she had permanent bitch face going was the worst. If you are a good chef, you should be able to work within limitations like that.

I like Issac (the guy from New Orleans)...he just seems like he'd be a lot of fun to hang out with. Not sure he's in the running for the win though.

I don't know if she's going to win, but I think Margery should get the MVP for the season. Her food has turned out well, for the most part, and she was a champ as FOH for restaurant wars. And she's breaking a ton of Top Chef rules by always making dessert, and even making bread (!).

rass wrote:

Jerloma wrote:Why does the cover of the DVD have a guy in a cowboy hat if they don't want you to think it's a Western?

It's just his thing. It mostly takes place in KY, which I guess is more South than West.

IMO, Boyd Crowder (also an anti-hero) > Mike Milligan

I don't love the Crowder-Milligan analogy and his piety makes seem like a bit of a clown to me but I am loving this show. I'm guessing Boyd evolves quite a bit as it progresses. I'm in season 2.

DaveInSeattle wrote:

BSF21 wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

DaveInSeattle wrote:Is anyone watching this season of Top Chef?

We finally got caught up this weekend:

[+] spoiler

and I am glad beyond words that Phillip, the Man-Bunned/Tattooed/LA-Hipster douchebag finally got sent home.

But I can't believe that it wasn't Jeremy, who made risotto....USING WATER INSTEAD OF BROTH OR STOCK!!!! Who in the hell does that?

Even my kids were cheering, after calling for said contestant to go home every week.

[+] spoiler

The guy is so fucking annoying, arrogant and lacking any sense of self awareness. I can't stand contestants who tell the judges they are wrong and challenge their criticisms. The woman who came back this season is the worst. Every fucking time she lashed out. You'd think she would have learned the fist season she competed. It cracked me up when Phillip said he was more confident than any other challenge, when his service was terrible and his dish looked and sounded disgusting. Loved when they showed him talking to all the customers about his real restaurants, the customers clearly just wanted him to STFU, then cut to Padma and Tom saying they bet he is talking about his restaurants.

[+] spoiler

He still didn't get it ever after he got cut. "I went home for making the wrong food but I made it the right way." No you fucking didn't. But hell, what does Tom know? He only owns 372 joints and has seen every major chef in the world go through the wringer of his show for the last 10 years. I hope people saw him on the show and decide they can't eat at a place associated with such an insufferable douche.

Rooting for Carl, Issac, and to a lesser extent Karen and Amar. After the first 3-4 eps I thought Kwame was going to run away with this thing, but that's clearly not the case anymore.

[+] spoiler

You are talking about Greyson...and yes, she was awful this season. Which is surprising, because she was a pretty fun contestant when she was on before, and did pretty well. When they did they challenge where she had to do vegetarian stuff, and she had permanent bitch face going was the worst. If you are a good chef, you should be able to work within limitations like that.

I like Issac (the guy from New Orleans)...he just seems like he'd be a lot of fun to hang out with. Not sure he's in the running for the win though.

I don't know if she's going to win, but I think Margery should get the MVP for the season. Her food has turned out well, for the most part, and she was a champ as FOH for restaurant wars. And she's breaking a ton of Top Chef rules by always making dessert, and even making bread (!).

[+] spoiler

My only problem is it seems like she's leaning on those rulebreaks too much. She's baked bread or something like 4 times already this season, she almost always does something dessert-ish. Gotta show me something else before I'm gonna crown her. I will say this has been a very enjoyable season once they separated the chaff (Grayson, Angelina, Wesley). Also I just looked back at the contestants page, and Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Jerloma wrote:

rass wrote:

Jerloma wrote:Why does the cover of the DVD have a guy in a cowboy hat if they don't want you to think it's a Western?

It's just his thing. It mostly takes place in KY, which I guess is more South than West.

IMO, Boyd Crowder (also an anti-hero) > Mike Milligan

I don't love the Crowder-Milligan analogy and his piety makes seem like a bit of a clown to me but I am loving this show. I'm guessing Boyd evolves quite a bit as it progresses. I'm in season 2.

Yeah. I think the original plan was for him to die in the first season but everyone realized how great Goggins was and kept the character around.

Jerloma wrote:

rass wrote:

Jerloma wrote:Why does the cover of the DVD have a guy in a cowboy hat if they don't want you to think it's a Western?

It's just his thing. It mostly takes place in KY, which I guess is more South than West.

IMO, Boyd Crowder (also an anti-hero) > Mike Milligan

I don't love the Crowder-Milligan analogy and his piety makes seem like a bit of a clown to me but I am loving this show. I'm guessing Boyd evolves quite a bit as it progresses. I'm in season 2.

Boyd is one of the best characters ever on TV. So well done. Glad you are enjoying the "western".

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several. I never registered her as being attractive, but a google search turned up some pics where she looked attractive. I would have guessed her age as being late forties, maybe even early 50s. Apparently she is only 34. I'm going to say she is the female contestant with the strongest legs in TC history. Good lord.

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several.

Kristen Kish?

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several. I never registered her as being attractive, but a google search turned up some pics where she looked attractive. I would have guessed her age as being late forties, maybe even early 50s. Apparently she is only 34. I'm going to say she is the female contestant with the strongest legs in TC history. Good lord.

Pale Redheads:BSF :: youngwhitegirls:howard

Rush2112 wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several.

Kristen Kish?

Unbelievably talented, doesn't do it for me. Very rare that Asian-decent does.

BSF21 wrote:

Rush2112 wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several.

Kristen Kish?

Unbelievably talented, doesn't do it for me. Very rare that Asian-decent does.

How about Asian-indecent?

Casey Thompson >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Renee Kelly

duff wrote:

Jerloma wrote:

rass wrote:

Jerloma wrote:Why does the cover of the DVD have a guy in a cowboy hat if they don't want you to think it's a Western?

It's just his thing. It mostly takes place in KY, which I guess is more South than West.

IMO, Boyd Crowder (also an anti-hero) > Mike Milligan

I don't love the Crowder-Milligan analogy and his piety makes seem like a bit of a clown to me but I am loving this show. I'm guessing Boyd evolves quite a bit as it progresses. I'm in season 2.

Boyd is one of the best characters ever on TV. So well done. Glad you are enjoying the "western".

Absolutely loved Justified. Enjoy.

mister d wrote:Casey Thompson >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Renee Kelly

Jen Carroll (from the Vegas Season) and Brooke Williamson (from the Seattle season) were pretty attractive as well.