What are we watching this Fall, y'all?

[specious_reasons]

I started a first time watch of "The Office" (US version) for no particular reason last night. I burned through the 6 episode 1st season pretty quickly.

I remember dipping my toes into the UK "Office" but this was after Gervais had been spoiled for me, and I wasn't motivated to keep up. The US version seems to spread out the focus a bit more and it helps that Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski are charming as Jim and Pam.

This week, I also watched two episodes of the reboot of "Night Court" and it's... OK. Melissa Rauch is Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of Harry Stone. She picked up the job because she wants to continue her father's mission to help people. I don't think the show has figured out what to do with the new Judge Stone - Harry Anderson had a pretty well defined comic persona they built the original around, but I'm not sure if that's the case for Rauch. They also brought back John Larroquette, but this time Dan is the public defender. It's an odd choice, considering how much his character despised the public in the original. Maybe they can mine that for more jokes later.

The original "Night Court" was a bit more naughty than the new one so far, which was part of its appeal. I'm so-so on continuing to watch this.

[ChuckF]

Originally Posted by slimshady2357

I did a search but couldn't see anyone mentioning White Lotus?

We just watched both seasons and really enjoyed them both. The first time I heard about it was an interview with Aubrey Plaza. I'd watch her in anything, so we downloaded it and she's not in the first season

But it didn't matter, it was well worth watching. As was the second season, which does have AP in it.

It's a slow burn for sure, everything ramps up eventually, but it definitely takes it time getting going.

Both seasons take place at high end resort hotels called the White Lotus (first season is in Hawaii, second is in Italy).

I don't think it's giving anything away to say that both seasons start with a dead body and then go back in time where you slowly learn who was involved and who the dead body was....

Jennifer Coolidge is fucking awesome in it

I'd highly recommend, Sou would just recommend.

I liked the first season - mainly Jennifer Coolidge and the soundtrack - very much. I was a little underwhelmed with the end. Looking forward to the second season once I get around to reactivating HBO Max.

[specious_reasons]

Over the last few weeks, I watched "Paul T Goldman". If I'm not mistaken, the season finale was released today.

"Paul T Goldman" is a mix of documentary footage, interviews, and recreations of events in the story told by Paul T Goldman. Paul T Goldman is the pen name of the main character here. He wrote a supposedly non-fiction book about how he married a woman who was a sex worker and a madam, and it led him to attempt to expose an international sex trafficking ring.

Spoiler alert: The sad truth behind this is that Paul is a lonely, naive, and gullible man who got into a bad marriage and concocted this story to make some sort of sense of it. It seems like the ex-wife was manipulating him, but she wasn't a sex-worker or a trafficker. It also seems that Paul's a bit of a creep.

I didn't like it. On paper, it might be a fascinating story of a compellingly weird guy who spun a failed marriage into a book and then went to extreme lengths to promote it. However, I didn't find him compelling. He's another mediocre man spinning revenge fantasies from his poor choices in relationships, and then hijacking the real tragedy of trafficking to promote it. This series lets him indulge in his fantasies and "act" next to notable actors. Paul is pleased to be the center of the story, even if the sad truth is revealed.

[Ari]

What do you mean Morty. this has always been my voice.

After being arrested for domestic violence, combined with allegations of harassing/propositioning teenage girls, Adult Swim has cut all ties with Justin Roiland. The voices will be recast, Dan Harmon will continue as the sole creator and Rick & Morty will continue into at least season 10 (Because Adult Swim made a deal for 70 episodes in 2018 and are sticking with it.)

Adult Swim cuts ties with Justin Roiland following domestic abuse allegations | NBC News

[Ensign Steve]

I'm sure Castellaneta is picking up the phone.

[ShottleBop]

I've been watching the Korean series "Tomorrow" on Netflix. Because it's possible, and it's an enjoyable way to practice my Spanish, I've been watching it in Spanish, with Spanish subtitles. The disconnect between the dubbed dialog and the subtitles is greater than I've seen in any other show--they must have had the script translated by two different people. Sometimes, I just close my eyes to avoid confusion. (I could turn off the subtitles, but sometimes they help.)

I'm finding the show interesting. The main protagonist is a young man in a coma after trying to stop a person from committing suicide. He meets the Jade Empress (immortal queen mother), who tells him he will spend three years in the coma, or--if he helps the team of otherworld functionaries whose job it is to try to stop suicides--his coma will last only six months. The team is a new concept (Heaven and Hell are getting full, and stopping suicides gives them a break?) that faces a lot of animosity from the other functionaries, whose job it is to accompany the souls of the dead to the afterlife, and is treated like an experiment that is always on the verge of being disbanded. (Suicides go to hell, and the other functionaries think that saving them is an unwarranted deviation from what should have happened.)

The leader of the team is a 420-year spirit whose full story will be shown in a future episode; before taking on the task of stopping suicides, she was with a team in Hell that visited retribution on the souls of child molesters (and rapists, possibly). The third member of the team is a martial arts specialist, but so far we know nothing about his past. The new guy is your typical noob.

This last episode, the team went to stop an 85-year-old Korean war veteran from committing suicide on the day before he is destined to die. He had volunteered for the war, come back with debilitating PTSD, and spent his life alone, collecting trash for money. The team shows him how his life had meaning, and he dies naturally, and in peace.

All in all, I'm engrossed.