The other night we ran across the unaired pilot for All In The Family, it was called And Justice For All. Their last name wasn’t Bunker and different actors played the kids.
Carol O’Connor looked like a kid, it was 1968, 3 years before the actual pilot.
The scripts are almost identical but the unaired pilot was way more coarse and suggestive.
If you watch them both you can see how it evolved. Edith got in quite a few shots at Archie.
After watching the 1968 pilot I can’t believe the network picked it up. It’s a bit of TV history.
Sooo…the first 3 episodes of Hello Tomorrow! are out. I don’t know if I actually like it, or if I am just being overwhelmed by the aesthetic.
The story so far seems to be a combination of some pretty standard salesman/Glenngarry Glen Ross kind is stuff, (minor spoiler), ,with a what seems to obviously be a scam in the middle of it all, combined with Dad Drama, all wrapped up in gorgeous mid-century modern/retrofuturism window dressing.
That window dressing though is real sharp
Characters are…fine. The actors are all doing a great job with what they are given, but so far it feels like a story that doesn’t need the setting. The story could be just as easily about people selling Florida swamp land in the '50s or timeshares in the 80s.
I am going to keep watching it, because it’s not bad at all - I’m enjoying it. I just hope that as the season goes on they really do something with the setting as opposed to just looking great in it.
Started watching SurrealEstate on Hulu. It’s a horror-dramedy about a Real Estate agency that specializes in “unusual” distressed properties.
It’s definitely a mid-tier SyFy network show, without the budget of a Resident Alien or Expanse. It is cute though, and the jokes are good, while the drama side is still pretty clunky. The horror is ok - spooky, creepy, with a very little gore and some jump scares.
Looks like it’s standard “property of the week with a season arc” structure. The supporting cast (because, of course, in addition the the realtors there are a pair of parapsychologist ghost hunters, a goth office manager, and some kind of foil in the form of a woman who’s exact position in everything I am currently unclear on) seem like they could become interesting, but have not had a chance to yet.
It stars Sarah Levy (Twila from Schitt’s Creek) and a guy that I find completely charming just because he reminds me of a young Ray Liotta.
I’m only on the second episode, but so far it’s a nice way to fill 40 minutes. It was originally canceled by Syfy after the first season, but then they turned around and picked it up again. This makes me hope that it gets more polished as it goes along.
ETA: Okay, it’s got me saying “No! Don’t do that!” out loud to the TV. I guess I’m in
Just watched The Woman King, which is out on Netflix now. I see why Viola Davis’ performance received so much acclaim.
One thing that movie did that I don’t see very often is that it showed how the European slave trade created incredibly destructive incentives for African kingdoms to participate in raiding neighboring kingdoms to round up people to sell. Every kingdom wanted to be able to defend themselves against their neighbors (and eventually, against colonizers) with modern weapons, horses, etc. and in order to obtain those things from the Europeans they had to provide the human chattel that the Europeans wanted. Any kingdom that didn’t participate would be at a disadvantage relative to their neighbors. As depicted in the movie, the real-life kingdom of Dahomey under king Ghezo was considered somewhat progressive for the time because they at least didn’t sell their own people into slavery, just the people of neighboring kingdoms. In the movie (and supposedly in real life as well) the king recognized how destructive this cycle was and had aspirations to refocus their export economy on palm oil, but unfortunately never really got around to that.
Just finished up the first season of Yellowjackets… What an excellent show… It’s perfectly cast. I love all the main leads. The only one of the adulot cast I was not familiar with as Tawny Cypress, and she was fantastic as Taissa. The young women who played the main characters during the 90s were great, too.
The ending was a bit of a gut-punch especially with Natalie getting dragged off by… whoever those cultists were - obviously modern followers of Lottie… although at least she wasn’t able to kill herself. But also whatever the fuck is going on in Taissa’s basement!!! Was that Taissa, was it Sammy? Was it the cultists? WHO DID THAT TO THE POOR DOG…. The biggest surprise was just how much stupid dude-bro husband Jeff ended up being kind of awesome - other than the Blackmail shit, but at the end of it, turned out to be really supportive of Shauna, even after she killed Adam….
Predictions for season 2! First, I think that Misty is still part of whatever Lottie’s cult is, and is her “fixer” on the outside of the cult - she has primarily been charged with watching Natalie, Taissa, and Natalie (and Travis, until he was killed - and it’s CLEAR the cult killed him. I also think that Van is going to still be alive and living with the cult. I also think that back in the 90s, the cult is going to form and the main characters we’ve been following thus far except for Misty are far from the only survivors, but they were the ones who did all they could to stay out of Lottie’s cult, and that is why Lottie is having Misty watch them. The question is how powerful is Lottie, and does she have support in high places?
Anyway… I’m enjoying it and am looking forward to season 2!
I was responding to the Picard post, but yes, this weeks Pokerface was also great!! I like that you know me well enough to just assume that must be what I was talking about! I feel seen
And I found out that Nick Nolte is not dead! So wins all around!
Different strokes. I liked it. I think having read the book helped. I think it’s a great satire on several features of American life, including our handling of death, academia, and how media can distance us from reality.
Yeah, I did get the sense that it is probably really good as a book. Had I read the book, I am sure that I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I don’t know to what degree the book provides character internal monologues, but the key interpersonal relationships felt a bit hollow without that insight.
Yes very, but I think that’s part of the point, or a point, along with the highly unnatural delivery of the dialogue. So much of living middle-class life is like following a script, etc.
