Archer (at least, until it went into dream world) was a mix of, well, the entire spy series era. Its drawing and animation style pays strong homage to Johnny Quest, the agency is basically a pastiche of all the not-the-CIA agencies American spies in 60’s television worked for. Clothing is also a mix of all eras, but mostly passes for retro-Sixties look. Computer interfaces are either late 1970s green screen, or Hollywood OS. Cultural references are modern, with a white-haired Burt Reynolds even guest-starring, though Archer doesn’t mention Boogie Nights or other late-career movies when gushing over his idol.
It’s best not to think too hard about it, just relax and enjoy the constant verbal sparring.
Viewers starting the show should know there will be homework and you’ll be quizzed on it.
Soooo many characters with different looks at different ages to keep track of who’s who (Then season 3 makes it even more so!). Satisfying ending and I did enjoy the show overall but there were times where watching just felt like work.
Imagine Primer but with like 20 times the number of characters.
If you’re not familiar, you’re in for a treat. US television is starting to air the original UK version of Taskmaster beginning this Sunday night, inexplicably starting with season 8.
I just got around to watching Criminal (TVTropes link) on Netflix. It’s an interesting take on the Single Set piece, with four different countries using the same set: a police interrogation room, the control room on the other side of the mirror, and the hallway just outside of the room. The only set change is the view outside of the hall corridor’s window wall: London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid.
Start with Criminal UK, it has David Tennant as the suspect.
I didn’t have any complaints about season 1 in this regard but I did notice that season 2 stepped up the pacing considerably. Binged in 2 days. Enjoyed the season overall.
It was pretty decent; MUCH better than the first season, which was good, but very hindered by sluggish pacing and a lack of tight focus on the protagonists.
And as usual, production put me onto a few bops that I had either forgotten or never knew about…
Seriously though; when I looked it up and saw Mel Torme was the musician, I immediately thought of ‘Harry Stone’ (the only reason that I even know who Mel Torme is.)
Turns out the judge was spot on for holding him in high esteem; Mel was straight up giggin’, back in the day.
Well, I guess never mind. The CW, the channel that was airing the show, decided to cancel the show after just airing one episode. I’m not sure why they bothered if they weren’t committed to it. That said, it’s probably a better fit on some streaming service like Netflix, because it’s definitely a binge-worthy show.
OK, so I tried watching Dark again. Didn’t get past the cold open of the third episode of season 1. It’s just depressing children doing depressing things in depressing small towns in depressing time periods. That’s the reason that while I struggled through the first season of Stranger Things I didn’t bother with Season 2. I guess it’s just not for me.
Then I watched the dance scene from Babylon Berlin again on YouTube to remind myself that Germany can actually make good TV for an international audience.
I’m excited for the third season, which I haven’t seen yet because it was half paid for with my tax money so I want to see it on the state TV channel for free, which will happen in the autumn.
