I'm not sure if I'd agree that either of those movies should have won any Oscars yet alone Best Picture, but Nomadland was Searchlight and won the previous year.

Corporations like to make money?

Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-basketball gimme gimme gimme the ball because I'm gonna... DUNK IT!

Unfortunately I think you're giving the western world a little too much credit too.

I'm open minded but I get it. Both seem pretty derivative on the surface and you have to wonder if they'll actually be comic book shows. Or will they just have a light DC skin on them. Is Waller going to be its own thing or a Jack Ryan style thriller with a DC character? And they've done the DC Game of Thrones already, it was called Krypton and it wasn't very good. I trust Gunn enough to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

You said it's crazy that people are considering this show "fresh" and I explained to you why that my be the case for a lot of people who wouldn't be aware of Columbo or even the "characters welcome" stuff from 10-15 years ago.

There hasn't really been a show like this in a long time and Columbo isn't on a major streaming service I don't think, so I don't blame anyone for thinking it's different.

It's on CityTV+ (there's a month trial through Prime Video).

"clever" doesn't necessarily need to mean that the show has twists. Also that sounds like a weird way to watch a show, twists often don't make for a good story. Quite frankly rejecting that very notion is what makes the show clever to me

> He’s not getting great guests either.

I think this was my biggest problem when I finally gave up on the show. I agree with everything else you're saying and the worst of his opinions were certainly exacerbated by isolation everyone went through. But the appeal of the show for me was always the quality and variety in the guests. I obviously didn't always agree but on most issues it truly felt like the show had diversity of thought and that whether it was Bill or a panel guest there was a good element of spirited debate and being able to push back on any idea. No matter what you believe I think that kind of skepticism and pushback is important.

But then the pandemic hits, for a while the show is just him and truly awful (but what else were we watching that summer of 2020 lol). Then he goes back to the studio and understandably a lot of people are unable or unwilling to travel. And everything that happens in 2020 further divides people and platforming certain kinds of people becomes actively dangerous and stops others from wanting to engage. Bill himself is even pushing back less. Like, having a Milo or Kellyanne or whomever (just examples) even in 2019 hits different than in late 2020/2021.

Combine that with Bill's opinions getting worse and it just became unwatchable. I believe it's better now but the relief I felt when I finally gave up gives me no desire to go back.

I actually read the book afterwards so maybe that painted my experience differently than if I had already read it (although generally I don't care much if an adaptation changes things from the source material, I get that you actually have to adapt it to a different medium, and there's always the benefit of hindsight too, especially if the original author is involved like with both SE and TLOU). But Jeevan and Kirsten reuniting after all those years really got me. Spoilers for the book, which I definitely still recommend, but >!they don't get that moment at the end of the story, they separate the way the do in the show and the book catches up with Jeevan later on but it's almost completely removed from what's happening with Kirsten.!< I suppose you can argue there's more convenient serendipity in the way the show handles it but the point of that story is human connection and I really think they landed the plane perfectly (no pun intended).

BTW I also recommend the most recent novel by that author, Sea of Tranquility. Something happens halfway through that book that literally made me restart it to get the new context, I never do that while reading a novel.

Totally. I haven't watched Maher since the pandemic completely broke him and any redeeming qualities the show had left but I'm kinda curious how it's evolved since those early pandemic episodes and how far off the deep end he's fallen.

Station Eleven exceeded its potential and was even better than the book. The way it ties most of the characters together is a massive improvement and incredibly well done.

You could say that of most elected democrats over the age of 50 lol

Netflix's algorithms clearly aren't perfect based on the way the handle their originals, but once in a while I think you can tell when they really believe in a show and want to make it work. Wednesday actually had buzz going in and they actually seemed to market it a bit, at least compared to other shows and movies that just drop without a notice on there. The Hollywood marketing machine has really ensured Jenny Ortega became a thing too. I think when something like this happens Netflix knows a show will be a hit.

I doubt any mainstream show is made for under a million bucks an episode these days. And Wednesday was basically a guaranteed hit from the beginning, I haven't seen it but I'm sure they spent a lot of money on it. Comparatively, Netflix is definitely getting their money's worth on Seinfeld.

If nothing else those are just two of the weirdest examples to choose as "guy shows." Like sure both those shows prominently center around male main characters but they don't necessarily adhere to traditional male stereotypes and there are plenty of women who enjoy them. HIMYM especially had two main female characters that were just as prominent as any of the men. Like, presenting Scrubs as the antithesis to Emily in Paris is truly insane lol. If you said Sons of Anarchy or 24 or something maybe. Or Home Improvement or The League if you're limiting it to sitcoms.

I still maintain that he successfully pulled a George Costanza and got himself fired because he didn't want to do the show anymore.

I'm trying to play devil's advocate here and look for ways to defend it but... yeah no, the show's gone off a cliff. I remember S1 being so good, a perfect spiritual successor to the 24/Homeland style show but perhaps more grounded and serious. I don't remember a single thing from S2 but I guess I enjoyed it? And this season had some good moments (the >!bomb in a bridge episode!< was fun and well done) but generally it was just kind of a nothing burger action show best enjoyed with your brain turned off, and it's a shame it's come down to this.

Hell, I'm not even disagreeing with you. I liked Cheers Frasier but if we're power ranking Cheers characters? No way he goes ahead of Norm, Cliff, Sam, Carla, Woody, Coach. Maybe he's ahead of Diane and Rebecca.

I actually just watched the first ep last night and didn't hate it?

My hopes aren't high either but Frasier itself was literally a spinoff of a show where he was one of the worst characters, so who knows? Plus if you're going to reboot something might as well try and do something a little different rather than just the same show over again 20 years later.

It's legitimately good good. I think some of the episodes are still among the highest rated of all time on IMDB

lol Chris Nolan is way too up his own butthole to do a TV series, at least not while studios are still willing to give him big movie budgets. Maybe some day when that well runs dry but the dude out there literally splitting atoms for our entertainment.

That being said, while I don't hate his movies post split up with Jonah (nor Westworld), I think it's pretty clear that they need each other. The best Nolan movies are clearly the ones he made with his brother.

Then again Nolan made Person of Interest too...

Cryer was low key a fantastic Lex Luthor but I guess they don't want to associate the show to the Arrowverse? Like the Arrowverse has a Clark Kent that looks like Tyler Hoechlin but I guess that's a different Clark Kent than the one from Superman & Lois?