Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Shifting gears (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/)

-   -   The TV / Streaming shows thread (no spoilers please) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/25760-tv-streaming-shows-thread-no-spoilers-please-264.html)

The Empire ***/5
Playing on : Hotstar

A good one time watch. The locations, costumes and jewellery are of the highest order for a period drama. SLB has some competition now.
Ever since Rang De Basanti, Kunal Kapoor has been impressive. Strangely he never did many movies thus not really showcasing his ability as an actor. In this he stood out and was nothing less than brilliant as Babur. Another actor which impressed was the one who played Khanzada. Rahul Dev has always been good in such supporting roles.

The screenplay is a bit off with flashbacks and forwards being not really seemless. Felt like a DSG gone wrong :D

Enjoy the series if you are into History. Hope they continue the series with Humayun this time and go upto Aurangzeb.

PS: Tajposhi is no Valar Morghulis.

Potluck | 8 Episodes | Hotstar | Hindi

Caught up with this simple family drama series over a lazy noon and loved it too. Retired Dad from a white collar job who regrets not spending time with his family and kids and how he manages to bring them all together over Potluck.

Right kind of humor with good casting, mostly shot inside 4 walls that takes one through the usual urban families balancing work, kids and retirement depicted in a beautiful manner.

Rating this an easy 5/5 stars for a no-nonsense, less dramatic, light hearted web-series that each one of us, especially those who stay with parents (and even away from them) can relate to.

Started watching Turning point documentary on Netflix, based on the 9/11 attacks.
WE finished 4 episodes in one go, and I have to say this is the best documentary on 9/11 I have seen so far. Excellent and rare footages, interviews covering contrasting perspectives, historical background, political and intelligence details - all make this a fascinating watch. Don't miss it.

Also, started watching Mumbai Diaries which is based on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and dropped it after a few episodes. It's extremely poorly made, full of melodrama and overacting by all actors. Avoid it and save some precious time

This is way better than the 9/11 Inside White House documentary On Apple TV+ Which is mostly the narrative of Bush and his staff.

Thanks to Covid and being holed up at home, watched some shows lately, some of them being all time classics :

1. Breaking Bad : Cult classic that needs no introduction. Story of a high school teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and starts making drugs. 10/10

2. Ted Lasso : Comedy show about an American coach trying to coach an English football team with varying degrees of success. 8.5/10

3. Narcos : Highly popular show on Netflix about drug lord Pablo Escobar's life. Engaging show. 9/10

4. The Wire : My personal favorite. A very realistic show on Baltimore life covering cops, the drug trade, schools, the ports and the newspapers. The show can be slow at times and the plot is complex , to an extent that I had to lookup google to understand what was going on. This show, along with "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad" are usually considered to be the top 3 tv shows of all time rated by both users and critics. 10/10.

Right now I'm watching Season 1 of Sopranos and that probably will get a 10/10 rating from me.

Bombay Diaries 26/11 (4 / 5)

Series worth watching with the end of each episode leaving its viewers on the edge of their seats. Not sure I fancy the idea of using fake names for real buildings ( Eg: The Taj hotel is called Palace Hotel in the series), but the content is amazing. A very well directed 8 episodes series on Prime.:thumbs up

Censor : Clean visuals except for portrayal of blood in countable scenes. Use of excessive foul language makes me wonder why it is rated 13+ (Should have been rated 16+ in my opinion).

As expected, The Crown and Mare of Easttown have won big at the Emmys. Ted Lasso and The Queen's Gambit are the other two notables ones among other winners.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...st-1235015869/

A few shows I started trying out during the last couple of weeks:

Shameless: I hate this show but somehow I can't help coming back to it. There is something about it that I seem to like even though I hate even the premise of it, the immoral, unwashed characters, the repugnant dialogues, the nudity etc. Completed Season 1.

Man with a Plan: Joey became old. Light hearted family comedy. Nothing great. Maybe I'd stop watching after a season.

Parenthood: Family drama with too many characters. Just done 3 episodes but am kinda liking it. Don't know if it will hold my interest for too long.

Tales from the Loop: This one is not to be missed. Its a Sci-fi drama, and the Sci-fi exists there not to awe you but to provide a backdrop to discussing a lot more complex themes. Season 1 was 8 episodes/stories long and all 8 were compelling. Don't know whether there would be a season 2, but hope there is.

Nine perfect strangers: An average suspense drama. Nicole Kidman in the lead. It is written by David E Kelley, hence I started watching it.

Queen Sugar: Actually, I watched a couple of seasons of this a while ago. Looking back, I think it was one of the stupidest shows I watched. It held my interest as it was shot in rural Louisiana which had great visuals. Story was meh, acting terrible - I don't understand why Oprah Winfrey produced it.

Based on the recommendations here, I have started watching Queen of the South. It has me completely hooked! What an incredibly written story backed by great performances. My addiction for the last few weeks was solely The Good Wife, but Queen of the South has dragged me away from there. Now, every evening, I'm stuck what to watch between the two :).

Full 5 stars and strongly recommend to all BHPians. Give it 3 episodes and you won't be able to stop watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqu2WoiqT8

Watched 'Mare of Easttown' on Hotstar. This is a murder mystery with Kate Winslet playing the main lead. There are twists & turns which keep you hooked. Initial few episodes the pace is a bit slow & seems to be more of a drama than a thriller! Still is more than a decent watch as the episodes progress.

Also watched Season 5 of 'Queen of the South' on Hotstar. Had seen the previous seasons on Netlfix & loved them. This is the series finale, while its still good, seemed like the makers were in a bit of hurry in the last few episodes to bring a closure to the central character. This show is worth a watch just for its fast pace!:thumbs up

Average is right...Kelley has gone steadily downhill from his Picket Fences and The Practice Days. There is a dull sameness to his later shows (Big Little Lies, The Undoing and now Nine Perfect Strangers) but out of some misplaced loyalty I have managed to keep up with all of them :D

Picket Fences and Boston Legal (spin off of Practice) are in my all time favorites list.

The Undoing was terrible.

Yellowstone on Amazon prime is a decent watch.
Series 4 is coming soon.

There's a very well produced period series on Harley Davidson on discovery. Harley and the Davidsons.
Is a must watch.
5/5

Am hooked on to this now. There is a lot of likeness to "This is US" but minus the wokeness, melodrama is kept in control and does not seem to try hard to be politically correct.
Finally it ended, and what a waste of time.
And Billy's back! I didn't like Goliath's third season. Binged 3 episodes of the fourth and final season during the weekend and it is really good so far. Billy is a treat to watch, even when he is just staring at the camera. Hope the series finale is worth it.