What Are You Watching

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Jordan5

Honestly, S10 was tough enough to get through. But S11 is straight-up unwatchable. 🤮 Literally--I had to force myself to get through a couple of eps. It's become a dumbed-down, nuance-free pantomime with two horrible lead characters that should never have survived past S10--Devine and Brenda. The one returning character (Sullivan) is so changed he should sue for slander--and he's burdened with his and Devine's godawful chemistry-free romance. And the mysteries (which did have some good ideas) sink under boring secondary characters, lame execution, and utterly unfunny whimsy. Lady F and Flambeau are back for an ep., respectively, but no one else.

I suspect what happened here was that the show was supposed to end in S9. But the BBC resurrected it with a promoted-from-writer showrunner, a promoted-to-producer, and several new writers. (Hey, those Britbox/PBS streaming profits are so huge they would tempt even Father Brown, no? &#128521 Unfortunately, the new team is too weak to continue the show on even a halfway-watchable level, forget having the talent to introduce new lead characters. The idea seems to be to make everything "quirky, adorkable, and funnee," much like Devine's character is supposed to be, and it just doesn't work. A shame--I really loved the first few seasons of FB, and to watch it go under because of incompetence/lack of talent/no feel for the material is heartbreaking...

Oh,damn. I always thought that Fr. Brown got a bit of a freebie "lift" from the jump, anyway, because I felt as though Mark Williams got a boost from being Mr. Weasley, in the HP movies, where he was enormously popular.

Not that the first few seasons really needed it. I liked s1's crew and the first few years...Lady Montague and the gang, the chauffeur, Sid, the housekeeper, and Sullivan. I hated that one inspector (the short slapstick comedy guy), but that's a discussion for another day.

But this Brenda thing and the other lady...I can't think of her name, the one allegedly having a "thang" with Sullivan...Nope. NOPE. I concur, it is entirely without any chemistry, from what I've seen in S10. RATS!

It's just that now, Mr. H will be shirty about suffering through it, lol. Bummer.



Hitch

[Hitch]

Anybody here try Monsieur Spade yet?

Seriously heavy duty ambivalence and SERIOUSLY hoping that episodes 2--> are a LOT DAMN BETTER.

Hitch

[Jordan5]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Oh,damn. I always thought that Fr. Brown got a bit of a freebie "lift" from the jump, anyway, because I felt as though Mark Williams got a boost from being Mr. Weasley, in the HP movies, where he was enormously popular.

Not that the first few seasons really needed it. I liked s1's crew and the first few years...Lady Montague and the gang, the chauffeur, Sid, the housekeeper, and Sullivan. I hated that one inspector (the short slapstick comedy guy), but that's a discussion for another day.

But this Brenda thing and the other lady...I can't think of her name, the one allegedly having a "thang" with Sullivan...Nope. NOPE. I concur, it is entirely without any chemistry, from what I've seen in S10. RATS!

It's just that now, Mr. H will be shirty about suffering through it, lol. Bummer.



Hitch

FB had solid basics from the start, so it was pretty much cooking with gas to begin with. The original writers set up a wonderful found family dynamic with interesting characters--cast perfectly. The mysteries were genuinely surprising. They put a lot more care into their scripts, and really had a feel for British cozy mystery whimsy. I kinda liked Mallory because he was so awful--and got some of the best FB comebacks. 😂😂 But even when the show lost cast members and some steam, it always had something worth tuning in for.

S10 and 11--nope. Not by a long shot. The formula has been so messed with/ignored in favor of "refreshing and updating" the show, the latter is now a chore to get through. If one isn't cringing through Devine, Devine/Sullivan, or Brenda (and that is a _lot_ of agony, believe me &#128580, you're getting bored stiff by flat secondary characters and weak mysteries. (How does one screw up giving Sullivan a good love interest? How is that even possible??!?!) Williams, Chambers, and Burton are the only things worth watching here--they are trying to give performances against some serious odds. And the scenery is always lovely. But for me, that's no longer enough. 😔

Sorry Mr. H will be disillusioned. But usually great/good TV shows always break your heart at some point. And mercifully, there is plenty of other good TV in the sea. Looking forward to Capote vs. The Swans meself...🤣

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Jordan5

FB had solid basics from the start, so it was pretty much cooking with gas to begin with. The original writers set up a wonderful found family dynamic with interesting characters--cast perfectly. The mysteries were genuinely surprising. They put a lot more care into their scripts, and really had a feel for British cozy mystery whimsy. I kinda liked Mallory because he was so awful--and got some of the best FB comebacks. 😂😂 But even when the show lost cast members and some steam, it always had something worth tuning in for.

S10 and 11--nope. Not by a long shot. The formula has been so messed with/ignored in favor of "refreshing and updating" the show, the latter is now a chore to get through. If one isn't cringing through Devine, Devine/Sullivan, or Brenda (and that is a _lot_ of agony, believe me &#128580, you're getting bored stiff by flat secondary characters and weak mysteries. (How does one screw up giving Sullivan a good love interest? How is that even possible??!?!) Williams, Chambers, and Burton are the only things worth watching here--they are trying to give performances against some serious odds. And the scenery is always lovely. But for me, that's no longer enough. 😔

Sorry Mr. H will be disillusioned. But usually great/good TV shows always break your heart at some point. And mercifully, there is plenty of other good TV in the sea. Looking forward to Capote vs. The Swans meself...🤣

I agree with you, about pretty much everything you said. sigh. I miss Felicity and Mrs. whats-er-name and the chauffeur and even Flambeau. (I was a John Light fan a long time ago--let's face it, he's pretty yummy if men float your boat, but he's awfully short!!!).

And yes, I don't know how they messed up giving the Inspector a love interest. Brenda is simply abominable, but bygod, it's TV and they gotta make SURE that they lecture us weekly. Sigh. (I remember when the one with the priest and the cop--Grantchester, that's it--was good, too [with that very handsome young actor and who was it, Robson Green?] and then it just TANKED. Same drivel.)

Hitch

[Jordan5]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I agree with you, about pretty much everything you said. sigh. I miss Felicity and Mrs. whats-er-name and the chauffeur and even Flambeau. (I was a John Light fan a long time ago--let's face it, he's pretty yummy if men float your boat, but he's awfully short!!!).

And yes, I don't know how they messed up giving the Inspector a love interest. Brenda is simply abominable, but bygod, it's TV and they gotta make SURE that they lecture us weekly. Sigh. (I remember when the one with the priest and the cop--Grantchester, that's it--was good, too [with that very handsome young actor and who was it, Robson Green?] and then it just TANKED. Same drivel.)

Hitch

My beef with Brenda is not her race (Heh--I'm African-American. And up until S10, FB did extremely well with POC characters and themes about racism.) It's that she has been given no other life except to trail around after FB, get lectured/condescended to by Devine about poise/charm (*snort* Bwahahahahahahahahahahah!) and generally act OTT for no reason. And saddling the actress with that accent is hardly helping matters. She and Devine represent yet another disastrous S10 problem: the guest casting was goofy at best, horrible at worst. S11 is better, but not nearly up to the show's previous high standards. Ah, well, given the endings of a couple of this season's eps, the show may not get to an S12. Unless TPTB want to sabotage it even worse...

[cc_in_oh]

Maybe they should merge FB with Sister B. to see if they could make one halfway decent show out of it?

Better yet, how about a Flambeau spinoff? After all, the books were mostly about him and FB gallivanting around the countryside...

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Jordan5

My beef with Brenda is not her race (Heh--I'm African-American. And up until S10, FB did extremely well with POC characters and themes about racism.) It's that she has been given no other life except to trail around after FB, get lectured/condescended to by Devine about poise/charm (*snort* Bwahahahahahahahahahahah!) and generally act OTT for no reason. And saddling the actress with that accent is hardly helping matters. She and Devine represent yet another disastrous S10 problem: the guest casting was goofy at best, horrible at worst. S11 is better, but not nearly up to the show's previous high standards. Ah, well, given the endings of a couple of this season's eps, the show may not get to an S12. Unless TPTB want to sabotage it even worse...

Brenda is just...it's like when they wanted to replace Mrs McCarthy, they realized that they now needed two actors or actresses.

They'd gimped along without Felicity, (Lady Montague; I refuse to give in to Lady Felicity) via guest appearances and all that for what, 3 seasons? But once Mrs. McCarthy left, she took all the Mrs. McCarthy-ness with her and they needed to build something back in, so they built in the (very slightly smarter) Secretary (?--not really sure WTH she does), for that part and they built in Brenda to be this very ODD character, which is part nag, part "bad girl trying to walk the straight path' and yes, OMG, that accent is abominable. Sure, she could hardly show up with an accent right out of Roedean, Cheltie's or Moreton, but hell...did it have to be that bad? ugh.

Sound taps, I guess, for another one. Sigh.

Hitch

[cc_in_oh]

We watched S2 of Chelsea Detective- not a fan of Scarborough but I think the show has improved a bit.

Vera S12 is still good. This is the first season I've watched after reading the books and 90 minutes doesn't do them justice - I'd love to see a 3-4 hour miniseries for each book.

Spoiler:

The last episode is The Rising Tide. In the book Vera's callous exploitation of the rivalry between Ashworth and Clarke is central, and contributes to Clarke's tragic death. All of that is completely missing from the episode.

[Jordan5]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Maybe they should merge FB with Sister B. to see if they could make one halfway decent show out of it?

Better yet, how about a Flambeau spinoff? After all, the books were mostly about him and FB gallivanting around the countryside...

Heh--will confess I'm not a Boniface fan. She's a bit OTT for me--and the ensemble backing her up isn't nearly strong enough characterization-wise. YMMV. As for Flambeau, I get the feeling he's better off as a cool occasional frenemy than a standalone lead.

[Jordan5]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Brenda is just...it's like when they wanted to replace Mrs McCarthy, they realized that they now needed two actors or actresses.

They'd gimped along without Felicity, (Lady Montague; I refuse to give in to Lady Felicity) via guest appearances and all that for what, 3 seasons? But once Mrs. McCarthy left, she took all the Mrs. McCarthy-ness with her and they needed to build something back in, so they built in the (very slightly smarter) Secretary (?--not really sure WTH she does), for that part and they built in Brenda to be this very ODD character, which is part nag, part "bad girl trying to walk the straight path' and yes, OMG, that accent is abominable. Sure, she could hardly show up with an accent right out of Roedean, Cheltie's or Moreton, but hell...did it have to be that bad? ugh.

Sound taps, I guess, for another one. Sigh.

Hitch

What kills me is that Lady F, Mrs. M, and Bunty were way more interesting, independent, smart, and realistic than Devine and Brenda. The latter two are so horribly retrograde, it's straight-up insulting. 🤮🤮 S10 and 11 have a real problem with female characters, and these two are symptomatic of the rot. (When a suspicious number of episodes end with the nuance-free villain being a woman deprived of motherhood/love, that's a major red flag. &#129324 FB's new creators have been hyping how "refreshed and updated" the show is now, but Devine is a fake empty shell of quirkiness who's about nothing but showing-off and nailing Sullivan as second hubby. And Brenda--she has no believable inner life, and Devine constantly condescending to her is horrible. There were ways to replace the previous characters, but since the show is apparently determined to be some oh-so-cute dumbed-down pantomime these days, no hope of that.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Jordan5

Heh--will confess I'm not a Boniface fan. She's a bit OTT for me--and the ensemble backing her up isn't nearly strong enough characterization-wise. YMMV. As for Flambeau, I get the feeling he's better off as a cool occasional frenemy than a standalone lead.

Yeah, I am NOT a SB fan at all. I'm not sure why not but I just don't care for it even a small bit.

Hitch

[Jordan5]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Yeah, I am NOT a SB fan at all. I'm not sure why not but I just don't care for it even a small bit.

Hitch

It has kinda the same problem as FB--the show thinks the female lead is more adorable/funny/quirky-cute than she actually is.

[ownedbycats]

Star Trek S2E15: The Trouble with Tribbles

Don't forget to spay/neuter your pets, or you may end up with a tribbillion of them.

[DNSB]

I preferred their incarnation as flat cats in Robert A. Heinlein's The Rolling Stones.

David Gerrold who authored The Trouble With Tribbles said that he was unaware of flat cats when he was writing the screenplay; when he found out the two stories were similar he asked Heinlein for permission to use the idea which Heinlein granted in exchange for an autographed copy of the script.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I preferred their incarnation as flat cats in Robert A. Heinlein's The Rolling Stones.

David Gerrold who authored The Trouble With Tribbles said that he was unaware of flat cats when he was writing the screenplay; when he found out the two stories were similar he asked Heinlein for permission to use the idea which Heinlein granted in exchange for an autographed copy of the script.

Wikipedia

Angelo tickled it with a forefinger; it began to purr like a high-pitched buzzer. It had no discernible features, being merely a pie-shaped mass of sleek red fur a little darker than Castor's own hair. "They're affectionate little things and many of the sand rats keep them for pets - a man has to have someone to talk to when he's out prospecting and a flat cat is better than a wife because it can't talk back. It just purrs and snuggles up to you."

Wait a moment...



Spock: They do have one redeeming characteristic.
Dr. McCoy: What?
Spock: They do not talk too much. If you'll excuse me, sir.