#televsion

[melomancy]

Kate Bush on ‘Revolver’ (1978)

[superheroes-or-whatever]

My Adventures with Superman (2024) #2 art by Pablo M Collar

[schlock-luster-video]

Remembering Twin Peaks star Catherine E. Coulson on the anniversary of her death.

R.I.P. (1943 - 2015)

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

I dunno if this is a controversial opinion or whatever, but why does that 911 show on ABC feel like those fake in universe TV shows you’d see in sitcoms?

Every time I stumble across a clip I think “No fucking way is this show real.”

But it is.

And the fact that it managed to last for eight seasons is kind of amazing, not going to lie.

[mellowchouchou]

Best of Kenneth: Season 3 (episodes 12-22)

Part 1

[leighlew3]

Reservation Dogs!!!!!!

Lily Gladstone for Under the Bridge!!!!!!

HACKS!!!!!! ABBOTT!!!!!!

YES YES YES.

I’m so happy about so many of these Emmy nominations.

[foxingpeculiar]

Okay, if you need a show to watch, let me recommend one: Strangers With Candy (1999-2000, Comedy Central).

It’s kind of a parody of 1970s-1980s “afterschool special” type programming. The premise is that Amy Sedaris plays a 46-year-old woman named Jerri Blank, who led a life of drugs and jail and is now picking up where she left off and going back to be a highschool freshman.

A very young Stephen Colbert plays a teacher named Chuck Noblett.

Every episode ends with the cast dancing under the credits.

This shit was a decade ahead of its time. It’s brilliantly absurd. You should check it out.

[mattdeeryradio-blog]

Ran Sound for TUTV for Election 2024 in Annenberg Studio 3 for Klein College of Media and Communication

[supeskenobi]

It’s amazing how in the last few months, two of the biggest TV shows: ‘House of the Dragon’ (HBO) and ‘The Last of Us’ (HBO); have had three non-binary actors in lead roles. In ‘House of the Dragon’ there’s: Emma D’Arcy who plays the Older Rhaenerya uses they/them pronouns and Emily Carey who played Young Alicent uses she/they pronouns. In ‘The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey who plays Ellie uses they/them pronouns.

[professionalnooneatall]

Everyone Keeps Saying Make Something New, but When I make Something Aggressively New, I Get "not like that,"

I was talking with an Imam once and I asked him how a Muslim would go about doing the Hajj if they lived on Mars. With zero hesitation he said "Get on a rocket and go back to Earth, there's only one Mecca." The quote stayed with me and for over a decade I've been developing a television show around that sentence:

It's the far future. Humanity and our allies live throughout the Milky Way and there are Muslims on every planet where there are humans, which is to say all of them. Let me introduce you to the characters.

Master Fleet Adm. Achmed Abdul Qadir

Regal, bird like, rather tall with a well-trimmed mustache, salt and pepper hair, Qadir is a devout Muslim with a calm “been there done that” attitude from being Nearly 100 years old. Shrewd but compassionate, Qadir applies Islamic jurisprudence as often as possible, resulting in a high degree of compassion. Because of this Qadir was among the first wave of volunteers to fight under the banner of the Alliance first on Mars under NATO/METO and later as Alliance Forces Earth, and finally just the Alliance. Qadir is unflappable in nearly every respect. If he ever uses foul language, it’s not a good sign.

Command Sergeant Major Maya Abdel-Fattah

Lean, lethal and shorter than most people. Always wearing hijab in public. Cybernetic right arm starting at the shoulder. Maya is the strong, silent type. A full Alliance Marine, qualified planet and space she wears the Galaxy Globe and Anchor. Maya was widowed and lost her whole family in a space transport accident and so she transferred to the recently codified Alliance Marine Corps from Alliance Forces Earth Quartermaster Corps. Maya served with the Black Sword Brigade, a particularly tough unit specializing in deep strikes and decapitation attacks. She serves as the senior enlisted on the ship and if there's fighting to be done she can get it done from 1,000 meters to 1 centimeter.

Command Sergeant Major (ret) Robert W. Leary

Hearty, tough, Irish and Black American. Very American military, Qadir’s best friend, so much so Qadir’s actual wife, Jamila, referred to Leary as “My husband’s work wife” when they worked together under NATO and METO military operations before the Alliance conflict. Father died in Corpo Wars, mother retired from the 1st New York Brigade after the North American Protectorate was codified. Leary met probably his closest friend Achmed Qadir while on R&R leave in Iraq, specifically when he attended the completion ceremony for Al-Rahman Mosque is Baghdad. Leary is deeply atheist but very respectful and knowledgeable of many religions; he’s both street-smart and socially intelligent. Leary is also the Alliance Cultural Preservation, Restoration, and Development (CPRD) Officer, ensuring cultural needs and practices are cataloged and practiced, respected, and continued for and by Alliance personnel.

Lt. Cmdr. Dikembe Emenike

Eminke is the executive officer of the Grand Falcon. All four limbs are cybernetic, an aerospace engineer, a race car driver, and Chief Engineer in the construction of the Grand Falcon, the ship that takes Muslims back to Earth for Hajj. Emenike is an accomplished pilot and like most veteran pilots of the war has an absurd amount of flight hours. He was onboard a ship that had to use its jump drive system without calculation and it jumped into a planet’s atmosphere, subsequently crashed and plunged into that planet's ocean. Emenike was among the survivors and due to his actions - using the ship's propulsion to beach the craft on the nearest landmass - the casualties were low.

Master Chief (ret) Paulina Stevens “Boston” Abdur Razzaq

Boston is an Iranian American, punk rocker, with lots of tattoos,  lower jaw is cybernetic, it’s a subtle piece, though, and mostly matches her skin tone. She has close-cropped curly hair and a nose ring. Experienced medic and explosives technician, Boston formed her own contracting company - Iron Pineapple - after the war for “post-war and peacetime operations,” which has an extremely broad definition meaning her team didn't want for work. Boston has been divorced twice, from a man and a woman. She doesn’t do anything by half measures and this extends to her personal relationships. She connects intensely with people and intimate partners are no exception so her command style with her team is often very blunt but compassionate.

Maj. (Dr.) Mohammed Al-Aziz Billah

Dr. Billah, or "just Dr. B," as he would introduce himself, is stocky, bearded, intense, and driven but is kind and has an impeccable bedside manner. Billah is often in a doctor’s coat over his Alliance uniform. He is Qadir’s nephew on Jamila’s side. A devout Ahmadiyya Muslim, Billah saw becoming a doctor as a holy mission. He is a certified physician for both people and earth animals, having studied both sciences concurrently at Penn State. Billah served in Iraqi military as a combat doctor and in between tours he worked with members of the Jain Dharma as a veterinarian. His incredibly wide skill set made him ideal for treating non-human beings and many foundations for combat medical procedures were established by him and other members of The First Medical Fleet which would become Alliance Medical Command. His refrain, "Death Is my Only Enemy," became the official motto of First Medical Fleet, "Death Our Only Enemy"

Special Warrant 2 (ret) Shen She Zhan

Shen underwent sixteen very painful surgical procedures to increase her height and skin grafts to make her skin look like that of the Hiraska aliens whose empire threatened the whole galaxy with facial reconstruction including reshaping her jaws and her eyes were fully replaced. Her cover was blown but she was able to escape however he pod was intercepted by Alliance Forces Earth personnel who didn’t believe she was actually human. Qadir’s ship received the signal and he intervened but not soon enough. Qadir, Leary and Billah were there for her recovery so they are on the very short list of people she trusts, those three serve as kind of her “sounding board” for certain topics and issues. Qadir was furious with the task forces’ treatment of Shen and he disbanded the task force and several senior leaders were relieved of duty. After the war she joined Iron Pineapple and Boston became the fourth person in the galaxy she trusts. This history informs much of Shen's responses and actions. Among strangers, she is very controlled but given the presence of one of the four, she will speak her mind clearly.

Major (ret) Maria Shahid Rodriguez-ChavezMajor (ret) Maria Shahid Rodriguez-Chavez

Latino and Arab Christian. A real technical wiz Chavez can fix anything; hardware or software even if she's unfamiliar with it because she has an intuition about technology overall. Chavez is a trans-woman but presents as masculine in the war flashbacks. She is gradually becoming more and more comfortable with herself but will often retreat into her technological expertise and focus on solving tech problems rather than personal development. She often seeks guidance from Boston, Leary, and Billah. She is estranged from her father but is in touch with her mother and kid brother, who live the Leo City, the domed human settlement on Mars. Her plan settle with them somewhere and open a small business, probably an automotive repair shop and salon.

Senior Command Chief Jamila Qadir

Jamila is a highly experienced nurse with time in ERs, plague zones, and combat zones, and her compassion for humans is matched only by the sheer “lack of fucks,” she gives. Her compassion for people is matched by her husband Achmed, but she will not suffer fools gladly, will not make time for bullshit, and definitely won't stand for your nonsense. She has tried to play matchmaker for Leary on several occasions. It didn’t go well each time. She is often the smartest person in the room as she knows how to apply her knowledge of people learned through being a medical professional in any given situation.

Petty Officer 2nd Class (ret) Akira Shima 

Akira was a quantum navigation systems programmer and he is exceptional at that, having served on many task forces and has a mind for science and tactics but he is largely untested due to getting relegated to "IT bullshit" when he was in uniform. He is motivated to prove himself at every opportunity and is often unorthodox in his thoughts and actions but he is effective and when he combines his abilities with Chavez they are unstoppable. He is very intuitive and empathetic. He understands software interacting with organics as he often had to fix cybernetic limbs in the war when no formal technician was present. Shima is “always on,” and will often wake up in the middle of the night having dreamed of a solution to a problem he may have only heard about in passing.

Valerria Vall

Assigned a special advisor to the Grand Falcon, Vall is a member of the Omega, a race of beings who once fought a Terminator-style war between organics and machines. After about seventy years they realized it was pretty stupid and over time they became a “joint race,” the Hiraska saw them as the greatest threat to their empire and released a plague that destroyed all organic life in their home system. They barely survived and are now fully artificial. They founded the Alliance as an anti-colonial and defensive force against the Hiraska to prevent what happened to them from happening to any other beings. As they connect with new extraterrestrial species they send a representative to study and learn from their cultures, altering their whole physical and mental self to mirror that race to create a deep cultural understanding.

Kimi Running Rabbit

Running Rabbit is part of the new generation of humans that grew up off-world and is the youngest member of the crew. She is part of the Alliance Tribal Nations, a recognized part of the Alliance government’s judicial, social and educational systems. Running Rabbit began as an alliance cadet but the war ended and she spent two more years just training with little engagement against real threats. When she saw the Hajj ship needing volunteers she signed on with an individual contract. Like many other personnel who were born off-world, she’s only heard stories about how vicious earthbound humans were to each other but especially horrible to the indigenous peoples and she hates Earth and doesn't want to ever go there. This mission is the first time she has been around a significant population of earth-born humans. Kimi is well educated in languages, histories, and cultures through the Alliance Primary Education system but she has limits as they are "textbook,"

Lt. Cmdr. Jordan Nusholtz 

Nusholtz is the youngest pilot of the main ensemble and uses direct interphase to pilot vessels. While Qadir uses zero augmentation and Enemike uses maximum augmentation to pilot starfighters, Nusholtz is the middle ground between those two schools of thought/action and will come up with unique solutions within that content. In fact, he has skills and experience on par with Qadir and Enemike despite being at least a decade younger.. He initially joined under a task force assembled by the Israeli Defense Force but they withdrew from the Alliance after Mars was secured and Nusholtz joined the alliance as a pilot - and accepted a three-step demotion due to the nature of the alliance rank structure at the time - to bring the war to a conclusion and in solidarity with his adopted brother Anthony who is Palestinian.

Master Sergeant (Ret) Anthony Sydnor 

A former infantryman turned technical repairman, Sydnor is the Rosencrantz to Cmdr. Jordan Nusholtz’s Guildenstern, with a more absurdist sense of humor and a more practical view of the world. Sydnor is a widower but has three sons who are all in the Majiid initiative. He has a rather dim view of being in space, however, like many humans, he seeks the leave Earth behind and settle on one of the Alliance's home planets or even one of the terraformed planets which could include Venus would be preferable. He is Palestinian American and that informs his cynicism. He runs general supply on the Grand Falcon and if something needs to be acquired, he’s the one to acquire it.

Col. Rashad Ibn-Arai Al-Wali

Col. Al-Wali is the “by the book” type of person who doesn’t care much for individuality. He is an alliance sentience code enforcement officer, meaning he ensures the rights, history and dignity statutes for all living beings are, in fact, assured. Rather like a police officer but personal property isn't the goal. This also makes him the de-facto first contact officer. His personal feelings actually run counter to the sentience codes so in a way the codes are his “check,” to do the right things. The codes were NOT written exclusively by humans so in a way, he seeks guidance from them in much the same way Qadir does with Islam. However, Qadir seeks to justify compassion, kindness and justice whilst Al-Wali tries to justify his personal feelings and gets consistently thwarted.

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

[superheroes-or-whatever]

My Adventures with Superman (2024) #2 art by Pablo M Collar

[that-bird]

The Kids in the Hall - Bobby vs Satan - S02E01

[anderperrylover]

RECOMMENDING PERIOD DRAMAS - PART 1 - TELEVISION

For reference - A period piece should be set against a clear backdrop in the past. It should also embrace that era and take inspiration from its fashion, aesthetics and culture. It could be something set in the 1754 or 1979. This is just a rough guideline to period pieces and some of them do boast realistic elements. There's hopefully something here for everyone.

Note - Not all of these are going to be family shows.

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (2020 ONGOING) - Comforting slice of life - Underrated - Wholesome character interactions and arcs - Animals are everywhere but the humans are chaotic and imperfect - Music is quaint and peaceful - Stirs up emotions - Based on novels (about the author's own experiences) EDIT - PROBABLE - VERY LIKELY SLOWBURN - IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW - THEY ARE ENDGAME

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995) - Takes time with the story and its events - The aesthetic is admirable - The relationships between the sisters (heartwarming) - A necessary look into the era conflicts of marriage and finding a partner - A feel good classic that must be protected at all costs

EDIT T- THAT ONE SCENE - IN THE LAKE/POND

NORTH AND SOUTH (2004) - Unexplored aspects of history - Austinian influences - The romance takes time - Conflict both interpersonal and external - Idealism and reality (questioned and challenged) - You will cry

EDIT - THE TRAINSTATION - NO C0NTEXT THAT IS IT

DOWNTON ABBEY (2010) - Spans through the years - Interesting look at class, status and the upstairs downstairs relationships - The soundtrack and the sets and the locations (breathtaking) - Change and the need for it - Don't have attachments to characters

BRIDGERTON (2020 ONGOING) - The importance of bonds - Finding yourself - Falling in love and finding out the vulnerabilities within you - questions duty, affection, marriage - Brotherly relationships and sisterly relationships that are fulfilling and chaotic - The one is someone you never expected, but it is someone you grew to know along the way

STRANGER THINGS (2016 ONGOING) - The not so distant past - The full on embracing of the 80s aesthetic - Characters arcs that are still evolving - An indie style season one - The soundtrack of nostalgia - Don't have affection for characters - Supernatural elements based on folklore and Dungeons and Dragons

ANNE WITH AN E (2017) - Wholesome - Inspiring - Innovative but honors core themes and values expressed in the original text - Uplifting - A ray of sunshine - Slow burn to beat all slow burns - Established found family - Uplifting and thought provoking - Addresses issues pertaining to youth, class, race, sexuality and gender

OUTLANDER (2014 ONGOING) - Time travel - Return to a home that is unfamiliar - Back and forth - Twists and turns - Healing and acceptance - Moving on and adapting - Heavenly soundtrack - Love and its turbulence and aftermath - Extensive list of characters and motives - Spans through the decades

THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT (2020) - Themes of decline and fame - Stardom and achievements - Symbolically relevant fashion - The ups and downs of a life under the spotlight - following the years of a child prodigy (from the rise to the limbo to everything in between) - Highlights character evolution through artistic choices

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1984)

Mostly episodic - One of the best incarnations of the titular character - Comedy, suspense and chaos ensues but there is something for everyone - captures the period of television pretty well - There is the mystery and then there is their own history (the misadventures and banter) - Jeremy Brett truly captured the essence of the man and the mind

GENTLEMAN JACK (2019) - Based on true accounts - An LGBT period piece - Costumes that enhance characters and their ambitions - Romance complements the characters but there is urgency beyond that - The absurd styles and aesthetics of the era are embraced

THE GREAT AND DICKINSON (2020 ONGOING) (2019) - Similar sense of humor - Modernism meets the past - Based on lives of two extraordinary women - The costumes and the set designs are phenomenal and they capture the essence and feel of the shows - Wit and humor - Truth meets fictions

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022 ONGOING) - One of the best depictions of found family - Truth meets fiction - A comedy that will move you to tears - Canon Queer relationships - Pirates - Using the comedy to direct attention to societal issues and internal conflicts and trauma - Tears will come

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

POLDARK - About change - Embracing thing and finding new things in life - Return to home that isn't a home - Growing past animosities and finding a piece of youself

MAD MEN - The antihero characters - Moral complexities - the 60s and the world of business and the people who climbed the ranks and the people who lost their ranks - Incredible use of costumes (to express the change of era - and growth of characters)

[st-just]

Okay finished the first season of Party Down and - okay, 'himbo' is taken and means something distinct now, but Kyle in this really is specifically a male bimbo (blonde sex appeal and social graces with not much going on between the ears, I mean). Don't see that much.

[tiefighters]

Ahsoka - "Now or Never"

Experience the two-episode series premiere of Ahsoka, a Star Wars Original series, streaming August 23, 2023 on Disney+.