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Rate the last TV show you've seen

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NWR_insanolord:
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is still on Amazon Prime Video if you have that.

Adrock:
Thanks for the tip. I just watched Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. That’s definitely not blackface though it invokes that imagery to get to the jokes it wants to tell: Chang’s lack of social awareness, going so hard on the dark elf costume only to get eliminated immediately, and possibly dunking on cosplayers. Shirley’s comment on Chang’s costume is *chef’s kiss*

It seems more that Netflix and Hulu merely wanted to preemptively get ahead of any potential blowback. Can’t get called out if they pull the episode first. It’s a shame. Besides being well written, the episode has a strong anti-bullying message. To that end, it does more good than harm though maybe I’m biased because I like the show.

broodwars:
Finally getting around to watching the last Netflix bucket list show I had left, Voltron: Legendary Defender. I'm a couple of episodes in, and it's...good, I guess? I really want to love this show, but it just kinda feels generic, and I think I have a notion why.

OK, I will freely admit that the original 80s Voltron series is at best glorious cheese, much like the 80s Thundercats. Between its extremely repetitive monster-of-the-day format; the cookie-cutter characters; the sometimes-grating voice acting; and the constant stock footage, it's very much a product of its time and it hasn't aged well. That said, it's an iconic show and it and Robotech were shows I grew up with on their Toonami broadcasts, and both played a big role in my love for mecha animation. It's a classic, and I'll always have a soft spot for it.

The new Voltron is clearly a better "show". The 5 pilots have much more distinct personalities and are more inclined to bicker with each other, there's more of a longterm storyline, and there's probably more actual character animation in a single episode than in an entire season of the original show.

That said, the original show could have a pretty strong atmosphere at times, dark and moody. I also seem to remember attempts at mythology and world-building. The new show is drawn extremely flat and brightly lit, without much to say in terms of shadows or varying up the shots. Also, I'm not sure why, but I really kinda hate the new design for Voltron itself. I think the issue is that its very smooth and rounded. The original design is just iconic:



I think the problems are black being the new primary color, the loss of the crest on the chest, and Voltron's face now being really hard to see, especially with those blue lights JJ Abrams-ing it.

Also, why is forming Voltron some "Heart of the Cards" spiritual bullshit now? I kinda rolled my eyes when the Power Rangers reboot film did that, and it feels really tacked-on here too.

Also, why in God's name would you NOT update and reuse the original Voltron theme? This series loves its generic techno/synth music, and it especially sucks all the life out of the transformation sequence stock footage to NOT have AT LEAST a memorable song backing it, let alone the original Voltron theme.

So far, the show is good, but it's missing that "certain something" to elevate it to the next level.

Plugabugz:
The Endgame is good in a "this is terrible but i have no idea what they're doing with this" kind of way. It's not highbrow, its not well written, several of the characters have absolutely no identity beyond servicing the plot and some key things have no reason to happen except they do. I dont know where its going but i'm enjoying hate-watching this.

broodwars:
I've been watching a lot of stuff lately, but there is one series I want to talk about in particular since I know we have some Community fans here. I could have sworn I saw talk about it on these forums, but neither the site's search engine nor Google could find anything. I just finished watching the 1st Season of Mythic Quest, a 2020-ongoing comedy series by Charlie Day that is currently streaming on Apple TV. It's basically "What if Community Took Place in a Game Development Studio?".

And it's the funniest goddamn thing I've seen in years.

The show revolves around an eccentric cast of game developers running a World of WarCraft-esque MMO, with egos and problems of the day cropping up to cause total chaos such as infighting over the implementation of a new game mechanic; infighting over increased monetization in the game (spearheaded by Community veteran Danny Pudi as basically the show's heel); the game's servers getting hacked; Kotaku running a story claiming the game has a Nazi problem (in probably the funniest...and most accurate...episode of the show); etc.

What's interesting is that as funny as the show is, it can also flip on a dime at times to do some really dramatic and heart-touching moments, such as an entire episode about the birth and death of an indie studio that's largely separate from the main cast. There's also an amazing episode that takes place within the 2020 pandemic that just captures the feeling of that moment so fantastically.

My one grip with the show is that some characters just don't seem to have much to do, namely Ashley Birch as a disgruntled lesbian QA tester. Yes, the lesbian part is important. It's the beginning and end of her character, at least in Season 1 as she spends the entirety of it pining for another QA tester. I also really wanted to see the put-upon HR manager and obviously-on-the-verge-of-a-breakdown Community Manager characters a lot more than their handful of appearances.

If you have Apple TV (or can sail the high seas), I highly recommend this show. This is JUST the show for people like us. It understands gaming, the writing is utterly on-point, and the performances are great.

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