Reviews
A high-value, beautifully produced telling of Asimov’s 1940s sci-fi story that is the inspirational foundation to the genre that came after. Worth investing the time with patience and focus — treat it as a marathon to enjoy and savour, not one of convenience to try to sprint.
Seth Rogen does a good job (as he has before) of creating shows and telling stories that are larger than life. That said, this particular story — I do feel should’ve been left out of actual creation. The show itself is well produced and you can tell they’ve gone extra lengths to ensure the story is aesthetically done well, but I’ll admit I’ve been cringing through each episode so far. The lack of full consent toward creating it tarnishes the overall effort — and personally feels wrong (and reflects in / on the dynamic of the actors). Almost like it’s cursed, sacrilege — probably akin to how it was back in ‘96. Wouldn’t recommend unless you also want to feel ‘violated’ (as quoted, ep 4).
An unsuspecting, highly underrated show — the narrative continuously unique, perfectly cast, the dark, dry humour on absolute point. A true original, exceedingly better than any US copycat attempt. If you enjoy British tv, this is definitely one to watch.
A Tarantino-meets-Sin-City-meets-60s-space-Japanese (yep, all of that) comic book executed with a massive budget, not taking itself too seriously but serious enough to be up there with the equally misunderstood Deadly Class, Legion, and The Umbrella Academy comic-to-live-action shows. Unfortunate that it won’t make it past 1 season, the understandably and justified massive production budget / misunderstanding audience to blame; another epic comic recreation to bite the dust. Regardless of its limited run, entirely worth binging in all its 10 eps glory. The SFX are on point and seamless, as is the casting — not too campy or comic-bookish, and accessible to all audiences, OG and new (like myself) alike. And the music. Ugh, *such* a good show. Like many of the others, I’ll be endlessly holding out hope for another network to pick this up and keep it running, especially with the show’s recent Emmy nom.
*And, FWIW — I’m not making any claim to compare this to the original animation series — but commenting on this live-action effort as-is.*
As Downtown Abbey was a breath of fresh air when it first aired, so is this — in a different but similar way. Beautifully produced, no expense spared as the title suggests. A delightful, comforting, and easy way to spend the time — and fully immersive too; a necessary treat and respite from the plethora of harsher shows and subject matter out at present.
So bad. In every way. A complete waste of time on everyone's part, Netflix (from Stevie Nicks with the totally mismatched show theme to the reoccurring pointless product placement with Bullet bourbon -- to Naomi Watts in a believable role like this, to ALL of the writing and the show in general); defunding thought-provoking emotive / engaging things (like Sens8) for frivolous time-wasters like this -- someone should be fired.
A die-hard fan of The Challenge — this edition happens to be a *very* watered down “lite” major network (CBS, Paramounts’ PG primetime affiliate) version of the unfiltered supercharged OG MTV (Paramount’s NSFW extension) no-holds-barred show, featuring Amazing Race / Big Brother / Survivor / Love Island casts. Worth watching if you’re a fan of any of these or wanting to keep UTD with TC Multiverse — BUT be prepared to be slightly bored and wanting more from every ep if you’ve seen any of the original. Thank goodness for TJ Lavin, and the challenges / twists are mostly new, worth at least giving it a chance to ep 3. I can see also how this opens their OG show roster to more reality tv casts (evidenced via the multiverse plug re: “World Challenge championship” via Paramount), as it’s been hit / miss over the years trying to incorporate more TV-land diversity, the OG has def gotten slightly stale with returning TC competitors wanting to extend their 15 mins of fame / bank account.
I initially was up for the US spin-off and managed to muster my way through the first 3 seasons because of the way they stuck to the (original trash tv) UK format, along with having Arielle Vandenburg as the host; her humility and timing are unmatched. But — Peacock buying the rights to it (2022), ditching Arielle for Sarah Hyland (*worst move IMO*, the negative comments about this change alone on twitter are unfortunately accurate) and selling it as a more revealing version due to streaming… it’s just completely actual trash now. The *only redeeming quality* is Ian Sterling, who has been lured over from the UK show to continue to narrate with perfection, doing the best he can with the imitation garbage this show has turned out to be. Wouldn’t bother with “USA”, but would give any other version a try if you’re looking for a long-haul (50+ eps) in-the-background reality series that doesn’t require too much investment.
GG-2021 is the show no one needed. I actually thought the mid-season hiatus meant it was cancelled, that executives came to their senses. OG-GG wasn’t ‘greatest of all time’ in terms of tv legacies — but this ‘sequel’ or whatever it is, is awful; not only is it unworthy of being basic background noise, it is energetically confusing & depressing, and (effortlessly) works to threaten the success of the OG. As another reviewer said — there are no secrets, no standouts; there is no ongoing reason to tune in, certainly not beyond the initial OG-GG x GG-2021 handoff early in the first episode. Not at all what one expects of HBO; here’s hoping they “X”’s this waste of time & money sooner than later. If you’re looking for something in this category, that is ‘legacy-in-the-making’ tv by the same studio — check out (binge!) Euphoria instead.
The two other reviews (Kelly Munn Bly, Snootz) are spot on. I gave this show an initial chance when it came out (I do recall it was briefly, simply called “Nora From Queens” back then…) and could only make it 3 eps in. I’ve tried to stay pretty clear of Awkafina since — until Netflix recommended I watch “The Farewell”. I gave in, and am so glad I did. Such a good movie, Awkafina fully redeemed (and then some) her talent, to the point where I thought to revisit “Nora…”. I’m 30 seconds in, and right back to remembering why I gave up on this series. It’s unfortunate, because it has all the promise (and cast) to be amazing. Definitely one to skip — but do recommend the aforementioned movie.