TV you just love (or at least really like)

[Jeannie]

well you see there is about four or five series I think I watch the first few series I think then they stopped showing them on the channel I watch them on or it tied with something else can't really remember so thought if I watch them from the start in order, then I will get to where I was before

It's not really clear what happened, since it ended on a cliffhanger. I assume he died because that gives me closure, albeit sad closure. You may read the events differently. I would be interested on your take when you get done.

Jeannie

[is that my watch]

cool some way off as on episode 9 of the first series

[Raza]

Wow, I am so sorry you have to feel that way, it sucks. Being in a very progressive blue state, I never see that. As a matter of fact, it's the opposite. A Muslim sits on the Town Council in my home town, and we welcome diversity and inclusiveness. Call me a snowflake, but a bunch of us constitute an avalanche.

Keeping it somewhat on topic, Designated Survivor has touched on prejudice and bigotry a wee bit in a positive way.

My city is wonderful that way. Outside of it is less so.

Maybe I should give Designated Survivor a try--though I often have a block with network TV. It's like "If it were really good, it'd be on cable", for right or wrong.

[Raza]

Raza, I’m totally with you on this

It makes such a difference to see positive representations of yourself on tv, in political leadership etc

Speaking for myself:
So cool that women on tv are no longer confined to vacuous blondes or harridans

That gay people are just people, rather than either child molesters or suicides

I too have been pleasantly surprised with the diversity on NCIS. Good for its audience to get the message that people can be brown and not evil

As you say, the ghettoising of minorities on tv is depressing - ‘here, have your own show’

Oh that all people can be reflected in all their variety, characters and gifts

One thing I've noticed in TV with regards to women is that writers really love to put female characters (especially minority female characters) in authority positions. Lots of black female police captains in TV procedurals, but the main characters are often still white and/or male (sometimes minority males as well). But the overall trend is getting better and I'm happy to see that. There have been many female-driven series that were great, action, drama, and comedy. Alias (for the first three seasons, anyway), Handmaid's Tale, Parks & Recreation, Supergirl, Jessica Jones, and I'm sure several others that don't spring to mind. Not only that, there have been plenty of shows in recent memory where women are treated (at least to my eyes) as equals to the male characters, such as The Flash, where Iris and Caitlin are strong characters who stand shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts; sure they may occasionally be damsels in distress, but so too are the men in distress and they come to the rescue as well. Disney has been particularly good with this in recent years, with Marvel and Star Wars not shying away from female and minority characters in prominent roles.

This review from IGN gives me hope for the Jack Ryan series:
"Jack Ryan avoids the dangers of classic James Bond and Mission Impossible plots by giving its villain, if you can call him that, a genuinely relatable story. Without going into spoilers that would ruin the second half of the episode, Suleiman, compellingly portrayed by Ali Suliman, is an Islamic extremist who's usually the smartest guy in the room. Let's just say, you won't see him coming. Instead of portraying Suleiman as a generic Middle Eastern caricature, the writers have crafted a powerful backstory for the character that makes his motives just as understandable as Ryan or Greer's." (emphasis added)

I'm glad to see that nuance can exist, that there's an understanding that nothing happens in a vacuum. Great villains, villains that you can understand (beyond basics--who doesn't want money and power and unlimited attractive paramours?) make for great stories. When a villain is finally vanquished and you're both glad to see the hero triumph and melancholy to see the villain removed from the story, you know the villain was well crafted. Especially if the villain is in part right--take Killmonger from Black Panther, for example.

One of my friends who has school age children (most of my friends still are at the age where their children aren't in school yet) once remarked a couple of years ago that he watches his son play with boys and girls of all different races and it's not even a thing they think about. That didn't happen when I was a kid. So the trend is still up. Which gives me some hope, which is in short supply these days.

[tribe125]

I often have a block with network TV. It's like "If it were really good, it'd be on cable", for right or wrong.

Ha! I’m entirely the opposite, albeit in a different country with different providers. I gave up cable and satellite years ago - partly because I didn’t like paying for it, partly because (with the exception of sport) I found I was mostly watching the BBC.

[wschofield3]

Without calling it a red state or blue state, most of America is that way. When you consider our population was estimated to be 325 million in 2017, the number of incidences of bigotry and prejudice are small. That is, however, not saying it doesn't happen.

One thing is for sure. We must always strive to be better.

And sometimes, a TV show is just that. A TV show.

I have to disagree as I lived in Atlanta for two years and Nashville, and once you get out of the population pockets, it's a different world. Incidences of racism and bigotry may be small by comparison to population, however, they are on the rise. I refuse to comment as to my opinion on the why, however, I'm sure folks can think that through for themselves.

My city is wonderful that way. Outside of it is less so.

Maybe I should give Designated Survivor a try--though I often have a block with network TV. It's like "If it were really good, it'd be on cable", for right or wrong.

Yep, my youngest daughter went to university in Philly, and I completely understand what you mean.

DS is a good show for network TV, give it a whirl.

[Raza]

Ha! I’m entirely the opposite, albeit in a different country with different providers. I gave up cable and satellite years ago - partly because I didn’t like paying for it, partly because (with the exception of sport) I found I was mostly watching the BBC.

TV over there is run differently from here. I didn’t even know you guys had cable—I thought it was all BBC.

Over here, I need cable to even watch the Premier League.

[pepperami]

At around that time my name twice came up in police investigations - and I’m English.

On one occasion I was one of ‘three suspicious Irishmen’ reported to the police by a pub landlady. It may not have helped that the car being used by my two Irish friends had been purchased three days before and we were half a mile from a nuclear power station. There had been some heightened activity, appeals for information, and we were out in the sticks where they probably saw very few Irishmen. The police tracked us down, made the enquiries they needed to make.

On the second occasion, an Irish colleague had been maliciously accused of laundering IRA cash through a hospital social club. He was whisked away in the middle of the night and for some reason had a scrap of paper with my phone number on it in his dressing gown pocket. It was a pretty heavy investigation, but fortunately, I came up ‘clean’ - as did he, eventually.

I’m guessing that a lot of my Irish colleagues and friends were ‘listed’, if not actively monitored at that time. It wouldn’t have been entirely without justification - one colleague had been approached with a view to ‘taking something back’ to England when visiting home.

They were strange times. I remember being in a Cricklewood pub when the the IRA collecting box came round while ‘The Men Behind the Wire’ played on the jukebox. And my wife was surprised at her uncle’s funeral in Ireland when some men in balaclavas turned up and fired a gun salute over the grave. Her mother was surprised too, not knowing that her brother had anything to do with the IRA. Strange days, but we just accepted it at the time. I don’t recall any generalised suspicion of Irish people, but I was moving in circles that were at least a quarter Irish.

I had the police at my door too, asked to search as I was reported for supporting Irish Republican causes. The police were quite nice about and came in buy didn't search. I was 19 at the time.

Funnier experience at a bakery I worked at in Bournemouth. There was an old British army guy, was retired but doing a few hours a week. On more than 1 occasion he tried to mow me down with a trolley

Mad aul git! But we became pals after a while..were strange times indeed!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Raza]

It still boggles my mind sometimes. Shooter, a terrible movie about a sniper framed for an assassination (attempt? Can’t remember) of the President, starring Mark Wahlberg as a character named—I shit you not—Bob Lee Swagger (I guess they couldn’t get John Hugedick America McBigBalls past the censors) had enough brand equity to support a multi-season television show of the same name with the same character. Think about that. 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Called a failure at even being a mindless big budget action film. A movie in which Bob Lee Swagger teaches someone to become a world class sniper over basically a 1980s movie montage. And that got three seasons starring actual actors Ryan Phillippe and Omar Epps.

[geoffbot]

It still boggles my mind sometimes. Shooter, a terrible movie about a sniper framed for an assassination (attempt? Can’t remember) of the President, starring Mark Wahlberg as a character named—I shit you not—Bob Lee Swagger (I guess they couldn’t get John Hugedick America McBigBalls past the censors) had enough brand equity to support a multi-season television show of the same name with the same character. Think about that. 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Called a failure at even being a mindless big budget action film. A movie in which Bob Lee Swagger teaches someone to become a world class sniper over basically a 1980s movie montage. And that got three seasons starring actual actors Ryan Phillippe and Omar Epps.

I enjoyed them. Fun action movie and series that are way less hammy than something like 24 or designates survivor (nothing against Keifer).