Category: I Like TV

Master of None, the Aziz Ansari show on Netflix. It’s so great. Ian thinks it’s the new Seinfeld.

Have you seen it? Did you enjoy?

Last night Ian and I watched a documentary I had recorded on the PVR from before Christmas. It was called Twin Sisters and it was shown on The Passionate Eye on the CBC (an internet search shows it was also aired on PBS, but I don’t think it’s on Netflix. You can stream it for $5 on Vimeo).

The film is about twin sisters who were adopted as babies in China. Their adoptive parents were told they weren’t sisters, but they did a DNA test to check, and they’re identical. One is being raised with her family in a suburb in California, and the other is being raised in a small town of 200 people in Norway.

It is so so lovely. The filmmakers did a wonderful job being sensitive with tough issues of biology, siblinghood (I don’t think that’s a word), adoption, and cultural differences.  If you get a chance to watch it, go for it. It’s won a bajillion awards, all well deserved.  The trailer is below.

 

“The groundbreaking television phenomenon, Golden Globe® and Peabody Award-winner TWIN PEAKS will return as a new limited series on SHOWTIME in 2016. Series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost will write and produce all nine episodes of the limited series, and Lynch will direct every episode. Set in the present day, TWIN PEAKS will continue the lore of the original series, providing long-awaited answers and a satisfying conclusion for the series’ passionate fan base.”

WHOA. Gotta wait at least a year though.

Have you heard about the new TV series House of Cards?  Or, I guess I should say, the new not-quite-a-TV-series?  It’s a political drama starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, and all 13 episodes (or, to be correct, they’re called “chapters”) are available now on Netflix (yep, even Netflix Canada has it).

There’s been a lot of discussion in the media about this show, for a few reasons.  Number one – this is the first time Netflix has created/produced content (instead of just being a distribution service for existing stuff).  And number two – the idea of releasing all the episodes in one big dump (instead of slowly dispensing them, week after week, like traditional TV serials) is challenging the way we produce and consume media.  Interesting.

We’ve watched the first two chapters and thought they were great.  They’re directed by David Fincher, and the sets and lighting are gorgeous.  Have you seen the show?  What do you think?

[image via Salon.com]

Yep, I’ve been blogging about TV a lot lately.  John Doyle wrote a controversial piece in The Globe and Mail a couple weeks ago stating that television has killed the novel.  While I don’t necessarily agree with that, I do agree that television programs have come a long way, and are one of my favourite forms of storytelling.

Anyway, theory aside, have you heard about the new show that starts next weekend on HBO?  It’s called Girls, and it’s about twenty-somethings living in NYC.  Based on the trailer (above) I think it has potential.  And Judd Apatow is behind it, so that might help things.  The first episode airs Sunday April 15 on HBO.

I’m an Aaron Sorkin fan, for sure. Anyone who can turn a story about a nerdy college kid writing code (or how to build a baseball team based on statistics) into something I’d care about is alright in my books. Have you seen the trailer (above) for The Newsroom, Sorkin’s new show on HBO?  It looks quite good.  And I love the way the titles are displayed.  Check it out.