KenJennings

Second episode of SNW seems like it's trying really hard to be the Orville. I guess they recognize a successful formula because it wasn't bad. Pike is Mercer. Number one is Kelly. Spock is Bortus. They even have a wisecracking pilot and a tough fish-out-of-water security chief. They're trying to tap into the awkward humor, and sense of serialized camaraderie; while presenting episodic stories. Even the art style, that shepherd ship looked just like a Kaylon ship. Still more looking forward to the Orville, but this weeks SNW was good.

I was pretty 'meh' on SNW. The plot was kind of uninspired and the characters were basically shells of what came before them. I didn't feel moved or motivated by these people in the slightest, and they're trying to shoe horn in canon references without any logical tie in. I like Anson Mount as Pike, but that's about it; I'm more pessimistic about SNW than anything at this point. I don't understand why people are so critical of Picard. I can see that it has pacing issues; but that's present in all nuTrek. The show has a ton of heart, it's done a great job drawing on and expanding existing canon without simply retelling it for new Audiences, and it makes it's arguments with some semblance of finesse. The plot sometimes lacks exposition, which is vastly preferable over constantly retelling and explaining, and its shortcomings give me the greatest gift a Trek show can give- the chance to craft headcanon to explain away the rough edges. In a way, Picard reminds me a bit of Doctor Who. Plot and pacing are always marching to their own beat, but it's less about the nuance and completion of plot details, than about the handling of the characters, emotions and ideas throughout the fantastical, hand-wavey craziness. I absolutely loved season two. And I can't wait for the third.

Picard Season 2 sticks the landing... A few small complaints, but resolves quickly and serves as a fantastic epilogue to the season. Can't wait for season 3 now.

Gilbert Gottfried's skills as a stand up comedian were top tier. His ability to pick up on cues and improvise with the crowd made his material so much less important than his delivery. Gilbert could (and often did) entire sets of street jokes, and killed every time. One of my favorites ever, and another gone too soon. I hope Gilbert and Norm are up in heaven right now cracking jokes about muscular dystrophy again.

All Good Things? Too bad Nemesis ruined that.

It sounds like this third season of Picard is gearing up to be a proper final sendoff to the TNG crew, and I couldn't be happier. I'm very excited for this. There are also grumblings about what will happen after Picard ends. A lot of chatter has them running a new show following Captain Rios and the crew of the new Stargazer. THAT is the new forward facing Trek that I badly want. A new crew and a new ship on new missions. Not something in an era that's already been done too many times.

Today, we get the cameo we didn't know we needed... :lol:

To be clear, I don't have a problem with emotional focus. What I dislike about Discovery is the frequency of it. The writers try so hard to create emotional resonance that they neglect the rest of the story; and end up producing a fairly hollow, groan inducing end product. If everything is trauma, nothing is trauma. Seeing a character like Jean Luc Picard cry has an impact specifically because you know the character is emotionally disciplined and rock solid. It's a bit like seeing your dad cry.

I am very concerned about Strange New Worlds. We don't need to be doing these characters and this setting again. As much as I like Anson Mount as an actor, I wish they had introduced him as an original character instead of anchoring him to an existing legacy. Leonard Nimoy is dead. William Shatner has concluded Kirk's story. I wish they'd let Kirk and Spock and that whole era rest. Do something new and original... and do it without stopping to examine emotions and cry every two minutes.

Season two of Picard is off to a very strong start. I think the addition of Terry Matalas, a 90s Trek alum, as EP has served the show very well. It has come a long way in terms of tone and aesthetic under his leadership, and the story is definitely compelling and interesting.

Awesome! I'm a big fan of Murdoch Mysteries! Can't wait to see this.

:( Be at peace, Lorraine. We'll miss you!

Jeez, when did I piss in your Cheerios?

Yes, you guys are the baddies. "Killing people with a virus." have you no shame?

Tainted game. Tainted season. Tainted sport.

Do away with overtime. Just keep playing the fourth quarter with negative time on the clock until someone takes the lead.

Double post.

Louie was an exceptional stand up comedian, and by all accounts a fantastic guy. A local legend for Minnesotans. Her will be missed.

Scenes by a mile.

I can live with Images finishing second. But third? C'mon, Awake is half the album Images is.

Patty sounds great! Rocky is definitely irreplaceable, but Party is absolutely crushing it.

Some friends from back when I was in England loved Taskmaster and talked about it a lot. A great show as a diversion from ordinary life and any other kind of traditional TV show. It`s a mainstay on the channel "Dave" in the UK which I`m guessing you might not have access to? Unfortunately I don't think there's any legitimate way for me to watch Taskmaster other than the content they share publicly on YouTube. It's a shame, because I would gladly pay a months' subscription to stream the rest of them!

I'll always protect Images with my first vote. My second protect vote goes to Systematic Chaos this time: it's an underrated album with lots of energy, it's certainly a little farther down the list than my favorites; but it also definitely shouldn't be eliminated yet. My votes to eliminate go to Distance Over Time and A View From The Top of the World. Dream Theater's last three albums have felt like a different band altogether, and I'll keep voting them till they're gone.

I'm not sure how YouTube's algorithms knew I would love this, but I recently started seeing clips from this British panel show called Taskmaster start appearing in my feed. I've binged my way through most of the available sessions on YouTube, and just caught this year's "New Year's Treat" one off, which I'm linking in this post. The show is brilliant. Sending it's contestants through ridiculous, often ambiguous tasks, and then having the Taskmaster harshly judge their performance. It's a great exhibition of lateral thinking with non stop laughs throughout. I can't recommend it enough.

Images and Words is a top-five desert island album for me. It's one of the albums that got me into prog rock, and was a first step into the wider world of prog after I fell in love with Rush. It is very nearly a perfect album. When Dream and Day Unite is an incredibly underrated album. And it's easily better than the last three albums Dream Theater has released. It deserves protection. The Astonishing is probably my least favorite Dream Theater album, and I believe it most represents the lack of cohesion and taste that bad plagued the post-Portnoy era. A View From the Top of the World (as well as Distance Over Time) are guilty of the same missteps.