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Not Dead Yet (2023–2024)
6/10
Season 1 was good, season 2... not so much
2 March 2024
Season 1 focussed on the ghosts and the insights they passed on. It was creative and even emotional on occasion.

Unfortunately, someone seems to have decided on a different direction for season 2. It is now all about the office and the over-the-top characters that inhabit it. It is in most ways a clone of "Superstore" and other similar sitcoms with outlandish characters.

This would be fine if this was how they started out, but it is not what I'm looking for. I now consider it to be 2 essentially separate shows comprising season 1 "Not Dead Yet" and season 2+ of "Generic Office Environment Sitcom."

If you're looking for the ghostly connection, stop watching after season 1.

My score is the average of 7 for season 1 and 5 for season 2.
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Son of a Critch (2022– )
4/10
Going downhill
24 January 2024
The problem when you base a show on childhood anecdotes is that eventually you're going to run out of material.

Season 1 of this show was decent, season 2 mostly OK, and season 3... well let's just say that the anecdote well has run dry.

It's still mildly amusing and nothing is ever offensive so it probably suffices as family entertainment, but don't expect to be rolling on the floor laughing.

To meet the character, here's a verse from al old Newfoundland sea chanty: You bully boys of Liverpool I'll have you all beware When you sail on them packet ships, no dungaree jumpers wear But have a big monkey jacket all ready to your hand For there blows some cold nor'westers off the banks of Newfoundland.
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Wolf Creek (2016–2017)
4/10
First season 7, second season 2
8 December 2023
For an average rating of 4.5.

The first season was OK with fairly believable behaviour from the characters. The one thing I liked was the general absence of "BOO!" moments that are so common in most of the genre. There were still some, but they were tolerable. Unfortunately, it ended on a somewhat unbelievable note or I would have rated it higher.

Season two pretty much skipped the believability factor after the second episode and devolved into people doing stupid things that played into the hands of the psychopath. I know that this is part of the standard script for the genre, but devalues the performances and insults the intelligence of the viewer.

Watch season 1, but absolutely do not waste time on season 2.
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Shameless (2004–2013)
1/10
I just don't get it
22 October 2023
Why do people think that the antics of low-life degenerates are worth making a TV show about? I don't know a single person who would think that an actual family like this would be worth associating with and I certainly don't want to know anything about their daily criminal exploits.

Maybe people think this is funny because it allows them to ignore the unpleasant reality that families like this do exist. The existence of these families should be a matter of shame to a population, not something to glorify.

OK, so that's my rant about this whole genre and I admit that there must be something wrong with me that I keep being drawn in by high ratings and having many seasons on the air. I promise to do better in the future.
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Departure (2019–2022)
5/10
I've been trying to keep watching, but...
16 September 2023
...the story line has simply gotten too ridiculous. US intelligence agents interrogating Canadians on Canadian soil simply cannot happen. But this is only the tip of the iceberg of the horrific writing.

This series has always been "reality challenged", but this season is the worst by far.

My rating is the average of a 6 for season 1, a 5 for season 2, and a 2 for season 3. I won't be watching season 4 should they try to force such a thing on us.

Here's a little Dr. Seuss to fill things out since he was a far better writer than those doing this show: One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish, Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish.

This one has a little car.

This one has a little star.
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5/10
Too slow for anyone with any knowledge
3 June 2023
If you have a science background, you will probably find this series to be too simplistic and far, far too slow. This is a common failing of almost all general science shows, but this one is particularly bad.

From what I could tell before I had to bail on it, the science is accurate and reasonably up to date. It's also well presented and should be understandable by anyone with a high-school education.

I was streaming it and if the web-based viewer supported adjustable speed, I may have been able to handle the show by playing it at 1.5x or faster.

My rating is the average of a 2 for my personal dislike of the tempo and an 8 for the apparent quality of the content.
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The Rookie: Going Under (2023)
Season 5, Episode 21
1/10
I do not watch "crossover" episodes
27 April 2023
On the faint hope that someone with control over content reads this, I now state categorically that I do not watch episodes that "crossover" to or from shows that I don't watch. I've chosen to watch THIS show, not the other one and if you are going to require me to watch both to get the story, then I choose to watch neither.

I also don't watch "season finale" episodes, particularly on this show, because they tend to be absolutely stupid. Then there's the "fall finale" that is often equally ridiculous.

There is more than enough other content available on streaming so I will not waste my time on episodes of this show that have a very high probability of really annoying me.
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Unforgotten: Episode #2.6 (2017)
Season 2, Episode 6
6/10
Last episode, so this is a Series 2 review
27 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I liked the series right up until this episode. Consider my rating to be a melding of an 8 for episodes 1 through 5 and a 1 for this last episode.

The idea that an investigation with a large number of people on the team could just be suspended by the lead investigator is ludicrous, especially after she broaches her theory to the team. There is no way that I can see that such an investigation could be terminated without someone doing something illegal.

Even if we feel that there is no moral reason to pursue prosecution, that doesn't mean that the police have the right to stop, even if that were possible. It is their job to bring crime to light. Deciding on the appropriate punishment, if any, for 3 obviously well planned murders is quite literally the sole purview of a judge and jury, not the police.
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Unforgotten (2015– )
8/10
After 2 series, I'm still watching
27 February 2023
It is an interesting show and I can understand other people that have complained that it tends to ignore the legalities and protocols that (I assume) are in place in the UK police.

The easiest way to deal with that, in my opinion, is to just mentally place it in the mythical land of Teeveedia and ignore those details as they aren't really important to the story. To be fair, many of the "they can't do that" things are legal in different countries (even if they arguably shouldn't be).

The only complaint I have is that there are too many characters to follow and there is no "refresher" at the beginning of the episodes to remind us what has happened. For that reason, I recommend only watching this when you can binge it so that you can keep things straight.

I like that it deals with the consequences in the lives of everyone touched by the crime. How wide the psychological damage from a murder spreads is something that judges seem to forget during sentencing.

All in all, an excellent show.
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Spellbinder (1995–1997)
5/10
Some say it's not just for kids - don't believe them
7 February 2023
The underlying story is actually pretty reasonable Sci Fi. That said, the execution fails rather badly on the story segments that take place in "our" world. It relies too much on adults behaving stupidly, which is a pretty common theme in kids stories. When it comes to the villain, all the checks and balances that our society relies on to prevent malicious actions are completely ignored and mayhem reigns.

While I was watching it, I was prepared to give this a 6 rating. Sadly, when I got to the last 2 episodes blew the wheels completely off the bus and the whole thing crashed into utter idiocy. I don't think that even young kids could watch these episodes without feeling that their intelligence was being insulted.
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Ascension (2014)
3/10
Too anachronistic to swallow
31 January 2023
Regardless of all the other failings that other reviewers have mentioned, the main reason that I gave up on this is that nearly everything about the ship was not feasible in the 1950's when it was supposedly created. Some of the tech shown wasn't available (even to the military) until the mid 80s. You might be able to get away with this kind of major error with a story set a hundred years ago, but anyone who was 40 or older in 2014 would recognize many of these errors.

Maybe the makers figured that their target audience was younger than this and that they wouldn't notice. They might be right, but for me it made it unwatchable.
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2/10
I like Anne Hathaway, but...
24 August 2022
This movie has 2 serious issues for me.

1. Handheld cameras. I don't have a problem with them and they can bring a sense of "being there" to filming, BUT use a freakin' steady-cam! I have absolutely no interest in watching shaky video that will induce nausea in a portion of the audience!!!

2. Smoking. Yes, some people do it. People also pick their noses, scratch their butts and fart, but we don't think those are essential parts of a movie that must be included. There is no legitimate reason for showing smoking in a modern film. It is simply disgusting.

As for the movie itself, I lost interest in it after 20 minutes and even Anne couldn't induce me to keep watching.
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Cliff Hangers (2015)
6/10
Stickin' it in the Stikine
11 August 2022
Fabulous scenery, but way too much anthropomorphizing of the goats. May be OK for kids, but it got a bit tedious for me. Watching it has added the Grand Canyon of the Stikine to my list of must see places.
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Wexford Plaza (2016)
4/10
A story of wasted lives
1 August 2022
This is a story about a group of deadbeats doing deadbeat things. There is nothing here that is interesting, earthshattering, or in any way worthy of a movie. Several times I almost quit watching, but stuck it out for lack of anything better to do.
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Alma's Not Normal (2020–2024)
4/10
Not for me
16 July 2022
I tried to be fair to this series and watched 5 episodes before I had to pull the plug. It is rude, crude, foul-mouthed, and very sad. What it isn't is particularly funny. I've bailed on other British series that were supposedly funny that I found to be simply disgusting, so it appears that I'll just have to admit that British low-brow (no brow?) humour is not my thing. "Old world charm" is not a thing.
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5/10
Yet another "historical documentary" overwhelmed by bias
29 June 2022
Documentaries, in my opinion, are supposed to stick to facts. While there are indeed many facts presented in this series, they are also many opinions stated as facts. Documentaries are always "tuned" by the makers, but this one is much worse than most. If you watch this, be sure to investigate an alternate source to form your own opinions.

It's also unnecessarily graphic with footage of several bloody executions, so be warned.
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Hiccups and Hookups (2021– )
3/10
"Casual" done Indian-style -- badly
18 June 2022
This is the American series "Casual" done for India. The script for the first episode is nearly identical The problem is that while "Casual" is no masterpiece, this show is a catastrophe. Nobody can act. The dialog is half-and-half English and (I'm guessing) Hindi and even with subtitles, I found it hard to follow. If I hadn't just watched the "same" episode on "Casual" within the last month, I might have been willing to see if it got better. As it was, I'd had enough by halfway through.
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The Rookie (2018– )
5/10
3 seasons at 7, fourth season at 0
17 May 2022
For an average rating of 5. This final (for me) season has been garbage. I turned off the season four finale just past the halfway mark because the rest of the episode was both obvious and ludicrous.

If it comes bask next season, I won't be watching. I hope it doesn't so that the actors don't waste their time.
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Grace (2021– )
3/10
I draw the line at paranormal
30 April 2022
It's an OK police procedural, but dragging paranormal nonsense into it is not something I can accept in a cop show. I thought it might just be confined to the first episode, but it cropped up again in episode 2 .
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Spreadsheet (2021)
7/10
"Rake" with a female lead
29 April 2022
It's somewhat crude. It's full of weird, but believable situations. And it's funny. Not ROTFL funny, but I cackled out loud many times. And it manages to be almost totally about sex without any significant nudity, which I think is quite an accomplishment.

I'm hoping for a second season.
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Auga Seca (2020–2021)
5/10
Never really clicked for me
10 April 2022
For some reason, the acting never really felt real for me. I've watched plenty of subtitled shows and I don't think that is the issue. Maybe it's just bad acting. I watched all of the first season and half of the second and I was constantly asking myself if I should bother with the next episode. The answer was finally "no" when the main character did something totally stupid and out of character. I stopped watching right then.
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The Rookie: Coding (2022)
Season 4, Episode 17
1/10
So bad I stopped watching
5 April 2022
OK, this show is known for playing fast and loose with reality, and I am generally willing to accept that. But I can't accept a plot that is simply so stupid it should never have been filmed.

This show has already had 2 horrible episodes this season, the season opener and the one before this. I think the time has come to pull the plug on this show before it becomes a parody of itself.
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FBI: Most Wanted: Shattered (2022)
Season 3, Episode 14
4/10
A new gap in my viewing schedule
13 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Pretty much every week I have had an argument with myself over whether or not to continue watching this series. The biggest problem has always been how they manage to get everywhere in a length of time that would require a Star Trek transporter -- and the stories rely on this impossibility. "Continue" has won out because there's nothing else on that I want to watch, but killing off the only character on the show that had any depth or backstory has tipped the scales for the show to the "Not" side.
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Tunna blå linjen (2021– )
7/10
Excellent, except for the camera work
19 February 2022
I like this show a lot and would happily rate it an 8. The problem is that it is shot with a hand-held camera. That in itself isn't a problem, but not using some form of image stabilization is unforgivable and costs it 2 stars in my rating. The close-up shots are so shaky that I often have to pause the video to keep from becoming nauseated.
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Ripper Street (2012–2016)
5/10
First 2 seasons quite good
6 February 2022
The first 2 seasons were quite good with the plots being reasonable, if a bit thin in places. It stays fairly authentic to the period with no more than a few anachronisms. It is quite violent with plenty of police brutality. Maybe that's accurate, maybe it isn't.

The third season goes completely off the rails right from the start with ridiculous outcomes and coincidences abounding. I'd had enough by the end of the second episode.

My rating is the average of 7's for season 1 & 2 and a 1 for season 3.
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