What Was the Last Television Episode You Watched?

[CupofJoe]

My Tivo is picking up old [1990s season 1 old] episodes of Law & Order.
The cops don't have mobile phones, fingerprints have to be manually compared and a DNA test takes weeks to come through.

Lenny Briscoe is on the case! And Mike Nolan now has a mobile phone the size of a house brick!

 

[paeng]

The first episode of the fourth season of True Detective. Maybe things will get better.

 

[Droflet]

The first episode of the fourth season of True Detective. Maybe things will get better.

So far, so good. Intriguing.

 

[KGeo777]

THE WILD WILD WEST - The Night of the Doomsday Formula--A scientist is kidnapped by Kevin McCarthy (a stoic general who becomes an arms dealer) in order to get the --you guessed--a doomsday weapon formula. Highlight is where Artie dons the disguise of an arab sheik and starts playing a guitar solo with the most awful singing in order to distract McCarthy. It is so absurdly weird and terrible--I laughed out loud.

MOD SQUAD - Deal with the Devil -- Only watched this out of curiosity as it was the tv show that led in to The Night Stalker tv-movie when it premiered. Funny enough, guest star Leslie Nielsen plays a journalist and wears a funny hat. I am not impressed with this series at all. The title sequence is dull and the cast didn't leave much of an impression--and this is a high-rated episode.

KOJAK -Death is Not A Passing Grade - Kojak teaches a class and one of his students (James Woods) plays a game with him involving theft and murder. Good episode--I am only amazed how much depth they can get into 48 minutes without it feeling too short. Premiered 50 years ago this week.

 

[KGeo777]

 

[Steve Harrison]

REACHER season 2 final episode Worth watching for the silliness, but I thought it was nowhere near as good as the first season, which really enhanced the novel it was based on.

This season looked like it was transcribed from the book in a hurry and therefore was quite cartoonish. That style somehow works on the page, but hopefully they'll put more effort into season 3.

 

[KGeo777]

BANACEK - A Horse of a Slightly Different Color - Literally--a horse disappears on a racetrack and it was due to a slight change of color. Banacek gets a beating in the episode and never gets the chance to pay the people back for it. Not so suave but since he gets 10% of $5 million he doesn't mind. Pamela Hensley appears briefly and she was in the Kojak I watched last night. And this also premiered 50 years ago this month.


COLUMBO- Publish or Perish -- Jack Cassidy kills Mickey Spillane and frames himself for it. Rather clever in order to throw off Columbo. A lawyer named David Chase criticizes the lieutenant for his methods--I am assuming that was an injoke since Chase was at Universal at the time. There's also a reference to Rock Hudson. Premiered 50 years ago (although it apparently aired on a Friday instead of Sunday since a McCloud episode had the slot).

MCMILLAN & WIFE - Reunion In Terror - Members of Mac's football team from college are being killed and he suspects it is one of the team members. There's a weird dramatic scene where the nerdish jeweler husband of the team's promiscuous cheerleader gets fed up with knowing everyone on the team had a trist with his wife so he grabs the wife of one of the other players (not Sally) and plans to rape her in the McMIllan's bedroom as revenge! Even Mildred doesn't have a quip for that. Premiered 50 years ago tonight.

 

[Pyan]

Ficking through the channels, I watched ten minutes of the penultimate episode of The Traitors UK series 2 - and was so hooked that I stopped, binge-watched all of Series 1, then the rest of Series 2 , then the final on Friday. Yesterday, I watched all of The Traitors Australia Series 1 back-to back, and I've still got TTA Series 2 to go, and have just discovered The Traitors US Series 1 is on the iPlayer...


Help!

 

[paranoid marvin]

Wits in Felixstowe

Insights on M R James, and visits to someocations that inspired his stories. Directed and presented by Robert Lloyd Parry (who is a renowned narrator of his stories) it is probably the best feature I have seen regarding the master ghost story writer.

Highly recommended for any M R James afficicendoes.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Episode 12 of BABYLON BERLIN, last episode of season 4. Absolutely brilliant and one of the best shows on TV ever (IMO). Fabulous, epic recreation of Berlin in the late 20s/early 30s with brilliant acting, intricate storylines and a fascinating insight into a civilisation in turmoil, which makes it more than a little uncomfortable at times watching it now!

Can't wait for season 5.

 

[HareBrain]

All Passion Spent, a 1986 adaptation of a Vita Sackville-West novel (on BBC iPlayer). Beautifully acted by a great cast including Wendy Hiller and Harry Andrews, softly paced and emotional in the right places. An 85-year-old widow, who immersed herself in being a Viceroy's wife but should perhaps have been an artist, comes to terms with her life.

 

[Toby Frost]

That's interesting because I decided to be an artist, and now I'm thinking that if there's money in being a viceroy's wife, I'd probably give it a go.

 

[paranoid marvin]

I Dream of Genie

I forgot that Twilight Zone did some 1 hour episodes, and this was a good one. The actors clearly enjoyed their roles, and it was a neat idea to use the same actors for different characters. The finale also had one of the nicer, more satisfying twists.

I'd definitely place this one in my top 10 TZ episodes.

 

[KGeo777]

The New Adventures of Huck Finn - The Gorgon's Head - Revisting. I am sure I have seen it before.

MANNIX - Duet For Three -- This one had a good twist I didn't see coming. They set up a red herring for the murderer and then throw a curve ball.

Interestingly, the other two shows I watched also used red herrings effectively.

IRONSIDE - In The Line of Duty - A cop friend of the chief is killed and Ironside seeks to find the killer. Vera Miles is the widow--she is everywhere in the shows I watch. This is a completely straight episode with no goofiness.


CANNON -season three two hour episode - He Who Digs A Grave --this was a very twisty show with big stars. David Janssen is accused of murdering his wife (Cathie Lee Crosby) and has his friend Frank (who owes him a favor) help him out. Anne Baxter is the mayor of the town of Mercer (I am sure that has turned up as the location in something else I watched recently). She and Cannon have some good scenes together. Barry Sullivan is the religious fanatic sheriff. Murray Hamilton has a funny part as a guy who likes to shoot clay pigeons and then confesses to Frank that he is impotent. There's also Virginia Gregg as a crazy bird expert who wants to shoot Cannon until a raven lands on him and she takes it a sign to trust him. Considered by some the best episode of the series.

 

[alexvss]

All the Light we cannot see (2023). In nazi-occupied France, a German radio operator, who was supposed to track the frequencies, protects the blind girl transmitting from the same frequency he used to listen to as a child.

Very recent Netflix original miniseries, with four episodes. And it goes straight to the top five.

It’s very well directed by Stranger Things’ producer Shawn Levy. It’s very well written, with great character introductions, especially the main villain. And there’s also a sense of urgency because the British and the Americans are on their way to liberate the town. Oh, and the acting is phenomenal: all actors deliver, but the main protagonist just debuted, so hers is most impressive. And it’s also perfectly edited to show the connection between the characters.

The philosophy behind the story is also great. In Nazi Germany, people were forbidden to listen to foreign radio (and also later in Eastern Germany), so using a blind girl transmitting from a radio to save her hometown is genius.

Hugh Laurie is in it. It’s the first time I’ve seen this bloke doing something other than Dr. House.

Its four episodes are perfectly timed. Netflix should do more minisseries.

And now I just realized this show is good at everything. A ten out of ten.

Strongly recommended.

 

[Parson]

I wrote how much I agreed with this but I Goofed. I was thinking of the stream "A Small Light" which I think was truly wonderful.

 

[KGeo777]

KOJAK- Die Before They Wake - The deaths of a junkie and a television commentator put Kojak onto the trail of a drug/prostitution ring. Tina Louise is a heroin junkie! Premiered 50 years ago this week.

HEC RAMSEY - Dead Heat - Hec suspects foul play when a young man dies of heart failure. A suffragist wants to get arrested to promote her cause and a former bank robber associate comes to town. The new frozen treat called ice cream plays a role in the case. Premiered 50 years ago today.

 

[alexvss]

I wrote how much I agreed with this but I Goofed. I was thinking of the stream "A Small Light" which I think was truly wonderful.

I don't blame you: it's very similar indeed.

 

[Toby Frost]

Hugh Laurie is in it. It’s the first time I’ve seen this bloke doing something other than Dr. House.

He's a really good actor and comedian (and jazz musician!). He's very funny in Blackadder, and plays a really good villain in The Night Manager.

 

[Pyan]

He's a really good actor and comedian (and jazz musician!). He's very funny in Blackadder, and plays a really good villain in The Night Manager.

Excellent in 'House', and also as Bertie Wooster. Genuine all-rounder!