Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 2, 2019 23:09:17 GMT -5
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 2, 2019 23:09:47 GMT -5
Attack on Titan
Season 1 - Part 1
To You, in 2000 Years: The Fall of Shiganshina Part 1 - Humanity has lived in fear of a race of man-eating giants called the Titans for over a century, and have built a series of walls to keep them out (Trump would be proud). But today the Titans have breached the outermost wall and have invaded the community.
That Day: The Fall of Shiganshina Part 2 - Eren is traumatized after witnessing his mother devoured by a Titan, as he and other survivors take refuge beyond the next wall, where they find themselves unwelcome due to scarce food supplies.
A Dim Light Amid Despair: Humanity’s Comeback Part 1 - Eren, Mikasa, and Armin join the Cadet Corps to train to fight the Titans.
The Night of the Closing Ceremony: Humanity’s Comeback Part 2 - Five years later, Eren and Mikasa graduate at the top of their class, and they and Armin choose to join the Scout Regiment to fight the Titans head-on.
The First Battle: The Struggle for Trost Part 1 - On their first night of service, the Titans return and have breached the wall again. Most of their class is grossly unprepared and are devoured, and Eren’s rage causes recklessness.
Based on a seemingly endless manga/comic series, Attack on Titan is like The Walking Dead of Japan…you know, if the zombies were fifty feet tall. As a giant monster fan, I’ve been wanting to check out the manga for a while, though there are so many volumes that it would probably take years for me to get through it. Instead I’ll settle for the anime adaptation for now, which is pretty decent. I don’t watch very many anime series (I think the only one I’ve made it through was Death Note), but I’ll probably try and finish this one. The animation is decent (though sometimes limited), and the storytelling goes back and forth between being rushed or needlessly prolonged, but I’m enjoying it. The story feels like Walking Dead (as mentioned before) meets War of the Gargantuas (HELL YES), and I’m curious as to where it goes.
|
|
|
Post by Mod City on May 3, 2019 10:33:02 GMT -5
I'll watch for anything I'm caught up on in this thread, Torgo. And since I haven't seen any of Attack on Titan, though I've heard it has many fans, I'll not look too closely at that one And geez, aren't you busy enough the way it is around here?
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 3, 2019 12:11:58 GMT -5
Not having to watch a Marvel movie every day for three weeks does wonders for my free time.
Most of this stuff I watch during my lunch at work. And the stuff I really like I'll jam out while I'm at home before I go to bed. I'm planning on Westworld Season 2 and Better Call Saul Season 4 this month. I'm waiting for a friend before I get started on Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 and the new Twilight Zone.
And a lot of the time I have classic sitcoms to help me relax. I might run through I Love Lucy or Three's Company in the near future.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 15, 2019 0:31:51 GMT -5
Westworld
Season 2 - Part 1
Journey into Night - In the aftermath the previous seasons massacre, the hosts rebel and the guests are slaughtered. Survivors. including Bernard, Charlotte, and William, are left to fend for themselves and survive out in the park. Meanwhile, Maeve journeys into the park to find a daughter she had from a previous program, with Lee and Hector by her side.
Reunion - Delores reveals to Teddy what he really is, and recruits the Confederados as an army to her cause. William finds Lawrence again on his quest to complete Ford's new game for him.
Virtu e Fortuna - Bernard and Charlotte track down Peter Abernathy, who has been captured by Rebus and his gang of outlaws, and they construct a way of rescuing him. Even though Charlotte escapes, Bernard and Peter are confronted by Delores, who demands Peter be restored to the host programming of her father.
The Riddle of the Sphinx - Bernard is abandoned near a cave where he finds Elsie, who he had abducted on Ford's orders. Initially hostile toward him, Bernard and Elsie form an uneasy alliance as they explore a hidden bunker in the cave. Meanwhile, Laurence's hometown has been taken over by Major Craddock and the Confederados after abandoning Delores, and William helps him deal with the situation. In flashbacks, William attempts to implant his father-in-law's brain in a host's body in hopes achieve immortality.
I cancelled my Netflix, so the rest of Attack on Titan will have to wait. I'll likely resubscribe for a month when Lucifer pops up in a few weeks. Meanwhile I wanted to get caught up on Westworld, of which the first season was one of my favorite TV shows of the last few years. I had initially hoped to catch up when the series first hit 4K, but a friend of mine wanted to watch it with me...but she has kids, so I put it off forever. Now I'm leaving her in the dust. I'm saving Star Trek: Discovery for her anyway.
My main concern with Westworld has always been how they were going to sustain the longevity of the premise. I love the original movie, but I never thought "This would make a great TV show" while watching it. The first season impressed me on making it work, but the acceleration of the premise straight to the host's revolt seems like jumping the gun. It's very possible that Westworld could have lasted a few filler seasons without getting things too extreme this early on. There are so many narrative scenarios in the park itself that it's almost disappointing to not explore them. The major downside to that is that if the park is functioning properly, then there is no danger to the guests, and the tension can deflate. Season one worked in spite of that, but there was no guarantee it could be sustained.
I've also been concerned that the series would fall into the overly serialized format, in which episodes don't really stand on themselves and just sit there, waiting to end so they can get to the next, without doing anything interesting in particular in the meantime. In the episode Reunion I started to fear for Westworld a bit, because it has all of the signs of this in a nutshell. The episodes is a lot of thematic talk, as Delores monologues about how she can "see," which is a monologue she's been stating too many times so far this season. It's probably the worst episode of the series so far, because very little happens other than setting up bowling pins to be knocked down and it's so damn boring. Episodes like this are why I grow irritated at serialized television.
The next two episodes are a bit spicier, which renewed my interest in the series. This was the Westworld I loved, with the journey into the unknown and the ambiguous and interchangeable heroes and villains. I was also pleasantly surprised that Elsie was still alive, mostly because the actress is hot, but still. I had assumed Bernard killed her the previous season, because it seemed like the reasonable assumption at the time, even though there was never a body. But that makes me curious about why Ford spared Elsie and yet had Bernard kill Theresa so violently. But knowing television, I'm willing to bet that this is never mentioned and we're just supposed to accept that this is the way it happened.
Like season one, I'm intrigued and hooked. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch another episode.
|
|
|
Post by Afgncaap5 on May 15, 2019 2:35:15 GMT -5
Nice... I've wanted to watch Westworld, but just... don't have the channel that offers it.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 15, 2019 10:28:21 GMT -5
Nice... I've wanted to watch Westworld, but just... don't have the channel that offers it. I don't have HBO either. I blind bought the first season on 4K because I'm a Michael Crichton nerd, and I love the movie. But when I went down the rabbit hole with the series, I was floored by it. It's such a great show. Ed Harris in particular is fantastic on it, and Evan Rachel Wood has to play so many different roles on this show that one can't be helped but be impressed by how she's one hell of an actress. I think HBO Go has a paid subscription option, though I could be wrong (never tried it, because I'd only have it for Westworld if I did). Or you can always rent the first few episodes on Vudu. That's of course if you have extra streaming cash.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 15, 2019 10:46:59 GMT -5
And I just feel like saying that I live for this opening credit sequence. As far as I'm concerned it's one of the greatest of all time.
|
|
|
Post by Afgncaap5 on May 20, 2019 22:28:50 GMT -5
Fascinating intro, that. I don't know that it's something I'd like to watch regularly, but I could see getting really hyped about it with repeated viewings.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 23, 2019 20:23:46 GMT -5
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons"
Henry's Farewell - Louise frets that George won't let Henry throw his farewell party at the Jefferson's house, causing Edith to propose that they throw it at the Bunker household, but she does so without asking Archie.
A Friend in Need - George and Louise argue over hiring a maid.
Long before Marvel had their Cinematic Universe, Norman Lear had his television universe. These shows were shepherded by All in the Family, one of the most groundbreaking sitcoms of all-time, which eventually spun off The Jeffersons, which was probably the longest running spin-off in television history until The Simpsons toppled it (yes, The Simpsons is technically a spin-off, don't @ me, bro). Other shows included breakout hits like Maude, Good Times, and Archie Bunker's Place, as well as one-season wonders called Checking In, Gloria, and 704 Hauser. To my knowledge, the only show that rivaled All in the Family in branching spin-offs was Happy Days, though The Mary Tyler Moore Show had it's fair share too.
When this live performance recreation of episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons was announced, I don't recall much of a reaction from myself. If anything, I remember being impressed with the cast it assembled and saying "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmn." All in the Family and The Jeffersons are near and dear to my heart, but recreating them didn't bother me that much. After all, All in the Family is technically a remake itself, having evolved from its British counterpart Till Death Us Do Part. Maybe I had that thought in the back of my head that went along the lines of "Why not just re-air the original episodes?" But re-enacting it might erase that "Old shows are stupid" stigma and attract new viewers who are there to see some of their favorite stars, then might get them curious about the show they're performing, creating new fans of that series.
And believe me, after twelve goddamn years of The Big Bang Theory, it's great to see something at least resembling All in the Family on television.
I probably did something I shouldn't have before watching this live performance and dug out my old DVDs of All in the Family and The Jeffersons, and rewatched the episodes that were being re-created. The All in the Family episode of "Henry's Farewell" is the sixth episode of the fourth season, and it's probably most noteworthy as the first episode featuring Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson. It is really, really funny, though it's likely not the most biting episode of the series. But I imagine they probably wanted the Jeffersons to be the anchor between the two performances, so as far as picking an episode, it's not a bad choice. The Jeffersons episode "A Friend in Need" is the very first episode of the series, and it's a bit middling. The All in the Family episode had the advantage of picking a script from when the show was in full swing, but this one is the jumping off point for The Jeffersons, before it really formed into itself. I'm not a fan of the episode choice here, but there are a few laughs.
Since a lot of this is dated material, different things get different reactions from both audiences of either era. For example, Gloria's big feminist moment about female oppression hardly registers in the original episode, but in the re-created version the women in the audience go nuts. Meanwhile, more then-current references in the original play like gangbusters there while flying right over the remake audience's head. Sometimes it's risky, but it amazes me a bit just how relevant All in the Family and The Jefferson's political humor still hold up today. That said, there are some botched jokes, particularly in the Jeffersons segment. One of the biggest laughs in the original episode is the moment where Jenny comes out of Lionel's room wearing a blanket, presumably nude underneath, but whips it off revealing she's fully dressed. In the live version, the camera cuts away from her in the wrong moment and we completely miss the joke. But the audience doesn't laugh either, so there moment was probably botched on-set too.
As for the cast, some links are stronger than others. The big worries in re-creating these shows is the daunting task of re-creating Archie, Edith, and George. Most of the supporting roles, such as Gloria and Mike, can be played straight, but those three are large personalities that are defined by the performances of the actors that portray them. Woody Harrelson initially got me excited as the updated Archie, but unfortunately he's the weakest link. He tries to imitate Carroll O'Connor too much, and oddly enough in doing so he comes off closer to Al Bundy than Archie Bunker. That said, I absolutely adored Marisa Tomei as Edith. She doesn't make the same mistake Harrelson did and decides to do her own Edith, meanwhile echoing and honoring Jean Stapleton instead of impersonating her. Then we have Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson, who falls somewhere in the middle. I'm impressed on how much Foxx could get Sherman Hemsley's voice down pat, but when he tries to recreate Hemsley's mannerisms he begins to feel very staged. Plus, since Foxx is much taller than Hemsley, a few of the short jokes at his expense fall flat. Jamie Foxx is fun as George, but he's no Sherman Hemsley, that's for damn sure.
The supporting cast has their pros and cons. Wanda Sykes is mostly restrained as Louise, and because of that she's plays it pretty perfect for the role, however with the scripts she's given she never has a full blown Weezey vs. George moment in the entire thing, which I think she would have been great at. Anthony Anderson and Ellie Kemper both are pretty well cast as Henry and Gloria, and I have no real problems with either. Kerry Washington does okay as Helen Willis, as she has a few shining moments while in other moments it feels like she's rushing through her lines. More problematic members of the cast include Ike Barinholtz as Mike, who is very stiff and just feels like he's stating lines without playing the part. Then there is Will Farrell as Tom Willis, who just plays the role as Will Farrell. He's like an animated caricature thrown into this thing without warning and he really takes away from every scene he's in.
Two pleasant surprises of the night: The Jeffersons' maid, Florence, was played by Marla Gibbs, who played her in the original Jeffersons show. Also, the Jeffersons' theme song "Movin' On Up" is performed by Jennifer Hudson, who gives it the gusto it deserves.
One last minor note, it was surprising to hear the "N-word" used freely in the episode of The Jeffersons in its original broadcast version, even though it's bleeped in the live performance. I'm glad it wasn't shied away from completely, though it's interesting to note just how daring these shows were that aspects of them, no matter the relevant context, would be censored today.
I thought it was a fun experiment. Does it replace the original shows? Absolutely not. There is no doubt in my mind the original presentations are the better versions of this material. But I hope it got enough people curious about those original versions as well. Maybe they'd consider doing recreations of other shows as well, which I wouldn't be against, though it's hard to top powerhouses like All in the Family and The Jeffersons.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 26, 2019 11:50:01 GMT -5
All in the Family
Original Pilots and Season 1 - Part 1
Justice For All - It's Archie and Edith's wedding anniversary (here, they have the last name of Justice instead of Bunker), and their daughter Gloria (played by Kelly Jean Peters) and her husband Richard (played by Tim McIntire) throw them a party. But their get-together becomes heated once Archie and Richard debate Archie's conservative political views and bigoted racial outlook.
Those Were the Days - This second pilot uses the exact same script, with different actors for Gloria (Candy Azzara) and Richard (Chip Oliver).
Meet the Bunkers - The premiere episode of the series uses the same script once again, except Archie and Edith are now the Bunkers and Richard has been renamed to Mike. Mike is now played by Rob Reiner and Gloria is now Sally Struthers.
Writing the President - Archie and Mike argue about a letter Mike wrote to President Richard Nixon about his concerns for the country. Archie retaliates by writing his own letter to the President complimenting him.
Oh, My Aching Back - Archie hurts his back after getting into an accident with his cab. He then tries to get a payout in a lawsuit, but insists on a Jewish lawyer.
Well, I just had to watch All in the Family after that Live show and going through the trouble of digging out my box sets of two of the greatest shows of all time (eventually I'll get Shout Factory's complete set of Maude to compliment them). This was just science. Westworld can wait.
Plus it's been a rough week and I just needed to laugh.
Apparently CBS had timidness about putting the pilot script into a series, and probably rightfully so. Shows about political clash is an easy way to spark outrage, especially in a left-leaning show made during Richard Nixon's America. But in the end, I'm thankful they filmed the pilot three times, because they just couldn't nail the actors playing Gloria and Richard/Mike. While Tim McIntire, who played Richard in the original pilot, wasn't terrible, there just wasn't any chemistry being displayed by the actors. Then Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers came along and the show just clicked into place (I also think recasting Lionel with Mike Evans was a positive). Caroll O'Conner and Jean Stapleton were the the constants between all three pilot episodes, because it was clear they were the two things about the whole ordeal that were going above and beyond. The pilot episodes are funny because O'Conner and Stapleton are funny. But there are certain interactions between the characters that don't work until they're playing off of Reiner and Struthers. These four are a dream team.
Like most first seasons, there are some growing pains, but All in the Family is hilarious, even in these early days. The characters are all fully formed from frame one and it's just comforting that the actors all know exactly who they're playing. The characterizations don't change much over the course of the series, though Archie does tend to get softer by the time Archie Bunker's Place rolls around. Seeing such assurance straight from the inception just confirms that All in the Family is an all-time classic.
|
|
|
Post by crowschmo on May 26, 2019 15:46:14 GMT -5
I wasn't crazy about Woody Harrelson as Archie in the re-enactment. He's a good actor, but as Archie it just didn't work for me. A lot of what made these shows great when they first aired still works today, but, of course, there's a lot of dated-ness as well. There were quite a few characters in The Jeffersons that were just too over-the-top - Mr. Bentley, and the overly broad way Tom and Helen acted about EVERYTHING. (I'm talking about the original shows here, so, naturally, the re-enactment makes it even more obvious and cartoonish [buffoonish?]). I had to fast forward through Jennifer Hudson's rendition of "Movin' On Up". Ugh. I really liked Jamie Foxx as George, though, as you've said, he was too tall. I didn't have a problem with Ike Barinholz as Mike, I thought he did good. Will Farrell is horrible in everything, he's just a lump of Will Farrell-ness in everything he's in. How does he keep working? I don't think Marla Gibbs was announced as playing Florence, was she? I didn't notice her name in the credits before the show started, I think they saved that for a nice surprise, but it could be that I just missed it. I liked how they got her old pal Jackee Harry from 227 to play Diane. Another nice touch. Jamie Foxx got a chuckle from me when he messed up his line in the All in the Family ep, and said, "This is live, folks." I enjoyed everything overall, but with today's actors, and in today's world, of course, it all just doesn't have the same feel. It's too "caricaturish" (is that a word? ). If any other re-enactments are done, I'd like to see The Brady Bunch (that would DEFINITELY be just for giggles), Family Ties (no kid is going to have the comedic timing of Michael J. Fox), and maybe some other Lear shows - Maude, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time (the original, I know there's a reboot).
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 26, 2019 18:22:00 GMT -5
I think The Brady Bunch Movie is enough of a re-enactment for me, since they recycled a lot. Lol. That reminds me that they have that Brady box set that includes the movies, The Brady Brides, and The Bradies coming out. I really need to pick that up.
It might be fun to see a Live version of Three's Company, that is if they can find somebody as smoothly physical as John Ritter to play Jack. Maybe an I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners double slam? I'd also like Gilligan's Island just to see who they'd cast, though it might be tough to pull off.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on May 27, 2019 22:15:33 GMT -5
The Jeffersons
Season 1 - Part 1
A Friend in Need - George and Louise argue over hiring a maid.
Louise Feels Useless - Louise feels as if she has nothing to do with her spare time, so she decides to take a job, unknowingly for George's rival dry cleaning company.
George's Family Tree - George becomes insufferable after he learns that his lineage is from an African king. Louise and Lionel try to deflate his ego by discovering more to his history.
Lionel, the Playboy - Lionel begins a carefree, partying lifestyle and considers dropping out of school. After arguing about his future, Louise hits Lionel, causing him to disappear from home entirely.
Mr. Piano Man - George intends to use a tenant protest meeting to rub elbows with a rich and powerful banker that lives in the building, and has bought a piano to for the apartment to help impress his neighbors. But the piano tends to be more trouble than it is worth.
Of course I switched up to The Jeffersons. How could I not?
When I was a kid I liked The Jeffersons more than All in the Family, mostly because the politics of the latter flew over my head (The Jeffersons could get political, but not quite as often) and that show was much more aggressive in its presentation, causing a slight sense of uneasiness in watching it. I grew more appreciative of it as I matured, but The Jeffersons is one that I loved from the start and used to watch all the time. If it were a Nick at Nite marathon of The Jeffersons, this guy was staying up late. As an adult, I'm probably going to lean more toward All in the Family, because it's humor is funnier once you're more emotionally invested in what each episode is about.
The Jeffersons was important in its own right. Norman Lear recalled the series was mostly a reaction to the success of Good Times and a certain criticism of the show which asked why there were no upper class shows with black families. I don't want to speak about a history of African American success stories and/or hardship, because that's beyond my knowledge, but almost all black related media at the time was middle to lower class. But I think we should all be thankful that we left the days of Amos 'n' Andy behind. The Jeffersons was an African American success story, where that theme song of "Movin' On Up" was more than a catchy beat talking about working for your fair share, but also symbolic that society was getting to a point where this minority group could potentially be in a setting like this, even if the race-pushback from "the man" was very real.
That said, these early episode of The Jeffersons just aren't as funny as those early episode of All in the Family. The Jeffersons in general is an "Oh, what kind of craziness is that wacky George Jefferson going to get into this time!" type of show, while All in the Family centered a bit more on character conflict. Probably the best episode of this bunch is Lionel, the Playboy, which is a character conflict episode about Lionel considering dropping out of school, and the aftershock of him relating this to his parents. In general, it seems the writing is a little sharper in this episode, and the jokes land more often, but the character drama helps it win out in the end.
But The Jeffersons lasted eleven seasons, two more than All in the Family did (though All in the Family wins out if you consider Archie Bunker's Place an All in the Family continuation), so there are plenty of episodes to go. The Jeffersons struck a chord, and it's a wonderful series that I look forward to revisiting.
|
|
Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
|
Post by Torgo on Jun 25, 2019 0:29:48 GMT -5
Power Rangers: HyperforcePart 1 Welcome to Time Force Academy - A Power Rangers series told entirely via tabletop RPG, Jen Scotts, the Time Force Pink Ranger (Erin Cahill, reprising her role), lectures cadets training to become Time Force officers in the year 3016. Meanwhile, a new enemy called the Alliance attacks the school and has infiltrated the Time Force itself. It's Morphin Time! - Freshly bestowed the Hyperforce Ranger powers by Jen, cadets Marv, Vesper, Eddie, and Chloe, veteran Time Force officer Jack, and android Alpha 55 travel to 1994 Angel Grove in pursuit of the stolen time vehicle. They first arrive on Halloween night, and explore this strange time on this strange evening. The Alliance then attacks them with a monster made out of candy corn. Whatever Happened to Scorpina? - After their last encounter leaves Jack near death, the Rangers decide to train to gain more experience with their powers. Later, the Rangers begin to suspect the Alliance may be interested in recruiting former minion of Rita Repulsa, Scorpina. They then seek out Scorpina at the Angel Grove library, where they encounter not only her, but monsters made out of library books. Aisha Campbell Returns! - Zordon agrees to help the Hyperforce Rangers by sending them a member of his Ranger team, Aisha Campbell, the second Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger. (Karen Ashley, reprising her role). Together they seek out Rita Repulsa's former monster maker Finster, who they fear is also being recruited by the Alliance. They track Finster to Italy, where they try to persuade him against joining the Alliance. Yes, this is a thing that exists. You're welcome for bringing it to your attention, by the way. It's like the powers that be decided Power Rangers wasn't nerdy enough, so they decided to rectify that immediately by turning it into an RPG series on Twitch. I won't lie, I'm a bit of a Toku nerd. Growing up Godzilla, there is no way I wasn't going to be one, and of course I loved Power Rangers when it first debuted. I grew away from the franchise as I grew older, but after the show was "cancelled" after season 17 (RPM) I started getting "into" it again. Not the same way I was into it as a kid, but I started seeing it for what it was, and I found that camp appeal infused with that Toku footage a bit charming as an adult. And to be honest, I find the franchise fascinating. It's a franchise that was built around the footage of a different franchise from another country (Super Sentai, which I treasure) and turned into something that's both exactly the same and completely different at the same time. The result is this bizarrely stupid Frankenstein monster of a TV show that somehow lumbered to nearly 30 seasons, and is constantly reinventing itself each year. As a result to that latter aspect, different kids of different generations have their Rangers, and grow into their fondness for the series based on that. And throughout these years, the people who have been involved with this franchise, who probably should have been embarrassed by it, actually embraced it and support the affection for this series. Granted, this last point is likely because those actors and actresses likely haven't gone on to much in their acting career since then (the most successful Rangers to actor transition at this point is probably Rose McIver, who currently stars on iZombie on the CW), so it's likely they're just playing up what little fame they have. But whatever the case may be, I could watch this nutty stuff all day. Hell, at some point in the future I might just fill this thing out with a bunch of Super Sentai and Power Ranger seasons just because I can and you're not stopping me. In the meantime I gave this thing a peek. I think Hyperforce first came to my attention because I watch Andre Meadow's content on YouTube and he did a video on how he got cast as the Blue Ranger a while back. Knowing he was a Ranger fan, I felt happy for him, though I didn't really know what this "Hyperforce" thing was. It turned out it was a tabletop RPG that he played with a group of other "Rangers," and they made their way through an original Power Rangers storyline. I've never played RPGs so I never looked too deeply into it. Until this week, that is. Here's the thing, to unwind when I'm stressed I watch gaming content on YouTube because it's low demanding and eases my tensions, with go-tos usually being Cinemassacre or Mr. Sunday's Caravan of Garbage. Having watched a lot of that content, I thought of venturing into uncharted waters and I remembered this RPG thing existed and thought I'd check it out and see if it was anything interesting. It did serve that unwinding purpose, but it's an uneven venture, to be honest. I looked at the length of the episodes and balked at that two-and-a-half hour runtime for each, and was tempted to go NOPE and just back out of there. But I decided to just dip my toe in just to see what was in store. The thing I noticed about RPGs based off of this is that they seem more fun to play than they are to watch. Twenty minutes of a Power Rangers episode is a breeze for me, but having the same amount of story stretched to nearly three hours of endless description and dice rolling can be a bit cumbersome. The Game Master of the series, a lady by the name of Malika Lim, is adorable, but I sometimes yearned for her to be more engaging. When telling this story she uses a lot of words like "like" and "totally" while spacing her words when describing something because it feels like she's not sure what she's describing. At times it feels like the genesis of this project was her saying to her co-workers "Hey, I want to turn my Power Rangers fan fiction into an RPG and do a live reading of it! What do you think?" Because she's cute they say yes, but you can just feel them biting their tongues every time she does her Alpha impression and thinking to themselves "Why TF did we agree to this?" If there is going to be one saving grace of viewing an RPG like this, it would be the charisma of the players. I was already familiar with Andre, who plays Eddie, the Blue Ranger, but I wasn't sure who else was playing. My first glimpse showed a conventionally good looking dude, two hot chicks, and a large guy who was obviously much older than them. When the older gentleman started speaking I started to feel a familiarity with him, and soon I realized it was Paul Schrier, who is the longest serving actor on the Power Rangers franchise, having played the comic relief character of Bulk over nine seasons of the series (Mighty Morphin through Lost Galaxy, as well as both seasons of Samurai). I was happy that he actually got a chance to play a Ranger, though it's slightly funny that his character is much more stoic than his Bulk character, which I'm still trying to get used to. I wasn't familiar with the other three, though Peter Sudarso, who plays Marv the Red Ranger, apparently played the Blue Ranger on Ninja Steel (which I haven't seen). The ladies of the group are Cristina Vee, who is a voice actress, and Meghan Camarena, who is a YouTuber like Andre. But regardless of how familiar I am with these people, which I am not, they're very fun together, and I kept watching because they started playing off each other in a very entertaining way. Cristina, who plays Vesper the Black Ranger, is the most fun, as some of the most laugh out loud moments of the four episodes came from her. I don't care if you hate Power Rangers or RPGs, her description of trying to castrate a candy corn monster in episode two (and trying to keep it as PG as possible) is fall on the ground hysterical. And I rewound her great line in episode four of "If you don't make sure everybody is safe, I will make sure that you are not safe" over again because I was laughing so hard. Andre and Meghan are very enjoyable as well, as they play up some adorkable akwardness with their characters. Andre attempts to fight candy with pineapple smoothies and screams out "THE JUICE IS LOOSE," which reminded me of how charming I find his content. Meghan also has a fondness for raining fire from rainbows in episode three, which got a huge laugh from me. Paul and Peter lag a bit behind for me, since they're more straightfoward with their gameplay and they're less creative (they usually fall back on rushing attacks). Like an actual RPG, you have to let your imagination do the work, though since I'm not too familiar with the format, sometimes I find myself a little lost. Ultimately, all of this feels like people reading a Power Rangers script and improvising the dialogue (which sometimes pays off and sometimes doesn't). But it's hard to get too wrapped up in the gameplay because it feels like they're more interested in building a narrative than actually playing a game. It never feels like any of the players are going to lose their character because it feels like the story the Game Master wants to tell requires them all to survive each round. That takes a little bit of the wind out of it for me. I don't know where Hyperforce came from, though I think it's considered "official" Power Rangers because it seems to be in association with Saban Brands (which since the filming of this has sold Power Rangers to Hasbro). I suspect this might have been an advertisement for Ranger-themed RPG products, though I could be wrong about that. But whether this is "cannon" or not, it's hard to argue with it since have gone out of their way to create an official theme intro and morph sequence for the series. And they are both the most gloriously dorky thing I've ever seen. At any rate, I need a break. I'll probably watch some more of this during the week while I'm at lunch, but I've gotten through ten hours of this already and I'm a little exhausted with it. I need to get back to Westworld and get caught up with SHIELD, so one of those might be next. Or I could watch a lot of Power Rangers. Don't put it past me to just pop that crap in and spend weeks posting it. You think I'm joking, but I'm not.
|
|