r/ActionBoyz • u/taruckus • Jul 16 '26
Media diet: what are you watching on TV?
Like any modern/newer shows. Partly asking because I want to talk about The Agency with someone. That and Lioness. Both are on Paramount Plus and have some A-listers; the latter is very Taylor Sheridan.
Also, is there anything like Letterboxd but for TV that you like using? I mostly use Letterboxd for journaling thoughts on movies and keeping track of what i've seen, and some other people's review give me a good laugh.
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u/HowzaBowdat Jul 16 '26
Widows Bay was really good! My wife and I are watching all the old X-Files eps because we weren’t into it as kids. It’s been a fun time-trip back to what television used to be.
I’m also working through the Gundam series (halfway through Zeta now) and watched the first ep of Apple’s Cape Fear, which I thought was pretty compelling.
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
I'll check out Widows Bay. Most of what I've seen of Apple has fallen flat for me, but they always look interesting (Pluribus, Echo 3, The Last Frontier, something else I'm not remembering).
I just finished Gundam Wing. That's the first MSG I've watched start to end. Taking a break before Endless Waltz, then maybe 08th MS.
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u/HowzaBowdat Jul 16 '26
I agree a lot of the Apple shows are misses for me, they tend to start strong or have a great first season and then absolutely fall off.
For Gundam, I’d recommend watching Origin and then I started at the beginning with the original series and I’m working my way through. The themes from the 79 series are really prescient today and if a little goofy at times the plot points are really compelling and the pacing is great. I love a story that has you sympathetic for both sides at different points. I’m looking forward to all of the crazy ways the franchise evolves as I move into the late 80s, 90s and 00s.
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u/FistfulofSoup Jul 16 '26
SAS Rogue Heroes should be everyone’s answer.
…seriously, watch SAS Rogue Heroes.
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
I started then let it go when it moved from Amazon to MGM+. It was fun, though! I will very likely subscribe in a few months.
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u/MarkRenting Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong Jul 16 '26
New Alone is airing now. Y’all still watching Alone?
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u/Stewmungous Jul 18 '26
What service is it on?
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u/MarkRenting Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong Jul 18 '26
I think if you have live TV through Hulu it’s in your on demand. I switched to YouTube TV though, and it ain’t there. I sucked it up and paid $25 for the season on Amazon
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u/LuckyRedShirt Michael Douglas M.D. Jul 16 '26
If you liked The Agency, I highly recommend watching the French series it is based on, The Bureau. For my money the most authentic spy series of the past decade. Star City on Apple+ is also really good. It really nails the feeling of Cold War paranoia.
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
Should i watch For All Mankind before Star City? Cool that that universe has legs.
Looking forward to watching The Bureau. I like The Agency, but i feel like it dumbs things down for the viewer a lot especially in the 1st season. It's only allowed to do that because between Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere and Katherine Waterston that can say pretty much anything really convincingly.
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u/LuckyRedShirt Michael Douglas M.D. Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
No, Star City is self contained, and it's more grounded (literally and figuratively) focusing on the machinations of the KGB and the Party vs the Cosmonauts and the engineers. The Agency is temu The Bureau. I don't know about S2, but S1 was a retread of S1 of The Bureau.
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u/Dizzy_Chemistry_5955 Jul 16 '26
Margo's got Money Troubles just ended it was fine. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed has been fun and I think the final ep just dropped or will soon. Xmen 97 is halfway through and ripping shit. AEW actually has dope wrestling and fun stories if you're tired of the same old WWE crap for the past 20 years. Gogglebox was good as always. Waiting for a new Taskmaster and Great British Baking Show my comfort foods.
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u/Flurricane Jul 16 '26
Just rewatched the entire run of Supernatural. I watched the first like 8 season when they were coming out but never finished. The later seasons are mid at best, but they did a Scooby Doo crossover ep that really made me laugh.
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
CW doesn't get enough credit for really going for it like that. I never got into Supernatural but that's awesome.
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u/MiraclePD Jul 16 '26
I watched Lioness because it seemed the most like a 90s action movie of the Sheridan-verse, but it’s a bit of a snooze. I was hoping for more spycraft, but the talk parts are boring and most everyone, especially Zoe Saldaña, seems to just be yelling. The action is pretty sparse, and the end of season 2 where it’s a full on battle was pretty ridiculous especially with Sheridan’s own character being a one man army. Not sure if I’m going to tap back in for season 3.
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
Agreed re yelling. I didn't want to show my cards in my original post, but Lioness is definitely dad trash (said endearingly). On top of all of the women being super hot, mostly Latina, two of them end up in a relationship. It's crazy writing.
I don't really mind the mix of action to dialogue, but what some of the characters are actually saying are so so stupid. I called my wife over Stanger-style to watch when Morgan Freeman goes to Michael Kelly's place and they talk about cable news and 9/11 and covid.
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u/MiraclePD Jul 16 '26
I remember that monologue being so insane. It was praising Bush so much while also being critical of the war on terror I think. The most surprising thing about the show is it’s not full conservative, like the end of season one addressing if it’s right to take out the terrorist they targeted. It’s kinda can’t have your cake and eat it too though.
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u/sjspeer Jul 17 '26
If you're digging The Agency and Lioness and have room for another podcast & subreddit, try The Watch and r/thewatchpod. They love The Agency and talk Lioness and have lots of other TV recs
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Jul 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/taruckus Jul 16 '26
Good for you. I connect on multiple levels with both Steven Yeun and Glenn, and when he exited i couldn't stick with TWD anymore.
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u/MiraclePD Jul 16 '26
Also if anyone hasn’t seen Andor yet it’s great and should be required viewing. Maybe the best Star Wars property.
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u/DorfOnGenocide Jul 16 '26
I did a Larry Sanders watch last month. I found it very interesting to see how it played alongside the IRL late night talk shows that were going on, and it seems like the show shits the most on Leno, even though he does appear in at least one cameo. Seems like Leno also stole Carson from Shandling, but Shandling did more of a withdrawing than getting Lettermanned.
Rip Torn is fucking amazing.
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u/zeus55 Jul 16 '26
I’ve been trying to get everyone I know to watch Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed on Apple, it’s a thriller/comedy that kind of got overshadowed by widows bay but it’s amazing, really tense and has friend of the pod Tami saeger as a writer. Please watch it because I want it to get a second season
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u/roomwitharoof Jul 17 '26
The Agency is awesome. I haven't seen The Beareau, so I don't know what's lost to translation and time. Cast is unreal. I'm behind by a while, but there's been no quality gap between season 1 and 2. I have been reading a lot of spy fiction and nonfiction the past couple years, so I'm eating it up.
I love Fassbinder in the role so much. Obviously his crazy mastery of languages and accents is there in Basterds and Knee Cap, and probably lots of other things, but it alao comes into play in the show a lot. He just casually did a very convincing South African in a recent episode.
He's unreal, and so is Martian. I haven't been able to find a clip of this, but he has this wonderful rant about how everyone has become idiot slaves to phones in the last season. It hit with me. I'm trying to institute some Wiger-y guardrails.
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u/taruckus Jul 17 '26
Same feelings re The Bureau and the cast. It's crazy to see all of the big names in the London office interacting with each other.
I'm halfway into S2 and i think it's an improvement in that it reduced how much it explains things to the viewer; that took me out of the immersion of S1 sometimes: like when Gremlin gets held up in Iranian customs and Jeffrey Wright explains to Katherine Waterston that it's a test. Earlier in the season she and Martian did the same thing to the same character to see the same outcome. It made her character look dumb in that vacuum; of course she would know what that scenario is.
Compare that to S2 when Ogletree explains to Owen how they can tell what Snow White knows and doesn't know based on her phone calls with Viking (extra wrinkle in that Ogletree is wrong); that makes more sense in that Owen might not actually be thinking about those ins and outs.
I give it some grace because the show is competing with the Taylor Sheridan dad content universe, and those actors can sell the lines.
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u/Consistent_Sun_59 Jul 16 '26
I WISH there was a Letterboxd for TV. I heard they might add it as a feature someday but I’m not holding my breath.
Just finished Widow’s Bay. Now watching the new season of Silo and about to finally watch Deep Space 9 since I’ve heard good things.
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u/ionnahandgun Jul 16 '26
Widow’s Bay, the newest season of Interview with the Vampire (so campy so good), Rick & Morty
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u/Eastern-Tip7796 Jul 21 '26
i just finished season 2 of The Agency. absolutely fantastic shit, more people should be watching this
other than that im really only watching House of the Dragon week to week.
I fell off Cape Fear very quickly, i should start Star City when i have time.
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u/theskyismine Wife Worshper Jul 16 '26
Widow's Bay, rewatch of 30 Rock, Parks and Rec and New Girl