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TV & Movies

You are here: Home / Archives for TV & Movies

Medium Cool – Fictional Dads Fictional Characters

by WaterGirl|  June 15, 20257:00 pm| 73 Comments

This post is in: Books, Medium Cool, Music, Open Threads, Popular Culture, TV & Movies, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Auto Draft 21
To Kill A Mockingbird

If you could have a fictional character as your dad, or be a dad like a fictional character, who would you choose?

You know what, let’s not leave that gender specific – let’s go with parent so everyone can play.  And let’s widen it a bit.  Okay, a lot.  Spouse, friend, sister, brother, boss, employee.  What characters are the aspirational you or others in your life?

Books, TV, movies, opera, music – anything related to culture is fair game.

Medium Cool – <s>Fictional Dads</s> Fictional CharactersPost + Comments (73)

Medium Cool – Rate the Shows!

by WaterGirl|  June 1, 20257:00 pm| 158 Comments

This post is in: Medium Cool, TV & Movies

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Medium Cool Free-for-All about the shows we’ve been watching.

Tonight, there’s a twist.  Don’t just tell us what you’ve been watching.  Please tell us more than that!

  • what you’ve been watching
  • the premise of the show
  • where it’s streaming (or at the library)
  • favorite or worst thing about the show
  • any favorite actors that are in the shows
  • anything else you want
  • be sure to rate the show in whatever fashion strikes your fancy

Is it a 5 cookie show?

5 giraffes on a scale of 5?

On The Road - lashoharangue - Botswana - Makgadikgadi Pans National Park 2
Image by lashoharangue (4/1/25)

Or perhaps less than one cookie?  (But on what scale?)

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

 

Medium Cool – Rate the Shows!Post + Comments (158)

Medium Cool – Holidays, Songs and Movies Story-Telling Free-for-All

by WaterGirl|  April 20, 20257:00 pm| 109 Comments

This post is in: Medium Cool, Music, Popular Culture, TV & Movies, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Tonight can we talk about songs and movies that are holiday-related?

When I say holiday-related, I mean that in the loosest possible way.  I mean, even 6-degrees of separation from holidays works.  Heard this song or saw this movie on your birthday one year?  This movie you saw on an airplane 5 years ago had a scene that reminded you of a Christmas party you went to 10 years ago?  That counts, too.

The holidays don’t even have to be anything anyone else celebrates.  If your grandparents were from Germany and their family tradition was to have a picnic on the 3rd Sunday in June every year, that counts.  That kid you gave a paper valentine to in 2nd grade turned out to be a roadie for some band we’ve never heard of?  That works.

You watched the movie Harvey with your dad one year, Harvey is a bunny, and bunnies make you think of Easter, close enough for me!

Just tell us your stories!  Bonus point if you share how you are connecting that thing with a holiday.

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

 

Medium Cool – Holidays, Songs and Movies Story-Telling Free-for-AllPost + Comments (109)

Death & Taxes (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  April 14, 20253:21 pm| 204 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, TV & Movies, The Horrors

During the wee hours last night, I nodded off on the couch while watching the season finale of “The Pitt,” a medical drama starring actor Noah Wyle that is set in a Pittsburgh emergency room. It premiered on Max this year.

Screen shot of actor Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. Robinavitch on The Pitt

My falling asleep is no knock on the show — it’s pretty good. I was just really tired.

But a couple of hours later, one of the dogs’ nostril hair-singeing farts jolted me awake, and I found that our streaming service had moved on without me and was now showing the first season of “ER,” a medical drama featuring Noah Wyle that debuted in 1994.

Actor Noah Wyle as Dr. Carter on ER.

It was like falling through a crack in the space-time continuum.

***

Last year, I did our taxes not long after being sprung from the hospital for the first time. I remember thinking, “Maybe I’ll be dead this time next year, and I won’t have to ever do our taxes again.” (Always looking for a silver lining.)

Well, the joke’s on me, but I got them filed on time again. Glad that’s out of the way. And as terrible as everything is right now, what with all The Horrors, I’m  still grateful to be alive, taxes be damned. Thanks, science!

Open thread.

Death & Taxes (Open Thread)Post + Comments (204)

Which Medium Cool – Which Was Better? – Remake or Original? Original Series or Followup?

by WaterGirl|  March 30, 20257:00 pm| 188 Comments

This post is in: Medium Cool, TV & Movies, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

This is the second in a series of Which was Better Medium Cool posts.  Today we’ll cover two topics that are close enough to cover together.

Wait, what?  This is the last season of Bosch: Legacy.  I am really sad about that.

Which was better?

The original or the follow-up series?  (e.g. Leverage vs. Leverage: Redemption, Bosch vs. Bosch: Legacy)

The remake or the original?  (e.g. The Parent Trap, Little Women)

Do me a favor and don’t veer too far off to other culture-related things or you’ll mess up the plan for next week. :-)

For those who are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

Which Medium Cool – Which Was Better? – Remake or Original? Original Series or Followup?Post + Comments (188)

Medium Cool – Which Was Better? – The Movie or the Book?

by WaterGirl|  March 23, 20257:00 pm| 238 Comments

This post is in: Books, Medium Cool, Open Threads, Popular Culture, TV & Movies, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Medium Cool – I Would Like to Meet Chief Inspector Gamache

Which was better?   The movie or the book?  (e.g. Three Pines, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice)

If this goes well, we will have a short series of “Which is Better?  Medium Cool posts.

So please don’t veer off into “which was better?” for other culture-related things or you’ll mess up my whole plan. :-)

P.S.  I miss Inspector Gamache!

For those who are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

Medium Cool – Which Was Better? – The Movie or the Book?Post + Comments (238)

Medium Cool – A Serious Discussion about Comedies!

by WaterGirl|  March 16, 20257:00 pm| 264 Comments

This post is in: Medium Cool, Popular Culture, TV & Movies, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

I’m not sure we’ve ever talked comedies on Medium Cool.  Have we?  Shrug.  Even if we have, who cares, let’s do it again.

The idea came from deadwood dexwood in last week’s post, and his comment may or may not have been intended as a joke.  Either way, it was a great idea.  Comedies.  High brow, low brow.  Serious conversation, or silly.

As I was checking out various clips from Airplane, I snorted twice in the first minute of the Airplane clip above – so I figured that must be the right choice.

I hope this makes up for last week’s post!

For those who are new to Medium Cool, this is not an open thread.

Medium Cool – A Serious Discussion about Comedies!Post + Comments (264)

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