krow Posted September 14, 2016 Report Share Posted September 14, 2016 just finished depressing thai-swedish drama "30 degrees in february" and am scoping about for a new foreign show because, like you, i'm a giant dork and enjoy subtitles (classy). "alpine house" is an estonian (lol i know, i know) drama centering on the world of sports doping. here's the theeurotvplace.com description. Quote This ripped-from-the-headlines, five-part drama centers on the political corruption and human greed that enable sports doping. The story begins with the Estonian women’s swimming team being stripped of their Olympic medals after their doping is exposed. Public Relations expert Martin Kütt (Ivo Uukkivi, Kelgukoerad) is called in to diffuse the situation, but new revelations threaten to escalate the scandal and bring down the government. Alpine House, which premiered in the US on Eurochannel, is now streaming on Amazon Video and Eurochannel’s Dailymotion channel. sounds good, but what if it sucks? that's why i want you to watch it for me and tell me if i should bother. i'd read reviews and such normally but i'd like to hear what olympic dorks think about it first and i don't know any bigger dorks than you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 and after all the favors i've done for you... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 Sorree ! Your original post was just a couple of minutes before another in the Off-Topic grouping from Tower Bridge Fox, so it got a bit buried. If I can get a decent non-buffering service from Amazon sometime this weekend (long-promised fibre broadband upgrade still not reached my street), I'll take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 A rainy Sunday evening turns out not to be a happy time for my so-called broadband. The set-up of the minute or so I saw before the stuttering became intolerable was intriguing- a hospital doctor phones a special number to report that an as-yet-unidentified patient is in a very bad way ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted September 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 i just worry the production values will be cheap and the acting will be too bad to watch. im going to watch it after I finish daredevil though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 Isn't there a reality show that is like 'Below Deck' but at a ski resort? is that any good? 'Apres Ski' I think...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 On 18/09/2016 at 10:58 PM, krow said: i just worry the production values will be cheap and the acting will be too bad to watch. im going to watch it after I finish daredevil though. I've now managed to watch the first episode in assorted bits, and I have no serious complaints. It's a nicely complicated political thriller, in which nobody over about the age of three is anywhere near innocent. There's at least one character I'm having trouble believing in, but she may be clarified in future instalments- at least one more of which I shall be watching (though it may take some time at the present rate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted September 28, 2016 Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 Tuesday seems to be my lucky night for bandwidth- and I belatedly realised that the central character looks like Bob Peck. Not only that, but some of the music has an Eric Clapton vibe. In short, this is turning into a sporting version of the original TV "Edge of Darkness"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted October 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 i appreciate it, but all i want to do now is watch british gameshows: weakest link, eggheads, pointless. i love how half the questions are about royal institutions in cambridge and i have no idea. but i must say you guys ask an awful lot of (easy) american history and politics questions and your contestants usually have no idea. i love pointless though. great show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 If you want to do your brain some serious damage, try the quiz-show "Only Connect". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted October 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 damn, that show is a nasty motherfucker. i only got one question right the entire game because it was a katy perry connection and, duh. i suspect i might have done a bit better had i spent more than four days of my life in the UK as most of the connections were very british. then again, maybe not. it's a hard show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 The good news is "College Bowl" is still running in the UK, under the title "University Challenge". Much more straightforward than "Only Connect". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted October 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2016 i checked it out and it didn't make me feel any better about my intelligence on anything other than scottish kings (i got all the q's right). college shows make me depressed whenever i get one wrong as it's been more than 8 years since i graduated. still, i watched about 6 only connects the other day and shockingly got a few of them and solved part of a wall because one of the lines was american cities and types of birds or something like that. anyway, after an exhaustive 2 weeks binging BBC gameshows i have some notes. mastermind is incredibly tedious and pointless. you get to pick your own category at first? i don't get what's so impressive about that. of course you can answer questions when you have time to study. it's called college and we all did it. the general knowledge round, more impressive but still boring ass show. as someone who knows apparently nothing about your culture, it's really weighted toward male achievement in sports, arts, TV and presenting, and politics. there are far fewer women contestants in every show and fewer questions about notable women. (i can pay attention to stats like these because i'm certainly not busy trying to answer the question) other than jeopardy, america does not have game shows on the same level as yours. thank god for jeopardy! i must say though, your millionaire was exactly on par with ours. it wasn't any more difficult. your weakest link was on par with ours as well, although since ours was primetime there was a lot more money at stake you have entire gameshows that go on for a whole season without giving away a cent (pence?) until the very end. that would never fly in america. (although we do have jeopardy tournament of champions but it only lasts 2 weeks so...) eggheads is amazing even though they set teams up to fail, which annoys me greatly. CJ de mooi or w/e, who you love to hate kind of like anne robinson, is possibly to be on trial for murder right now, no joke. i got over pointless, i got over weakest link, i got over only connect, and i'll probably get over university challenge pretty soon. i will never get over eggheads. i think i've seen 40 episodes at this point to where i'm shouting at the screen "no, don't take barry on politics!" i watch 2 episodes every night before bed. presenters: anne robinson: A; jeremy vine: B+; victoria mitchell: A-; alexander armsrtong: B- (richard: A); jeremy paxman: C+ (very dismissive to those 22 y.o.'s) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 15, 2016 Report Share Posted October 15, 2016 10 hours ago, krow said: i checked it out and it didn't make me feel any better about my intelligence on anything other than scottish kings (i got all the q's right). college shows make me depressed whenever i get one wrong as it's been more than 8 years since i graduated. still, i watched about 6 only connects the other day and shockingly got a few of them and solved part of a wall because one of the lines was american cities and types of birds or something like that. anyway, after an exhaustive 2 weeks binging BBC gameshows i have some notes. mastermind is incredibly tedious and pointless. you get to pick your own category at first? i don't get what's so impressive about that. of course you can answer questions when you have time to study. it's called college and we all did it. the general knowledge round, more impressive but still boring ass show. as someone who knows apparently nothing about your culture, it's really weighted toward male achievement in sports, arts, TV and presenting, and politics. there are far fewer women contestants in every show and fewer questions about notable women. (i can pay attention to stats like these because i'm certainly not busy trying to answer the question) other than jeopardy, america does not have game shows on the same level as yours. thank god for jeopardy! i must say though, your millionaire was exactly on par with ours. it wasn't any more difficult. your weakest link was on par with ours as well, although since ours was primetime there was a lot more money at stake you have entire gameshows that go on for a whole season without giving away a cent (pence?) until the very end. that would never fly in america. (although we do have jeopardy tournament of champions but it only lasts 2 weeks so...) eggheads is amazing even though they set teams up to fail, which annoys me greatly. CJ de mooi or w/e, who you love to hate kind of like anne robinson, is possibly to be on trial for murder right now, no joke. i got over pointless, i got over weakest link, i got over only connect, and i'll probably get over university challenge pretty soon. i will never get over eggheads. i think i've seen 40 episodes at this point to where i'm shouting at the screen "no, don't take barry on politics!" i watch 2 episodes every night before bed. presenters: anne robinson: A; jeremy vine: B+; victoria mitchell: A-; alexander armsrtong: B- (richard: A); jeremy paxman: C+ (very dismissive to those 22 y.o.'s) Pretty sound analysis there, although I think you're a bit unfair on Mastermind: to win the coveted elegant-but-inexpensive trophy, you need to master three specialist subjects, not too closely related. Also, just occasionally, people do find they're nowhere near as expert as they thought! The "more money at stake" for Weakest Link is not a daytime vs primetime thing, but a commercial vs BBC thing. Because the BBC is paid for by a tax, it cannot usually offer large prizes. Hence also the "season without giving away a cent" tendency. The thing about Paxman is that, until his recent retirement, he was a news anchor and political interviewer, famous for his harsh attitude to everybody. The first half of this 1997 clip is basically setup, but once he gets going .... Your claim about the lack of women is interesting; analysing a whole series of each show would possibly be valuable ! PS: Episodes 3 & 4 of "Alpine House" were a bit mid-series-ish, but we're starting to build up the corpse count, and adjust our ideas of "good" and "bad". PPS: A shiny new fibre cable distribution cabinet has appeared, less than 100 metres from my house. Maybe in a couple of years, somebody will come along and connect the lines. PPPS: Have you tried The Chase? PPPPS: Or Bullseye with Jim Bowen (best watched after several beers)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted October 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 from the interview: 1. what does "bawl out" mean? 2. does instruct mean "command"? wilde's quote about having everything in common with america except language (which i probably picked up from some game show over the past two weeks) rings especially true here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 4 hours ago, krow said: from the interview: 1. what does "bawl out" mean? 2. does instruct mean "command"? wilde's quote about having everything in common with america except language (which i probably picked up from some game show over the past two weeks) rings especially true here. "Bawl out" means something like "chastise in a voice loud enough to be heard in offices all the way along the corridor". "Instruct" does indeed mean "command" in this particular context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 AND ! Paxman's been tempted back into journalism- his analysis of "Trump vs Clinton: Divided America" is on BBC2 at 9pm tonight (Monday). We may be about to reach peak sarcasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 8 minutes ago, JMarkSnow2012 said: AND ! Paxman's been tempted back into journalism- his analysis of "Trump vs Clinton: Divided America" is on BBC2 at 9pm tonight (Monday). We may be about to reach peak sarcasm. Oops, sorry- BBC1, straight after the 2012 heroes' parade highlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 1 hour ago, JMarkSnow2012 said: AND ! Paxman's been tempted back into journalism- his analysis of "Trump vs Clinton: Divided America" is on BBC2 at 9pm tonight (Monday). We may be about to reach peak sarcasm. Former Sanders supporter: "I'm going to vote for Donald Trump" Paxman: "There's a term for people like you. It's 'Mad'." F S s: "... We're out of good options ..." A minute or two later, Paxman stands by H.L. Mencken's grave, and claims to hear the sound of spinning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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