The Walking Dead is becoming a bit of an odd fish. I still watch it, and generally I’m liking the way they’re taking it and the characters, but there are a few things which recently have been annoying me about it.

The first is the shaky CGI. In the past, you could tell something was CGI because it just wasn’t natural. Hordes of walkers, for example, maybe crowds of people. You know they are not real because, well, the nature of the programme tells you that they are not. However, the CGI that is inserted into the scene seems real enough. It’s *there*. Shadows, light, enough cues for you to believe it. However, recently, the CGI is now more distracting than it is convincing. The deer in last night’s episode was very obviously CGI. There were tell-tale hints that it was not real - it glowed for a start. The perspective seemed a little off, and lighting/shadows were either completely wrong, or absent. The idea that the deer was really there was lost.

There have been other such problems with CGI. There were scenes in the new scrap yard group which suffered much the same - some dreadfully unconvincing CGI just dropped in. The one that really was bad was the overhead shots of people walking out of the scrap fortress, but there were others. The CGI tiger is also almost, but not quite, there - and that’s mostly indoors, so controlling the lighting in the CGI rendering should be easier.

The other things is a the oddly themed groups of people. When Rick and co moved to Alexandria, things seemed OK, but now we have a few communities of people who seemed themed to their surroundings. So we have the lot in the colonial mansion who seem to be living some kind of pre-Americal Civil War utopia (minus the slavery). The lot in the scrap yard - who all seem to be clothed accordingly. Ezekiel’s kingdom, complete with knights and serfs. The lot by the sea with their watery-themed shells decorations.

To me, these all feel clumsy, and remind a bit of a children’s TV series the BBC made called the Sparticle Mystery where all the adults vanished (due to some LHC type experiment going wrong), and a bunch of kids were travellinga round in a van finding various communities. Each community was themed in a way that kids would enjoy. So the lot on narrow boats were pirates, you had farmers in the farm, etc. etc.. You get the idea, and you expect a kid’s show to make these things uncomplex and obvious. The Walking Dead feels like it is doing the same, and how they are doing it makes it feel a little clumsy and not quite right. It may work in a comic book (I’ve not got that far along with those, sadly), bit on TV, it needs to be more subtle.

Syfy Renews ‘The Expanse’ For A Third Season!
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/03/17/sy ... rd-season/
...

FX Will Explore The Mind Of ‘Legion’ For A Second Season
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/03/16/fx ... nd-season/

Woot!

’12 Monkeys’ Gets A Season 3 Release Date And Is Picked Up For A 4th!
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/03/17/12 ... for-a-4th/

+1

Easily one of the best sci-fi shows in years.

+1 - although not seen series 2 yet

Stephen And Owen King’s ‘Sleeping Beauties’ Will Head To The Small Screen
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/06/st ... ll-screen/
...

‘The Purge’ To Become An Ongoing TV Series!
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/05/th ... tv-series/

That could work so much better than the sh1te films. Endless scenarios and soft reboots if needed, ignoring the run it into the ground schlock too. It could be their Walking Dead, frankly.
...

A New Teaser Is Out For ‘The Defenders’ Which Hints At A Release Date!
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/04/te ... ease-date/

After the three snoozefests that were Jones, Cage, and Fist, they're gonna need to add some serious humour. And they'd better not ruin Daredevil with any drawn out pish! They couldn't even decide what mood Iron Fist was in FFS

I disagree with you on all three counts there.
Yes, Iron Fist was the weakest of all the Netflix Marvel shows to date, but there was some excellent performances from some of the supporting cast, and in the end it was those characters that actually became the focus of the show.
You keep banging on about how Daredevil was the only good show, but for me Jessica Jones was head and shoulders the stand-out show.
Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, in that order.
In the end though, they are all coming together and at least with Danny Rand the only way is up for his character.

Mark

I actually would put Iron Fist as number two! And it's 'whatever gets us to the end of the episode' pish!

Daredevil
Iron Fist
Jessica Jones
Luke Cage

For me, every series could do with losing at least one episode and probably more - there's always scenes and scenarios that go on for no reason other than filling time. And that's brutal when the show's already determined to lay on the anguish. Even Daredevil was overloaded with unnecessary uber violence in the first few eps; it's literally amateur hour sometimes, and there's no excuse when you're talking about Marvel/Netflix.

The only acting I had a problem with in Fist were from Danny himself (beyond inconsistent because of the BS script), and Ward's dad chewing the scenery. Mind you, it didn't help that Ward looked a bit too old to be his son

If it hadn't been for the villains showing up, I'd have given up on Fist because I'd been burned twice before. I'd already sat through Jones and Cage hoping something truly interesting would happen after so much misery, or that there would be a crossover who wasn't just a minor supporting character. I mean, FFS, how over-used is Claire Temple? But no, wall to wall overstated anguish for 13 episodes. It's even worse when they mention 'the incident' because Avengers Assemble actually had some fun in it!

For the record, I think a lot of people are taking out pent up frustration on Iron Fist because of the previous shows. It's like they were afraid to criticise a show that's essentially about rape/PTSD or the black experience for want of much better terms. The message is useless and contrived if it's all stick and no carrot. This is a massive problem for Marvel across the board if you've seen the recent mainstream coverage.

Writers' Strike: Are US TV shows about to fall off air? - BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39513623

Lmao, that explains a lot re. Quantum of Bollocks.

Monkey is being rebooted.
I have the boxset of the original show on DVD - I got it as a present last Christmas.
There's 52 episodes in it (the final 13 weren't broadcast in the UK so there's no dubbing, just subtitles).
We are watching one episode a week - making the present last the whole year.

Mark

The X Files will return for another 10 episodes.

Mark

13 Reasons Why on Netflix

Watch it

A ‘King Kong Skull Island’ TV Series Which Has Nothing To Do With ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Is Coming
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/19/a- ... is-coming/

Greg Berlanti Resurrects The Live Action ‘Titans’ Series For Warner Bros.’ New Streaming Service
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/25/gr ... g-service/
...

Cutting The Power: Producer Confirms NBC Has Removed ‘Powerless’ From Its Schedule
http://sciencefiction.com/2017/04/25/cu ... -schedule/

Bloody hell. Haven't seen it, but possibly it was on the wrong network. It's certainly a cool idea.