IASIP

[Darren Dirt]

My brother and I binged in 2 weeks the first 7 seasons of Always Sunny after I found the DVD box sets cheap on eBay. But seems nobody wants to unload seasons 8+. 😥

So I am 10 seasons behind, YT keep suggesting clips that I can't resist... and thus I am considering getting a cheap promo month of Disney+ to binge 'em all.

Bad idea, or terrible idea?

[Lazybones]

We are subscribed to Prime Video (comes with amazon prime anyway), Netflix and Disney+. Disney owns so many things that there is a lot of content on Disney+.

[Darren Dirt]

Update: now confused about Disney+ :-(

How strange.

You cannot view this attachment.

[Lazybones]

Different services own different rights in different countries and it is even more complex if a show had different production / ownership during different seasons.

One workaround is a VPN services that lets you switch regions for different content.

We use Surfshark

[Mr. Analog]

I loooooove Always Sunny, it fits in well with my love of terrible people being hilarious (Bottom, Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, etc)

I can think of a third way to get the content you crave, but it involves silly hats and parrots...

[Thorin]

There's nothing wrong with subscribing to a streaming service to get the content you want on that service, to me that's a good idea (vs bad/terrible). If you find yourself not using it after that, just unsubscribe.

And if they're making it difficult for you to pay to get the content you want, silly hats and parrots it is.

[Darren Dirt]

I loooooove Always Sunny... I can think of a third way to get the content you crave, but it involves silly hats and parrots...

I don't speak that language. Ain't got time for that!

I do however speak USB stick. #lazy


As much as I love IASIP the $15-$25 per season to "own" a digital version of each season is ridic. That's why I had hoped all seasons would be on one streaming service -- nope, not in Canada :-(

PS: Apple TV 3 months free has been awesome so far, just finished For All Mankind, and before that really enjoyed Mythic Quest (way more satisfying deep emotional storytelling than I expected from "Mac")

[Thorin]

For All Mankind is fantastic!  I wasn't too sure about it in the first season, with it set in the 60s space race era, but it took an interesting turn. Then when season 2 and 3 each leaped basically a generation forward in time, I was hooked.

Season 4 starts up in November: https://thetvdb.com/series/for-all-mankind/seasons/official/4

If you're looking for another great sci-fi show on Apple TV, there's Foundation https://thetvdb.com/series/foundation-2021. It has a slow-burn start, but really great character development and world building. Cleon's Empire is formidable and truly evil.

[Mr. Analog]

I heard through the grapevine that the TV adaptation of Foundation was actually pretty far away from the books

But the grapevine consists of dusty nerds so who knows

[Thorin]

Yeah, the tv adaptation compared to the books is like a LaCroix flavour - barely detectable. But I like it despite it being so far from Asimov's trilogy, I judge it based on how much it entertains me, not on how closely it hews to books that have giant scenes described that would be nigh-impossible to show in a visual medium and still have them make sense.

[Mr. Analog]

Fair

[Darren Dirt]

For All Mankind is fantastic!  I wasn't too sure about it in the first season, with it set in the 60s space race era, but it took an interesting turn. Then when season 2 and 3 each leaped basically a generation forward in time, I was hooked.

Season 4 starts up in November: https://thetvdb.com/series/for-all-mankind/seasons/official/4

If you're looking for another great sci-fi show on Apple TV, there's Foundation https://thetvdb.com/series/foundation-2021. It has a slow-burn start, but really great character development and world building. Cleon's Empire is formidable and truly evil.

Foundation got my attention because of Lee Pace and Jared Harris, and beautiful 4K visuals.

Season 1 is lower rated than Season 2 apparently so I am going to kee grinding through, up to episode 4 so far and not hating it but not loving it; FAM definitely spoiled me for pacing and character development.

If Season 2 isn't fantastic then I'll blame you for the suggestion, T-Bone.

[Darren Dirt]

🤯 😎 OK Episode 5 was exactly what I was hoping for when I started watching Foundation! 🚀 🔥

[Melbosa]

I enjoyed Foundation Season 1. I am letting Season 2 build to finish before starting.

[Thorin]

I enjoyed Foundation Season 1. I am letting Season 2 build to finish before starting.

.. it finished two weeks ago

Glad to hear you guys are enjoying it. I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

[Darren Dirt]

I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

So does everyone, which is why I took the chance of a slow first season. Not ever show can be a Severance or The Expanse.

[Darren Dirt]

For All Mankind is fantastic!  I wasn't too sure about it in the first season, with it set in the 60s space race era, but it took an interesting turn. Then when season 2 and 3 each leaped basically a generation forward in time, I was hooked.

Hi, Bob. ●

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bob_Newhart_Show

● Fun Fact: He has outlived almost every other actor on TBNS!

[Melbosa]

I enjoyed Foundation Season 1. I am letting Season 2 build to finish before starting.

.. it finished two weeks ago

Glad to hear you guys are enjoying it. I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

So it has. Well guess I have something to watch now

[Darren Dirt]

Really loved the final 2 episodes of Season 1 of Foundation. Holy cow that "life sentence" punishment that Cleon gave, jaw meet floor. 🤯

Spoiler

https://www.reddit.com/r/FoundationTV/comments/r39300/empires_punishment_damn_show_spoilers/

Sooo brutal! Complete annihilation and then forever kept alive to remember the punishment -- what incomparable mental torture with no relief.

[close]

The teasers for S2 don't give away much plot but it looks pretty epic. I hope it doesn't get too focused on explosions and whatnot, S1 had a good balance between Ideas and Plot.

[Thorin]

I can tell you that I don't think it got too focused on explosions and whatnot. The only thing that threw me off a little was the large time jumps.

[Darren Dirt]

The teasers for S2 of Foundation don't give away much plot but it looks pretty epic. I hope it doesn't get too focused on explosions and whatnot, S1 had a good balance between Ideas and Plot.

It got better.

Episode 5 so far. 😎

[Darren Dirt]

Those final 2 episodes of Foundation S2 were incredibly fun and sarisfying. Grinned a lot in the final 10 minutes (that toast!)

With this, and before that Silo and Severance and Mythic Quest, and now the return of For All Mankind, this cynical old guy can say without reservation that seeing "AppleTV Original" makes me expect a solid storytelling experience.


BUT, yeah... no.
[pic related] 😱

[Mr. Analog]

Some great TV out there these days

[Thorin]

Thirteen bucks a month isn't exactly expensive, if it's providing a few hours of entertainment per week. Less than a movie ticket per month. What really sucks is that now there's 6 or 7 platforms that _each_ have a not-entirely-unreasonable price tag, but when you add them together you're back at $70+ per month just like we used to pay for cable.

I wasn't too sure about Silo at first. Especially when the people seemed to make really stupid decisions and choices in the first couple of episodes, and I thought, "Man, that's some lazy writing"... Only to find out it was _intentional_ and actually furthers the plot later on, and the way the characters acted actually made sense within the world they live in! I really, really hope there's a season two, there's so much more to explore in that story.

[Mr. Analog]

That's for sure. I really love the way it all came together (Silo that is, haven't watched Foundation yet)

[Darren Dirt]

Thirteen bucks a month isn't exactly expensive, if it's providing a few hours of entertainment per week. Less than a movie ticket per month. What really sucks is that now there's 6 or 7 platforms that _each_ have a not-entirely-unreasonable price tag, but when you add them together you're back at $70+ per month just like we used to pay for cable.

It's mainly the feeling of a bait-and-switch compared to the price that I currently was happy to pay after my initial 3 months free. This was almost a 50% jump, and not exactly justified by a sudden addition of a ton of classic movies on there for free or anything (nearly all titles I might consider require a separate subscription to Starz or Shudder etc.)

At this point on AppleTV there are just very few remaining titles that I haven't yet consumed; once I finish Invasion (and this new season of For All Mankind) I would say there isn't even 1 hour per week of entertainment that interests me. My plan is likely late 2024 I will pay for a month and get caught up on anything in which there is a new full season dropped, but it's financially unjustifiable to keep a monthly sub alive there now.