I grew up on science fiction. Living in Alaska the future always felt more important and exciting than the present. I longed to escape, and until I joined the Army at age 17 (semi-inspired by a sci-fi book), my escape was Star Wars, Harry Harrison, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams, Margaret Atwood, and William Gibson. Then, once I was in the Army, sci-fi was again my escape...

I'd like to institute a new Watchmike Principle:

All science fiction is worth watching.

Which is to say that I will have full and open shareholder permission to watch any science fiction show or movie that I'd like (not including comic book adaptations from Marvel or DC). Personally I will avoid almost all horror so if there is overlap I'll skip it. This does not apply to fantasy, which will still be considered on a case by case basis.

This means less voting on individual movies and shows, which is a way to adapt to the way I tend to watch. I am now a Stubs A*List member, so I can watch up to three movies a week in AMC theaters.

This seems like a fun show to watch with Kathryn.

"Hope and heartache comes to light in the acclaimed docu-series COUPLES THERAPY. Distinguished clinical psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik combines empathy with insight to guide a new group of couples facing a diverse set of issues. Together they take on the difficult challenge of confronting their deepest individual fears and talk candidly about what has brought them to these crossroads – and where to go from here."

I mean, if nothing else the 3 Minute Review podcast will be good!

Thanks to the shareholder who recommended this!

I'm not a huge anime fan. I loved Cowboy Bebop and a few others, but it's not something I seek out.

I came across The Way of the Househusband in a NYT article and I was intrigued as a fair portion of my day involves being a "househusband" while Kathryn is working in a writer's room. So I guess I should watch this, plus they are short!

"Tatsu, a brutal gangster nicknamed the Immortal Dragon, has retired young and now applies his warrior code to grocery shopping, sorting laundry and preparing bento boxes for his wife to take to work."

I mean, that sounds fun.

this is a proposal that will supersede all votes about television and movies and allow me to watch any shows or films that people I meet have worked on. Kathryn works in television and many of the people we meet socially are other screenwriters so it's weird to put something up for a vote and then have to tell them I can't watch the show they worked on (or the movie they wrote).

All shows using this clause will still be included in episodes of 3 Min Review.

Vox has a new miniseries on Netflix called Money, Explained.

I should probably watch it, right?

A lot of people talking about the new Adam Curtis BBC doc series 'I Can't Get You Out of My Head'. We watched the first episode and we liked it!

Listen to our review.

I think we should keep watching it! What do you think?

We watched the first two episodes of Wandavision and liked it. Should we keep watching?

Here is the official review from the podcast.

A shareholder told me about this show which sounds amazing and I'm a little surprised I haven't heard of it before. I was told it pairs well with Last Week Tonight and it's a documentary series that is about to start its 6th season.

This is how the show describes itself: "This documentary series pulls back the curtain on the Trump era of presidential politics, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening. THE CIRCUS is a non-partisan, never-before-attempted take on one of the most fascinating and consequential political periods in modern American history."

And they have a lot of clips up on YouTube.

People won't shut up about The Crown. So many people have been talking about it that I agreed to watch the first episode with Kathryn last night just to be nice to her. It was fine... I mean, you know, amazing actors and whatever. Here is our review:

The Crown S4E1 on 3 Minute Review

It was fine, I think Kathryn will watch it no matter what, so maybe I should just join her?

The latest season of The Expanse has been announced!

The labor class (belters) is rebelling and Mars and Earth are going to have a new faction to contend with! EXCITING STUFF!

Starts December 16th.

The first two seasons I liked, but I had a hard time with the detective character... season 3 was my favorite and I really liked season 4 but also binged it and don't remember as much about it.

this show makes me want to buy a jumpsuit.

Coming to HBO on Nov 9th is Industry, a British television drama eight episode series about young finance graduates who venture out in the cut-throat competitive world to get a job during the recession times that followed as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.

YES PLEASE!

trailer

Did you know I worked on a game called Battle Chess for a few months? The idea was to tie in the fun of limited drops and collectibles with chess. Like Magic The Gathering meets Supreme meets Chess. Anyway, there is a new chess show everyone is loving called Queen's Gambit and I think I should watch it.

I watched the first episode of the US remake of Utopia and I didn't love it. But a shareholder just recommended the UK version.

"the original series...it will wake you up to Venn diagram of graphic novels and pandemics!!!"

Recommended by neighborhood friends who love TV and know what is good! This is a French intelligence thriller that Kathryn and I have watched a few episodes of already. I like it! It's fun to see actors you don't know (unless you watch a lot of French tv I guess). It's subtitled, which means you can't watch it while making dinner or cleaning the house, which is the only downside.

One of my newsletters linked to this and I realized it's more TV than an internet video.

In the late 1980s Public Enemy were the biggest rap group on the planet. Their mission: to raise the consciousness of a generation. With a rebellious attitude to match their militant image they sold millions of records preaching pro-black politics to fans of all races, all done through a groundbreaking wall of noise that changed the sound of hip hop. White, middle Americans were outraged, but their kids loved it.

Not surprisingly, this confrontational approach attracted controversy. Critics claimed the group themselves were racist, exposing racial divides rather than promoting equality. They were banned from some TV and radio stations and when one member reportedly made anti-Semitic remarks in a newspaper interview the resulting media-storm threatened to end their career. Tensions were running high and arguments within the band ended in violence. Could they keep it together long enough to get their message across?

Includes exclusive new interviews with Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, Hank and Keith Shocklee and the S1Ws. Plus contributions from Run DMC, Method Man (Wu-Tang Clan), Anthrax's Scott Ian, Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, Bahamadia, writer and activist Kevin Powell and DJ Dave Pearce.

I watched Season 1 and it was fun. Baby Yoda is real cute. I grew up watching Star Wars and this seems like a nice easy season of escapist television.

I don't know anything about this show except that it's executive produced by Nathan Fielder of Nathan For You, one of the best god damn television shows in the world.

Please, please, please vote yes. This is important.

Recommended by shareholders. Let's do this one season at a time...

In season 1: In 2006, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) passes through Bemidji, Minnesota, and influences the community – including put-upon insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) – with his malice, violence, and deception. Meanwhile, Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) and Duluth police officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) team up to solve a series of murders they believe may be linked to Malvo and Nygaard.

I'm not usually a big horror fan but I've heard good things about Lovecraft Country.

Lovecraft Country is an American horror drama television series developed by Misha Green based on and serving as a continuation of the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff.

I only watched the first season of Mr. Robot and I liked it. I recently read a tweet from Hirschhorn that made me think I should go back and finish it.

"All 4 seasons of 'Mr. Robot' by @samesmail are on Prime. Will go down as one of the best ever. Hacking. Conspiracies. Tragedies. Maladies. Realities. Murder. Corruption. Terrorism. Revolution. Capitalism. Domination. Hallucination. Love. And so many layers." @JasonHirschhorn

All those seem like fun things to watch!

Interesting looking show from a shareholder recommendation.

The Oath explores "a world of gangs made up of those sworn to protect and defend and sheds light on corrupt and secret societies that are nearly impossible to join. Only a select few make the cut – but once inside, members will do what they must to protect one another from enemies on the outside and from within their own ranks."

The interesting part is that I've been listening to the LA Podcast and they talk a lot about the recent accusations of a "gang" within the LA Sheriff's office. And the creator fo this show is a 17-year veteran of the LA County Sheriff’s department where he worked in jails holding members of notorious LA gangs including the Bloods and the Crips. After spending time as a training officer and field officer, he moved into narcotics, working on undercover operations. He later carried out undercover and surveillance work for the FBI and the DEA.

So a 17 year veteran of the corrupt police of LA wrote a tv show about corrupt cops? Wow. Okay... I mean, the only down side is that it's on Crackle.

I watched the first one, and while I hated it, I also was glad I watched it. I also watched the VP debate and also felt like it was "good to watch it" even though I can't articulate why. I didn't watch the duelling interviews, but I'm into the idea of watching the last debate.

Part of it is gross. Like I'm watching a car race hoping for a crash. I want to see Trump stumble, even though I know it doesn't really matter.

A great recommendation from a shareholder, and a chance to do some sports betting!

The Dodgers survived a scare in the NLCS to get back to the World Series for the third time in four years. They’ll face the Rays in a matchup of the teams with the best two records in baseball this season.

Games happen Oct 20, 21, 23, 24, and if needed 25, 27, and 28.

Someone recommended I watch this show. It looks terrible. Please vote no.

I've been enjoying this show so much during these horrible times. You should vote yes. Please. It's a good show.

Counterpart is an American science fiction thriller television series starring J. K. Simmons. It was created by Justin Marks and was first broadcast on the premium cable network Starz. The series ran for 20 episodes across two seasons.

I watched two episodes of this a while back and really liked it. It's about alternate dimensions and spycraft.

Plus it all happens in Berlin. I visited Berlin last year and loved it and obviously won't be going any time soon.

Beforeigners is a Norwegian six-part TV series that premiered on 21 August 2019. It is the first Norwegian-language series produced by HBO Europe.

This show was recommended by a shareholder! I don't know much about it.

It's a show where Vikings from the 19th century suddenly show up in the present day. They are called "time migrants."

Oh, and I just saw that it was created by the team that made Lilyhammer which was "the first time Netflix offered exclusive content" back in 2012.

This seems great, and it's only six episodes.

Killjoys is a space adventure drama series that follows a trio of hard-living bounty hunters—Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), Johnny (Aaron Ashmore), and D'avin (Luke Macfarlane).

"If wanting to watch fun, quippy characters get into scrapes and survive by the skin of their teeth, on spaceships and alien planets, is wrong, I don't want to be right. Killjoys has just the right mix of guns, high-tech knives, assassins, cage fights, missions to hostile planets, dark secrets, tiny robot weapons and general space headbutting thrills to be the perfect treat for Friday nights." -Charlie Jane Anders of io9

I started watching this show not long after the superhero ban and it became my replacement for Agents of SHIELD as it's about a team of adventurers working together to solve problems and they keep uncovering bigger and bigger problems in the world. It's fun sci-fi that plays with all the tropes of the genre.

I'm currently two seasons in and would like to finish off the last three seasons.

I am planning on watching the presidential debate tomorrow, even though I know I will find it maddening and probably end up drinking too much and then falling asleep on the couch and having nightmares about the end times.

But even live TV should be “remote controlled” so I’m asking you if I should watch it...

This whole "remote control" of my television habits started because of the Watchmen and we never answered the question. Should I watch it? I mean, it did win three Emmys and was nominated for seven.

I love the movie Limitless. It's a perfect movie that basically says drugs are cool. Don't argue with me.

This is about the Limitless television show which ran for one season on CBS starring Jake McDorman as a loser who takes NZT and ends up trapped working for the FBI. I watched it when it came out in 2015 and I liked it because it was an expansion of the Limitless universe.

I was thinking it would be fun to rewatch it. It's one season (22 episodes).

Corporate is an American comedy television series created by Pat Bishop, Matt Ingebretson, and Jake Weisman. A ten-episode first season premiered on Comedy Central on January 17, 2018. On February 26, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season. Corporate's third and final season premiered on July 22, 2020.

Mike didn't enjoy the pilot of Corporate when he watched it back in 2018. However, being a publicly traded person who loves corporations, capitalism, and funny tv shows, he gave it another shot while trapped at home during the pandemic. And guess what? He fell in love!

The show is nearly cyperpunk with a dystopian view of life in the belly of the corporate beast, but with a cast of lovable and often horrible people. The relationship of Matt and Jake reminds Mike of the brotherly love between Hank and Britt from the great single season of Terriers (2010). But the fan favorite quickly becomes Grace, played by Aparna Nancherla, who might be the greatest comedic actor of our time.

Mike is already a few episodes in to season 3 of Corporate so the question is should he finish it?