Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 7, 2024 9:00:20 GMT -8
Right now I'm watching something from 2021 called The Prague Mysteries on Amazon Prime. There is only one season of it (10 episodes) and it's not highly rated on IMDB (6.7). But it is an honest attempt to produce something of quality, Hynek Budík has just been promoted to Vrchní inspektor (chief inspector...this is a Czech production with English subtitles). His district is the entire suburban area called "outer Prague." He didn't get the "inner Prague" district which is more upscale and urban. Therefore he's going to have to deal perhaps more with livestock than with the upper classes...which officially doesn't exist anymore, I guess. It's set in the early 20th century, but I'm not sure of the exact year. It talks about Czechoslovakia having recently become a republic. According to Wiki, the first republic was 1918-38. The Chief Inspector is married to an ex-countess, and this may be why he didn't get the cherry-picked job of chief inspector of inner Prague. There is apparently still some anti-royalty backlash. I can see why this didn't last beyond one season. Jaroslav Plesl, who plays the chief inspector, is not a particularly dynamic character. And in the early going, far too much time is spent on family issues which are dull, dull, dull. We don't care. Please just get on to the detective work. His main sidekick seems to gain most of his information from local prostitutes, of which he is a regular patron. That's an interesting take on "under cover" work. The third member of the team, the yute junior detective, is played by Denis Safarik. He's given all the menial tasks. And, in fact, he seems to do most of the real work while the chief inspector seems to do little but give everyone else orders. The first episode is about a relative of a member of parliament who is found dead at the bottom of a well. There are political implications to this so it has to be solved fast. There's some good acting in the ancillary characters even if, again, the chief inspector himself is a bit of a dullard. The second episode at least shows that his isn't going to be a woke series. The bad guy has raped and murdered a young boy. I can't imagine a Netlix series, for instance (and certainly not on Apple TV), that showed homosexual behavior in anything but a good light. Perhaps the Czechs are a bit "behind the times" in this regard. In this second episode, it seems to be telegraphed pretty clearly who did it. But I'll watch the third one soon and see how that goes. Oh, and the yute detective and the chief inspector's daughter are seeing each other and keeping it secret. That's an ongoing plot point. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 7, 2024 10:09:06 GMT -8
There was no Czechoslovakia until the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in WWI. It was created in 1918. Prior to that, the area was part of the Hapsburg realm for about 300 years. The main areas were Bohemia, Moravia and part of Hungary inhabited by Slovaks. The actual boundaries in this part of the world changed often.
The history of the area is very interesting. I suspect that most people today have little idea how intertwined the Germans were with the Slavs and the Hungarians.
I have visited Prague only once. I was meeting people from a very large American oil company to discuss business possibilities. I spent most of my time with them, but I also had a bad cold so when I wasn't with them, I was in bed sleeping. As a result, I saw almost nothing of the city.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 8, 2024 8:30:12 GMT -8
There once was a man named Kung
Who traveled the world when young
Had business in Prague
But slept like a log
Shell can go to hell, I'm wrung
Or maybe it was Texaco.
In episode 4 of The Prague Mysteries, a pretty blond is found dead in the forest. Strangled. It's interesting that here we have another theme that isn't particularly politically correct or woke.
It turns out the dead girl gave piano lessons to the very rich. But that was a front. The real money-maker was coming on to the men in the house and then eventually photographing them in a compromising position. They would then be extorted for 10,000. They didn't mention what unit of currency they were using, although it may have been the Koruna (basically, "Czech crown").
So you would logically think that she must have run across a man who would not be so easily blackmailed. Well, as it turns out, her lesbian roommate did it. The roommate (who was her partner who acted as photographer) was zealous of the man who had been courting her for quite some time. Finally she began returning his affections and this drove the lesbian lover to murder.
Good acting all around, once again. I'm warming slightly to the dull chief inspector and his family as themes develop. One of them is that the chief inspector has caught on that his younger daughter must be seeing someone illicitly. Well, she is. As mentioned earlier, she is hooking up with the chief inspector's junior assistant. He's the guy that does the fingerprinting, the sketch work, and just about all the gopher work.
Well, the chief inspector confides in his junior about his suspicions about his daughter. This obviously puts the junior on pins and needles. But what the inspector wants his junior to do is to accompany his daughter when she goes out. Okay, he says. Sure, I'll do that. So you do get just a slight bit of comedy here and there.
But so far this series looks superior to 90% of the junk out there, so I wonder why it lasted only one season. Did anti-woke forces get it? In this fourth episode, lesbianism certainly isn't shown in a good light.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 8, 2024 8:50:02 GMT -8
It was ExxonMobil.  |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 9, 2024 6:51:43 GMT -8
Episode 5 was a bit of a dud. A man's wife is cheating on him. He appears to be impotent. His wife gets him a job as a typist but is also cheating on him with his boss. He's submitted various patents to the patent office and they don't recognize his genius.
Thus one day he goes to work, shoots his boss, and then holes himself up in his apartment with a yuge box of dynamite set to explode via a switch he's holding. He is holding his wife as a hostage as well. The police come and this turns into a negotiation episode. Boring.
But boring is better than stupid. When they final overpower the guy and put him in cuffs (I'm not making this up), he asks if he can put his coat on because it's cold outside. They take his cuffs off and let him walk to a cabinet. It's locked. He says he needs the key. The officers let him get the keys. He unlocks the cabinet and it blows up.
They already knew this guy had dangerous gadgets around his apartment so this was just a really stupid and unbelievable ending. So maybe things such as this cut this series short. I'll trudge on to the sixth episode.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 9, 2024 11:57:41 GMT -8
I find that many, perhaps most, stories have this fatal flaw. While people can be stupid, the entertainment industry displays its stupidity by filling its products with such drivel.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 9, 2024 15:49:42 GMT -8
There was one comment I think you would have appreciated regarding this episode. They have cops swarming all over the apartment block where the guy is holed up with his bomb. Everyone's been evacuated. It's just a yuge to-do. One cop says to another in an eye-rolling, sarcastic way, "In the Austria-Hungary days, this would be all over in a minute. But we're in a republic now and have to do things differently."
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 9, 2024 16:33:37 GMT -8
Yup. I suspect the exact words he said were something like, "In the K-und-K days, this would be all over in a minute." K-und-K" being the abbreviation for Kaiserlich und Koeniglich, (Imperial and Royal) which was part of the the official name of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Kaiserlich referring to the Imperial part of the empire, Koeniglich referring to the kingly crowns of Hungary and other countries. The Hapsburger ruler wore a number of crowns. It was all very touchy to the various peoples, particularly the Hungarians. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 11, 2024 7:10:46 GMT -8
Now I'm beginning to see why this may have lasted only one season.
Episode 6 was a complete dud. A pattern has emerged: Grisly murder on some farm. Pick from the two or three very (and I mean very) cantankerous men as the perpetrator.
There's not much variety in the storytelling. And in Episode 7, we have more of the same: Grisly murder on some remote farm. Pick from...etc, etc.
Worse, the family issues/aspect of the Chief Inspector are going beyond boring. The relationship between his younger daughter and his junior officer is insipid. Zero chemistry between the two, and this junior officer yute used to be somewhat appealing as the hard-working go-getter, trying to cement himself on the force. But now he just seems like a bum that the Chief Inspector should boot off the force, if not bitch-slap first a few times. Whatever charm this yute had, he has lost it.
Meanwhile the storyline around his senior inspector (the one who gains information via visiting local prostitutes...and doing more than just visiting) had, for a while, dabbled with the meaningful. He's helping to take care of a young child. (Is it his? I forget.) He's roped his favorite prostitute into this domestic situation. Perhaps there is some wokeness here. With the child she is the perfect, doting mother. Reading stories to her, helping her with her breathing apparatus. (The child has asthma.) It's simply ideal.
And yet she's also a prostitute. Well, she did just agree to marry the senior inspector….who now (from where? I'm not sure) has gonorrhea and keeps making up excuses for why he won't sleep with his wife while he's getting treatment. That sounds perhaps like an intriguing plot point. But it just seems thrown-in.
And to round-off the ills of this series, the cunt elder daughter of the chief inspector (this word suits her...I'm not just mouthing off) has just been arrested for aiding an anarchist. This obviously puts the chief inspector's career in a bind. He is eventually allowed to visit his (step) daughter (who is being held) and reminders her, in essence: What the f**k were you thinking? Your own father and mother were killed by anarchist bombs?
She's all tears now, of course. And this is a reminder that perhaps idiot, spoiled, rebellious children have always been a plague on parents.
Also, the show is generally failing as a period piece. I've enjoyed many otherwise mediocre shows that could give you a real glimpse of what it was like to live in a certain time and place. But besides from all the pointed beards and mustaches, The Prague Mysteries is fairly light on the details.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 11, 2024 8:27:33 GMT -8
I think writing a quality TV series might be the most difficult job in the world of scribblers. To come up with believable and entertaining plots, week after week, must be incredibly difficult. Much more so than writing a movie script. So I have a little sympathy with those who try. But only a little. If you can't produce a half-way decent product, you had rather go on to something else.
I am reminded of the comments I heard some TV writer make back in the 1960s. He pointed out that even Shakespeare would have trouble maintaining his quality if he had to fill 18(?) hours of air time seven days a week.
How much more difficult today when there is 24/7 broadcasting 365 days a year on hundreds of channels?
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 11, 2024 12:25:17 GMT -8
Thus there might be some wisdom to the British method of producing 6 to 8 episodes (if that) per year of some series. I don't know if that's still the case.
Of course, you know that I'm more critical than the general public. Good god, there are hundreds of multiple-season series on Netflix and all the other services. I don't exaggerate when I say that 99% of them are unwatchable. But someone is watching them.
Thus I believe a lot of people either have no taste or their taste has been slowly degraded. Maybe a bit of both.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 11, 2024 14:53:01 GMT -8
I have long believed that to be the case, although I don't like it when the series are good. I can't get enough of "Yes, Minister" or "Yes, Prime Minister." That said, it is better to leave the audience wanting more than piling on too much, as the quality generally goes down.
I doubt that the taste of most has ever been particularly refined. We are just seeing more rubbish being produced as the outlets for it have multiplied enormously.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 12, 2024 7:53:49 GMT -8
I'll keep that in mind while blowing through the Perry Mason episodes. I'm at about episode 22 in season one.
And about every three episodes or so there is a real stinker. Horrible plot, etc. Granted, most of the plots I can't follow anyway. But they can still be entertaining.
But, yeah, obviously time pressures and relatively small budgets mean that you are going to get some stinkers now and again, although we've seen that big-budget films rarely do much better in regards to plot. Money doesn't solve everything, and often makes it worse.
I don't begrudge an episode that tries something different and doesn't succeed. What most bothers me are the boilerplate plot elements and gimmicks that writers use in lieu of imagination and talent.
Of course, shows such as Columbo author their own shtick and gimmicks, and that's okay. It's okay to have a formula. But just like many of the books I've read over the years, so many are spoiled by boilerplate lack-of -imagination gimmicks, particularly regarding the endings. Sure, many are just trying to appeal to the Mass Audience giving them what they've seen before, daring not to do something original or interesting. But so many times there is skill being shown otherwise. There was no need to lean on cliches.
My brother and his wife have apparently staring going through the Poirot series. That's obviously one that kept to the British formula of four to six episodes per year, although series such as this will often jump years for whatever reason.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 12, 2024 12:31:27 GMT -8
I would guess I have seen every episode at least twice. Years ago, the series came on every weekday night at 10:30pm on one of the broadcast channels which specialize in old series. I can't recall if it was Antenna TV, MeTV or some other channel. I am a night bird so a program broadcast after the late news fit me perfectly.
I must admit that the cast of regulars and stylized way the program was shot, interested me more than the stories per se. Seeing the south California of the late 1950s and early 1960s was also a draw. Finally, I loved the music. So, in a way, the stories became of secondary importance to me.
As film is a mixed medium, I am generally less critical of mediocre story telling than I am when rating a book. Writing is the essence of a book, but film has a number of ingredients which, if of high enough quality, can make up for somewhat low quality writing.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 12, 2024 18:37:36 GMT -8
A good series with strong characters can usually make it over the humps of some mediocre stories. Not every Columbo or Poirot plot was spectacular. But it is interesting watching the characters work. Perry, Paul, Della, Tragg, Ham Burger, and even Gertie (rarely seen...she was in only 17 episodes) are a great cast. I don't think the guest stars are much more than soap opera quality. But there is a bit of kitsch enjoyment even in amateur-hour. I've watched a few shows over the years, including when I was a kid. But coming back and really paying attention to these, I had no idea that Perry was a bit of a rascal in the way he worked things sometimes. He often stayed barely on the right side of the law. He was consistently being threatened by Tragg and Burger for withholding evidence, etc. We get glimpses here and there of Perry's offices. I think Gertie first shows up in the 10th episode or so. We see her office. We eventually see the law library. But I don't think Perry has any associate lawyers working with him. I think Paul's office is in the same building, at least that's how it was portrayed an episode or two ago. And Paul must have a yuge agency going. He often has agents conveniently in place (Portland, Oregon was one) when they need to research something or follow someone. You get the impression that Paul employees quite a team of detectives. Yes, the music is very very good. And I love how Perry speaks so forcefully, as if everyone around him was hard of hearing. He's got a commanding aggressive voice for a lawyer. Barbara Boom-Boom Hale |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 14, 2024 7:02:44 GMT -8
I thought The Case of the Fugitive Nurse (season 1, episode 22) was particularly good. That is also to say, I could follow the plot which isn't always the case. And I'll just blame my slow-wittedness on much of that and not the writers, although sometimes Perry talks so fast about so many twists, turns, and possibilities, I get lost rather fast in the best of circumstances. This one is nicely straightforward. You get a bit of adultery, you get the jealous wife. You get schemes to evade the wife so that the husband can run off to Mexico with his nurse (and she is an eyeful).  A bit of a Liz Taylor influence, don't you think? And then when it turns out that the real murderer isn't who you suspect, it does make sense and doesn't seem terribly thrown in at the last moment (although, of course, it is thrown in at the last moment). Perry's relationship with Tragg and Burger are interesting (not in this episode necessarily, but in general). Tragg doesn't trust Perry as far as he can throw him but is ultimately more interested in catching the bad guys. He grudgingly accepts at times that Mason is an ally in this regard. But you can sense a real dislike that Burger has for Mason. If Perry outs the bad guy, it's just a case-solved to be notched up for Tragg and taken off his to-do list. But for Hamilton, it almost always means his failure in the courtroom. And sometimes this thorough dislike for Perry comes out in the courtroom. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 14, 2024 13:51:24 GMT -8
With that babe on the TV screen, who needs to follow the plot?
Over the series, the relationship between Burger and Perry improves significantly. I have to admit, if I were getting my ass kicked by Mason as often as Burger does, I would also not like Perry
To my mind, Tragg is one of the more interesting characters. He has seen it all and is thoroughly cynical about people. He doesn't take Mason, or anybody else, very seriously. Ain't nobody perfect. He carries on, doing his job and hopes he gets the bad guy, more often than they get away.
I also find the judges to be interesting. Many of them are familiar faces to anyone growing up on 1940s and 1950s TV and films. For the short period of time they are on the screen, the perform their parts nicely.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 14, 2024 15:38:58 GMT -8
The next episode, The Case of the One-Eye Witness, was a fairly good one as well. It featured Angie Boom-Boom Dickinson as the woman being blackmailed. Fairly good performances all around in this one regarding the guest stars. We first see Drake in his sports car with some high-class dame in the passenger's seat. Drake says, "Wait a moment, honey, I've got to check in with my answering service." He finds out that Perry needs to talk to him. He calls, but only Della is in the office. Perry is already on location doing some investigative work. Drake says, "But I planned to hit a few clubs tonight." Della comes back with, "Well, you're going to either have to disappoint your date or Mr. Mason." Paul dissappoints the dame.  Dorothy Boom-Boom Green has a somewhat central role as a witness. But that eye patch lets you know that you might not want to trust her.  Without the eye patch, she cleans up real well. I'm not sure what movie this is from:  Yes, Tragg is an excellent plodder, and in a good way. You certainly do get the feeling that he's seen it all and is not surprised in the least by whatever human depravity he runs into. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 17, 2024 9:01:57 GMT -8
The Case of the Empty TinI thought this was one of the better episodes. Season one, episode 25. It's a good mix of courtroom scenes and outside-of-court action. It's interesting in the end when Perry wraps it all up (with the willing help of Tragg and Burger), they all get a dose of "retched human nature" and Perry says to Burger, "Come on. I'll buy you a drink" and they go off together. Nothing about the plot, per se, was particularly outstanding. But the episode was made up of a nice pastiche of Masonry...Mason-type shtick, dialogue, and situations.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 25, 2024 7:10:12 GMT -8
The Case of the Fiery Fingers (Season 1, Episode 31) This one struck me as particularly good. You have to appreciate the old, doddering nurse played by Lenore Shanewise.  There are some interesting twists and turns. The nurse initially comes to Mason because her employer (the philandering husband of the sick wife, George Gordon) has asked her to put 3 suspicious tablets into her bedtime milk. She goes to Mason instead (smart) who takes one of the tablets for analysis and advises Nurse Quincey under no circumstances to give the tablets to Mrs. Gordon. Later, she is pressured/blackmailed by Mr. Gordon to put the tablets in the milk or he will call the police because she "borrowed" some of Mrs. Gordon's jewelry. Well, Nurse Quincey isn't as dumb as she appears. She tells Mason (when she comes under criminal suspicion) that she put the tablets into the milk knowing the Mr. Gordon was watching her but later dumped it all down the drain before letting Mrs. Gordon anywhere near it. Still, Mrs. Gordon succumbs to poisoning and the story unfolds. And we see why Mason is such an expensive lawyer. It's so he can afford to take on cases like that of Mrs. Gordon who gave Mason a five dollar retainer. And then, at the conclusion of his successful defense and humiliation of Burger, she pays him $30.00 for his services, which Mason says is just the amount he had in mind. Normally we see retainers of $500 if not $5000 dollars. Mason immediately puts the Drake Detective Agency on the case and I'm sure they don't work for free. But then this is a chance to write Mason as more than a money-grubbing Shylock. He has a heart. And probably lost several thousand dollars of his own money running the case. In a recent episode, he also took a charity case, although it wasn't clear if he was really the "court appointed lawyer," which I believe many lawyers take turns doing, or if he just said that out of courtesy.
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