WhatWeWatch
Name: Genevieve Terblanche Position: senior writer, solitary cave beast.
Likes shows about: 22 minutes long. And then I will perversely watch six episodes in a row.
Not a fan of: loud guys yelling about muscle power while restoring cars and then showing that “car go fast”.
I am watching: Farscape seasons 1-4 (1999-2003) on Amazon Prime Video.
My take on this show: the only human in this sci-fi John Crichton (Ben Browder) is the alien in this endlessly imaginative and fantastical series set onboard a living spaceship in a galaxy very far away. But unlike many series that boringly give us a military man as the POV (point of view) character, Crichton is a scientist, so he approaches this new world with curiosity, inventiveness and absurd humour. And the non-human creature design is inspiring, thanks to work by entertainment giant The Jim Henson Company who did the puppeteering too.
My favourite moment so far: reluctant ally and soldier Aeryn (Claudia Black) rescues Crichton from imprisonment and torture (in season 1 episode 20) and he greets her with, “That is the radiant Aeryn Sun,” in a perfect emotional moment.
Why I am watching it now: I stumbled across it while I was looking for vampire shows on Amazon (totally unrelated). Name: Lucia Poolman Position: editor who can’t wait for the schools to open again. Likes shows about: anything that is well made, or even badly produced programmes with a good storyline. The macabre still continues to fascinate me. Not a fan of: something that gets too clever or complicated to follow. Sorry, Westworld (2016-now) after season 1. I am watching: Tiger King
(2020) season 1 on Netflix.
My take on this show: this documentary is almost too bizarre to be real. It centres around the big cat trade in the US (I couldn’t believe how huge it is and my heart broke seeing those animals in cages). And then there is polygamy, con artists, deaths, sabotage, rivalry and everything you can think of in a soapie plot, but in real life. Dodgy Joe Exotic, the leader of the pack, has a strange charisma and his rival Carole is just as, urhgm, colourful. Joe is on a mission to expose Carole for murdering her husband and feeding him to her tigers.
My favourite moment so far: the camera work, eventually showing someone with an amputated arm. And how they captured the feeling of this constant bickering and grandeur.
Why I am watching it now: it quickly became a sort of cult reference in TV reviews (like lines from Friends, 1994-2004) and memes. As a TV magazine editor, I couldn’t resist. NB! See more mad doccies on p10 & 11.
Name: Andrea Lewis
Position: scheduler who wants to break free.
Likes shows about: crime shows that are based on real events where justice (hopefully) prevails. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-now) is a perennial favourite and any episode of any season is always worthy of a re-watch.
Not a fan of: action or crime shows where the characters are too perfect (looking) and the stories have no real substance, like Hawaii Five-0 (2010-now) and Magnum PI (2018-now).
I am watching: miniseries Unbelievable (2019) on Netflix.
My take on this show: it’s based on the true story of a teenager who reports a rape but then takes back her story because of the way that the male detectives working her case treat her. Two female detectives (Merritt Wever and Toni Collette) from different states team up to get to hunt a serial rapist. It reveals the trauma that survivors relive when reporting the crime, especially to incompetent police – and the stark contrast to how female detectives work.
My favourite moment so far: the last episode when teenager Marie (Kaitlyn Dever, Loretta in Justified, 2010-2015) stands up to the two male detectives for not believing her and demands that they do better.
Why I am watching it now: I saw it on Netflix and I remembered that it was nominated for several awards. So here I am.
Name: Ipeleng Rakgantsho
Position: writer who no longer has a clue what day it is.
Likes shows about: celebrity weddings! Extravagant and over-the-top three-part events where A-listers rub shoulders. Yes, I’m talking about the #SomHaleUnion.
Not a fan of: monotony – most of our local sci-fi shows, which are centred around witchcraft. Where are the aliens, fairy godmothers and robots?
I am watching: 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days (2017now) season 4 on TLC (*135) on Thursdays at 20:00 and via DStv Catch Up. My take on this show: the reality show follows Americans who met their foreign partners online and are starting the journey to meet them in person. Besides the culture clash and language barriers, they only have three months to decide if they’re meant for each other. At first many of these couples are so deluded and blinded by love that they ignore the red flags.
My favourite moment so far: the veil was finally lifted from Rosemarie’s (23) eyes and she dumped Ed (54) because she couldn’t stand dating someone who looked down on her. I was thrilled. Rose deserves better.
Why I am watching it now: I’ve been following the show since it started airing. If you need to get on a plane and cross the ocean, cry and lose lots of money to find love, maybe love isn’t not worth it. Name: Emile Butler-O’Brien Position: sci-fi fan & senior journo. Likes shows about: reboots with a vein of fun, music doccies and quality sci-fi shows. Not a fan of: slow-burning dramas that take forever to get to the point.
I am watching: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine seasons 1-7 (19931999) on Netflix.
My take on this show: many moons ago, the SABC used to air the sci-fi classic series Star Trek (1966-1969) and all its spin-offs. The one that struck a chord with me was Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine. Unlike the original Enterprise spaceship that travelled to distant galaxies, Deep Space Nine is a space station that’s located just outside a wormhole and is home to thousands of weird and wonderful alien species almost living in harmony.
My favourite moment so far: every interaction between the aliens Odo (Rene Auberjonois, Walter in Madam Secretary, 2014-2019) and Quark (Armin Shimerman, Max in Red Bird, 2016). Odo is the shapeshifting constable who can transform into any object, and Quark owns the gambling hall.
Why I am watching it now: I was watching YouTube videos on the best moments of Star Trek when I spotted a link to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Netflix. I immediately went to my Netflix account and binged the seven seasons.
Name: Kashief Achmat
Position: scheduler and undisputed king of beating my sixyear-old nephew at (computer combat game) Tekken.
Likes shows about: recently, Netflix teen series have caught my eye. I think the lockdown has softened my stance on seeing old actors trying to pass off as teenagers.
Not a fan of: actors butchering accents in movies or TV shows. Wearing wet denim jeans all day feels way better than Daniel Radcliffe’s SA accent in bigscreen biographical drama Escape From Pretoria (2020).
I am watching: reality show Dr Pimple Popper season 1 on TLC (*135), Mondays at 21:50.
My take on this show: I had the unfortunate luck of walking in on this show while eating a bowl of oatmeal. It put me off the stuff for a week. Dr Sandra Lee runs a skin clinic where she helps people with nasty looking pimples, cysts and other creepy skin conditions. Have I almost passed out watching this show? Yes. Are some things best left for the imagination? Hell yes. Does it make for entertaining TV? Also yes. My favourite moment so far: any episode where they pop a pimple and it explodes with such force that it splatters on Dr Lee’s protective mask. Gagging in delight.
Why I am watching it now: when you’ve been stuck in lockdown for so long, just about anything becomes interesting.
Name: Tumi Kunene
Position: senior designer who’s daydreaming of her next allday bikini holiday.
Likes shows about: comedy, drama, action, medical reality. Not a fan of: talkshows, no hard feelings, Trevor Noah, but you too…
I am watching: Killing Eve (2018-now) season 1 on FOX (*125), Wednesdays at 20:45 and via DStv Catch Up. My take on this show: this spy thriller is like a really good burger and chips after six weeks of lockdown. Glamorous Villanelle (Jodie Comer, Ivy in Thirteen, 2016) is a contract killer who enjoys what she does under orders from her handler Konstantin (Kim Bodnia, Vesemir in The Witcher, 2019-now). Whereas frumpy Eve (Sandra Oh, Christina Yang until 2013 in Grey’s Anatomy, 2005-now) is an MI5 desk jockey hungry for action. Be careful what you wish for.
My favourite moment so far: seeing Eve stand up to her pompous boss even after a witness who was under Eve’s protection is murdered by Villanelle in episode 1. And the opening scene of the series in which Villanelle is at an ice-cream shop trying to connect with a young girl and we see her being jealous that she can’t make her smile like the waiter can. It tells you a lot. She’s Psycho with a capital P.
Why I am watching it now: this show raked in awards in 20182019. More importantly, “I like it when they talk foreign”.