"the bear" - new series on fx

[DDD Dad 14,346]

58 minutes ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Ted Lasso is awful

Bad opinions thread ==>

[huge 3,795]

1 hour ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Ted Lasso is awful

Yeah, everyone hated season 1 for sure.

[wild_turkey 3,181]

5 hours ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Ted Lasso is awful

You're entitled to your opinion, but that's certainly a minority opinion. It's won 8 Emmys already and has 21 nominations for the upcoming Emmys. It has an overall 90% critics and 86% viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. People generally tend to like it, especially season 1.

But this isn't the Ted Lasso thread, I was merely making a comparison, which I think is a fair comparison to make. At least we can agree that The Bear is a great show.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

what's interesting about fishes was how normal that all seemed to me. my wife had to pause it three or four times to catch her breath.

and i realized, fuck, if that shit is normalized to me, then what kind of fucked up trauma am i dealing with?

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

what's interesting about fishes was how normal that all seemed to me. my wife had to pause it three or four times to catch her breath.

and i realized, fuck, if that shit is normalized to me, then what kind of fucked up trauma am i dealing with?

That was such an intense episode.  It ended so much better than I thought it might.

[Post Oak 20,256]

I want a show about Fack and his brother taking the 500 bucks Mulaney gave them and turn it into a million bucks

[MissingInAction 25,168]

10 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

I want a show about Fack and his brother taking the 500 bucks Mulaney gave them and turn it into a million bucks

We should hang out.

[DDD Dad 14,346]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

what's interesting about fishes was how normal that all seemed to me. my wife had to pause it three or four times to catch her breath.

and i realized, fuck, if that shit is normalized to me, then what kind of fucked up trauma am i dealing with?

Well you post here, so....

[jeevsie 3,739]

Jeffrey

[dcbc 14,507]

On 6/23/2023 at 12:47 AM, MissingInAction said:

Episode 6 was incredible and fucking brutal.

Really kicked in some good old familial PTSD.

What an incredible show.

Richie went from being my least favorite character to my favorite.

That was super intense.  It reminded me of the Surly Holiday Family Thread.

 

I was locked in start to finish.  It was The Bear's Pine Barrens moment.

[dcbc 14,507]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:16 AM, 4th&Five said:

From Taylor Swift to Pearl Jam: ‘The Bear’ Producers on How They Crafted Season 2’s Sizzling Soundtrack

Just as it did in its first season, “The Bear” Season 2 created a powerful soundtrack, thanks to executive producers Josh Senior and Christopher Storer, who also oversee the series’ music. From Otis Redding and Pearl Jam, to R.E.M. and Taylor Swift, the duo were able to tell a story of itself through the needle drops — something that is just as important to them as the writing itself.

When the writers room began, the group made a playlist and started sharing ideas with others on the team and even some of the actors, with Senior noting that Ayo Edebiri “is super helpful” in the entire process.

“It’s the most fun thing we get to do on the show, in my opinion. It’s a blast,” says Senior. “Sometimes we take all the songs out and see if we miss them. Other times, we use the songs to syncopate the scenes and cut them really fast. It’s an integral part of the process. We don’t score the show after it’s cut.”

Both Pearl Jam and R.E.M. were used in each season, since Senior and Storer are massive fans. Wilco, a Chicago-based band, also popped up in both.

“What’s been really cool about doing the music supervision work ourselves is that we are able to really paint a full picture for the artists that we’re trying to go out to. To get songs, we always try and reach out personally, to explain why and talk about how important the music is to us on a personal level and why it makes sense for the scene,” he says. “Being able to include live versions of a song in the show just feels like another way to make things feel alive.”

During Episode 9, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Edebiri) have a personal, important conversation while fixing a table in the restaurant. In the background, Pearl Jam’s “Come Back” plays. The rendition used was from a live performance in Chicago.

“We reached out to like the song and they were like, ‘Here are five things we haven’t put out.’ We picked that version and it just made that seem that much more special,” he says. “Picking music for the characters in Season 1 was really fun. It felt like that was the music that these people were listening to in the Beef. So being able to expand the world a little bit, meant that we were able to draw more on things that were personally relevant to us or felt really impactful in driving the story forward and would help the audience connect with the characters more.”

While the series’ needle drops enhance the story, it’s not too on the nose — which, as Variety‘s William Earl recently pointed out — is something unfortunately happening more and more in today’s entertainment. That’s an important thing Senior and Storer are always thinking about, too.

“We try very hard to not pick cool music. We don’t want anybody to ever say that we’re picking stuff because it’s cool,” says Senior. “We want to pick stuff that we love that feels right for the show. It’s about being authentic and consistent with the work letting the work speak for itself.”

Taylor Swift is the exception to the cool rule. “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” may have been the biggest surprise track of Season 2, first playing during Richie’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) seventh episode, “Forks.” Later, it played again in the car, with Richie signing along.

“Getting the song was very straightforward. It was just regular outreach. We wanted to make sure we were using Taylor’s version of the song and feel like it was the right one for the scene. Obviously, she’s an incredible artist and one thing that I think is so interesting about her is that she’s beloved by people of all different ages,” Senior says, noting that “Love Story” was always the Swift track they wanted. “All of her music is amazing. We would have felt lucky to get five seconds of it. When we reached out, we asked if we could use the song twice and have someone singing and they were like, ‘That sounds cool!’ It wasn’t just like, ‘Hey, can I get the prices for these songs?’ It was, ‘Here’s what we want to do, and here’s why.’ She’s an incredible storyteller in her own right and an artist and just to be able to use that work in our shows is so cool.”

Of course, the Swift song was a connection to Richie’s daughter, who he later buys concert tickets for.

“That choice was so much about what was happening with Richie’s character,” says Senior. “This season, you get to see so many more sides of Richie, and it just made a lot of sense for the moment where things come together for him to also connect to the little pieces of his personal life that we’ve been exposed to throughout the first two seasons.”

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-bear-music-taylor-swift-pearl-jam-season-2-1235659329/#

They also pulled songs Pretty in Pink, nominally set in a Chicago suburb, as well as 25 Miles as featured in Adventures in Babysitting.  I think there are a couple of other songs that have some sort of Chicago tie-in, but I'd have to go back and watch. 

 

Just finished tonight.  Wife and I binged it over a week.

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

10 minutes ago, dcbc said:

They also pulled songs Pretty in Pink, nominally set in a Chicago suburb, as well as 25 Miles as featured in Adventures in Babysitting.  I think there are a couple of other songs that have some sort of Chicago tie-in, but I'd have to go back and watch. 

 

Just finished tonight.  Wife and I binged it over a week.

That Refused song is fucking rad. I could do without the weirdo electronic breakdowns, but it still brings it. 

[dcbc 14,507]

5 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

That Refused song is fucking rad. I could do without the weirdo electronic breakdowns, but it still brings it. 

Oh, yeah!  Love it.

[4th&Five 41,586]

{Ed talks about the tv series The Bear and how it was a realistic portrayal of his restaurant experience.  Mentions Jeff told him of the show and said the use of the next song was the best visual representation of their music he had seen}

 

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

6 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

{Ed talks about the tv series The Bear and how it was a realistic portrayal of his restaurant experience.  Mentions Jeff told him of the show and said the use of the next song was the best visual representation of their music he had seen}

 

Ha, that was awesome.

[Mittens 8,298]

Finally got around to watching S2 and wow!  The Christmas dinner episode is one of the best hours of television I've ever seen.  So chaotic and just keeps 1-upping itself.  Outstanding, and sad.  Also thought Richie's internship episode was amazing.  Both were so good they could stand on their own as excellent, apart from the rest of the series.

 

My nitpik for S2 - Carmen is stuck in the walk-in for hours and he's never once shown w/ the slightest of chills.  No shivering, no rubbing his arms, no condensation from breathing.  Never mind that they never had to 86 an item because it was in the walk-in.  

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

21 minutes ago, Mittens said:

My nitpik for S2 - Carmen is stuck in the walk-in for hours and he's never once shown w/ the slightest of chills.  No shivering, no rubbing his arms, no condensation from breathing.  Never mind that they never had to 86 an item because it was in the walk-in.  

And also that there is a handle/button on the inside of every walk in so that can't happen, but whatever.

[Mittens 8,298]

That too!  And it was a brand new walk-in, if I recall correctly.  I get it...need some suspension of disbelief for the the plot to move a certain way, but I had a bit of a moment watching the guy saw into the brand new walk-in door - all I could think of was the $$$.

 

What was the significance of the chocolate covered banana that Richie delivered to Jimmy for desert?  I missed that one.

[kevwun 15,853]

During the Christmas flashback, Jimmy told him it was his favorite memory as a child.  His dad used to get them for him.

[Mittens 8,298]

Gracias!

[henrygandorf 29,194]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

And also that there is a handle/button on the inside of every walk in so that can't happen, but whatever.

wasn't it broken and he forgot to call the fridge guy?  that was one of the things that slipped through the cracks which reminded him that he can be great at that, but that will be his whole life.  i don't know shit about fuck when it comes to walk-ins, but i thought that was the point of it.  they never got with the fridge guy and couldn't remember his name.

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

44 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

wasn't it broken and he forgot to call the fridge guy?  that was one of the things that slipped through the cracks which reminded him that he can be great at that, but that will be his whole life.  i don't know shit about fuck when it comes to walk-ins, but i thought that was the point of it.  they never got with the fridge guy and couldn't remember his name.

Ah, I think you may be right.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

honestly, i still can't figure out the fucking money in the tomato sauce cans, and i still don't care all that much because the rest of the writing about the characters is so good.

[RPM 26,339]

On 9/6/2023 at 1:56 PM, hayden_horn said:

honestly, i still can't figure out the fucking money in the tomato sauce cans, and i still don't care all that much because the rest of the writing about the characters is so good.

When Mikey borrowed money from Cicero he stashed it in the tomato cans for Carmen's future. That's why The Beef was always struggling, he never used the money.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

3 hours ago, RPM said:

When Mikey borrowed money from Cicero he stashed it in the tomato cans for Carmen's future. That's why The Beef was always struggling, he never used the money.

i get this. i'm not a total idiot haha.

no i must have missed something somewhere. i know he was accounting for kbl in the books, which we now know is the tomato cans. 

so, i must have missed the part where mikey was sliding on all the broken shit in the restauarant because he was getting cicero's money back? because when i first asked the question, i got a similar answer - carmy found the money cicero loaned mikey. why would he take so much time and waste to stash cash? he had to have been saving it and socking it away. so he borrowed cicero's money, saved the restaurant, made the money back to give carmy even footing, then killed himself?

do i have that right?

[RPM 26,339]

18 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

do i have that right?

Pretty much. Mikey knew he was going to kill himself. He just milked as much as he could for Carmy before he did it.

[Pig Bellmont 8,719]

20 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

i get this. i'm not a total idiot haha.

no i must have missed something somewhere. i know he was accounting for kbl in the books, which we now know is the tomato cans. 

so, i must have missed the part where mikey was sliding on all the broken shit in the restauarant because he was getting cicero's money back? because when i first asked the question, i got a similar answer - carmy found the money cicero loaned mikey. why would he take so much time and waste to stash cash? he had to have been saving it and socking it away. so he borrowed cicero's money, saved the restaurant, made the money back to give carmy even footing, then killed himself?

do i have that right?

The restaurant was still a business. And it was struggling to break even. I assumed that the money went to the corporate bank account but Mikey wanted to pull cash out to give to Carm with no strings. So Mikey was laundering the money essentially- pulling 18k here 10k there, not paying bills, but getting cash untainted by the loan terms (or that was Mikey’s idea), so Carm could start his dream restaurant. It was Mikey’s huge apology for shutting him out over the years. 
 

If he just was hiding Cicero’s cash, Carm wouldn’t be able to use it. He’d have to give it all back to the Uncle. Not the best or smartest plan, but he was doing a lot of drugs…

[Celery Man 20,994]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:48 AM, Party_Taco said:

If you know, you know…

 

you and my wife leaving the damn shells in the carton

 

On 7/5/2023 at 12:26 PM, Helobious said:

 

Never heard of Boursin. Have fun with your beta soyboy omelettes I guess. I’ll eat like a real man instead. 

 

 

took a break in the middle of this season because... it is still a lot after a full day of work and then a full evening of toddler watching. But goddamn second half of the season was incredible. Fishes, Forks - I can already tell that those are going to be sticky episodes that I think about a lot. I'm trying to get my wife to watch the Fishes episode just on the basis of her fucked up family - she once spent... several days in juvie or jail after punching her stepdad at dinner and running away? I need to get some clarity on that story.

Again I'm fairly tapped at the end of the day and was washing dishes when I saw this scene so I'm probably missing a lot of the nuance, but I feel like it would be bullshit to take anything said by the guy with the traumatic family history who has been locked in the walk-in for hours during his restaurant's opening when he didn't even know you were on the other side of the door serious enough to leave him. Give him a break Claire Bear. Also btw that was some good panty ass.

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

Ayo Edebiri and Molly Gordon are both in Theater Camp also now on Hulu. Pretty funny with a good message. The trailer is much darker than the actual movie. I wish they made that movie instead, but I’d give it a B. An easy 90 minute watch. 

[Zepol87 9,191]

On 7/27/2023 at 2:35 PM, F250 said:

Me after watching the Fishes episode last night.

 

Late as hell but finally catching up on this season and just finished Fishes. God damn I’m glad I’m not out of weed because I could relate

Edited September 29, 2023 by Zepol87

[52-80 19,226]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:37 PM, Pig Bellmont said:

If he just was hiding Cicero’s cash, Carm wouldn’t be able to use it. He’d have to give it all back to the Uncle.

That doesn’t seem to check out.

Mikey would have known that the lien would be placed on the restaurant, hence Cicero approaching Carm about it in S01E03 (who wouldnt). It wouldnt just have dissolved with his death, Cicero isn’t a fool. 

Mikey also should have had equity on the property with which to give Carm. Thats why Cicero agreed to it as collateral to fund the new restaurant. It doesnt make sense that he was in the black with the previous debt, and then pump another half mil into the new venture with no upside to the recourse. 

[52-80 19,226]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:27 PM, Reynolds Woodcock said:

So jarring to have one of the top 2 or 3 greatest living actresses appear out of nowhere in episodic television. She is incredible and the episode was the best of the season (and probably the series).

Very disrespectful to have HRH The Queen cooking food. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

I’m rewatching Fishes. The world needs a Neil - Theodore - John Mulaney spin off. 
 

Surly Hollywood please make this happen. 

[Deej 76,896]

All of you suffering PTSD from fishes...it was almost comforting reliving family gatherings. 

[52-80 19,226]

yall have some fucked up families

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

yall have some fucked up families

There’s two whole threads about it in lulz. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

Just looked it up. Jamie Lee Curtis wasn’t nominated for Fishes. What are we doing here people?! 
 

Did they not want to give her an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year?

I’m glad to see she’s finally getting recognition. She was awesome in Trading Places and True Lies. 

[mdmost 43,018]

I think she would be nominated next year as the cutoff was before this season aired. 

[ajax 2,620]

I just started watching this.

It makes me super nostalgic because my parents owned a fast food joint in Chicago. No fancy food like in the show, just stuff like Italian beef, Polish, Chicago dogs, and some Asian stuff on the special menu because well we're Asian.

The other difference is my parents' place was in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago. We were all behind bulletproof glass and we delivered food with a bulletproof carousel.

Love the show. The acting, color grading and composition are some of the best on TV.

Just finished episode S1.7 last night. The whole episode being in one take was impressive, but I think it detracted from the experience. It felt like the creators wanted to flex and show that they could do it, but it was really distracting with the camera constantly swinging from one character to another, pushing in and pulling back. You lose the narrative aspect that editing cuts bring. It's like watching an awesome guitar player play a solo with his teeth. Impressive, but the solo would be better played normally.

[Biff Tannen 45,710]

12 minutes ago, ajax said:

I just started watching this.

It makes me super nostalgic because my parents owned a fast food joint in Chicago. No fancy food like in the show, just stuff like Italian beef, Polish, Chicago dogs, and some Asian stuff on the special menu because well we're Asian.

The other difference is my parents' place was in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago. We were all behind bulletproof glass and we delivered food with a bulletproof carousel.

Love the show. The acting, color grading and composition are some of the best on TV.

Just finished episode S1.7 last night. The whole episode being in one take was impressive, but I think it detracted from the experience. It felt like the creators wanted to flex and show that they could do it, but it was really distracting with the camera constantly swinging from one character to another, pushing in and pulling back. You lose the narrative aspect that editing cuts bring. It's like watching an awesome guitar player play a solo with his teeth. Impressive, but the solo would be better played normally.

Season 2 is going to blow your mind

[Deej 76,896]

On 10/6/2023 at 2:58 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

She was awesome in Trading Places and True Lies. 

That had nothing to do with her acting. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

3 hours ago, Deej said:

That had nothing to do with her acting. 

Sure boobs are great. But she has comedic chops and charisma. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

Any good books on the Merc? Something like Liar’s Poker would be great. Mikey’s story to say thank you in advance.

 

[wutang75 449]

Holy shit Fishes just kicked my ass. One of the best hours of TV I’ve seen in a while. JLC.

Starting Forks.

[billfromlaketravis 11,522]

19 hours ago, wutang75 said:

Holy shit Fishes just kicked my ass. One of the best hours of TV I’ve seen in a while. JLC.

Starting Forks.

It’s a pretty funny episode with the exception of watching the Jamie Lee Curtis pot to boil. 

[Post Oak 20,256]

19 hours ago, wutang75 said:

Holy shit Fishes just kicked my ass. One of the best hours of TV I’ve seen in a while. JLC.

Starting Forks.

Forks is exceptional

[Sbbruin 21,866]

Just wrapped season 2 last night.  Took a while to get the wife into it, but we’re all in.

[mdmost 43,018]

Not shocking but good to hear it's official

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-bear-renewed-season-3-fx-hulu-1235781001/

[henrygandorf 29,194]

fx knows what they’re doing.  

[MissingInAction 25,168]

Back to the walk in malfunction: that was the whole cause of Carms meltdown. He never got around to getting it replaced, and he blamed himself having a relationship for the oversite.

Or more importantly he blamed himself for trying to be happy for once.

The humanity of this show is its power more than anything else IMO.