As ever, new year, new thread for any TV/streaming series discussion, though obviously feel free to set up a new thread/bump existing threads for individual shows if you want
Some sad news from the end of 2025
Shiiiiiit
1 Like
Finally gonna get Apple TV this month cos I realised you can do it as a bolt-on to Prime and then actually Chromecast it!!!
Was a bit worried that the detailed S1 recap at the start of The Night Manager meant it would be nonsensical without a good memory of it (watched it at the time but havenāt bothered to rewatch) but part way into the second episode and seems fine tbh. Suspect thereās a few things Iām missing but still perfectly watchable.
1 Like
We just have the app installed on our Chromecast
Have moaned about this before on here. The plug-in ones donāt work like that (or at least the older model we have doesnāt) and the Apple TV app doesnāt let you cast to one, even on iOS.
1 Like
Ah right. Does yours have an external power source you need to plug into a plug and a remote control? I canāt remember why we upgraded to that one now but at some point we did and it was definitely doing a lot more.
Anyway Apple TV was still a nightmare to setup due to how impossible they make it to maintain your AppleID if youāve no Apple device. I had to create a brand new one with a new email account.
Just finished episode 2 of The Night Manager. It is very silly but also very sexy and I am fully invested.
1 Like
Watchable but quite silly. Feel a bit like I might get bored of it by the end. Unless Olivia Colman reappears.
It plugs in but no remote. Itās basically just a dongle and you use apps on your phone/tablet to cast stuff. Itās simple and works wonderfully about 99% of the time, so Iāve never felt the need to switch it out for anything else. The TVās actually a smart TV but the chromecast is just much better than using the in-built apps.
And then Apple comes alongā¦
1 Like
Yeah our Samsung has apps but iPlayer occasionally just crashes the TV and the Apple one would sometimes crash and then eventually stopped working altogether. So we use the Chromecast for those two.
Yeah the old dongle you have is what we had. I believe you only get HD with that whereas you get 4K with the more powerful version. Thatās not why we upgraded though. Still donāt recall the reason
Possibly it was just we kept having issues with casting Prime or something from one of our phones and it just got too fiddly to ignore.
TV randomly turns off while watching iPlayer? This infuriated me around this time last year but fortunately it resolved itself. It appears to be an issue with some Samsungs bought in 2020/2021.
1 Like
We bought ours in late 2022.
It does a whole round of updates sometimes and that iPlayer thing is infrequent but if we remember we watch it on the Chromecast so no harm done.
1 Like
I was a big fan of my chromecast for years but I have since replaced it with a Samsung smart TV and Amazon Firestick combo. The chromecast is in my parents house for when I want to easily watch something at theirs.
1 Like
Didnāt realise the new Michaela Coel is for the Beeb.
Might be with HBO like I May Destroy You so only Beeb here
Started Chernobyl. Not trying to get into the argument about what language it should have been in but it does throw me how theyāre saying Ukrainian/Russian names in thick regional British and Irish accents.
1 Like
watched this in a sitting the other day
theres a snow storm in the middle of summer and everyone who gets snow on them dies.
first few episodes are really class, people just trying to survive and stuff. later episodes are more focused on giant alien bug creatures attacking our heroes, and the tone just goes much sillier. but itās still really good
6 Likes
I much prefer that approach, TBH. I really enjoyed Enemy at the Gates for doing that, particularly in casting Americans as the Nazis