TV: What Are You Watching?

[Yodaking]

Originally Posted by chas

Watching the new Shogun series on FX. Its so beautiful that I often can't tell whether exterior or even some interior scenes are shot on location, which look just like places I've visited in Japan, sets, or computer simulations! Its on late at 10 PM, and each episode is about 1 1/2 hours long.

Most reviews have been favorable, although The New Yorker I'd say only gave it a 'B' in a longer than usual review. Personally I don't think it holds a candle to the much longer old Richard Chamberlain series, for which I still have the DVD set. But I can see it for free, so what the heck. The writing and scenes chosen are very different from either the book or the old show, so I look at it as 'extra scenes.'

My On Demand service allows me to watch it earlier, but its only available for three days after broadcast, after which it will be streamed.

I have a biography of William Adams, the historical Anjin-San, and the model for the main character of the Clavell novel (which is amazing), who was a fascinating person. One of his houses is still up in Japan, where it serves as a candy store!

I enjoyed the first two episodes of Shogun and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the subject matter. Lots of political intrigue going on and some interesting historical notes. I also have the old mini-series on DVD, but it's been a while since I watched it. I might need to watch it again once this current one wraps up, just to see how different they were.