SpoilerTV's Weekly Round Table: 61st Edition

Hello and Welcome to a new Edition of SpoilerTV`s Weekly Round Table. SpoilerTV members featured in this issue are Kollin Lore (KL), Mads (MD), Lisa Macklem (LM), Beth Whitley (BW), Jamie Coudeville, Zandarl (DC), Joey Hendrick (JD), Patrick Flaherty (PF), Abi Baker (AK) and Sam Dinsmoor (SD). You just have to sit back enjoy the read and join the discussion in the comment section down below.

Iron Fist cancelled! Surprise? Expected? And what does this mean for all the other Marvel Netflix shows? And do we deserve a two hour wrap up Movie?

KL: I'm not surprised. I know Iron Fist had an improved Season 2 ( I didn't event bother watching), but it was doomed from the start. Why they had a Season 2 to begin with is what makes me curious. A 2 hour movie? Why not, for the fans.

LM: It's clear that even Netflix has some kind of algorithmic test for profitability, but I suspect that it's the impending removal of all the Marvel material that makes this a much less attractive property now. I think that this cancellation will be followed by more. OTH - I never watched, but I heard that it was dreadful, so it might just be a quality issue...

Jamie Coudeville: I was shocked. Once it was renewed for a second season, I was sure that IF (and the other Marvel shows) would be allowed to go on until the writers decided to end it. I would've understood the cancellation after last season, because it wasn't that great. But this season was such an improvement and the fan reaction was also a lot better. I don't think we need a wrap up movie, they could wrap some of the stories up in the other shows, but I want my Colleen and Misty spin off please!

DC: I actually struggled to do a positive review as Ironfist himself was absent from this series making season 2 better. Colleen and Mary Walker taking centre stage as the best characters and portrayals on the screen. Even the villains came across as two brats who hadn't got what their parents promised them. I left off the review to try and give it a positive slant after I returned from hols but now its cancelled I don't see the point. Yes, season two was an improvement but miscasting of the lead ended this show. I don't think we have seen the last of any of the characters though if the other series continues to be as strong .. though I fear Luke Cage isn't very engaging either and may soon follow.

JD: Surprised it was cancelled? Not really. Surprised they didn't just announce a final, possibly shortened final season? A little. Do WE deserve a wrap-up? Yes. Has Iron Fist earned it? Meh. Season two was objectively better (does anyone not feel that way?), but it really wasn't enough to command the audience it needed. I don't think we'll get any bad news from the remaining three shows, though. The only one I'd be mildly worried about is Luke Cage, but we'll see how it does in its likely-to-happen third season next year.

PF: First off they never did the fist right, it should have been much more of a glowy energy thing. Second, so disappointed in the end of S2. Danny gave the fist away (pfff) then he's using it to shoot glowing bullets? Stupid. Both seasons of Luke Cage and IF should have ended setting up the Daughters of the Dragon and a Heroes for Hire series. Which could work as a movie. Hire me. Not surprised.

AK: I'm honestly kind of shocked that they did drop it. I never watched it because the trailers never drew me in but I'm surprised they're not giving it a third season to wrap things up. The Marvel shows are huge properties for Netflix but gone are the days that even the big shows are guaranteed at least three seasons now. I know it was always the lowest rated both critically and commercially (i.e. viewers) but I still thought they'd wrap it up considering I heard it ended on a cliffhanger.

SD: I was surprised Iron Fist got a second season, to be honest, after the negative reviews. I figured a lot of people must have hate-watched it or watched it to see if it was as bad as people said it was. But, clearly, they didn't have that many viewers to be canceled one season later. Either that or people were too turned off by season one that they didn't bother with season two. You also have to wonder, though, if Netflix is slowly getting rid of all of their Marvel content because of the new Disney streaming service. I can't imagine Disney would want to pick up these shows with this much adult-content, but maybe they want to use the characters for something new.

In this week`s Black Lightning season 2 premiere the N word was dropped. Is the time of censorship passing on Broadcast TV and is the influx of Cable and Streaming Shows opening the door to more explicit content on Broadcast?

KL: I think censorship will slowly be weeded out of broadcast television. Like your questions states, the rise of Cable and Streaming Shows are setting a new standard for how TV should be - cursing included.

MD: I actually think I have heard that word used before on cable/broadcast and I think that word specifically really depends on whose saying it and the context it's being used in to get the okay from the network to use it. That said, I haven't watched Black Lightning yet so I can't really speak on this incident.

However, I think it's a little ridiculous that networks are still so touchy about expletives being used on their shows. I mean obviously if it's a family show then you don't need to have curse words in it but shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU already push the boundaries when it comes to violence, against women in particular, sometimes it's even borderline torture porn, yet they can't drop an f-bomb once in a while? It feels archaic and a little silly honestly.

I've always thought American television was prudish and backwards in terms of the amount of blood, gore, and violence they'll let slip past the censors but not sex or cursing of all of things. It's an arbitrary hang-up. That's not to say we need to throw cursing in for the sake of it or to be edgy but I see no reason to NOT allow shows to use the language they feel necessary.

LM: The "N-word" is much more than a simple expletive. I think that there is still a place on broadcast networks for 8pm shows to have to adhere to a certain standard of kid-friendly (and bear in mind that I don't have children and "fuck" is my favorite adjective. However, there is definitely a place for politically and racially charged connotative words to be discussed at any time. The only real question here is who can say this to maintain the respect every race deserves. Thus, I think that its use on Black Lightening is entirely appropriate - but it's not the same discussion as mere curse words... which, c'mon cable and network tv - (FCC, I'm looking at you!) - get with the times...

Jamie Coudeville: I never really understood the US' censor rules, we don't really have that here in Belgium. I say it's time to do away with the mild swear words. Kids learn that stuff in school anyway, seeing it on TV isn't going to change anything.

DC: Is it bad a didn't bat an eyelid at this given the content of the show which is brutal at times.

JD: I've been patiently waiting for them to cave on language restrictions for years. They are just words. Children old enough to be regularly watching TV during prime time already know the words either from parents, other adults, or their classmates. They are not going to learn these words from a television show, and if parents are worried they will, they could always, I don't know, monitor what their children watch. As for the particular word used in Black Lightning, that should definitely remain as a case-by-case basis, given the history of the word.

PF: Every generation the language barrier degrades a little bit more. It's only fucking natural.

AK: I'm a UK viewer so things are different over here for us with the watershed (9pm - coincidentally when Black Lightning airs on The CW) where basically almost anything goes in content so my attitude with what can be broadcast on TV is a little bit different seemingly to those of some American viewers, but this was a huge moment for Black Lightning and broadcast TV in general. It felt organic for the show and the characters. I hope times are now changing but it felt both like a huge deal and inconsequential at the same time because it was a natural conversation between two characters. I think it does have a time and a place and I don't want that kind of word being dropped on every show, but it fit well here and hopefully it leads the way for it to be used on some other shows with similar casts.

SD: I think more explicit language is slowly becoming more acceptable on primetime television because of primetime wanting to push the boundaries themselves. It's been a trend for, well, since the beginning of television. The more they test the waters to see how the general public will react, the more doors it opens for others to do the same, and then soon it just becomes a natural part of watching television. I think cable and streaming services have made general viewers more ready to hear that kind of stuff on regular broadcast networks.

Lethal Weapon aka Broadcast`s most entertaining BTS Telenovela, delivered another blow by ordering two more season 3 Episodes after the Shows lead announcent his departure last week. Is a cancellation inveitable? Or will Fox try to bloodbath themselves out of this mischieve?

KL: I find talking about Lethal Weapon to be exhausting, honestly. The show is done for, period.

MD: I honestly don't know what's going to happen with Lethal Weapon. Fox is one of my least favorite networks and I feel as if they tend to be sloppy in the way they handle their shows. If Lethal Weapon's ratings continue to drop then I assume they'll have no choice but to cancel it. I've seen people theorize that these two new episode orders are just to give the show a chance to wrap up.

It seems almost cruel to me that Fox would give a show with so much drama and misbehavior another two episode though and deny Gotham the ONE episode order it needs to reach 100 episodes and be optioned for syndication. I haven't even seen Gotham but it clearly has a passionate fanbase and denying them that while rewarding a show with immature leads is messed up to me.

LM: This show is dead. Fox should just let it go. Much too broken - but then, Fox clearly has a soft spot for crazy broken things...

BW: I cannot believe a show I loved and was so invested in has turned into a BTS disaster. I blame several parties, Fox and Warner Brothers for catering to Damon Wayans' demands from the start. Yes, his meal requests are reasonable given his health issues. But agreeing to basically walk on eggs shells with his naps and refusal to do table reads really set a tone it seems. Now he threatens to quit and they must have had some talks and ordered two episodes. This is just a bad precedent to set and I feel for the other crew and cast that must live in flux. I think it is time to pull the plug and find give some opportunities for other shows to the cast, specifically Keesha Sharp. I will say with this much drama, they should have shelved it for midseason from the start and given Gotham a chance to finish in the fall and order enough for it to end at 100 episodes.

Jamie Coudeville: If FOX tries to salvage this they'll have a riot on there hands, especially after this year's cancellation bloodbath. I don't watch this show, but I know from experience (with Castle) that BTS drama like this can ruin a viewer's enjoyment of a show. And this can't be fun for the people on the cast and crew either.

DC: Let Lethal weapon go its a mess use the money to fund another series maybe a Cagney and Lacey remake.

JD: I'm still enjoying Lethal Weapon, actually. Though, with all of Damon's drama it may be time to think about letting it go. But, I would like a fourth season announced as the final season to give the crew and actors a solid year or so to start looking for other jobs.

PF: FOX is playing chicken with Damon to keep a turd (the show) floating around the bowl. Flush down the drama and be done with it. Get to making a Colonial Space Marines show and all will be forgiven.

AK: Honestly the two extra episodes makes me think that they're trying to wrap it up in a semi-sensible way. There's no way they can get a season 4 out of this when they barely scraped a season 3 and they've lost their two original leads. Fox can't be that stupid. I mean, they can, but I hope they won't be.

SD: For some reason, Fox wants to salvage this mess. They are pulling at loose strings to tie together something that's just falling apart. At some point, they'll have nothing left to hold together and they'll have to give up. Whether we are at that point or not, I don't know.

Warner Brothers are opening their own streaming service. Is the suffocation real? Will this constant overflow of content cancel the streamers out? How many services can we take?

KL: The suffocation is indeed real. There are only so many subscriptions one can have. However, looking at this positively, the more competition, the higher quality of TV shows across platforms, and that is exciting.

MD: I feel like people forget how many different cable providers there are. I mean I think having variety is a great idea. It would be nice if we could get some central streaming services with all the stuff you could ever want but it's not realistic. The thing is, I cut the cord a while ago and my cable + internet package was easily 200+ a month.

Even if I sign up for 10 streaming services I'm still paying a substantially less amount and get twice as much content, without ads, able to view at my own discretion. So I guess I don't really understand this particular complaint especially because no one is forcing anyone to sign up for them. Plus if you're watching one show at a time, since many people tend to binge, and these services are generally paid on a monthly basis, it's like paying 10 dollars to be able to watch a 10 season series. Even if takes you a few months you're still paying less than you would to buy the entire thing and watch it.

And as far as I've seen, all of these services are very easy to cancel and renew so it's not like it's hard to buy a month for one and watch what you want to on there and then switch to a different service next month, etc. Ultimately, you will still be paying so much less money than you would for a cable provider OR to buy all of your series digital or on DVD. So personally, I see nothing wrong with having a lot of different streaming providers if it widens the amount of content I can get.

LM: Suffocation is real. There is way too much content to keep up with - and that's only discussing the time needed to watch all this content! Now let's talk about the expense. People are going to stick with what gets them the most bang for their buck - and then they will turn back to piracy. It's Hollywood once again trying to jam the biggest piece of pie in their mouth without thinking about whether they are going to end up choking on it. We need a system whereby people can actually sign up for the shows they want - individually - without buying a ton of content that they don't want. The entire system needs to be streamlined - but I despair of ever getting Hollywood to stop long enough to figure that out...

BW: This separate streaming is not only frustrating to follow but a strain on the wallet. If they keep moving their content to exclusive streaming, subscribers may just get fatigue and resentment and the idea will be a financial disaster. This is becoming too much and consumers will most likely decide enough is enough.

Jamie Coudeville: It is getting a bit ridiculous lately. It seems like suddenly everyone wants a streaming service. However, this also means more opportunities for diverse and unique shows that otherwise wouldn't have found a home. And when our favorite shows get cancelled, there are more services that could potentially save it. But it is getting a little hard to keep track of.

DC: The market will be flooded before much longer, let's hope it improves the shows we see not the other way around.

JD: I'm more worried that this increased trend is going to hurt the overall streaming business. If companies keep making their own services and removing their existing content from the current services, those content libraries are going to shrink and people may just start switching back to cable since they'll already have to spend a hefty sum on all the other services just watch all of their shows. It'll take years and years to get there of course, but I'd still like that to not happen.

PF: WB starting up streaming is dumb but to be expected. The sources are now just going to be like, "hey, get it from us directly, you don't need Netflix, or ABC, or FOX, or cable, or satellite, just stream stream away". With DC Universe already doing this in house, do they really have enough content? Harry Potter forever?! They must be going back into the vaults, watch old Friends episodes only on WBflix!

AK: Netflix will always be the top streaming service along with Hulu and Amazon, that won't change, but there will be a point where there will be too many and we're quickly reaching it. If too many companies keep doing this then it's just going to drive people away as they won't want to spend money on multiple different services and they'll be driven to piracy....again.

SD: I'm already paying for Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix. My wallet can't afford anything else, and I'm sure the same can be said for a lot of people. It's just too many services. It would be like paying 10 bucks each to watch ABC, NBC, FOX, and NBC's broadcast channels. That's insane. I think these three services will be the mainstay and everything else will just fall short of that popularity. They're just saturating the market. If people see that there are this many streaming services to pay for, they won't want to pay for any of them. Except maybe Disney. I can see Disney being successful given the huge company that it is, but I don't think anything else will work in the long-run.

That is a wrap guys! Ur turn now, come and join the discussion down below. Till we read again. . .