Why haven't we talked about Stranger Things yet?

[The Curmudgeon]

Fun fact: I can access this board at my job, but it locks me out of certain sections; the "What We're Into" part is always locked (pretty sure because the tagline has "video games" in it) and most recently I've started being locked out of this one. Which probably explains why I've not made a Stranger Things thread yet, every time I remember I get locked out of my own damned site.

But anyway - Stranger Things, then. Undoubtedly THE show of 2016 with regards to online talk, Facebook shares and the like, we only decided to watch it because so many people were talking about it and we figured we'd better watch it before some dick tells us what happens in it.

And it is... greatness.

I'm always wary about hyped TV shows, because it's possible to believe the hype when you see it and then you come away disappointed, but even though I had read all kinds of hyperbole about just how good Stranger Things is.. it still surpassed what I was expecting.

It's like the best Stephen King adaptation of a book he's never written. All the classic King hallmarks are there with a healthy helping of Spielberg thrown in for good measure; a group of basement dwelling uncool kids are the heroes, the fantastic and improbable is made plausible, a nickname is given to the monster/situation that just sticks and becomes it's canon name.. and it's all done so realistically 80's. The theme tune, the scratchy intro graphics, the look and feel of the show.. it's uncanny. I don't want to say anything else in case there's anyone who hasn't seen it yet.. so I'll leave this open here.

Stranger Things - are we on board?

[trashcanman]

We are. I honestly don't love it quite as much as everybody else does, but there's no doubt at all that no media property since the '80s has captured that time period as perfectly. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. Amazing for nostalgia purposes, but there's a random "shut up it's just a movie"-ness to the storytelling that takes me out of it a little and fails to put it up there with the GoTs and the Breaking Bads. But given the style they're adapting, I'll sure take it

[The Curmudgeon]

I love the fact it has taken off as much as it has. Talk about a sleeper hit, it just arrived on Netflix and through sheer word of mouth became this Big Deal.

I would say though, my one major gripe with the show itself - the monster.

For a show as indebted and in love with the 80's as Stranger Things, to have your monster be some CGI thing is just pretty damn unforgivable. Really took me out of the show every time it popped it's shiny computerised head through the wall. They showed a clip from the Thing movie, all physical special effects and prop models, and you don't follow suit the same way?