u/DonatCotten

I think National Anthem was a terrible first episode because not only is it the weakest episode in Season One, but I feel it does a terrible job of giving the viewer a feel or idea of what this series is like or really about.

Fifteen Million Merits is the first true episode of black mirror because not only is it a great episode, but it does an excellent job of establishing what this series is like and about.

I'm actually shocked this episode was from 2011 and is 15 years old! It truly feels timeless and the only thing I think dates it in anyway is the American Idol type talent TV show which is no longer a "star maker" or as prominent compared to other outlets now like social media platforms where you create and upload your own content rather than auditioning on a TV show.

I'm a huge fan of the original Twilight Zone and despite that show ending decades before I was born I feel it is still a timeless show that still holds up even today. This year I watched the Jordan Peele 2019 TZ reboot and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I could not believe how terrible the episodes were with how poorly written and heavy handed they were and it was even more unacceptable to me because unlike other anthology shows Twilight Zone is pretty open with the types of stories you can tell. There's fantasy, science fiction, romance, Western, even realistic morality type stories ect! And yet the remake was a complete dud while Black Mirror which is much more limited and restricted to just technology based stories somehow managed to surpass the 2019 TZ reboot and I'd even go as far as to say Black Mirror is the only anthology show that can compete with the original Twilight Zone.

As a newbie to Black Mirror I'm just really impressed to finally find a series that matches the original Twilight Zone in terms of high quality thought provoking episodes. I read Charlie Brooker was a huge TZ fan and considered it a big influence on BM so I feel he'd be happy to see fans like me compare his series favorably to the original TZ. Anyone else feel the same way about Black Mirror and Twilight Zone?

I recently started watching BM and thought what I saw so far was very good, but I looked it up and was surprised to discover the series started in 2011! I watched the first Season assuming it was from the late 2010's and had no idea it was that old. The thing that further surprised me is the first two seasons only had 3 episodes each so by the time it's British run ended it only had 6 episodes and stopped in 2013 and yet 3 years later apparently Netflix revived it and that is where the series picked up and received it's higher episode count. Why was there such a large gap between the 2nd and 3rd seasons. Did those first 6 Black Mirror episodes pick up a cult following or something? For those old enough that know I'm just curious how this series became so popular in spite of the low number of episodes and big gap between seasons.

I hate when customers ask "How are you today?" When 99% of the time they don't care at all and would actually get mad if I told the truth and said I was having a bad day instead of the phony "fine" or "good" I am always automatically expected to answer to these people. The ironic thing is those people believe they are nice and caring for asking that, but they really aren't because they don't care at all what the real answer is. You have to answer fine or good to them or else! Seriously I'd rather someone just say hi and good morning/afternoon/evening and just leave it at that! That is still being polite and greeting and acknowledging the other person without asking a personal question that implies you care more than you do. I automatically hate someone that asks me how I am when they clearly couldn't care less about me.

I recently received a letter in the mail last week saying a new chip card would be mailed out to me sometime in the summer and to activate it immediately when it comes, but I was curious if they send a separate e-mail letting you know when the card was shipped so you know when to expect it? I ask because I'm worried since I have had mail stolen from my house before so I want to be able to track it and know when this new card is mailed so if it is stolen at least I'll know and can cancel it. If someone steals the new card from my house when i'm at work and activates it I'll lose everything on my old card even if it's locked. So much for making things safer :(

I recently received a letter in the mail last week saying a new chip card would be mailed out to me sometime in the summer and to activate it immediately when it comes, but I was curious if they send a separate e-mail letting you know when the card was shipped so you know when to expect it? I ask because I'm worried since I have had mail stolen from my house before so I want to be able to track it and know when this new card is mailed so if it is stolen at least I'll know and can cancel it. If someone steals the new card from my house when i'm at work and activates it I'll lose everything on my old card even if it's locked. So much for making things safer :(

I own this one DVD set of the original series I got for 30 dollars that had the entire series and while the quality was good unfortunately there were some issues with it. Some of the discs freeze and won't play certain episodes and the discs crack very easily when you try to take them out of the holders. I know streaming is more common with people my age but I'm one of those weirdos that likes to own physical copies of shows and movies that are important to me and since TZ is my favorite series I'd like to know if there is a high quality definitive version of the entire series? And if so how much would it cost?

I recently saw this episode and I have to say I agree with most of the criticism of Pat Hingle's performance. He's very obnoxious and over the top and I don't think the writing is solely to blame for this because I feel a lot of Hingle's choices for how he played this part fall flat. I read that the original story this was based off (written by Reginald Rose) was adapted for a TV show in the 1950's with Art Carney playing Horace Ford (unfortunately no copies of it exist today). It got me thinking how much better this episode would be if Art Carney was playing the lead. Carney had played characters with problems (like an alcoholic in a previous TZ episode) and even won an Academy Award for Harry and Tonto and even though his character in that film could be a jerk (like Horace Ford's character) the way Carney played him still made it work and I never felt dislike for his character in that film the way I did with Horace Ford.

Is there an actor you'd have cast that would have improved the portrayal of Horace Ford in this epir? It's kind of frustrating because Hingle was not a bad actor, but unfortunately his performance here was a complete misfire. he made a lot of poor choices in his portrayal and it really effects my ability to like this episode which isn't even that bad an episode writing wise so the acting is one of the biggest problems for me.

A lot of the fans I know of this show are much older than me so it got me wondering if there were any other younger fans like me on here who love the show? Most people I know in their 20's I know in real life refuse to watch TZ because of it being a black and white older show so I don't have anyone close to my age who I can discuss it with. I think it's just very hard to get people into older shows who cannot adjust to the older style of films and shows.

I'm going to be honest despite being a very huge classic film fan (I genuinely feel there were a lot of very good older movies that are timeless compared to older shows) I really struggle to find TV shows from the 1950's/1960's engaging to watch other than TZ. I looked into what shows were popular at the time like Petticoat Junction, Peyton Place, Bonanza, Route 66, The Fugitive, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, and Rawhide, but when I tried watching episodes from them I found those shows very dated and unengaging compared to TZ. Maybe it's the anthology format and great writing but for whatever reason I can easily watch and be enthralled with a TZ episode whereas I struggle a lot with other shows from the same period. Another older show I actually liked the episodes of was Playhouse 90 from the few I saw online, but unfortunately the video quality isn't the greatest. For some reason I feel anthologies hold up much better than other shows from that time period (with TZ obviously being the gold standard!)

I'm asking because I'm worried it popped up within the app itself so I assumed it was going to ask me to rate it within the app and that I was safe instead when I clicked Yes to rate it it opened a link that redirected me to the app store. Is this a legit thing to happen with this app or did I somehow get hacked and have to worry now? Any help would be appreciated i'm so mad at myself because I assumed it would ask me within the app and not open a link to the app store which is the first time I've experienced this.

I usually wear a bandana during the summer because not only does it prevent sweat from dripping down into my eyes, but my hair gets very flat and frizzy and it actually helps keep it up quite a bit. I actually tie it around my forehead with my hair still visible rather than completely over my head covering my entire hair and the whole top of my head the way some people do so that should give you an idea of how I wear it. I actually don't think it looks bad and personally find it both functional and stylish, but was curious to read other people's thoughts on them.

I usually wear a bandana during the summer because not only does it prevent sweat from dripping down into my eyes, but my hare gets very flat and frizzy and it actually helps keep it up quite a bit. I actually tie it just around my forehead rather than completely over covering everything on top the way some people do so that should give you an idea of how I wear it. I actually don't think it looks bad and personally find it both functional and stylish, but was curious to read other people's thoughts on them.

I had a really bad day at work. Some guy purchased several food items and argued with me at register saying his order being 28 dollars was too high and that I must have overcharged him. I didn't but he was insistent about it and several people were in line and started getting upset at me because he wouldn't leave. When the guy finally left after 10 minutes saying he was going to get his order fixed by at customer service by a cashier that "wasn't a retart". The next person in line started cursing at me about the wait and slamming her stuff and complaining to her friend on the phone that I was the worst and "these stores will just hire anybody". She was wearing a shirt that said " choose kindness" (You can't make this up!) The next customer also complained because I looked sad, but the ones after that just gave me the silent treatment. Not One Person in line defended me or stood up for me when I was being verbally abused. Not one person cared enough to be kind and understanding of the fact that the line being held up was not My fault. I was their punching bag and they were more than willing to throw those punches at me.

I use this example because I literally cried when I got home and just feel so much overwhelming hatred and disgust toward people. They have no heart, no patience, not one drop of kindness to give to anyone else that isn't a friend or family member. It sadness me as well as angers me that people are like this and this is not a minority of them! These selfish indifferent people that only care about themselves and their needs are in the majority. No wonder we have so many fucking problems in society. People can't do something as simple as show kindness and patience toward each other! That is what hurts. Being reminded that people can't even do something as simple as not take their anger out on somebody else. They are cowards too because if they felt they would get arrested or banned for mistreating they wouldn't do it, but since they know the store doesn't care and that they can get away with it they do it. Cowards as well as hypocrites. I'm so sick of these people.