Gets worse with each season, though still generally watchable (if better at 1.25x, 1.5x speed in later seasons)
Combination of Matthew Rhys & Matthew Goode made the first season super watchable, the easygoing banter between them made this an entertaining show—even if you don't drink wine—and especially Matthew Rhys's quick-on-his-feet rapscallion humor played well with the more straightlaced presenters, helping let out any air of pretentiousness naturally innate in a show about wine.
As Rhys's screentime diminishes with subsequent seasons (presumably due to his busy filming schedule), others are brought in to diminishing effect (James Purefoy, Dominic West). Even worse they try to replicate some of the banter to keep the show light but it just comes across as try-hard. Without Rhys most other elements of the show get much more boring (Fattorini in particular, but Matthew Goode also appears to only be charismatic in the presence of Rhys) and the air of pretentiousness intermittently takes over the show, try as it might to be a general entertainment show palatable to the masses.
In later seasons, the end of the Wine Showcase segments often has Purefoy & Goode waxing poetic about life and wine while overlooking a sunset or some such wankery and it just makes me roll my eyes to kingdom come.
Review by BobDole12BlockedParent2022-02-16T14:23:43Z
Gets worse with each season, though still generally watchable (if better at 1.25x, 1.5x speed in later seasons)
Combination of Matthew Rhys & Matthew Goode made the first season super watchable, the easygoing banter between them made this an entertaining show—even if you don't drink wine—and especially Matthew Rhys's quick-on-his-feet rapscallion humor played well with the more straightlaced presenters, helping let out any air of pretentiousness naturally innate in a show about wine.
As Rhys's screentime diminishes with subsequent seasons (presumably due to his busy filming schedule), others are brought in to diminishing effect (James Purefoy, Dominic West). Even worse they try to replicate some of the banter to keep the show light but it just comes across as try-hard. Without Rhys most other elements of the show get much more boring (Fattorini in particular, but Matthew Goode also appears to only be charismatic in the presence of Rhys) and the air of pretentiousness intermittently takes over the show, try as it might to be a general entertainment show palatable to the masses.
In later seasons, the end of the Wine Showcase segments often has Purefoy & Goode waxing poetic about life and wine while overlooking a sunset or some such wankery and it just makes me roll my eyes to kingdom come.