The Ongoing Television Series Thread
- Serious Paul
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The Ongoing Television Series Thread
So over the last few years I've watched a few television shows, mostly due to a massive amount of time spent being injured. I'd like to discuss some fo them with you:
Heroes
I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Heroes. I think it went in a different direction than I expected, but in some ways it's stuck to some of the cliches I expected to see. I'm not sure what to expect from season 3, which I hear will concentrate on the villains.
Lost
I hear this has an end point, which I think more series should have. I want to stick with this show, but if things don't improve this next season I may decide to drop off, and wait till it's finished.
Smallville
Cast changes spell the end for this sleeper hit in my opinion. Half the fun has been Lex Luthor, and he's moving onward. I hope the eight season will be the end. I hope it provides a nice jumping off point for something else.
Battlestar Galactica
Another series with an end point. I've held on this long, damn it don't disappoint me!
So what are you watching? What is good out there? What should I be watching, or watching for?
Heroes
I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Heroes. I think it went in a different direction than I expected, but in some ways it's stuck to some of the cliches I expected to see. I'm not sure what to expect from season 3, which I hear will concentrate on the villains.
Lost
I hear this has an end point, which I think more series should have. I want to stick with this show, but if things don't improve this next season I may decide to drop off, and wait till it's finished.
Smallville
Cast changes spell the end for this sleeper hit in my opinion. Half the fun has been Lex Luthor, and he's moving onward. I hope the eight season will be the end. I hope it provides a nice jumping off point for something else.
Battlestar Galactica
Another series with an end point. I've held on this long, damn it don't disappoint me!
So what are you watching? What is good out there? What should I be watching, or watching for?
I'm watching an awful lot of shows, but I've not been particularly discriminating. Few of them are high quality shows, so I find I'm watching a lot of Buffy and West Wing reruns to fill time. The only ones I'd recommend are probably The Tudors, Bullshit, and In Treatment, all of which are aired on premium channels.
There is then a need to guard against a temptation to overstate the economic evils of our own age, and to ignore the existence of similar, or worse, evils in earlier ages. Even though some exaggeration may, for the time, stimulate others, as well as ourselves, to a more intense resolve that the present evils should no longer exist, but it is not less wrong and generally it is much more foolish to palter with truth for good than for a selfish cause. The pessimistic descriptions of our own age, combined with the romantic exaggeration of the happiness of past ages must tend to setting aside the methods of progress, the work of which, if slow, is yet solid, and lead to the hasty adoption of others of greater promise, but which resemble the potent medicines of a charlatan, and while quickly effecting a little good sow the seeds of widespread and lasting decay. This impatient insincerity is an evil only less great than the moral torpor which can endure, that we with our modern resources and knowledge should look contentedly at the continued destruction of all that is worth having. There is an evil and an extreme impatience as well as an extreme patience with social ills.
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Bullshit is Penn & Teller kicking the crap out of common knowledge and stupid ideas.
In Treatment is an HBO series set entirely inside of psychotherapy sessions.
In Treatment is an HBO series set entirely inside of psychotherapy sessions.
There is then a need to guard against a temptation to overstate the economic evils of our own age, and to ignore the existence of similar, or worse, evils in earlier ages. Even though some exaggeration may, for the time, stimulate others, as well as ourselves, to a more intense resolve that the present evils should no longer exist, but it is not less wrong and generally it is much more foolish to palter with truth for good than for a selfish cause. The pessimistic descriptions of our own age, combined with the romantic exaggeration of the happiness of past ages must tend to setting aside the methods of progress, the work of which, if slow, is yet solid, and lead to the hasty adoption of others of greater promise, but which resemble the potent medicines of a charlatan, and while quickly effecting a little good sow the seeds of widespread and lasting decay. This impatient insincerity is an evil only less great than the moral torpor which can endure, that we with our modern resources and knowledge should look contentedly at the continued destruction of all that is worth having. There is an evil and an extreme impatience as well as an extreme patience with social ills.
P&T - Bullshit - Eat This! - Part 1Marius wrote:Bullshit is Penn & Teller kicking the crap out of common knowledge and stupid ideas.
P&T - Bullshit - Eat This! - Part 2
P&T - Bullshit - Eat This! - Part 3
- Jeff Hauze
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I almost hate to admit, that I'm starting to really dig Burn Notice. I shouldn't because I fucking hate the main actor. I came for Bruce Campbell, but I'm starting to think I may stick around.
Screw liquid diamond. I want to be able to fling apartment building sized ingots of extracted metal into space.
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- Serious Paul
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So I revisited the Tudors and made it four episodes before deleting both seasons. I just can't find any interest in any of the characters or the story being told. So I guess that's on the list for later. (Tastes change right?)
To add to the discussion True Blood is shaping up nicely, despite some pretty strong reminders of White Wolf at times, and a bad habit of just ending each episode. (Drives Ada nuts.)
Fringe is shaping up okay, a little forced at times in my opinion, but I like the cast.
Sons of Anarchy is pretty damned good in my opinion, and I like how it intertwines with the same setting as the Shield.
The second season of the Sarah Connor Chronicles is off to a pretty bang up start, and I have massive hopes for this series. I hope they don't burn me.
To add to the discussion True Blood is shaping up nicely, despite some pretty strong reminders of White Wolf at times, and a bad habit of just ending each episode. (Drives Ada nuts.)
Fringe is shaping up okay, a little forced at times in my opinion, but I like the cast.
Sons of Anarchy is pretty damned good in my opinion, and I like how it intertwines with the same setting as the Shield.
The second season of the Sarah Connor Chronicles is off to a pretty bang up start, and I have massive hopes for this series. I hope they don't burn me.
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- Serious Paul
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And Heroes is certainly less boring than last season. Some of it is still badly thought out, and their only delaying the inevitable with Peter/Sylar, but I liked it and will check it out again next week.
Knight Rider premiers Wednesday, and Life comes back next week. I'm checking out KR out of morbid curiosity, but I thought Life was quirky fun last season.
Knight Rider premiers Wednesday, and Life comes back next week. I'm checking out KR out of morbid curiosity, but I thought Life was quirky fun last season.
Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, become critics. They also misapply overly niggling inerpretations of Logical Fallacies in place of arguing anything at all.
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I love me Hulu.com for giving me at least two decent shows I can listen to while at work. I can't say I really watch them, as I'm too busy routing, but I can listen.
Burn Notice - Yup, I'm straight up in love with this show. Funny, quirky, and totally unrealistic in all the right kind of ways. You've got just the right mix of the fictional Miami Vice vibe and zany supporting characters to keep it light and fun, while still giving enough of a serious backstory and tradecraft MacGuyver moments to be consistent. I haven't seen any of the second season yet, but season one totally hooked me.
Fringe - Only two episodes so far. But I really dig the cast, and maybe I'm just way out of the loop here, but I'm a little surprised at the level of bodily gore they actually show on this. I haven't watch much of anything on live television except movies in about three years (BSG on On Demand or online only), so that surprised me a bit on Fox. But the show is catchy. I really hate to admit that, since Lost made me want to kill someone. I was really hoping that JJ Abrams was another person I could illogically hate and rail against, because it's always fun to have another target. After Cloverfield and Lost, I was sure that would be the case. Fringe might turn that around for me. Go John Noble.
Burn Notice - Yup, I'm straight up in love with this show. Funny, quirky, and totally unrealistic in all the right kind of ways. You've got just the right mix of the fictional Miami Vice vibe and zany supporting characters to keep it light and fun, while still giving enough of a serious backstory and tradecraft MacGuyver moments to be consistent. I haven't seen any of the second season yet, but season one totally hooked me.
Fringe - Only two episodes so far. But I really dig the cast, and maybe I'm just way out of the loop here, but I'm a little surprised at the level of bodily gore they actually show on this. I haven't watch much of anything on live television except movies in about three years (BSG on On Demand or online only), so that surprised me a bit on Fox. But the show is catchy. I really hate to admit that, since Lost made me want to kill someone. I was really hoping that JJ Abrams was another person I could illogically hate and rail against, because it's always fun to have another target. After Cloverfield and Lost, I was sure that would be the case. Fringe might turn that around for me. Go John Noble.
Screw liquid diamond. I want to be able to fling apartment building sized ingots of extracted metal into space.
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Did My Own Worse Enemy start yet? And if so, is it as much a train wreck as recent Slater projects have been? I want to enjoy his stuff, I really do, if only for some certain roles in the past. But I'm afraid it will suck mightily.
Screw liquid diamond. I want to be able to fling apartment building sized ingots of extracted metal into space.
The thing with Heroes since the first seasons (and even during the first season a bit), they don't really seem to know which direction they want to take it in. As a result, at least to me, it seems like they're trying to do too many things at once.WillyGilligan wrote:And Heroes is certainly less boring than last season. Some of it is still badly thought out, and their only delaying the inevitable with Peter/Sylar, but I liked it and will check it out again next week.
My Own Worst Enemy is supposed to premier October 13th.
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Knight Rider suuuuuccckked, even when I account for first episode issues. I literally watched about 5 minutes of the show, paused it and went into the next room to rant at my wife for another 15 minutes. I'm pretty forgiving of television, but it was truly bad, with only one or two moments of passable entertainment (I know I lose man points for this, but I don't count cleavage for purposes of passable TV. Nice to see, does not prop up a horrible show, imo.)Serious Paul wrote:Knight Rider just sounds way ghey to me, but Life is the awesome. I like it.
And Deev, I agree with you on Heroes. I find it just interesting enough to keep watching, but this season could go either way.
Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, become critics. They also misapply overly niggling inerpretations of Logical Fallacies in place of arguing anything at all.
I'd been behind on Terminator, because I just hadn't been in the mood, but I've just gotten caught up with the times, and while I've rather a lot to say, positive and negative, about the show itself, the news of the moment is the casting coups: yes, the scottish lady named Shirley Manson is indeed that scottish lady named Shirley Manson - took me a bit long to figure that out - and yes, holy crap, that really is Toby Ziegler, White House Communications Director, playing the Henry-Gale-ish watch repairman. When did this show start pulling real names?
I've been watching a bit over one and a half season of Terminator: the Sara Connor Chronicles and so far it's ok. Not good, just ok. The dark message of the series is not translated into the series too well. The amount of Terrminators and people sent back in time is just too much. It made me wonder why Skynet doesn't just send a small army back in time to just get it all over with. That and the fact that for some reason Skynet keeps sending back old models instead of T1000 models, but maybe I'm just asking too much questions with regards to this series.
It's lonely at the top. But it's comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom.
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Terminator looks to be getting cancelled. Heroes has lost me, I mean I have the finale Tivo'd but can't work up the interest to ask my daughter to pass me the remote and watch it. I've gotten into Chuck and that's nice fun for a guy that spent way too much time watching TV in the 80's/90's. I mean, honestly, they had a spy named Sascha Banechek in one episode; just dropped the reference and left it alone for people like me to laugh at and normal people would just overlook.
Really looking forward to the return of Sons of Anarchy in the fall.
Really looking forward to the return of Sons of Anarchy in the fall.
Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, become critics. They also misapply overly niggling inerpretations of Logical Fallacies in place of arguing anything at all.
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Burn Notice still has me hooked, and I can't wait for the next season of Leverage. Which, if you haven't seen, its a TNT show that seriously feels like what would happen if you mashed The A Team and Mission Impossible TV together and had the crew of Sneakers consulting. Great interactions, off the wall plans that somehow work, and often lots of pissing people off.
10:41 Kai: Ohayou minna
10:42 Adam: ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER!
10:44 Kai: Fuck off, how's that? ;P
10:45 Adam: Much better.
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For some reason, TNT has me hooked on programming. Leverage, Saving Grace, The Closer, those are all shows I've enjoyed immensely.Kai wrote:Burn Notice still has me hooked, and I can't wait for the next season of Leverage. Which, if you haven't seen, its a TNT show that seriously feels like what would happen if you mashed The A Team and Mission Impossible TV together and had the crew of Sneakers consulting. Great interactions, off the wall plans that somehow work, and often lots of pissing people off.
On the big three side of it, Lost never appealed, I'm not a diehard enough Joss Whedon or Eliza Dushku fan for Dollhouse, Terminator is gone, I just never got into Heroes, and Fringe just didn't click. I do enjoy Criminal Minds and the Mentalist, as well as CSI: New York and NCIS. Numb3rs was cool, but I've missed a lot of it.
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I tried Caprica, but with little joy. I lost interest in it about halfway through it. Season 2 of True Blood is on, and Iantha is watching, and generally we watch TV on my computer or the projector together.
I've been hearing a lot of good thinks about Leverage, Chuck and apparently a show that's been discontinued called "Dark Angel", that I'll try to watch. I also hear about Burn Notice. So I'll add them to my "Queue" and check them out.
I snagged a 1Tb external drive, so I'll be snagging a ton of stuff. Atem and 3278 have discussed Weeds, which I watched the first season of and lost interest in so I may revisit it. I'm also going to finish Breaking bad, which is pretty damned cool in my opinion.
So what's on the horizon? What looks good? What's being discontinued?
I've been hearing a lot of good thinks about Leverage, Chuck and apparently a show that's been discontinued called "Dark Angel", that I'll try to watch. I also hear about Burn Notice. So I'll add them to my "Queue" and check them out.
I snagged a 1Tb external drive, so I'll be snagging a ton of stuff. Atem and 3278 have discussed Weeds, which I watched the first season of and lost interest in so I may revisit it. I'm also going to finish Breaking bad, which is pretty damned cool in my opinion.
So what's on the horizon? What looks good? What's being discontinued?
I really like Burn Notice, although I only watch it online, usually two or three episodes at a time. It's like a combination of the best parts of Macgyver and the A-Team, what's not to love?
And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
You know what I like about Entourage and Burn Notice -- and what I used to like about My Name is Earl -- it's all smaller, bite-sized shows that you can consume in no more than half an hour. It makes it a very flexible time filler. That's why I usually load up a bunch of episodes on my iPhone at once, so I can watch it while in public transport, or waiting for Eva to show up, etc.
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*psst* 44 minutes long. I know I need to convert to Celsius from Fahrenheit and I think I did the math right. Subtract 32 and multiply by 0.5555....yup. Still coming out at 44 min long.DV8 wrote:... Burn Notice ... it's all smaller, bite-sized shows that you can consume in no more than half an hour.
<font color=#5c7898>A high I.Q. is like a jeep. You'll still get stuck; you'll just be farther from help when you do.
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ROME on HBO was amazing. Got the DVDs. (Watched live)
Currently watching True Blood. (Watching live) Pretty good.
BSG was good. (caught on DVD)
Supernatural is good. (on DVD)
Deadwood was good and Carnivale was awesome. (DVD)
Heroes Season One was great. (DVD)
I tend to very rarely watch TV. We only follow one series at any given time.
I have found some fun series' via netflix "damn, I wish I'd seen this live".
Currently watching True Blood. (Watching live) Pretty good.
BSG was good. (caught on DVD)
Supernatural is good. (on DVD)
Deadwood was good and Carnivale was awesome. (DVD)
Heroes Season One was great. (DVD)
I tend to very rarely watch TV. We only follow one series at any given time.
I have found some fun series' via netflix "damn, I wish I'd seen this live".
Quoth Drunken Master:
"When Colin Powell walks out of your cabinet because of doctrinal issues, you've got problems."
Quoth Moto42:
"Bulldrek, where love and appreciation are accompanied by a volley of gunfire."
"When Colin Powell walks out of your cabinet because of doctrinal issues, you've got problems."
Quoth Moto42:
"Bulldrek, where love and appreciation are accompanied by a volley of gunfire."
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I usually catch a series long after it's canceled and left to the DVD archives.Eva wrote:Why? What is the added value for you?Ampere wrote:I have found some fun series' via netflix "damn, I wish I'd seen this live".
Sometimes I do think that I missed out the first time around. Must have been wasting time doing something else while *this* genius program was live and in current circulation.
I didn't get in to B5 until long after it ended, and at least the first three seasons were excellent. Those would have been nice to see live.
Ironically, while I occasionally think I may have missed out, my nature is one that live series are a pain. I think it's an ADD thing but I tend to be UBER excited about a show (or anything really) and then move on to the next UBER exciting thing, sometimes forgetting what the previous one was until I missed episodes. Premium channels have OnDemand so I can easily catch up (which is part of why I loved the various HBO series) but regular channels are more of a pain to keep up on.
I know there ARE internet methods of keeping up with TV, but I tend to avoid them. My PC is my work machine and I try and keep it as pristine as possible, so I watch VERY little video on it. (I have had some technical issues w/ Hulu and the like, and I don't do any sort of torrenting anymore. Esp not on my work machine.)
More often than not my NEED for instant gratification means getting a series on DVD and watching them all marathon style.
Quoth Drunken Master:
"When Colin Powell walks out of your cabinet because of doctrinal issues, you've got problems."
Quoth Moto42:
"Bulldrek, where love and appreciation are accompanied by a volley of gunfire."
"When Colin Powell walks out of your cabinet because of doctrinal issues, you've got problems."
Quoth Moto42:
"Bulldrek, where love and appreciation are accompanied by a volley of gunfire."
Hate it. I've watched various series in various ways now, and for my money - any only speaking for my personal preference! - watching shows in one big lump is the only way to go. Probably this has something to do with my preference for serial TV shows, but I also feel more connected and invested if I can watch a whole whap of show at once.DV8 wrote:I have to agree that there is some added value to the anticipation of the weekly wait.
Lately, since I don't watch TV regularly, I've started saving up shows that I watch, so I can watch them all at once, and don't waste time every day catching up with what aired this week. I guess by "lately," I mean, "for the last year or so," because I did that recently with Heroes, which I was a season behind on...even though the season ended several months ago.