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ufarn
May 30, 2009

Deadpool posted:

So is it more serious talk or is it just more of "Make the news funny" like Stewart, Colbert, and Oliver? Because I've been pretty well burnt out on the latter for a good while. I guess it being on Comedy Central and being hosted by a comedian answers the question for me. But maybe not.
Colbert and Stewart usually try to leave things on a high note or to make lemonade out of lemons, but Wilmore just leaves it at "yup, this sucks", which is a refreshing angle.

Oliver did this to an extent, but he usually bookends the segments with a funny sketch or concept.

Which is easier, given that most of the things they talked about them don't affect them every day the way racism affects Wilmore and black people.

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Ravane
Oct 23, 2010

by LadyAmbien

Vanderdeath posted:

I hate that I'm responding to Ravane but Larry Wilmore grew up middle-class in the Midwest. Not every black person grew up poor and in the inner city. I know it's Ravane but "urban" as a codeword for black people gets under my skin.

Next you're going to tell me I can't say that arabs had a turban upbringing.

X-O
Apr 28, 2002

Long Live The King!

Ravane if your posts were actually funny and entertaining it would be fine but they're more like the dad jokes of trolling. They're just kind of embarrassing. Don't post in this thread for a month or so and instead work on some decent material.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012
People were right about season 2 of Person of Interest. Once they knew they had a hit they started having fun with the show. There's a lot more comedy in the first half of this season then the entire first season.

Lugaloco
Jun 29, 2011

Ice to see you!

Since I've ran out of stuff to watch, I think I'm finally going to give this Person of Interest show a shot.

EvilTobaccoExec
Dec 22, 2003

Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts!

Lugaloco posted:

Since I've ran out of stuff to watch, I think I'm finally going to give this Person of Interest show a shot.

Netflix has every season of Columbo and Murder She Wrote

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.

EvilTobaccoExec posted:

Netflix has every season of Columbo and Murder She Wrote

Okay so I hate myself a little bit for knowing this but it does NOT have every episode of Murder She Wrote. Only most of them. It makes me so angry. Almost as angry as the fact that there is no good way for me to watch the entirety of Passions.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Lugaloco posted:

Since I've ran out of stuff to watch, I think I'm finally going to give this Person of Interest show a shot.

I just started after passing on it for years, finally took the plunge in the TVIV Top 10 shows thread when someone mentioned that my list would mean that I'd probably love POI.

It's loving amazing, easily one of my new favorite shows.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

I hope you're American, because if not it's really hard to watch.

First 2 seasons are on Netflix UK at least, and I think everyone outside the US uses a Netflix DNS redirector at this point.

DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.

Aphrodite posted:

I hope you're American, because if not it's really hard to watch.

First 2 seasons are on Netflix UK at least, and I think everyone outside the US uses a Netflix DNS redirector at this point.

The series is hitting Netflix in the fall, FWIW, though the original Deadline report suggested that it would only be the first three seasons -- which would be frankly insane, but considering how long the series took to get any sort of digital distribution, I almost believe it.

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

When does PoI get really good? Is it like Fringe where the first season kind of sucks. I thought Fringe was so loving boring but I just kind of half watched the first season but it got really fun after that.

hcreight
Mar 19, 2007

My name is Oliver Queen...
A lot of people don't care for the first few episodes but you should know by episode 7 whether the show is for you or not. It's not that the first season is bad or anything, it's that the first two seasons are much more procedural, and it isn't until S3 or so that the show starts going really wild with its premise.

Also Sarah Shahi, who plays one of the show's best characters, doesn't come on board until well into S2.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Good around halfway through S1, really good around halfway through S2. Also while S1 may be the black sheep season I really wouldn't recommend skipping any of it since even the procedural episodes are heavily serialized. S1 is actually pretty amazing on a rewatch because you notice all the background poo poo they have been setting up since the start that they eventually payoff on a massive scale around the mid season of 2.

Lugaloco
Jun 29, 2011

Ice to see you!

So I've watched the pilot and... yeesh. Also yeah, not American. I'll try and stick with it.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Give it to ep 4, that's when the show starts doing interesting things.

less laughter
May 7, 2012

Accelerock & Roll

Lugaloco posted:

So I've watched the pilot and... yeesh.

The pilot is really dumb and over-explainy, but it eventually becomes one of the smartest shows on TV.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

To be fair though that's like, every pilot.

Lugaloco
Jun 29, 2011

Ice to see you!

Zaggitz posted:

To be fair though that's like, every pilot.

True, but this one was especially not great even for a pilot.

No Wave
Sep 18, 2005

HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!
I guess Parenthood is ending next week. The show's totally earnest commitment to showing characters do not much interesting was strange at first, but over the course of six years the consistencies that it maintained end up being sort of interesting.

Going into this last season, the thing I found most interesting was the way that every issue that cropped up basically felt the same depending on which characters handled it. Whenever a problem occurred, each of the characters seems to slightly and unconsciously cast themselves into their particular role. Kristina usually turns her troubles into combatting some form of injustice, Adam tries to find a way to sacrifice himself for the good of others, Sarah decides it's all over her head and too difficult and finds a way to not make a decision, Julia/Joel try to make small concessions while actually changing not much at all after every problem, and Zeek feigns leadership while being basically incompetent.

In some sense, every episode is the same episode over and over - I'd be surprised if anyone could name a favorite episode of the show. But this is actually very true-to-life - usually people find themselves in the same sorts of conflicts, repeatedly, but in different contexts. Someone who finds themselves doing all of the lovely grunt work at their old job will probably find a way to end up doing that at their new job, as well. It's like as individuals, we're running the same run loop over and over, and our problems all end up taking the same tone even in different contexts. It seemed so grossly unfair that there was always this nasty feeling of mortification whenever Adam had to resolve something and Crosby's problems - even an accidental kid - end up turning out just fine for him with no pain or stress attached. (This changed a bit this season, with reality finally catching up to Crosby with the Luncheonette's failure.)

Cart
Sep 28, 2004

They see me rollin...

Not sure how much Banshee is appointment viewing around these parts but last night's episode was one of the most insane episodes of TV I've ever seen. Just an avalanche of major plot points bookended with some of the most brutal action sequences I've ever seen.

It would not air on the CW.

Irish Joe
Jul 23, 2007

by Lowtax
:siren: SKIP THE FIRST SEASON OF POI :siren:

Seriously, there's nothing there worth watching. Jump right into season 2, get a feel for the characters and then go back and check out "critical" season 1 episodes if you want.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Nah don't listen to Irish Joe. I mean, never do, but especially on this.

edit: Also Lugaloco PoI eventually ends up featuring a whole bunch of Wire alums as recurring characters.

Zaggitz fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Jan 24, 2015

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

I think CBS are actively going after Wire actors since I see a lot of them on The Good Wife too. Or they all happen to be in the New York area.

Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.

Lugaloco posted:

True, but this one was especially not great even for a pilot.
I'd be curious to know what, to you specifically, makes a great pilot episode of a show, and what you didn't really like about POI's pilot.

A few things to consider about POI's pilot:

-It was likely shot early enough from actual production that it feels off a bit. Small details and things, the sets, are all vastly different in the pilot, in which case it feels more like a test reel in some instances, w/r/t consistency.
-Compared to an early draft of the script to the broadcast and extended pilot, it was relatively unchanged, but the original script was much longer and a lot was cut out and later rewritten as material for later episodes
-Mechanically, the pilot does exactly what a pilot for a show should do, and does it competently - it sets up the premise, introduces the characters, tells us a story, introduces the show's format, leaves us with a feeling that the show can continue on
-Emotionally, you have to pick and choose here. You introduce the show's premise and franchise, so you pick Reese (Caveizel's character). His performance is satisfactory, I think most of us can agree he doesn't really hit his groove until at least a few episodes in. Also missing is more stuff about him that was cut (scenes w/ Carter investigating him and Reese's flashbacks, most were rewritten later in 1x21), possibly to fit it into the 42 minute run time over trying to stretch what it had to 90 minutes
-A point against it (personally), it doesn't really explain its premise/technobabble until the third act, which is fairly late in a pilot to do so. Not sure if it could be redone in any way though. Could go either way, it's being spread out, leaves some mystery to it, but it's harder to classify this as it's not necessarily procedural-level information, and technobabble overload in the first acts is also just as heinous of a crime.
-Doesn't play it safe, it takes the procedural part of its premise (could be a victim or perp) and makes them a perp, again this catches your attention given the fact the show leads you along thinking she's going to be a victim for most of it.

Baronash
Feb 29, 2012

So what do you want to be called?

hcreight posted:

A lot of people don't care for the first few episodes but you should know by episode 7 whether the show is for you or not.

But this thread has told me that I can't make a decision to stop watching a show unless I've seen every episode!

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Mu Zeta posted:

I think CBS are actively going after Wire actors since I see a lot of them on The Good Wife too. Or they all happen to be in the New York area.

Its just a New York thing, you can see the same thing with Law & Order.

HorseRenoir
Dec 25, 2011



Pillbug
I just watched the "Bird Up!" episode of Eric Andre Show and I'm pretty convinced that Eric Andre is the most dangerously insane human being on television.

hcreight
Mar 19, 2007

My name is Oliver Queen...

JohnSherman posted:

But this thread has told me that I can't make a decision to stop watching a show unless I've seen every episode!

I'm not this thread. :colbert:


Cart posted:

Not sure how much Banshee is appointment viewing around these parts but last night's episode was one of the most insane episodes of TV I've ever seen. Just an avalanche of major plot points bookended with some of the most brutal action sequences I've ever seen.

It would not air on the CW.

Seconding this, catch up on Banshee if you're behind. Last night's ep was, to quote Division Post, "Peak Banshee."

xeria
Jul 26, 2004

Ruh roh...
Speaking as someone who railed against watching PoI as recently as a little over a year ago, the show is far and away my #1 show of the past year and I'm a stupid idiot for not having watched it sooner.

Grassy Knowles
Apr 4, 2003

"The original Terminator was a gritty fucking AMAZING piece of sci-fi. Gritty fucking rock-hard MURDER!"

xeria posted:

Speaking as someone who railed against watching PoI as recently as a little over a year ago, the show is far and away my #1 show of the past year and I'm a stupid idiot for not having watched it sooner.

So you'll be used to the feeling once you finally watch Utopia!

Lugaloco
Jun 29, 2011

Ice to see you!

Sober posted:

I'd be curious to know what, to you specifically, makes a great pilot episode of a show, and what you didn't really like about POI's pilot.

I won't pretend to know what makes or breaks a pilot of a show because I simply don't know that much about TV. However, the show failed the big test of hooking me into watching more of it which as far as I know is the one thing a pilot really REALLY needs to do. Yes, it established a world, the premise and the characters but I just didn't find any of it interesting apart from maybe Ben from Lost's character.

The only reason I'll give it until maybe episode 7 is due to the recommendations from many people in this thread and elsewhere on the forum which I think is fair.

savinhill
Mar 28, 2010

Lugaloco posted:

I won't pretend to know what makes or breaks a pilot of a show because I simply don't know that much about TV. However, the show failed the big test of hooking me into watching more of it which as far as I know is the one thing a pilot really REALLY needs to do. Yes, it established a world, the premise and the characters but I just didn't find any of it interesting apart from maybe Ben from Lost's character.

The only reason I'll give it until maybe episode 7 is due to the recommendations from many people in this thread and elsewhere on the forum which I think is fair.

I was all set to binge watch the first season of PoI after seeing all the praise it got, and knowing it had Ben from Lost, but I hated the pilot so much that I lost all interest in it. Maybe it just seemed way too bland and predictable compared to the expectations I had for it from reading the internet.

Irish Joe
Jul 23, 2007

by Lowtax
For gently caress's sake guys, stop listening to the people telling you to suffer through seven hours of garbage television. Nobody, not even PoI fans, like the first season. SKIP IT and get to the actual poo poo people have been praising in this, and many other, topics.

whowhatwhere
Mar 15, 2010

SHINee's back

Zaggitz posted:

Good around halfway through S1, really good around halfway through S2. Also while S1 may be the black sheep season I really wouldn't recommend skipping any of it since even the procedural episodes are heavily serialized. S1 is actually pretty amazing on a rewatch because you notice all the background poo poo they have been setting up since the start that they eventually payoff on a massive scale around the mid season of 2.

It's watchable halfway through S1, interesting at the end of S1, good through half of S2 with some unevenness, great from then on.

IRQ
Sep 9, 2001

SUCK A DICK, DUMBSHITS!

PoI was pretty good right from the start. It just doesn't really get down to what it really is until a few episodes in.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

Irish Joe posted:

For gently caress's sake guys, stop listening to the people telling you to suffer through seven hours of garbage television. Nobody, not even PoI fans, like the first season. SKIP IT and get to the actual poo poo people have been praising in this, and many other, topics.

On an unrelated note, watch 2 Broke Girls.




Also 7 episodes of a 1 hour TV show is less than 5 hours now.

IRQ
Sep 9, 2001

SUCK A DICK, DUMBSHITS!

I don't know what could be higher praise than Irish Joe saying POI starts bad really.

Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.
Irish Joe is probably one of those sickos on tumblr that actually hate POI but only watch the episodes where both Root and Shaw are present and hate it at the moment.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Sober posted:

Irish Joe is probably one of those sickos on tumblr

No more needs to be said.

Lately people have constantly over exaggerated the whole "skip X episodes/seasons" for people asking about shows they haven't seen yet. It's okay to skip a notably terrible episode here and there, but skipping entire seasons of a show is just dumb if you plan on watching it.

pentyne fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jan 25, 2015

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Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

If PoI good in the way Arrow or Supernatural is good or is it actually good like Homeland season 4.

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