What is the latest series you've been binging through?

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > What is the latest series you've been binging through?

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

House - up until the newest episode. Apparently, the tv network's been showing it for ages, but I just managed to catch the start of season 2-ish and the season(s) throughout. Incidentally, it's the best season, and it seems to decline steadily from then on. The first half of season 3 is great, and throughout the entire series, the dialogue is the best-written I've seen for a long time, if not ever. However, the medical aspect and focus, which I've thoroughly enjoyed and delved into has been neglected like a celebrity youngster's offspring from around that point on.

The loss of Cameron and Jess really seems to have killed it off, too, and there's a dynamic that is severely crippled - the new squad's characters aren't properly introduced or detailed, and I initially thought that they would only be transitory, considering how little attention they've seemed to get. Hot bisexual or not.

The three main aspects of House are Medicine, Humour and Soap - the last two still exist, but at great expenses; House may be funny, it's not going anywhere. The tension between who's going to boink who isn't very interesting anymore to me particularly when the writers don't write consistent characters, with Cameron going in a bujillion different ways at the same time. If Wilson weren't there, who knows where we'd be.

My annoyance with the show du jour is how everyone's so loving compelled to analyze each other - constantly. "House, you just blablablabla". And to what end? Whedon-esque angst and stuff, maybe. Or they want to create an illusion of complex personalities - i.e. realistic ones.

Which brings me to: The theme of "you need to break out of your stable, boring life and do crazy poo poo - carpe loving diem"(TM) is also annoying me to no end: At least House, Cameron, Julia/13 and Foreman have been through it at this point. Wat.

Also, the dream and hallucinations sequences. Enough already.

I still watch the show, hoping that some of the things are addressed - after all, season 2 was great, and you're often entertained to a satisfactory degree regardless.

cnrkb fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Jan 5, 2009

# ¿ Jan 5, 2009 17:53

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 23:55

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Mitthrawnuruodo posted:

May I ask, how is Dexter season 3 all in one go? I know a lot of us were disappointed with it as a weekly experience (I personally didn't mind it much), but I have only seen the other two seasons in one go.

Seconding the question. Loved season 2, and 1 was great all in all. First few episodes of 3 hasn't managed to grab me in any way, since there's no real sense of impending conflict or escalating danger.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2009 11:11

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

habanero walrus posted:

I just powered through Firefly over, literally, the past 24 hours on Hulu, start to finish. Even as someone who never watches TV (and on top of that, normally completely despises Sci-fi), I was completely blown away, and am now sitting at my PC in that abject sense of despair one gets when they realize there will never be more. I think I may have to keep avoiding good TV just because I get so sad when it ends.

I'll probably go out and buy the DVDs to show support even though I know the idea of what happened to Family Guy happening again is nothing more than a pipe dream.

That being said, what are some shows I should look into for a similar experience? Not necessarily Sci-Fi, as I liked the show despite that aspect more than because of it... it was probably the western feel that did it for me more than anything. Well, aside from the great characters. And pretty much everything else.

EDIT: I guess I should add that I'm going to get the film version very soon, so no need to throw that one out there.

One of the reasons I didn't take a particular liking to Firefly, is that it is essentially the Buffyverse/Whedon-esque essence condensed into about a season. Humour, character archetypes, I AM SAD AND ALONE angst, and so forth. Angel is a Buffy spin-off, but, to me, is much better than Buffy as it seems like it has a better budget and overall production value. Buffy can be great, but depending on the season, the pacing might be off, and a lot of the episodes may feel subpar. This is particularly evident in the last seasons, where a lot of the episodes seem to suck somewhat, even though the season might have some of the funniest episodes in the entire series.

Also, David Greenwalt and Ben Edlund (The Tick creator at bloody age 18) should probably take as much credit as Whedon - perhaps Edlund moreso - judging by how the episodes without their involvement tend to underperform. Edlund was also involved in Firefly and Dr. Horrible, and from what I recall, he's the one who came up with Bad Horse. And the puppet episode of Angel. Greenwalt did Eureka, which, while reminiscent of the Buffyverse series, practically had no plot, and began to fade into blandness. Together, the three make great material.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2009 18:57

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Scissorfighter posted:

I just finished Six Feet Under. The end got the biggest emotional reaction from me of anything I've ever watched. Holy poo poo what a great show.

The finale is just insanely intense. It almost made me man-cry.

And I haven't even watched the entire series.

Sia's Breathe Me is also great.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2009 20:04

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Just ordered the complete West Wing (realizing that a Blu-ray edition isn't going to be made any time soon) in lieu of the inauguration and new presidential period: It's measly 50 quid on Amazon.co.uk.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2009 00:23

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Hopper posted:

fakeedit: I just burned through season 1 of Smallville, 21 episodes in 5 nights, and I only started at 9 pm each night. I think I have developed a serious TV-series addiction lately. I aalready ordered season 2+3 from amazon a minute ago. Yes it's cheesy but I bought season one for a tenner and it kinda grew on me.

Don't buy too many episodes at a time; eventually, they hit a tipping point, where it sucks beyond any comprehension. Granted, the first season(s) is/are great, particularly Luthor's quotes and anecdotes.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2009 00:33

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Without spoiling any plot details, does anyone know what made Aaron Sorkin leave West Wing around season five? I'm going through it now, and obviously, I'd like the scoop.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2009 22:09

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

StyleFresh posted:

Numb3rs. I caught one of the newer episodes on TV recently and decided to watch it from the beginning. I'll probably end up buying the new season on DVD if I hear good things.

I find it incredibly bland, and its implementation of mathematics seems utterly useless and noninformative. Yet another crime series with a gimmick.

Watch Lie to Me instead.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2009 13:05

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Kornpeep posted:

I just picked up the third season of Alias. I feel silly getting into the show this late, but I'm glad I have.

Thanks for the recommendation, book store dude.

It won't be long until the series devolves into shear suck. I'd at least buy one season at a time and watch them until the end, because you're either about or over the turning point.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2009 13:37

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

RoryGilmore posted:

It gets bad, but not unwatchable bad. The only saving grace for me was Julian Sark though, and he didn't show up often.

Did you get to the Resident Evil episode?

# ¿ Feb 9, 2009 18:03

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

RoryGilmore posted:

I guess that one was so bad I erased it from memory? I saw the whole series, so I must have seen it.

S04E22: Before the Flood. Not that I'd want you to rewatch the episode.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2009 19:49

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

pwn posted:

Speaking of The West Wing...

The sets of each season vs. the complete series box set.

From what I've read, here are the pros and cons of each, and if I'm wrong or if there's anything to add, please let me know:

Season sets - PROS

English subtitles for all seasons

Friendly packaging for both shelf and practical use

CONS

First four seasons are flipper double-sided discs

Complete Series set - PROS

Deluxe-looking packaging

Script book for an episode

First four seasons are on single-sided discs

CONS

No English subtitles for seasons 5, 6 and 7

Packaging isn't practical for use, hard cardboard sleeves can scratch discs when removing and replacing

Packaging is pretty but how practical for actually storing on a shelf with other DVDs?

So I dunno which to get. But they're all overpriced at $50 a season and $220 for the series right now at Best Buy so it's a moot point at the moment.

Clocking in at $100-ish for the full pack at Amazon.co.uk (which I bought), fetching it for the same price somewhere doesn't seem improbable.

Though I can't relate to some of the points - cardboard? Wat?

I'm at season 2, but they all seem to be packaged the same way: Three-packs of super-cheap half-size containers per season. Inside a fancy box with one DVD's worth of bonus material (along with sporadic material on some of the discs) that aren't particularly interesting so far.

cnrkb fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Feb 21, 2009

# ¿ Feb 21, 2009 00:52

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

uXs posted:

I recently finished Angel and The Wire. I thought Angel started rather weakly, but finished very well. I'm not quite ready to say that it's better than Buffy, but it's certainly more grown-up. gently caress the writers/producers/whoever for killing both Cordelia and Fred though.

Regarding Angel:
Fred was supposed to be brought back, but with the whole series getting canceled and all, there wasn't time to realize Whedon's ideas

# ¿ Mar 18, 2009 13:21

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Still chugging through West Wing, and I'm sad to have my suspicions confirmed that the series isn't close to the greatness in seasons 1-3/4, when Sorkin did the writing.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2009 15:28

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Mitthrawnuruodo posted:

What season are you up to? I'm in the middle of 3 at the moment (I have bought the rest of the show, too, but I'm taking a break from it all to blow through Arrested Development) and it's still really good. My friends tell me season 5 is the weakest but it starts getting good again when Alda and Smits turn up in season 6.

I'm 7-3 episodes from finishing Season 6.

So there.

It's really a far cry from when Sorkin was on board. I've been hearing that Season 5 sucked, and it picked up from there, but I dunno, it may be true, but not to the extent of being on par with the Sorkin seasons.

I'm only watching the rest of it because, you know.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2009 14:00

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Leviathan posted:

Binging through Dead Like Me again before I watch the movie. I really cannot state enthusiastically enough how good this show is (but to give you a frame of reference, AD and The Wire are both 9.7's at IMDB, DLM is an 8.9).

IMDb scores for series are utterly useless, unless they're incredibly low. The fans make sure to review the series, and they are the ones who stick to watching it through the majority of the series. The ones who drop out aren't likely to bother rating it.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2009 14:34

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Leviathan posted:

What do you think of the accuracy of metacritic?

Not a fan.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2009 17:05

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Leviathan posted:

Dammit, what is a good TV review site?

Don't know any. :/

Swedish TV-kalendern recommends similar shows to the ones you subscribe to, and maybe other features allow you to go explore.

Maybe Jinni, too.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2009 19:29

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Finally saw the end of The West Wing. If I were to advize newcomers to the series, I'd tell them not to bother after Season 4.

No Aaron Sorkin, no The West Wing.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2009 01:51

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Cart posted:

I'm in the mood for a good procedural, and there seem to be a ton available right now all with slightly different premises, anyone have any good recommendations?

I'm talking about the likes of Bones, Life, Lie to Me, Castle, The Unusuals, The Mentalist etc... Usually appreciate something with a bit of a lighter tone, interesting characters and the like.

Also throwing out a recommendation for Chuck, just watched the first season of it and found it incredibly entertaining.

Las Vegas is good fun.

For several reasons - some of them being pretty obvious.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2009 22:10

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Count Choculitis posted:

This might be better in another thread, but I just watched the new Star Trek movie and absolutely loved it. I've never seen a single episode of the show but would really like to, and I'm gonna have a whole summer taking classes with none of my friends in town so I'll have TONS of time for tv shows.

I know there are a lot of different series and movies and I don't have any idea where to start. I know that some of the series have more empowered women than others, so I'd prefer those, but I love scifi and cheesiness and I really think I'll enjoy it no matter what. Any advice?

Do you own a Blu-ray player?

# ¿ May 10, 2009 18:50

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Are you gunning for watching The Original Series or Next Generation? Each to their own and all.

# ¿ May 10, 2009 19:25

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 23:55

cnrkb: Sep 29, 2008; The internet is
serious business

Lascivious Sloth posted:

Started watching back through Veronica Mars for the second time. Wish there were more shows like this. Any recommendations on similar paced/plotted shows?

There've been recommendations regarding this - I believe in this very thread. Also a list of high-school-themed shows if you're into that.

# ¿ May 27, 2009 23:52

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > What is the latest series you've been binging through?