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?

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

CaptainHollywood posted:

Same here. I just could not continue. I can understand people liking it, it's just not my kind of show. The acting is good, the setting/characters are accurate, but it just leaves me with a feeling of "I don't care about any of this."

I just finished Game of Thrones Season 2. Few shows/movies can be described as "epic". Game of Thrones is epic. Not since the Wire have I seen a show so sprawling with different characters/motivations/goals. The worst part about the show- much like watching the Wire it's first time, is I find it a little difficult understanding what's going on 100% of the time. Maybe that's just me though. It's not like any show on television and one of the few shows where I watch it's minute+ intro in it's entirety every time.

If you get the Blu-Rays, I highly recommend watching the encyclopaedia feature they had on season 1. It gives a poo poo ton of backstory that you'd otherwise only get by inference or if you'd read the books, and it's all in first person narration, so you get stuff like Tywin's view of the Night Watch and such. And checking the features for season 2, it looks like they're doing the same thing.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2013 03:36

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 10:15

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Vegetable posted:

Plowing my way through Scrubs Season 1. Thought it started great but withers after about... ten episodes? The Carla-Turk subplots are boring, not to mention neither of them are very good actors. That episode where Carla tells JD, "I've never felt inferior before you came along", was definitely the weakest episode I've seen so far. Where is she getting all these emotions from? They can crack self-mocking jokes about minority sidekicks but it's doubly ironic that they fall into the same trap.

The direction is also extremely weak. They hit you over the head again and again with Cox's character, especially that final scene in the episode where he tells JD to evaluate himself. If you're going for a big emotional moment maybe you could get the guy to shut up and do a bit of acting. And there was one episode written so one-dimensionally that I could say, "This is the one where they try to be serious." It's the one where three patients die. If they're going to indulge in the serious moments, I wish they had something more meaningful to say than "people die, doctors sad".

There are drips and drabs of comedy, particularly with the janitor, but it fails to pick up any steam. I watch only comedies - Community, Arrested Development, Parks & Recreation, Modern Family etc. - and I feel Scrubs just doesn't stack up creatively. I thought I had found another witty, fast-paced comedy to binge through but I don't think this is it.

Basically, Scrubs' closest relative, early on, is MASH. If you're not into a show that's about 50/50 comedy and medical drama, then it's not for you. That 'one dimensional' episode is considered one of the best of the show, and pretty much where it found it's voice.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2013 16:03

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Nate RFB posted:

I do really hate that Carla episode though, where she gets all bent out of shape about forcing JD to admit he's a better at, well, being a doctor.

However, not being on board the Turk train? Them's fighting words.

Except it's not just about that. She says it at the end. She's seen numerous interns gain skill and confidence enough to not 'need' her anymore. But she actually likes JD as a friend and wants to feel he respects her, and when he bitched her out in the ward, he pretty much made her feel worthless.

Not saying it's my favourite, but the emotions track, at least within the episode itself.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2013 16:54

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

You realise the forgiveness bit is her trying to be professional and mature, but doesn't mean she is ACTUALLY over the issue, right? People can say one thing and feel another.

And the final scene there, it's right there, what I said previously. "...why you can't be friends with doctors..." That's the difference. She's had similar cases of being looked down on by interns as they get more experience, but there's enough distance that she'd laugh it off and keep going. JD's her friend, though, so she can't divorce that outburst from her personal feelings as easily. It's not "rear end in a top hat intern thinks he's better than me", it's "my friend said he's better than me in front of everyone". And JD is defined by being a doctor. He has no friends outside the hospital. His hero is Cox. His life, literally in terms of the show, revolves around that career. And he snapped at her because her 'babying' him made him doubt his ability to succeed at that. So he jumped the other way.

Again, it's not the best episode the show ever did, and if you think the dialogue was clunky or poorly performed, that's totally a valid subjective POV. But I disagree on the story itself not making sense.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2013 20:15

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Been working through The Prisoner, albeit often slightly distracted while watching. I've had the DVDs for years and always got caught up in other things before properly sitting down with it, so I'm making this first viewing kind of casual so I at least know the plot of the episodes and can go back to them more carefully later. Just hit part one of the finale and I'm most struck by how awesome Leo McKern's been. I kind of want to check out Rumpole of the Bailey and Danger Man, to see him and McGoohan in more 'normal' roles, as they're both magnetic, and have to be in that episode.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2013 04:32

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Bhaal posted:

And last but not least, I'm glad to report that I'm in the process of removing what has long been a deep and troubling flaw of character, by finally watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I think when the show first came out I'd immediately think of that campy, weak tea movie. And I had no idea of who Joss was and what he's capable of, so over the years when virtually all of my friends would speak positively--glowingly, even--about the show I just wrote it off as questionable taste on their part. Talking to someone recently and mentioning I don't think I've ever seen a single full episode of it got a reaction that led with "You've never seen...?!" that carried the same tone you'd use for someone missing out on any of the great heavyweights in the last 15 years of television. Some introspective math later (Joss + my friends loved it and still reference it time to time + critics speak well of it + that tone of "You've never seen...?!" ) and I was on task right away. Season 1 really is meh and for a while I came close to confirming my own false premise that the show was as lukewarm and dull as I suspected all these years. Season two fixed me of that, resoundingly and without concern of my feelings. I'm nearly at the S3 finale and the hooks are in deep. I feel like I've missed out on an important part of my late teens / early 20s that everyone else around me got, and in retrospect I can see how some of the humor/culture of the show leaked into the humor/culture of my peers at the time. I did have to get over the camp a bit (I had to do the same with Doctor Who as I really didn't catch it much as a kid), and the teeny-bopper-ness is a bit much at first though once the characters get some meat on the bone that part of the show kind of grew on me. Also I can't believe how naughty/kinky it gets for the sort of show that is. S&M references so thinly veiled like that was airing mainstream in the 90s? I had no idea...

Oh, they eventually just threw the veil away. There's a scene in S4 that's basically a character talking dirty for a full minute, with the barest amount of 'this is network TV' varnish.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the rest of the show. There's a pretty deep delineation between S1-3 and 4-7, although, the quality is fairly consistent (I think S6's issue is more that it's aimless, which may have been intentional, but it felt like real aimlessness, not thematic.). And if you're planning on following Angel to his own show, which also has a shaky season 1, but tightens up by the end.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2013 02:23

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

thrakkorzog posted:

It's not that shocking. Plenty of sitcoms like Night Court, Cheers, and Married...with Children, and I'm sure there's laundry list of sitcoms before them that had been using risque sex jokes over a decade before Buffy started up. NYPD Blue started up two years earlier, and South Park was a breakout hit featuring episodes about gay dogs around the same time Buffy started, so Buffy wasn't really breaking new ground on that front. Although, Ellen Degeneres generated some controversy by coming out of the closet a year after Buffy started, so that kind of explains some weirdness about how S4&5 deals with some obviously homosexual characters, without outright stating that they're gay.

On the plus side, by missing Buffy on the first run, you don't have to feel like an rear end in a top hat for getting pissed off that because of a school shooting you had to watch a repeat, and you don't have to wait two months to see a season finale because of Columbine.

As I recall, that was the WB more than Whedon and Mutant Enemy's call. (Spoilers for said characters and their arc)Willow does outright call Tara her girlfriend late in season 4, and Faith notes she's gay with a fairly blunt euphamism (I think it's "she's not driving stick anymore, huh?") and there's the fairly oft repeated story about Joss threatening to walk off the show if they made an 'event' out of them kissing.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2013 15:43

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

VogeGandire posted:

As I said, it's a total throwaway moment. It's super-easy to miss if you're not looking for it. But it's such a cool touch.

How would those two characters even meet? :psyduck:

# ¿ Mar 7, 2013 23:50

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Doom Rooster posted:

Upon the recommendation of pretty much everyone, I finally started up The Wire. I am 2 episodes into Season 2, and wondering when it picks up and becomes good.

So far, the characters are pretty one-dimensional, there isn't any suspense, no compelling master plan, very little intrigue, and very little action. Please tell me it gets better, because I was really hoping for another series that could get close to how good The Shield was.

If you're not into it by the end of season 1, you're not going to be. No intrigue and one dimensional characters are... If you don't like the show, hey, that's fine, opinions are opinions, but those statements are almost objectively wrong, and I'm wondering if you're watching the same show I did.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2013 03:07

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Uba Stij posted:

I'm looking for more political dramas, I've already done West Wing and outside House of Cards I can't really think of many that really grab my attention. Would watching the BBC version of House of Cards be a good launching point?

It partly depends on how much you know about the British political system and the climate just after Thatcher left office. It's a very good miniseries (or the first is, haven't watched the others) and the late Ian Richardson is great as Urquhart but the pacing is a bit languid. On the other hand, it does share some of the same DNA as the American version, with both protagonists fond of talking to the camera, soliloquying their thoughts and schemes.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2013 23:32

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

You'd think some PBS stations, or like HBO would tap into the Scandinavian drama boom since the Dragon Tattoo hype hit.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2013 20:41

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Mu Zeta posted:

That makes sense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ivnFZiGNM

That skit always makes me really appreciate Gigi Edgley more, because I love Amanda Tapping, but that walk is 'drunken soccer mom' not Chiana.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2013 00:02

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Metal Loaf posted:

I'm binging through Babylon 5 at the moment. I'm on the eighth episode of season two and it's pretty good so far.

Bruce Boxleitner as Captain Sheridan kinda reminds me of Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet for some reason; I'm not really sure why.

They both have that innate decency/don't gently caress with me dual vibe. Plus they both smile a lot.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2013 20:47

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

Metal Loaf posted:

I've been on a Babylon 5 binge recently. It's the first time I've watched the series and I've enjoyed it a lot thus far. However, I'm about eight episodes or so into season four and it seems to be slowing down a little. I was aware going into it that JMS was informed he wouldn't be getting a fifth year and compressed the story arc accordingly, then learned he would be getting a fifth year after the fact but I hadn't appreciated how that would affect the episodes.

Still, I'm pretty optimistic for the remainder of the series.

That situation occurred very late on, actually. Like, they filmed the planned final episode as part of season 4... then got renewed so they shot a different finale for season 4 and held back the series finale til season 5.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2013 00:02

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 10:15

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

CarlosTheDwarf posted:

Two Guys and a Girl (and a pizza place) is a solid Friends clone with Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion. Takes about 20 episodes to find itself though, the first 13 episode season is kind of lame. I recommend it because somehow, despite some big stars, it's been forgotten. It's not on netflix, or DVD. So pirate away, guilt free. I can't think of a show that's been more overlooked than that one. There's like 80 episodes!

Bizarrely, it's on DVD in the UK. I've seen it on sale in HMV a bunch of times.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2013 23:41

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