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Finished the first season of Prison Break tonight. It was pulpy, ridiculous fun, but I've never heard anyone discuss it among the pantheon of must-see "peak TV" favorites. We're invested enough to stick it out, and apparently, like almost everything else, it's getting a new season this summer!
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Dec 31, 2015 07:01
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Snak posted:My controversial opinion on this is that yes, Buffy is very good and you should watch the whole thing, but that Angel is garbage and you shouldn't waste your time. Buffy works because it's a great coming of age arc for all the characters, and angel doesn't have this component at all and all the characters have no excuse for acting like moronic teenagers and the stories themselves are interesting or funny enough to make up for the characters being worse than Buffy characters across the board. But I think Angel was the superior show, even if the themes and allegories weren't as strong. Buffy is a coming-of-age show, but Angel is about how you're supposed to live as an adult in a dark, corrupting world: "We live as though the world was as it SHOULD be, to show what it CAN be." Season 1 is pretty weak (same with Buffy), but Seasons 2-4 are one mega-arc with countless amazing, epic moments, and the show successfully rehabilitates all the obnoxious characters from Buffy. And Season 5, despite a major shift in tone, is my favorite season of all.
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Jan 1, 2016 22:55
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We're about seven episodes into Prison Break Season 2 and still enjoying the silliness and insanity of it all. I like that they're not afraid to kill off major characters. When it was on, were there lively discussion threads here? Did people generally like it? I get the impression T-Bag would have become an unlikely fan favorite and "breakout character" (no pun intended). And in Season 2, when Veronica Donovan and "Tweener" were killed off, was that because they were annoying or unpopular with viewers, or in the case of the former, the story arc was slowing down the momentum of the show? I didn't enjoy either very much, so I wondered if the showrunners interacted with their fan base at the time. I do miss Abruzzi, though.
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Jan 2, 2016 03:32
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Mu Zeta posted:Terriers was really good. It reminded me of Veronica Mars except it's not in highschool and instead of a hot blonde girl the star is an alcoholic 40 year old. In my head-canon, Veronica Mars and Terriers take place in the same continuity, set in similarly seedy Southern California beach towns not far from each other. Keith Mars and Hank Dolworth probably worked more than one case together, and Hank knows he can call in Veronica as a consultant if he has to.
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Jan 3, 2016 03:29
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My wife and I are big Nikki Glaser fans. We saw her live last year, and she was hilarious on stage and warm and gracious after the show. The first episode of her show was solid. I was worried they were going to rip off Inside Amy Schumer completely, but the talk/variety show format works much better for her, and I look forward to more episodes. Then again, I think Inside Amy Schumer's sketches are very uneven, and I enjoy her interviews with sex workers and people with interesting sex lives at the end of the show more than most of the sketches.
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Feb 12, 2016 03:41
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Escobarbarian posted:What's the deal with the opening sequence for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? For a funny, clever show with good music, the titles sure aren't any of those things. I mean, they're truly awful. Agreed. Even though I think the show is uneven at best, I think Rachel Bloom is a treasure, and I usually love the songs in the show. But that opening sequence is embarrassing to watch and listen to, and I couldn't blame anyone who sits through it and loses any interest in sticking around to watch the episode. My wife and I comment every time about how cringe-worthy it is, and why they settled on THAT.
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Feb 13, 2016 03:39
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That's disappointing to hear about Childrens Hospital, but unsurprising, given how popular and successful most of the cast have become. I must admit I don't look forward to these current episodes as much as I have in past seasons, but the show captures my unique sense of humor so perfectly, it's always great. I recommend it highly and will miss it terribly.
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Mar 5, 2016 17:11
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Spatula City posted:I still need to watch Season 1 of Fargo, though it's going to be warped to some degree by the fact that I've seen season 2 first. it sounds like season 1 is more "normal" in a lot of ways, with a central main character and two obvious villains. Season 2 goes full-bore on the philosophy, postmodernism, cultural/historical commentary, rad 70's prog rock, and has a large ensemble with no main villain and several arguable protagonists. All of that was extremely my jam. I'm worried season 1 will feel disappointing in comparison. Season 1 is a more straightforward narrative, but it's still excellent, and Allison Tolman, Billy Bob Thornton, and Martin Freeman are all fantastic in it.
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Apr 10, 2016 20:03
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ShakeZula posted:I like those executives then, because her show is great and I'm glad it's probably not in danger of cancellation. She got an extension for an additional ten episodes, which is unheard of for a freshman show on Comedy Central. Aside from the Daily/Nightly Shows, they are strict about ten-episode seasons, even for breakout hits like Broad City and The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, which must cost nothing to make. I am thrilled, because Nikki is a a treasure, and her show is great.
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Apr 26, 2016 04:38
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Josh Lyman posted:I watched like the first 5 eps of Limitless and thought it was okay but still network mediocrity. Is it actually a good show now or just good for a network show? I was as skeptical as you are, but it turned out to be a good show. Fun, well-acted, cleverly-written, and like Person of Interest (another excellent show I initially avoided because I thought it would be a bland, mediocre CBS procedural, and the first few episodes were exactly that), it ended up being awesome. Did you make it to the Ferris Bueller's Day Off episode yet? I think that was the one that finally won me over.
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Apr 28, 2016 05:12
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The latter third of Season 1 through the Season 3 finale was incredible. Some of the most fun and exhilarating TV I've ever watched. I felt that the major status quo changes in Season 4 and especially 5 weren't the greatest, but it was still better than most other shows of its type. I'll argue in favor of Anna Torv's acting any day (especially the joyful "Faux-livia"), and that it was a more enjoyable show than X-Files.
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Jun 6, 2016 01:25
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I thought Seth Gabel was very underrated in Fringe as well, playing two such different characters. Then I loved him as the first Count Vertigo on Arrow (kind of a punk rock drug kingpin version of the Joker), until he was unceremoniously killed off.
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Jun 6, 2016 02:26
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The Flash wishes it could do parallel dimension/alternate universe stuff as well as Fringe did. I love anything like that, and Fringe was the gold standard. On that note, has anyone here ever watched Charlie Jade? I hear it's a South African sci-fi detective noir show involving regular travel between three parallel universes, which sounds incredibly awesome. I wish there was a legal place to watch it.
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Jun 6, 2016 02:32
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My dad's birthday is coming up, always the same week as Father's Day. He is retired, and he loves walking on the treadmill and watching movies or shows on DVD, especially action stuff. The last things I've bought him that were big hits were the complete Spartacus and the complete Strike Back. He loved both. This year, I'm trying to decide between Justified (which I've watched and enjoyed) and Banshee (which I've never seen). He hasn't seen either. Any thoughts, preferences, or other suggestions? If it's a reasonably decent and popular action movie (including big-budget sci-fi and Marvel Studios superheroes), there's a very good chance he has it already. And I got him a Blu-Ray player, but it doesn't stream video (that would be a little too complicated for him), so just watching stuff on Netflix isn't really an option.
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Jun 11, 2016 05:14
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That poor woman. I didn't know her, but it happened at a concert venue here in Orlando that I've been to dozens of times. It's an old theater with seating, not a general admission venue, and they typically book shows that bring an older, more sedate crowd. It's terrifying and shocking.
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Jun 11, 2016 14:33
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IRQ posted:Owing to the one actor going to prison for 40 years just now, I'm going to suggest The Shield if he hasn't seen that yet. He got me into The Shield back when it was first airing, but he lost interest about halfway through, as we saw more and more of how irredeemable Vic and Shane were. I watched it all the way to the end and typed up recap/reviews for him after each episode to keep him up to date. Aside from Spartacus and Strike Back, he loves Person of Interest, Blindspot, The Blacklist, Grimm, Limitless (RIP, too good for this world), The Player, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, and Daredevil (I showed him how to watch it on their computer using my Netflix account). He absolutely loved Human Target and was pissed that the second season was never released on DVD. He also liked Deadwood a lot. Like me, he tolerates Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow, but we've both lost a lot of patience with them. Somehow, he also likes Gotham (I don't watch it), loved Agent Carter (one of the only shows my mom would watch with him), but gave up on Agents of SHIELD even before I did. He also liked 24 a lot for a while and followed Lost from the beginning to the end. I loaned him my complete set of The Wire on DVD a long time ago, but it has never interested him enough to bother. I think he'd also enjoy Rome, Fringe (he and I watched X-Files together back in the '90s), Prison Break, and The Americans (he's a retired history teacher), but Justified and Banshee would be the most action-packed and fun choices I have for him so far.
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Jun 12, 2016 02:08
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I liked True Detective Season 2, but I'm a sucker for anything pulpy and noir. It wasn't nearly as good as Season 1, so it came as a letdown for everyone. It felt like a James Ellroy pastiche, but the entire season would have been salvaged if it was a late '40s or 1950s period piece, like most of Ellroy's best novels: The closeted highway patrolman would have been a World War II veteran, in an era when it was unheard of (and dangerous) to be openly gay, and he would have been more likely to get into a sham marriage because "that's what men do." The tough female cop (Bezzerides, I can't believe I remember that) would have faced that kind of sexual harassment and career sabotage trying to be taken seriously during that era, but everything she dealt with was too insane for modern times. Velcoro, the burnout detective, would have felt right at home in that era, drinking and taking drugs while being a barely functional cop, trapped in a gangster's pocket and constantly concerned he was raising his wife's rapist's son. Frank, the gangster, talked like he was in an old-timey crime novel anyway. "Am I diminished?" Plus, we would have had cool cars and suits and hats and dresses for the dames, and the corruption and pollution scandals would have felt just as accurate in the era that Chinatown and L.A. Confidential were set in. It was a wasted opportunity, and I wouldn't be surprised if Pizzolatto even pitched it as a period piece, and HBO said it had to be set in the present. But more people would have liked it for the retro feel and forgiven the stylized dialogue, stock characters, and "Baby's First Ellroy Novel" plot.
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Jun 24, 2016 03:59
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Did anyone ever watch Nowhere Man, a late '90s UPN show? It sounds like an unsung "one-season wonder," about a journalist who took a photo of something he should not have seen, and his entire life is erased -- bank accounts frozen or emptied, friends and family claim to not even know him, he's on the run with no resources trying to prove this conspiracy. I had a very similar idea for a movie or show myself, but when I found out this was a real show, I've been very curious about it. Another show I'm fascinated by, although I can't find a legal way to watch it, is Charlie Jade, a South African sci-fi/noir show about three separate parallel universes (a futuristic society, a run-down noir dystopia, and some kind of paradise for the affluent), and a private detective who regularly "commutes" between them. I'm a sucker for anything with parallel universes, alternate Earths, and multiple dimensions -- loved Fringe, and the Earth 2 stuff is my favorite parts of The Flash -- so I'd love to see it at some point.
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Jul 13, 2016 04:51
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Rhyno posted:Nowhere Man was neat from what I remember and it was my first exposure to Bruce Greenwood whom I've had a mancrush on ever since. You've got mail. Thank you!
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Jul 13, 2016 05:05
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This may be a dumb question, but will the Paralympics get any air time this year, on NBC or elsewhere? We look forward to watching it every year, and nothing is ever televised.
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Aug 7, 2016 23:06
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Dead Snoopy posted:Is anybody else loving The Get Down the way I'm loving The Get Down? I've only seen the first three episodes so far, but they have been spectacular. I'm a huge fan of old-school hip hop, though, and I love the mythical quality to the storytelling. The actors playing Ezekiel and Shao are great finds, but I do wish Daveed Diggs had done his own rapping in the framing sequences. That guy is such an incredible talent.
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Aug 20, 2016 18:08
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After seeing him be funny on Not Safe With Nikki Glaser (great show; hope it gets renewed), I watched a few episodes of The Eric Andre Show. Wow. I wish I liked it, because Jackass cracked me up back in the day, and I'm all for subversion of the same tired old talk show cliches, which is why I like the Comedy Bang Bang show so much. But I can't get into so much of what Eric Andre does, as far as just screwing with regular people on the street. The in-studio antics are somewhat more amusing. How much are the guests in on the joke? Do they all know what they're getting into? I got the impression Stacey Dash and Howie Mandel really didn't. Asa Akira (a porn star) seemed to roll with the weirdness and chaos the best of all the guests in the few shows I've seen.
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Aug 21, 2016 06:12
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Mu Zeta posted:Most of them know. There are a few exceptions like Lauren Conrad and Lou Ferrigno. Kraft Punk was pretty funny, I gotta admit. When he dunked the basketball in the cheese sauce and those guys got pissed, that was good.
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Aug 21, 2016 06:26
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xcore posted:Is it really surprising though? Apart from being on Netflix, what do these have in common? Both really well-made period pieces (early '80s vs. late '70s) featuring young, unknown, excellent casts, coming-of-age stories, and great soundtracks. Personally, I love both.
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Aug 22, 2016 01:17
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Shageletic posted:I'm really loving the Get-Down you guys. Its wobbly at places, but its highs are so high. It reminds me of Sense8 in that way. Apparently it cost Netflix 120 million dollars to produce, hope that doesn't prevent a second season. So far, all they released is the first half of the first season! It was supposed to be a 13-episode order, but due to delays, changing showrunners, and going so far overbudget, they were only able to deliver the first six. But there will definitely be more, probably at some point in 2017. I've seen five out of the six so far and love it, so I hope it wraps things up well, while still leaving room for continuing storylines in the back half.
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Aug 29, 2016 02:53
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CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:Wait, so it cost netflix 120mil for 6 episodes? goddamn It sounds like the whole season might have cost $120 million, but here, the co-creator says they still can't decide if it will be 12 or 13 episodes: http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/get-down-netflix-premieres-half-of-season-one.html
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Aug 29, 2016 03:55
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IRQ posted:I saw a spot for the MacGyver remake the other day and god what a punchable face. Is he played by Adam Devine?
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Sep 4, 2016 08:28
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Sober posted:I'm jumping back in but yeah the show is probably like Ray Donovan or something, it's a "prestige cable show" but it doesn't really ever stand out besides the basic premise and no one really talks about them in any meaningful way except when it's a new season and people go, "hey I remember this show." My wife and I watched Masters of Sex from the beginning, but aside from the excellent first season, we found ourselves caring less and less beyond that. I think it's the writing, and the need to be this deadly serious prestige drama with deadly serious social commentary working against it. Caplan is as wonderful as you think, Sheen is great but his character is so detestable, but the show got more and more soapy and drawn-out, with too much emphasis on their fictional children and paramours, and not enough time spent with the entertaining supporting cast who provide much-needed comic relief (Betty and her girlfriend, Lester and Jane). Normally we would resubscribe to Showtime just for the new season, but we're not even gonna bother this time. We'll just binge-watch it next year when we resubscribe for Twin Peaks instead.
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Sep 5, 2016 20:29
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UnquietDream posted:I'd probably recommend then reading a Wikipedia summary of the craziness that was season 4 and trying the final season (5) it is a sort of reboot if you will, places everyone in a very different position than previously. Also season 5 has some of the strongest episodes on the show, including a submarine ep takes Angel back to the heady days of finding himself on a Nazi U-boat full of Vampires. I agree that Angel was a more satisfying show than Buffy, due to the darker, more mature themes, the massive story arc of Seasons 2-4 (which had some bad parts, but was generally good), the absolute inspired greatness of Season 5, and the incredible character development that rescued some of the worst characters from Buffy and made them all amazing. Both shows had lousy first seasons but improved tremendously. Buffy's musical episode might be my favorite single episode of any TV series ever, but Angel Season 5 is probably my favorite single season of any show ever. And Wesley is definitely one of my favorite characters in any medium, any genre.
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Sep 5, 2016 23:39
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Vanderdeath posted:I liked Angel more specifically because of that. Angel's quote about how nothing is as it ought to be but that they fight for the world as it should be is one of the few highlights of the Jasmine season and the series as a whole. One of my close friends hated that Angel ended on a downer note (ignoring those loving terrible Season 8 comics) but I think it was one of the better series finales I've seen. "We live as though the world is as it should be, to show it what it can be." I love that line. So superheroey. It's up there with "With great power comes great responsibility" and "May the Force be with you" for me.
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Sep 6, 2016 00:36
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Just finished binge-watching One Mississippi on Amazon Prime, the new Tig Notaro show that had its pilot debut last year, and had the entire season premiere today. The whole season, including that pilot, is six episodes, so you can get through it very quickly, and you will want to. It's very good, especially if you already like Tig. (We do -- we've enjoyed her recent wave of well-deserved fame and even caught her live last year.) We found the show funnier than the pilots of Atlanta and Better Things, well-written, well-acted, well-paced, good music choices, poignant, life-affirming and depressing all at the same time. Some of the stylistic flourishes felt a lot like Louie, which makes sense, since Louis C.K. has an Executive Producer credit.
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Sep 10, 2016 05:55
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3peat posted:Is Queen of the South worth watching? If not, something else? I want a show to binge this weekend, preferably something without a cast of white americans (im really tired of them) Haven't seen it, but The Get Down would be perfect for a weekend binge and a great cast of actors of color.
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Sep 23, 2016 19:47
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Vegetable posted:It was never clear to me how the Don caught on that Barzini was pulling the shenanigans even before the Tessio betrayal was revealed This has always bugged me as well.
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Sep 25, 2016 04:30
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EL BROMANCE posted:I can't remember which seasons are the absolute best, because it is fantastic for a good stretch, but set expectations that it can't stay that good forever. There are major dips in later years, but I'll admit it did end strongly at least.
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Sep 29, 2016 05:06
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Gonz posted:A few years ago at the Phoenix Comicon, Leonard Nimoy made a a few appearances over the weekend and was charging 70 bucks for an autograph and 70 bucks for a photo. His line was out the door. He probably made a small fortune over a period of 48 hours. I paid $75 this summer for my best friend (a huge, lifelong Star Trek fan) to get a photo with William Shatner at a con, as a birthday present. I got in it too, since there wasn't an upcharge for a second person. He barely acknowledged us and wouldn't shake hands with anyone -- not that I can blame him, given his age and all the germs -- but there was a line out the door for him too.
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Sep 29, 2016 22:07
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I only go to cons anymore to meet writers and artists I like, and to get them to sign books. The last two cons I went to, both over the summer, I brought a rolling suitcase with me, stacked full of TPBs and my custom-bound hardcovers. I met most people I wanted to meet, and I'm glad most of them don't charge for autographs. A few of them had a tip jar or requested donations for CBLDF, which was totally fine with me. I met one of my lifelong favorite writers, Keith Giffen, as well as Tony Harris, Adam Hughes, Peter David, Mike McKone, Gail Simone, Fabian Nicieza, Jose Marzan Jr., David Finch, Leinil Francis Yu, and John Beatty, and got them all to sign stuff. Fabian Nicieza would charge for signing anything Deadpool- or X-Force-related, but signed anything else for free. I brought him the old Adventures of Captain America miniseries he did with Kevin Maguire in the early '90s, and he was thrilled to see it and chat about it. I think Rob Liefeld charges A LOT for signing New Mutants #87 or #98. I didn't even bother to try to go to a special VIP Frank Miller signing because he was charging as much as the celebrities, but I was really surprised Klaus Janson was charging $10 per signature. And then there's Neal Adams who charges $30 per signature.
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Sep 30, 2016 05:56
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Vanderdeath posted:I also enjoyed certain aspects of TD Season 2. People ragged on Vince Vaughn's character but I loving loved his over-the-top lines in an unironic way. The opening is still gorgeous, too. This. I'm a huge noir fan, so I enjoyed Season 2, even the downer ending, although it wasn't nearly as good as Season 1. But it felt like a post-World War II story shoehorned (maybe forced by HBO executives?) into the present day. It would have made so much more sense in the late '40s with Kitsch's character as a vet ashamed of his sexuality, Bezzerides encountering so much blatant sexism as a cop (not that there wouldn't be sexism against a female cop today, just that it would have been so much worse back then), all the corruption in local government and shady land development deals (a classic staple of noir; see Chinatown and almost everything James Ellroy has ever written), and Vince Vaughn's over-the-top, retro-sounding dialogue. Plus we would have gotten much cooler clothes, cars, and architecture had it been a period piece.
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Nov 2, 2016 13:46
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Grassy Knowles posted:But that's not quite fair, that episode of Muppet Babies was also a musical.
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Nov 2, 2016 16:22
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Josh Lyman posted:Finally finished the first season of Twin Peaks. Very enjoyable, if a bit difficult to get started. The first part of Season 2 is fine, and feels a lot like a continuation of Season 1. I think it goes up until episode 9, and you'll definitely know it when you see it. I would hang on for at least that much, maybe try 10 to see if you hate it or not, and if it's intolerable, skip ahead to either the finale or one episode before the finale, just to set it up.
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Nov 20, 2016 23:47
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The only Black Mirror episode I had seen before was "The Entire History of You," and I hated it, but I generally hate stories about adultery and cheating and lying about it. But recently I saw "San Junipero" and loved it. It might have been one of the best hours of television I've ever seen, but I understand it's a huge departure from the typical themes of the show, that technology ruins everything and we're all awful for relying on it.
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Nov 25, 2016 20:10
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