The TV Discussion Thread

[Thirdmango]

Apparently if NBC doesn't pick up Scrubs, it's okay cause ABC will air it's final season, or so I've heard. So the show which was supposed to end at season 7, ends at season 8 because of the writer's strike. Damn you strike! You kill our favorite shows and let live the ones we hate.

[Sycophant]

Well, I'm nearing the end of The Sopranos with only four episodes left. It's going to take some rumination to say this conclusively, but it may very well surpass even The Wire in my estimation of the greatest TV dramas.

I'm kind of concurrently following Slate's TV Club commentary and find it strange that many lamented the show's direction in seasons four through six. Perhaps viewing an entire season in a week illuminates a season's arcs moreso than a viewing spread over 13 weeks does. However, while the show circles around a lot of the same themes, it always seems to do so from a different angle.

And is it weird that despite the fact that these people are lowlifes and thugs, I care deeply about them? Even after watching one character I love plug a character I love even more, their humanity, even beside their mysoginy and racism and homophobia, is what makes the show continually compelling. The violence is not something I relish in The Sopranos, it's something I dread, even when it's stylishly executed. The exploration of family, ethnic, and workplace dynamics in America is far more appealing to me than the criminal aspects of the show.

EDIT: "Oh, and hi, I'm James Gandolfini." "And I'm Edie Falco." "As an onscreen couple we are an acting powerhouse with more raw talent than any studios' single year's combined feature line-up."

[Sycophant]

It's also weird to me that the show only ended a year ago. It feels like it was so much farther back in our pop consciousness (even though I clearly remember the hubbub over the ending), it feels kind of weird seeing pop culture references that feel very much of today.

[Sxottlan]

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives has been on the Food Network for awhile, but in the last few weeks I've gotten absolutely hooked. It's a simple, but brilliant premise: visit local eateries all around the country and just highlight all the unique dishes these singular places have to offer.

The host seems to just talk to the customers, get an idea of what are the favorites and then show the chefs cooking up the plates. A pretty sweet deal for Guy, who gets to eat everything and he never comes across as obnoxious or condescending, but genuine.

The result are quick ten minute little segments that are able to create a whole sense of the community and the restaurant's place in it...and of course, make me hungry. It's also great seeing the little local diners get a moment in the spotlight (one featured place wasn't even a restaurant, but a cart by the side of the freeway).

[Raiders]

Yeah, I really like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Almost as much as I love Good Eats.

[jenniferofthejungle]

Bounty Girls: Miami has got to be one of the most obnoxious "reality" shows out there right now. I hope it flops.

[Sycophant]

The Sopranos. Absolutely brilliant. Mid-show, the plot slowed down somewhat, but was more than made up for by some of the most brilliant character-driven arcs I've ever seen--television, literature, cinema, whatever. And the last nine episodes were as good as the first thirteen. Wonderful stuff. Now I get it. Finally.

[number8]

House was amazing.

[Raiders]

House was amazing.

I don't know if I would go to quite that extreme, but I loved the recklessness of it. Good to see the show take its tired formula and spin it on its head.

[number8]

I don't know if I would go to quite that extreme, but I loved the recklessness of it. Good to see the show take its tired formula and spin it on its head.

I'm a big admirer of the show on a regular basis, so yes, the absolute overboard displayed was heavenly to me. I like how all the teasing about House and Amber came to a head with that episode. Can't freakin' wait for next week's finale.

[EvilShoe]

Trailer for the Life on Mars remake:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/...cAbvUSr0oesF9T
Just click ABC to view it.

Looks fairly annoying and silly. I liked how the original series never went overboard with the 70's joke.

[Sycophant]

I watched a couple other things on that preview website there. WTF, Fox? The Cleveland Show? And what the hell is this new Mitch Hurwitz program?

[EvilShoe]

Man, Heroes' second season was terrible. I wish I hadn't bothered watching all of it.
Unless the third season gets rave reviews, I'm out.

[Sycophant]

Man, Heroes' second season was terrible. I wish I hadn't bothered watching all of it.
Unless the third season gets rave reviews, I'm out.

If the third season gets rave reviews, I'll check it out. But I'm glad I aborted my second season viewing four episodes in. The show's pretty much dead to me.

Pity Heroes: Origins was killed.

[Kurosawa Fan]

If the third season gets rave reviews, I'll check it out. But I'm glad I aborted my second season viewing four episodes in. The show's pretty much dead to me.

Yep. Not even my crush on Kristin Bell could keep me watching. That show sucks.

[EvilShoe]

Another show in which I'm losing interest is Dead Like Me.
It was fairly noticeable in the first season when creator Fuller left the show, and this second season misses his touch completely.
The first was still very enjoyable, this one's a drag so far.

I much preferred the similar Now and Again & Brimstone.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Another show in which I'm losing interest is Dead Like Me.
It was fairly noticeable in the first season when creator Fuller left the show, and this second season misses his touch completely.
The first was still very enjoyable, this one's a drag so far.

I much preferred the similar Now and Again & Brimstone.

I never much cared for Dead Like Me. It was a good start, but we got about 7 or 8 episodes in and it felt like every episode was the same thing. Girl struggles with being a reaper, girl makes mistake, boss gets mad, girl finds out mistake is worse than carrying out her duty, girl supposedly learns lesson. Repeat ad nauseum.

[number8]

From what I can tell, Season 3 is going to be really shit. They're basically resorting to standard comic book formula now. They're introducing a bunch of supervillains for the Heroes. And it's looking awfully on the nose. Hiro, for example, has a speedster for a villain.

What is this, Smallville?

The problem with Season 2 was that they had no interesting finish line like the New York blow-up in Season 1, and much of the episodes were stupid filler about shit no one cares about. But Tim Kring apparently took the reaction as "Oh, fans don't like character development and slow-moving plot. Don't worry, Season 3 will jump into things immediately and it's ACTION PACKED." Seriously, Kring? Now we have this "Villains" bullcrap.

Ugh.

[EvilShoe]

I never much cared for Dead Like Me. It was a good start, but we got about 7 or 8 episodes in and it felt like every episode was the same thing. Girl struggles with being a reaper, girl makes mistake, boss gets mad, girl finds out mistake is worse than carrying out her duty, girl supposedly learns lesson. Repeat ad nauseum.

In the first season everything about this world was still very new, which made discovering it rather fun.
I feel the first episodes were more connected than the later ones, where it was more of a case of the week.

They even set up a mystery halfway through which went nowhere. Apparently Fuller had intended to solve it.
Ah well.

I read that Kring quote as well. What an idiot.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I can't stop watching a Ninja Warrior marathon. Someone help me.

[number8]

I can't stop watching a Ninja Warrior marathon. Someone help me.

Easy. Start watching Unbeatable Banzuke instead.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Easy. Start watching Unbeatable Banzuke instead.

I've seen it before, but my problem last night was that I needed to go to bed, and I was still sitting up watching.

[Mara]

I don't know if I would go to quite that extreme, but I loved the recklessness of it. Good to see the show take its tired formula and spin it on its head.

I was so excited in season one by the "Three Stories" episode, which really messed with the formula. When the second season went straight back to the old shenanigans, I kind of gave up and stopped watching.

I caught the last episode out of boredom and was impressed. Is it worth catching up completely?

[number8]

I caught the last episode out of boredom and was impressed. Is it worth catching up completely?

I dunno. House is kind of like Law & Order in that there's no reason to "catch up" because each episode is stand alone. I mean, if you wanna rewatch the episodes to catch up, do it because you missed some outstanding single episodes.

I have a problem with (or rather, I don't understand) the aversion to TV show formulas, because the way I see it, all TV shows are extremely formulaic, even the serialized ones like The Wire or LOST or Sopranos. They have to be just from the nature of it being a series. They have to follow the same beats, the same tone, the same attitude, or else it doesn't work as a TV show. The mark of a great TV show isn't when it's bold or original or malleable. It's when it can keep you interested even when it follows a familiar and repetitive template.

That's why I'm a fan of these shows that the average cineaste tend to avoid. I like the fact that I know exactly how each episode is going to function and how they're going to end, but they're still telling good yarns for that 44 minute period. It's a very different form of creativity from how filmmakers are that I really respect.

[Mara]

You have a point, but if you're watching an episode and you can't remember if you have or have not seen it before, there's a problem. A couple times I got halfway through an episode and realized it was a rerun.