The TV Discussion Thread

[Winston*]

Watched the first season of Damages. Enjoyed it. Unbelievably manipulative, at times irritatingly so, but never less than compelling.

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Show Spoiler

It will be interesting to see if there is a dip in quality with Zeljko Ivanek gone, considering he much more than anyone else keeps the show dramatically involving. Patty and Ellen are fine but they're not really that interesting.

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[Qrazy]

So disc 3 of Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent seems to have suggested a divergence of narrative connections. Does disc 4 (likely won't get to it till next week sometime) actually gather together the threads or did I just watch the filler disc?

Somehow surprisingly it all does tie together.

[Ezee E]

Netflix sent out a survey to a select group of people about adding HBO to its instant watching for an additional $10 a month.

Eek, quite the price jump, but if you were able to watch the shows that were just shown each week, and have their lineup of movies, I'd have to consider it, because that's the only reason I'd want cable anyways.

[Sycophant]

Over the weekend, I watched the first three episodes of Welcome to the NHK, about a hikikomori and allegedly his recovery. So far, it's really good! It's got a smart, empathetic sense of self-loathing and is one of the best depictions of post-adolscent malaise I've seen. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[EvilShoe]

Over the weekend, I watched the first three episodes of Welcome to the NHK, about a hikikomori and allegedly his recovery. So far, it's really good! It's got a smart, empathetic sense of self-loathing and is one of the best depictions of post-adolscent malaise I've seen. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I really enjoyed that show. Nothing much to say about it, except that it's just fun to watch.

[MadMan]

Because of the time slot previews for the show last night, I decided to finally check out Chuck tonight. And its fairly enjoyable and quite humorous. Plus they have Charlie from Lost (I completely forgot his real name) as a rock star, which is just great. The show is kind of silly in a way, but the whole premise seems to work.

[Fezzik]

Because of the time slot previews for the show last night, I decided to finally check out Chuck tonight. And its fairly enjoyable and quite humorous. Plus they have Charlie from Lost (I completely forgot his real name) as a rock star, which is just great. The show is kind of silly in a way, but the whole premise seems to work.

Glad you like it! I love Chuck. It's easily the most geek friendly show on broadcast TV right now.

This week's episode was middle of the road, too. Some of them (like the one where they figured out that you could beat the arcade version of Missile Command by timing your shots to the rhythm of Rush's "Tom Sawyer") are geek-god worthy.

Plus...it has Yvonne Strahovski. Mmm...Yvonne Strahovski.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Chuck rules. Though I agree that last week's episode was middling stuff. Fun, but totally inconsequential. Though I knew that's how it would be considering the stupid 3-D gimmick.

[MadMan]

Glad you like it! I love Chuck. It's easily the most geek friendly show on broadcast TV right now.

This week's episode was middle of the road, too. Some of them (like the one where they figured out that you could beat the arcade version of Missile Command by timing your shots to the rhythm of Rush's "Tom Sawyer") are geek-god worthy.

I'm no geek, but I think that is just awesome.

Plus...it has Yvonne Strahovski. Mmm...Yvonne Strahovski.

Yes. She is pretty damn hot.

[Qrazy]

Because of the time slot previews for the show last night, I decided to finally check out Chuck tonight. And its fairly enjoyable and quite humorous. Plus they have Charlie from Lost (I completely forgot his real name) as a rock star, which is just great. The show is kind of silly in a way, but the whole premise seems to work.

Dominic Monaghan. He's a hobbit.

[MadMan]

Dominic Monaghan. He's a hobbit.

That's it. I completely forgot his name.

Right now I'm watching a PBS special where George Carlin has won the Mark Twin award. Too bad he's not alive to get it. Easily my favorite stand up comedian of all time.

[Thirdmango]

I'm wondering if it was pressure from NBC or what but this season of Scrubs feels new and inventive and like they're actually doing something and it's funny. It's been so long since this show has been good and now I think they're finding their footing again.

[Sycophant]

You're not the first person I've heard it from, Mr. Mango. I might have to check back in with it, because I loved seasons 1-3, liked season 4, and found season 5 and what I saw of season 6 positively insufferable.

[Sycophant]

I really enjoyed that show. Nothing much to say about it, except that it's just fun to watch.

Now that I'm halfway through the series, that's interesting, as the show has a lot on its mind and a lot to say.

It's really quite good.

[EvilShoe]

Now that I'm halfway through the series, that's interesting, as the show has a lot on its mind and a lot to say.

It's really quite good.

Ha, I mean that I have a hard time expressing why. At times it's almost cheesy. Almost, luckily.
I find it quite uplifting, the characters and situations endearing.

[Amnesiac]

Looks like Max Weinberg might not be joining Conan when he makes the journey to Los Angeles.

The New York Post breaks the situation down like this: Weinberg has too many ties to the East Coast and the E Street Band and moving to L.A. would just complicate things too much. Plus, his true bread and butter is playing for Springsteen and moving to the other side of the continent could cause a huge strain on him and his family.

I wonder who they will get to replace to him. That is, if it's true:

Don't fret fellow Conan-heads (that's a new thing I'm trying to start now. I already got the patent paperwork filled out). There are two good ways to look at it. One, if the story is true, that means there are only a handful of shows left before O'Brien leaves Late Night for good. So the show is bound to capitalize on this and will spend their remaining episodes roasting Weinberg over the coals in ways coals haven't been roasted before. Two, the story was broken by that beacon of journalistic integrity known as the New York Post, so calling it a story is giving it a HUGE benefit of the doubt.

Source.

[number8]

If true, I would be very, very sad.

[number8]

In other news, I just found out that Jimmy Fallon's house band is The Roots.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

[Ezee E]

In other news, I just found out that Jimmy Fallon's house band is The Roots.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Er... I don't know what to say. I still need to see them.

Uh... Sad...

[Henry Gale]

I really didn't want to have to watch Fallon unless I was suprised by it in the first couple of weeks, but when I heard that they were the house band I changed my mind a little bit. They said this doesn't mean they're going to stop recording, but they're at least going to stop touring (for now).

Of course I'm going to get mad when they cut to commercials during their stuff except for maybe 15 seconds at the beginning and ends, but there's no way they can really change that. Unless they put that sort of thing on the website, similar to how other talk shows post songs that musical guests do after the hour officially ends online.

Just hope they don't waster them on the show.

[Sycophant]

Ended up binging on Welcome to the NHK and finishing it up yesterday. It's beautiful and absolutely one of the best depictions of middle class early-twenties malaise I've ever seen. It lost a little narrative steam around episode 18 but regained it for the final stretch of episodes.

[MadMan]

If true, I would be very, very sad.

I agree. Max is usually great on the show, and if he's leaving it'll be a large hole to fill.

[Derek]

Mad Men. Genius, I love it. Single-handedly justifies the otherwise worthless existence of AMC as tv station.

[Winston*]

Mad Men. Genius, I love it. Single-handedly justifies the otherwise worthless existence of AMC as tv station.

Best show on TV IMO.

I think Breaking Bad from AMC is quite good also, though.

[Qrazy]

Ended up binging on Welcome to the NHK and finishing it up yesterday. It's beautiful and absolutely one of the best depictions of middle class early-twenties malaise I've ever seen. It lost a little narrative steam around episode 18 but regained it for the final stretch of episodes.

Nice, been meaning to check it out for a while now. I've been watching quite a bit of anime lately.

The highlights have been Brave Story (film) by the guy who did Last Exile was quite good (certainly in terms of animation, set and character design) and Serei no Moribito (Samurai-esque, reminiscent of Princess Mononoke - by the people who put together Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex).

Also watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (first season) and Black Lagoon (both seasons) both fairly solid.

Oh and watched all five Hellsing OVAs. It's a bit silly in a sense because Alucard (one of the primary protagonists) can't seem to be killed so that kind of robs things of much dramatic urgency. The level of blood and crazy ass shit on display still makes it fairly entertaining however.