The TV Discussion Thread

[Gittes]

If you want an alternate take, I recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/TV-Book-Exper...dp/1455588199/

Oh yeah, I heard about that. I'm definitely interested in checking it out.

[Acapelli]

anybody watching timeless?

i think i've found the show to fill the network-sci-fi-sized hole shape in my heart

[Gittes]

I just recently discovered that Michael Rosenbaum is the star of this show called Impastor, where, from what I can tell, he plays a criminal who is pretending to be a priest in a small town? It's been a weird experiencing seeing the commercials for this show because I'm so used to the reserve and relative inertia (and baldness) of his Lex Luthor performance from Smallville. Then I came across a recent interview, and he's got so much energy and charisma. The idea that actors vary from role to role, or that their real-life personality might be different, is hardly shocking but…I don't know, the incongruity still surprised me.

No clue if Impastor is actually good, but, based on the commercials alone, I can see that this guy has strong comedic sensibilities that were definitely not utilized on Smallville (or what I saw it of it, anyway).

[number8]

I know him mostly from his voice acting career, where he's always playing energetic characters like The Flash. So I always thought his Smallville work was the outlier.

[Gittes]

Matthew Weiner's next move after Mad Men will be a novel, which is pretty cool news.

It's called Heather, the Totality, and it will be out next fall.

The narrative unfolds from the perspective of multiple characters who are obsessed with a teenager named Heather, and who aim to control or possess her, including her parents, who compete with each other for her affection. The story takes place in contemporary Manhattan, as well as Florida and New Jersey.

[Gittes]

In less exciting Mad Men-related news, the very talented Vincent Kartheiser is playing the "heartthrob Nashville Hot Colonel" in a new KFC ad campaign.

[Ezee E]

TV since 1990 is almost like trying to compile a best movies list. Having The Wire, Seinfeld, Doug, and Game of Thrones on the same list and trying to determine the best of them is a crazy good thing.

[Henry Gale]

TV since 1990 is almost like trying to compile a best movies list. Having The Wire, Seinfeld, Doug, and Game of Thrones on the same list and trying to determine the best of them is a crazy good thing.

Wait, unless I'm totally misunderstanding, is Doug really thought of on this high an echelon of TV series? Even just for you personally. I mean, I grew up watching it and really enjoying it, and anyone my age still brings it up now and then, but I think I was too young to really remember all that much about it now, especially to know how great it might've been.

[Ezee E]

Wait, unless I'm totally misunderstanding, is Doug really thought of on this high an echelon of TV series? Even just for you personally. I mean, I grew up watching it and really enjoying it, and anyone my age still brings it up now and then, but I think I was too young to really remember all that much about it now, especially to know how great it might've been.

To me, yes. I don't think it's at all established as a big thing in the community as a top ten of all time. Kind of like having Ghostbusters in your top ten movies of all time.

[Gittes]

Any list worth its salt should probably nod to at least some of the animated greats: Doug, Rugrats*, Daria, Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, Rocko's Modern Life, Avatar, and certainly Batman: The Animated Series.

Admittedly, I can't confidently vouch for all of those shows, but my memories, and the laudatory remarks I've noticed about them over the years, are persuading me that this contention probably makes sense.

*

[Morris Schæffer]

War of the Worlds TV show on the way.

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/w...-series-works/

Could be so sweet if it was HBO for instance and then set in Victorian times.

[Gittes]

1:29 is my favourite moment, I think.

[Lazlo]

1:29 is my favourite moment, I think.

Gotta go with giraffe-kicks-lion-to-the-ground.

[Mara]

Okay, but are you guys watching The Good Place? Because it is excellent so far.

[Acapelli]

Okay, but are you guys watching The Good Place? Because it is excellent so far.

so much better than i expected

even knowing the pedigree behind it i wasn't really into the concept previously, but everything's clicking for me

[Irish]

I like Good Place quite a bit, especially the cast.

But: The premise is so completely narrow and one-note that they can only tell a limited number of stories with it. Even within those stories, they focus on Kristen Bell to the exclusion of everyone else. Every episode has almost the exact same plot -- will Eleanor be found out or won't she? Any specific details are almost incidental.

I think that hurts the show's possibilities (the problem demonstrates itself in the way they bent over backwards to point out Chidi's essential problem to the audience--that he'll never meet his true soul mate as long as Eleanor is there).

It's also on NBC, which is a shame, because I think it'll be too weird for NBC. It seems like the kinda show that'd be safer on FX or CW.

[Gittes]

Matthew Weiner's next move after Mad Men will be a novel, which is pretty cool news.

It's called Heather, the Totality, and it will be out next fall.

A new series is on the way, too:

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is returning to television with a high-profile new series. After heated bidding between six entities, we have learned that the project has landed at The Weinstein Company and Amazon to air on the streaming service, in a $70 million commitment for eight-episode straight-to-series order. Series will be co-financed by TWC and Amazon.

More info is available via the link.

[dreamdead]

A thanks to those who lauded The Good Place. We're now fully caught up with the show--and the initial sendoff for Michael, where he finally tastes Saltines--was tremendously and delightfully bitter. Not so sure that the Adam Scott material is that strong, though I love seeing him as something other than the straight man in a comedy, as this version of the bad place is slightly too neutered by its NBC-ness.

Hopefully the writers will find more angles for Jianyu, as his childishness is more one-note than I think it means to be; the Janet material, however, is now pretty much adorable anytime now.

[Morris Schæffer]

I quit Black Sails after 5 episodes in Season 1. I never ever quit TV shows so this is a rarity.

Was it too meandering? Characters too one note?

Not sure, but with so many other shows waiting in the wings, 5 episodes is all a show's gonna get to grab me.

[[ETM]]

I had just played Assassin's Creed Black Flag, and the show's setting struck a chord. Still only a couple of episodes into S2, though.

[Acapelli]

anyone here watch channel zero?

genuinely very creepy show

[Irish]

"..."

[number8]

Question: Am I the only one here who's a big Gilmore Girls fan?

[Mara]

Question: Am I the only one here who's a big Gilmore Girls fan?

I am a fan, I guess, in that I have watched and re-watched it regularly, and watched all the new episodes. But it's probably about 70% actual enjoyment and 30% yelling at the screen, for me.

[Morris Schæffer]

I started rewatching Band of Brothers. It's quite ridiculously cool how many well-known (now, perhaps not quite back then) are in this that I absolutely did not know back in 2001. Stephen Graham, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Simon Pegg, Dominic Cooper, Tom Hardy, Andrew Scott, Jimmy Fallon, there are probably others. Not counting Damian Lewis and a few others such as Neal McDonough whom I knew from ST: First Contact.