The TV Discussion Thread

[Watashi]

With so many revivals of cult shows of late, I'm stunned Fieg and Apatow have not attempted to get another season out of this.

[transmogrifier]

With so many revivals of cult shows of late, I'm stunned Fieg and Apatow have not attempted to get another season out of this.

It couldn't happen without feeling totally forced because none of the freaks or geeks would still be hanging out together in their mid-30s, so I can't see how they could find a reason to have them all back together again.

[Dukefrukem]

Anyone want a 24 hour American Dad streaming channel?

I do

[Henry Gale]

With so many revivals of cult shows of late, I'm stunned Fieg and Apatow have not attempted to get another season out of this.

I've said it before (though maybe never here...), I think if they do a Freaks and Geeks revisiting of sorts, it should be when it lines up to 1999-2000, when the show was actually made and the actors actually knew their own version of their youth and family to now play the adults of that time period.

So basically, since the series took place in 1980-1981 and it was made in 1999-2000, any new stories in its world would be perfect between 2018 and 2020.

[D_Davis]

I started rewatching Lost recently, along with my wife who had never seen it. Just finished the 2nd season, and we're loving it.

I'm actually liking it a lot more this second time. Not sure why. Maybe it's because of the complete lack of anticipation. I'm also recognizing more how straight-up Stephen King it is. In between my first viewing of Lost and now, I've reread The Stand, and I can clearly see how that was such a huge influence on the show, especially in how the characters form teams and sides.

I'm one of the few who liked the last season and ending when it originally aired, so I'm interested to see if I still do.

Still one of the best serialized genere television shows; it's mostly very well acted, and has some genuinely great mystery.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's love-hate. While it was on, loved it. It hit at the perfect moment, post-internet pre-TV-fragmentation, when everyone could gather online and ponder its mysteries but the weekliness of it built anticipation (bingeing wasn't yet an option).

Now... I haven't rewatched it in years, because the final season sat so poorly with me, mostly on a story economy level (the flash-sideways universe infuriates me) but also due to the show's obstinate refusal to answer questions it could've answered without losing any of its pleasurable ambiguities*, but it's hard to argue the strength of the show at its best, in particular Seasons One and Four, which still manages to be some of the best TV I've ever seen. And the whole flashback format was a stroke of storytelling genius, especially in the first two seasons, before the writers were reduced to stories about Locke's pot farm and Jack's tattoos.

*I don't mind not knowing how precisely the magic of the Island functions (vis a vis donkey wheels and magic water and stuff), but not explaining what "infection" is or what it's doing to Sayid and Claire (both of whom eventually just sorta snap out of it when the plot requires it)? Never clarifying the actual risks of the Man in Black off-island (beyond some vague "We all go to hell" tripe)? There's pleasurable ambiguity, but then there's needless obscurantism.

[D_Davis]

The ambiguity does end up being more frustrating than cool and mysterious, and I know this is really going to piss me my wife off. But I think the drama is good enough that she will mostly like it.

It's a show of very high highs, offset by some clunkiness due to the writers having to make a lot of shit up on the fly while retrofitting things into the story and striving to make too many damn connections.

Even with its problems, though, I still feel like it is one of the better made genre/dramatic television shows. There is a ton of creativity on hand, and it's so well acted and executed.

I didn't watch it when it was on. It was one of the first shows I binged on Netflix streaming. So I never had that great anticipation people had having to wait week to week, season to season. I think this is why the ending sat so well with me.

The same thing happened with the Dark Tower. I don't start a series until it is done. I started Book 1 when Book 5 came out, and I knew books 6 and 7 were only a year away. By the time I finished Book 5, books 6 and 7 were done, and I bought them both. I was able to read the entire series in a single year, and I didn't have this huge built up thing about the ending in my head. I ended up loving books 5-7, and loving the end, even though a ton of fans don't like those books and don't like the ending.

Anticipation is more often than not, IMO, a detriment.

[[ETM]]

I guess binge-watching could work better for LOST in hindsight, as the high points would be much fresher in a new viewer's mind as to soften the blow of the disappointing ending.

[D_Davis]

I didn't find the ending disappointing at all. I don't remember it very clearly, but I remember being emotionally engaged and impacted. But then again I've also been one to never put much stock in endings, and never let a less than stellar ending ruin something for me. Always been far more interested in the journey than the destination, although sometimes the destination can really sour what has come before. I don't remember that being the case with Lost, but I do know that most long-time fans hated it.

But yes, binging it does make the whole thing flow better. Not having to suffer through a slow or disappointing episode only having to wait weeks or months for the next one makes everything better.

[Grouchy]

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/09...ys-for-amazon/

Nooooooooooo please say it isn't so.

[number8]

Amazon having two superhero satire shows seem like a weird decision. They also greenlit a period drama about the Tongs directed by Wong Kar Wai, which I'll be following with cautious optimism.

[D_Davis]

The Good Place - what an absolutely brilliant show. Incredibly intelligent, funny, fantastical, silly, and reverent.

[D_Davis]

The new Seinfeld special is fantastic.

[number8]

OK, this is pretty funny.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow that's funny. I dont watch the show, but I've seen enough The King of Queens reruns to know that chemistry did work well.

[number8]

[Grouchy]

I felt like that when people wanted me to like Arrow.

[amberlita]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is back! And still awesome.

[amberlita]

I'm just going to continue to leave these right here. Still the best show on television...

[number8]

That episode was loaded with great numbers. Josh's Gene Kelly church routine, Rebecca at the end... But yes, the bathroom song was what floored me.

[[ETM]]

It's crazy that that was the first time a female character uttered the word "clitoris" on network TV, and explained what it is. The only other time EVER was Dwight on The Office.

[number8]

Wait, was it really?

[number8]

Speaking of great CW shows that are back, this week's ep of Riverdale has the best shot I've seen on TV this year.

[[ETM]]

Wait, was it really?

Yes. Rachel Bloom talked about it.

[Dukefrukem]

So... where will TV go after Game of Thrones is over? Lord of the Rings.

J.R.R. Tolkien estate is shopping the rights to a Lord of the Rings TV series near $200-250 million. Just for the rights.

They are approaching HBO, Netflix and Amazon, with Amazon likely only having the funds to pay for something like this.

http://deadline.com/2017/11/lord-of-...on-1202201636/