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Current TV Boxset Addiction

Started by radiator, 20 November, 2012, 02:23:29 PM

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radiator

QuoteMy chronology gets a bit wonky but it stands out for me as the first truly great long form tv show of the current American generation.

Funny you should mention it. I'm actually trying to get hold of this:



but ideally want the audiobook version but can't find it for a reasonable price.

radiator

One alarming thing about watching Sopranos now is that it started 15(!!!) years ago, and already looks incredibly dated (as in things like fashion, tech and whatnot, not the show itself), especially the early seasons...

Professor Bear

The Martian Chronicles, which starts out okay, hits its stride when people start going native and being haunted by a ghost race reduced to the equivalent of mountain men, but then tails off into a muddled and absolutist view of the politics of colonialism, finally nailing the coffin lid shut on its potential by having [spoiler]Darren McGavin dressed as a cowboy having a stagecoach chase shootout and then having Rock Hudson's family commit collective suicide and end the human race, which is thematically appropriate given the notions of cyclical history and parallels between humanity and native Martians explored, but also noticeably at odds with the writer and director's intent.[/spoiler]
While not terrible, the music is deeply intrusive and inappropriate - but what the hell, it's not like this mother hasn't dated appallingly already.  I liked some of the ideas on display - like the human and the Martian speaking but knowing who was in the planet's past and who was in its future - but a lot of it has been appropriated in the intervening years and often implemented better, so I think enjoyment of the material here may be down to how much you're willing to indulge something that's clearly of its time in attitude and execution.

I, Cosh

Not long finished the third series of Breaking Bad. A definite improvement on the previous one. The dramatic reduction in scenes of Walt whining coupled with increased focus on some of the other characters like Skylar and Hank has worked wonders. In particular, the decision to make the latter not a total bellend any more (well, he's still a bellend, just not so much of a comedy bellend) was a good one. It made the jump back to Walt and Jesse for the last couple of episodes fresh and gripping in a way that I've rarely found it.

Now back to the second series of Justified for some fun.
We never really die.

I, Cosh

Quote from: Professor Bear on 21 January, 2014, 02:54:08 PM
The Martian Chronicles, which starts out okay, hits its stride when people start going native and being haunted by a ghost race ... so I think enjoyment of the material here may be down to how much you're willing to indulge something that's clearly of its time in attitude and execution.
I have vague memories of seeing bits of this on tv in the early 80s. May give it a whirl.
We never really die.

Definitely Not Mister Pops

The Following is a show about a cult obssessed with Edgar Allen Poe and a serial killer. Or goths as they're known 'round our way.
You may quote me on that.

Professor Bear

The Following is entertainingly daft.  At one point a baddie ties Kevin Bacon up - like you'd expect Adam West to be in the old Batman show - then uses magnets to make his heart stop, all the while going "BWAH-HA-HA-HA!" so it's very silly even before you remember that it is a television show that has Kevin Bacon in it.

radiator

Been watching a few eps of Rick and Morty. Pretty good stuff, like a more unhinged Futurama. It's no Community, but is watchable enough.

CrazyFoxMachine

I'm really into Rick and Morty - bafflingly mad and probably the most inspired thing I've seen on TV in an age.

Hawkmumbler

Is it ANYTHING to do with BttF? From what i've seen of it, very little. :lol:

GrinningChimera

I'm looking at adding Jericho to my collection. But I thought I'd get an opinion first. Has anyone here seen it? What did you think? I'm a huge apocalyptic fiction geek and it sounds right up my alley. Although the short episode run for season 2 is a little off putting. Worth my time? Or should I get the Malcolm In The Middle box set instead? (I know it's not the same. But watching it now that we have Walter White might make it even more funny than I remember)

Theblazeuk

Jericho, like so many of these things, starts off a bit rocky and bogged down in soap operadom, but finds its feet in short order and is bloody brilliant by the time they axe it.

Dandontdare

Just ordered season 2 of game of Thrones now the price has come down somewhat - can't wait!

And I'm gonna have to check out Rick & Morty, it looks like as lot of fun.

Professor Bear

Quote from: GrinningChimera on 10 February, 2014, 07:14:45 AM
I'm looking at adding Jericho to my collection. But I thought I'd get an opinion first. Has anyone here seen it? What did you think? I'm a huge apocalyptic fiction geek and it sounds right up my alley. Although the short episode run for season 2 is a little off putting. Worth my time?

It's not a classic, but is it is diverting enough if all you want is a post-apocalyptic soap about rednecks, though I admit the appearance of the truly terrible Revolution on our screens right now may give Jericho a sheen and charm it didn't have at the time.  The show was cancelled but renewed thanks to decent dvd sales, so in a truncated season 2 the producers took the chance to wrap up the season 1 plots and made the series one of the rare cancelled sci-fi shows that didn't screw its audience on the final stretch.

HOO-HAA

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 February, 2014, 11:27:34 AM
Jericho, like so many of these things, starts off a bit rocky and bogged down in soap operadom, but finds its feet in short order and is bloody brilliant by the time they axe it.

Yep, Jericho was great.

I'm chain-watching two very different shows at the moment: Danish noir, The Bridge, and Australian sci-fi classic, Farscape!