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Current TV Boxset Addiction

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

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TordelBack

#885
Quote from: The Cosh on 05 March, 2015, 12:06:32 AM
If the old insomnia's playing up you can try and track back through this thread for my changing thoughts on that. I didn't like it at all at first, but it gradually makes sense in parts although ultimate does seem partly about setting him up for the ultimate sacrifice. I was also surprised about the relatively small role of Caleb in it.

Staying awake is tonight's issue - the crew I'm working with have been on nights for 6 months now (originally slated for 3-4 weeks) and they have understandably lost the will to live, and as a result sort of ineffectually fiddle with things in an unfocused effort to get fired, leaving me at a loose end for far too long in the wee hours. So I did go back and read The Cosh's Buffy comments. Most of which I agree with entirely. 

One thing that slightly bugged me was my failure to bond with the Slayerettes at all, Kennedy excepted. I was mainly interested in how soon each of them might die, even and maybe especially the lovely Felicia Day. A rare misstep from a series that handles ensemble so well.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: King Pops on 05 March, 2015, 12:14:30 AM
Any fans of Parks and Recreation?

The last season has been perfect, absolutely spot on.

I shall miss Ron Swanson.
I abandoned it somewhere during the previous season - my feeling was that the arcs for all the main characters had ended, in some cases long ago, so we were now just watching them all turn into lovely cuddly people, despite that not being why we found them funny in the first place. And the more she was on screen, the less funny Retta was; and Billy Eichner sucked too.

Bear in mind I've not watched this for ages, so I might be way off.

But most importantly, RIP writer/producer/occasional star Harris Wittels. One of the funniest people ever.

Hawkmumbler

Parks and Rec creeps nearer the top of my to watch list with every growing day and the snippets I see around are genuinely hilarious. Generally I find sitcoms from the other side of the pond all to go-happy and ineffective at making me laugh. In recent years i've found both the US The Office and Brooklyn 99 to be utterly delightful and hope this beckons in a new era of comedy that is less US centric.

I wont touch Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother with a barge pole though.

Famous Mortimer

As long as you ignore the last season of "How I Met Your Mother", and are prepared for some stretches where you hate one or more of the main characters, you'll probably have a good time with it. "The Big Bang Theory" I hated too, until it was on every day when I got home from work and I learned to love it.

Hawkmumbler

I just never found it my cup of tea.

Though not television persay, 88Films have just launched a line for trashy Italian horror movies to be released on BD. Pretty excited to have nasties like Night Train Murders and Anthropopagus in HD. :lol:

radiator

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 March, 2015, 07:53:21 AM
Parks and Rec creeps nearer the top of my to watch list with every growing day and the snippets I see around are genuinely hilarious. Generally I find sitcoms from the other side of the pond all to go-happy and ineffective at making me laugh. In recent years i've found both the US The Office and Brooklyn 99 to be utterly delightful and hope this beckons in a new era of comedy that is less US centric.

I wont touch Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother with a barge pole though.

Check out Community and Arrested Development for ground-breaking US comedy populated by misanthropic characters. Id also tentatively recommend seasons one and two of Modern Family - broad as hell and inoffensive but very well done, something you could watch with the whole family and not want to claw your own eyes out.

Definitely Not Mister Pops

Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 March, 2015, 07:53:21 AM
I wont touch Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother with a barge pole though.

I would avoid HIMYM. It shows promise early on and the supporting cast are OK, but you soon realise that Ted Mosby is a terrible, awful human being who is impossible to root for. Quite possibly the worst character in the history of television. The perfect storm of crap writing and a terrible casting choice for the leading man.
You may quote me on that.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: King Pops on 06 March, 2015, 03:27:09 PM
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 05 March, 2015, 07:53:21 AM
I wont touch Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother with a barge pole though.

I would avoid HIMYM. It shows promise early on and the supporting cast are OK, but you soon realise that Ted Mosby is a terrible, awful human being who is impossible to root for. Quite possibly the worst character in the history of television. The perfect storm of crap writing and a terrible casting choice for the leading man.
I'll give you worst leading man - there's whatsername on "True Blood" for genuine worst TV character of all time.

radiator

I really can't stand to watch The Big Bang Theory for more than 30 seconds - I find it gratingly, desperately unfunny and think it's take on 'geek culture' (if there is such a thing) is very trite and inauthentic. Not offensive or anything, just weirdly antiquated - like nerd culture viewed through the eyes of an out of touch TV executive who thinks 'nerd' = 'brainy scientist'.

Horses for courses though - I like the early seasons of Friends and I can totally understand why someone might find that show every bit as contrived and banal as I find BBT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKS3MGriZcs

Professor Bear

Instead of just saying "every single character on Suits is the worst character on tv", I'll raise you Sela Ward's eternally shot in soft-focus character on the latter seasons of CSI New York.  She was introduced smiling while standing over a violently murdered child and things go downhill from there - at one point she solves a mystery by refusing to believe that one human being would help another.
Tim Allen's character from Last Man Standing is pretty repugnant, too, thanks to his constantly attacking straw man liberal arguments and announcing that his middle eastern neighbors shouldn't have security cameras to protect themselves from attacks because it's them who do the attacking.  Initially, his character wasn't quite so bad, but at some point he started being portrayed as always being right in his prejudices, with the first major warning sign for me coming when one of his daughters complained about being "beaten up by liberal kids at school" because her mum was employed by an oil company and oil companies do fracking, which was 100 percent safe, naturally.  All that Galaxy Quest goodwill is really starting to run out.

Tiplodocus

Quote from: radiator on 06 March, 2015, 02:49:38 PM

Check out Community and Arrested Development for ground-breaking US comedy populated by misanthropic characters. Id also tentatively recommend seasons one and two of Modern Family - broad as hell and inoffensive but very well done, something you could watch with the whole family and not want to claw your own eyes out.

I second all of these.  Arrested Development possibly the one I liked least (especially the born again episodes) but they all have really good stuff in them. And Season 4(?) of Community has entirely laugh free episodes (the Germans). Only ever saw those first two of Modern Family and much as I loved the characters, the warnings about later seasons have put me off.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

radiator

Season 4 of Community is unwatchable. Even as a completist I refuse to tarnish my DVD shelf with it.

The problem for me with ModFam is that the first two seasons felt like they had a ring of truth about them - the plots of each episode are largely based on stories the writers would share about their own families and it shows. But after season 2 they seemed to run out of stories so reverted back to very contrived sit-commy premises and cheap stunts. Previously-lovable characters also devolve into irritating caricatures alarmingly quickly, especially Claire, Cameron and Gloria. Perhaps it's a bit harsh, but imo most of the kid actors seem to get simultaneously weaker at acting and less charming as they age too. Post season 2 it has it's moments, (mostly involving Ty Burrell) but I can largely take it or leave it and would rather just rewatch the older episodes.

Give it a go though, you might enjoy it.

Tiplodocus

Ty is excellent. Took me ages to recognise him as Asshole Steve from Dawn of the (sprinting) Dead.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

radiator

He's a fantastic comic actor. Also similarly distracting playing serious in the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie.

Theblazeuk

Quote from: Tordelback on 03 March, 2015, 04:53:04 PM
Quote from: Link Prime on 03 March, 2015, 04:39:57 PM
Quote from: Tordelback on 03 March, 2015, 04:35:50 PM
Onwards with the rest of Angel!

With the unexpected (but not unwanted) return of Spike for season 5!

Don't remind me!  If ever a character's story was fully told by the time he went out on a blaze of glory, it was Spike's.  Still, now I've warmed to Angel in general maybe I won't mind his reappearance so much this time.

astronauts  or cavemen?  Smile Time!

spike earned his resurrection