Current TV Boxset Addiction

[Professor Bear]

For fans of TNG and the original series/movies.  Objectively, that's a pretty impressive twofer.

[amines2058]

Just started Series 3 following a speed viewing of S1 & S2 of The Walking Dead am enjoying a lot, even if it is not playing out quite like I thought it would be. It is a lot more personal and intimate tale of survival and I like it for that.

[Magnetica]

TNG has to be my favourite show of all time and Q Who my favourite episode anything ever.

DS9 eventually comes pretty close. It starts off a bit slow in my opinion - with mostly unconnected stories in the first season. At that point I was thinking it would not be able to maintain the interest - given the station can't go anywhere. Then it developed a really interesting political world around it and a large set of recurring characters to complement the main cast. From that point on it was just so good. Unlike TNG it managed to maintain the quality all the way through - the final 6 episodes (or so) with [spoiler]the Dominion war[/spoiler] were just great.

Both series had great last episodes as well.

That the last season of TNG was probably not as good as what went before does not detract from my overall opinion of it. I find I can pretty much endlessly re-watch it and still love it.

[Professor Bear]

After giving up towards the end of season 4, I decided the availability on Netflix of the sixth and final season of The Clone Wars was worth checking out for old times' sake, and it's a frustrating and schizophrenic season that opens strongly with several episodes dedicated to malfunctioning clones and then shifts to a multi-part story about banking loans (really), a multi-part Jar-Jar Binks story based on the racist parts of Temple Of Doom (really really), and then winds down with a pretty good one-off episode about Yoda coming to terms with old age and the ultimate failure of the Jedi in becoming pawns of an evil they refuse to see, slightly undermined as a one-off by being - for some reason - a rambling three-parter, though it's commendable that it actually adds to the original films in terms of Yoda's character.  The banking episodes have some great set-pieces, but these just seem out of place in a supremely dull story where one of the shocking plot twists is that the bad guys raise interest rates - I swear, I am not making that up - while the Temple of Doom episodes I just wished would end sooner as they are actually painful to watch.
The production side of things occasionally borders on spectacular, especially in the opening episode's series of lengthy one-take action scenes, but Tim Curry's take on Darth Sidious (necessary because of the passing of the original voice actor) is maybe a bit too panto-level in places even if his evil laugh makes me crack up every time I hear it and I would not begrudge its inclusion in anything.

It feels on occasion like they're trying too hard to line things up with the movies, but I suppose that's inevitable when they've done such good stuff here that it now has to be ratified to the fixed points of the film storylines.  When it ends on an uplifting down beat, it does really feel like an ending to all that's gone before, and despite the tail-end of the series being such a let-down overall compared to some of the stronger earlier episodes, I would've liked to see more of this version of the Star Wars universe freed from the constrictions of film continuity.  Despite our differences, I'll miss you, Clone Wars.

[Frank]

I decided the availability on Netflix of the sixth and final season of The Clone Wars was worth checking out for old times' sake, and it's a frustrating and schizophrenic season that opens strongly with several episodes dedicated to malfunctioning clones and then shifts to a multi-part story about banking loans ... (these) episodes have some great set-pieces, but these just seem out of place in a supremely dull story where one of the shocking plot twists is that the bad guys raise interest rates - I swear, I am not making that up

The screen crawl of Phantom Menace concerns the minutia of federal policy regarding trade and taxation, after all. Like all sixties idealists, George turned out to be a solipsistic narcissist who considered acquiring as much personal property as possible to be the ultimate guarantee of the freedom and individuality which he fetishized in his best early work. Happened to the best of them.

[sheldipez]

it's a frustrating and schizophrenic season

That's every season of Clone Wars!  And the reason I gave in, it would go from really great to utterly abysmal "I don't think I can sit through this, even if its only 20 minutes long" levels. Though now the whole thing is on Netflix I think I may have to finish it off. There's no way I'm sitting through more Jar Jar or Amidala centered episodes though!

necessary because of the passing of the original voice actor

I feel dumb that despite Army of Darkness and Seinfeld being two of my favorite things, I never knew that Elaine's boss and the wiseman were the same person! Never mind that he went on to Clone Wars. I don't know, stick a beard on someone and he's a different person, maybe there is something behind the Clark Kent glasses thing after all.

[Goaty]

ooh new From Dusk Till Dawn TV series start on Netflix tonight, weekly episode every Wednesday.

[sheldipez]

ooh new From Dusk Till Dawn TV series start on Netflix tonight, weekly episode every Wednesday.

I was interested in this until I heard it was just an expanded remake of the first movie, Rodriguez has been saying it's going to take half of the season to get to the bar.

[I, Cosh]

Started the fourth series of Breaking Bad after a bit of a break. Interesting to see Marie getting some of the more sympathetic development afforded to Hank in the previous series.

Far more entertaining, however, is Fishing with John. Here's the first episode, Montauk with Jim Jarmusch, in its entirety. It seems there are only six, so I'm saving the double-length finale - Thailand with Dennis Hopper - for the next time I'm feeling a bit low.

[TordelBack]

Rewatching Buffy from the start, for the first time since, well, the first time.  Its style of elaborately overwritten quippery is pretty hard to get back into, Boreanaz urgently needs some acting lessons and someone should buy the ELT guy some new bulbs, but Gellar makes for an astonishingly effective lead: she carries the opening episodes single handed as Head, Brenden and Hannigan stumble through their dialogue looking vaguely panicky.  Very enjoyable, and hits the ground running, which I suppose is what having a bit of a flop of a movie under your belt does for you.

[TordelBack]

..And just finished Season 1.  The completely-forgotten-by-me anti-climactic reveal of Audrey II aside, that was a wonderful dozen episodes.  It was really fascinating watching the cast find their feet, with the noted exception of Gellar who was absolutely perfect from the first minute: what a piece of casting.  By season's end Giles, Cordelia, Willow and Joyce are compelling characters, and even Xander is getting there.  Only Borenaz's Angel continues to be a big ineffectual lemon.

The wheels do come off a bit in the muddled finale, which tries to do too much without really developing any one thread enough, and suffers from ghastly music mixed with cringey use of the main theme, but there are still some fantastic elements: when the much-heralded Annointed finally comes for Buffy, there is none of the usual farce of misdirection - Buffy knows who he is straight off, takes his hand and goes with him in a hugely classy piece of authorial restraint.

As you might notice, I am massively taken by the Buffy character: far from being a blunt instrument of butt-kicking, Buffy actually arrives at most of the solutions to the season's mysteries herself, cutting through Giles' and Willow's reams of exposition with a decisive plan or a critical observation, which is something I think I associated with her much later on in the series (In fact, almost everything starts much earlier on than I remembered it: Cordy's rapprochement, Ms. Calendar's arrival, Luke's slaying). 

Why is there nothing like this on telly today? Or am I missing it?

[I, Cosh]

Rewatching Buffy from the start, for the first time since, well, the first time...And just finished Season 1. 

My own (re)watch has been stalled at the end of season 4 for a few months, so I heartily approve of this project. First time around it was season 2 before I got on the Buffy bus. There is a pretty big jump in the overall assurance of the production between 1 & 2 , but 1 is still a massively endearing and entertaining watch.

Much like Moses Tannenbaum, I was surprised how little Jenny Calendar is actually in the show.

As you might notice, I am massively taken by the Buffy character...In fact, almost everything starts much earlier on than I remembered it: Cordy's rapprochement, Ms. Calendar's arrival, Luke's slaying

Me too. One thing that's really neat about watching it with hindsight is picking up the little bits of foreshadowing sprinkled around every now and then.

For my part, I started watching True Detective last night and had to stop after three episodes so I might actually get up this morning. Bloody hell, it's gripping stuff. I think it's what drugs might be like if drugs were really addictive and awareness of the limited supply would have you torn between the twin desires to gorge yourself on the lot in one go or eke it out as long as possible in the hope of finding more.

[shaolin_monkey]

I watched all of the first season of American Horror Story recently.  Not bad - a couple of nice twists and turns such as [spoiler]when the daughter died, but we didn't realise until a couple of episodes later[/spoiler].  Also, Connie Britton eh?  Phwoar, eh?  Phwoar! Say no MORE!

[Theblazeuk]

Buffy the character is the one I like the least by the end of the show. Season 4 is where she starts to turn...

Angel is terrible throughout Buffy apart from when he's hamming it up as Angelus. His own show would eventually be suprisingly good largely due to his supporting cast and the final season's creativity.

[Tiplodocus]

I have accidentally started watching CASTLE which is a very comfortable* cop show starring Nathan Fillion.

I'm only 5 episodes in but the the last one A CHILL RUNS THROUGH HER VEINS was a genuine cracker of a tale with some really good twisty turny bits built into it and some top notch emoting all round.  The quippery is kept to believable levels.

The only slightly challenging bit is that the opening shot of the episode is normally a beautifully lit and framed shot of a corpse, often in an unusual setting.  There after it's standard cop/mismatched partners/will they or won't they type stuff. 

But none the worse for it. Certainly a lighter way to end the evening with an interesting mystery than CSI.