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Current TV Boxset Addiction

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

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pictsy

I've been watching one or two a day so it's spread out a little bit and I've seen 61 episodes so far.  It really depends on the quality of the next 19 episodes as to whether I can manage to get to the end or not.  The children of the corn episode "And the children shall lead" (from which the clip Professor Bear posted appears) really did my head in.  It was just so tiresome and annoying.

I'll probably have to admit that I'm not a big TV fan anyway.  I don't have a television feed and scheduled programming has been mostly devoid in my life for around 5 years now.  Box set viewing is how I view TV programmes now. 

TordelBack

#406
Quote from: The Cosh on 01 December, 2013, 01:15:35 AM
I'm not the biggest fan anyway, but I don't think something like Star Trek was ever designed to be watched in quick succession like that so it's bound to suffer as a result. Watching the odd episode when it pops up on telly is definitely the way forward.

We've been watching TOS an episode a week-or-so since the spring, usually with The Boy and usually out of order, and sometimes mixed in with TNG episodes, and I thought it stood up very well indeed in that essentially televisual format.  Still manages to be thought-provoking on occasion, and frequently very exciting.  I find myself mesmerised by how successful the make-up and costumes are, and surprised how much I care about the crew's OTT emotions.  Most importantly, it's a future I actively want to live in: there aren't many of those.  They really do a hell of a lot with very little.

Mind you, Pictsy, if you're having problems with the first and/or second seasons you're as well to jump before you get to the third - there is some good stuff in there, but also some terrible repetitive clunkers.

pictsy

Already into the third series.  I'm on "Spectre of the Gun" which is proving so far to be a bit silly.  The previous episode wasn't too bad either, although seeing Dr Pulaski appear in ToS a second time was distracting.

I remember watching an episode of Star Trek many years ago that I enjoyed to a degree.  I haven't seen that one this time around yet.

TordelBack

Quote from: pictsy on 01 December, 2013, 01:41:58 PM... seeing Dr Pulaski appear in ToS a second time was distracting.

You'd think Lwaxana Troi (aka Number One, Nurse/Dr. Chapel, the Computer) and Sarek of Vulcan (aka Romulan Commander, Klingon Captain of the IKS Amar) would have prepared you!

pictsy

Not really as I was aware those two featured in the series.  I had no idea about Dr Pulaski and she looks quite different in ToS than TNG.  That haircut in TNG did her no favours whatsoever.

I, Cosh

Finished my viewing of I, Claudius. The second half isn't quite as good as the first but John Hurt is indeed great as Caligula and it's fairly obvious why they (or Graves) elected to spend so much time on him. The final section covering Claudius' own rule is a nice coda which maybe drags on slightly too long and features another historic casting coup in Christopher Biggins' Nero. Marvellous.

Over the past couple of nights I've watched almost all of the second series of Game of Thrones in a distracted sort of way. I'm sure I've missed all sorts of things but , knowing the books reasonably well, it's been nice to have it on in the background and dip in and out of paying attention. Think I'll manage the climactic battle before bed.
We never really die.

Definitely Not Mister Pops

After watching Frasier (which is absolutely great) I went back and started watching Cheers, I'm up to the series 6 now, when Saavik shows up. Kirsty Alley is absolutely fantastic, her comedy chops have been a revelation. She's much more likeable than Diane Chambers too, although (especially in her later years), I think we weren't supposed to like Diane much, and the whole Sam and Diane thing became completely insufferable very quickly.

Another aspect that impressed me was how Kelsey Grammar had Dr. Frasier Crane down pat immediately. Whether you watch his first appearance in Cheers, or the last episode of Frasier, it is absolutely the same character, a bit older maybe, but without any tweaking. He hit the ground running with that character.
You may quote me on that.

Professor Bear

Teen Wolf season 3.  The first season was surprisingly good for a po-faced update of a notoriously rubbish campfest from the 1980s whose only redeeming quality was that Michael J Fox had a habit of choosing scripts at random, but season 2 was all over the shop with arbitrary plot elements coming into play and the show displayed signs of becoming less horror and more superhero-y, reminding me a lot of Japanese kids' series Kamen Rider Blade.  I say this without judgement, either, but the show also became amazingly gay, as if another show lingered on the undressed female form the way this show lingers on its topless male cast, it'd be called out as sexist tripe rather quickly.
Season 3 is a straight superhero show, complete with a blind kung-fu werewolf martial arts master, twin werewolves who combine into a single more powerful werewolf, psychics, druids, serial killers, evil sorcerers, a baddie made of insects - oh, and being a werewolf is also like being a Highlander now, because there can be only one and once one werewolf kills another they absorb their werewolf powers, which is one of the lesser-known parts of werewolf mythology established in the famous sequel to the Wolf Man made in 1943 where Claude Rains Licked cream off a dude's shaved chest for three minutes.  It all makes perfect sense for a comedy about a basketball-playing werewolf, really - oh, except he doesn't play basketball anymore, he plays lacrosse, which is basically girls' hockey.
Still, it's pretty enjoyable hokum if you don't mind illogic and a jenga tower approach to the script, owing considerably more than it wants to admit to the kids' show romp that was Big Wolf On Campus, though admittedly with considerably less of the self-awareness that show possessed, with at least one scene so far in which someone talks another person out of ghost-influenced suicide using The Power Of Love - it's two dudes expressing their love, naturally, and this comes less than ten minutes after two other dudes are making out on-camera in a motel room.
Utter nonsense as a whole, but I enjoyed it.

pictsy

I did the Cheers and Frasier thing not too long ago.  Cheers surprised me.  It wasn't half as bad as I remembered and actually maintained an average at best quality throughout.  Conversely Woody Harrelson wasn't half as good as I remember.  I must have had an inflated notion of his characters comedic value.  The Frasier character is certainly a highlight.

Frasier, the TV show is one of my favourite sitcoms.  It has it's faults, but the essential quality that makes it so good is how often it makes me laugh.  Cheers didn't really make me laugh that often and the characters were mostly annoying on the whole.  Frasier is just quality and I thoroughly enjoy it on repeat viewings (minus a small handful of episodes I find difficult to watch).

Tiplodocus

Quote from: Mister Pops on 09 December, 2013, 02:21:41 PM
Another aspect that impressed me was how Kelsey Grammar had Dr. Frasier Crane down pat immediately. Whether you watch his first appearance in Cheers, or the last episode of Frasier, it is absolutely the same character, a bit older maybe, but without any tweaking. He hit the ground running with that character.

The younger, thinner, hairier Frasier also bears more of a resemblance to Niles. We love a bit of Frasier up our end. Even though you can see plenty of the gags coming a mile away, it's so delightfully and expertly done. Charming.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Daveycandlish

First three and the final season of Frasier are some of the finest comedy shows to come out of the US in years
An old-school, no-bullshit, boys-own action/adventure comic reminiscent of the 2000ads and Eagles and Warlords and Battles and other glorious black-and-white comics that were so, so cool in the 70's and 80's - Buy the hardback Christmas Annual!

Theblazeuk

Started watching League of Gentlemen on Netflix - bloody brilliant stuff. My housemates are perplexed by how dark it all is, how it blends the prosaic world of a small, rundown town in the moors with a surreal carnival of insane characters and incredibly creepy ideas. What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!

Other times I be mostly watching the Shield from start to finish when I work from home. Up to Forest Whittaker, genius character.

Ancient Otter

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 10 December, 2013, 10:46:55 AM
Started watching League of Gentlemen on Netflix - bloody brilliant stuff. My housemates are perplexed by how dark it all is, how it blends the prosaic world of a small, rundown town in the moors with a surreal carnival of insane characters and incredibly creepy ideas. What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!

Having a horror portmanteau for a Christmas special was a great idea.

Link Prime

The BBFC have recently released some long forgotten horror gems on DVD / BD, and I jumped at the chance to pick up 'Dead of Night', primarily for the oft mentioned but little seen 'The Exorcism'.
The box-set only includes 3 episodes, the others apparently deleted from the BBC archives and lost forever.
The other two episodes 'Return Flight' and 'A Woman Sobbing' are perfectly alright if unremarkable, but the main draw of this disc- 'The Exorcism' lives up to the hype.
Hard to believe an hour of television that's over 40 years old would resonate so strongly today.
I'm very much a horror aficionado, and it takes a lot to creep me out.
The final scene featuring [spoiler]the open mouthed starved-to-death corpse of the supernatural force[/spoiler] is genuinely shocking.
'The Exorcism' is also set at Christmas, making this a must buy for any fan of the BBCs 'Ghost Stories for Christmas'.

Recommended.

pictsy

Stuck on episode 13, series 3 of Star Trek ToS.  The title of the episode "Elaan of Troyius" just fills me with dread.  So whilst I work up the courage to watch it I have started on TNG.  Instantly I can see the improvement in quality across the board.  I'm not a fan of the first series of TNG but compared to ToS it is ambrosia.  I don't think I'll ever be a fan of ToS, but I have finally given it a chance.  ToS is better than I expected (at least to begin with), but it doesn't float my boat.  Giving me a greater appreciation for TNG and a revived interest in it is a good thing, though - as I had got tired of TNG from watching it too many times. 

I hope I can finish ToS... maybe if I get really drunk over Christmas.