Spring TV Season 2012
Posted by: Dignan
Spring TV Season 2012 - 22/01/2012 05:27
So what is everyone watching?
I'm pretty much keeping up with the same shows I always do, and hoping that Community comes back and comes back to stay.
Mostly, I wanted to start this thread to see if anyone had watched Alcatraz. I really want to know what you folks think. Here's my review, all encapsulated in spoiler tags:
I hated it. So did my wife. I don't know, perhaps there was something in the second hour of the pilot that redeemed it, but we couldn't watch past the first hour (basically the first episode).
Where do I begin? The stilted, simple, cliché-ridden dialog? The promise of very little variety in the serial storytelling (I'm left to assume that each week we just follow a different convict)? The poor characterizations?
How about some specific aspects of the show that drove me up the wall and were clear failures on behalf of the people creating this show:
- At some point it's revealed that one of the two guards that discovered everyone was missing was the Sam Neil's character. What they failed to realize is that the audience can do math. Not only does Sam Niel look good for his age of 65, that would have made him 15/16 when this happened in '63. I don't think they were hiring 15 year old guards at friggin' Alcatraz.
- I realize that we don't know much at all about what's going on behind the scenes, but all we're told in the majority of the first episode is that someone brought these convicts/guards through TIME, and the big job they had one of these guys pull off was the theft and murder of some dude for a key in a pouch. Isn't that something they could hire a common burglar to do? You know, when the guy's asleep or out of his home? Maybe the guy needed to be killed, but again that's not something for which you need to go to the trouble of pulling someone through time.
- This last one nearly made me turn the show off as soon as it happened. Near the beginning of the show the lead character tells us that her grandfather was a guard at Alcatraz, and she's all proud of her family law enforcement history. Later in the episode she sees the list of all the people who went missing and we get the stunning revelation: her grandfather wasn't a guard, he was a prisoner!! WHAT?!? Earlier we're being told that this woman was supposedly assisting in her father's cases when she was 12 or something, she's a hot-shot detective, and proud of her family line, and SHE DIDN'T KNOW HER GRANDPA WAS A CONVICT AT THE MOST FAMOUS PRISON IN AMERICAN HISTORY? I lost it. This woman grew up in SF. She probably would have chosen to do a report on her grandpa at some point in grade school. She would have at least done some research later on her own! Then they had to go and throw the icing on the cake and show that she just realized the man who killed her partner...was her granddad! You mean she'd never seen a photo of her grandfather? Again, the man she was so proud of? WTF?
So yeah, we stuck it out through the rest of the episode and stopped before the "second half." If any of you liked it and stick with it, let me know if it gets any better. Also let me know if Parminder Nagra isn't wasted in future episodes.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 22/01/2012 14:22
Haven't started Alcatraz yet.
Started recording The Finder but haven't watched any of it yet - commercials look good. I don't watch Bones, the show it's supposed to be spun from.
I will take a look at Touch, the new Keiffer Sutherland show, even though it's created by that hack, Tim Kring (Heroes). Kring's involvement is the biggest detractor for me.
The Firm is decent so far. Caught the Pilot + second episode (which I suppose is really the third because the pilot was 1+2 I believe).
Hell on Wheels just finished last week - loved it.
Californication is back, so far so good.
Don Cheadle in House of Lies is good.
Spartacus is starting up again.
Archer season 3 just started this week.
Fringe just came back on and very much still liking it.
Being Human US season 2 has started out well.
I just started watching Season 1 of Justified - Season 3 just premiered this month.
I'm going to check out The River and a couple of other new series when they start up soon.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 22/01/2012 19:20
Started recording The Finder but haven't watched any of it yet - commercials look good. I don't watch Bones, the show it's supposed to be spun from.
I have a bias against The Finder. Yes, technically it's a "spin-off" of Bones, but really not at all. Let me tell you a short story:
I sit down one day to watch Bones, a silly CSI-like procedural that I started because Angel was on it and kept watching because I liked the characters. But what I got this day was essentially the pilot episode for this Finder show, with characters who had never been mentioned on the show before, and where the characters from the show I actually wanted to watch showed up for about five minutes total. Fox decided that the best way to launch a series was to deprive the fans of one show so that they could expose them to the new one. As a result, I think I'll be skipping The Finder on principal.
Mainly, I'm surprised it took the show this long to come out. That bait and switch episode came out a long time ago...
I will take a look at Touch, the new Keiffer Sutherland show, even though it's created by that hack, Tim Kring (Heroes). Kring's involvement is the biggest detractor for me.
Ew, I agree. I didn't know it was a Tim Kring show. I don't really know why they keep giving that guy work when he hasn't really done anything. He seems to be failing up. At least when Bryan Fuller fails to gain traction with a show, it's something great that just doesn't find a wide audience. I'll probably check out Touch, but it really looks like they wanted to put Kiefer in a 24 replacement and have an automatic fanbase.
Hell on Wheels just finished last week - loved it.
Hmm, I'd heard mixed things, but I thought I'd check it out.
Don Cheadle in House of Lies is good.
I'd say he's good in pretty much everything, but I'd heard the show was horrible. Not so?
Fringe just came back on and very much still liking it.
I really love Fringe, but as I'd feared it's kind of suffering from the fact that they reached the culmination of everything the show was building to, and now it's just sort of coasting with no clear goal in sight. There are several small goals, but no over-arching objective.
Being Human US season 2 has started out well.
Darn! I forgot that was coming back. Hopefully Syfy will re-air the first episodes.
I just started watching Season 1 of Justified - Season 3 just premiered this month.
I really wanted to get into that show, but it just didn't grab me for some reason
I like Timothy Oliphant, but I guess it just isn't my milieu.
I'm going to check out The River and a couple of other new series when they start up soon.
I keep seeing ads for The River, but the seem to be taking that "be mysterious and don't tell anyone what the show is about" approach. What's it about?
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 22/01/2012 22:33
Pretty much the same stuff- mostly fringe and waiting for The Walking Dead to return. And CSI and House for light and fluffy. I need to get back to Chuck at some point- still haven't finished last season yet.
Playing SWTOR has kept me from watching too much TV (a good thing). Don't know anything about Alcatraz, but am hoping to see your reviews before I check it out.
Posted by: Tim
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 23/01/2012 10:16
I just started watching Season 1 of Justified - Season 3 just premiered this month.
I love Justified, I think it is really well done. I can't wait for Season 3.
Alcatraz and Justified are pretty much the only shows I have being actively recorded, at least until they start airing Community again. Well, those and NHL36.
I haven't started watching Alcatraz yet, probably because hockey, work and SWTOR and chewing up my time. I will probably watch last week's episode tonight.
Posted by: wfaulk
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 23/01/2012 13:55
Fox decided that the best way to launch a series was to deprive the fans of one show so that they could expose them to the new one.
FWIW, this is called a "back door pilot". It happens from time to time:
Mork and Mindy and the "
Assignment: Earth" episode (with Gary Seven and his cat and Teri Garr set in the 1960s) of
Star Trek.
One thing you failed to mention about the back door pilot for
The Finder is that, ignoring its back-door-pilot-ness, it was still awful.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 23/01/2012 21:22
After I watch the third episode of House of Lies I'll post an updated opinion - I've watched too many premiere episodes too quickly this past week. I was away the previous week on vacation and a bunch of stuff piled up.
I did forget to mentioning the Walking Dead - very much looking forward to that even though this season has been relatively slow. Good character-based drama nonetheless.
Mad Men is another one I forgot to mention which I'm really happy is finally coming back on the air.
I really liked Alcatraz, saw the first two episodes (previously recorded) last night. Interesting concept, some mysteries outside the main one and IMO, very well executed. And a really funny line that fit perfectly well within the episode, but also served as a really great throw-back to Lost. I'd quote it in a spoiler tag if I could remember it exactly.
For the life of me I can't remember what the River is supposed to be about, but I'd noted it for "checking out" sometime last year for whatever reason.
Bitt, around here a back door pilot is something else entirely. Sort of like a blind plumber. Canada is still pretty far from Hollywood in some respects I guess.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 23/01/2012 22:13
Fox decided that the best way to launch a series was to deprive the fans of one show so that they could expose them to the new one.
FWIW, this is called a "back door pilot". It happens from time to time:
Mork and Mindy and the "
Assignment: Earth" episode (with Gary Seven and his cat and Teri Garr set in the 1960s) of
Star Trek.
One thing you failed to mention about the back door pilot for
The Finder is that, ignoring its back-door-pilot-ness, it was still awful.
Ah, I didn't know that this was a tradition. I like that I know what to call it even if it does sound a little...odd...as Bruno points out.
And yes, that episode was not good at all. I found the lead actor to be very likable, as is Michael Clark Duncan**, but the show was dumb. Maybe if I'd known that the episode would be a pilot I wouldn't be so resentful, but probably not.
**when isn't Michael Clark Duncan likable? The only problem I had with him as the Kingpin was that I just couldn't dislike him
I did forget to mentioning the Walking Dead - very much looking forward to that even though this season has been relatively slow. Good character-based drama nonetheless.
I didn't mind, as many comic fans did, that they diverged from the comics, just that they've changed Rick's character. In the books he always took charge and made the tough decisions because he had to. The only other complaint I have is one I've had since the show was trotted out at Comicon before it aired: you knew who wouldn't be killed. The great/heartwrenching part of the books was that no character was safe. In a TV show you know pretty well that they aren't going to kill off certain people at unexpected moments.
Anyway, I'd forgotten it was coming back so soon. Thanks for the reminder.
Mad Men is another one I forgot to mention which I'm really happy is finally coming back on the air.
I'm definitely looking forward to this. My wife and I foolishly started watching Mad Men right before it went on break. We watched five seasons all at once, and then had to go over a year to get more. Sure, so did all the other fans, but we seemed to time it really poorly for ourselves
I really liked Alcatraz, saw the first two episodes (previously recorded) last night. Interesting concept, some mysteries outside the main one and IMO, very well executed.
I'd really like to hear about what parts you thought were well executed. We just had very negative reactions to nearly every aspect of the show, from dialog to even the music (which surprised us because it was Michael Giacchino). The script writing was just awful for the reasons I stated in the spoiler tag in my first post.
I won't fault anyone for liking what they like, but I just had fundamental issues with that show that ended any interest in it for me. I also disagree that there were any mysteries at all outside the main one. There's only one mystery: who caused it all and why? (I guess those could be considered two, but they're part of the same)
And a really funny line that fit perfectly well within the episode, but also served as a really great throw-back to Lost. I'd quote it in a spoiler tag if I could remember it exactly.
Go for it anyway. I didn't catch too many funny lines in it, unless the line came in the second part of the pilot, which I didn't see because I gave up.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 24/01/2012 04:52
I honestly didn't have any of the same complaints about Alcatraz. Sam Neil's character is obviously not supposed to be the age of the actor. Maybe something is revealed in a later episode about him. I figure he was 20 at the start of the episode.
Dialog and acting above average for what's been on TV in the past 5 years, IMO. Music fits well and has quite a bit of Lost vibe to it. So does the sound design. Cinematography, direction and sets/location are well done.
The serialized nature would be no more repetitive than that of Person of Interest as an example. The larger story arch ties it all together quite well so far and I'm confident this is going to get even more tangled as the season progresses - more so that Person of Interest (again, just as a point of comparison).
You should give episode 2 and 3 a shot.
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 24/01/2012 11:14
I've heard a lot of complaints about this season of The Walking Dead, but I've really enjoyed it. More than Fringe, even, and I like Fringe a lot (both shows more than Lost). I suppose there was quite a bit of time exploring one plot point, but I thought it worked as a backdrop for the first half of the season. I also like what they've done with most of the characters and how they've grown and changed. It will be interesting to see where Shane ends up. I've only read the first comic book, so I know they've diverged completely at this point. I kept expecting something else to happen with him, but I'm not sure if they'll get there or not at this point. The relationship with Rick and his wife is well done, I think. Believable and dramatic at the same time. Finally, the brother with the crossbow (I forget his name)- the character development there has been really great. I enjoy what they are doing with him and I hope they keep it up. It will be interesting to see how the mid season finale changes him.
The mid-season finale was very intense and moving. Normally, I'd have hated it, not being a fan of gut-wrenching stories. I'm not sure why it worked for me, but it did- I guess it just seemed to fit and not just be painful for the sake of being painful.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 24/01/2012 12:42
I honestly didn't have any of the same complaints about Alcatraz. Sam Neil's character is obviously not supposed to be the age of the actor. Maybe something is revealed in a later episode about him. I figure he was 20 at the start of the episode.
And what about my issue with her grandfather? Honestly, I was going to give the show a shot and watch the first few episodes to see if it got any better, but every time I thought about that whole thing with her grandfather, it was just something I couldn't look past. That was just lazy script writing, IMO. Like I'm glad you like it, but I can't agree that it's without big flaws.
Also, saying it does things better than Person of Interest sets a VERY low bar for me. I agree with you, but that was a show with a pilot episode I hated. The dialog in that was also cliched and boring, the acting was FAR worse than Alcatraz, and the single shining light was Michael Emerson, who still had terrible lines but delivered them like a champ.
I've heard a lot of complaints about this season of The Walking Dead, but I've really enjoyed it. More than Fringe, even, and I like Fringe a lot (both shows more than Lost).
I might agree that it was better than the current season of Fringe (maybe), but certainly not the entire run.
Thinking about it more, I think my primary problem with The Walking Dead is that I don't find any of the characters interesting. The ONLY compelling character is Daryl. There are some other characters who are entertaining, but none of the others are very three dimensional. It's interesting to me that Daryl is the only character still on the show who wasn't in the comics at all.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 24/01/2012 13:38
Fringe is getting tighter this season as far as plot lines go.
I can discount the grandfather thing in Alcatraz. I don't believe they've provided enough information for us to say it's a big hole. Sometimes I have the same critiques about plot as you've mentioned and then the show turns to effectively fill the gaps. I have a feeling that's going to happen here, especially since it's getting obvious the grandfather character is going to play a much bigger role as the episodes progress.
I can also discount some of the wooden and cliché dialog in Person of Interest, because otherwise the show is rather good. I believe it's the only drama I watch on CBS and only the second CBS show I watch after How I Met Your Mother.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 24/01/2012 14:02
I can discount the grandfather thing in Alcatraz. I don't believe they've provided enough information for us to say it's a big hole. Sometimes I have the same critiques about plot as you've mentioned and then the show turns to effectively fill the gaps. I have a feeling that's going to happen here, especially since it's getting obvious the grandfather character is going to play a much bigger role as the episodes progress.
There's a difference between leaving things unexplained and creating a glaring logic problem. If the rest of the show had been better I would have been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Instead, with the information we're given, we're strongly led to believe that she didn't know her grandfather was an inmate instead of a guard, and even worse she didn't know what the hell he looked like. When you have a character who is supposed to be very proud of her heritage AND supposedly a prodigious detective, that's too big a pill to swallow, even temporarily while we wait for an explanation.
I can also discount some of the wooden and cliché dialog in Person of Interest, because otherwise the show is rather good.
Do you mean "overlook?" That changes the meaning of your Alcatraz response in the previous paragraph...
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 04/02/2012 14:12
Looks like NBC may be canceling The Firm, easily the best 1 hour program they have on the network. They're moving it to Saturday nights (the dustbin/graveyard) and replacing it with Awake in the Thursday night 10pm time slot. With a PVR I don't really care what night it's on, but the move definitely indicates a lack of faith/support from the network.
Awake also looks to be promising, but I'm not hopeful of any drama at 10pm on NBC. I don't think it matters what they put there, they won't be able to compete with the other networks loyal following.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 04/02/2012 16:52
Looks like NBC may be canceling The Firm, easily the best 1 hour program they have on the network.
Even without ever seeing it I can't argue that point. Their hour-longs are pretty bad. I tried to watch Grimm and it's just no good.
While I wish they wouldn't out-right replace a show you like, I can't wait for Awake to air. That show has easily been my most anticipated show since the summer. The trailer for Awake was incredible and moved me more than most shows do. When I showed it to my wife she nearly teared up! I'm really looking forward to that.
I'm sorry it's killing a show you like. I hate when that happens. Why Saturday night? What do they have on Tuesdays, for example? You're right, though. Saturday is the show killer. Friday nights are pretty bad, but Saturday is the TV death knell.
*edit*
Okay, it looks like they have Parenthood at their Tuesday 10pm slot. Well, why do they need to have 2 hours of Biggest Loser on before that?
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 04/02/2012 17:07
Awake is one of my top 5 for the new season - and has been since I made than mental list back at the end of last summer. I was surprised when they didn't premiere it in January, which has me worried that they're very unsure about it. The Thursday slot may end up doing to it what it's done to the Firm.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/02/2012 21:33
I see that Being Human (UK version) has premiered its 4th series (season). I've really liked the first three, but I have grim expectations about this one after reading about it in Wikipedia. The two main characters are gone/leaving, being replaced by another vampire and werewolf. Ugh.
Posted by: larry818
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 00:54
I'm liking "Once Upon A Time". Lana Parrilla as the evil queen is perfect.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 10:49
I'm liking "Once Upon A Time". Lana Parrilla as the evil queen is perfect.
I've only watched the first few episodes but I'll probably continue with it. It's a little bit too much of a soap opera for me, and I'm not crazy about the writing, but the performances are decent. The casting choice for Snow White seems a little off to me, at least in her Fairy Tale form with her big hair. I like it, though. It's cute.
I will say that the main thing I dislike about Once Upon a Time is that it seems to eliminate the possibility of turning Fables (the comic series) into a TV show, which I think could have really worked. They have the exact same one-sentence pitch: "fairy tale characters are banished to a new world: ours!"
I think the Fables premise is a little more interesting, but Once Upon a Time has the advantage of not being as insular. That's because with Fables there is no analog for the audience like Jennifer Morrison's character, where a normal person like us is introduced to this community. In Fables there's barely any interaction with our world at all, which is a little odd.
Anyway, that's my take
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 10:53
I see that Being Human (UK version) has premiered its 4th series (season). I've really liked the first three, but I have grim expectations about this one after reading about it in Wikipedia. The two main characters are gone/leaving, being replaced by another vampire and werewolf. Ugh.
Oooo...that's not good.
Can anyone point out an example of a show successfully replacing a majority of its lead actors? I mean, other than Doctor Who?
The most recent example I've seen of replacing everyone was Scrubs, and that was a disaster.
I completely missed the US return of Being Human. The end of the first season gave me enough momentum to be excited about the second, but if it slows down again and goes back to all this "woe is me," staring off into the distance, nonstop brood-fest, I'm going to drop it. If I want to see a brooding vampire I'll re-watch Angel where at least there's a decent story and humor to break it up
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 15:04
The new UK series of Being Human was quite good. A complete departure from the previous series. Only the ghost character remains from the original.
It's best compared to a reboot or spin-off. The best thing to do is simply enjoy it as a brand new show that has one character in common with the previous.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 15:09
I was getting quite peed off with the last series, will watch it or True Blood season 4 ep 1 (according to wife's whim) tonight. I've often wondered how UK series like Being Human fare over the Atlantic.
Did Life on Mars (UK version) do well over there?
Posted by: wfaulk
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 15:33
Virtually no British-made TV shows get any mainstream notice.
Okay, I'm overstating it slightly.
We have four major television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox), two minor ones (CW and PBS), and a superfluity of "cable" channels. By and large, if it's not on one of the "Big Four", your mother has never heard of it, and they only broadcast shows made for them.
British shows get broadcast either on PBS or on one of the many "cable" channels. ("Cable channels" are the ones that are only available from a for-pay service and not broadcast over the airwaves, though most people watch the networks as provided by cable or satellite providers.) As such, they basically never even show up in official viewership ratings. In addition, because British shows tend to be six-or-so episodes long per series, and the fact that that's so different from the 24-or-so episode-long US series, they often get lost in the mix.
That said, the long-running PBS anthology series "Masterpiece Theater", which has often run British dramas, has had something of a hit lately with "Downton Abbey". They often cut the episodes down a little, though. I've never really been clear on why.
Also, one of our cable channels is "BBC America", which specializes in running British TV, though, oddly, not specifically BBC productions. You'll see ITV things there as well. But, again, it's just a cable channel, and things running on cable channels don't tend to be hits of any nature.
There are actually a few cable channels that have started producing their own shows of note, notably USA ("Monk", "Psych", "Burn Notice", and a lot of others) and AMC ("Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", and a few others). There are some others, too. But again, it's shows specifically produced for them.
So, did "Life on Mars" fare well over here? No. Virtually no one saw it.
That said, British TV makes up the vast majority of foreign programming shown in the US. Canadian TV shows are almost never seen. And I don't know that I have ever personally seen an Australian TV show, and I'm a pretty big TV fan.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 15:52
Mad Men is a Sky production, bigger budget than your typical BBC jobbo I guess they're going to try and get some better international viewing figures as well as convincing more of the UK that life without Sky ain't worth living.
What about documentaries? I can't say I've ever seen an American documentary (whatever the subject) to compare quality wise with UK stuff (particularly BBC/C4).
Posted by: andy
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 16:29
They often cut the episodes down a little, though. I've never really been clear on why.
Surely that is mainly due to fitting them into the time slot, given that the UK shows have relatively little adverts (or none at all).
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 17:45
Not to mention that a lot of the BBC shows that I watch tend to have non-fixed timeslots.. with episodes sometimes being of seemingly random durations. Eg. 53 minutes one week, 65 minutes the next, etc..
I think that's a Good Thing, though.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 18:36
Mad Men is a Sky production...
Sorry to be picking nits, but Mad Men is produced by Lionsgate. If it's shown on Sky I guess they have the rights to air it in the UK.
To add to what Bitt said (I agreed with all of that): In the US the broadcasters unfortunately believe that nobody will watch a British show, so instead they remake it. The Office, Life on Mars, and several others have all been remade, with The Office really being the only success.
*edit* As usual, there's a
Wikipedia article for that. I haven't looked through that list completely, but I still think my statement holds. Technically, I suppose the most successful remake would be American Idol. But I typically don't count "reality" TV in any discussion I have, and most of that list seems to be reality TV. Or, more inclusively, non-scripted TV like Antiques Roadshow.
They often cut the episodes down a little, though. I've never really been clear on why.
Surely that is mainly due to fitting them into the time slot, given that the UK shows have relatively little adverts (or none at all).
In the case of Downton Abbey, it's being shown on PBS, which doesn't have advertisements and is viewer supported (and used to be government supported). There's not much keeping them from running the full show.
Now to counter my own point: my guess is that they trim the episodes so as not to run over into the timeslot of a popular show on a competing network. Also, the average American TV viewer would get confused, and we wouldn't want that
We only just recently got them used to the idea of a 55-minute show on HBO and Showtime!
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 19:49
Canadian TV shows are almost never seen.
A few 100% "Canadian" (or nearly there) shows that have been widely seen recently in the US:
Flashpoint
Rookie Blue
Combat Hospital
Then there are shows that are just mostly Canadian, like the one I recently mentioned from NBC, The Firm.
There is way more Canadian content on US television than British. Some might argue that there's as much (at least partially) Canadian content as there is US if you include production company origins and/or filming locations.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/02/2012 23:11
There is way more Canadian content on US television than British. Some might argue that there's as much (at least partially) Canadian content as there is US if you include production company origins and/or filming locations.
Hehe, seriously. I love how Supernatural is set across the entire American mid-west, but it's all shot Vancouver. So much TV is shot up in CA.
...or Wilmington, NC, oddly...
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/02/2012 11:30
Mad Men is a Sky production...
Sorry to be picking nits, but Mad Men is produced by Lionsgate. If it's shown on Sky I guess they have the rights to air it in the UK.
Sorry, I was thinking of Mad Dogs. A quite flash (for the UK) production by Sky:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1652218/
Posted by: andy
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/02/2012 12:08
Mad MenMad Dogs is a Sky production, bigger budget than your typical BBC jobbo I guess they're going to try and get some better international viewing figures as well as convincing more of the UK that life without Sky ain't worth living.
I don't think that is true. The wikipedia page for Mad Dogs suggest the cost of the first four part series was 4 million Euro. I think you'll find the expensive BBC dramas are up at around the same sort of budget, quality TV is expensive to make (which is why there is so much "reality" TV on most of the time).
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/02/2012 12:13
I guess you're right, Dr Who (Tennant onwards) is nothing like previous series in terms of effects and sets and the period stuff is similarly well provisioned
Posted by: andy
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/02/2012 12:46
Even things like Top Gear are similarly expensive, but at least it makes the BBC (and Clarkson's production company) a pot of money
Posted by: tfabris
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/02/2012 18:20
I guess you're right, Dr Who (Tennant onwards) is nothing like previous series in terms of effects and sets and the period stuff is similarly well provisioned
You mean Eccleston onwards?
Posted by: wfaulk
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/02/2012 18:16
A few 100% "Canadian" (or nearly there) shows that have been widely seen recently in the US:
Flashpoint
Rookie Blue
Combat Hospital
Then there are shows that are just mostly Canadian, like the one I recently mentioned from NBC, The Firm.
I meant programs produced specifically for Canadian television and simulcast or re-aired in the US. The only one I was aware of before was
Due South. The first three you name seem to qualify. I didn't realize
Rookie Blue was made for Canadian TV. In the US, it's aired as a "summer season" series on ABC, which means it's kind of second tier, but still valid. I'd never heard of
Combat Hospital, but, again, it's apparently on ABC.
Flashpoint, on the other hand, is on the Ion network, which I didn't realize was still in existence. I have issues with your characterization of it as seen "widely".
As far as
The Firm goes, I was going to say that a lot of US TV has been produced in Canada for decades now, but it appears that it was actually made for Sony's non-North America channel AXN, and then picked up by NBC in the US and Global in Canada. Weird. I don't think I've ever heard of that before.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/02/2012 23:49
I was under the impression that Flashpoint was on CBS as well at some point.
Of course there's also the old and new Degrassi which I'm pretty sure had at least mild popularity in the US if Kevin Smith was a fan.
How about Trailer Park Boys, Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie? I just pulled these out kinf of randomly as I don't watch them myself. These shows are very Canadian, as opposed to the first three I mentioned, even though Flashpoint and Rookie Blue both take place in Toronto. Combat Hospital was a summer show this past year and is supposed to be coming back to ABC. It was rather successful and replaced their failed tropical medical show.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 09/02/2012 02:49
I was under the impression that Flashpoint was on CBS as well at some point.
Apparently it was:
Although originally developed for a Canadian audience, it was announced on January 29, 2008 that American network CBS had purchased the rights to air the series in the United States,[13] making it the first Canadian TV series aired in prime time on a US broadcast network since Due South, also a CTV show aired by CBS.[14] In addition, Flashpoint is the first Canadian series aired by a major US broadcast network that is set entirely in Canada (as Due South was primarily set in Chicago but filmed in Toronto).
On March 5, 2008, CBS announced that Flashpoint would premiere on that network in July 2008.[15] CTV announced on May 8, 2008 that it would simulcast the show in Canada beginning on July 11, 2008.
But that also bolster's Bitt's point: Due South aired in 1994 and only ran for one season. So yeah, not a lot of Canadian series in prime time.
Of course there's also the old and new Degrassi which I'm pretty sure had at least mild popularity in the US if Kevin Smith was a fan.
Extremely mild. Kevin Smith's fondness of it doesn't mean it has a big following. I've only ever talked to a single person who even knew about the show(s). They aired on "The N" here, which is the teen version of Nickelodeon. Sorry, it's not a well known show. I tried watching it a few times, but it's just not my kind of thing. I'm not really into soapy kind of shows, especially not teen ones. But I respected the issues they tackled. Sadly it seems the US edited a few episodes to make them less controversial.
How about Trailer Park Boys, Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie? I just pulled these out kinf of randomly as I don't watch them myself.
I've never heard of the latter two, and the only reason I've heard of the first is because Netflix, in another confirmation that they wasted $1 million on that suggestion contest, keeps trying to show it to me. I watched ten minutes of it and hated it. The characters were just beyond annoying.
Combat Hospital was a summer show this past year and is supposed to be coming back to ABC. It was rather successful and replaced their failed tropical medical show.
Um...I'm not sure how you measure success. From Wikipedia:
On 24 August 2011 ABC announced that they were skipping the eleventh episode of season 1 and moving the season finale date by one week, from 13 September 2011 to 6 September 2011.[16] The eleventh episode was still shown in Canada, along with episode 12 on 30 August 2011.[17]
...
ABC announced on October 24, 2011 that Combat Hospital had been cancelled.[2]
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 15/02/2012 07:19
Current favorite show: Justified.
Currently still testing/watching but is extremely annoying: The River. The fake documentary camera stuff makes it look/feel like shit. This show is going to be cancelled any minute now.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 15/02/2012 13:18
Current favorite show: Justified.
I keep saying that I'm going to try that show again but I never do. I just wasn't really my thing. ...but I'll give it another try
Currently still testing/watching but is extremely annoying: The River. The fake documentary camera stuff makes it look/feel like shit. This show is going to be cancelled any minute now.
I'm so very sick of the "found footage" thing. It's the same problem with that movie "Chronicle." They constantly have to justify/acknowledge the cameras, so they have to waste a lot of time with dialog like "hey man, are you really filming this?" throughout the whole thing. It's also hard to believe that they would be filming every moment that you see, though at least the River has a documentary film crew along for the ride to give that explanation.
The River seems like it would be a really interesting show if it
didn't have the found footage thing going on. I really wish they would take just a half-step back and shoot some of it normally with some of the found footage mixed in. I think that could work well.
I think my other problem with the found footage idea is that it's just what it says: found. Somebody found this stuff, implying that nobody you're watching got out of this situation. There's only so many times I can watch these things and root for people I know for certain aren't going to make it.
This is all without addressing my biggest issue with Paranormal Activity 3 (which my wife dragged me to) - queasiness! I regularly had to shut my eyes for extended periods because any time someone was hand-carrying a camera I was sick to my stomach. But that's a smaller issue that not everyone will have. I just happen to get motion sickness really easily.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 15/02/2012 20:14
After trying to watch The River last night, I felt more compelled to open my computer and do some reading... So I struggled for 20 minutes with this juggling act and the show still couldn't pull me away. I wasn't reading anything urgent or extremely captivating either.
I removed the favorite and deleted the episodes. Won't be tuning in again. When I told her today, my wife was a little disappointed I'd done that since she said that she'd enjoyed the first two. Oops.
But I made the case that there are plenty of other really good shows that I'm watching that she doesn't. She can easily take up one of those.
Though I suppose a few are already a season or more in, so she'd have some catching up to do...
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 15/02/2012 20:20
I removed the favorite and deleted the episodes. Won't be tuning in again. When I told her today, my wife was a little disappointed I'd done that since she said that she'd enjoyed the first two. Oops.
But I made the case that there are plenty of other really good shows that I'm watching that she doesn't. She can easily take up one of those.
Though I suppose a few are already a season or more in, so she'd have some catching up to do...
LOL! Yeah, my itchy Tivo finger has committed that offense a few times before
I'm also trying to not get into the River because we're so damn backlogged on TV right now it's ridiculous.
My wife and I finally, after four seasons, are getting caught up on Breaking Bad. I had watched the first season without her and couldn't watch any more for various reasons. But we finally started last week and now we haven't watched any thing else that's come on. Consequently we have about 20-26 hours of shows saved on our Tivo! And we're only a few episodes into season 3!
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 17/02/2012 23:11
The problem I have with Justified is that I can't watch just a single episode.
I'm now caught up with the current season (season 3 episode 5). This season has been significantly different from an ensemble cast perspective. It's good, but I'd like to see more focus put back on the main character.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 19/02/2012 10:29
Best bit of TV I've watched for ages:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mqjhfExcellent
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 28/02/2012 00:50
Fox advertised new episodes of House and Alcatraz for tonight. But they've been showing some NASCAR ON FOX for a couple of hours and it doesn't look to end any time soon.
What's up with that?
Besides me not believing NASCAR has any redeeming qualities whatsoever and being blown away that anyone would ever consider putting it on TV, let alone on primetime network...
Why run promos for something you're not going to have on? Fox seems to do this a lot. I can't believe that the decision to air NASCAR was made last night.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 28/02/2012 02:34
From what I'm able to tell after a couple minutes on Google, it appears that the race was supposed to be yesterday but got rained out. That explains why my Tivo mistakenly recorded it, but not why they were running promos for the shows that were replaced.
What's annoying is that we don't have much of a way to tell what they plan to do with the preempted episode. Will they just extend the season a week? Will they air it out of the time slot?
Anyway, I agree with your sentiments about NASCAR. It does not appeal to me. At MOST, I'd like to see about five minutes of a race, but only in person to experience what it's like being around the cars. When it's on TV, for some reason car racing looks at most 50% as fast as I know it really is. Cars going 190mph look like they're going around 80. It's the same when I've seen Indy car.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 28/02/2012 15:28
You're right Matt. I discovered this by accident later yesterday night. I guess the Daytona 500 was supposed to be on Sunday afternoon and was pushed to last night. I guess I'm not used to hearing about sporting events being pushed out a day so I didn't expect yesterday wasn't already pre-scheduled.
When I tuned in at sometime after 9pm I heard the "race" (I think of it more as a parade) was only just half over with another 50 or so laps to go. Fun times. My 2.5 year old daughter also likes spinning herself in circles sometimes. Maybe she'll grow up to race NASCAR.
For anyone in the know, how many of those cars actually finish a race? I suspect only the ones who's cruise control doesn't burn out.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 28/02/2012 15:29
Yeah, I can't understand the huge viewing figures for F1
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 28/02/2012 20:15
At least in F1 there's a purpose to having a steering wheel.
And a throttle and brake for that matter.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 01/03/2012 09:46
The only motorsport I still enjoy watching briefly is the Isle of Man TT, proper scary stuff.
Posted by: Tim
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 01/03/2012 10:00
I use to enjoy Rally Sport and F1, but lost interest in both over the years. Now I couldn't even tell you who the dominant manufacturers in each are (wouldn't surprise me in F1 if it was Ferrari still, even though I always liked McLaren better).
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 04/03/2012 01:10
I've finally gotten around to the second half of The Walking Dead season 2, and I have to say, I'm just loving this show, I'm still behind one episode, but it's really pulling me in.
And I STILL don't like horror as a genre.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 04/03/2012 22:39
And I STILL don't like horror as a genre.
Neither do I. I consider "Zombies" a genre of their own however and I try to watch most decent looking/sounding zombie (or zombie-like) movies. 28 Days Later, etc..
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 03:25
I guess they're a sub-genre, but still horror. The Walking Dead is as much horror as basic cable will allow, though AMC certainly has been generous in the amount of gore they're letting through S&P.
Posted by: adavidw
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 07:07
What's annoying is that we don't have much of a way to tell what they plan to do with the preempted episode. Will they just extend the season a week? Will they air it out of the time slot?
FYI, the House episode gets rescheduled to 3/19. The Alcatraz episode looks like it's going to 3/12, which puts it out of order (I've not seen the show so I don't know if continuity is important there).
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/entertai...-house-alcatraz
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 10:07
Dirk Gently's
on the telly tonight didn't think much of the radio version with Harry Enfield a few years ago. Hope this is better
Posted by: peter
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 10:46
Dirk Gently's
on the telly tonight didn't think much of the radio version with Harry Enfield a few years ago. Hope this is better
Did you not see the pilot a little while ago? I thought it was OK -- plot full of holes that weren't in the book, but genuinely funny, with bits of visual humour that I thought were decidedly in the spirit of Adams's often-unfilmable verbal humour (much more so than the Hitch-Hiker film). Stephen Mangan is very good (as he was in Green Wing).
Peter
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 10:55
Didn't see the pilot. Didn't watch the hitch hiker film either, too worried it'd be crap, I think the DG radio thing was around the same time and I already felt down by that. I'm not precious like that normally, but anything to do with John Peel, David Attenborough, Douglas Adams or Humphrey Lyttleton can really wind me up. Only just started listening to ISIHAC again last year, Jack Dee's a lot better than Stephen Fry but there'll never be another Humph.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 10:57
I wish the Beeb would re-screen "Last chance to see"
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 11:59
I wish the Beeb would re-screen "Last chance to see"
Well.. it's out on BluRay disc if you want a really high quality copy of it.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:08
Really? Only snag is I don't buy physical media anymore, too much plastic in the world already, plus then I'd need to store it. I'm hoping that one day I'll have good enough broadband to use something like Netflix which will let me view anything I like, rather than the limited amount of crap available over the 100s of channels on my Sky box.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:11
Well.. it's out on BluRay disc if you want a really high quality copy of it.
I think that's the Stephen Fry re-visit of 2009. It wasn't bad but nothing like DA.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:20
Watched this last week:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d0p72Laughed a lot. I grew up in a Jewish area and a Jewish trade, hardly any left in the area or the trade, used to see guys like him all the time, a nice reminder of all the old fabric and trimmings merchants I used to do battle with on a daily basis.
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:42
Well.. it's out on BluRay disc if you want a really high quality copy of it.
I think that's the Stephen Fry re-visit of 2009. It wasn't bad but nothing like DA.
Oh. I'd didn't know it was a revisit.. now I've gotta go google the original!
Thanks
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:45
Well.. it's out on BluRay disc if you want a really high quality copy of it.
I think that's the Stephen Fry re-visit of 2009. It wasn't bad but nothing like DA.
Oh. I'd didn't know it was a revisit.. now I've gotta go google the original!
Mmm.. wikipedia mentions a 1989 BBC Radio series called "Last Chance to See" (Hear?). Is that the one?
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:51
Mmm.. wikipedia mentions a 1989 BBC Radio series called "Last Chance to See" (Hear?). Is that the one?
My bad. Yes it was radio, and it looks like it's available:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchancetosee/sites/radio/
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:53
Now how do I save them to a format I can actually listen to on my iPhone?
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 12:57
You've got a PM.
Posted by: peter
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 13:03
The book of the radio series is very, very much worth reading.
Peter
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 13:08
You've got a PM.
Muchas gracias
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 13:10
The book of the radio series is very, very much worth reading.
I read the book ages ago, I seem to remember buying it for loads of people at the time.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 14:05
Didn't watch the hitch hiker film either, too worried it'd be crap,
It was worse than that.
I've managed to snag the missing Alcatraz and House episodes online and have already watched them. Don't know if they aired in different time zones or if they were simply posted on the Fox web site. Continuity is somewhat important in both series, though not critical if off by a single episode.
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 05/03/2012 17:57
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that having purcahsed a season pass for House on iTunes, it was available for download last week at the normal time. I didn't realize it never aired.
Posted by: peter
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 12:44
I read the book ages ago, I seem to remember buying it for loads of people at the time.
Hmm. One quick BBS search later, and it turns out that you and I had basically this exact conversation, the other way round, six years ago...
Peter
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 13:02
So we're both edging towards senility? Did you watch DG? I had to watch Being Human with the missus, felt like my brain had turned to custard by the end of it
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 18:09
Both US and UK versions of Being Human have taken a deeper dive into plain old boring this season. They could have done a lot (of interesting things) with the UK reboot. But they didn't.
Posted by: andym
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 19:29
After ditching two thirds of the cast and leaving the most annoying one intact, I've stopped watching Being Human. I wish they'd left it at two seasons.
Posted by: tonyc
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 20:36
Anyone watched Series 2 of Sherlock yet? It's not available (legally) over here in the States. *grumble*
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 21:03
Anyone watched Series 2 of Sherlock yet? It's not available (legally) over here in the States. *grumble*
Man, I can't wait for this one- I'll gladly pay when it's available.
Posted by: tfabris
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 06/03/2012 21:35
Anyone watched Series 2 of Sherlock yet? It's not available (legally) over here in the States. *grumble*
I've seen episodes 1 and 2. Haven't watched 3 yet. I would have watched them all sooner, but I live in a household with three other busy adults, and we all want to watch them together as a group, so it's a question of synching up for that activity. You know, family time and all. Same holds true for the last few Doctor Who episodes, we haven't seen the Christmas special yet.
They've been quite good so far! I wish that BBC America would show them in the same time frame as they've been showing Doctor Who lately. It's been nice finally being able to get Doctor Who to just show up on the Tivo via the cable company, without having to resort to torrents.
Lest anyone whine about me getting Sherlock via Torrents, I'm in the same boat as everyone else in the US:
Not available until the disc version hits the shelf. We watched Series 1 on torrents and then bought the Blu-ray set to watch again in higher quality. We intend to do the same with Series 2.
Posted by: gbeer
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 00:52
I would have watched them all sooner, but I live in a household with three other busy adults, and we all want to watch them together as a group,
Sounds like you need a date night.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 01:51
Anyone watched Series 2 of Sherlock yet? It's not available (legally) over here in the States. *grumble*
I've seen it. It was excellent.
Oh...uh...I flew to London, watched all three episodes on British TV, then flew back...yeah...that's the ticket...
I will gladly pay for them when they come out here. That show is phenomenal.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 10:13
Both US and UK versions of Being Human
There's a US version? Better not tell the missus
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 10:18
I thought Sherlock was better than the Guy Ritchie version (they're fun but not Sherlock Holmes) at being Sherlock but still too jazzed up, why do they do the visual thing where you can see the numbers and words that I guess are running through his mind? Shouldn't the modern version have him smoking crack?
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 11:48
Both US and UK versions of Being Human
There's a US version? Better not tell the missus
Yup, there is. In the UK version, do the three main characters just tend to sit around moping about how awful their lives are? Because most of the US series is like that. At least four times in every episode, some combination of the three housemates will sit down with each other and talk about how terrible it is to be them, while some sappy-sad music plays in the background. It's pretty terrible. But I still watch it...
I thought Sherlock was better than the Guy Ritchie version (they're fun but not Sherlock Holmes) at being Sherlock but still too jazzed up, why do they do the visual thing where you can see the numbers and words that I guess are running through his mind? Shouldn't the modern version have him smoking crack?
Sherlock is far superior to the Guy Ritchie films. In pretty much every way.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 13:28
Yup, there is. In the UK version, do the three main characters just tend to sit around moping about how awful their lives are?
Not really, no sappy-sad music either.
Sherlock is far superior to the Guy Ritchie films. In pretty much every way.
Dunno, I thought the GR version was fun, just shouldn't have even pretended to be Sherlock Holmes. Much more how I wanted the Doc Savage film to be but that was properly shit (anyone else remember that?).
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/03/2012 21:42
GR was fun, but Sherlock is top shelf.
Ironically, the Holmes in Sherlock reminds me more of House than the literary character, but since House was inspired by the literary character, it's close enough. I don't think the original Holmes was quite as lacking in empathy as either House or the new Sherlock.
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 12/03/2012 23:24
Regarding TWD episode last night
Not quite the ending for Shane that's in the comic, but pretty well done, IMO. There was a bit more build up in the show, so nice to give Shane and Rick a face off while still giving Carl a final shot.
Posted by: tfabris
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 13/03/2012 19:11
I don't think the original Holmes was quite as lacking in empathy as either House or the new Sherlock.
No, but it makes for some hilarious onscreen moments, doesn't it? I just rewatched the first Sherlock, and there's a great moment where he notices that the lady at the morgue applied lipstick shortly before asking him if he wanted to get coffee. He says "Thank you, black, two sugars please" or something like that, then when she removes the lipstick later ("it wasn't working for me" she says), criticizes her for doing so because it makes her mouth look too small.
The comedy there was ostensibly that Sherlock is oblivious to a woman trying to get a date with him. But in a later episode, we see him carefully reading another woman's physiological responses to attraction, so in hindsight, that moment in the first episode is either bad continuity, or Sherlock was
negging.
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 14/03/2012 12:54
I think the idea was that, as the episodes progressed, John helped to in-still a tiny amount of empathy into his partner.
One of the minor plot lines.
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 02:06
Not a huge fan of TWD season finale:
It was exciting at the beginning, but all of the "I'm Rick, I did what I had to do but now you all must hate me, and if you don't I'm going to talk crazy and mean so you will for sure" stuff felt contrived. Also, his wife needs to get a grip and stand by her man. After her whole speech to Rick earlier about "Shane thinks we're his" backing of way from Rick now is pretty low.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 02:19
Has anyone watched Missing? Is it on yet? My wife and I have been cracking up at the trailers, with some of the most "angry acting" I've ever seen coming from Ashley Judd. I've never considered her Oscar-worthy, but I also never thought she was as bad as she seems in these trailers. The next time you see one of them, check out how she says "I will do annn-eeee-thinnggg." It cracks us up every time!
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 02:20
Jeff, I hate not being able to respond to your post or even look at it, but the first half of season 2 left me so underwhelmed that The Walking Dead has remained my last go-to show on my Tivo list, so I haven't seen any of the second half.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 02:49
Jeff, the wife and I had the same feelings about the season finale.
Matt, just watch them all back to back in a day. Ok, maybe two.
The second half is better than the first, maybe thanks to the new show runner.
Posted by: JeffS
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 06:33
I enjoyed the first half of the season too, but there have been some really great moments in the second half. Last weeks episode was pretty epic and very welll done.
One interesting thing
They closed off a street 5 minutes from where I work to shoot some of this season, so I've been waiting for them to return to Atalnta- pretty sure that was just the opening 30 second clip of this episode that they did. Crazy how long they kept it blocked off for such a small scene!
Posted by: wfaulk
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 20/03/2012 14:17
I agree with your spoiler completely.
I can believe Rick's wife reacting that way. She's been pretty unstable for a while — perhaps from the beginning. In my opinion, she was intentionally leading Shane on in several scenes in the last half-season. (One that comes to mind is the scene at the windmill, but there have been others.)
But yeah, Rick snapping like that at the end didn't feel right at all. I honestly have the feeling that it was handled wrong by the actor and the director. It came across as overbearing. Assume the same lines were delivered by someone who felt that trying to be accommodating to the group's various factions had not only gotten a lot of them killed, but forced him to kill his best friend. Not someone who suddenly became overbearing, finding fault with everyone else, but someone grieving and finding fault with his own actions.
Posted by: tahir
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 22/03/2012 12:15
Watched the first episode of Dirk Gently yesterday, surprised to say that I actually enjoyed it, no flash effects or blood and gore, just interesting and fun. Better than Sherlock Holmes I thought.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/05/2012 14:17
Very much enjoying Game of Thrones right now.
I can honestly say, that even with hindsight-euphoria, there has never been anything made for TV that approaches being even half as good as Game of Thrones. It's also far better than a large percentage of movies past and present. Very well done and addictive story lines. So many that you almost wish they'd run it as multiple overlapping series - or at the very least, expand the episode count to 20 for the season.
Posted by: Tim
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/05/2012 14:43
Very much enjoying Game of Thrones right now.
Watching the first couple of episodes of Season 1 last year (coupled with my brother's heckling when he found out I hadn't read it yet) compelled me to by the books. I wasn't disappointed, and appreciate the series that much more.
Posted by: tanstaafl.
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/05/2012 19:57
there has never been anything made for TV that approaches being even half as good as Game of Thrones.
Firefly.
tanstaafl.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 07/05/2012 22:23
Firefly? No disrespect, but not even in the top 100 as far as I'm concerned. And even number 2, whatever it is, doesn't come close to Game of Thrones in my books. The series is mind-bogingly epic. I can't think of anything else that's ever been done for TV that approaches its scale/breadth.
GoT is spectacular not only for its source material which brings the overall plot and most of the characters, but its production is phenomenal. Sets, locations, costumes, scripts, dialog. And there's occasional boobies.
I'm saving reading the books until at least a few more seasons of the show have gone by. No matter how good a filmed "version" is, nothing can really ever live up to the original literary work.
Seeing it on the small screen however, has made me really want to see another epic series of stories produced. Thieve's World. Now that could be great, but it would be an insane challenge to do well.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 01:02
there has never been anything made for TV that approaches being even half as good as Game of Thrones.
Firefly.
No, Doug. Hyperbole is never wrong. It's the most accurate way to describe anything ever.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 01:43
Instead of a long post expanding on my comment, here's the gist of my response:
I can't call a show the best of all time when it's not over, and when it doesn't hit as wide a range of emotions (for me, at least) as other shows (the ones it does hit, however, it does better than anything else).
And when it comes down to it, my top 10 list is one of my favorites, not what I objectively call "the 10 best." My #1 might not even make your top #10 of what you'd call the best ever, and I'm fine with that.
(ps-"mind-bogglingly")
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 01:56
I don't rank these things on an emotional level, so I wouldn't expect that type of list to be the same.
In addition to what I've previously mentioned, I also hold the show in high regard on artistic merits. At the end of the day that's what film making is.
But what I'm not sure of is what the ending of any show has to do with its quality. A superb ending can be had on an otherwise crappy show, likewise a fantastic show can have a horrid ending. Or somewhere in-between. The fact that something is great doesn't mean it can't falter and visa versa (once, twice or three times a lady).
I give some examples of various of the above issues in no particular order:
Lost
Seinfeld
Medium
The X-Files
24
Heroes
Twin Peaks
It's just chance that I listed only shows that have ended their runs.
Posted by: tanstaafl.
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 15:00
Lost
Seinfeld
Medium
The X-Files
24
Heroes
Twin Peaks
Not one of those shows would make my top 100.
YMMV.
Of course, I've watched less than two hours of television in the past two and a half years, so perhaps my opinion is not entirely valid.
I do remember a few shows that I liked...
Firefly
The West Wing
Joan of Arcadia
The Paper Chase*
Buffy
and a few non-drama shows from the Discovery Channel or PBS.
Can't think of anything else, maybe that's why I don't watch TV anymore.
Hmmm... I do see a bit of a common thread among the ones I liked: interesting and deep character development, where every episode wasn't all about the same central character every time...
tanstaafl.
*Nobody under the age of 40 is likely to remember this very memorable show.
Posted by: hybrid8
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 15:20
That wasn't necessarily a list of top shows, but shows that suffered the issues I mentioned previously in the post. Besides, I don't do top lists, I think they don't serve much of a purpose and are a waste of time, especially considering they'd need re-ordering on an on-going basis. I especially don't care for other people's (organizations, magazines, etc.) top lists.
Posted by: canuckInOR
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 08/05/2012 19:34
I don't do top lists, I think they don't serve much of a purpose and are a waste of time, especially considering they'd need re-ordering on an on-going basis. I especially don't care for other people's (organizations, magazines, etc.) top lists.
I do (if the topic, is of general interest to me), but only really to look for stuff I don't know about. I quite enjoyed the Desert Island thread we had, for just that reason. I found a lot of new-to-me music in there that I would never have heard of, otherwise.
The other day, I was looking at an article about "the top 15 cool libraries in the world" (or something like that). I don't care about the rankings, but the unique architecture presented in the list was definitely interesting, and inspirational. I wish the designers of our city library had seen the list...
Now, you want waste of time, try arguing cell-phone sales and market share statistics on the internet.
Posted by: tonyc
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 31/05/2012 14:01
Yay or nay on this one, Sherlock fans? When I first heard about this I thought it sounded like a cheap knock-off, and I still don't expect it to measure up to the quality of the UK version, but it doesn't look unwatchable from the preview.
Posted by: Dignan
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 31/05/2012 18:42
...but it doesn't look unwatchable from the preview.
I didn't feel that way. I'd never heard of it before, and the preview told me it would be pretty awful. Perhaps hearing about it lowered your expectations so much the preview could only raise them?
NAY! Nay big time.
I've liked Jonny Lee Miller in Hackers (yes, I actually really love Hackers), and Eli Stone (yes, I really watched all of Eli Stone), and he seems to be the only remote reason to watch this show. I've
never liked Lucy Liu's acting, and Aidan Quinn looked like he wasn't contributing much here, but I guess we'll see.
My primary turn off is what I'm able to perceive about the quality of the writing. From that trailer, it seems like it'll be pretty lazy, cliche-ridden, and generally unimaginative.
I predict four to six episodes will air before it's cancelled.
Keep in mind, I would think this even if Sherlock didn't exist. Elementary looks bad enough on its own, and it only looks worse in the shadow of Sherlock.
Posted by: tonyc
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 31/05/2012 18:57
I'm sure a lot of it is lowered expectations -- the first I heard about this was an NPR interview with Benedict Cumberbatch where he basically stopped just short of calling the folks behind Elementary rude names over some interactions they had. Then just knowing it was going to air on CBS lowered expectations further -- I figured it'd end up being "CSI: Baker Street" in the best case, or "Two and a Half Detectives" in the worst case.
More than lowered expectations, though, I think I want this to work because I'm desperate for some Sherlock-like substance that's available for more than 4.5 hours out of every calendar year... So maybe my glasses were a bit too rose-colored when I watched the preview.
Posted by: mlord
Re: Spring TV Season 2012 - 31/05/2012 20:53
I had to VPN into the US of A to watch the preview. -1.
Apart from that, the show looks watchable -- big fan of LL here, and she should be able to make up for her co-star.
Cheers