Interestingly, I last wrote about Mad Men 2 years ago as I struggled to get into it and I'm currently closing out season 4, enthralled with the direction the show has taken and eager to get into season 5 - which I've only heard good things about.
This will tide me over until the latest (and final) season of Breaking Bad begins - if you haven't seen this show yet, holy fuck just do it. It is probably my favourite show from a standpoint of consistent quality and it hits so many big notes - it's funny, thrilling, moving, and fucking wicked smart from a plotting perspective.
Other than this, in the past six months I've dug into and enjoyed:
- s3 of Community, though I think the quality was slipping and it should have died with Harmon's career
- s3 of Archer, I can only take this show in small doses but goddamn it's hilarious
- all of the BBC's mostly excellent updating of Sherlock
Sitting to be watched is Homeland and all of The West Wing (if I dare start it - I did once reach s2 or 3 back in uni). I never got interested enough to watch Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, Treme or Fringe to name just a few, but still open to being persuaded to their merits if they're still going strong or improve on what they offered... I'm also hearing good things about Girls, Suits, Luther, Persons of Interest...
So, what's on your TV?
Honestly? Bob the Builder and The Wiggles.My wife and I don't watch much television so the kids have pretty much commandeered it. This isn't a snobby dismissal of television or anything, it's just TV loses out to reading/gaming/film watching. We do occasionally watch a series though, and it's been a while since we have done so, so maybe this thread will give me an idea for the next one.
Gilmore Girls! We watched - and liked! - an episode now and then when TV2 was showing it, but it was on such weird times (weekend afternoons) that never really managed to follow it regularly. Now we finally got around to having a GG-marathon
It seems I don't watch many movies these days, but a whole lot of TV series instead.
Right now:
Game of Thrones, S2 - it's good
Workaholics, S2 - it's a bit all over the place but occasionally hilarious
Mr. Show, S2 - somehow I'd never heard of this one until a buddy from Canada at work recommended it recently. Fantastic sketch-comedy.
Chapelle Show, S2 - remembered sporadically enjoying it when it was on MTV ages ago. Downloaded and confirmed that it is indeed as hilarious as I remember.
Father Ted - just started re-watching it. Been years since I saw it last and I'm pleased to find it still holds up, for the most part.
Ice Road Truckers - whenever I happen to catch this on TV I'm hypnotized to watch it until it's over. (much like everyone else, I understand)
Stuff I've watched in the past half-year:
Great stuff :
Breaking Bad, S3-4
Walking Dead, S2
Children's Hospital S1-3 - fantastic ensamble of comedians and guestactors goofing around for 10 minutes per episode in something that barely hangs together as a "show". Consistency in story and characters is low, hilarity is at a near-constant high. AND you can watch pretty much the whole thing on youtube, here's a good episode to start with: Joke Overload.
Good stuff:
NTSF:SD:SUV - just like Children's Hospital except parodying Crime Procedurals instead of Hospital Dramas and not quite as good.
The Office, S8 - no Steve Carell, but still good.
Community, S3 - not as good as seasons 1 and 2 but still has a handfull of great episodes. Timelines was the best episode ever. EVER
Stuff I started watching but got bored with:
Sons of Anarchy, S4 - seemed like it might be better than the snoozefest of season 3, but still didn't manage to pull me back into the series.
Archer, S1 & 2 - the funny/annoying ratio veers slightly too much on the annoying-side.
Up next:
True Blood - my Canadian workbuddy told me about it. The premise sounds pretty interesting. Will have to check it out.
I'm still on my old faves. Currently True Blood, but eagerly awaiting Homeland Season 2 (September) and of course Breaking Bad next month.
Castle, The Office, & NatGeo stuff.
Oh God, how could I forget. Curb Your Enthusiasm. I love this show. Love it. Marty Funkhouser! Leon! Oh God, Leon.
I never saw all of Seinfeld, just caught it now and then on TV. This is much, much better.
I just got into The IT Crowd, halfway through season 3, and it's one of the few shows that genuinely and consistently makes me Lough Out Loud. Loving it!
I'm dissssabled!
Currently in a bit of a lull. Watching True Blood for it's sheer bonkers hilarity (seriously, watch 0:10-0:12 and tell me you didn't laugh).
The Newsroom just started, and I'm giving that a season, despite the critical drubbing it's been getting.
I've been enjoying Continuum, but I feel like it's going to wear thin relatively quickly. But the, Rachel Nichols...
Eureka is finishing up, and once that's over I may finally be done with 'Syfy.' (Alphas was okay, but not appointment TV, and they don't have anything worthwhile in the pipeline that I'm aware of).
Otherwise biding time for other shows to come back. (Breaking Bad, White Collar, Covert Affairs for summer TV; Treme and Boardwalk Empire for whenever it is they come back, final season of Fringe in the fall).
I am consistently amazed at the people who watch this dreck. It's the vampire equivalent of that terrible tits and blood gladiator show.Originally Posted by Fafhrd
I will too, though watching this little vid made me chuckle (though some of it is just unfair).
> watch True Blood video
> first 12 seconds
> yell WHAT
> close tab
A friend of mine once said "I hate myself for crying at True Blood." I told her, "That's okay, I hate you too."
You know, I'm kind of coming around to your way of thinking with this current series. It's taking itself too seriously now when previously it was darkly hilarious campy as shit shtick that knew it and loved it.
I totally forgot that Season 7 of Futurama started last week! I knew I was forgetting something else I was watching.
Holy CRAP s5 of Mad Men is spectacular
I keep hearing about this show. Is it worth going back and starting from the beginning now?
Yes.
(For added clarity: it's very much a long-form story, and while each season has an over-arching 'theme' that differentiates it, the characters and their arcs are what you're here for. You're going to be missing the richness of context watching these people interact, and will also be more than a little lost if you don't start at the beginning.)
We've just watched Jekyll, a British miniseries that modernises the Jekyll/Hyde story. It's by Steven Moffat, who also did the modern BBC Sherlock. The series isn't as accomplished as Moffat's Doyle update, and it's definitely uneven (especially in terms of plotting and performances), but it's still good fun to watch.
There would be absolutely no point watching Mad Men if you don't start at the beginning.
What makes the fifth season so utterly amazing is the richness and depth that comes with four years worth of character development and plotting colliding with the shifting environment of social/sexual/cultural progression.
Mad Men at its best is a series of vignettes or short stories that have thematic consistency and form part of a broader arc over time, but the sheer number of big moments coming in swift succession this season is really driving home how long-form this show has always been and how novelistic the story is.
dethtoll, you may want to stop your ears/close your eyes for this one.
We've started watching Angel S4 - which has reminded me that while I love Firefly and Buffy (well, most of it), Angel has never really clicked with me. I read so often that others love the show, but it never really falls into place for me. The characters, the situations, the actors - IMO they lack the charm to pull off the mix between cheese, wit and drama, as Buffy at its best does so well. I can see how they're trying to do a more grown-up version of the same thing, but the show remains strangely flat. I've heard that S4 is the weakest season and that S5 is much stronger, and I'm hoping that Spike's re-appearance will help... but it always confuses me to see people praising Angel, because it makes me think that I must be watching a different show that happens to have the same name, setup, characters, plots etc. but isn't quite as good.
Anyone else react similarly to Angel?
Sounds like Mad Men will be the next series I watch. Is this current season the last?
S5 was finished. There's definitely a S6. Not sure beyond that.
Also, it's worth noting there are some serious drag issues in the first few seasons, where they seek to get by on cruisey charm (and mostly succeed).
NatGeo, Sci(ence Channel) (I'd be a Neil DeGrasse-Tyson groupie if I were about 10 minutes younger), Discovery, History (& H2), SyFy & FX, HBO for Game of Thrones & True Blood. I also occasionally watch Cake Boss - Buddy's cakes are beyond amazing (yeah, I LOVE cake).
Eureka is in its last season and I'll definitely be going into mourning when it's over, but Warehouse 13 is just beginning its 4th season this month. Kind of makes up for Eureka, but not completely. I'd started watching Lost Girl when it premiered, but it gets a little too raw for my taste, so I've pretty much abandoned that series. Regarding other series/movies: I've never been able to get into heavy-hitting dramas; I figure life can be depressing enough without adding more drama to it (then again, that's just me).
Oh yeah; and The Weather Channel.
Otherwise, I spend more time on my computer than I do watching TV.
Last edited by Dia; 5th Jul 2012 at 09:43.
I don't watch much television in the summer, but I caught a Steve Harvey stand-up special last night that had us laughing so hard we woke up the kid. The joke in question starts immediately at the beginning here:
Last edited by gunsmoke; 6th Jul 2012 at 11:04.
We've been on a Eureka marathon this week. I never watched it until now. It's not revolutionary or anything, but it's quirky. I keep watching the next in line.
Soon: Return of The Thick of It, featuring the Leveson inquiry.
Can't wait.
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