Television thread

[Johny Cee]

Oops! Sorry about that ;).

Now that you mentioned Crassus, it kind of sucks that they didn't start Rome Season 1 during that period. Would have been interesting seeing the younger Julius and Pompey, as well as Spartacus. We could have had all of that, and not such a quick departure of Caesar for the series as well.

Yah, but then you'd have to show the conquest of Gaul,  the invasion of Britain (twice), etc.

Crassus' son was one of Ceasar's generals for a while,  before he joined his father out east in time to be slaughtered by the Parthians.

One thing the show didn't do enough of:  the casual brutality endemic to Rome.  More than once,  Ceaser condemned one of his legions to decimate themselves...  Or emphasize the very poor standing of women (even noble women) in the society.

One of the reasons why Christianity spread so quickly was that the religion was much more egalitarian then basic Roman society.

[Sky]

Universal HD is a great channel. They just picked up Stargate Atlantis, I'm assuming to fill the gap now that season two of BSG wrapped up (I think - the crazy two-parter about the election and New Caprica). I really hope they get the new seasons, BSG was made to be viewed in HD. How far did Firefly get before it was cancelled? I mean seasons, no spoiling please :) Time slot for SG:A was Thursday 10pm, not sure if that's going to be permanent. They also picked up Surface, I'll DVR the first few episodes to replace my Firefly viewing time if it's not too bad. Surface ep1 is on Saturday (and then repeated ad nauseum for some reason).

Also in HDland news, InHD2 disappeared :( but was replaced by Music:HD, a conglomeration run by MTV, VH1, and CMT. So far a pretty weak lineup, a weak new Skynyrd was on last night (the third guitarist was some Johhny Hollywood douche, but worth watching for Billy Powell), HD Storytellers with Pearl Jam. A bunch of shitty pop country videos. Pop country is so bad. I love country music (especially bluegrass), but that CMT shit ain't country, boy.

[HaemishM]

CMT shit isn't country, it just smells like it. Like shit, I mean, shit stuck to cowboy boots.

Firefly had 13 episodes I think. Not even a full season, and not all the episodes were aired originally.

The BSG episode you speak of was the finale of season 2. Season 3 starts with the occupation of New Caprica by the Cylons.

Surface is worth sticking with. It had some characters that were annoying, and it stretched believability in places, but it all builds up to one helluva season (and unfortunately series) finale. I've seen few finales that were that good.

[Sky]

Apparently I just saw the last aired episode, Objects in Space. Sucks it got cancelled, it was a fun show with good dialogue. They had also aired the previously unaired episodes, which is cool. So I guess that's that for Firefly.  And looks like BSG is wrapped up for a season or more unless they overlap the SciFi season, which I kinda doubt.

http://www.tv.com/battlestar-galactica-2003/show/23557/episode_listings.html?season=3&tag=nav_bar;3

I'll take your advice on Surface, as I like to have two shows to watch. I wish they'd start SG-1 from the beginning, too. Or maybe even Farscape, though that show was pretty loony.

Found this too:

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=webisodes&vid=29339

[Sky]

Update: just saw a commercial during UniversalHD's airing of Atlantis...BSG season three starts later this month! I think it said the 28th..

Update 2: Saturday January 27th.

[sigil]

The dad from Stuart Little saves another life and goes to court tonight.

My wife pointed that out to me, and it sticks in my head every time I watch House.

He was in two of the Blackadder series as well.

[WayAbvPar]

He was the villain in the last episode of series II (as well as the drinking contest ep), so he was actually in 3 of them  :-D

[Bunk]

I still find it really hard to mesh the way he talks in House with the nancy boy way he spoke in BA III.

[Johny Cee]

ROME!!!

HBO is replaying Season 1 at 8 all week in preparation for the rollout of Season 2 on Sunday.
 

[Zetleft]

ROME!!!

HBO is replaying Season 1 at 8 all week in preparation for the rollout of Season 2 on Sunday.
 

About damn time, never saw half of them and damned if I'd pay HBO series prices.

[stray]

I got my refill through On Demand. Do you guys have that? It's almost as much as a convenience as disk recording.

[Zetleft]

My friend has that.... thats how I watched the first 4 or so then it disappeared entirely for a few months and then only showed the later episodes.  I can't stand skipping eps so I just didn't watch it after that. 

[RhyssaFireheart]

So I'm hoping and praying that the local DirecTV installer shows up on Saturday the 20th like they claimed they would, and gets our new HD dish and DVR setup.  I want to be able to finally record some of these shows.  Plus, The Dresden Files start Sunday evening and I'm sure I'll forget to watch.  Not sure how I feel about that though.  The guy playing Harry just doesn't fit my mental image.  Still, I'm hoping it's interesting and well done.

Oh yeah, maybe I'll watch part 2 of season 3 instead of waiting for the DVDs to come out.  That reminds me, must get season 2 DVDs back from friend so I can watch. EDIT - maybe I should mention I was talking about BSG in this here line.

[Sky]

I got my refill through On Demand. Do you guys have that? It's almost as much as a convenience as disk recording.

Not in HD :(

I can't get too down on Time-Warner right now, the addition of UniHD has been too cool, even if the MusicHD channel has sucked wind thus far. Watched the first ep of Surface and it seems pretty cool, in an x-files way. One thing that bothers me is the female scientist is actually /too/ hot. Distracts from watching the actual show.

[Abagadro]

Ok. I've pimped this before, but I just finished up watching the second season finale of The Wire. I've been watching the 1st and 2nd seasons that I received for X-mas, one or two eps a night since. If you have not watched this show

GO BUY IT, RENT IT OR ON DEMAND IT RIGHT NOW

This is the single best television show ever put to celluloid (or whatever the hell they use for TV). Start at the beginning because it is important. Things that happen in the very first ep reverberate through the whole series.



/currently as drunk as Bunk or McNoltey pissing on the tracks

[schild]

When you say it's the single best Television series ever, you mean it's HBO caliber. Fucking every show from HBO gets called that. And you know what? They're all good fucking TV. And anyone who likes TV eventually ends up watching HBO stuff. Either that or they don't have any interest in good TV. This isn't a subjective thing. Except Carnivale, what an overrated piece of shit. Thankfully HBO realized that pretty quickly.

Rome starts this week.

[Yegolev]

My wife has suddenly become a big fan of Metalocalypse.  She's so fucking metal.

[Merusk]

My wife has suddenly become a big fan of Metalocalypse.  She's so fucking metal.

Lucky.  Mine just shakes her head, rolls her eyes and says "Oh, jeez."    She wasn't all that impressed with Kogarth of Barbaria either.

[sissygirlman]

So, anyone know what this season of Rome has in store for us? 

Brutus vs Mark Anthony ?

Mark anthony vs Octavian ?

Both ?

[Yegolev]

My wife has suddenly become a big fan of Metalocalypse.  She's so fucking metal.

Lucky.  Mine just shakes her head, rolls her eyes and says "Oh, jeez."    She wasn't all that impressed with Kogarth of Barbaria either.

I am pretty surprised, really, because she is really the opposite of metal.  It took a couple viewings, maybe three.  Also, she's a fan of Home Movies and Brendon Small, and was willing to give it a shot.  It helps a great deal that it is actually very funny, particularly Skwisgaar's comments.  "...a producer det can't find snakes from dildos..." and whatnot.

We can only understand about ten percent of what Murderface says.

[Johny Cee]

So, anyone know what this season of Rome has in store for us? 

Brutus vs Mark Anthony ?

Mark anthony vs Octavian ?

Both ?

"If He can't keep me dry, Triton can suck my dick!"
"Pullo!  When will you ever learn to keep your mouth shut"
<ship sinks>

If the show follows history, potential spoilers:


Senate vs Mark Anthony.  Octavian switches sides to Anthony.  Octavian/Anthony/Lepidus take out Brutus/wayward Senators (Cicero dead).  A couple of Pompei's sons try a rebellion in Spain,  put down.  Peace,  while Anthony heads out to Egypt.  Ocatavian vs. Anthony.

[tazelbain]

I must admit I am not metal and luck warm towards the show. But I kinda like where they are going with the Illuminati and the band manager.  Frisky Dingo is more my style, but they need to find a part for Brett Butler.

[sissygirlman]

So, anyone know what this season of Rome has in store for us? 

Brutus vs Mark Anthony ?

Mark anthony vs Octavian ?

Both ?

"If He can't keep me dry, Triton can suck my dick!"
"Pullo!  When will you ever learn to keep your mouth shut"
<ship sinks>

If the show follows history, potential spoilers:


Senate vs Mark Anthony.  Octavian switches sides to Anthony.  Octavian/Anthony/Lepidus take out Brutus/wayward Senators (Cicero dead).  A couple of Pompei's sons try a rebellion in Spain,  put down.  Peace,  while Anthony heads out to Egypt.  Ocatavian vs. Anthony.

nice summary, but you left out Anthony banging Cleopatra, his slave girls, his officers wives, random chick A. etc etc

[stray]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Pullo will be on Octavian's side until Octavian decides to kill Caesarean. Then shit will go crazy after that.

[Ganon]

I found some cheap Xena: Warrior Princess DVDs the other day.  It is still as timeless and perfect as when the episodes ran. 

[Cheddar]

So, anyone know what this season of Rome has in store for us? 

Brutus vs Mark Anthony ?

Mark anthony vs Octavian ?

Both ?

This was a dumb post. 

[Johny Cee]

Rome!

Good kickoff episode, though they kill you with what they show and what they don't.  Octavian will emerge as a player next week.  Atia was just whiny and self-centered. (More so then usual.)  Anthony was pretty good.  Verenus and Pullo at the end of the episode were classic.

I really like what they do with the cinematagraphy and shadow in this show.  They like to put shadow on one side of an actors face, especially in dramatic moments, that forces you to focus on the side that's lighted.  It's almost like you're looking at a bust in profile.  Or something.

[stray]

Anthony was pretty good.

Anthony kicked ass.

I really hope that dude was just lying to Verenus (about his daughters). Maybe he just knew it was over for him, and decided to say that.

[Big Gulp]

Anthony kicked ass.

Yep.  I really wish they'd showed Octavian laying down the law more, though.  He's the pater familias, and he needs to put Atia in her place.  Sure, he mentioned it this episode, but he really didn't push the matter.  I'll grant you that noble women had some say in Roman society, but the pater familias was the fucking law, period, and Atia would be well aware of that.  They could kill members of their family, sell them into slavery, etc and it was all perfectly legal.  The head of the family had absolute power in that society.

I also wish they'd had it so he heard about Caesar's will while he was in Greece so he'd have to come back and confront Antony, rather than this immediate partnership they seem to have going.  Antony was not at all happy to have someone calling himself Caesar barging into the city while he's chasing away the liberators and trying to set up his own dictatorship.

[Ironwood]

It was better times.

[sissygirlman]

I think Anthony has a good actor starring as him, matched with him being histories better characters.

[Bunk]

Anthony kicked ass.

Yep.  I really wish they'd showed Octavian laying down the law more, though.  He's the pater familias, and he needs to put Atia in her place.  Sure, he mentioned it this episode, but he really didn't push the matter.  I'll grant you that noble women had some say in Roman society, but the pater familias was the fucking law, period, and Atia would be well aware of that.  They could kill members of their family, sell them into slavery, etc and it was all perfectly legal.  The head of the family had absolute power in that society.

Actually, I liked how rather than trying to just bully his mother in to doing what he wanted (and thus making an enemy of her), he played subtley to her greed and got what he wanted anyway. The wry little smile he showed after she changed her mind about leaving Rome was perfect.

[Big Gulp]

Actually, I liked how rather than trying to just bully his mother in to doing what he wanted (and thus making an enemy of her), he played subtley to her greed and got what he wanted anyway. The wry little smile he showed after she changed her mind about leaving Rome was perfect.

True enough, and I'd sort of thought about that, but on the other hand her little edicts still irk me when she isn't the head of family (that's Octavian), has never been the head of the family (that was Octavian's father until his death, and then Caesar), and never can be the head of the family (she's a woman).

[Johny Cee]

Rome has the opposite problem Deadwood had:  Too much story to pack in.

12 episode seasons mean they have to fast forward through some interesting stuff to get to the big events,  and cuts down on the character development.  Anthony was great,  but they pushed the rift between Anthony and Atia really quickly to ready the way for Cleopatra next episode.  Octavian is great,  but they haven't been moving his character development quickly enough so there's going to be one episode where we get the brief transition from kid to defacto leader of Rome.

It looks like they're going to fast forward to the Second Triumverate (maybe not even bringing in Lepidus as more than a stooge) to get to the Anthony/Octavian confrontation.

That said....  I really liked the way Octavian started to man up this episode.  He put forward the plan,  which worked,  and also pushed him ahead as a power behind Anthony.  All of Gaius Julius' land and property to Octavian, as well as his name?  Oops, you fucked up Anthony.  I loved how he went to Pullo and confessed his whole part in the disaster. 

Honestly,  Pullo will be torn but he may stick to Octavian (there seems to be some kind of budding mentor/student or confessor-type relationship building there) even over killing Ceasarion.  Pullo would make a hell of a Praetorian bodyguard for Octavian.  The dude is flat out a badass,  who life treats poorly...   only two people show him the respect he craves:  Verenus (awkwardly, as is his way) and Octavian, who treats him far above his station.


Also, agreeing with Big Gulp, they really don't push some of the innate inequalities in Roman life (I've said it before) in favor of the "omg, they weren't repressed Puritans when it comes to sex!!11!1" angle.

Literally,  Roman women had virtually no standing in Roman society.  Sure, the Romans weren't afraid of public nudity or explicit sexual portrayal (see temples to Priopasm!) but....  HBO hammers home the sex angle,  then makes Servilla an equal partner in the conspiricy.  It glorifies how liberal the Romans were in some aspects,  and ignores how amazingly backward in others.

Hell, one of the reasons why the Roman mob turned on Anthony was because he was seen as being too much under the influence of Cleo.  And of adopting too many foreign customs, of course.

There was an Emperor who was widely criticized (maybe even deposed) because he was seen as listening and doing what his wife wanted.

That being said,  there have been some good scenes showing the difference in standing...  like Niobe serving Verenus while not eating,  and some of the husband/wife interactions.

The head of family had nearly all legal rights in Roman society.  The lesser men,  and all women, couldn't even legally own anything.  This extended to patron relationships between noble families and freedmen.



Well...  I'm in a bind next week.  I want to watch Rome, but either Dresden or BSG will be on during that time slot.  BSG is great TV,  that understands pacing,  and I have high hopes for the Dresden adaption....

[Big Gulp]

The head of family had nearly all legal rights in Roman society.  The lesser men,  and all women, couldn't even legally own anything.  This extended to patron relationships between noble families and freedmen.

They also don't really go into just how deep the whole pater familias concept goes.  Just because you've reached the age of maturity, gotten married and started a family of your own doesn't mean you're now the pater familias.  Father still alive?  His brother?  You and your entire family will be living with him (along with your brothers and unmarried sisters), and you technically own nothing.  Everything you own (including your life) belongs to the pater familias.  Your children belong to him, your slaves are his.

The wrinkle here is that when a woman gets married off (usually around 13-14 years old) she belongs to the family she marries into, and then belongs to the pater familias of that family.  Now the woman is given a dowry that can't be touched (actually it can, but it needs to be paid back), and if she's divorced (a common occurence), the dowry comes with her.  Then there's adoption, which the Romans had a strange view towards.  There was no bias against adoption...  Caesar may have been Octavian's great uncle, but as soon as he's named heir he's Caesar's son, end of story.  The Romans didn't really see any difference between adopted children and biological children.  Furthermore, Octavian inherits the name completely.  He's no longer "Octavian", he's "Caesar" and would insist that he be addressed as such.  This'll come in very helpful when Octavian needs to get together a private army that's completely loyal to him.