Television thread

[Engels]

also, Stewart is kind of a pussy).

Uhm, what? Not to rush to some patriotic defense of Stewart, but at least he's ruffled enough political feathers to get news media coverage. Can't say the same for anyone else on that list.

[stray]

By the way, I changed my avatar to St. Augustine in reference to us going to Austin.

Heh?

I thought I knew a lot about Augustine....Didn't realize Austin was short for it. And I'm ashamed that an atheist did.

Anyhow, I could meet up with you guys, y'know. If you dare.

[edit]

Speaking of Texas and Comedians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNzQEQjfYog

[Yegolev]

DS9 got going once they changed Commander Sisko into Captain Hawk and they gave him a cool ship.  They still should have given him a big-ass chrome .45 though.

You know what, you are probably right.  I think my problem was that I started watching it from the start, before TNG went away, whereupon DS9 magically got better.  Not better enough for me to give a shit about Emotionless Alien #3 and O'Brien's marital issues with his shrew, and I really felt no compassion for how hard it must be to be a single father in charge of a space station.

Hedberg was funny.

[Righ]

I thought I knew a lot about Augustine....Didn't realize Austin was short for it. And I'm ashamed that an atheist did.

I think he's confused with Florida. I've linked Old Three Hundred before, it's this guy's doing.

[stray]

Yeah, I knew Austin was named after Stephen F., but apparently, the "Austin" name itself is a shortened/Anglicized? version of Augustine.

There was a St. Augustine of Canterbury some 200 years after the original St. Augustine of Hippo. Somewhere along the line, the Canterbury guy became known as "St. Austin". Either for linguistical reasons or to differentiate from the original Augustine. Could be the same deal that happened with "St. Anselm". There's the original St. Anselm of Canterbury (widely known for the Ontological argument), and another St. Anselm -- Who's better known as St. Elmo (patron saint of Muppets and shitty Rob Lowe flicks).

Also, the monastic sect known as the "Augustine friars" is also called the "Austin friars".

[Righ]

Yes, that's the etymology - from the old French contraction Aousten of the Latin Augustine. But it's a bit of a jump to throw in the old Hippo as the source of Austin. You could as well choose Octavian.

[Llava]

You give me way too much credit.

I went to Wikipedia.

I looked up 'Austin'.

I picked one of the options listed on the disambiguation page.

I liked this better than the others one I recognized.

[Righ]

Just limit an image search. But, yeah, nice cleric.







My favorite was the universal air chest. Oh, its the one below.


[ Edit: removed image link for password protected page: ]

http://www.austinorgans.com/images/logo-new.gif

[Sky]

I think you've invented a new term. We've all heard of airheads, but the new class of airheads, the botoxed and blimp-chested versions...airchests. I like it.

[tazelbain]

Or airthreads.

[El Gallo]

I'm a big Deadwood fan, but they did have an unwieldy number of characters for what they were trying to do.  The actors, for example.  I know the point is to show that Deadwood is becoming a real town.  And Giving Al a friend to play off of was a useful device.  But why spend so much screen time with the other actors and their relationships?  I just wasn't feeling it.  Then you have perfectly interesting characters like Joni and Tolliver who just kind of didn't get used much at all for the first half of the season (Joni) or all of it (Toliver) except for forced scenes here and there that amount to little more than "remember this is a character, we might use him/her again sometime so we don't want you to forget him/her."

The one thing that really bothered me was how every single female character on the show turned into a weepy, irrational coward by the end of the season.  Calamity Jane spent most of the season cowering from Tolliver and avoiding getting involved in the brewing battle between the town and Hearst.  SHE'S GODDAMN CALAMITY JANE.  CALAMITY.  Not "shrinking violet Jane."  If Utter was going to plug some deserving jackasses, she'd be there.  The same is true of Trixie, who was portrayed as pretty clever for two seasons and then suddenly loses her head, takes off her shirt (of course!) and shoots Hearts with a pop-gun in the least vulnerable spot imaginable, and then collapses into a sobbing heap.  That's just not the Trixie I've grown to know and love for the past two seasons.

Still a great show, just those two things got on my nerves.  Looking forward to the two 2-hour episodes to see how they finish it up.

[Sky]

I agree with what you said. I think they wasted the entire interlude with Tolliver and the preacher. And Joni was traipsing through the plotline like she wanted to do something, but just farted around to no avail. I didn't mind the Steve plot too much, but it just seems the whole season meandered way too much and wasted a lot of good potential. Maybe it's a good thing it got cancelled.

[Abagadro]

DS9 got going once they changed Commander Sisko into Captain Hawk and they gave him a cool ship.  They still should have given him a big-ass chrome .45 though.

You know what, you are probably right.  I think my problem was that I started watching it from the start, before TNG went away, whereupon DS9 magically got better.  Not better enough for me to give a shit about Emotionless Alien #3 and O'Brien's marital issues with his shrew, and I really felt no compassion for how hard it must be to be a single father in charge of a space station.

Hedberg was funny.

Was that a Hedberg gag?  If so, I unknowingly channeled him.

[Yegolev]

Was that a Hedberg gag?  If so, I unknowingly channeled him.

No, I am just too lazy to quote people.  My wife hates how I start talking about something without giving context, but that's just who I am.

Nice avatar, just when I think you've gotten a super lawyer avatar, you find one that is superer.

[Abagadro]

Nice avatar, just when I think you've gotten a super lawyer avatar, you find one that is superer.

Heh. Thanks. For some reason while I was arguing with some people online (not here) that sketch popped into my head. It is one of my all-time faves. I have a special place in my heart for Cirroc, but Nathan Thurm fits my view of lawyerdom at the moment.

[Righ]

For the Brits - you lucky bastards:

BBC4 TV Stiff Weekend  schedule

BBC FOUR Week 37 / 2006       
Friday 15 Sep

21:00 Ian Dury On My Life - 60mins Stiff Night   
22:00 If It Ain't Stiff Part 1 - 45mins 1 of 2 Stiff Night   
22:45 Stiff At The BBC Part 1 - 30mins 1 of 2 Stiff Night   
23:15 2nd House:So You Wanna Be A Rock'n'roll Star - 80 mins Stiff Night   
00:35 The History of the Pub - Time Shift - 40mins Stiff Night   
01:15 If It Ain't Stiff Part 1 - 45mins Repeat                     
02:00 Stiff At The BBC Part 1 - 30mins Repeat

BBC FOUR Week 38 / 2006
Saturday 16 Sep

21:00 Stiff At The BBC Part 2 - 60mins 2 of 2  Stiff Night 2 
22:00 If It Ain't Stiff  Part 2 - 45mins 2 of 2  Stiff Night 2 
22:45 Young Guns Go For It: Madness - 40mins Stiff Night 2 
23:25 Shane Macgowan: The Great Hunger - 60mins Stiff Night 2 
00:25 Son Of The Stiff Tour Movie - 50mins Stiff Night 2 
01:15 If It Ain't Stiff  Part 2 - 45mins Repeat                   
02:00 Stiff At The BBC Part 2 - 60mins Repeat               

But hopefully I'll be able to get torrents somewhere. :)

[Abagadro]

Just a reminder that The Wire starts a new season tonight (Sun) on HBO. If you haven't watched this show you are missing out. Although there are recurring characters/plotlines from previous seasons they tend to be rather self-contained stories each season.  However, if you miss episodes you will get lost quickly so hop on board with the premier.

[Engels]

The Wire is possibly the best television show of the last 3 years, with the possible exception of Monk, which is so different a category that its hard to compare. By best, I mean better than the Sopranos, better than any CSI, including Vegas and yes, dare I say it, its better than Deadwood. It makes NYPD Blue look like quaint amateur theatrics.

I envy those people who have never seen it, that they get to see the whole 3 seasons on DVD whenever they please! I want to go back in time, or have my memories deleted so I can see it again. I just finished the 3rd season and I have been down about it, since now I have to wait at least a year for the 4th season to come out on DVD (I don't own a television, I rent all tv shows).

Don't ask what its about, because the topic, wiretapping drug crime bosses in Baltimore, doesn't adequately capture its art. Just warning, tho, the 1st season starts a bit slow, much like Deadwood did.

[Margalis]

Pink is singing "I hate myself for loving you" with modified lyrics to introduce NFL on NBC.

I can't decide if this is amusing or the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life.

[schild]

Watched Heroes last night.

Liked it. A lot.

[Abagadro]

Pink is singing "I hate myself for loving you" with modified lyrics to introduce NFL on NBC.

I can't decide if this is amusing or the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Can't it be both?

[Margalis]

It can and it was.

[Xanthippe]

The Wire is possibly the best television show of the last 3 years, with the possible exception of Monk, which is so different a category that its hard to compare. By best, I mean better than the Sopranos, better than any CSI, including Vegas and yes, dare I say it, its better than Deadwood. It makes NYPD Blue look like quaint amateur theatrics.

I envy those people who have never seen it, that they get to see the whole 3 seasons on DVD whenever they please! I want to go back in time, or have my memories deleted so I can see it again. I just finished the 3rd season and I have been down about it, since now I have to wait at least a year for the 4th season to come out on DVD (I don't own a television, I rent all tv shows).

That's how I feel about The Shield and Rescue Me - which in my opinion are the best shows on television today, maybe ever.

Rescue Me did not disappoint this year - I think it gets better each season.  And I'm so very looking forward to The Shield again.  I've not yet caught The Wire, but I set it up for TiVo.  Need to rent the previous 3 seasons also.

Started watching House, which is compelling.  Wish it was on an edgier network - like FX or HBO.

[Engels]

You know, I totally forgot about The Shield and Rescue Me. They come in close seconds to the Wire. The Wire is just a few hairs better.

[WayAbvPar]

Watched Heroes last night.

Liked it. A lot.

Ah crap. I forgot to set the TiVo. Are they going to replay the pilot any time soon?

[Rasix]

The show premiers on the 25th of September.  I'm assuming you've missed nothing you won't eventually see. 

[Abagadro]

I like Rescue Me and it has sustained levels of brilliance but it can also be worthless melodrama.  That we now apparently have to have AT LEAST two tragedies happen at the end of every season is wearing a bit thin on me.

[Margalis]

Rescue Me is about halfway between The Shield and Nip/Tuck.

Nip/Tuck is all melodrama and I can watch it for what it is, a male-oriented soap opera. The Shield is serious.

Resuce Me kind of annoys me because it tries to toe that line without really deciding to be either. I can't take the serious parts seriously.

[Engels]

Heh, the Wire makes the Shield look like casual viewing. Don't get me wrong, I lust after both, but with the Wire, I've found myself saying to myself, "I'm not emotionally ready to deal with an episode of the Wire today". It can be dark dark dark, without any glamor or glossing over the horrors of poverty and drug use.

[Abagadro]

If I ever manage to get a position teaching public administration I am going to include The Wire in my curriculum.

[Xanthippe]

Re: The Wire - Checked my local video store for season 1.  It was checked out.  TiVo'ing season whatever it is now, though.

Should I wait until I'm up to sequence?  Does it matter?

Re: Heroes - is that now on, or is that premiering Sept. 25?  I'm confused.

[HaemishM]

It's premiering Sept. 25th, but there is a version of the pilot out on BitTorrent sites now.

[Engels]

Re: The Wire - Checked my local video store for season 1.  It was checked out.  TiVo'ing season whatever it is now, though.

Should I wait until I'm up to sequence?  Does it matter?

I'd have to say yes, its worth waiting, simply for the enjoyment factor. The new season will give away a lot of surprises in the first 3 seasons. In this series, main characters die when you least expect it.

[El Gallo]

The Wire always kills off my favorite characters :(

[Paelos]

Well, here's a site with a breakdown of the Fall Preview:

http://www.bullz-eye.com/television_reviews/fall_preview/2006/home.htm

My take on a few of these shows:

Brothers and Sisters - don't see myself watching this, it's about quirky grownup family life supposedly. Arrested Development already did that in a better, more insane fashion.
The Knights of Prosperity - I just can't see a show about robbing Mick Jagger having legs.
Help me, Help you - God, Ted Danson looks really really old now. Please go away and stop pissing on my memories of you in Cheers.
The Nine - It's supposedly about what happens to people after a hostage standoff, but you don't actually see the standoff when the show starts. Thanks, but I don't need another LOST trying to fill in the gaps of characters' lives.
Ugly Betty - whoever greenlighted this estrogen-fest should be personally dragged out into the street and shot.
The Class - it sounds like a Friends clone
Smith - great actors, but the premise of a man with a double-life trying to get in one last job before he goes straight? That's really cliche at this point.
Shark - It's got James Woods, it's worth checking out for that alone.
Jericho - yeah it's like LOST meets The Stand, no more clones please.
Vanished - I simply don't care where she went or anything about this show.
Standoff - I keep waiting for Ron Livingston to ask the hostages if they got the memo on TPS reports.
Justice - it's like Law & Order, except meaner.
'Til Death - it could go either way. The premise of two married couples in completely different periods of their marriage is solid, but if the writing isn't sharp it would go from a scathing comedic analysis of American marriage to sheer stupidity.
Heroes - comic book geeks across the US will overload the internet on this one with both the good, bad, and extremely nerdy.
Studio 60 - Matthew Perry in a deadpan comedy role. If you like him, and you like making fun of SNL, this would work.
Friday Night Lights - please, God, no more glorifying Texas Football. I lived it, I went to school in Texas, and it's a pathetic crock of shit. We shouldn't be diefying these rednecks.