Television thread

[raydeen]

Big Bang Theory

It's not a favorite of mine, but I find it damn funny. It's completely unbelieveable, and really, there's no reason for the chick to even give any of these guys the time of day. But fuck is it funny, especially the geeks who aren't the guy that used to play David on Roseanne. The episode where they break into her apartment to straighten the place up was just a scream.

I like Chuck a lot, though I like Journeyman better. Maybe it's because I didn't watch Quantam Leap, or maybe it's just a mancrush on Kevin McKidd, but I dig that show.

I'm going to have to try to catch Chuck online (if NBC is showing it-haven't really checked yet). As for Big Bang, the best visual joke in it is the fact that when they go up or down the stairs in their apartment complex, it's the same set for every floor with only minor adjustments made to the furniture or decor.

I've been digging on Journeyman but have pretty much lost interest in Bionic Woman. I think the only reason I'm watching it is because Starbuck is the bad girl.

[HaemishM]

I gave up on Bionic Woman after the third episode. They were trying to pack too much into each episode, and none of the stories were making any sense or coming to any reasonable conclusion. It wasn't terrible, I just found myself unable to care about any of the characters.

[Sky]

Haven't been watching much tube lately, but I did catch an amazing Frontline the other night. You can watch it online here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/showdown/

[stray]

Someone please name some good shows with long story arcs and little filler. I don't care about subject matter. Just list some stuff.

Also, I don't watch much TV, so don't worry if I've seen something or not. About the only things that come to mind at the moment are Heroes, Rome, Deadwood, and DS9.

[Trippy]

Dirty Sexy Money.

[Oban]

Spooks, season 6
Doctor Who, series 1&3
K-Ville, season 1
Secret Diary of a Call Girl, season 1

[schild]

Twin Peaks.

[raydeen]

The Shield. The seasons are short but they pack a lot in. I'd also recommend Rescue Me. I'd like to recommend 24 but the general population here would probably advise against it. I like me some shootin' screamin' drunk drivin' Kiefer though. Season 2 was probably the best.

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

Yes Chuck is available online at NBC.com. I am finding myself watching more on my PC than on TV now since every show I watch is available online now it seems.

[stray]

Thanks, keep em coming. I've seen Twin Peaks (not sure why I had you pegged for a Lynch hater, Schild, but I did), but I could use something like that again!

24 may be a long story arc, but it kind of goes against the appeal of long-story-arc oriented writing to me. I like these type of shows mainly for the realistic character development -- but Jack Bauer, from what I can tell, is the complete antithesis of realistic character development. He's got way too much shit going on in his life 

[Abagadro]

The Wire.

Best TV show ever made. Period.


On another note, just got my Dish HD hooked up today and am loving it. The only problem is now SD now looks like total ass just by comparison.

[Rishathra]

House.

[Trippy]

House.

The storylines in House are more episodic than continuous.

[Rishathra]

The storylines in House are more episodic than continuous.

Apologies.  I saw the "good" but skipped over the "long story arc" part of the request.

[HaemishM]

House has season long story arcs, they just aren't traditionally what you'd consider season-long story arcs. They are more about character development than something actually happening.

[Johny Cee]

Thanks, keep em coming. I've seen Twin Peaks (not sure why I had you pegged for a Lynch hater, Schild, but I did), but I could use something like that again!

24 may be a long story arc, but it kind of goes against the appeal of long-story-arc oriented writing to me. I like these type of shows mainly for the realistic character development -- but Jack Bauer, from what I can tell, is the complete antithesis of realistic character development. He's got way too much shit going on in his life 

Have you watched Farscape yet Stray?  I think you can pick up the DVDs pretty cheaply now.

For my money,  it's the best recent "true" (aliens and spaceships) scifi series.  There's an overall story arc,  which lead to the worst series cancellation cliffhanger evar!  Thankfully,  Scifi Channel ponyed up the money to do a 4 hour miniseries to close out events.  Some of the power of the series is lost watching it in chunks on DVD because they loved to use cliffhangers.

Going to second Rescue Me.  Damn great series.

[Xanthippe]

What happened to Rescue Me this season?  Is it over?  It seemed pretty meh compared to every other season.  I think the last episode I saw was September 19, and didn't seem anything like a season ender.

Top TV show of all time:  The Shield. If you haven't seen it, go rent season 1 and watch.  Then continue in order.  I think it's gotten better over time.  Last season was phenomenal.

The Wire's also good.

Damages ended up being quite good, I thought.  Not quite in the same class.

The new season of 24 looks very promising.  It's as much fun to make fun of as to watch; it kind of veers between the two for me.

[Merusk]

Damages ended up being quite good, I thought.  Not quite in the same class.

The ending was really unsatisfactory for me but I'm not quite sure why.  I watched it again on Saturday night, and I still had that "meh, that's lame." feeling about it.   I think it would have been more appealing if that episode had been the climax of the story, rather than the resolution... but that doesn't work out well either.  Hrm.

[Nevermore]

Damages ended up being quite good, I thought.  Not quite in the same class.

The ending was really unsatisfactory for me but I'm not quite sure why.  I watched it again on Saturday night, and I still had that "meh, that's lame." feeling about it.   I think it would have been more appealing if that episode had been the climax of the story, rather than the resolution... but that doesn't work out well either.  Hrm.

The problem was the ending just didn't live up to all that build-up during the season.  It all made sense and was satisfactory, but it wasn't satisfying.  It was like great foreplay but bad sex.  I also have a feeling when the writers realized the show would be picked up for another season, they changed the ending a bit.

[Margalis]

Don't forget "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" !

[Sky]

I forget about Farscape. Mmm...Chiana...

[Rasix]

Have you watched Farscape yet Stray?  I think you can pick up the DVDs pretty cheaply now.

For my money,  it's the best recent "true" (aliens and spaceships) scifi series.  There's an overall story arc,  which lead to the worst series cancellation cliffhanger evar!  Thankfully,  Scifi Channel ponyed up the money to do a 4 hour miniseries to close out events.  Some of the power of the series is lost watching it in chunks on DVD because they loved to use cliffhangers.

I love Farscape, but I'm really hesitant to recommend it to anyone.  It takes a good 1.5 to 2 seasons before it gets good, and Crichton is a very difficult character to warm up to.  It's got a lot of schlocky sci-fi staple episodes.  It's got some filler but does a fairly decent job of advancing a rather awesome and rewarding long term story line. 

The mini-series has a WTF moment or two, but I guess that's inevitable with what they had to accomplish. 

The series is still somewhat expensive at $80 bucks a season, but at least it's not $115 to $140 per anymore. 

[stray]

I tried watching Farscape when it first came out. Didn't like it.

Both my old man and brother are big Wire fans...Forgot about that one. I'll give it a chance sooner or later. I'll try the Shield too.

Rescue Me or K-Ville. The idea of a show with Katrina refugees, or post 9/11 firefighters doesn't appeal to me. Honestly, I try to avoid anything on TV remotely dealing with either subjects these days.


Not long story arc based (well, perhaps they're a mix of linear and episodic), but believe it or not, i've never seen Buffy or Smallville. I downloaded the first seasons of each on a lark, but I'm liking them a lot so far.

Also, and I'm not sure if this is was intentional, but do these two shows almost seem identical to anyone else? It's like they applied the Buffy formula to the Superman universe.

[Evil Elvis]

Go get Six Feet Under

[Velorath]

Never thought I'd see Whedon do another TV series for Fox, but it looks like he's working on a series called Dollhouse starring Eliza Dushku.

Joss Whedon, the creator of acclaimed cult favorites “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly,” is returning to Fox and reuniting with “Buffy” regular Eliza Dushku for a new action-drama called “Dollhouse.”

Fox has given a seven-episode commitment to the 20th Century Fox Television project for a planned debut next year.

“It deals with our darkest impulses and our best ones,” Whedon says. “It deals with all the things I like to deal with—strength, weakness, power and corruption.”

“Dollhouse” stars Dushku as Echo, one of a group of secret agents living in a futuristic dorm. Each has the ability to be imprinted with custom personalities and abilities for special assignments. When they return, their newly acquired memories are wiped. The show follows Echo as she takes on a variety of assignments—some romantic, some adventurous, some uplifting, some illegal—and gains awareness of her role and confinement.

Any bets on whether or not it will make it past the seven-episode commitment, or if all seven episodes will even air?

[Trippy]

Have to wait and see what day of the week it'll be shown on.

[Nevermore]

Any bets on whether or not it will make it past the seven-episode commitment, or if all seven episodes will even air?

It will be scheduled for Friday nights, it'll be shown out of order, and it'll be canceled after the 4th episode, which will be the one guest staring Nathan Fillion.   

[stray]

Speaking of Whedon, I mentioned that i just recently started watching Buffy...

So umm.. I'm on the second season. Does Xander die anytime soon? Cuz I might give up on the show if he doesn't.

[Trippy]

Speaking of Whedon, I mentioned that i just recently started watching Buffy...

So umm.. I'm on the second season. Does Xander die anytime soon? Cuz I might give up on the show if he doesn't.

No, he doesn't.

[stray]

Pity. Perhaps he can tolerable if he lays off the whole jealousy thing though. It's really pathetic.

[Tebonas]

Yes he does eventually.

[stray]

Oh, and just to give my impression of Smallville...

Great show (although Chloe is kind of irritating in the same way Xander is...). I wish there wasn't so much filler, and not so much bizarre shit happening because of Kryptonite, but the main, self discovery story arc is pretty great. I just got to the episode where Christopher Reeve tells him he's Kal El.

[Merusk]

I still don't get the love for Buffy and Smallville.  I've given both multiple tries but I never can get into them.  I thought Angel and Firefly were great, though, so I'm not just a Whedon-hater.

So Farscape's still $80 a season?  Great, looks like I'll ask for B5 this year instead as those finally dropped to $40 for a season.  I agree with Rasix, though, it takes a while to warm-up to Farscape for some folks.  I got into it right at the beginning (it helped it was the only decent space & alien sci-fi on TV at the time) and it had some really fun episodes, but I know the wife didn't get into it until I really made her start watching it.  Oh, and ditto on the "WTF" moments in the miniseries wrap-up.  Grrr. 

[Velorath]

I still don't get the love for Buffy and Smallville.  I've given both multiple tries but I never can get into them.  I thought Angel and Firefly were great, though, so I'm not just a Whedon-hater.

Which seasons of Buffy did try watching?  That show had some pretty big ups and downs. 

Couldn't get into Smallville at all.  There have been some decent episodes (the Red Kryptonite stuff in particular), but the show spends way too much time spinning it's wheels.

[stray]

I'm liking Smallville a lot more than Buffy simply because it's.... Superman. I agree about it spinning it's wheels though. But I find that Buffy does the same. I mentioned above that both have a similar formula. Only instead of the Hellmouth, it's the Meteor Rocks with Smallville. When they stop wasting time and get to the main storylines though, Smallville is more interesting to me.

Looking forward to Brainiac... Since Marsters is probably the only villain that has stood out in Buffy for me.