The TV DVD thread, Because I watch them more than films Options

[dandan]

i just started watching 'firefly'. i'm two episodes in and i don't think i like it. i shall persevere, but i shall be thinking that i should be stopping and re-watching 'cowboy bebop' instead...

[Raven]

i just started watching 'firefly'. i'm two episodes in and i don't think i like it. i shall persevere, but i shall be thinking that i should be stopping and re-watching 'cowboy bebop' instead...

I watched them the other way around, but I can see what you are getting at (although I think they are both excellent).

[dandan]

well, i gave up on 'firefly'...

'deadwood', on the other hand, seems like it'll be worth sticking with...

[maian]

Watching Season 1 of 30 Rock again is a weirdly bittersweet experienced. I mean, it's still a very funny show, but watching some of the episodes from Season 4 has made me realise that it's no longer as consistently hilarious as it used to be.

This post has been edited by maian: Mar 26 2010, 08:00 PM

[logger]

I've been thinking the same thing. It's almost been the reverse of last season, which started off very patchy but got better as it went on, this season started off well but hasn't been as good for a while. The two episode that Julianne Moore was in have to be the worst, even worse than Oprah.

[Sean of the Dead]

Michael Sheen was excellent though.
"You have a problem with the science of Hot Tub Time Machine?"
"Not the time travel, it's the hot tub. You don't just turn one on and it's immediately hot. I should know, I've been in a hot tub two times."

[logger]

He was a highlight.

[maian]

He was great, but both those epispdes suffered from a problem the show has as a whole which is a lack of confidence in its sub-plots. The two sub-plots about Tracy in those episodes (him trying to get his EGOT and his nanny writing her tell-all book) felt tacked on and, whilst funny ("Hey Pacman, I'm Jewish!"), they dd cover well-trodden ground for the show.

[maian]

The one positive about being bedridden with flu for the best part of a week is that I've been able to tear through Season 2 of Mad Men, which is even better than the sublime first season. When I watched most of it on TV last year, I was a bit confused by the decision to have the second season take place two years after the end of the first, but it all makes perfect sense now. By leaving the plot strands from the end of season 1 - most notably Peggy's pregnancy and Don's true identity - unresolved puts the onus on the audience to keep up. It expects us to lean in, and keep wondering who knows what, and to try to glean whatever information they can from every exchange of sparkling, loaded dialogue. It also allows the writers to include such important background events like The Bay of Pigs, the desegregation of schools, and the death of Marilyn Monroe to put the lives of the characters into sharp relief, creating a real sense of turbulent period in American life, and the people struggling to make sense of it all without letting their weaknesses show. Rather than just serving as cultural reference points for the purpose of satire (as seen in something like That 70's Show), they offer a much deeper insight into the lives of characters by showing how they react to them, or how they don't react to them.

It also features one of my favourite tropes in American dramas: Episodes in which several characters have to go to L.A. and find themselves out of their element. "The Jet Set" and "The Mountain King", in which Pete and Don go to a conference but end up getting sidetracked by the interesting new people around them, are near perfect examples of taking characters to a new location and, through their disorientation, revealing something about themselves.

This post has been edited by maian: Apr 2 2010, 03:08 PM

[PrincessKate]

Everyone needs to buy Trinity as it is currently a fiver on Play.

It will enrich your life. And your sexlife.

[Wife Of Rolex]

I missed pretty all of season 1 of Mad Men but have been hooked since season 2. Really must sort myself out with dvds. It's probably the most I've been into an American drama since Oz. The dialogue, performances and its touch of film noir atmosphere really marks it out.

There was a great exchange on Wednesday's episode between Roger and Joan.


Roger: "He's arranged the girls in alphabetical order."

Joan: "Cup size?"

Roger: "I know where's you'd be."

[maian]

Now that I've finished Season 2, and with a few weeks' wait until Season 3 arrives on DVD, I'm moving from Mad Men to Lost...Season 3.

Yes, I am a bit behind on the show. As some may remember, I was solidly obsessed with the show during its first two seasons, but once it moved to Sky I no longer has the means to watch it and so I stopped. Now that it is nearing its finale (and that I'm more aware of how to watch things online) I'm determined to catch up. I'm two episodes in and I'm surprised by how much of the background I remember.

[Ade]

Everyone needs to buy Trinity as it is currently a fiver on Play.

It will enrich your life. And your sexlife.

Oh go on then. Seeing as I didn't see any of the show when it was on da tellybox. A fiver is rather a steal, after all.

[logger]

And your sexlife.

I have never pitied you more.

[Ade]

Oh go on then. Seeing as I didn't see any of the show when it was on da tellybox. A fiver is rather a steal, after all.

I'd forgotten I had bought Trinity. Must watch it soon. In the meantime, my TV hours have been gobbled up recently by Series One of Mad Men. It's a rhetorical question, as I'm aware that I'm effectively preaching to the converted when I say, "Just how good is this show?", but damn! I'm really enjoying it.