Favorite TV Show(s)

[nevets88]

I was looking forward to The Newsroom, but after seeing the 1st episode, decided to wait for DVDs. I've seen all of Sorkin's previous shows. Maybe I've reached my threshold.

Another excellent show is Justified. Inspired and some of it written by Elmore Leonard. Great writing and acting. Sort of a modern day smart western.

[NuclearMike]

Originally Posted by nevets88

Another excellent show is Justified. Inspired and some of it written by Elmore Leonard. Great writing and acting. Sort of a modern day smart western.

One of my favorites too, although I left it off of my list.  I'm looking forward to its return.

[Mattplusness]

Workaholics

Wilfred

Tosh.0

Those are the only TV shows I watch/record

[mvmac]

When he's not anchoring the news The date is wrong btw, this was earlier in the week from Dana Dahlquist in Long Beach

[JetFan1983]

Dexter getting some quality practice in. He slices too much though... OK, bad joke.

[mvmac]

Is he also a hacker?

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Is he also a hacker?

Yea, AND he's dumb enough to be using blades, even though he's always playing big, massive unsurvivable cuts. And for some reason he just loves to hit skulls. Over and over again.

OK, I think I think I'm done now

[iacas]

Hey, it's Victor Sifuentes!

Newsroom has been good. Not great, but good. And we've gotten more Olivia Munn so that's good too.

I wondered how she'd fit in but clearly the roles in which I'd seen her waaaayyyyy underutilized her.

[jamo]

Just want to say without spoiling too much, if there's anyone who watched Friday Night Lights (season 2 specifically), who loved the Landry character, and who also watches Breaking Bad, well, the end of tonight's Breaking Bad episode might just make your brain explode. And now the full spoiler: [SPOILER=Warning: Awesomeness]Jesse Plemons goes on another murderous rampage! Ahh, just had to get that out there. FNL season 2 serial killer Landry jokes have come full circle to Breaking Bad. [/SPOILER]

[iacas]

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

He fired his entire writing staff though last week so Sorkin clearly agrees to some extent with me.

Turns out that was bogus information, and I've still enjoyed every episode of The Newsroom.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/aaron-sorkin-denies-firing-newsroom-writing-staff/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/tca-the-newsroom_n_1730809.html

http://www.eonline.com/news/334154/aaron-sorkin-responds-to-the-newsroom-critics-insists-writing-staff-wasn-t-fired

http://gawker.com/5931111/aaron-sorkin-defends-the-newsroom-denies-firing-writing-staff

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/08/01/aaron-sorkin-defends-hbo-drama-newsroom-denies-reports-fired-entire-writing/

I've seen three episodes of Breaking Bad now. It must start off slow... :)

[RonTheSavage]

Newsroom is my favorite show right now. Looking forward to the next seasons of Boardwalk Emprie and Boss.

[JetFan1983]

Originally Posted by iacas

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

He fired his entire writing staff though last week so Sorkin clearly agrees to some extent with me.

Turns out that was bogus information, and I've still enjoyed every episode of The Newsroom.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/aaron-sorkin-denies-firing-newsroom-writing-staff/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/tca-the-newsroom_n_1730809.html

http://www.eonline.com/news/334154/aaron-sorkin-responds-to-the-newsroom-critics-insists-writing-staff-wasn-t-fired

http://gawker.com/5931111/aaron-sorkin-defends-the-newsroom-denies-firing-writing-staff

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/08/01/aaron-sorkin-defends-hbo-drama-newsroom-denies-reports-fired-entire-writing/

Oh wow. I guess I shouldn't believe everything I read. Stupid news media.

Originally Posted by iacas

I've seen three episodes of Breaking Bad now. It must start off slow... :)

Uh oh, really not that into it? I was hooked from the beginning. Here's a plus side of things though -- the show gets better and better as it goes along. Season 2 is better than 1. 3 is better than 2. Etc, etc. However, hopefully you don't need to stick around that long with the show to find it a good story!

I will say though that it's interesting that you are not intrigued by it already. I always found it really fascinating the types of shows people like or don't like -- not in any positive or negative way about them as people -- it's just interesting for me to see what people are entertained or not entertained by.

One tip about watching it though, if you do decide to stick with it. Season one was cut off by the writers strike of 2008, so there is no season finale. Season one and season two are really just one season of 20 total episodes.

For me though, I do love this show, as I've said. They really take the story to excellent places as it chugs along. Season one (ep.1-7) is the least compelling of all the seasons, in my opinion, even though I do love the series as a whole.

And yes, I'm disappointed in myself that you took our collective recommendation to watch the show and are not too into it! Dang it.

[nevets88]

Originally Posted by jamo

Just want to say without spoiling too much, if there's anyone who watched Friday Night Lights (season 2 specifically), who loved the Landry character, and who also watches Breaking Bad, well, the end of tonight's Breaking Bad episode might just make your brain explode.

Brain exploded .  The interwebs predicted what happened as soon as Landry was billed to be in BB, but I was still blown away by what happened. Epic episode. Great season so far.

I'll forgive FNL for the writer stricken season 2, awesome show it is. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

Uh oh, really not that into it? I was hooked from the beginning. Here's a plus side of things though -- the show gets better and better as it goes along. Season 2 is better than 1. 3 is better than 2. Etc, etc. However, hopefully you don't need to stick around that long with the show to find it a good story!

I think a big part of my problem with it is that I've always enjoyed Sorkin's shows, and outside of that, shows that have a little humor to them.

This show is almost the opposite. Almost nothing funny has happened yet. It's predictable.

And worst of all (so far), it's S-L-O-W. To someone who likes the fast-paced banter (really, it's too fast to be practical, but I feel like every episode has so much packed into it and I think it requires a quick mind to keep up) of West Wing or Newsroom, this is almost torture. E-V-E-R-Y single character speaks sooooooo slooooowwwwwwwly. More happened in 22 minutes of Sports Night than in 45 minutes of Breaking Bad.

I'll give it all of season one, but... meh. I'm sure it gets better. Frankly, it would have to (to have fans and to be renewed for 4 or 5 seasons)... :)

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

And yes, I'm disappointed in myself that you took our collective recommendation to watch the show and are not too into it! Dang it.

Meh. Don't sweat it.

Hell, I watch stupid shit like Covert Affairs. Granted, it's my "cruise the forum, read a magazine, have it on the background" kind of show, but still...

(I still think my tastes in TV trump my wife's... she watches some dreck, I tell ya...)

[jamo]

Uh oh, really not that into it? I was hooked from the beginning. Here's a plus side of things though -- the show gets better and better as it goes along. Season 2 is better than 1. 3 is better than 2. Etc, etc. However, hopefully you don't need to stick around that long with the show to find it a good story!  I will say though that it's interesting that you are not intrigued by it already. I always found it really fascinating the types of shows people like or don't like -- not in any positive or negative way about them as people -- it's just interesting for me to see what people are entertained or not entertained by. One tip about watching it though, if you do decide to stick with it. Season one was cut off by the writers strike of 2008, so there is no season finale. Season one and season two are really just one season of 20 total episodes.  For me though, I do love this show, as I've said. They really take the story to excellent places as it chugs along. Season one (ep.1-7) is the least compelling of all the seasons, in my opinion, even though I do love the series as a whole.  And yes, I'm disappointed in myself that you took our collective recommendation to watch the show and are not too into it! Dang it.

I told him about some of that stuff in the chat yesterday. I stuck with it because of all of the great stuff I'd heard about the latter seasons, and I'm glad I did. Breaking Bad is a slowish show on the whole (which, obviously, you tend to get on cable shows versus network shows), but it really picks up after the first season. One thing I found was that reading recaps was really helpful, Alan Sepinwall's in particular are pretty great (on his [URL=http://sepinwall.blogspot.com]old blog[/URL] for a while, then/now on Hitfix). [quote name="nevets88" url="/t/32874/favorite-tv-show-s/90_30#post_757576"] Brain exploded .  The interwebs predicted what happened as soon as Landry was billed to be in BB, but I was still blown away by what happened. Epic episode. Great season so far. I'll forgive FNL for the writer stricken season 2, awesome show it is. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. [/quote] Season 2 was my favorite to watch of FNL, just because at the end I liked picking out all of the abandoned subplots post-writers strike. Santiago, for instance. Taken off the streets by Buddy Garrity, taught to play football not-all-that-competently, and then COMPLETELY and utterly abandoned after the writer's strike. There wasn't even a mention of him. Viva Crucifictorious. (You posted as I was writing mine, but...) [quote name="iacas" url="/t/32874/favorite-tv-show-s/90_30#post_757680"] This show is almost the opposite. Almost nothing funny has happened yet. It's predictable. [/quote] There are a few funny bits later on. "Yeah science!" and "Ahhh, robots!" from Four Days Out in season 2 are some of the better lines. Mostly Jesse stuff. Skinny Pete and Badger can have funny moments. The fact that all Walter Jr. ever does is eat breakfast becomes a recurring and semi-meta joke later on. But most of the comedy later on comes from Saul Goodman, their lawyer starting in season 2.

[JetFan1983]

Yea BB is very different from a Sorkin piece, no question.

BB gets hilarious at some point, and that's one of the reasons, if not the big reason, I really like it.

As far as pacing goes, I would say I have one of the highest tolerances you'll ever find in a viewer as I enjoyed shows like the Wire, movies like Tree of Life and Space Odyssey 2001... those pieces are SLOWWWWWW, especially the Wire, but I find them rewarding later on. Boardwalk Empire comes to mind as another one of these shows/movies.

Why I can stomach these lulls in the story, I don't know haha. But yea, BB does become very, very funny at some point in the story, to the point where I actually view it as mostly a comedy. It starts off extremely heavy with the cancer diagnosis but evolves from there. In the opening episode, Walt tells his class that chemistry is "the process of change." That sums up the entire series.

To change the subject though, I've heard so many good things about Friday Night Lights that I think I need to give it a shot soon. Thanks for the recommendation, guys.

How's Newsroom shaking out in the latter stages of season one? I've been off it lately.

Also, I've always jokingly viewed a lot of BB as being similar to golf instruction. Walt has the powerful formulas that create the best meth -- kind of like being one of the very few instructors who understands the golf swing -- and how powerful that can make you. Jesse on the other hand throws in junk like chili powder that ruins the product, or he uses the wrong equipment at the wrong times and never pays attention to detail -- a classic terrible instructor. Others out there are trying to steal those formulas for their own personal gain -- and I view Walt ultimately kind of like a Mac O'Grady psychopath haha. Anyway, I'm obviously kidding, but I enjoy seeing the show in that light at times.

The clear difference is that the world is a better place when more people understand the golf swing, and it's a more terrible place when more people understand how to cook more pure meth... so this analogy doesn't ring true, but I still find it a funny thought.

[nevets88]

Originally Posted by jamo

I told him about some of that stuff in the chat yesterday. I stuck with it because of all of the great stuff I'd heard about the latter seasons, and I'm glad I did. Breaking Bad is a slowish show on the whole (which, obviously, you tend to get on cable shows versus network shows), but it really picks up after the first season. One thing I found was that reading recaps was really helpful, Alan Sepinwall's in particular are pretty great (on his old blog for a while, then/now on Hitfix).

Season 2 was my favorite to watch of FNL, just because at the end I liked picking out all of the abandoned subplots post-writers strike. Santiago, for instance. Taken off the streets by Buddy Garrity, taught to play football not-all-that-competently, and then COMPLETELY and utterly abandoned after the writer's strike. There wasn't even a mention of him.

Viva Crucifictorious.

(You posted as I was writing mine, but...)

There are a few funny bits later on. "Yeah science!" and "Ahhh, robots!" from Four Days Out in season 2 are some of the better lines. Mostly Jesse stuff. Skinny Pete and Badger can have funny moments. The fact that all Walter Jr. ever does is eat breakfast becomes a recurring and semi-meta joke later on.

But most of the comedy later on comes from Saul Goodman, their lawyer starting in season 2.

Sepinwall's reviews are excellent. The Onion AV Club's reviews are good as well. I was hooked on BB from episode 1 - it is slow paced, but I don't notice it because the tension and suspense kills me. I also stream it, so I don't watch the commercials - big difference. Even with a DVR. AMC's Rubicon was also excellent, but that got cancelled.

That's right, Santiago just vanished. Landry did it! I'm surprised it did as well as it did and NBC kept it as long as it did. It was not your typical happy fast paced broadcast network show. You can lose count of the ways NBC screwed up everywhere, but you gotta give it credit for 30 Rock. Community, Parks & Rec and The Office.

[dak4n6]

I watch PBS, Frontline, local news, tennis, golf, football and baseball, TWC, some NatGeo/Discovery/AnimalPlanet, and any concerts on 'Live from Guitar Central'.

I have no tolerance for ficticious or reality TV. Waste of brain cells and free time IMO. Is it just me??