sooperkool
Member
Which is right about when they strayed from the books
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
TV Shows that people went crazy over, but in retrospect were kinda dumb or bad
- Thread starter border
- Start date
Which is right about when they strayed from the books
Bounceounce
Member
I'd maybe agree if we didn't just have a thread full of people trashing Breaking Bad.
Joey Jo-Jo Jr
Member
Battlestar Galactica remake.
In its day people talked about it like it was the greatest sci-fi ever, so much more mature and gritty than Star Trek etc etc.
I think the fact that it is rarely if ever spoken about these days says it all.
It was a grimdark soap opera in space and it was mature in the way that Call of Duty or God of War are mature games.
In its day people talked about it like it was the greatest sci-fi ever, so much more mature and gritty than Star Trek etc etc.
I think the fact that it is rarely if ever spoken about these days says it all.
It was a grimdark soap opera in space and it was mature in the way that Call of Duty or God of War are mature games.
Well, obviously. My comparison was more born from the fact that Studio 60 was incredibly NOT well-received.
I think that Game of Thrones suffers from not really signalling the passage of time between episodes. They more or less say that it's been 6-7 years since Ned was killed in story, and there's not really a big time jump between seasons like there is in something like The Sopranos, but the episodes within a season still feel like they take place over a span of days/weeks instead of a full year.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
My daughter and I busted out laughing the first time they showed someone try to stab Clark and the knife EXPLODED!! That show was launched with a heavy coating of monster-of-the-week extra cheese, way more CW than DC.
I have a controversial addition:
Looking back through the prism of Season 2, I'm going to say everybody flipped out about Daredevil after its first season almost solely because of:
- It Was the First Netflix/Marvel Series
- Vincent D'Onofrio
- One Hallway Fight Scene
Later Alligator
Member
I would argue that it was both dumb and bad
a fantastic concept but with terrible acting, the same storyline over and over again, and a cheeseball final season
It's awful
It was always not good but much like a lot of things, it was really all we had
Game of Thrones will be interesting to look back on, but I tend to be not too hard on the show and its faults considering what it pulled off in ambition and scale.
It was a pretty weird era for heavy serialized TV. Heroes. Lost. Prison Break, Battlestar Galactica. So much potential, but they all struggled with the fact they are TV shows and had to keep going after the used up "the hook".
It was a pretty weird era for heavy serialized TV. Heroes. Lost. Prison Break, Battlestar Galactica. So much potential, but they all struggled with the fact they are TV shows and had to keep going after the used up "the hook".
JoJoShabadoo
Member
It may seem off topic, but... now I want to rewatch The Wire for like the eighth times in my life. It really is the best TV show out there IMO.
Lost is a landmark television show; it doesn't have to be considered good for it to be landmark
I think that is totally fair. But at the same time, it's crazy to think that LOST won't be remembered as a landmark either. Maybe people didn't enjoy the latter seasons as much as the first few seasons, but that really doesn't diminish its place as a television innovator. It won't be remembered for being immaculately crafted or executed, but its influence is very much felt even today. I feel like it will occupy the sort of historical space that The Prisoner and Twin Peaks do today.
Astral Dog
Member
The Flash
LOST redefined what event television was and, at a time where serial TV had hit a wall, opened the door for network TV to start telling long-form storylines again. It was definitely a landmark for TV, though the difference here is GoT still has rapidly gained momentum and maintained it's critical darling status while LOST was heavily criticized and lost tons of viewers over it's last three years.
People went crazy over The Flash?
The first season is the best and it's terrible.
The entire supporting cast is *the worst.*
From wikipedia:
A soap opera or soap, is a serial drama on television or radio that examines the lives of many characters, usually focusing on emotional relationships to the point of melodrama.[1] The term soap opera originated from such dramas in the past being typically sponsored by soap manufacturers.[2]
One of the defining features that makes a television program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. While Spanish language telenovelas are sometimes called "soap operas," telenovelas have conflicts that get resolved and a definite ending after (more or less) a year of daily weekday airing. But with soap operas each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode".[4] In 2012, Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Lloyd wrote of daily dramas, "Although melodramatically eventful, soap operas such as this also have a luxury of space that makes them seem more naturalistic; indeed, the economics of the form demand long scenes, and conversations that a 22-episodes-per-season weekly series might dispense with in half a dozen lines of dialogue may be drawn out, as here, for pages. You spend more time even with the minor characters; the apparent villains grow less apparently villainous."[5]
Soap opera storylines run concurrently, intersect and lead into further developments. An individual episode of a soap opera will generally switch between several different concurrent narrative threads that may at times interconnect and affect one another or may run entirely independent to each other. Each episode may feature some of the show's current storylines, but not always all of them. Especially in daytime serials and those that are broadcast each weekday, there is some rotation of both storyline and actors so any given storyline or actor will appear in some but usually not all of a week's worth of episodes. Soap operas rarely bring all the current storylines to a conclusion at the same time. When one storyline ends, there are several other story threads at differing stages of development. Soap opera episodes typically end on some sort of cliffhanger, and the season finale (if a soap incorporates a break between seasons) ends in the same way, only to be resolved when the show returns for the start of a new yearly broadcast.
Evening soap operas and those that air at a rate of one episode per week are more likely to feature the entire cast in each episode, and to represent all current storylines in each episode. Evening soap operas and serials that run for only part of the year tend to bring things to a dramatic end-of-season cliffhanger.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I had a lot of hope after the first season but then it went all Heroes on me.
Yeah. Inserted in a bunch of stupid sub plots that never actually go anywhere.
But the core show was really compelling in seasons 1, 2 and 4.
Anyone saying Breaking Bad or Sopranos is out of their minds.
Friends is an awful show?
brianjones
Member
JoJoShabadoo
Member
This user has now been added to your ignore list.
Remember how Peter forgot to go back and get his Irish girlfriend when he left her in that horrible nightmare future?
And then probably killed her by altering the future?
Is this scene on yt? I want to know more lol
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I can go back and watch Friends and get a chuckle.
Mad About You, now that's a show I can't go back to.
lol
Renegade Frost
Banned
Westworld is not bad, if only for the fact that the episode discussing Robert Ford's motivation for the creation of Westworld really reveals a crucial detail about his humanity and how it's informed by the society he inhabited, the creation of westworld also transforms the dynamic tthat society exists within and its really brilliant/beautiful to see how they utilize it to explore the nature of man through the various characters we have here.
at its core, the show Westworld is a delightful and riveting examination of identity. That's why the show is good.
Mossybrew
Banned
- pretty much every show ever. The fact that this still comes up as a criticism is ridiculous.
Uh, by no measurable standard was Friends an "awful" show, thanks GAF hyperbole gallery. You may not care for it or may think it has aged poorly but for its time it was a highly successful show for a reason.
Dusktildawn48
Member
I'm sure some show writers have an endgame planned from the beginning.
Renegade Frost
Banned
Not a TV Show but I'm gonna add Akira to the list
Speaking of anime
Dragonball and by virtue of extension
Everything Shonen Jump ever published after 2000 that got a popular anime adaption
one piece is arguable tho
Friends might be just about everything thats bad about American culture too
Speaking of anime
Dragonball and by virtue of extension
Everything Shonen Jump ever published after 2000 that got a popular anime adaption
one piece is arguable tho
Friends might be just about everything thats bad about American culture too
Yeah, I don't get the Friends hate. It isn't as good as it seemed in 1996, but was it really dumb? Or bad? No. It's still pretty fun if you're willing to adhere to the conventions of a multi-camera/live audience sitcom.
We recently had a "Did Friends age well?" thread and the major criticism of the show was that it didn't adhere to modern sensibilities about social issues. Which is kind of what you'd expect from a sitcom that is 20 years old.
We recently had a "Did Friends age well?" thread and the major criticism of the show was that it didn't adhere to modern sensibilities about social issues. Which is kind of what you'd expect from a sitcom that is 20 years old.
Big Bang Theory is a highly successful show
Akira is a bad movie but the animation and music is so good that it doesn't matter.
Well, you ain't gonna find defending One Piece the anime nowadays, manga on the other hand, nah lol
And yea, Dragonball's a good example, due to the whole power level nonsense. Still a classic though.
brianjones
Member
some shows are really transparent about it tho.. like lost you can't tell me the dinosaur sounds from the pilot were envisioned as a black smoke chain monster
seems like jj Abrams thought up a bunch of hooks for the pilot and then left for the writers to figure out the rest
Mossybrew
Banned
From everything I've ever read about even very successful shows, it is always a process of iteration and discovery as the show goes on.
Mossybrew
Banned
Ok you may have me there. Big Bang Theory and Friends don't even belong in the same conversation. Guess we're back into highly subjective territory.
pretty done
Member
LOST for sure
When someone told me Locke was possessed by a smoke monster I laughed pretty hard, until I realized they were being serious. Definitely glad I didn't finish that shit.
When someone told me Locke was possessed by a smoke monster I laughed pretty hard, until I realized they were being serious. Definitely glad I didn't finish that shit.
Renegade Frost
Banned
it makes the show a fun and hilarious romp on rewatch
I'm glad nobody has said person of interest. Watch it people.
Mossybrew
Banned
But to this kind of criticism I can't help but say, so what? Why does everything have to be known and charted down a certain path for years into the future from the very pilot?
Laieon
Member
Lol, no.
Breaking Bad is easily one of the best shows ever made. If Better Call Saul continues being as good as it is it you'll have the best spin off ever made too.
Sopranos says "sup?" Except for network tv points (not familiar re American networks).
I never really liked True Blood though I did get some amusement out of it. Whatever that line is between hatewatching and guilty pleasure is where I was at with that show.
I think Season 1 of Dexter is still fun and it has the advantage of Michael C. Hall's often comedic performance. The next three seasons are overrated and very annoying at times. As we know, it became a steaming pile of shit.
The real reason to watch Sherlock was just to enjoy Cumberbatch and Freeman playing off each other.
I think Season 1 of Dexter is still fun and it has the advantage of Michael C. Hall's often comedic performance. The next three seasons are overrated and very annoying at times. As we know, it became a steaming pile of shit.
The real reason to watch Sherlock was just to enjoy Cumberbatch and Freeman playing off each other.
A few writers had a planned endgame from the very beginning (J Michael Straczynski on Babylon 5). But most of them are just improvising from within a framework.
I don't think Vince Gilligan knew where Breaking Bad was going to end up when he worked on the first season. David Chase just envisioned the Sopranos as a story about a mob boss whose mother interferes with his business.....and understandly it threw him for a loop when the actress playing Livia Soprano died before the second season even started. There was obviously no blueprint for shows like Dexter or True Blood or Game of Thrones, since those shows started before the novels they were based on concluded.
Similar threads
- Locked