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TV Shows you've watched recently

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The League: Season 1

I've being sitting on a goldmine. I bought this last November when it was on sale and today was the first time I've had a chance to get around to watching it. This was an absolutely hilarious 6 episode run for the first season. The cast of characters work really well together and just like a show like ...Sunny they're having a hell of a good time filming it. That definitely translates to the viewer.

You don't need to be a fantasy sports player or even a big football fan, although some of the jokes about the status of certain NFL players will go over your head if you don't follow the sport. If you knew what was going on around 2009 it'll all make sense to you and make the "gaming" part of the show even more funny.
 

rCIZZLE

Member
Started watching Falling Skies but not really enjoying it at all after ~12 episodes. The acting and writing are both horrible. Maggie, despite being crazy hot, is incapable of displaying emotions. Mason's sons are also extremely hard to watch. Yo, actor playing Hal, do you really need to gel your hair for a show about an alien invasion/apocalypse? All of Pope's lines make him sound like a douchebag. The harnessed kids were pretty bad too. Beyond that, you really don't get the feeling that most of humanity has been wiped out or that food and sickness are much of a concern.

If it wasn't one of the few sci-fi shows on TV I probably would have stopped after the first episode. Had high hopes for it after hearing it was a sci-fi show with a 3rd season.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Final episodes of BB's s4 were amazing. Best season of the show. So far I'd say 4<3<1<2. Some parts of s2 didn't really click with me, like the
plane crash
.

btw, wasn't there
a statue of a skull with red flesh in Gale's appartment? So much foreshadowing in this show.
 
Supernatural - I vaguely recall giving it a try some years ago and thinking the first few episodes were "OK". I hear it gets better. Is it worth getting into? Also, is there an solid, overarching storyline? Not the hugest fan of procedurals. Since there are so many seasons and episodes the investment is pretty big.

Nikita - Watched the first episode a year or so ago and thought it was pretty good, particularly for a CW show. Worth pursuing? Does the action/violence keep up or is it pretty toned down?

thanks

Yes and yes. Both are really fun and worth watching. Supernatural gradually becomes more and more serialized. There are still "monster of the week" episodes, but a lot of them are really good and end up adding to the overall narrative, or introduce reoccurring characters. Nikita was a big surprise to me. Not only do they keep up the action, but the story become legitimately interesting as characters come into their own.
 

Karak

Member
Started watching Falling Skies but not really enjoying it at all after ~12 episodes. The acting and writing are both horrible. Maggie, despite being crazy hot, is incapable of displaying emotions. Mason's sons are also extremely hard to watch. Yo, actor playing Hal, do you really need to gel your hair for a show about an alien invasion/apocalypse? All of Pope's lines make him sound like a douchebag. The harnessed kids were pretty bad too. Beyond that, you really don't get the feeling that most of humanity has been wiped out or that food and sickness are much of a concern.

If it wasn't one of the few sci-fi shows on TV I probably would have stopped after the first episode. Had high hopes for it after hearing it was a sci-fi show with a 3rd season.

In my personal opinion Season 2 is amazing. But I enjoyed Season 1 as well.

I am watching Strike Back Season 2. Interesting show. Lots of sex and people getting their heads blown the FUCK off. So all in all, very interesting. Basically lots of head.
 

Decado

Member
Yes and yes. Both are really fun and worth watching. Supernatural gradually becomes more and more serialized. There are still "monster of the week" episodes, but a lot of them are really good and end up adding to the overall narrative, or introduce reoccurring characters. Nikita was a big surprise to me. Not only do they keep up the action, but the story become legitimately interesting as characters come into their own.
Good to know! Thanks for the heads-up.

lol. Even if I don't discover new shows in the mean time, Supernatural alone (at something like 150 40+ minute episodes) should keep me occupied for quite a stretch.
 

Decado

Member
In my personal opinion Season 2 is amazing. But I enjoyed Season 1 as well.

I am watching Strike Back Season 2. Interesting show. Lots of sex and people getting their heads blown the FUCK off. So all in all, very interesting. Basically lots of head.

Seriously? * literally*?

I also like Falling Skies. Almost finished S2, and it's been much better than S1, with only one particularly weak episode so far. Not nearly as good as it could have been, but it's unlikely we'll get a sci-fi show that's much better in the near future.
 
Spent my final free weeks of summer plowing through Mad Men, have only four episodes left in the series. Undoubtedly the best show on television (better than Breaking Bad).
 
That was my biggest problem with the second season as well.

Yup. It was too on the nose in trying to convey the way
Walt's actions affect the world around him. Him having to go through the meth den to find Jesse was a more subtle and far better storytelling device for doing so.

Other than that, the season is fantastic and still might be my favorite of the series due to the tone it had
(the Jesse/Walt relationship is at its fun best. The tone certainly shifted afterwards, though not necessarily for the worst. It's been necessary for where they've wanted to take Walter.)
.
 

vidcons

Banned
Started watching Six Feet Under after hearing all the praise. I really thought this was just going to be a boring show but it rules.

It rules hard.

Rico better stay around because his joy in rebuilding destroyed faces is hilariously morbid.

Although, they better get off this "Brenda is wacky and free and Nick is uptight and normal" schtick, fast. Only so much Random Problem of The Week I can put up with.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Solo, have you been spoiled at all? I regularly see Breaking Bad spoilers posted out in the open on entertainment websites and the like. Even commercials on AMC have huge spoilers in them. It must have been difficult having to avoid them all this time.

Yup. It was too on the nose in trying to convey the way
Walt's actions affect the world around him. Him having to go through the meth den to find Jesse was a more subtle and far better storytelling device for doing so.

Agreed!
 

bh7812

Banned
I'll post what I've managed to watch either parts of or all of the last several months. Most recently I saw the first season of Frasier. Up until now I'd only seen pieces here and there of that series when it was originally on and in syndication. My feeling on Season 1 is that it was phenomenal!! How and why did I pass over and write it off!? I'm not a fan of Cheers, though I understand and respect it's place and importance in TV for sure. But Frasier's a whole different story. I love seeing the interaction between the two Crane brothers and their father. They're both Psychologists, but outside their jobs they're two brothers trying to relate to, and find common ground with each other. Their father loves his sons but he's one of those fathers who has a hard time expressing that. It's just fascinating to see these two brothers having to you know put Psychology aside and try to be brothers. Plenty of laugh out loud funny stuff for sure. Definitely going to buy the other 10 seasons!

Before that I watched all 4 seasons of the original 80's Knight Rider with David Hasselhoff. Thought it was excellent. Yes, it's got a lot of cheesy goofy 80's stuff but really for it's time as an action show you couldn't find better. William Daniels did fantastic playing the part of KITT. There are still a fair amount of people I've talked to who still don't realize KiTT and Mr. Feeny are played by the same actor! Have gotten some rather surprised looks there. If you love action shows and can stand some of the goofy 80's action show conventions it's well worth the time. I did enjoy it.

Right now I'm trying to get through Seasons 1 and 2 of Seinfeld. I decided to give it a fair chance so I can try to understand what the big deal behind it was and still is. There are so many thoughts in my head about this show right now that's for sure. Lets say for now I'm not sure how I feel about it, I have so many mixed reactions to it and it'd be hard to write them out and express them.

By the end of the year, I have the complete series box for Friends to watch, the complete series box for the Dick Van Dyke Show, all of Bobby's World, and the first 4 seasons of Big Bang Theory to go yet. I enjoyed the pilot for How I Met Your Mother, another show I'd written off so I'll probably buy the seasons that are out for that too.

The show I CAN do a thoughtful write out for that I watched all of early this year is Happy Days and I want to use a separate post for that so I can get in everything I want to.
 

bh7812

Banned
The show I've really been wanting to write about though and that I wanted a separate post for is Happy Days. Back at the beginning of the year, I watched through all 255 episodes which took a WHILE. If you want to see all 11 seasons and 255 episodes that's a major time commitment. Anyway, it definitely earned it's legendary, iconic TV show status for sure. The big thing that helped that show last so long was the fact you WILL relate to, or have known someone JUST like those characters. Everyone's gone to school, grown up, gone to college, etc. I would say, easily, the first 7 full seasons are TV that people should make time for if they can. No questions asked. If you need to spread those out over time, do it but by all means it's definitely an essential TV experience. What I want to write about concerning that show though is something a lot of people have a hard time writing about due to it's huge place in TV--the final 4 seasons that come after season 7.

Many have told me the final 4 seasons of Happy Days are very disappointing and that they were severely disappointed in the 11th and final season. Here are my thoughts on the final 4 seasons, as concisely and as brief as I can keep it:

Season 8-As this season started, the show had lost Ron Howard and Danny Most so they could grow their careers more and have some directing opportunities, at least in Ron Howard's case. Their characters, Richie and Ralph, had left for the Army at the end of Season 7 so right there it left a big hole that they needed to fill and quickly. A lot of people feel the series should have ended with the end of Season 7 but the ratings were still there enough to go on and ABC chose to renew. In season 8 the decision was made to focus the show around Fonzie and his life. Also, this is the season where we finally actually see Joanie's friend Jenny Piccalo who had only been mentioned by name up to that point. The season deals largely with 3 things: Fonzie and his life and how it's affected when he becomes a teacher, which changed him. Secondly, it deals heavily with Jenny Piccalo since she's still in High School. Third, it deals of course with Joanie, Chachi and their relationship. Season 8 is where it started to deal a bit too much with that and there started to be a lot more drama surrounding that than was needed. Also, about midway through the season Richie's cousin Roger comes to stay with the Cunninghams..who is played by the actor many know from Married With Children. His character stayed through the rest of the series. So, a lot of changes happened that season and some were good and bad. I'd give that season a 7.

Season 9-It's actually a bit better of a season than 8 is, the few big changes that season were the addition of Joanie and Richie's cousin, KC and Roger's brother got added in too. Outside of that it shifts even more towards focusing on Fonzie and it ends up being a weird mish-mash of going back and forth between Fonzie, Roger and his brother, Joanie and Chachi and to a bit lesser extent Jenny Piccalo. This is where they started to make a lot of changes at once and some things panned out and worked ok, other things just didn't stick to the wall. This is the season Richie's son was born in and Fonzie literally helped deliver him. I'd give that overall season an 8.

Season 10-This was probably the hardest season to get through honestly. It centers a lot around Fonzie and how he finally gets into a steady relationship with a girl who has a daughter. That part was okay but the HUGE mistake they made that season was they had Fonzie deal with getting older and they almost never showed his bike on screen anymore. Also, there are a lot of points where he isn't wearing the leather jacket anymore. As far as Fonzie goes they made a LOT of poor choices there. Everyone gets older I understand that but a character like Fonzie it's not really necessary or smart to focus on his getting older. The stronger parts of the season dealt with Roger and his brother still. I'd give this season a 6 and that's being generous. It was easily the worst of the 11 seasons I felt.

The 11th and Final season-You know, all things considered it was a really well done season and I know that's gonna catch hell probably but here's why. The show stopped dealing with Fonzie getting older and just put him back into the character everyone knew. He became a dean at a school in a bad neighborhood and they did well with that. It showed him relating to those inner-city kids and the difference he made for them. Roger became the principal of that school, and Joanie ended up teaching at that school. That whole Joanie-Fonzie-Roger arc worked really well and surprised me. Due to the new school setting, they tried to add in a lot of new characters who they tried to have regularly (It seems like as the season started they were thinking it might get another year). Some of them worked well, others not so much but they tried. Joanie and Chachi got married. Also, Richie and Ralph came back for one final episode, which was surprisingly quite moving. The final scene with Richie and Fonzie summed up those 11 years and the whole thing behind the show perfectly.."You were my protector, the best friend a guy could ever ask for, my confidant, you helped me get married, deliver my son..how do you ever repay someone for all of that?" Fonzie's response? "I think you just did." and he walked out that door for the final time crying. By that point I was too. That scene was perfect and captured those two characters in one damn sentence. As for Fonzie? At the very end he got to adopt his own son which was just fitting..the kid came from a background not much different from his. As I said I think they were trying to get pieces to fit for a 12th year but at that point they knew they were done so they ended it as best they could. They did well. The last line of the show was great, from Tom Bosley: "Here's to Happy Days" as he looks at the camera like he's thanking the audience. Not Newhart brilliant but still very good. The final version of the theme song for the show used in the final season was GREAT, best version of the theme by far! I'd give that last season a 9, easily.

To sum it up, Happy Days is an absolutely essential viewing experience. If you're short on time, definitely see the first 7 seasons however you need to. If you have more time the last 4 seasons are worth it just to see the changes they tried to make and the direction they went in. Overall though "Here's to Happy Days" indeed. There hasn't been and never will be another show like that ever ever again.
 
Vampire Diaries

I've just recently started watching this, and I have caught up to Season 3 (E03).

I enjoy watching it, but it can be somewhat tedious when dealing with character progression (Elena). How is the rest of the season (without spoiling), do things ramp up?
 
Started watching Falling Skies but not really enjoying it at all after ~12 episodes. The acting and writing are both horrible. Maggie, despite being crazy hot, is incapable of displaying emotions. Mason's sons are also extremely hard to watch. Yo, actor playing Hal, do you really need to gel your hair for a show about an alien invasion/apocalypse? All of Pope's lines make him sound like a douchebag. The harnessed kids were pretty bad too. Beyond that, you really don't get the feeling that most of humanity has been wiped out or that food and sickness are much of a concern.

If it wasn't one of the few sci-fi shows on TV I probably would have stopped after the first episode. Had high hopes for it after hearing it was a sci-fi show with a 3rd season.

Stick with it. I was ready to quit after season 1 too so I went into the thread out of curiosity and saw that the general vibe was that season 2 was a big improvement. It is still flawed as hell and far from a great show even in season 2, but as far as alien invasion shows or even Sci-Fi TV goes nowadays, it isn't bad. Season 2 definitely gets much stronger as it goes and I'm actually looking forward to season 3 now. If you can drag yourself through season 1 without repeatedly falling asleep like I did, season 2 should be a breeze.
 

TheDanger

Banned
Stick with it. I was ready to quit after season 1 too so I went into the thread out of curiosity and saw that the general vibe was that season 2 was a big improvement. It is still flawed as hell and far from a great show even in season 2, but as far as alien invasion shows or even Sci-Fi TV goes nowadays, it isn't bad. Season 2 definitely gets much stronger as it goes and I'm actually looking forward to season 3 now. If you can drag yourself through season 1 without repeatedly falling asleep like I did, season 2 should be a breeze.


Or you could just watch shows that are actually good.
 

TheDanger

Banned
Vampire Diaries

I've just recently started watching this, and I have caught up to Season 3 (E03).

I enjoy watching it, but it can be somewhat tedious when dealing with character progression (Elena). How is the rest of the season (without spoiling), do things ramp up?

Season 3 gets better with each episode, I loved every second of the show except for the first 4 episodes from season 1 though. Can't wait for season 4. Hopefully we'll see you in the season 4 thread, first episode airs on October 11 if you want to catch up until then.
 

Bazza

Member
Started watching Castle last week, im half way through S2 at the moment. I'm glad i never watched it when it first started airing because I am really enjoying it and i have nothing else to watch so id be a little bored if it wasn't for this show.
 

rCIZZLE

Member
The first couple of episodes didn't really grab me. The guy who could "see the internet" kind of put me off.

It's really worth catching up with it though. Not groundbreaking at all but it is amazing what they do with limited use of special effects. Also Gary is one of my favorite characters on television.
 
Or you could just watch shows that are actually good.

I do. I have seen 80% of the commonly listed "best Television has to offer" shows (The Wire, The Shield, Six Feet Under, Sopranos etc etc). I'm about to embark on Deadwood as my next "classic" show to watch, but in the meantime there isn't much airing aside from Breaking Bad that I'm watching and I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan so why not watch it?
 

X05

Upside, inside out he's livin la vida loca, He'll push and pull you down, livin la vida loca
Just finished watching Reaper, which I loved. Such a very interesting, entertaining and outright fun show.
The ending though... why had to be cancelled? Had so much potential :(
 

Joni

Member
Damn you ABC. I just got through watching the new version of V. Okay, the old version was way better, but still this was a good science-fiction show and I want more! And bringing back
Jane Badler
was a fantastisc move. They should have given it a third season to wrap it up. Anything similar to this I can watch?

v-2009-war.jpg
 

Avinexus

Member
Watched all of Suits (blew through all of season 2 in one day), absolutely love the show. Next up I'm going to finally watch the final season of Friday Night Lights, then probably start on Mad Men (even though everything I have seen about it looks uninteresting to me).
 
Damn you ABC. I just got through watching the new version of V. Okay, the old version was way better, but still this was a good science-fiction show and I want more! And bringing back
Jane Badler
was a fantastisc move. They should have given it a third season to wrap it up. Anything similar to this I can watch?

Falling Skies is the closest thing airing on TV. It deals with the aftermath of an alien invasion, rather than during. First season mostly sucks, second season is pretty good. Then again I thought V was mostly terrible, so maybe you'll enjoy all of FS.
 

Solo

Member
Just finished Breaking Bad S2. Damn, that finale :eek:

Also, Walt delivered the most cold-blooded tough love I've ever seen in the penultimate episode when he
let Jessie's girlfriend choke on her own vomit and die when he could have rolled her over and saved her, all to try to scare Jessie straight.
Goddamn.
 

big ander

Member
Just finished Breaking Bad S2. Damn, that finale :eek:

Also, Walt delivered the most cold-blooded tough love I've ever seen in the penultimate episode when he
let Jessie's girlfriend choke on her own vomit and die when he could have rolled her over and saved her, all to try to scare Jessie straight.
Goddamn.

hm.
was he really doing that for Jesse? (it's Jesse by the way, not Jessie. Jessie is a girls name) or was he doing it because Jane was in his way? Spoiler, it's pretty damn clear it's the latter. him killing Jane was not tough love, it was skittish and rash murder of someone who threatened Walt's drug operation.
 
hm.
was he really doing that for Jesse? (it's Jesse by the way, not Jessie. Jessie is a girls name) or was he doing it because Jane was in his way? Spoiler, it's pretty damn clear it's the latter. him killing Jane was not tough love, it was skittish and rash murder of someone who threatened Walt's drug operation.

I don't disagree with this, but you can't say Walt wasn't feeling for Jesse at that point. The way he looks at the syringe, how he takes him to rehab.
 

big ander

Member
I don't disagree with this, but you can't say Walt wasn't feeling for Jesse at that point. The way he looks at the syringe, how he takes him to rehab.

(through BB Season 2)
He definitely cares about Jesse, but I never thought that Jesse was his prime motivation for letting Jane die.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
I started Six Feet Under a while ago and only got through four episodes before putting it on the back burner. Wasn't in the mood at the time.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the show again. Three episodes into Season 2 and I'm in love with it! Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall make for a great combination.

In the Sci-Fi realm, I finished Babylon 5 last month. That show made for a great ride with some impressive story arcs that offer satisfying payoff. I miss it. Season 1 wasn't great, as it merely served as an establishing season, but S2-S4 was just excellent and S5 had its moments.

For Fantasy, I watched all 20 episodes of Game of Thrones very recently, in just a couple of weeks. I'm not the biggest fantasy guy but this show is fantastic and I'm looking forward to Season 3. I don't read the books but I hear that the next season(s) will be based on Book 3 which is apparently very good.

As far as comedies are concerned, I delved into a Starz comedy called Party Down, starring Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Lizzy Caplan, and others. Only 20 episodes and it was cancelled. What a fucking travesty; this was a really funny and amusing "quirky character" comedy show and probably could have gone on for many more seasons if it had the viewership. On the bright side, there are plans for a Party Down movie, so I'm looking forward to that.

Is Party Down any fun? One friend said it would be nice but he also put me through the hell that was The Killing.
To reiterate, Party Down is worth it. The first few episodes are fun, and it gets better. Only 20 eps in total but after watching it I'm like a fanboy. Dying for the movie to become a reality. Hell, the most wonderful thing that could happen is if the movie comes out and makes a lot of money so that the series is rejuvenated, possibly on Starz or elsewhere.

I'm sorry, 20 eps for a comedy that good is just wrong.
 

Fry

Member
What did you think of the
plane crash? It seems to be the most divisive part of season 2.

I too didn't like it, but it's still my personal favorite season.

I do think S3 and S4 are just as good, if not better.

It's a tough call to rank them.
 
Started watching Falling Skies but not really enjoying it at all after ~12 episodes.
I didn't like the first season much, but watched the second season just out of viewing habits and it was much improved. Still not a great show, but better than the first season.

The first couple of episodes didn't really grab me. The guy who could "see the internet" kind of put me off.
I like the series a lot, but it started out REALLY rough. They switched show runners after the pilot and it took a while to establish what the show was gonna be.

Just finished watching Reaper, which I loved. Such a very interesting, entertaining and outright fun show.
The ending though... why had to be cancelled? Had so much potential :(
Low ratings, which isn't much of a problem on CW normally, but also didn't fit into CW's target demographic. Reaper arrived shortly after the UPN/WB merger, and was picked up before they decided to be a teen girl network. Supernatural was established enough by then to still get away with it. It's actually kind of a miracle they even gave Reaper a second season.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
I too didn't like it, but it's still my personal favorite season.

I do think S3 and S4 are just as good, if not better.

It's a tough call to rank them.

For sure. It certainly is difficult to rank them, but I don't think it's impossible!
3>4=2>1
 
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