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What is the last Television series you watched?


Jay

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Homeland Season 6

 

A very meh season to what has turned out to be a very meh show.  All potential shown in the first 2 seasons has been squashed and squandered repeatedly as the years have gone on.  This season killed off yet more characters and featured an incomprehensible plot about trying to discredit the new POTUSA for reasons that are never really explained.  The only thing good is the balls the show had to make this new POTUSA the new villain in the final 2 minutes of the season... but even that is way too little, way too late.  There's no reason to watch this show!

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46 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Related question: Do you have the bluray box of season 1?  I really loved the extended cut of "Measure of a Man"!  So sad, but understandable, that they had to cut those 13 minutes.

 

No, i only have them on Netflix 

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9 hours ago, Stefancos said:

All Good Things...

TNG's television swansong closer of an unusually uneven seventh season which had some of TNG's best episodes (Pegasus) and some of it's worst (Sun Rosa), and a whole bunch of episodes in between that don't register strongly enough. There's a sense of staleness in a lot of season seven where technoballe is far too prominent and any sense of wonder is often downplayed (Sadly Voyager started pretty much in that exact state not much later)

 

All Good Things is a hell of a farewell though. Pure TNG, temporal anomalies, different timelines, Q, and loads of technobabble.

It's very very complicated plot remains character based though, as the best TNG episodes often are. Patrick Stewart navigates these 3 timelines and must ensure the loyalties of a. a crew that doesnt yet know him and b. a crew that knows him and is devoted to him, but knows he has space-alzheimer of some sorts. TNG was never a show about conflicts, but did know how to create a crew which have faith in each other and their captain. Like Kirk stealing the Enterprise to bring Spock's mind to rest, this Enterprise crew willingly takes itself into the temporal anomaly created by their own tachyon bursts and risk their lives to create a static warp shell that will essentially save humanity (the episode strangely doesn't mention every other species in the Alpha Quadrant though).

 

As expected in the end all is well (they had a movie coming up after all). But it does end the show with a fine closing scene where Picard finally joins the weekly TNG poker game.

 

A unique series, and the default Star Trek for many, including me.

 

Good words, and now I'd like to see it again.

 

While TNG is probably my default Trek as well, as you know I am a Voyager apologist.  I think I prefer what Voyager aspired to be to TNG.  My idealized mental version of it is far better.

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Voyager is very good when it's doing big action shows, like their first Borg 2 parter. 

Its also when Janeway is at her best as a character. Walking on a knife edge, making deals with the devil.

 

She makes the risky, gut instinct decisions that Picard would have shied away from.

 

Good stuff!

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Myself, Jay, KM, Wojo, Koray and the others are considerate in that we generally keep video game talk to the video game thread. How about you lot do the same with Star Trek and chat about its various shows in its own thread? Because Stefancos is always the first person to moan when game talk momentarily hijacks other threads on rare occasion, so it'd only be fair. Repetitious Star Trek talk wouldn't be so bad or noticeable to me, if I hadn't already had to scroll past pretty much the exact same conversations taking place between Steef and Justin on Facebook, on a daily basis. It's neverending Star Trek here and there, and it's a personal turn off for me. I didn't join JWFan for endless Star Trek, but it feels particularly prominent here lately. John Williams has no ties to Star Trek, however tenuously you guys might dispute that. 

 

13 hours ago, publicist said:

MV5BMTg0NDU2MDM2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODEz

 

Really one of the better Amazons: 25 minutes=perfect length, and with a funny woman at the center it sure is an original. 

 

Got a month left on my Amazon sub, so I'll try this quick. 

 

 

 

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What are you on about mate?

 

We've discussing a TV show in a thread that's designated for discussing TV shows.

Just like how you, Jason, KM keep game discussion limited as much as possible to the relevant threads.

 

 

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I've started several over the years, none really took. Perhaps you should take it up with Jason. He could start a thread and move posts from all the various Star Trek threads etc we've had there. I'd certainly support that.

 

My apologies for this post anyway.

 

Broken Bow

 

I've seen very little of Enterprise and this is the first time I've seen the pilot.

I would have expected this to be decent. Even Farpoint is, if you look past the cheese. However despite having far far better production values, more polished acting and was written by two people who had been writing and producing Star Trek for years now, this is the worst of the "modern" TV pilots, and more or less halted any desire I had to continue.

 

The concept of doing a prequel to TOS is in essence interesting. Kirk's era was indeed far more filled with strange new worlds and exploration then the TNG era. So despite it being a concept hogged from Star Wars, I can see merit to the idea. Weirdly though, for a pilot that's supposed to go back to the origins of Star Trek TOS, it really feels nothing like it. That in itself isnt a problem I guess.

 

Visually this is certainly a step up from Voyager, which was a step up from TNG. Shot in HD with, for it's time, impressively rendered CGI. Action scenes shot in quite a dynamic fashion. There's quite a lot of it too. Parts of the pilot actually reminded me of Star Trek (2009). Lots of running, shooting, fighting, screaming orders. All quite well done.

 

The set design is a mixed bag though. I understand why they didnt want their new ship to resemble the campy 60's Enterprise, but what they did instead has virtually no presence. modeled more on the rather boring bridge of the first few movies, but more cramped, obviously inspired by a submarine design. Again. design wise this makes sense, but I dunno it feels bland. (BSG would do this a lot better a few years later)

 

Bland is also a word that can be used to describe the outside of the Enterprise. In the last few seasons of Voyager we saw a trend of Federation Starships that were elongated and stretched. Moving away from the more regal, swan like appearance. USS Voyager looks very handsome, as did The Defiant. This new Enterprise doesn't however. It has zero presence.

 

The cast. Bakula is solid, if a little uneven. The rest of the cast ranges from bland to annoying. Tripp is an obnoxious loudmouth and T'Pol.... To play a Vulcan well is quite hard. And requires a certain kind of actor. I'm not sure Blalock is that kind. Throughout she acts more like Voyager's Seven Of Nine (on which they obviously based her) than a Vulcan. Actually all of the Vulcans in this episode are awful. As are most of the humans. The Vulcans are written as cliche Vulcans and the humans as cliche's 21th century humans. It's actually very hard to find anyone likable in this, apart from Archer, and the new alien Doctor.

 

That's the main issue I had I guess. A good pilot should set up a cast of characters and set the foundations of the series with a decent story.

Broken Bow barely seems to have a story. A Klingon gets shot on Earth, the newly commissioned Enterprise has to take him to the homeworld, the Klingon gets kidnapped by some new bizarro aliens, the new Enterprise crew gets him back, delivers him and thats that. On to strange new worlds!

 

If you are gonna explore the era before TOS in a new series, that's what you do as your pilot? Storywise it leaves almost everything hanging for future episodes. The reason the Klingon was there. The new Talib...eeeehhh...Suliban aliens, some mention of a Temporal Cold War. All potentially interesting things which get introduced here but in no way dealt with.

 

So characters I found hard to care about, and not much of a story. I seem to remember now why Star Trek seriously began to lose it's magic in the very late 90's.

 

A good pilot is supposed to be your selling point. To both the studio and an audience that this might be a show to invest in.

 

I've been a Trekkie since i was 13 I reckon. It has been and always shall be a huge thing in my entertainment experience, and I just couldnt find myself caring about any of this.

 

 

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Finished Broadchurch on Monday. It's all nice, to be sure, and the cast is great as always (with Tennant in particular good form), but it's also a bit irrelevant. I don't understand why this has to be the final series - not because I desparately want more, but rather because if you make this, you could just as well make more. The logical thing would have been to end after the brilliant first series. The second series handled the aftermath of the first one, and as such was relevant - and involving, since we still cared about those characters from before. The third series has a new, entirely unrelated case. The stakes seem lowered (and they shouldn't be, or not much, just because it's a rape instead of a murder case this time), and while it has a certain purpose in bringing a bit of closure to the Latimer story, it's also done with hardly any connection to the main plot. It's all rather unfocused, and doesn't build a lot of tension. I enjoyed watching it, but I was never hooked by this series as I was by the previous two, and I don't mind that it's all over now.

 

Hopefully Chibnall starts his Doctor Who tenure with fresher ideas.

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Doctor Who is probably the reason why this is the last series. 

 

Series 1 was pretty strong, especially the acting was very well done. The resolution of the murder was a bit iffy, imo.

 

Series 2 was in interesting continuation. A bit uneven. I did like that some of the gripes I had about the S1 resolution were used as plot points here. Again, a strong cast.

 

I'll probably binge series 3 soon. How was the music? Same composer?

 

Marian, if you are thinking of trying the American remake called Gracepoint, don't bother. It's almost identical to series one, but never quite as good.

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1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Finished Broadchurch on Monday. It's all nice, to be sure, and the cast is great as always (with Tennant in particular good form), but it's also a bit irrelevant. I don't understand why this has to be the final series - not because I desparately want more, but rather because if you make this, you could just as well make more. The logical thing would have been to end after the brilliant first series. The second series handled the aftermath of the first one, and as such was relevant - and involving, since we still cared about those characters from before. The third series has a new, entirely unrelated case. The stakes seem lowered (and they shouldn't be, or not much, just because it's a rape instead of a murder case this time), and while it has a certain purpose in bringing a bit of closure to the Latimer story, it's also done with hardly any connection to the main plot. It's all rather unfocused, and doesn't build a lot of tension. I enjoyed watching it, but I was never hooked by this series as I was by the previous two, and I don't mind that it's all over now.

 

Hopefully Chibnall starts his Doctor Who tenure with fresher ideas.

 

I really disliked how in the end it was just "twisted psycho did it because he's a twisted psycho" which is always the most boring way for mysteries to resolve.

 

Anyway, this show should never have gotten a second, let alone third series at all.  The 1st season is basically perfect television, then Chibnall kinda fucked it up with season 2, especially regarding Tennant's character.  Then season 3 was better, but just kind of pointless.  Still, enjoyably well-made.

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45 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

I'll probably binge series 3 soon. How was the music? Same composer?

 

Probably. Can't say I ever noticed the music in this show, except for the end credits song (which always seemed somewhat out of place).

 

45 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Marian, if you are thinking of trying the American remake called Gracepoint, don't bother. It's almost identical to series one, but never quite as good.

 

That's what I've heard, even before I saw Broadchurch. I'd kinda be interested to see just how Tennant does it, but then again, what's the point without the Scottish accent?

 

Can't be as bad as the US Coupling though, which is in fact quite amazing for being pretty much exactly the same yet completely not funny at all.

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Tennant is fine, as his is accent. But its harder to be a miserable bastard without being Scottish ;)

 

Of the rest of the cast the only one getting near to his English counterpart is Nick Nolte.

 

Anna Gunn was good, but her Ellie wasnt as personable as Olivia Colman with a west country accent. 

 

I found the music in both series of Broadchurch i saw to be rather exceptional. And it was really allow to both set the mood and drive the action at several key points.

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The US version of Coupling actually got pretty good once you got past the first 2-3 episodes that were just UK scripts redone.  Most of them didn't air though, but if you tracked them down online the cast really took to their roles and they had some good adventures together

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Marian, did Coupling have a River Song type character? Seems to be a Moffat archetype.

 

And have you ever seen Press Gang? One of his early shows. I watched it a bit in the early nineties and recall it was pretty good. Love Julia Sawalha!

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Coupling basically followed the Friends paradigm, the six main characters more or less line up with the six Friends main characters with a couple personality quirks shifted around

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Marian, did Coupling have a River Song type character? Seems to be a Moffat archetype.

 

No, but it had an episode that was told backwards and another one that was told in split screen, with one half of the screen being one minute behind the other at one point. Those were at the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd series if I remember correctly. I wonder if that was around the time he discovered The Time Traveller's Wife - I'm actually reading that right now and it's really not just the basis for River Song but also a lot of the Pond stuff, really.

 

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

And have you ever seen Press Gang? One of his early shows. I watched it a bit in the early nineties and recall it was pretty good. Love Julia Sawalha!

 

Never heard of it. I shall put it on my list. I only know Sawalha from Chicken Run, I think.

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15 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Yes, i knew it was sorta Friends like. Haven't seen much though

 

Its worth tracking down, its a really funny show.  Short investment too, as they only made 28 episodes.  NOTE that the 4th season is a huge drop in quality compared to the first 3, primarily because one of the actors left the show after season 3.. you could probably not even bother with the fourth season really.  Then you'll only have 22 episodes!

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11 minutes ago, Jay said:

NOTE that the 4th season is a huge drop in quality compared to the first 3, primarily because one of the actors left the show after season 3

 

Yeah, he even introduced a new character who's obsessed with Doctor Who and even kinda looks like Moffat.  It was clearly meant to be a stand-in for himself, Woody Allen style.  It wasn't good.

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They should have just ran with 5 characters in a post-Jeff world instead of bringing an a similar but vastly inferior Jeff

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2 minutes ago, Jay said:

They should have just ran with 5 characters in a post-Jeff world instead of bringing an a similar but vastly inferior Jeff

 

I actually thought he wasn't very similar to Jeff at all.  They may both be socially inept but in very different ways.  Jeff was a sex-obsessed weirdo eccentric, more like a Kramer-type.  The 2nd guy I can't remember the name of, let's call him Cousin Oliver, was more of the stereotypical "shy nerd" who's a nice guy but always puts his foot in it, socially.

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Yea, there were more awkward moments for sure.  But he wasn't the only reason season 4 wasn't as good as the original 3; A lot of time was dedicated to the pregnancy subplot too.  The very final moments of the show, though, were rather nice.

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3 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I actually thought he wasn't very similar to Jeff at all.

 

He looks like Jeff, and he's his replacement as the group's weirdo. The fact that his core character is different (and not very funny) doesn't help since he's clearly there to fill the hole left by Jeff.

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15 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

He looks like Jeff, and he's his replacement as the group's weirdo. The fact that his core character is different (and not very funny) doesn't help since he's clearly there to fill the hole left by Jeff.

 

Oh yeah, I wasn't disputing that.   He's very clearly meant as a Jeff replacement and the shame is that he doesn't work as that nor does he work as a character on his own.  Just bad.

 

Great show though!  Highly recommended!

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Halfway through Homeland season 6.

 

Damn, this show pretty much sucks now. Aside from the politics of the show, and its lead character, seemingly having changed overnight, its narratively inert and a lot of it just strains credulity...even for Homeland. They've castrated the Saul character and turned him into a vessel for the creators to broadcast their own foreign policy views.

 

This show has been going downhill for a while, and is probably 2-3 seasons past its expiration date.

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Yea, pretty much mirrors my comments I made on Season 6 a few posts up.  Agree with you that I hate what they turned Saul into in these later seasons.  The Carrie/Saul dynamic is a big reason the early seasons were good.  I like it much better when they are working together to stop terrorists, not sparring with each other.

 

EDIT: My post a few posts up includes a spoiler about how Season 6 ends, so read at your own risk.

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I'm not even sure I would want anymore Deadwood.  It's a perfect show, my favorite ever made.  Maybe just leave it alone.  On the other hand, at this point I just want to see more David Milch anything.

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14 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Wasnt it cancelled prematurely?

 

Yes.

 

14 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Does it end in a satisfactory way?

 

No, because it was cancelled prematurely.

 

There's a ton of great setup for season 4 (which would have been the final season) in season 3 that never gets followed through simply because season 4 never got made.

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Season 1 was pretty good, season 2 took a huge nosedive.  Overall netflix comedies aren't that great though, they excel with dramas

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Just now, Jay said:

Season 1 was pretty good, season 2 took a huge nosedive.  Overall netflix comedies aren't that great though, they excel with dramas

 

I thought the second half of season 2 (once Tina Fey becomes a major character, basically) was excellent, as good or better than the first season.  But the first half of season 2 was a little rough.

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Ugh really?  I thought it was mostly terrible. Too many episodes without Jane Krakowski or Carol Kane, and one insufferable episode without either of them, making it the Kimmy & Titus show... what a slog to get through.

 

Still better than the abysmal Santa Clarita Diet though!

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6 minutes ago, Jay said:

Season 1 was pretty good, season 2 took a huge nosedive.  Overall netflix comedies aren't that great though, they excel with dramas

 

For this kind of chick friendly fair you'd be far better off with Crazy Ex Girlfriend. That one I can enjoy, in doses. It's very funny at times. 

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Out of curiosity what is for you? Now that I've established you actually watched Kimmy Schmidt for yourself, I mean. 

 

I didn't know guys did that sort of thing, that's all. 

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29 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Out of curiosity what is for you? Now that I've established you watched Kimmy Schmidt for yourself, I mean. 

 

I didn't know guys did that sort of thing, that's all. 

 

Watched it for myself?  Huh?  What?  I watch it with my wife, and I literally just said it wasn't that good.  I'm confused....

 

What shows are for me?  Are you asking me what comedies I watch, or what dramas, or both?  Haven't we already had that conversation multiple times?  If I must say it all again:


Currently airing shows I like:

 

Better Call Saul

Black Mirror

Mr Robot

Fargo

The OA

Stranger Things

Game of Thrones

Search Party

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Silicon Valley

Wet Hot American Summer

Angie Tribeca

Last Man On Earth

Brooklyn 99

Modern Family

Sherlock BBC (season 4 is garbage though)

 

 

No-longer airing shows I liked:


Twin Peaks
Carnivale

Breaking Bad

Six Feet Under

The Sopranos

True Detective (Season 1 only)

Dollhouse

Boardwalk Empire (later seasons weren't as good as the earlier ones though)

Sons and Daughters

Arrested Development

Scrubs

Parks and Recreation

The Office

 

 

Currently airing shows I don't think are that great:

 

Homeland (seasons 1-2 were OK)

Santa Clarita Diet (waste of time)

Kimmy Schmidt (Season 1 showed potential)

Vice Principals

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Orange Is The New Black (had potential but kind of slowly devolved into being just OK)

All the Marvel/Netflix shows (they are too similar to each other)

 

 

No-longer airing shows I don't really recommend:

 

Dexter (seasons 1-4 were good, seasons 5-8 were terrible)
Weeds (Started out good, quickly turned to utter garbage)

True Blood (Season 1 was genuinely good, then each seasons got worse and worse until it was outright terrible)

How I Met Your Mother (good potential squandered by a final season and episode that was a big F U to fans)

Community (Early seasons showed potential, but the show was never consistently great for me, way too much up and down)

 

 

Shows I want to watch, but simply have not yet started:

 

The Wire

The Man In The High Castle

Mad Men

The Americans

Bates Motel

The Affair

The Leftovers

 

 

 

25 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

CSI and NCIS according to Alex.

 

Never seen a second of either show once.

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