What is the last Television series you watched?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Was Hulk Hogan in that one?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Earthlings... I. Hate. Earthlings.

[A24 4,338]

5 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

 

I hear you...I more or less feel the same way about M*A*S*H, which to me almost had a cinemtatic feel, and writing that's second to none.

 

Then again, I grew up watching M*A*S*H reruns. I can't say how I'd feel about it had i discovered it today.

 

Why did you have to mention M*A*S*H?! Now I can't get the theme out of my head!

[Wojo 2,453]

2 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Why did you have to mention M*A*S*H?! Now I can't get the theme out of my head!

 

You could commit suicide. It's painless. 

 

(just kidding, of course.) 

[A24 4,338]

Of course ...

 

 

Jay!

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

22 hours ago, Quintus said:

I didn't mind Friends at all, but I much prefer something like Curb or Arrested Development over it. I think I'm probably going to wind up liking Seinfeld more than some of the other sitcoms I've seen too. Friends was a bit hunky dory glossy for my tastes.

 

The creators of Seinfeld had a rule..."no hugging, no learning, no special episodes".  Basically they wanted to get away from the sentimentality that had become a big part of contemporary sitcoms.  Almost everyone on the show was selfish, self-centred and self-absorbed. And wonderfully so.

[Quintus 5,399]

Yes! Suits me down to the ground.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I like it, but I wouldn't want all sitcoms to be like that.  I enjoy the well-done, well-balanced sentimentality of something like the new Netflix version of One Day at a Time, which I will evangelize for until the cows come home.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Seinfeld has no subject, no core, no thesis.

[Quintus 5,399]

Hehe

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

This is how we used to discuss 90's tv when you were out clubbing!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Frasier is the only properly struck balance between true humor and a bit of sentimentality every so often.  Friends is often cringey for me. 

[Wojo 2,453]

17 minutes ago, TGP said:

Frasier is the only properly struck balance between true humor and a bit of sentimentality every so often.  Friends is often cringey for me. 

 

After binge watching Cheers in about a year or so, we couldn't take more than ten episodes of Frasier. We gave up. We might go back and watch just the ones with Lilith, Diane, and the rest of the Cheers gang (minus silly Rebecca, of course). 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

They're all about well-off white people.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

10 hours ago, Wojism said:

 

After binge watching Cheers in about a year or so, we couldn't take more than ten episodes of Frasier. We gave up. We might go back and watch just the ones with Lilith, Diane, and the rest of the Cheers gang (minus silly Rebecca, of course). 

 

I would give it more time.  It takes a season to hit its stride like Seinfeld.

[A24 4,338]

12 hours ago, TGP said:

 Friends is often cringey for me. 

 

Especially Phoebe with (or without) her guitar. 

 

 

[Quintus 5,399]

13 hours ago, TGP said:

Frasier is the only properly struck balance between true humor and a bit of sentimentality every so often.  Friends is often cringey for me. 

 

This is why I couldn't ever really commit to Friends. Its brand of humour was so often too syrupy and cloying for my taste, and I'm afraid Matthew Perry's more cynical counterweight was never really enough to offset the likes of Phoebe and Ross, and their cuddly cheese.

 

I like my sitcoms to be a bit more dry and dare I say, depraved. Seinfeld has this nice undercurrent of cynicism going on, which isn't to say it's never warm with its comedy and characters, but sentimentality certainly isn't the show's main interest, like it was with Friends. I also really appreciate the Larry David influence and sleight of hand in the storylines - how the absurd plots are really cleverly constructed so that the long setup gags all fall into place later on; it's the same payoff I recognize from Curb and it's the reason he's a comedy genius in that way.

 

As for Frasier, well it is so well done, it somehow makes farce scenarios feel sophisticated. There was a wonderful warmth to that sitcom too, but I'd hardly accuse it of being sappy.

[Wojo 2,453]

9 hours ago, TGP said:

I would give it more time.  It takes a season to hit its stride like Seinfeld.

 

I do fondly remember the later seasons, when Daphne and Niles finally hook up, but I don't see the need to binge watch now to get there. Also, the name of Frasier's studio partner irritates me. 

[Holko 9,526]

I've finally committed to start getting through the original Twin Peaks soon.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

.

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

1 hour ago, Holko said:

I've finally committed to start getting through the original Twin Peaks soon.

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Just don't despair midway Season 2. It's a fun part of the show that you get used to.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I couldn’t even get to that point. The rest was already terrible. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,198]

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I couldn’t even get to that point. The rest was already terrible. 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

 

 

[A24 4,338]

I loved Seinfeld but I remember that, as the seasons went by, Kramer became way too self-conscious and caricatural (even more so than ever). However, that was my only minor complaint about the show. 

 

 

Michael Richards (Kramer) is an incredible storyteller though ...

[JoeinAR 1,949]

My only complaint about Seinfeld was it was not funny. It was certainly irritating. George may be the worst character in tv history.

[publicist 4,643]

The funniest!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Hate the Drake!

[Quintus 5,399]

I dunno, I think George is always a highlight of any episode he's in. We're trucking our way through this now, probably 2-3 episodes every night. I honestly can't really see why anyone wouldn't find it at least watchable.

[publicist 4,643]

George is a comic exaggeration of the worst (egocentric etc.) impulses found - to varying degrees - in all of us. For whatever reason characters like this sometimes activate defense mechanisms in people. There is a great merciless german satirist who often suffers the same fate. Wouldn't want to look in that mirror.

[Quintus 5,399]

6 minutes ago, publicist said:

George is a comic exaggeration of the worst (egocentric etc.) impulses found - to varying degrees - in all of us. For whatever reason characters like this sometimes activate defense mechanisms in people.

 

Probably true actually. 

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

2 hours ago, Quintus said:

I dunno, I think George is always a highlight of any episode he's in. We're trucking our way through this now, probably 2-3 episodes every night. I honestly can't really see why anyone wouldn't find it at least watchable.

 

Well George is more or less Larry David...for good and bad.

 

Speaking of which, watch & listen for Larry David cameos throughout the series...including one very memorable recurring voice performance.

[Quintus 5,399]

I've already noted two cameo moments from him, early on.

[Pellaeon 593]

On 8/9/2018 at 2:37 PM, Nick1066 said:

I think for most people, if they didn't watch a pre-golden age show growing up, or in its time, it's hard to appreciate or get into it today. TV has changed so much, the story telling so much more complex, and the production designs so high, that if you don't have a sentimental attachment to a very old show, you're generally not going to develop one. That's no to say there wasn't always a lot of quality TV, but I think TV loses its accessibility over time the way film doesn't.

 

For example, I've heard forever how great Buffy is (and I know it's been incredibly influential), but when I gave it a go I found it to be stupid. I'm sure had I watched it in its time I'd feel different. I think the same goes for a lot of these shows.

 

I think there are some shows that are notably excepted from this, but for the most part I think movies age better than TV.

 

I dunno, I think movies by and large age TERRIBLY; we just tend to remember the notable exceptions. I don’t think TV is any different. I can put on any 1960s episode of Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Mission: Impossible, or Doctor Who, and be guaranteed a thoughtful and entertaining hour. I could easily watch that stuff every day. And I didn’t see any of them until my late 20s. Growing up I did see comedies like Batman, Get Smart, Bewitched, Gilligan’s, etc. So maybe I’m just “nostalgic” for the 60s in general, but, I doubt it. I think they just did TV better. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and there’s very little from those decades or from the 70s that I enjoy, nostalgia or no nostalgia.

 

There are very few “golden age” shows that I actually enjoy—Rome, Sherlock, ?? do Firefly and Alias and Chuck count? Mad Men had its moments, but you had to slog through a ton of depressing shit.

[Quintus 5,399]

To me you sound like a typical genre centric viewer. Sci-fi and fantasy is your bag, judging by the things you mentioned. Plenty of people like you. Justin and Drax spring to mind.

[Pellaeon 593]

14 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Sci-fi and fantasy is your bag, judging by the things you mentioned.

 

Are you saying golden age TV is weak in those areas?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Battlestar is a foundational Golden Age show as far I’m concerned

[Jay 37,368]

And Westworld is some of the best science fiction television ever produced

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

And Westworld is some of the best science fiction television ever produced

 

QFT, although I could do without seeing all those ugly dicks flashed at me every episode. Don't the actors get embarrassed that the whole world can now see their privates??

[Pellaeon 593]

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Finally finished up The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Might be my favorite show of recent years, though I admittedly haven’t watched much over the past decade. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

2 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

Finally finished up The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Might be my favorite show of recent years, though I’ve admitedly haven’t watched much over the past decade. 

 

It’s fantastic.

[A24 4,338]

 

10 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

 

I dunno, I think movies by and large age TERRIBLY; we just tend to remember the notable exceptions.

 

If that's the case, I can think of a lot of exceptions. Then again, I don't think that the latest blockbusters are the pinnacle of movie-making. If the movies you're thinking about age that badly, it's very likely they weren't so great to begin with.

 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

4 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

 

 

What's this? I'm geoblocked from seeing it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

14 hours ago, Jay said:

And Westworld is some of the best science fiction television ever produced

 

Several friends of mine told me it's some of the worst ever produced.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It's a bit divisive.  You're either really on the show's wavelength, or you're really not.  I was pretty down on the first season, but completely won over by the second.

[Pellaeon 593]

6 hours ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

What's this? I'm geoblocked from seeing it.

 

“A Chorus of Wieners” from South Park.

[Jay 37,368]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

 

Several friends of mine told me it's some of the worst ever produced.

 

THIS JUST IN:  Different people sometimes have different opinions about things!

[A24 4,338]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

 

Several friends of mine told me it's some of the worst ever produced.

 

It's somewhere in between, but that means it's not good enough for me. I haven't seen the second season though ...