Spielberg-produced alien invasion television series "Falling Skies"

[Jay 42,632]

Anybody else been seeing a ton of commercials for this?

[Quintus 5,727]

STEVEN SPIELBERG IN PRODUCTION SHOCKER!

[Greg1138 3]

I knew it was on it's way, but no idea it was so far in to production and was a mere month away....summer is looking good!

[Delorean90 47]

I actually know the guy who did the music for this. Looking forward to hearing what he did.

[Koray Savas 2,256]

You know John Williams?!

[JoeinAR 1,955]

they've been advertising this since the start of the year, and to be accurate it's not an alien invasions story as much as it's an alien occupation story. It's a slight difference sorta like the bite radius

[Delorean90 47]

You know John Williams?!

Noah Sorota

[tharpdevenport 4]

A Zimmer Camp guy? Was anybody who ever worked with Williams, busy?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,974]

Williams works alone!

[Ollie 1,292]

I'm actually tired of this, they've been promoting the hell out of it on TNT.

[Koray Savas 2,256]

You know John Williams?!

Noah Sorota

Hey now I'm kinda interested!

[Thor 9,308]

I've not seen any promotion for this (as I doubt they're gonna show it in Norway in the first place), but I'm looking forward to it very much. I've been craving another sci fi show to follow!

[Jay 42,632]

So, did anybody watch?

[Wojo 2,458]

I know someone who taped it but I haven't gone over to watch it.

[Jay 42,632]

Tape?

[Wojo 2,458]

VHS

Remember these?

[Ollie 1,292]

No I have no urge to watch this. I usually stay away from the TV during the summer, with the exception of the PGA.

Warning!!!! Spoiler is for both Fallen Skies and Super 8!!!!!!

Is it me or do the

aliens in the TV series bear a slight resemblance to the one in Super 8?

I don't know who worked on the TV series and they've only shown glimpses in the previews.

[Jay 42,632]

VHS

Remember these?

Of course. You have friends in 2011 that still use them? Have they not heard of a DVR?

They don't even make VCRs any more do they?

[Wojo 2,458]

Damn you! I thought the spoiler was about Fallen Skies, not the other thing, which I am completely staying away from.

[Jay 42,632]

Not that knowing what the alien in Super 8 looks like ruins the movie in any way, but yea, putting a spoiler for some other film in a spoiler block without saying what the spoiler block contains kinda defeats the whole purpose of spoiler blocking in the first place

[Ollie 1,292]

Sorry, fixed it for future viewers.

[Wojo 2,458]

Of course. You have friends in 2011 that still use them? Have they not heard of a DVR?

They don't even make VCRs any more do they?

Familiarity with a new high-tech toy is not the smoking gun to go buy it.

Not that knowing what the alien in Super 8 looks like ruins the movie in any way

BULLSHIT! Until today, I didn't know there WAS an alien in the movie. It could've been a robot, a dinosaur, a super soldier, a mutant, a giant insect, Sloth's twin brother, or something else.

[Jay 42,632]

Well, knowing there's an alien in Super 8 won't affect your enjoyment of the movie, I assure you

And - you're leveling us with regards to the whole taping thing right? Nobody records television shows onto VHS videotapes in 2011.... I just can't believe that to be true I'm sorry

[Ollie 1,292]

Actually it's Elvis and he's on a quest for a cheeseburger.

[Wojo 2,458]

Nah. Sorry, Super 8 is now scratched off my list of movies to see in the theater. I'll wait for the tape DVD.

I'm sorry, but not everyone is as young and hip as you guys with the disposable income to go buy a DVR unit to record television shows. I realize that people could still keep their VCR players so they don't have to upgrade a vast library of VHS tapes to DVD, and then the DVDs to Blu-Rays. And not everybody has childlike eyesight and hearing to make the increased picture and sound quality worth it, especially if said players are still connected to CRT televisions smaller than 40".

They still make VCRs, especially those that copy VHS to DVD, to let people copy their home movies of their children's entire frikking lives from VHS over to DVD. The side effect is that people don't have to re-buy DVDs if they can "pirate" their purchased or copied tapes over to DVD as well. What they don't make is VCRs with internal tuners. Gone are the days where you could watch channel 6 and tape channel 8 at the same TV using a VCR. Now your choices are to watch on a different TV, use a DVR, or use online methods of viewing.

According to this:

DVR penetration increased by about 4% in the last year on an absolute basis (11% on a relative basis) rising from 35.7% of TV households with DVRs in February 2010 to 39.7% in February 2011 according to Nielsen data via Turner’s research department. The percentage of viewers reached in those DVR homes rose from 38.5% in February 2010 to 42.2% in 2011. As you can see below, the landscape was very different in February ’07, though many complained that the DVR percentage was too small in 2007. The single biggest increases came for the 2007-08 season (not listed below, because I don’t have February data) when Nielsen bumped it up to around 25%.

DVR Penetration

________________Feb-07___Feb-10___Feb-11

Households______13.5%____35.7%____39.7%

Total Viewers __15.0%____38.5%____42.2%

Feb 2007: 01/29/2007 – 02/25/2007;

Feb 2010: 02/01/2010 – 02/28/2010;

Feb 2011: 01/31/2011 – 02/27/2011

Nobody records television shows onto VHS videotapes in 2011.... I just can't believe that to be true I'm sorry

100%-42.2% = 57.8% of the total viewers sampled don't have DVRs, so if they record shows at all, they use VHS tapes or their computers. And that percentage is still the majority, which is where this person and I both reside.

[Ollie 1,292]

I still have a VCR. I have my kid's home movies on VHS as well as a few sporting events from the 80's I wanted to keep. Somewhere I have a John Williams & Boston Pops Christmas concert on tape. I suppose one of these days I'll transfer them to DVD or a file on my PC.

And I haven't upgraded to Blu-Ray either.

As far as the DVR is concerned, I didn't buy one either. My cable company provided one.

[Wojo 2,458]

While it is a pain in the tookus to set the VCR to tape at the same time you set the DirecTV to switch on -- and keep anyone from changing the channel during -- it provides the convenience of having a physical medium to watch in another room, instead of being stuck with whatever internal, non-transferable and expirable storage method the DVR uses.

And the DirecTV guy didn't have DVRs on the day he came. They only had HD receivers, which is stupid because all but one TV are still CRT.

[Jay 42,632]

You can transfer shows recorded on your DVR to the other cable/sat boxes in the house if you have DirecTV or Verizon FiOS

I still feel like I'm being leveled.

[Ollie 1,292]

@ Wojo,

Oh I don't use Direct TV.

I didn't know who you used but some cable companies provide a DVR.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,974]

Well, knowing there's an alien in Super 8 won't affect your enjoyment of the movie, I assure you

I just love it when other people feel they have to make that decision for you.

[Jay 42,632]

[Ollie 1,292]

Well I could be an asshole and say it's rather obvious who / what the MacGuffin is.

[Wojo 2,458]

We don't have Verizon FIOS. We live in the boonies. 56k, remember that too?

But I'm officially taking collections for upgrading my antiquated VCR system to DVR.

.

Well I could be an asshole and say it's rather obvious who / what the MacGuffin is.

That wasn't the point.

[Jay 42,632]

Where do you live?

[JoeinAR 1,955]

well there are

Aliens

in the Alien invasion story.

[Ollie 1,292]

That wasn't the point.

I wasn't pointing you out on that one.

Although I could be the ultimate asshole and say read Spoilers at your own risk.

[Jay 42,632]

He had no way of knowing it was a spoiler for some other movie no one was talking about; Of course he assumed it was for Fallen Skies.

[Ollie 1,292]

Sarcasm Jason, sarcasm.

[Wojo 2,458]

I still feel like I'm being leveled.

Take that, flour. Take it!

[Jay 42,632]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=level

[Wojo 2,458]

What, so you think I really use DVRs but continue to promote the feigned usage of VHS technology as a charade? No, I really am that cheap, as are most of the people I know.

[Jay 42,632]

Most people you know.... tape television programs onto VHS tapes?

Now I know I'm being leveled.

[Wojo 2,458]

The Sky Is Crying which is kinda like Fallen Skies.

[Director of Poltergeist 8,142]

So, did anybody watch?

I did, but I still need to finish with my trusty DVR.

It's basically like PG-rated Terminator future scenes with aliens in the place of the robots.

The opening scene was pretty good. The invasion is described from the perspective of a child, complete with illustrations.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

the second hour was superior to the first, but because they come into it in the "middle of the universe", it loses something. It does give them the ability to flash back to how it all began.

because it started out strong in the ratings means it will drop off considerably. I wish they'd make this a true mini series with the end game already mapped out.

[Ollie 1,292]

Perhaps a miniseries would have been more appropriate.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

I thought the aliens reminded me of the Jeff Goldblum's fly face.

[Jay 42,632]

So is anybody watching this? I personally haven't yet, but am still interested in checking it out.

The 2 hour season finale is this Sunday

[mstrox 7,224]

There's a lot to like about the series, but a lot to dislike. The dialogue is very frequently cheesy, and there are a number of plotlines that seem pretty pointless. Towards the middle of the season it gets a bit more interesting (starting with the two-parter episodes). If I had just dropped in on a middle episode, it wouldn't have been enough to get me interested; I'm only continuing to watch because I've been along for the ride.

The music has not made an impression on me.

[MSM 128]

Hollywood seems obsessed with aliens.