Re: Grab Bag 3

Doctor Submarine wrote:

So, wait, the panel really likes The Newsroom? I've never watched it, but I thought it was pretty much universally acknowledged to be terrible.

Only by very bad people.   

/two hours to the season premiere squeeee


EDIT:  to be fair, a legitimate criticism I've seen is about the handling of the female characters.  Although all the female characters are phD level in intelligence (it's Sorkin, so all the characters are geniuses), there have been complaints that they're all goofy and awkward and just exist in relation to the male characters.   

Which is kinda valid, but it doesn't bother me that much - probably because I'm a boy.   Also, I would point out the male characters do exceedingly dumb shit at times too.

I am wondering if that criticism will lead to any changes in the dynamics of the new season.  We'll see.

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I liked The Newsroom, but I also liked Studio 60 so I apparently can't be trusted to like anything ever again.

*currently rewatching last season's finale in preparation for the new season*


(It's not at all on the level of The West Wing or The Social Network, but then again, almost nothing is.)

Last edited by Hansen (2013-07-15 01:03:18)

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Interesting. I've only ever heard about it in the context of people either mocking it or hating it.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Just saw the season premiere of The Newsroom. I admire the show's writing, on the one hand, but I'm often annoyed with certain aspects of it on the other. This leads me to watch the show compulsively.

The premiere was pretty good, I thought. If anyone's looking to start watching, I think it's a lot easier to jump on board at any point than some dramas are. (Although at some point you'll want to catch Season One in order to see a pretty funny Apollo 13 reference.)

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I really, really disliked season 1, felt totally unworthy of being an HBO show, especially given the pedigree involved. I'll give season 2 a shot based on that interview with Sorkin where he acknowledged his failings on the 1st season and said they were changing things around and improving for season 2. Still think using real-world news-stories was a mistake.

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It took a couple of episodes to find its feet. an episode or two didn't really leave the studio and didn't have much humour but once it gets going it is pretty damn good.  smile

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
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Re: Grab Bag 3

Well, the debut episode wasn't particularly noteworthy - it felt like they were mostly setting the pieces in place for this season's story arcs.   

I have a hunch about what the "What happened to Maggie?" reveal will be... and if I'm right, I'm not sure that's the way to satisfy the disappointment some folks expressed about the female characters last season.

And Sloan was particularly odd this week - I mostly liked where Olivia Munn was going with the character last season, but the character seemed especially confused in this episode.  I'm really not looking forward to a Sloan/Don romance if that's what they've got in mind for this season.  Don's a douche.

I still like it when Will gets tipsy and starts talking in references, though.  So there's that.

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Whenever people talk about how the Newsroom isn't that bad, I have a flashback to the episode where Mackenzie stomped on a phone (and then poured coffee on it!) because she accidentally sent an email to the whole office.

Best producer in the business, guys.

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And Alison Pill publicly tweeted a topless picture of herself that she intended to send only to her fiance.  But that was in real life.   

We have no data on whether she poured coffee on her phone afterward.

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Finally actually listening to this and I'm with Trey on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. I read the first four or five chapters last year and couldn't get into it at all.

In fact, I pretty much found it infuriating.

Last edited by Hansen (2013-07-15 21:19:13)

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I didn't have this experience, but apparently it's common enough that the author puts a note at the beginning saying that many people consider it to take off after the fifth chapter or so.

I admit it can be heavy handed in its perspective at times, but once it gets going, it manages some really remarkable storytelling.

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It's really just a fun what-if, if you're a fan of Harry Potter and have a skeptical mindset, and it's well-written enough to take the curse of being fan fiction off reading it. Somehow it hit Brian's G-spot like a freight train, which is great, but I think maybe he's at risk of overhyping it a little at this point.

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I'm about halfway through Spin right now and so far I'm finding it existentially terrifying. But in a good way.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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The worst part is

1/3rd of the way through the book spoilers Show
knowing that time is running out a million times faster than it previously was.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Teague wrote:

The worst part is

1/3rd of the way through the book spoilers Show
knowing that time is running out a million times faster than it previously was.

That was the main thing for me, yeah.

I actually just finished it. It's one hell of a book, that's for sure. Just chock-full of ideas, but never losing track of its characters. It's a strong recommendation from me.

How are the sequels? It seems like there's a lot of story left to tell.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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It kind of loses it. Not that there's nothing worth reading there, but... pretend Robert Charles Wilson died and we were all left with Spin, not knowing what he'd do to follow it up.

And in the meantime, read "The Chronoliths" by Robert Charles Wilson. It's like the guy who wrote Spin never died!

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Allison wrote:

I think Episode 3 was a definite improvement. I really love the show runner (he created and wrote the Runaways comics, which you should all read) so I'm hanging on for him.

Wait, BKV is showrunning Under the Dome? I am now interested!

I make music and teach at-risk students.
soundcloud.com/the-one-galen

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Oh, I should mentioned I am BARELY hanging on now. It has gotten worse.

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I've already given up and am just reading the weekly io9 recaps now, same as I did with Terra Nova and other trainwrecks.   When I let io9 do the watching and the ridiculing, it saves me SO much time.

To be fair, I made it through three whole episodes of Under the Dome.   That's two more than Defiance or Terra Nova, and only one fewer than Falling Skies.

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I lasted longer with Defiance but haven't finished the season (nor will I) and I watched all of Terra Nova, to my shame. Never watched Falling Skies and I'm sticking with Under The Dome.

For now......

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I got through the entire first season of Falling Skies, but it's only because I couldn't be bothered to change the playlist after that totally wtf religion thing smacks you up side the head for 20 seconds and then disappears. Luckily it never came back up again in the show. But I have no impoulse or drive to continue watching Falling Skies.

And I haven't bothered with Defiance yet, I don't think I even finished the pilot of Terra Nova, and I haven't bothered with Under The Dome and probably never will (I'd rather go watch the the Simpsons movie again).

ZangrethorDigital.ca

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I'm really surprised to hear that Under the Dome is so disappointing.

I'm not watching it myself yet, because I want to read the book first and I have over 30 other King books to get through before I get to that one.

But anyway, I'm surprised that it's so lackluster considering Brian K Vaughan did some really good Lost episodes and is the sole writer of what might just be my favorite comic book of all time (That would be Y: The Last Man for those wondering).



On the topic of Under the Dome. I hate to be the guy who points out these things, but Trey got a lot of the writer/director credits for who had done what before mixed up on the podcast. I'd point out specifics, but it doesn't really matter and nobody should care.

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Well whaddaya know.  True enough.  Somehow my IMDB surfing of Under the Dome got me into a West Wing episode which was erroneous.    the Times regrets the error.

That's actually a relief of sorts - I'm much happier knowing Under the Dome was perpetrated by people who had no connection to the West Wing.  smile

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Falling Skies, Under The Dome and Terra Nova were all Executive Produced by one Señor Spielbergo. Coincidence?

The answer is yes.

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Jimmy B wrote:

Falling Skies, Under The Dome and Terra Nova were all Executive Produced by one Señor Spielbergo. Coincidence?

The answer is yes.

There are some who speak (only in secret) of what it is like to be working on those shows when The Call comes.   

The Call comes when He Has Had An Idea.

They say sometimes The Idea is awesome. 

Sometimes it is the other thing.