Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

redxavier wrote:
BigDamnArtist wrote:

I've tried rewatching it a few times over the years, I always get about 1/2-3/4 the way through season one and fizzle out. Don't get me wrong, season 1 is great, but there isn't much to really sink your teeth into on a rewatch. So I've seen most of season 1, 3-4 times.

So that's what it was! I've tried rewatching the series a couple of times and I lose interest around or before half a dozen episodes into the first series. I remember really liking the series overall though, and I couldn't work out what the problem was.

Is there a particular point (season 2, finale of season 1) that you recommend as a starting point?



I'm coming up to my annual obligatory Babylon 5 rewatch. Gods I love that series. It haunts me.

Well, if you want my recommendation I would start with "Nerve and The Hidden Memory" towards the end of season 2, which introduces Scorpious and is a two parter, then move on to "Family Ties" the season finale and keep going with Season 2. I think there is a little more a plot line as you hit Season 2.

God loves you!

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

http://coolmaterial.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Shameless-First-Season.jpg

Just finished trucking through season 1 of Shameless. Great show. It's shot and edited extremely well, and Joan Cusack is brilliant and hilarious (as well as everybody else in the ensemble cast).

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

I forgot there was a US version of that. If you liked that, you may wanna check out the British Shameless. It ran for eleven series, but I stopped watching around the third or fourth when it started to focus on different characters.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

James McAvoy was one of the original cast members of Shameless UK.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Alright. Pitch me Shameless in one sentence or less.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

The Gallaghers are a highly dysfunctional working class family headed by an alcoholic father but it is the oldest daughter who has to keep things together.

Last edited by Jimmy B (2013-12-24 21:08:12)

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

You literally just described a gender swapped Arrested Development.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

The intriguing (and funny) thing about it is that these people have no sense of morality or integrity, and will do whatever it takes to get out of a bind, no matter how immoral it is. They even get the little kids in on their schemes, and more often than not, they get away with it. Shamelessly.

I'll have to check out the UK version, thanks.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

BigDamnArtist wrote:

You literally just described a gender swapped Arrested Development.

But with more boobs.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Jimmy B wrote:
BigDamnArtist wrote:

You literally just described a gender swapped Arrested Development.

But with more boobs.

You have my interest.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

That's all I know, I don't watch either series big_smile

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Not watching much TV right now, just waiting for Walking Dead to come back and the next season of House of Cards.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Buffy has always been one of the major blank spots on my nerd-cred-checklist, so I said screw it a couple weeks back and started watching. This was greeted with many cheers and warnings that one would need to power through the first season but then it gets amazing. So I prepared myself for the worst and jumped in.

  Season 1 Show
At the outset I was first and foremost surprised at how little powering through I had to do. The first season, for the most part, is a really nicely built little mini series surrounding Buffy and this new enemy The Master. Personally it was incredibly smart to have the first season be a self contained story that could introduce us to the characters and get us invested in the world, without leaving us with a possible cliffhanger if the show got cancelled, so good job them.

Now that said, there is definitely some stuff to contend with. The action is bad bordering on cringeworthy. But this is easily chalked up to SMG being 19 and learning as she goes, and the general not-big-budgetness of the entire show. S1 is definitely a 90's show, there is just 90's slathered all over this thing, the clothes, the hair, the degrassi style teen angst, the computers...oh gods the computers, so from a modern standpoint that's definitely something you've got to power through. And it still, despite there best efforts, suffers from that 90's tv thing of having one off and bottle episodes in the middle of the arc not really connected to anything.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Vampire make-up, it feels very try-hard, like they really really want you know these bastards are evil, which i get, but it alternates between looking goofy and just plain impeding the natural performance based evil, although it did start to get better by the end of S2, so maybe they sort that out down the line.

But ultimately for season 1 I was very impressed, not nearly having to suffer as much as I was expecting, I love the mythology and the world, SMG is amazing (I was blown away when I realized she was like 18 when they started), Alysson Hannigan is epically cute and awesome as always, Anthony Head wasn't singing and chopping out people's organs which threw for a loop for a minute, but then I remember I wasn't watching Repo! and the world righted itself again (He's awesome), Nicholas Brendon channels just a little to much Bruce Campbell at times to be entirely comfortable, and David Boreanaz is as dreamy and charming as ever.

Season 2 Show
Now S2 is where things got tricky for me. Everyone had been telling me repeatedly that season 1 was a grind but then it got AAAAMAAZING, so I went in to season 2 expecting something pretty cool, and what I got was...well not quite. The best way I can describe it is that it feels as though they had this great little miniseries idea for S1 with the master and everything, but then when they got picked up everyone was just kinda shocked and didn't quite know what to do with this beast of a show they just realized they would have to write. So the season starts off with just a series of one-off, monster of week episodes, just one after the other after the other. And without a whole lot of anything else going on, at least on a macro scale, there was obviously still a ton of character development going on individually, but there was no larger hook, nothing dragging the story forward in any meaningful way, just monster shows up, Cordy screams a bunch, they kill the monster. So by about a third of the way through the season I was reeeaaally feeling the grind, and I actually posted in the chat asking if it does stop being this, and become something more. And I think Faldor poked me forward and kept me watching. Which I did, and it kept being that for a little bit more, but then something really weird happened about halfway through the season, it felt like an entirely different writing team took over, the show very very rapidly became ABOUT something, it got darker, more twisted. I think the scene where very very suddenly realized this was when Buffy and Angel run and hide after the Judge battle and there together alone and suddenly the mood was suddenly very very mature, it felt like 2 adults together in this very intimate moment. It was this very sudden smack in the face that this was not the same show I'd been watching up til now. And then from there the show really got going and basically powerslid into home plate at the end of the season. I absolutely adored evil Angel, although as much fun as I was having with him I really wanted him to either go full boar or get turned back, he was just sort of floating around this middle area tied down by the whole Spike and Dru thing. Speaking of, Spike is just amazing, I love me a snarky British self aware demon, and Dru is just wonderfully creepy, although in that respect I really prefer her in her weakened state at the beginning of the arc, she reminded me so much of a greek oracle, just totally out of her demented fucked up mind, but she's fun in her restored state as well, if more traditional arm candy-ish less "Holy fuck my skin is crawling and my heart is attempting to implode itself, but I'm so turned on right now."...but maybe that's just me. So long story short, I am super psyched to get into season 3.

So, season 3 here I come. And if any of you spoil anything for me, I will resort to drastic measures to get my revenge. -glares-

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2014-04-12 01:46:20)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

BigDamnArtist wrote:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Buffy has always been one of the major blank spots on my nerd-cred-checklist, so I said screw it a couple weeks back and started watching. This was greeted with many cheers and warnings that one would need to power through the first season but then it gets amazing. So I prepared myself for the worst and jumped in.

I'm in the same boat. Tho I'm awful at finishing the things I started and have gotten a bit sidetracked after a few episodes :P

Protection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love. -Uncle Iroh

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Crawling thru season 3 of Veronica Mars. It doesn't have the spark of the first two seasons, but I'm determined to finish it before watching the movie.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Quite enjoying American Horror Story at the moment. Just started firefly after 3 failed attempts - decided in the end to just skip the train robbery one and enjoying it much more.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Yeah, the "Train Job" was not a good way to start the series. Serenity (pilot) is better, but that was, of course, the purpose. Train Job was a more rushed job, with little to invest in the characters.

God loves you!

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

fireproof78 wrote:

Yeah, the "Train Job" was not a good way to start the series. Serenity (pilot) is better, but that was, of course, the purpose. Train Job was a more rushed job, with little to invest in the characters.

Wow.  Man, I could not possibly disagree more.  I think The Train Job is one of the finest pieces of television writing I've ever seen.  You've got an unusual sci-fi world to establish, 9 characters to introduce who already know each other (so no "I'm the captain.  What do you do?" conversations), plus you've actually got to tell a story, and you've got 42 minutes.  Every second of that show is doing at least double duty, and usually triple duty. 

Plus, and pardon me a sec while I get my asbestos suit on, I think that Fox was right about Mal.  There's a quote I have stuck in my head attributed to Joss Whedon, but if it's not, it certainly sounds to me like something he would say -- "You have to earn the right to go to the dark place".  And I think that applies to Mal's character.  To my mind, he's more engaging as a lead character with the shift in tone.  Then when you see those flashes of the soul in torment, or when things start getting a little darker later in the series (and not even that much later), they resonate more. 

And the guest stars in The Train Job are all amazing.  Adelai Nishka is a great villain, and Michael Fairman is terrific.  Gregg Henry hits just the right note of forceful dignity.  So many great lines.  "I've got a vision of it not being me.  Let's do the thing."  "You've got the - the light from the console... keep you, lift you up. They shine like...little angels..." "Yes, precisely. Only the exact phrase I used was 'don't.'" "Oh, I get it! I'm good. Best thing for everyone. I'm right there with ya."

Man, I gotta go watch it again right now....

For the next hour, everything in this post is strictly based on the available facts.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

Too bad the rest of the world didn't feel that way. I gave up on the show after watching The Train Job when it aired. Mind you, while I liked Buffy I didn't watch Angel, and had heard bad things about this show from the local paper's TV reviewer (he had seen a cut of an episode without effects at the network "up fronts" where ad rates are set), so the show had to prove itself. It didn't. Maybe if I watched it again, with the full knowledge that the show is good, I'd like it, but when I go back to Firefly I skip that one.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

The Train Job is maybe a little clunky as an introduction when contrasted to the pilot, but I still think it's a very fun heist story after you get past the first five minutes or so. And it's got one of the absolute best moments in the entire series, a perfectly timed subversion of a tired serial trope:

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

sellew wrote:
fireproof78 wrote:

Yeah, the "Train Job" was not a good way to start the series. Serenity (pilot) is better, but that was, of course, the purpose. Train Job was a more rushed job, with little to invest in the characters.

Wow.  Man, I could not possibly disagree more.  I think The Train Job is one of the finest pieces of television writing I've ever seen.  You've got an unusual sci-fi world to establish, 9 characters to introduce who already know each other (so no "I'm the captain.  What do you do?" conversations), plus you've actually got to tell a story, and you've got 42 minutes.  Every second of that show is doing at least double duty, and usually triple duty. 

Plus, and pardon me a sec while I get my asbestos suit on, I think that Fox was right about Mal.  There's a quote I have stuck in my head attributed to Joss Whedon, but if it's not, it certainly sounds to me like something he would say -- "You have to earn the right to go to the dark place".  And I think that applies to Mal's character.  To my mind, he's more engaging as a lead character with the shift in tone.  Then when you see those flashes of the soul in torment, or when things start getting a little darker later in the series (and not even that much later), they resonate more. 

And the guest stars in The Train Job are all amazing.  Adelai Nishka is a great villain, and Michael Fairman is terrific.  Gregg Henry hits just the right note of forceful dignity.  So many great lines.  "I've got a vision of it not being me.  Let's do the thing."  "You've got the - the light from the console... keep you, lift you up. They shine like...little angels..." "Yes, precisely. Only the exact phrase I used was 'don't.'" "Oh, I get it! I'm good. Best thing for everyone. I'm right there with ya."

Man, I gotta go watch it again right now....

Please note that I said "a start to the series." I have no problem with the episode, overall (save for some minor bits here and there). However, I think that it Mal is fine as a character, and have no problem with the darker tone.

However, and me being me, I am far more invested in someone who I understand better, and feel that the crew is better introduced in Serenity. That's me though.

I agree that the guest starts are great, and I think the Western idea of a train robbery is a fun concept. I just think that, as a pilot, it isn't the best intro to the characters, save maybe for Mal.

I will revisit it though smile

God loves you!

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

fireproof78 wrote:

Please note that I said "a start to the series." I have no problem with the episode, overall (save for some minor bits here and there). However, I think that it Mal is fine as a character, and have no problem with the darker tone.

However, and me being me, I am far more invested in someone who I understand better, and feel that the crew is better introduced in Serenity. That's me though.

See, even there I would disagree in a way.  Sure if you've got 84 minutes instead of 42, in a sense it can't fail to introduce the characters better.  But The Train Job is just unspeakably efficient. 

Look at just the scene in the bar, which isn't even the whole teaser:  you've got some kind of multicultural frontier setting (they're in a Western-looking bar, but there's a Middle Eastern belly-dancer, Mal speaks (swears?) in what sounds like Chinese).  The belly-dancer passes Mal a note, so there's something secretive going on.  Mal is established as being sort of light-hearted (the banter with Zoe and the loss of the game), but at the same time has some kind of strong undercurrent of belief in his opposition to whatever "unification" was, since he can't just let slide what the loud-mouthed, drunk guy says.  He's slightly sarcastic, a clever and somewhat ruthless fighter, principled.  In short, instantly likeable in a Han Solo sort of way. 

Zoe is clearly some kind of more straight-laced loyal sidekick, and there's a military dimension, since she refers to Mal as "Captain" and later "sir", in contrast to Jayne who relates to Mal much more informally.  Mal and Zoe have some kind of long-serving understanding, since she knows exactly how Mal is going to deal with the drunk guy. 

Jayne seems to have some kind of slightly unreliable younger brother thing going on.  When they get into trouble, his reaction is "hey, I didn't fight in no war.  Best o' luck, though." and outside the bar Mal says "hey, is Jayne even...?!?" ('fighting', or 'with us' presumably)  but then we see he's taking on like 5 guys at once, so he's clearly a great fighter and loyal at the end of the day.

Geez, how much more do you want for your 3 minutes?   smile   And the whole rest of the episode is like that.

For the next hour, everything in this post is strictly based on the available facts.

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

I think Train Job was my first Firefly experience and I don't even remember finishing it - it seemed impenetrable and weird, and I thought the re-use of Starship Troopers gear made it seem really cheap. It was Serenity that opened my eyes.

So yeah, some anecdotal evidence that Train Job failed as a pilot.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Efficiency is fine, but only if I can get a sense of the characters and why I should care. Train Job is not one where I felt I understood the world enough to care. Heck, I think Ariel did a better job for me and getting me in to Firefly, but I have a bent towards medical stories smile

It is a common term used but I'll throw it out there: stakes. Serenity establishes the stakes, the desperation of the crew rather than just getting a job, only to discover it doesn't jive with Mal's sense of honor. Train Job works better, for me, after seeing Serenity.

God loves you!

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Re: What Are You Watching - TV Edition

C-Spin wrote:

Fun (If Not Very Important) Fact:  Couple weeks ago I went to see a local performance of Inherit the Wind.  There was a guy in the cast that I was sure I'd seen before... it was bugging me through the whole show. 

About five minutes after the show ended, I finally figured it out: he was the "Right there with ya" henchman from The Train Job.