The TV Series discussion thread

I think that many early fans (like JDR) have a difficult time when 99.9% of shows take the 'nighttime soap' trajectory - like Heroes - and end up being basically no better than a guilty pleasure like Revenge :) There are incredibly few shows of substantial quality ... and fewerr still that sustain it over multiple seasons.
 
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I love this thread… txa now please.

I didn't watch Heroes nor ever will. When asked friends who watched it, all said it started good but lost it's course (and cause) and turned into an utter crap later.

But that Revenge show caught my eye sometime ago because of some awards it got - is it worth watching? Not just the first season, but the rest of it?
I don't care if it's some soapish stuff inside as long as it's not the main idea of the show.
 
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Shows I watch :
1. Downton Abbey - Recommended: Good acting (in general), good story development
2. The Blacklist - Good entertainment: Above average acting, good story development
3. Person of Interest - Good entertainment - Recommended for people who enjoy cop shows : Above average acting, average story development
4. Sherlock Holmes - Recommended : Great acting, good story development
5. Falling Skies - Good entertainment : Above average acting, above average story development
6. Sons of Anarchy - Good crime outfit show, recommended for people who enjoyed the Sopranos and similar shows : Above average acting, average story development
7. Dracula - Not amazing : Just started watching, new show, average acting, average story development for now
8. How I Met Your Mother (final season) - Easy laughter, getting long now, but funny : above average acting, bad story development
9. Grey's Anatomy - Recommended for people who enjoy medical shows : abov average acting, good story development (for a drama show)
10. NCIS - Recommended for people who enjoy cop shows : good acting, above average story development
11. South Park - Recommended for people who don't get offended easily : can't explain :D
12. Big Bang Theory - Recommended for geeks or for shallow entertainment : above average acting, average story development

Probably forgetting a few...
 
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Love this thread plus love answering… Makes it like this:

Of those shows Pladio… I say…

1. Downton Abbey - IIRC this is not crime/thriller/horror/mystery/sci-fi/humor but plain ol' drama and as such I'm not watching it even if it's the best series ever made
2. The Blacklist - We share the same thoughts on this one, let's just hope they won't ruin it in upcoming episodes!
3. Person of Interest - It doesn't air anywhere here, but I'll check it up when available
4. Sherlock Holmes - Which one? Who cares, all are good! ;)
5. Falling Skies - worse than worst SyFy series, Spielbelglike family drama with yucky kids who's IQ is above 200, can't believe this show got so many seasons, perhaps the catch is the cheap CGI from previous century made on C64 machines
6. Sons of Anarchy - Also a show I can't find on available stations here, will keep looking
7. Dracula - There is a series?!
8. How I Met Your Mother (final season) - Sorry, I'm not into sitcoms (unless it's twisted, dirty, insulting and evilish humor like Malcolm in the Middle or Married with Children)
9. Grey's Anatomy - Hated E.R, didn't like House, would hate this too I believe so I'm not watching, somehow I don't really care about medicine stuff and especially don't care about selling useless pills and medicaments business (the last time I actually used a pill or visited a doctor was when I was 18 and cought a viral pneumonia, and today I'm 40!)
10. NCIS - Watched first few seasons and it's definetly good show including it's spin-off so I can recommend this too
11. South Park - Recommended to everyone, unless you believe you're a holy cow and all insults that happen in the world are aimed (in)directly on your address
12. Big Bang Theory - Repeating: I'm not into sitcoms (unless it's twisted like Malcolm in the Middle or Married with Children)

:D
 
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4. The Sherlock Holes that only seems to air once every two years.
5. Actually the story has quite a few nice touches, even though it does hit a lot on the drama
7. Yes, with the guy from the Tudors, who seems to have grown a lot as an actor (or maybe he's really a vampire ?)
10. I really did not like the spin-off. All the characters look unreal. The ones in the original one are much better imo.
 
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Shows I watch:

None.

Seriously, who has time to watch TV with all our game backlogs from Steam and GOG sales? And I haven't found any shows as nearly entertaining.
 
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Thrasher, don't watch just anything. Pick a few we said are good, of course check on imdb what others say too.

And it's not about time. Never was. Take a break from games sometimes, if you dislike TV, read a book or a comic. Fill your batteries.
And what backlog are you talking about? You mean 43563476534758324 grinders and nofun/nostory FPS/TPS? Or hundreds of crap DLC/season passes (I'm not buying!). I'd rather watch all 2000+ Santa Barbara episodes instead of wasting my time on those. ;)

Pladio honestly didn't know there is Dracula series, I'll check it up if it's airing over here somewhere.
 
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I love this thread… txa now please.

I didn't watch Heroes nor ever will. When asked friends who watched it, all said it started good but lost it's course (and cause) and turned into an utter crap later.

But that Revenge show caught my eye sometime ago because of some awards it got - is it worth watching? Not just the first season, but the rest of it?
I don't care if it's some soapish stuff inside as long as it's not the main idea of the show.

The first season of Heroes was interesting ... but to say it went off a cliff from the very first episode of the second season is an understatement ... yet it hung on and some defended it.

Revenge was never better than in the first season - and even then it was a pure guilty pleasure. It is not great, but it was fun - and there was a great mix of intrigue, bad love triangles, and deliciously bad dialogue. We got lost in all of the nonsense and useless characters in the second season (makes the politics of The Phantom Menace look like edge-of-your-seat stuff), and tried to watch a couple of times this year but just can't.
 
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@joxer, I still have top rated RPGs to play: Witcher 2, Alpha Protocol, Divinity: Dragon Knight Saga, Risen 2, + more. Not to mention FPS, Strategy, Survival Horror games. I'm not counting iPhone games. ;)
 
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I think that many early fans (like JDR) have a difficult time when 99.9% of shows take the 'nighttime soap' trajectory - like Heroes - and end up being basically no better than a guilty pleasure like Revenge :) There are incredibly few shows of substantial quality … and fewerr still that sustain it over multiple seasons.

The Walking Dead hasn't went down that road yet. There will always be an outspoken minority that doesn't like the way a show is going regardless of direction, but the fact is that TWD is currently blowing everything else out of the water in terms of ratings.

Now here comes the part where someone will attempt to explain that those numbers are soley due to the horrible taste of the majority… :)
 
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Yeah, Avatar is also a fantastic movie and Call of Duty: Ghosts is one of the best games of all time ;)

TWD has been mostly soap ever since that farm crap.
 
The Walking Dead hasn't went down that road yet
Glad to hear you're enjoying it as are others ... I never got heavily into it, so second season it lost me totally. We watch little TV, so when something loses me I seldom return.

Now here comes the part where someone will attempt to explain that those numbers are soley due to the horrible taste of the majority… :)

So you are saying it is almost as good as Big Bang Theory and American Idol?

:D

Sorry - but whenever someone tries to defend something based on equating quality with sales / ratings / popularity / etc ... it tends to have the opposite effect on me. :)
 
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It has a strong theme and lots of shock value - which is more than enough for most people.

I can't help but think of the potential, though.

I wish they hadn't backstabbed Darabont and pushed him away like that. Well, according to himself. But I've always admired his talent - and I bet it would have been a much more creative and daring show with him onboard.
 
So you are saying it is almost as good as Big Bang Theory and American Idol?

:D

Sorry - but whenever someone tries to defend something based on equating quality with sales / ratings / popularity / etc … it tends to have the opposite effect on me. :)

Sorry, but when someone tries to compare a drama to a sitcom and a reality talent show, they tend to lose a bit of credibility with me. :)

*Edit* Doh! … I misread your comment the first time and missed the sarcasm.

Still, I find it amusing when someone takes the rebel stance and tries to imply that massive popularity of something is only due to a flaw with the masses.
 
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Still, I find it amusing when someone takes the rebel stance and tries to imply that massive popularity of something is only due to a flaw with the masses.

Sadly, I would say that the times that is NOT true are few and far between - and the problem is even worse in the era of desegregation and corporate desperation for control as viewership (or listenership) is harder and harder to maintain.

I am thinking more of music - how more of the sales are concentrated in fewer hands, all of which are 'corporate pop' like Katy Perry or Taylor Swift or Eminem or Lady Gaga ... the so-called indie revolution is a joke, consumers are buying EXACTLY what they are told to buy.

Honestly I have no idea why The Walking Dead has good ratings, as I said it isn't something I have any investment in (nor hatred of, unlike the offensive and unfunny Big Bang Theory), so I can't be specific - I am only saying that popularity as a metric of quality is dubious at best. Popularity is only a good metric of either actual popularity or how much money is being pumped into the system to make something SEEM popular.
 
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Honestly I have no idea why The Walking Dead has good ratings, as I said it isn't something I have any investment in (nor hatred of, unlike the offensive and unfunny Big Bang Theory), so I can't be specific - I am only saying that popularity as a metric of quality is dubious at best. Popularity is only a good metric of either actual popularity or how much money is being pumped into the system to make something SEEM popular.

Well at least you don't actually like Big Bang Theory and American Idol. You had me scared for a minute there. ;)

Still, those shows are popular because they somehow appeal to large segments. I don't like them, but I can understand that they're popular for a reason, and it's not because of some conspiracy to just make them seem that way.
 
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Still, those shows are popular because they somehow appeal to large segments. I don't like them, but I can understand that they're popular for a reason, and it's not because of some conspiracy to just make them seem that way.

'Large segments' are easily swayed ... award shows are a joke controlled by the industry as self-promoting and self-congratulatory events to push an agenda and slate of shows.

When shows are new, for the most part things are on even footing, but as they cntinue there is industrial iniertia to keep them going. And the reality is that if they are pulling huge advertising revenues, there is a desire to keep ratings high through whatever means are required.

I don't know if payola or similar shenanigans are at play with TV shows, but somehow I doubt they are immune ...
 
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