The TV Series discussion thread

It does. SyFy wants trash only. No wonder they'll now turn this junk into series:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093626/

Anyone else watch the premier of The Orville? I was pretty disappointed. It just didn't seem very funny to me, and I'm a fan of MacFarlane's previous work.

I think he made a mistake by going with Fox. MacFarlane's stuff is better when he's not restricted to a PG rating. I also found the supporting cast to be surprisingly weak.

I don't think they had much chance being on Friday night at 10pm.

Sci Fi as I mentioned before is expensive and the suits don't like them for that reason. What we need is a Sci Fi channel that will compete with SyFy and show real sci fi again - then maybe things like this won't happen.

Also, I think DM lost something when they got rid of One. He was very different from the others, being a natural (and entitled) leader but without the skills to handle himself alone in a fight - not something you expect to see of any protagonist, let alone an anti-hero.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Anyone else watch the premier of The Orville? I was pretty disappointed. It just didn't seem very funny to me, and I'm a fan of MacFarlane's previous work.

Yeah, well, the humor felt a bit too forced and there sure is room to grow, but Star Trek's first episodes or even series were never a strong point. All in all, I kinda like it so far. Just watched the second episode and it was a bit more serious. They could have called it Star Trek: Orville and I wouldn't have minded at all. It's nice to have a SciFi series of the good old episodic and brightly lit TNG format back. Going to keep watching.

And of course I'm also looking forward to ST: Discovery. Good times after a 15 years (?) long wait.

I refuse to comment on a show with just one episode (or two).

Meanwhile, can't recommend more this year's Emmy winner.
Watch it, now. It's not what imdb says, drama, scifi, this that.
It's horror with eerie story, spectacular costumes and superstrong cast performances. I dare to assume it's a description of dartagnan's perfect world.

Seriously. Watch it. Just don't binge it as I did back then and it struck me that hard I couldn't eat anything for a weak. An episode or two per day, okay?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834204/

Originally Posted by JDR13
Anyone else watch the premier of The Orville? I was pretty disappointed. It just didn't seem very funny to me, and I'm a fan of MacFarlane's previous work.

I think he made a mistake by going with Fox. MacFarlane's stuff is better when he's not restricted to a PG rating. I also found the supporting cast to be surprisingly weak.

The guy managed to get the same show on Fox three times, and the first one was the same thing as another show with "a different label on it". When Family Guy was first on the air Fox put it on after the Superbowl.

Groening on the hand got Futurama placed at 7:30 (opposite 60 minutes) with the commercials advertising their block if shows as "it all starts at 8".

Fox loves McFarlane. Why wouldn't he go with him? They threw a ton of money at this guy looking at those affects, sets, costumes, cast size and guest stars - the creator of Buffy didn't get the kind of love they give him.

Originally Posted by joxer
Seriously. Watch it. Just don't binge it as I did back then and it struck me that hard I couldn't eat anything for a weak. An episode or two per day, okay?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834204/

The book has been on my to-read list (classics). Was thinking of reading it before watching the show, or shouldn't I?

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
They threw a ton of money at this guy looking at those affects, sets, costumes, cast size and guest stars - the creator of Buffy didn't get the kind of love they give him.

That's a real pity, yes. Man, you just had to remind me of Firefly, didn't you?

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
Fox loves McFarlane. Why wouldn't he go with him? They threw a ton of money at this guy looking at those affects, sets, costumes, cast size and guest stars - the creator of Buffy didn't get the kind of love they give him.

I thought that should be obvious from my last post. If he's ok with being constrained by a PG rating (which he obviously is) then that's fine. I prefer his bolder stuff though like "A Million Ways to Die in the West".

Discovery scares me. Thanks to the pilot for Star Trek, we know exactly what this era should look like, yet the commercials I've seen so far reflect none of this. The vessels look like something junky from a five year olds' nightmares, and do not even get me started on those Klingons (if that's what they even are). I've yet to watch the second Orville episode, but this may turn out to be the superior Trek.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I thought that should be obvious from my last post. If he's ok with being constrained by a PG rating (which he obviously is) then that's fine. I prefer his bolder stuff though like "A Million Ways to Die in the West".

Ah, ok. I misunderstood you I guess.

Million Ways to Die was a huge, huge bomb. I didn't see it though - it seemed too raunchy. I don't watch Family Guy but I've seen a few American Dads - at some point I always regret it. Just not my kind of stuff.

So why is he going PG or even live action after so much success in raunchy animation and his one live project was a dud?

The last one is simple I think - he wants to move on from retreading the same thing. He's got leading man looks and he's quite clever and can sing, so why not.

As for PG - my guess he wants to do something for his kids - maybe get the same experience we had when we could find a channel that played Star Trek.

Originally Posted by Arhu
The book has been on my to-read list (classics). Was thinking of reading it before watching the show, or shouldn't I?

Dunno, haven't read the book.

Oh second episode of Orville is out? Gotta watch it, I liked the first episode well enough, I didn't watch it expecting to LOL so maybe that's why I liked it.

Originally Posted by joxer
Dunno, haven't read the book.

It was required reading in my community college english class back in '89. The professor was an emiritus from the University of Toronto of all places so he probably met Ms. Atwood a few times.

The book is insulting and I got away with only reading half of it. Dr Karl was always having his assumptions surprised by small town Canada even though he was from urban Nigeria.

One girl in class he asked if she considered herself a feminist. She just sort of squeezed her face up and said, "no". He was visibly shocked.

I miss Dr Karl. My corner of the world had never met anyone like him before and he had never been in a place where strangers said hello to you at random. All the other trenchcoat, umbrella toating teachers in the area got their five years in to get their student loans paid off by the schoolboard and got out. Dr Karl actually wanted to be there by choice.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Anyone else watch the premier of The Orville? I was pretty disappointed. It just didn't seem very funny to me, and I'm a fan of MacFarlane's previous work.

I think he made a mistake by going with Fox. MacFarlane's stuff is better when he's not restricted to a PG rating. I also found the supporting cast to be surprisingly weak.

I have no hope at all for broadcast network episodic sci fi television. There a couple of sci fi things coming up but the only one I will definitely check out is the one about the super smart doctor that has autism. The show looks like a off kilter Dougie Houser, and it is done by the same guys that did house.

Note: I am very skeptical about the new Star Trek, but the thing that gives me a tiny bit of hope is that they are keeping it off broadcast network, so they will probably explore better stories.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
Million Ways to Die was a huge, huge bomb. I didn't see it though - it seemed too raunchy. I don't watch Family Guy but I've seen a few American Dads - at some point I always regret it. Just not my kind of stuff.

Huh? It grossed more than double its cost so I wouldn't say it was a huge bomb. I think a lot of people may have been expecting something different though. Personally, I think it's some of his best work. It was certainly funnier than that first episode of Orville at least.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
So why is he going PG or even live action after so much success in raunchy animation and his one live project was a dud?

That wasn't his only live-action movie. He also did Ted and Ted 2. Those did a lot better at the box office than A Million Ways to Die in the West. I didn't like them as much, although Ted did have its moments.

Ok any good scifi left to be watched?

Dark matter was awesome.
I also loved the expanse.

Anything similar to those?

What about the 100? I just read a description of the pilot and wasn't very impressed. That being said I tried watching it, but it hasn't gone more than 20 mins and i'm already annoyed. Everyone is so perfect and beautifull. Perfect make up, perfect hair etc. And these are the people who have spent their whole life in space? I know i'm supposed to take the leap of fate, but it is just so damn hard… In essence it seems like one of those teen scifi series in it's worst form. Super kids, lots of soap opera drama can be expected and very little of the actual science fiction content…

Edit: I HAVE to mention one thing. These 100 youngers get to return earth after 100 years or so… what do they do after the ship lands? They start dancing wildly while an indie rock song plays. FFS. So surreal. This is the song btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TQT39dehwg

Edit2: I think this series is not for me.

Yeah I vaguely remember trying to watch the one hundred, I think I made it to the thirty minute mark then deleted it. It was beyond awful, imo.

Originally Posted by Dez
What about the 100?

I wrote a bit before:

Originally Posted by joxer
The 100 - watched three seasons, preparing for the fourth.
In short, cca 100 years after nuclear war "changed" the face of Earth, survivors who feld in space, okay, their descendants return back to planet. A hundred of them, thus the series name. What they discover is that they're not alone. Of course.
First to say, this is a rare sci fi show where you can sccratch the "sci" part completely. I've never ever seen a show so low with basics of science advertising itself as sci fi. While in other shows we can debate is something is believable, in this series, there is absolutely nothing believable. The first reason why I endured watching it is that such science cheesyness starts to feel like deliberate trolling of master level. Yes, you've heard me. Either the authors are master level trolls or so stupid that I'm interested what more that stupidity can produce.

Characters are almost all bloodthirsty or powerhungry maniacs. A few who are not are stupid enough to assure someone will die or have serious mental problems. Basically, all are evil except two. These two are support roles and of course, one of those two will die in season three. Humanity being described as a bunch of psychopats with a rare good person, you know me, being sick and tired of shows about dogooders, I'm in.

Each of three season has it's own story arc, and each one is different than others, but general setup stays the same. Season starts with characters picking a side over something, when shit hits the fan something even more dangeorus appears and our "beloved" characters end up cooperating against the bigger evil. Of course, ending of each season adds a cliffhanger. Meh.

If there was a show I'd call a guilty pleasure of mine, it's this one. So I'll say it this way:
You should definetly watch first three episodes of this one as it's actually unique "trash" for better or for worse. If you survive, continue watching it, you won't be sorry. If you just can't stand those first three eps, don't hope it'll get smarter - it won't.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Yeah I vaguely remember trying to watch the one hundred, I think I made it to the thirty minute mark then deleted it. It was beyond awful, imo.

Same! It's like a sci-fi 90210

100 is something of a cross between Lost and Hunger Games (and GoT maybe?). I watched it for three seasons and it was good but I've basically given up. These people are way too busy killing each other to maintain a stable population. But there is so much drama and complaining and infighting it just doesn't seem to stop.

Although Joe Keery is my favourite - he's a lot of fun.