The TV Series discussion thread

I'm watching TWD too. Huge fan of the comics but i can't like the series. I always get the feeling they take it slow just to earn money. Just can't compare the feeling of opening the new comic and "oh, i have nothing to do tonight"

dteowner said:

Found a copy of Threshold a couple days ago, so I've been working thru that. I really enjoyed the series back in the day, and I'm actually enjoying it a good bit this time around as well. Looking forward to getting to the last episodes, since those didn't get aired on TV.

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I watched it a few years ago on our local network and it ended in unfinished state.
Dunno why it was cancelled, wasn't a bad show at all.

twd is okay. I don't mind the more quiet episodes in between.

However. I'm enjoying Almost Human the most ATM. Might be the blade runner vibe I get from it

Almost Human is not bad at all. However…

1. There is a main plot. Yes there is. And you see it in only in the first episode and mentioned in just a few others. It doesn't get solved with the last episode, actually it's not even mentioned in it! Maybe the show was supposed to have more episodes in the first season?

2. This is Fox show. Which means it gets cancelled if it's too good to be true. Probably that's the reason it's not too good to be true. Which still doesn't mean it won't get killed.

3. Another thing about that network… Fox sci-fi/fantasy shows must have childern major characters. If there is no kindergarden in a show, it gets cancelled. Almost Human is not a show about kids like Falling Skies, thus it won't be a surprise seeing it cancelled just for that reason. Is it cancelled or renewed, still is unknown.


But I didn't get BR vibe in it, it's not dark enough. And has too much of humor in it to be BR. It's not a negative thing of course.
Recommended.

1. Now that I mention it, I am indeed missing a main story. This is normally a must for me, but for now I'm content. I have yet to see the last 4 or 5 episodes, they just mentioned something about a Wall. Maybe that will start up something.

2/3. Don't know anything about US networks, but I hate series being cancelled before the story is finished (like everyone I guess). Writers should at least have an idea about general story and ending before starting something, I supposed that is what they call a mini-serie.

All US networks are cancelhappy and the worst among them is Fox. Everywhere else in the world it's almost impossible to find a show that ends with 874356873678 questions unanswered.

That's one of reasons I suggest sticking always with the original TV series and not watching US remakes. That way you're 100% sure you won't miss the ending or a complete season that won't be remade ever for whatever reason.

And it's not only TV series remakes US stinks with. For example there is a masterpiece movie trilogy Infernal Affairs:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369060/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374339/

US remade only the first movie. Some say the remake is awsome. I say I couldn't care less for just one part of the story, because I have the COMPLETE original trilogy in my home DVD collection.

In some cases there are US TV shows that don't get cancelled although they should be dead after 1st season. An example is SyFy show Sanctuary. While the first season is not reall bad, other three seasons are probably the worst television I've ever seen.

There are also rare but positive cases where a US network's CEO gets from the butt to his head and changes his mind. A great crime show Unforgettable was cancelled after the first season. A few months later, it gets renewed and not just with one but two more seasons!

And there are also cases where blind CEOs simply "forget" to renew a show that's awsome. An example? The Adventures of Brisco County Jr!

In the end, a good news for all sci-fi lovers in case I never mentioned it. Remember Farscape? Remember killing it, but at least giving us the TV movie finale?
The show gets a spin-off and we'll be watching it soon. And this is not an apriljoke.

I tried watching sanctuary. I'm s huge SciFi nerd and easily entertained. I think I made it into the 3rd season before I just couldn't do it anymore

Yea, by that time they've ditched the only thing that remained okay in season 2 - the brilliant opening theme music from seasons 1 and 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qTeF2VtHn4) was changed into some let's hurt audience's ears newage wannabe utter crap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agKbbrd7gP0).

They've probably thought it's a good idea to copy the style of Karl Jenkins' work (Adiemus, Songs of Sanctuary), dumb it down and stick it to series. IMO it was insulting.

The wife tuned me onto House of Cards this past week, and what a find that is! We're up to the 9th episode and really enjoying it....it has a slight Wire vibe to it, and some rather splendid acting. Current shows are racking up on the pvr while we watch this one, lol.

Carnifex said:

The wife tuned me onto House of Cards this past week, and what a find that is! We're up to the 9th episode and really enjoying it….it has a slight Wire vibe to it, and some rather splendid acting. Current shows are racking up on the pvr while we watch this one, lol.

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I watched the whole second season in 3 sets (2 episodes first day, 5 episodes second day, rest of episodes the 3rd day, just couldn't stop!)

Actually I know too few non-US (European) series. I saw Forbrydelsen season 1 recently which was pretty good, any other must sees (ah, Doctor who is also fantastic of course) ?

I always found that European (or more general non-US) series and games have this special feel to it. I guess they aren't as main-streamed (or polished) as the US shows which I kinda like. Also viewing things from a different culture is a huge plus. E.g., any good Russian series set in Siberia ?

I heard, probably on this forum, that the original House of Cards is also better than the US remake. But I enjoyed Spacey's version very much.

Sorry but the only russian series that comes in mind as not bad at all is Pepel (eng. ash, but it's a nickname one of main protagonists has):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501672/

It starts when Hitler is about to launch an attack on Russia (1938.), the thief Pepel meets a Red Army officer who is about to be arrested as "a betrayer of people" but under sudden circumstances, Pepel is knocked down, and this officer takes his clothes and "the loot" - and now Pepel gets arrested as a result of mixed identity.
It's not just drama as imdb suggests but has plenty of action.

If some other russian show comes in mind I'll post, but don't count on that - I don't really like russian cinema/TV.

Thanks. Though russian tv was just an example, any non-US show is fine. No worries, I will check it out myself soon.

joxer said:

And it's not only TV series remakes US stinks with. For example there is a masterpiece movie trilogy Infernal Affairs:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369060/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374339/

US remade only the first movie. Some say the remake is awsome. I say I couldn't care less for just one part of the story, because I have the COMPLETE original trilogy in my home DVD collection.

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Normally I would agree with you, but wasn't the second part of that "trilogy" a pre-quel? That tells me they did not plan on a "trilogy" when they started filming. The success of the first film warranted a second. If they had made all the movies in a proper order I would say you only saw one part of the story. But The Departed is an awesome movie. You are really doing yourself a dis-service by not seeing it. It is a classic Scorsese film.

I find myself agreeing with Txa more and more about Hannibal. It really is a bit stupid - and it's getting less and less plausible.

3 words...
Game
Of
Thrones

I'm recording and watch everything in one go. Over a week or so.

Icefire said:

Normally I would agree with you, but wasn't the second part of that "trilogy" a pre-quel? That tells me they did not plan on a "trilogy" when they started filming. The success of the first film warranted a second. If they had made all the movies in a proper order I would say you only saw one part of the story. But The Departed is an awesome movie. You are really doing yourself a dis-service by not seeing it. It is a classic Scorsese film.

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Dunno what plans were, but yes. The second movie is a prequel. Doesn't mean you should watch the second one first. In fact you shouldn't watch it first.

Which brings me to Spartacus series.
It's second season is a prequel. But you should not watch it before season one!
Why not? Because in the first season you learn how things worked in a world of gladiators and slavery. Where human beings were treated as objects. As merchandise.
In the second season you get answers on "what can change a nature of a man" if the society is a decadent roman empire. You may be a person with high morals, but sooner or later you're forced to adapt to the rotten standards or you die.
Unless you're below 18, this show should be a must watch. IMO it's one of top10 TV shows of the past decade because it's historically almost completely correct, the writing is brilliant and the show wasn't watered down and drastically censored* by trying to please the conservative audience!

—
* When it aired on BBC some nudity scenes were actually cut out, but only those really irrelevant. If you did watch the full episode version and later rewatched BBC version you wouldn't notice any change as story important sex and violence scenes were still in.

So what did you think of Arya? I thought she came off cold blooded compared to the book? The series sometimes foreshadows character development early, and takes shortcuts. C'mon it's only a thousand pages a book, or so.

The tv show differs greatly from the books, and that's not likely to change. Arya is one of the characters that suffers the most for this, but there are many others that share in the disparity. Even in the pilot episode, how Ned and Robert got where they currently are rank-wise is really glossed over in the tv show.

I did enjoy the stance Arya took as she sliced Polliver from behind, in her first attack on him. Looks like she paid attention to her fencing lessons, and that was a nice touch. That girl is gonna go far