Husband is enjoying Firefly. He wants to make sure I don't watch any episodes without him, so I have to make appointments for each episode. He is one of those constant station-switchers, so he can't have the remote when I want to watch TV. Even so, he doesn't remember ever having come across Firefly back when it was on TV. It captured him right away, so I can only guess that something else caught his fancy during it's scheduled time back in the day.
Edit: Lots of "so" in that paragraph. Would do some editing, but it isn't worth the trouble.
Another show I really like is "How Things Are Made. Truly fascinating on how some of the most random objects get assembled. The shows have no rhyme or reason to how the items are chosen. Such as, fuel pumps in the same show as cricket bats and change machines. Or bacon, snow blowers, and Rolls Royces. Yum, watching those pork bellies go down the conveyor belt makes me want to go get some pork rind snacks. Not.
That Game of Thrones look interesting. I have no idea what it's about, other than the HBO ads.
I'm holding my breath in horror but it is possible that they'll pull it off in the same way that LoTR had been. I'd just rather that Martin just finishes the damn series before getting all Hollywood though.
Is this worry about GoT paranoia, or does HBO's track record with series not mean much for you worriers?
Katrina, it's a well-known contemporary fantasy series light on the magic, heavy on the politics, and where no character is off-limits: almost anything can happen - no one's safe.
@kargatron, my stems from my preference for books over movies/tv shows. Admittedly, I am not much of TV watcher (in reality the wife and I last turned on the TV for ourselves back in January, it's been off since) and go to the movies about 2 or 3 times a decade. So my worry is that the books are fairly dense with characters, plots, and sub-plots that the only way to successfully get it to film is to go at it with a chainsaw. For example, The Tudors were filled with epic levels of wtfitude and I gave up after episode 3 season 1. LoTR might be the exception to my fickle rules but I'm not a diehard fan of the books.
In the end, I suppose that my disbelief does not suspend easily.
FYI for those of you w/Netflix:
>>>>>>
Netflix will start streaming the hit TV series "Mad Men" in a multi-year deal the online movie rental company struck with Lions Gate, the show's producer.
Netflix Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. said late Tuesday the show's first four seasons will be available beginning July 27, with additional seasons added each year after they air on AMC. link
>>>>>>
and I saw a mention of "Sons of Anarchy" earlier in the thread and remember recently reading that Netflix got rights to stream the 1st two seasons of that as well. link
BTW: I've been watching the Firefly series over the past couple weeks. Enjoy it but I'm down to the last couple episodes.
Have I mentioned that I'm not a big fan of Firefly? It's supposedly right up my alley, but for everything that was great about it, there was something equally annoying. Mostly it was the ham-fisted affectations used to make it seem clever: the Chinese cursing because they had become the majority even though they couldn't be bothered to hire any of them, the random old tech/new tech mixture that never seemed to make sense, the really awkward usage of olde tyme speeche patternes, etc. On the other hand, I did really like the movie...
Watched the rerun on SyFy Channel last night of the first two Sarah Conner Chronicles episodes - and you know I still think it was good, at least good enough to stay on against a lot of the ap-cray on the tube these days. I'm still pissed about it getting cancelled just when it was getting real weird and interesting.
On a more hopeful note, the First 15 Preview of Game Of Thrones on HBO the other night was I thought not bad - having read the books I was concerned about this project, but based on this and the featurettes I've seen it may turn out OK. Getting ready to start re-reading the series so that by the time book 5 comes out in July I'll remember who the hell the hundreds of characters are and what they've been doing.
I kinda caught the last part of Game of Thrones. Looks interesting.
Right now, it's "Artist's Den" featuring Robert Plant and the Band of Joy. They just finished doing a country rendition of Led Zeppelin's Rock & Roll. It was wrong,wrong,wrong.
I was listening with open ears through Plant singing gospel, through some folk numbers, a slow rendition of Ramble On, but no. This was a bad choice to change to a country arrangement.
Patti Griffin standing next to you does not make it OK, Mr. Plant.
I thought the first episode of Game of Thrones was well presented, nicely filmed. What I wonder about is how those who haven't read the books will perceive it given the myriad of characters (it's only just begun) and their tortuous historical interrelationships. So far thumbs up. Ah, the direwolves - very intrigued as to how they will be incorporated as they grow - given that they are supposed to be twice the size of a regular wolf.
I agree totally on Parks and Recreation. Watched the first season, expecting much, and was mostly disappointed. Second season was a huge step up, and now it's consistently one of the funniest shows on TV. I'm also really enjoying Modern Family, which reminds me at times of Arrested Development. That's high praise in my book. I don't watch a whole lot of network TV, but those two are on my DVR short list.
For any who are interested there is a really good site concerning the entire A Song Of Fire And Ice saga and books, which is also covering the Game of Thrones show - you can set your own level so no cheaters will spoil your surprises which is nice - Tower Of The Hand. For those who have read some/all of the books the essay on the question of Jon Snow's parentage is fascinating.
The chemistry of the main Community posse is fun. I will admit though as someone who has taught at a Community College that their campus has little in common with it, except maybe for the Dean who has an inferiority complex.
Love, love, love Modern Family. I've thought it was sorta like Arrested Development at times, too. The ad on the van was hilarious. Also the recent "who to pick to be Lily's guradian" episodes.
Community has had some really funny ones and some real duds.
Still liking Cougar Town. The original premise of the show is long gone (older gal dating younger guy), but I like how the characters work together.
Not sure how The Office is gonna go with Will Farrell as the boss.
Amazed - we're getting Game of Thrones less than 24 hours after you have it in the States. I'm still to watch the first part as we were away, but the trailers looked good!
It is true that the pop culture tropes fly fast and furious on Community, which is one of the reasons I think it's kind of dumb. Possibly over my head, or under my radar, or something. I do like Abed, the shows about him are the ones that come alive for me.
The show that takes it a little too far in that direction for me, but that most people like, is 30 Rock. Maybe partly because I came to it late. I do appreciate the talent, but for me it sort of comes off like a sitcom on a sugar buzz.
In the grown-up dept, I too am looking forward to Treme, have had that saved on Netflix for some time! The new Upstairs Downstairs was OK...entertaining if a little soapy.
ARGH! I just lost a huge post that was halfway through explaining the brilliance of Community...
To put it simply - the meta-humor is only one part. They use that humor to explore much deeper themes. Abed's inability to interact as a "normal" person, Pierce's lack of sensitivity, various characters' insecurities, addiction problems, etc. While episodes like the paintball and Halloween ones were hilarious, the D&D episode was one of the top shows I've ever seen - of anything - largely because it really explored the various characters. I'm continually amazed that the show can balance laugh-out-loud comedy with some pretty serious commentary (just check out the bar episode when Troy debates his first alcoholic drink).
As for 30 Rock - you had to be there for the beginning. The first few seasons were great. Now is not a good time to get into the show. There's still some great material, but it really looks like its coming to the end. The 100th episode was a weak effort all around.
Surprised to hear you lost a post! Sometimes I get a message about a post couldn't be authenticated, but it's still there and I just hit the "Add" button again, and it goes through.
The lastest South Park is a riot - it's about folks who don't read the iTunes agreement.
i haven't watched sitcoms in years, but lately -- via my cable's ON DEMAND service -- i've totally fallen in love with parks & recreation.
i've heard people lavish praise on 30 rock and community. i tried both shows (also via ON DEMAND), and didn't find either of them funny (community, in fact, was cringeworthy).
FWIW, for the Firefly fans today's Gold Box at Amazon is the complete on Blu-ray for $23.49. I've been following the rebroadcasts on Discovery Science and like it well enough, but not enough to buy. For that it had to be Seasons 1 and 2 of Doctor Who recently (3, 4, and the Specials will keep for time being - although I do have them all recorded onto DVD from BBC-A).
Comments
Edit: Lots of "so" in that paragraph. Would do some editing, but it isn't worth the trouble.
Another show I really like is "How Things Are Made. Truly fascinating on how some of the most random objects get assembled. The shows have no rhyme or reason to how the items are chosen. Such as, fuel pumps in the same show as cricket bats and change machines. Or bacon, snow blowers, and Rolls Royces. Yum, watching those pork bellies go down the conveyor belt makes me want to go get some pork rind snacks. Not.
That Game of Thrones look interesting. I have no idea what it's about, other than the HBO ads.
Katrina, it's a well-known contemporary fantasy series light on the magic, heavy on the politics, and where no character is off-limits: almost anything can happen - no one's safe.
In the end, I suppose that my disbelief does not suspend easily.
>>>>>>
Netflix will start streaming the hit TV series "Mad Men" in a multi-year deal the online movie rental company struck with Lions Gate, the show's producer.
Netflix Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. said late Tuesday the show's first four seasons will be available beginning July 27, with additional seasons added each year after they air on AMC. link
>>>>>>
and I saw a mention of "Sons of Anarchy" earlier in the thread and remember recently reading that Netflix got rights to stream the 1st two seasons of that as well. link
BTW: I've been watching the Firefly series over the past couple weeks. Enjoy it but I'm down to the last couple episodes.
On a more hopeful note, the First 15 Preview of Game Of Thrones on HBO the other night was I thought not bad - having read the books I was concerned about this project, but based on this and the featurettes I've seen it may turn out OK. Getting ready to start re-reading the series so that by the time book 5 comes out in July I'll remember who the hell the hundreds of characters are and what they've been doing.
Right now, it's "Artist's Den" featuring Robert Plant and the Band of Joy. They just finished doing a country rendition of Led Zeppelin's Rock & Roll. It was wrong,wrong,wrong.
I was listening with open ears through Plant singing gospel, through some folk numbers, a slow rendition of Ramble On, but no. This was a bad choice to change to a country arrangement.
Patti Griffin standing next to you does not make it OK, Mr. Plant.
Craig
Community has had some really funny ones and some real duds.
Still liking Cougar Town. The original premise of the show is long gone (older gal dating younger guy), but I like how the characters work together.
Not sure how The Office is gonna go with Will Farrell as the boss.
The show that takes it a little too far in that direction for me, but that most people like, is 30 Rock. Maybe partly because I came to it late. I do appreciate the talent, but for me it sort of comes off like a sitcom on a sugar buzz.
In the grown-up dept, I too am looking forward to Treme, have had that saved on Netflix for some time! The new Upstairs Downstairs was OK...entertaining if a little soapy.
To put it simply - the meta-humor is only one part. They use that humor to explore much deeper themes. Abed's inability to interact as a "normal" person, Pierce's lack of sensitivity, various characters' insecurities, addiction problems, etc. While episodes like the paintball and Halloween ones were hilarious, the D&D episode was one of the top shows I've ever seen - of anything - largely because it really explored the various characters. I'm continually amazed that the show can balance laugh-out-loud comedy with some pretty serious commentary (just check out the bar episode when Troy debates his first alcoholic drink).
As for 30 Rock - you had to be there for the beginning. The first few seasons were great. Now is not a good time to get into the show. There's still some great material, but it really looks like its coming to the end. The 100th episode was a weak effort all around.
The lastest South Park is a riot - it's about folks who don't read the iTunes agreement.
i've heard people lavish praise on 30 rock and community. i tried both shows (also via ON DEMAND), and didn't find either of them funny (community, in fact, was cringeworthy).
Craig
Awake in the middle of the night, found myself laughing at the way Rob Lowe, as Chris, says, "Lit'rally."
I actually feel a lot like Ron in that gif at the moment. Just settled a huge case, and would like to do a little dance.
Craig