What Are You Watching

That's very disappointing about The Hour. I bought both seasons on DVD today, looking forward to catching up on season 1.

I know that The Americans is already on life support, but I'm kind of liking it. The first two episodes weren't very grabby, but the third one pulled me in. As a child of the 80s, I found the acquisition of the very "dangerous" plans for the Star Wars strategic defense initiative hilarious. Poor Russian spies, getting stabbed over imaginary space lasers.

Gilraen wrote:I realize I'm any number of years late on this, but I just watched the premiere of Pushing Daisies. What a wonderful pilot episode; completely delightful.

That whole show is pure delight.

I want to watch Pushing Daisies, but I know I'll get annoyed that it was cancelled so soon. May as well spare myself the aggravation.

Oh no, you should definitely give it a try. Even though it got cut short, it was still satisfying and completely precious!

Did they actually get to conclude the series properly or did it end on some sorta cliffhanger?

Y'know, I watched all of Pushing Daisies but can't remember how it ended, so I'll leave that for others to address.

I just read, as a throwaway in this article about Maya Rudolph's pregnancy, that Christina Applegate has left Up All Night. That makes me kinda sad, because I quite enjoyed the first season of it, and was hoping they'd figure out how to get back to the funny in the the messy second season.

Did they actually get to conclude the series properly or did it end on some sorta cliffhanger?

They wrapped it up but it was very havey-cavey because they filmed the finale before they knew they were cancelled and then ABC gave them the money to film a post-cancellation ending which they just tacked on. So the last episode seemed to be advancing the stories for next season and then the last ten minutes suddenly gave all of the stories endings. I don't remember specifics but I think they tried to conclude what they'd told but also they (frustratingly) suggested stories that would have happened if the series had continued in hopes it would get revived somehow. It was nice to get some closure on what had happened but it really sucked to realize what you were never going to see.

Ahhh, I see. I'm glad that the fans got something somewhat satisfactory, but yeah, the teasing of what could have been if the show got saved must have been frustrating!

I just watched Being Human (US) up to the most recent episode. (Netflix has seasons 1 and 2 streaming.)

It's tough to avoid comparisons with the original, which I watched up until Aidan Turner, the hot dwarf, was

Spoiler:

Both versions have their own merits. I think the writing was better in the UK version, but I prefer a couple of the US actors to their UK counterparts. I like both versions of the vampire, but the werewolf is less grating in the US series. I could take or leave either ghost, to be honest, but if I had a gun to my head I would pick the US ghost to haunt my house. Her part is pretty badly written, poor thing.

In my mad attempts to catch up to what all of my friends have already been into for years, I'm about halfway through the first season of Community. I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it lends itself to marathoning, unlike most American sitcoms.

I've been watching Skins again. Just finished the fourth season and I'm so traumatized right now.

Eris, if you're looking for a sitcom worth marathoning, may I suggest Parks and Recreation? I watched 2 whole seasons of it in about a week last year. Really funny stuff and a brilliant ensemble!

whatthedeuce wrote:Eris, if you're looking for a sitcom worth marathoning, may I suggest Parks and Recreation? I watched 2 whole seasons of it in about a week last year. Really funny stuff and a brilliant ensemble!

Second this, but don't bother with season 1!! It's not great and doesn't set the context of the show well - just jump in with season 2. Then hold on for season 3 'cause that's when it gets wonderful.

I feel like the only person who actually liked S1. I think the pilot was a bit awkward, if I remember right, but I liked the rest of the eps!

whatthedeuce wrote:Eris, if you're looking for a sitcom worth marathoning, may I suggest Parks and Recreation? I watched 2 whole seasons of it in about a week last year. Really funny stuff and a brilliant ensemble!

I'll give it a shot.

I hope you'll enjoy it. Let us know what you think once you've tried it!

whatthedeuce wrote:I feel like the only person who actually liked S1. I think the pilot was a bit awkward, if I remember right, but I liked the rest of the eps!

I enjoyed it, but not as much as the other seasons, and I suggest people starting watch S2 first and see how they like it, and then go back to fill in (this is because I've known a lot of people who stopped watching when they started at S1, but who picked it up again in the later seasons)

I feel like P&R really came together by the second to last episode of season 1, (The Banquet), and it became one of my all-time favorite shows with the finale of that season. At the very least, it's only 6 episodes, so it's not like you're wasting hours and hours if you watch them.

Oh, I totally see the strategy there, Matinee. Good thinking.

mokey75 wrote:I feel like P&R really came together by the second to last episode of season 1, (The Banquet), and it became one of my all-time favorite shows with the finale of that season. At the very least, it's only 6 episodes, so it's not like you're wasting hours and hours if you watch them.

yeah you have to at least watch the banquet for Ron and the bacon wrapped shrimp.

I finally caught up on season 2 of Game of Thrones. I'm glad they didn't wimp out (too much) on Tyrion's disfigurement at the hands of his sister. As a viewer I got a full picture of his despair at being the Imp, which is a feat I wasn't sure they'd be able to accomplish given Tyrion's relatively limited screen time.

Interestingly, I like Daenerys as a character much more on the tv show than I do in the books. The actress really sells her strength and vulnerability and she has fantastic chemistry with Khal Drogo. Too bad he had to die so early.

Joffrey is a little shit on the screen and the page, but it annoys me that he's so mustache twirly. I would have preferred a little more subtlety. It's hard to confer supervillain status on Cersei and Joffrey; they've managed to survive thus far by pure dumb luck.

So in my late night surfing I saw I Solved a Murder on the Bio Channel. A pro soccer player spent his off-time feeding and getting to know the homeless. When one of the women ended up murdered, he got obsessed with the case and led police to the culprit, who was the homeless man (and boyfriend of the victim) he was trying to exonerate. Whoops. The episode I watched should have been called The Philly Police are Inept.

During the investigation the cops found items on the ground next to the body that they knew were from the killer but didn't take it to Evidence because "there was too much of it." One of the things they left behind was a handwritten diary from the killer the soccer player picked up when he went there after the cops had left. The homeless woman actually had an apartment that the soccer player found on his own and he brought the cops to the apartment. Granted the place was hoarded, but the cops didn't notice that the woman was dismembered in the tub so they didn't mark it as a crime scene nor did they even bother to lock the damn apartment when they left. So the next day the soccer player went into the unlocked apartment to look around, realized it was the murder site and called the cops to come back. Plus, he found a receipt for trash bags and rope from the day of the murder and a note to the landlord explaining why the rent checks would have a new name on them. And oh by the way, the handwriting matched the diary and the note was signed. And to top it all off, he found out where the guy got breakfast every morning, which was how the cops eventually arrested him.

I have no idea why the cops cooperated in making the episode. They looked like idiots.

It's funny and amazing how I first thought Spartacus: was one of the worst shows I've ever seen and now its probably one of my favorite shows ever.

Netflix. House Of Cards. Is it weird that (despite the fact that I've liked him in other roles) I find him to be more compelling in this role than as any of the characters I've seen him portray on the big screen, including his famed turns in American Beauty, Seven, and even The Usual Suspects?