What Are You Watching

Shadowlass wrote:Has anybody been watching the UK version of Being Human? It just had its series finale. And BBC America cut 15 out of each of the last two episodes, so huge bits are missing from the show's last episodes ever. Badly done, BBC America.

For people who haven't watched, I recommend it. Seasons one, four, and five are great (seasons two and three are a bit of a slog). It's Buffyesque in its mixture of scares, humor, and characterization. I know a lot of people stopped watching because of

Spoiler:

Watched the originals. I couldn't watch the U.S. version after that. Everything was so spot-on: the characterization, the writing, the chemistry. There were some flubs (including at least one offscreen death that felt like a horrible cheat), but all in all, it was a marvelous show with a marvelous ending.

Oh, The White Queen is deliciously awful, and I loved every minute of all 10 episodes. Watching Queen Consort Elizabeth prance around and openly cast spells at her enemies is made of win.

xyzzy wrote:Oh, The White Queen is deliciously awful, and I loved every minute of all 10 episodes. Watching Queen Consort Elizabeth prance around and openly cast spells at her enemies is made of win.

I caught an episode of that on TV when I was in London a few weeks ago (my TV reminded me of the one the cast had in Being Human, so I had to watch something on it!)

It was indeed deliciously campy and ridiculous while trying to pretend not to be, and I kind of loved it. With the same part of me that loved Merlin, for instance.

I caught an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen and I really disliked it. It's like Chopped, but with only unpleasant contestants. Why, Alton, why?

I caught one of the very first episodes of Happy Days (if not the first - Fonzie had a windbreaker) a few days ago, and I think I may have been scarred for life. The premise is that there's a girl with a large chest who everyone claims to have gone all the way with. Including Richie, after a date where she tells him she doesn't go any further than kissing. So then after a while, he feels badly about lying to everyone, so he apologizes to her. She then says something like, "that's ok. Everyone does it.  Even Coach Blahblah said girls with big chests should expect to have a reputation. Heck, he even tried to stretch my sweater himself." (That's what she said when Richie tried to unhook her bra.) And then they laughed. Oh, and Fonzie came to pick her up on his motorcycle, and when Richie told him that she doesn't put out, he got really annoyed that he was going to waste his time with her.

...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!??!?!?  The gym teacher groped you, and this is hilarious? What the actual fuck, Happy Days?

Algae wrote:I caught an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen and I really disliked it.  It's like Chopped, but with only unpleasant contestants.  Why, Alton, why?  

I vaguely remember the days when the Food Network actually had cooking shows.

Of course, I also remember when MTV showed music videos.

mokey75 wrote:What the actual fuck, Happy Days?

Oh yes, mokey, Happy Days was quite a different show the first season, what with the windbreaker and Chuck Cunningham. I still quote the beatnik episode. And of course no one knows what I'm talking about.

mrinsouciance the Food Network used to be great! I really liked Too Hot Tamales and Cooking Monday to Friday. The chefs knew what they were talking about and were easygoing, before cooking became a competitive sport filled with blowhards. And MTV back in the day? 120 Minutes? The Cutting Edge with Peter Zaremba? How the mighty have fallen.

I'm old! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress -- phooey! (tm Dana Carvey)

I used to think that if I got cable again it would be for the Food Network, but now I couldn't care less. I want to see recipes that I can make at home (and live vicariously through the charmed life of Ina Garten), not a bunch of stressed chefs trying to put together a ridiculous meal with random ingredients in 10 minutes or less.

the Food Network used to be great! I really liked Too Hot Tamales and Cooking Monday to Friday. The chefs knew what they were talking about and were easygoing, before cooking became a competitive sport filled with blowhards.

hee! that made me laugh

I had watched the second season of Homeland on Demand last month, and Showtime finally made season 1 available. So, I've been watching that but when I finished I found I had to rewatch season 2 with the perspective of actually knowing what the fuck happened in season 1.

And, while I'm living at home, my Mom commands the living room TV with HGTV (that's ok), and Fox News (so not ok).

I've gone back to my First True Fandom.

Yes, Quantum Leap.

I'm glad to say that Netflix and Hulu (since Netflix is missing episodes, I don't know why) do not have mangled-music versions. This is good. I just watch "Good Morning, Peoria", and I don't think I could have taken it with the music all gone.

Amusing thing-- the opening of the episode "A Leap for Lisa" starts with the titular Lisa walking toward Sam, naked on the beach. The make this TV safe with backlighting and the presumption that Standard Definition televisions in 1992 weren't going to give the kind of resolution needed to make out any details. They didn't plan on resolution and broadcast quality changing, so now the shot goes from suggestive nudity to "Terry Farrell is wearing pasties and a crotch patch". Probably not the creators' intent.

We just watched the first season of The Americans and enjoyed it, though sometimes it felt a bit like they weren't going anywhere in certain episodes.

The woman that Philip "marries" is enjoyably naive to watch. Your husband won't tell anyone you're married, won't live with you, and basically won't be seen with you in public? Sure, that sounds like a match made in heaven!

My husband and I just finished the first season of Continuum on Netflix, and it's filling the Fringe void in our lives while we wait for the last season to become available. I remember Rachel Nichols from the excrable last season of Alias, and I think she's much better now (plus she looks great with dark hair). It doesn't hurt that her partner is hot like fire. Mr. Bear and I are rooting for them to hook up, even though she has a husband in 2077. This prompted a discussion of whether it's cheating when you're stuck in another time/universe. We mutually decided to give the other a pass on cheating if one of us is stuck in another time or universe.

This prompted a discussion of whether it's cheating when you're stuck in another time/universe. We mutually decided to give the other a pass on cheating if one of us is stuck in another time or universe.

It's wise of you to talk about it in advance so there are no surprises if one of you gets sucked into a wormhole. Family planning at its finest.

Raised by wolves wrote:

This prompted a discussion of whether it's cheating when you're stuck in another time/universe. We mutually decided to give the other a pass on cheating if one of us is stuck in another time or universe.

It's wise of you to talk about it in advance so there are no surprises if one of you gets sucked into a wormhole.  Family planning at its finest.

See, to go back to Quantum Leap-- Sam's wife Donna understands perfectly well that when he's back in the past, he's got to do what he's got to do to fix things.

Now, having seen all of the second season of Continuum, that show is doing interesting things. I think Rachel Nichols is kind of a weak link, but there is something interesting to the idea that she's trying to save a future that's kind of horrible.

I'm not sure where to put this, so I hope it's okay here. I know there are fans who liked Bunheads, now cancelled. Here's a nice gift for the fans: A Farewell Dance

I know sometimes the storylines could be trite, and maybe even silly, but I'll really miss that show, and that final dance illustrates the biggest reason why.

I just watched the entirety of Orange is the New Black. I tried the first episode and had no interest after fifteen minutes. I think this is because the lead is the least interesting character. Once I got to her in prison and the more engaging characters showed up, I was hooked. I kind of want both Laura Prepon and Taylor Schilling to leave, because I find them and their storyline utterly boring. The rest of the prisoners are way more interesting.

Ok, who watched this week's episode of Catfish, with Artis and Jess? I need someone to explain that Justin guy to me. Was he real? Was he putting on some crazy act? I don't understand WHAT was going on. I thought Max was going to run screaming when he got left behind with him with Nev talked with Artis in the car. I think I would have. And I never in a million years would have gone in that dude's house, cameras and security or no. I did, however, crack up when he offered them something to drink, and Nev said no, and then started chugging from a bottle of water he brought with him. Excellent call by you, Nev.

Also, the one from last week (?), where the blond girl met the guy with the weapons of mass destruction charge? Jesus. I thought for sure she was going to end up at the bottom of the lake, so I am VERY glad that she left after 2 days.

My wife and I are going through Monk via Netflix. Caught bits and pieces of episodes here and there when it was in first run but didn't pay it too much mind other than the occasional pop culture reference in other things.

It's been fun. Tony Shalhoub does a great job making Monk sympathetic... most of the time. Around the end of the second season I found myself rolling my eyes and getting very impatient with how long they would play some of the jokes - we get it, he has a hard time doing X Y and Z because of reasons. Move ON.

Then, in the third season, when Sharona left, there was this shift in the tone. It's still funny at times - like "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk" - but they keep aiming for sentimentality and ending even bog standard episodes with a "Mr. Monk's life is sad sad sad" tags. I hope that eases up, soon, because the show is way too standard a procedural, Monk's tics aside, for me to put up with all this obvious heartstring tugging.

I loved Monk when it started. I watched up until Sharona left and then I quit because I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle it. I watched the first episode with the other chick and I was like "nah, not for me."

I agree with you that, by the end of the ones I watched, it was getting waaaaayyyy sentimental. I liked when it RESISTED sentiment -- which it used to be good at -- and I think the increased leaning on stuff like Monk's feeling sad about Trudy (and going from quick, silent flashbacks/memories of Trudy to like, entire dialogue-filled scenes with her) did not help the show. Even when the new lady showed up and she was also a single mom with a kid but instead of being divorced her husband had DIED, I was like, really guys? I'm glad they decided to change up ONE thing in replacing the character, but I wouldn't have picked that thing.

I also agree that Monk started to get crazier and crazier for the sake of the humor (what is that called, that TV trope where everyone's quirks start out believable and by the end of the run are totally operatic and ridiculous? That happened), and in my memory they started having more and more elaborate like, set pieces about Monk doing something crazy that were accompanied by "time for Monk to do a crazy thing that's going to take a long time so fasten your seatbelts everyone, initiate sequence now" music.

One episode that I always cite (god I am a dork) is the one where Sharona is revealed to have a fear of elephants, and instead of being empathetic Monk just totally makes fun of her and cannot understand at all even though he himself has a million crazy phobias. But they are HIS phobias and they make sense and they're not about something ILLOGICAL like elephants. I loved that. Because it resisted sentiment. On the other hand they would do off-key stuff like having Sharona not pay attention to Monk or the crime because she was texting her hot politician boyfriend. I liked when Sharona was sassy/ditzy yet responsible/caring, not a total oblivious airhead.

I'm rambling. Basically I feel they lost their grip on the show a bit towards the end there. It was never going to be a masterpiece, but I do feel the quality slipped as time went on. As I said I didn't watch the NATALIE! THAT'S her name episodes, so I hope they pulled it together after that. (And YMMV of course! I know plenty of people who preferred the Natalie episodes.)

I believe there was an episode with Amy Sedaris as Sharona's actress sister, and I could not stop laughing when Monk somehow ends up onstage in a play and has to lean against a prop wall but doesn't want to. Instead he leans over inches from the wall and just looks like a weirdo delivering lines in an affectless manner, and for some reason I laughed til I nearly cried watching that scene.

The trope is Flanderization, as in Ned Flanders, going from Homer's decent-human-being to absurd collection of ticks.

Anyone else watching/seen series 3 of Luther? Intense!!

Yes! I love that show!

I have no excuse for never trying that show. It has the shortest seasons ever and has nothing but rave reviews. I really should give it a whirl already.