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SECRET TIME, I'm betting secret grandpa!
[TV] Talk about the last TV you watched, the catchall thread
- Thread starter Frank
- Start date
Finished season 4 of Adventure Time.
Second to last episode: Cheeeerist. This is supposed to be fun!
Last episode: What in the HELL. How can they just end the season that way?!
And no word on when season 5 is coming to DVD, so time to sit in limbo. Terrific.
Second to last episode: Cheeeerist. This is supposed to be fun!
Last episode: What in the HELL. How can they just end the season that way?!
And no word on when season 5 is coming to DVD, so time to sit in limbo. Terrific.
Parks and Rec series finale
Wonderful finale, abso-LUTE-ly sweet, and still filled with Parks and Rec fun. And my heart goes out to the crew.
Wonderful finale, abso-LUTE-ly sweet, and still filled with Parks and Rec fun. And my heart goes out to the crew.
Ah "I remember you", its one of the biggest emotional suckerpunches in animation. And yeah, welcome to hell.
Steven Universe
Holy fucking shit, Amethyst. That was literally the cruelest thing you could have done to Greg and you've probably done this to him at least once in the past.
This is probably why Greg doesn't hang out with the Gems anymore too. I always figured it was because Pearl and Garnet didn't know what to do with him, but the idea of Greg dropping them because Amethyst couldn't let go is kind of sad.
This is probably why Greg doesn't hang out with the Gems anymore too. I always figured it was because Pearl and Garnet didn't know what to do with him, but the idea of Greg dropping them because Amethyst couldn't let go is kind of sad.
Agreed,
when he looked away you could just FEEL the sting.
Adventure Time:
Nice little father/son ep, and dear LORD was it a trip!
Nice little father/son ep, and dear LORD was it a trip!
Regular Show
Huh...that ending was weirdly sad. Poor suit.
GasBandit
Staff member
The final season of Parks and Rec
I was annoyed at the first couple episodes because it seemed Leslie had returned to being the psychotic, controlling, manipulative bulldozer she'd grown out of in the first couple seasons, but it was made slightly less unpalatable by her lampshading her own tendencies. Fortunately, it got better pretty quickly. I liked the mechanic of keeping us guessing what "Morningstar" was and how it drove her and Ron apart for several episodes until it was resolved. Good character development, lots of payoff for the long-watching fans of the show. The final episode was exactly what a series finale should be - no dangling loose ends to try and milk just "one more season" out of it, just closure and epilogue. Garry's name coming full circle, his long tenure as mayor, his bajillions of blonde, perfect offspring and his amazing unaging wife. Tom's failures becoming his success. Andy and April being respectively led unknowingly and dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood, all the while still bringing along their similar but distinct adult-child security blankets of make-believe. Donna, caring but cynical to the end, serving others while simultaneously being self-serving seeming to be a contradiction until you realize it's really a balance, and a good balance is needed in everything. Ron is Ron. I always liked how they humorously poke at Ron's anarcho-libertarianism and conservatism without resorting to the usual vicious stereotypes or making him a kicking post (they save those for the hilariously hypocritical stepford-smiling Langmans), and in the end, Ron is treated with respect both by the other characters and the writers. And, of course, Ben and Leslie get their happily-ever-after in the form of the neverending political climb culminating in Leslie's rise to Governor of Indiana. I must admit I was a little afraid they'd push it too far over the top and have her go for President, but was relieved. Leslie's political views pretty much run counter to everything I believe, and she's still a snarling tyrant in her worst moments, but when it counts she does what she (and most others) would consider to be the right thing - as subtly shown when she turns down a political victory to avoid throwing Councilman Jam (her worst political enemy and arguably the lowest scum on the show - though the Saperstien kids muddy the certainty) under the bus. She declines what should have been a win-win for her because it was the right thing to do. And for that, I can forgive a little roaring leftist authoritarianism. So long as it stays in Indiana.
Last Man on Earth was pretty damned cute and fun. It was strange watching this after a long session of playing Fallout 3.
At Gary's funeral Leslie or Ben have a secret service detachment with them. It could be because Ben won and kept his Congressional seat, but I felt it was left vague on purpose. You can put your own ending on it.
Necronic
Staff member
Dunno how many of yall are watching the new House of Cards season, but man...not entirely sure how I feel about it this season. The dialogue is still very smart, they acting is stellar. The problem is that now that he's in the White House he actually has to do real politics, and the political goals he has are just...they make no sense
This season seems to have that same cutting intelligence in the writing, but the overall story is just...there's something REALLY stupid about it. It's basically like listening to Oscar speeches on foreign policy.
For instance the whole "Amworks" thing. A jobs bill that will put 10 million americans to work for 500 billion dollars. First off, let's do some simple math. 10 million. 500 billion. That's...50k per person. You could literally just hire people to do nothing for that. And that's sort of the problem with the whole thing. You can't just invent jobs out of nowhere. Worse still, how is he going to pay for this? By slashing entitlement spending, as in Social Security, Medicaire/Medicaid. Ok. So you're going to slaughter entitlement spending....to pay...for...new entitlements? What? This is completely illogical and inconsistent. Oh yeah, and...talking about cutting Social Security, I think I have heard AARP mentioned all of once..in passing. I guarantee you, any real story about cutting SS would have hordes of elderly storming the....whatever it is where people do stuff.
This season seems to have that same cutting intelligence in the writing, but the overall story is just...there's something REALLY stupid about it. It's basically like listening to Oscar speeches on foreign policy.
GasBandit
Staff member
Indeed, it wasn't even clear which of them was the reason for the guards.
Well, Frank is a Democrat.
Without having watched the season:
a) there are a lot of incentive programs out there, which cost the government more than just paying all those people welfare or giving them a wage to sit and do nothing would. A while ago a tax reduction here was criticized because even if it achieved the projected amount of new jobs created, it'd cost about €95K per job (and it spectacularly failed to achieve those goals and ended up costing more than double that, according to the political left - though I don't entirely trust their numbers, even the right acknowledges it didn't achieve the intended goals).
b) even very smart people are often quite clueless about what actually happens in politics and how it works - heck, the West Wing was a very good show, and showed a lot of things about how politics worked, but even that constantly made everything a lot easier and simpler than it would be. Either you make your show realistic, and a show about nothing happening because of 10 years of lobbying and countering and ridiculous backstabbing and so on isn't interesting, or you make your show somewhat realistic and your characters can't actually have any great impact on anything, which, again, isn't that interesting, or you make your show realistic but have your character have a major impact and solve some big problems in a way that doesn't cause anyone to protest or complain - and if you can manage that, you shouldn't be making tv shows but be in politics, solving problems, dude.
Fantastic article on the AV Club about painful (for one reason or another) to watch TV episodes. Warning, spoilers aplenty for a lot of shows.
http://www.avclub.com/article/stream-once-and-destroy-20-great-tv-episodes-too-p-215742
http://www.avclub.com/article/stream-once-and-destroy-20-great-tv-episodes-too-p-215742
I feel like the article really contradicts itself. "Watch these awesome episodes that we just fucking spoil the hell out of anyway!" The only one I read through (so far) was the Ozymandias one as I've seen the show, and holy shit they just drop every big bomb of the episode right there in one paragraph.
Yeah I get that, that wasn't what I was saying. I mean why write an article about how you should watch a series/show if you just spoil all the best parts? Just seems weird.
It's specifically talking about re-watching a show; it's not really encouraging new viewers. They're making the case that certain episodes suffer on repeat viewings.
On the topic of the article, I disagree with them wholeheartedly. The episodes of shows on there that I have watched are all worth watching again. The Deadwood one was kind of WTF to me. I'm sorry kidney stones gross you out so much it ruined the beginning of a season, guy.
Yeah, it clearly says it doesn't mean "bad episodes" but "episodes you might actually want to skip because they're too painful to watch". They completely spoil all episodes they talk about; I didn't read all of them, but...well, I do disagree on most of them. Deadwood, certainly, and House, and Game of Thrones. Heck, I'd go and rewatch the GoT episode on purpose because it's so well done!
Downside of getting my wife up to season 3 of Breaking Bad: any time I say "I have to cook" on a night I'm making dinner and it's not ready yet, she jumps in to reference the show.
The Last Man on Earth - great pilot, fun second episode. it's less... experimental? weird? non-conventional? than I was hoping, but I'm still hooked.
Battle Creek - decent pilot, felt a little kind of... I dunno, light. I wanted a little more world-building/plate-setting? Which is weird to ask for in a pilot. Maybe it just has over-confidence from being on CBS and knowing it's going to get huge ratings by being a flickering light accompanied by sound on CBS. Josh Duhamel is always a weird cross between Michael C. Hall and Timothy Olyphant
Battle Creek - decent pilot, felt a little kind of... I dunno, light. I wanted a little more world-building/plate-setting? Which is weird to ask for in a pilot. Maybe it just has over-confidence from being on CBS and knowing it's going to get huge ratings by being a flickering light accompanied by sound on CBS. Josh Duhamel is always a weird cross between Michael C. Hall and Timothy Olyphant
I just ran through the first season of House, which is on Netflix. I've watched it all before, so no real surprises, but the show leans on a lot of stuff pretty heavily over and over. 3 patients whose maybe-they-have genetic conditions couldn't be ruled out because their parents had died in car accidents years ago. "Family history of heart disease?" "Mom and Dad died in a car accident three years ago." I mean, maybe New Jersey has really dangerous roads. Or a lot of people dying of heart attacks on their commute.
I mean, the show is still good, but it does the writers some discredit to watch it in rapid succession, I guess.
I also watched all of Fringe, which is a show that apparently was written by people who give zero fucks. Season 4 was pretty good, though. Certainly not worth wading through 2 bad seasons and a third season that says "We don't give a shit about continuity," unless you hate yourself, like I do.
I mean, the show is still good, but it does the writers some discredit to watch it in rapid succession, I guess.
I also watched all of Fringe, which is a show that apparently was written by people who give zero fucks. Season 4 was pretty good, though. Certainly not worth wading through 2 bad seasons and a third season that says "We don't give a shit about continuity," unless you hate yourself, like I do.
The only problem I had with House is that, at times, it became very evident that the writers had read the same wikipedia articles that I had read.
I avoid Wikipedia as a personal rule, but I wouldn't be surprised if I looked up articles for proposed diseases and discovered the list of symptoms is in the same order as they're listed, or indeed discovered, on the show.
It's often up for debate who influenced who, though. House is pretty old at this point
That said, I bingewatched most of House as well, and yes, some themes are played to death. It's one of the reasons the later seasons don't always have a patient-of-the-week and focus more on the soapy stuff sometimes. And near the end some of the cases get weird and you really have to accept House is a medical encyclopedia, where originally most cases at least presented with symptoms that would "fit" his specialty.
Yes, but probably not to the frequency they're using it.
You must have watched a different Fringe than I did, especially if season 3 didn't care about continuity.
fade
Staff member
Yeah House was definitely written with a predictable formula--for the medical mystery. But then the show is more a character drama with a medical mystery frame story.[DOUBLEPOST=1425567565,1425567315][/DOUBLEPOST]
Mind if I ask why? 10 years ago, I'd agree, but it's so well curated these days.
GasBandit
Staff member
Ladies and gentlemen, seasons 1 thru 3! Though they forgot the part where almost every patient has a flopping, eyes-rolling-back seizure.
A fun companion piece to watching house is to, afterwards, consult this blog to see how good/bad the medical parts are, written by a real-life doctor.
http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html