[TV] Talk about the last TV you watched, the catchall thread

So, I'm gonna chuck this here, the Emmy nominations were announced and it's another It's Always Sunnyless year for some reason and it's mostly completely predictable except for the fact that Emilia Clarke is up for best actress in a drama for some unknown reason and this fucking oddity:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (2013)
Ty Burrell for "Modern Family" (2009)
Adam Driver for "Girls" (2012)
Tony Hale for "Veep" (2012)
Tituss Burgess for "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (2015)
Keegan-Michael Key for "Key and Peele" (2012) <-- The show is fucking called KEY and Peele, how is he a supporting actor? Also, the show itself, is nominated in Variety Series and not in Comedy Series, which is even weirder.
Even Andre Braugher and Ty Burrell seem odd choices for 'supporting' actor.
 
Last week's Hannibal felt like a season finale. My one issue ...

Honestly, Alana feels like a completely different character this season. I guess getting pushed out a window will do that to you.

That mirror weirdness sex scene was just bizarre, on a show full of bizarre imagery. I don't know what Fuller was going for there. Really, the moment afterward where Alana helps Margot fasten her skirt/dress was enough to say they'd had sex and seemed more intimate than the trippy prior moment.

And possible spoilers, my guess as to what will be going on tonight's episode, which I can't watch until tomorrow:
Margot and Alana to the rescue, Hannibal escapes for a little bit enough to pin Mason's death on him, then off to jail before the season is over.

This is looking more and more like it will be the final season, as no one has expressed interest publicly in picking up the show. Hopefully it can go out with a bang, though I won't be shocked if there's an unresolved cliffhanger in a few weeks.
 
Apparently Netflix would have picked up the show but they were still tied by the deal that had been made with Amazon giving it exclusive streaming rights. Amazon wanted a new season immediately but Fuller is busy with American Gods for too long so they passed.

That shitty Amazon streaming deal fucked the show.
 
Apparently Netflix would have picked up the show but they were still tied by the deal that had been made with Amazon giving it exclusive streaming rights. Amazon wanted a new season immediately but Fuller is busy with American Gods for too long so they passed.

That shitty Amazon streaming deal fucked the show.
Meanwhile it can be watched for free on NBC, making all that redundant until its episodes run out. :facepalm: Ugh. And none of that would even matter if NBC wasn't cancelling it.

I wonder how they feel that the last show they ditched now has multiple Emmy nominations.
 
And probably more people watched Unbreakable Kimmy on Netflix than would have if it had continued on NBC.
Absolutely. No argument here... niche shows don't sell ads though, so it was probably the right choice for NBC too. Netflix can take chances on genre stuff in a way that the networks can't because it doesn't need to have a certain number of episodes every season to fill time slots. It can just let the writers/producers make a full arc each season, only make enough episodes to justify that story, and then produce them. It's honestly a lot like how Japan does anime: small batches to test the water, followed by more if it takes off. Even better, Netflix can see exactly how many people watched the show, how much they watched, and how often they watch repeats... no more guesswork via Nelson families.

What I want to see though is Hulu doing something crazy like making a small batch Star Trek show or something. Once we start getting major franchises in the digital domain, it is GAME ON.
 
They still do that? By they, meaning networks, like that's still a thing?
A lot more people watch TV on the air than on digital media right now... but hit shows are watched on digital media more than on air. So if you want a general outlook of what should be where on a 24 hour scale, then you need Nelson families. Digital viewership statistics can only tell you if a show is being watched and how it's being watched... it can't tell you when to schedule it because the entire point of digital media is to watch it when you want.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
They still do that? By they, meaning networks, like that's still a thing?
Not only that, but Nielsen (not Nelson) also bought Arbitron, which was the company that did radio ratings.

So now there's only one company that does ratings for all broadcast media in the US.

And if you don't think that's a recipe for grade-A fuckshittery, I've got a bridge to sell you.
 
Not only that, but Nielsen (not Nelson) also bought Arbitron, which was the company that did radio ratings.

So now there's only one company that does ratings for all broadcast media in the US.

And if you don't think that's a recipe for grade-A fuckshittery, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Yep. They basically control all the data and have been accused more than once of fudging the numbers for a network to get them a better rate. But who can prove it? They are the only ones out there getting the data. If someone else had data to compare, they'd have already been bought out by Nielsen.

And I have NO idea why I said Nelson instead of Nielsen.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Yep. They basically control all the data and have been accused more than once of fudging the numbers for a network to get them a better rate. But who can prove it? They are the only ones out there getting the data. If someone else had data to compare, they'd have already been bought out by Nielsen.

And I have NO idea why I said Nelson instead of Nielsen.
Or sued out of business, which is what Arbitron did to its competition in the radio ratings game. I don't remember their name (started with a V I think) and naturally since it was 10+ years ago any information on it is buried under pages and pages of search results about subsequent lawsuits they've been involved in... but anyway, Arbitron (now Nielsen) still collects ratings via diary, which is haphazardly inaccurate at best and easily fudged at worst. The competitor company had developed technology that let them park vans at the sides of busy roads and aim a scanner across the street, and for any vehicle that passed through the beam with its radio turned on, the scanner would be able to detect the frequency to which it was tuned. The ratings gathered by such a method were WAY more reliably accurate than diaries, so Arbitron brought a suit against them claiming this was an invasion of privacy - and the judge agreed. Bada bing bada boom, competitor out of business, and Arbitron's got a radio ratings monopoly. Then Nielsen buys Arbitron, and Bob's your uncle, you've got a monopoly of all broadcast media ratings.
 
Or sued out of business, which is what Arbitron did to its competition in the radio ratings game. I don't remember their name (started with a V I think) and naturally since it was 10+ years ago any information on it is buried under pages and pages of search results about subsequent lawsuits they've been involved in... but anyway, Arbitron (now Nielsen) still collects ratings via diary, which is haphazardly inaccurate at best and easily fudged at worst. The competitor company had developed technology that let them park vans at the sides of busy roads and aim a scanner across the street, and for any vehicle that passed through the beam with its radio turned on, the scanner would be able to detect the frequency to which it was tuned. The ratings gathered by such a method were WAY more reliably accurate than diaries, so Arbitron brought a suit against them claiming this was an invasion of privacy - and the judge agreed. Bada bing bada boom, competitor out of business, and Arbitron's got a radio ratings monopoly. Then Nielsen buys Arbitron, and Bob's your uncle, you've got a monopoly of all broadcast media ratings.
Well, it's a good thing that media is dying.

Not swiftly, mind you... but it's getting there.
 
Ratings in Belgium are by Nielsen families as well, but since my parents are amongst them - eh, it seems fairly reliable. You have to carry a little doohicky (size of a phone) with you all the time and it detects what's being listened/seen/heard. Store, tv, radio, internet,...It all gets tallied up and automatically counted.
Mind you, of course this is easily fudgeable. Since it's a government agency here, it's a de facto monopoly, too.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Ratings in Belgium are by Nielsen families as well, but since my parents are amongst them - eh, it seems fairly reliable. You have to carry a little doohicky (size of a phone) with you all the time and it detects what's being listened/seen/heard. Store, tv, radio, internet,...It all gets tallied up and automatically counted.
Mind you, of course this is easily fudgeable. Since it's a government agency here, it's a de facto monopoly, too.
Only the "big" markets here get those, we call them "portable people meters." For the vast majority of the US, it's still done by filling out a paper diary and mailing it in.
 
Only the "big" markets here get those, we call them "portable people meters." For the vast majority of the US, it's still done by filling out a paper diary and mailing it in.
What he said. People in flyover states don't really matter for ratings (or so Nielsen seems to think) so you only get the boxes on the coasts and in some of the bigger cities or ones with a lot of diversity. I know we've got the boxes here in Columbus, OH but that's because EVERYONE tests EVERYTHING here.
 
Girl Meets World continues to throw lots of great in jokes for the older fans. In addition two episodes ago (Mr. Squirrel Goes to Washington) they had a surprise guest star that will hit fans of Boy right in the feels.
 
Girl Meets World continues to throw lots of great in jokes for the older fans. In addition two episodes ago (Mr. Squirrel Goes to Washington) they had a surprise guest star that will hit fans of Boy right in the feels.
I just saw the one last week with ANOTHER surprise guest star. They are not holding back and I applaud them for it. They knew doing stuff for the older fans would be key here and it's worked out great.
 
I was too old for Boy Meets World, and I don't understand the internet's love for it.
It was the perfect 90's show, featuring a cast you grew up with (and stories that got more complex) as it's viewers did, until they too were ready to become adults. It was practically a coming of age story depicted in REAL TIME. It was also inexplicably weird at times, which made it more endearing.

A lot of people feel the same about Saved By The Bell but the cast members of that show notoriously hate each other (and they are ALL united in their hatred of Dustin Diamond, the actor of Screech, who was/is apparently a COMPLETE ASSHOLE) so there is basically no chance of a reunion series.
 
SyFy's Friday night lineup is stronk, and it's all actual science fiction for a change.

Defiance is not pulling any punches this season, with Nolan and Irissa completely re-learning about each other. Irissa in particular, is basically getting heavily hit by PTSD, both from recent events and being brought up by Nolan.

Killjoys is actually quite good. Enough flavor of Blade Runner, Firefly, and Cowboy Bebop to satisfy. The cast especially has good chemistry and the action and effects are well done.

Dark Matter is also better than I expected. We're getting partial answers to the central mystery, enough to keep it interesting without bogging down the show.

History Channel also has an excellent reality competition show called "Forged in Fire". Unlike SyFy's shitty "Big Fucking Swords" or whatever it was called where the dude just basically used stamped metal and then ground it into shape (stock removal, as opposed to forging), this is basically Chopped, but for bladesmiths. 4 bladesmiths are given time, material, and a set of requirements to meet: "Blade must be between 9 and 11 inches long, with 4 inches of serrations", "Total length must be under 16 inches and designed for chopping", etc. First round is shaping the blade - and inevitably someone breaks a blade or burns the steel (as happens when you rush). Second round is taking the blade and turning it into a finished weapon. Third round is testing it for sharpness, strength, and functionality. The two remaining smiths then go back to their home forges, and get 5 days to produce a selected weapon (katana, viking battle axe, katar, chakram, etc) which is then similarly tested. The Viking Battle Axe one in particular was interesting, because I think the losing smith made a better axehead, but he fucked up by giving it a round handle wrapped in leather, instead of an oval or square handle. A bladed weapon with a perfectly cylindrical handle will tend to twist in your hand as you swing it or upon impact, lessening the direct force, and the leather wrap made sliding one's hand down the haft difficult. Anyway, 4 episodes in, it's pretty good.
 
I finally got around to starting to watch Burn Notice. I'm really liking it so far.
It had a very Mission Impossible/A-Team feel about it.
I think it started to groan under its own weight in later seasons, but I never saw anything after season 2 (3?) so I don't know if it actually collapsed.

--Patrick
 
It had a very Mission Impossible/A-Team feel about it.
I think it started to groan under its own weight in later seasons, but I never saw anything after season 2 (3?) so I don't know if it actually collapsed.

--Patrick
I've always thought that Burn Notice was a latter day A-Team. (And, yes, it was probably a couple of seasons longer than it needed to be.)

Leverage is probably a better analog for Mission Impossible.
 

fade

Staff member
I didn't like the Flanderization of Sam. He started the show as the Brains, designing all the plans, while being a pretty good fighter himself. But by the end, Michael was making all the plans, and Sam was reduced to the goofy drunk with lots of girlfriends who whined at Michael all the time.
 
I didn't like the Flanderization of Sam. He started the show as the Brains, designing all the plans, while being a pretty good fighter himself. But by the end, Michael was making all the plans, and Sam was reduced to the goofy drunk with lots of girlfriends who whined at Michael all the time.
...but then Michael became the executive producer of the show...
 


So here's the first look at The Muppets. I kinda dig this... Kermit as the genuinely nice guy who isn't as squeeky clean as you thought is pretty amazing, especially now that he's allowed to sorta-swear. Really dug the bit about Electric Mayhem in the car... the idea that not only does Kermit know about the vices of his coworkers but is generally okay with them is kinda great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dei
Top