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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Dec 11, 2015 0:09:16 GMT
Any particular observations about your taste in television programmes? I am wondering to what extent we overlap.
Specifically, this query was prompted by Matt saying the only sitcoms he really liked were Arrested Development and Community.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Dec 11, 2015 13:40:07 GMT
Sitcoms are just so base. There needs to be something funny every 30 seconds or less, and it has to be funny for 95% of people watching. All the jokes are cheap and lazy and it isn't very interesting at all. Community and Arrested Development both keep the same pace, but they manage to be funny for a slightly more intelligent crowd. There is less cheap relationship humour, for one. Community runs on rapid fire clever dialogue, while arrested development is all about beating a joke to death until it is hilarious. Other than those, Parks and Rec is a show I've laughed at, but it's far too hit and miss for me to say I really like it. Everybody Loves Raymond was decent for a laugh track sitcom, and Seinfeld could be very very funny at times. That's about it really. For serious stuff, here is a list of shows I would give my seal of approval: Lost (yeah, yeah, I know) Breaking Bad Justified Rome Deadwood Daredevil / Jessica Jones True Detective (the first season, never got into the second and only saw two episodes) Looking at that list I guess it's mostly high budget cable. With actual production values. Go figure. Game of Thrones doesn't do much for me. The Flash is pretty good if you like light hearted comic book type stuff. Arrow was never great but was decent for the first two seasons before dipping well below mediocre. The Tudors was laughable at times while still being entertaining to watch. As far as procedurals go, the Mentalist was a lot better than most network tv. I've never seen the Wire but I should. Sons of Anarchy was too soap opera-ish for my tastes. The modern day Sherlock series BBC does is solid if not overwhelmingly great. Oh, and I also watch anime. I like about 5% of it though.
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Post by HockeySam18 on Dec 11, 2015 15:42:59 GMT
I watch Thrones but it would be hard to follow things properly if I hadn't read the (extant) books already. The show does an awfully poor job of explaining things, which is a serious issue given the complexity of the plot. At this point the books essentially serve as a companion to understanding, especially considering that the 6th book probably isn't getting finished anytime soon.
I tend to enjoy shows with a historical context. Vikings, The Last Kingdom, and Rome have been very enjoyable. Marco Polo was dreadful but I still sat through it because the historical material interested me. The Pacific was fairly good, as was The Pillars of the Earth. The Tudors was exceptional, and Boardwalk Empire was good at first but dropped off as it went on. Historical inaccuracy doesn't bother me too much as long as the quality of the show makes up for it, but when things start to get ridiculously inaccurate for no apparent reason I tend to be a bit disappointed.
As for other shows, I like The Office (both the British and American versions, despite the humor being very different), Trailer Park Boys (very odd humor - understanding it is half the battle, but once you do it's pretty hilarious), Breaking Bad, Prison Break, and Parks & Rec. Seinfeld is a classic, and I also really liked Curb Your Enthusiasm. I need to try watching Community - I've only heard positive things about it.
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Post by Basse on Dec 11, 2015 17:12:19 GMT
This is the first time I've come across a single other person who has watched Justfied. It's a great show! Community's great too, although I think it fails to reach the same peaks these days as it did in season 3 in particular. The only sitcom I actively follow right now is Modern Family, which unfortunately is getting a bit stale after seven seasons. Other than that I currently watch Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.... and that's about it. My number one favourite series ever though has got to be Firefly. Fun fact, there was actually a Swedish version made of this a few years ago. The main character was originally from another, rather successful Swedish sitcom, so the series was a crossover between two rather different shows. I hear it failed rather miserably.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Dec 11, 2015 18:52:30 GMT
Firefly is fantastic. Dollhouse was entertaining and interesting but ultimately not good.
Swedish Office is going to be my new favourite show. I just need to find a dub or sub of it now.
Really? I thought it was very good at points and very bad at others. It's possible my preexisting knowledge of the subject made me despise it, but their portrayal of several key historical characters was very hard to swallow, Henry VIII not the least among them. It also drifted toward melodrama as opposed to drama often I felt.
Vikings...I can't decide on. Some episodes are great. Some make you painfully aware this is the History channel you are watching. There was an episode I dubbed 'Viking Woodstock' that seriously damaged my opinion of the show. I'm still not through second season.
I would rank the seasons of community as 3,2,1,6,5,4 with 3 and 2 as some of the best comedy ever produced, and 4 as only barely watchable. 1 is almost as good as 2 and 3 in a different, less outrageous way. 5 is weak but benefits from 2-3 priceless episodes, the GI Joe cartoon episode particularly. 6 is as good as 2 and 3, but with too many great characters gone. 4...we don't talk about 4.
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Post by Basse on Dec 11, 2015 19:28:22 GMT
I really enjoyed Dollhouse the first time around, even though the ending was lacklustre to say the least. Even some episodes which I hear a lot of people disliked, like the popstar rescue in season one, I quite enjoyed. I tried rewatching it recently though, and it doesn't hold up as well as I had hoped. To aid you in your quest for a dub, the name of the Swedish Office was "Kontoret" (literally The Office). Ugh. Agreed. Also, Spaced is a real gem of a series.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Dec 11, 2015 23:33:46 GMT
It's incredibly hard to recommend comedies because sense of humour is so personal. Years ago on this forum I mentioned a sitcom called Yes Minister, which was made in the 1980s in the UK (Margaret Thatcher wrote a famously terrible tribute episode). Admittedly it does have a laugh track, which is a bit annoying at times. If I can make a 60 second or less pitch for it, try this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSD1d-6P6qIFor a more modern, cruder, faster-paced and very sharply written comedy you could try The Thick Of It. Another short clip which gives you a flavour: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3O2xljMlhs&feature=youtu.be&t=8Same. I wasn't sure about the US version at first, but it's quite adorable - which is the complete opposite of the UK version. I liked the earlier episodes, but as it wears on I think it gets less good. Covering that many years, over which King Henry changed so much, doesn't work very well.
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Post by HockeySam18 on Dec 12, 2015 16:16:56 GMT
Yeah, good point. The quality of the episodes definitely seemed to deteriorate as the show went on. Ah, I know the one you're talking about. The whole...fiasco when they attended the festival at Uppsala You should keep watching, though. Season 3 was very good. From the previews I've seen, season 4 looks like it will be dynamite.
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Post by Basse on Dec 12, 2015 20:40:02 GMT
When it comes to political comedy, I can't think of anything that rivals this show, or even comes close to it. I never did mind the laugh track though, because, as opposed to the laugh tracks in most modern sitcoms, the laughter actually sounds genuine, and not as if it was added to trick people into laughing at jokes that aren't really funny. One of the best bits I remember from the show:
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Post by HockeySam18 on Dec 13, 2015 16:46:11 GMT
That clip was actually hilarious.
Any South Park fans?
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Dec 17, 2015 1:09:08 GMT
I'm not completely sure I've seen even one episode of South Park, but I've been vaguely aware of it for the best part of twenty years (16 years at the very least, I reckon).
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Post by HockeySam18 on Dec 17, 2015 15:35:27 GMT
It's been around for a long time. I think the initial episodes aired in 1997 or something like that.
The new season is particularly excellent because of the relevant subjects that it chooses to grace with its ruthless social satire. Especially pleasing is its attacks on the absurdity of increased PC (extreme political correctness) culture that is gutting the American education system.
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Von
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Post by Von on May 29, 2016 22:56:24 GMT
That would have to be one of the best sit-coms of all time. I always put the series on any time and election is looming!
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on May 30, 2016 0:33:25 GMT
Hello, Von - it's been a while.
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Von
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Post by Von on May 30, 2016 23:09:05 GMT
Howdy Julius! Alas, I am ashamed that after my years of inactivity, I am still a member. But I am nevertheless grateful. How have things been with you and all others here? It's been done many times before, but I'm hoping to repent of my ways and come back to the light.
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Post by HockeySam18 on May 31, 2016 3:14:09 GMT
Good to see you, Von! I'm fairly sure you were inactive by the point that I had joined the team, but I remember you a bit from my days as a lurker on AoKH 8 or so years ago. It's nice to have you back
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Von
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Post by Von on Jun 2, 2016 9:52:45 GMT
Thanks Sam. Yeah sorry I don't remember you, but I see you've done quite a few interesting scenarios so I must check them out.
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Post by Mashek on Jun 2, 2016 12:53:20 GMT
Didn't see this thread. Hey Von! Been a verrrry long time. TV series I've been into: Person of Interest (can get sucked into the "murder of the week" type thing, but has some very clever episodes. Only 3 episodes left until it's done and dusted!) Game of Thrones (Tyrion's my man. Falls victim to loving itself at times, but has some great episodes - all involving those ice demons, of course.) Vikings (very much historical-fiction, but I'm a sucker for anything Vikings. It also has some very touching moments. Think Ragnar talking to his daughter on the beach after she died.) The Wire (just got into this, great story telling and characters) The West Wing (absolutely love) Deadwood (can't believe they canned this for Rome, only for that to flop - although there's currently talk of reviving with a movie) Band of Brothers (perfect story-telling, there really should be more 'mini series' like this. It's financially viable and avoids the pitfalls of tv series surviving based on tv ratings) Stargate: Atlantis (I love me a good light-hearted sci-fi. Was heart broken when MGM went bankrupt all those years ago because it meant they had to finish this at the end of season 5) Arrow (like Matty said, the first two seasons were watchable but turned into shit) Sons of Anarchy (got pretty hectic as it went, stopped watching it after season 3 but meaning to get back into it) As you can see, a lot of drama here because it's the kind of thing I like. Not a big fan of comedy as I find it washes off pretty quickly. There was some British one I was watching not too long ago about politicians. The main character was an absolute prick and always swore and had no friends. I think he played one of the Doctor Who's at some stage. That said, I have huge respect for British TV series. Who can go past A Touch of Frost? Great acting and honest story telling sums them up. American film makers seem to rely on showy effects and grand adventures to wow their audiences (CSI), but that's probably just Hollywood biting their gnarly teeth into everything after all those big budget superhero films with quick editing and explosions.
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Von
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Post by Von on Jun 4, 2016 11:31:02 GMT
Have any of you seen 'The Twilight Zone' TV series? Julius' thread over in Design reminded me of it. Absolute masterpiece of storytelling.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Jun 4, 2016 14:50:54 GMT
I've seen one or two of them.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Jun 5, 2016 3:34:19 GMT
There was a time I really liked Sons of Anarchy. It just got too melodramatic and basically became a violent soap opera. I quit it with one season to go. I still need to talk someone here into watching Justified. Actually come to think of it I need to watch the last season of that one too. I actually went back and watched a few great community episodes last week. I miss that show. And I might buckle down and watch the office. I have seen the odd episode and I find it actually funny.
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Post by HockeySam18 on Jun 5, 2016 6:59:38 GMT
The Office is hilarious, although less so in the final couple seasons after Steve Carell left the show. So much of the humor was built off his aloof, awkward, and entirely unprofessional demeanor.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Jun 5, 2016 16:00:55 GMT
The odd thing about The Office is how different the US and UK versions are. Even in the early episodes where the storylines follow roughly the same path, the tone is not the same. Then over time the Steve Carell character becomes more likeable, while the Ricky Gervais character is just an awful human being. For example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPu_d4SSOPk
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Post by HockeySam18 on Jun 5, 2016 18:38:46 GMT
From what I've seen of the UK version, the humor type seems to be a bit drier and darker than the lighter and awkward style of the US version. I found them both equally funny, just in different ways.
Even at his worst, the Steve Carell character is difficult to dislike in view of how painfully oblivious he is to the social conditions around him. He's a perfect example of that person that you sympathetically refer to as "meaning well" despite his numerous cringeworthy social gaffes.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Jun 5, 2016 20:55:17 GMT
As I remember it, some of the very first scenes in the US version which were copied from the UK version seem weird later on because they strike a rather nastier tone. In particular, there is a scene in the first episode where the boss character tells the receptionist that she is fired, which is really incredibly mean.
I've seen a few things where there was a UK original and then a US version. More than once I have felt that I preferred the UK version to the extent they overlapped, but that the US tendency to have many more episodes was an advantage (when those episodes are decent quality) in terms of overall impression.
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Post by HockeySam18 on Jun 5, 2016 21:13:29 GMT
I remember that scene. Another sequence from the first season that stuck out to me was the one when the sales employees were playing basketball against the warehouse employees, and Steve Carell persists in making several borderline racist comments towards one of his subordinates who is African-American.
One thing that the US is very good at is pouring billions of dollars into the entertainment industry, and it is often unrelenting in its emphasis on quantity over quality. When a particular series is able to achieve both quantity and quality (Game of Thrones comes most readily to mind), it is quite refreshing.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Jun 14, 2016 14:23:53 GMT
I've been watching the office quite a bit (through two seasons). It's very good. I never watched it because I saw some of Parks and Rec first and didn't find it funny at all, but the Office isn't as similar as I imagined it to be. It's still not at the level community is for me though.
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Post by HockeySam18 on Jun 14, 2016 20:03:59 GMT
Ah, Community...I still haven't made time to start watching it. Definitely sometime this summer
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