***Official TV sitcoms and Series recommendation thread***

[wufwugy]

GoT ep of South Park is the worst parody I've ever seen. I can't believe how bad SP has gotten. They seriously need to put more thought into each episode

[d0zer]

This is the best thing ever (Breaking bad spoilers)

[Galapogos]

fu Sony

[Renton]

LOL TWD.

I think the walking dead is what happens when you take a well-read film student with no natural writing talent and give him carte blanche.

They keep trying these avant garde ideas but they aren't remotely qualified to execute them properly. A great series might be able to make the Governor a sympathetic character with a redemption arc, TWD cannot.

[boost]

Well, yeah, also their pacing is just atrocious. His redemption arc lasted all of one episode. He's a mass murdering, eye-patch wearing, megalomaniacal, zombie apocalypse, super-villain. You don't redeem him in forty five minutes.

[Renton]

Well, yeah, also their pacing is just atrocious. His redemption arc lasted all of one episode. He's a mass murdering, eye-patch wearing, megalomaniacal, zombie apocalypse, super-villain. You don't redeem him in forty five minutes.

I don't agree. I think in more capable hands it would be possible, especially given they devoted the ENTIRE episode to him. Lost did things like this all the time and did a great job. The TWD writers aren't the Lost writers, unfortunately.

[boost]

Actually, yeah, you make a good point. But still, I think with his history it's either really hard to pull off or impossible. Ben was different, he was shown in different lights and was dealing with supernatural, omniscient, and sub-omnipotent powers. His redemption was several seasons after his introduction, and there was plenty of time to show that, while he was a "bad guy", things were murky.

Maybe they tried to blur the lines, but TWD did a pretty good job of projecting an unambiguous black and white good guy vs. bad guy scenario, with the Governor being the clear bad guy.

Also, what the hell was up with the boardgames? Chess seemed like some super forced metaphor, but for what? He's redeemed, but still wants to fight the war against Rick's group? What the hell is going on?

[Renton]

Actually, yeah, you make a good point. But still, I think with his history it's either really hard to pull off or impossible. Ben was different, he was shown in different lights and was dealing with supernatural, omniscient, and sub-omnipotent powers. His redemption was several seasons after his introduction, and there was plenty of time to show that, while he was a "bad guy", things were murky.

Maybe they tried to blur the lines, but TWD did a pretty good job of projecting an unambiguous black and white good guy vs. bad guy scenario, with the Governor being the clear bad guy.

Also, what the hell was up with the boardgames? Chess seemed like some super forced metaphor, but for what? He's redeemed, but still wants to fight the war against Rick's group? What the hell is going on?

I just watched the episode again cause my gf hadn't seen it yet. Man so many cringeworthy things. The Governor solo montage at the start with the dramatic song that if the tone weren't enough already, actually has the word "redemption" in the lyric. Then the completely pointless voice-over where he's talking to who knows who (I guess one of the two women but this is before he even meets them) about who gives a fuck what.

The straight-forward action-driven dialogue-sparse scenes and episodes of TWD are just fine. But as soon as they start thinking outside the box (which is like every episode), it's just such a disaster.

[boost]

I really don't think there's been much in the way of action-driven episodes. I mean, I feel comfortable challenging you to find one, and confident you won't.

And I liked the idea of the voice over narration that we come to find out is actually the character telling his account to someone we haven't met yet. It's not revolutionary, but it's far better than a straight up voice over. But yeah, total cringe-fest, and that song was soooooo bad. I think it was over on 2p2 that someone accused AMC of shoving whatever song they're getting paid to promote down or throats with these awful soft rock acoustic guitar ballads. None of the songs ever really fit. It's like the entire apparatus that runs the show is devoid of any aesthetic sensibility.

[boost]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRLzusLPxI

True Detective is going to crush.

[wufwugy]

^^I dunno. It's got dat narration. Stuff is usually used in place of good storytelling. Not always, though

[boost]

Going. To. Crush.

[rong]

Lots of trailers, looks good. I think it's hard to maintain a hunt for a psycho story line though.

[rong]

Reminds me a bit of the following which started great but quickly bored me.

[d0zer]

That wasn't a redemption of the governor at all. What redeemed him? That he got the oxygen tanks or that he's projecting his daughter-related pain on the new little girl? And why was he just like "oh take my sweet shiny gun, I have this shitty revolver now", and why didn't he have that knife he used on the bathtub zombie for killing the old man or the pit zombies? And why am I over-analyzing a show that has demonstrated to give no fucks about making sense?

[boost]

ha, weren't you just being a TWD apologist, like, last week?

[d0zer]

I was criticizing you guys for over-analyzing comic book silliness and now I have become one of you

[boost]

Welcome.

[d0zer]

I thought I'd grown past that.

But like it's just so stupid to think that he wouldn't have a fucking knife always for stealth kills and ammo preservation etc. And I guess we can writeoff dude shooting burning zombie at the start as 'maybe he didn't have time' or w/e, but I can't help but think that he coulda just run over and stabbed a bitch instead of risking attracting a mob.

confirmed not past that.

[boost]

[Renton]

I just blew through the comics. They take like 3-4 minutes each to read and there're 115 of them (ongoing). I'm not much of a comic person but TWD isn't as great as I was led to believe. I don't buy that TWD series is a betrayal of legendary source material. The original story untouched wouldn't be good television. That said, the changes they made were obviously pretty stupid.

The comics, among other things, did a good job of rotating characters so there isn't a sense of "red-shirts" who are fodder to kill off. New characters are introduced constantly and they all get a fair shake. Every character feels like an equal risk of death (including main ones), and very death in the comics hurts.

[boost]

Yeah, I only read one or two of them and they didn't seem that great. Just seems like the first modern zombie comic with solid distribution. Pretty much the same success story as the show.

Oh, and the art style is awful imo. Like, really bad.

[wufwugy]

lollllllll

through to the very end, i thought this ep was a flashback of the governor before he became the gov but after the apoc began

[boost]

He has an eye patch.

But, I wish it was the case, and they made the most epic slip up ever in giving him an eye patch in a flashback that predates his eye gouging.

[wufwugy]

i simply didnt remember he got the patch from michonne or whatever it was. i thought it was going to be revealed that he lost it earlier in some situation like trying to save his real daughter, and that's why he's super dejected and does smooth basketball tricks. then something would happen and he murders the nice ladies he shacks up with and takes the little girl, who gets zombified somehow, and she's the one he kept in the closet, and he starts up woodbury. basically i thought this was the ep explaining how he became the gov

[wufwugy]

i think i thought that largely because having him be super dejected after all of what happened in s3 is suuuuuuuuper lame. maybe he should be a little down on things, but never in the charlie brown moping way. that shit is just stupid in this case. so naturally i thought it was pre-gov and he was moping because he lost what he truly loved

[boost]

Doh.. if the show hadn't given him such an obvious mark of when in time he is, that would have been much much better.

[bode]

did anyone watch Hannibal? That show started good and got to HBO level awesome at the end of the season. Goriest show ever (?) for primetime network TV.

First i've heard of True Detective, and it looks good.

[drmcboy]

yeah hannibal is great, so I assume NBC will move its time slot three times, then cancel it this year.

[wufwugy]

Not a fan of Claire Danes channeling her inner Debra Morgan. Maybe trying to portray women as tough by having them aggressively swear in calm situations is a Showtime thing.

[rong]

Just finished Hannibal. Really enjoyed it. Last two episodes were great. A couple of bits were just stupid though but it wasn't enough to spoil it. Would recommend.

Also finally finished band of brothers. That was so good I might watch the whole thing again because there's so many characters that I lost track a bit.

[oskar]

Easily the best animated series since Duckman.

[drmcboy]

BLACK MIRROR

[a500lbgorilla]

Easily the best animated series since Duckman.

You are the rightest motherfucker on Earth.

[wufwugy]

rick and morty surprisingly good

[oskar]

The Heart She Holler

It's what would happen if Monty Python raped Twin Peaks in a crackhouse.

[kingnat]

Finally broke into Breaking Bad... why god... sleeping for 3 hours sucks balls.

[bikes]

i am midway through season 4 of the wire. season 2 was amazing. i was bored of season 3 until about episode 8. i find myself disinterested in season 4.

[wufwugy]

til bikes no longer considers his own opinion reasonable

[Savy]

i am midway through season 4 of the wire. season 2 was amazing. i was bored of season 3 until about episode 8. i find myself disinterested in season 4.

The Wire's not actually that good. It's just an old internet troll where they picked a decent series and paraded it as the best thing ever. Have you never wondered why every idiot and his dog loves the wire yet if you talk to them about film or other TV they have awful opinions? Was just to show the effect of the internet on peoples opinions.

[wufwugy]

^^ excellent job on the poe. i straight up cannot tell if you went full downey jr or just having a laugh

[Savy]

^^ excellent job on the poe. i straight up cannot tell if you went full downey jr or just having a laugh

One of my favourite games is asking people to explain why they like the wire when they go on about how much they love it and then laughing at the resulting spew that comes out of their mouths.

[wufwugy]

don't forget that virtually everybody has a hardon for cop dramas and anything with slang. so it doesn't really matter how good the wire is, dumb people will still like it for dumb reasons

[rong]

I don't even know what good means. I either wanna watch more, wanna watch again or don't wanna watch.

[a500lbgorilla]

Good is when you see something you wish you could have made yourself or otherwise secretly earmark for intellectual theft and future use. Like Black Mirror S1E1, shit is goats.

[Renton]

The wire is one of those shows that you just have to appreciate subtlety to really like. It takes everyone who watches it a while to truly re-calibrate to it's pace and level of action. Some people never adjust. But once your brain calibrates to it, it's one of the best shows of all time. The attention to detail is fantastic and it rewards rewatching which I can't as much say for other great shows. I definitely enjoyed Breaking Bad on the rewatch but I didn't have any epiphanies. It's not a subtle show at all.

[kingnat]

I definitely enjoyed Breaking Bad on the rewatch but I didn't have any epiphanies. It's not a subtle show at all.

He's a first-through epiphany (which i'm sure others have had)... Jesse is a fucking moron. Where's my gin.

[bikes]

season 2 confirmed my favorite season of the wire.

ALL OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS GOT GOT except two.

Wallace - GOT
Frank Sobatka - GOT
Bodie - GOT
Omar - GOT
Snoop - GOT
Prop Joe - GOT
Sergei - JAILED

that just leaves Rawls and Bunk.

[Luco]

Anyone else see Sherlock last night?

[oskar]

The Moaning of Life
New Karl Pilkington docu thing.

[d0zer]

Moaning of life so good. Even better than idiot abroad imo.

[oskar]

Yah it was a good series, but I really didn't like the reality TV parts where they send him bungee jumping and other stuff to see what will happen to him. And that dumb lalala music that I'll never get out of my head as long as I live...
Even tho it sounds like they have the same guy on the soundboard punching it up, but at least the theme music isn't half as annoying.

[oskar]

The Heart She Holler is my new Game of Thrones.
It's basically the same show, only better.

[BennyLaRue]

Speaking of Karl Pilkington, I liked Ricky Gervais' Netflix series Derek a lot.

The Americans was unexpectedly good. Not sure why FX hasn't marketed that shit better. Season 4 of Justified was excellent - had one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen. Are you still watching, wufanugy?

Gogogog, House of Cards.

[rong]

Supernatural is shit but good. I can't help like the older brother. Plus, spooky shit.

+1 HoC.

[wufwugy]

True Detective best pilot I've seen

[oskar]

adult swim is amazing

[boost]

True Detective best pilot I've seen

Yeah, this season is pretty much a lock for GOAT tier.

[rong]

True Detective best pilot I've seen

By some distance.

[rong]

Anyone watched Southland? Any good?

[drmcboy]

Anyone watched Southland? Any good?

yes. the pace can be weird at times, but cast/writing is good.

[bikes]

I am committed to Shameless for half of this season. The only characters left I care about are Mandy and umm that's it.

[rong]

yes. the pace can be weird at times, but cast/writing is good.

First episode was great. Pretty dark though. One thing's for sure. I'd never want to be a cop in America.

[jyms]

First 3 seasons of BWE locked and loaded. See you guys in about a week.

[oskar]

Rick and Rick and Rick and Morty time!

[BennyLaRue]

First 3 seasons of BWE locked and loaded. See you guys in about a week.

Baker's Waste Equipment?

[kingnat]

First 3 seasons of BWE locked and loaded. See you guys in about a week.

Biggest Wankfest Ever, signified by twitter hashtag #BWE. Commonly tweeted by the cool kids after enduring "A-Listers" circle jerking at social media conferences.
Thanks @DoucheCanoe and @CockBags for making this conference the #BWE

[BennyLaRue]

Well, don't dehydrate yourself.

[wufwugy]

Only five eps deep into s2 of House of Cards, but I swear to god this might be the GOAT tv show. I mean, I wouldn't make that case (at least not yet), but I wouldn't cry illegitimacy to somebody who did

[rong]

Only five eps deep into s2 of House of Cards, but I swear to god this might be the GOAT tv show. I mean, I wouldn't make that case (at least not yet), but I wouldn't cry illegitimacy to somebody who did

It's no Supernatural but it is pretty good.

[boost]

I think House of Cards is amazing-- but I always pull back from the notion that it's GOAT, simply because it's so good at fist pump "gotcha" moments, which inherently are a cheap thrill. To be honest, Breaking Bad had a lot of this as well. I'm not saying this rules a show out of being a top contender, just that it's worth taking a closer look before putting it up there with the greats.

Maybe I'm just bias or am a snob because I find the "slow burn" novel like style to be more aesthetically pure.

All that being said, Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Francis Underwood gives me a semi.

[boost]

I'd also like to point out that the show has cleverly taken the tired trope of the hero protagonist who has everything work out for them and disguised it as something fresh. It's kinda like 24, where you know that no matter what Bauer is going to make it out fine. Francis is always going to have some nifty trick up his sleeve, or have some event deus ex machina him to victory. The clever part is that now it's not a hero, or even an anti-hero-- but a straight up villain. With this simple twist, they're able to make an incredibly stale narrative framework appear new and exciting.

Again, nothing wrong with this; they pull it off quite well-- but I'm not sure how many seasons it can go on for. My guess is that we jump the shark if they air a fifth season.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I agree with Boost. It's a rare drama that avoids being boringly repetitive by season 4 or 5. It seems like shows have a wayward period where the writers don't know where to go with it. That period after all the initial ideas have been explored (seasons 1 & 2), then all the secondary ideas have been explored (season 3, maybe 4)... Then if there's still public interest in the show...

I'd like to point out that with Spacey and Wright leading the cast, the acting is generally top-notch.

***
There's always the constant Hollywood casting problem with putting noodle-bodied actors in high military roles. Military people, especially top military people, carry themselves with a certitude that is unmistakable. I can't really fault the show for it, but I'm sensitive to it, so it's a distraction.

Like those odd (bad) foley moments, where something just sounds off - and you realize that ALL the sounds are fake, for just a second, but it's enough.

***
The only thing that really bothers me about House of Cards is that I can't figure out how someone with apparently no political acumen got elected president in the first place. Does anyone else see that as a serious hole in the plot? Did I forget some one-off explanation for how it happened?

[boost]

Meh, I really don't think that goes against history so much. There have been many presidents who rely heavily on advisers, their cabinet, etc. I mean, look at W. This guy looks like what W. would be if he were a democrat.

[wufwugy]

Francis is the real Dexter. No show makes its villain so likable. Walter White wasn't even as deep a villain as Francis

I have an idea for how I'd like the show to end, but I'll save that for later