What TV shows are people watching?

LoathsomePete · 11-29-2011, 02:07 PM

It's the mid season break, so the show won't be back with new episodes until February.

What bugs me most about the show is that it only seems to be Shane who's acting like I'd expect someone to act after the downfall of civilization. I mean I don't expect everyone to start losing their humanity and reverting to a barbarian mentality all at once, but it's a plot element that not one character can carry, because it just makes them an stereotype. I'm also flabbergasted by Rick's desire for Lori to keep the baby, I mean I can understand his protest against abortion as a character trait of his idealism, but idealism kind of becomes null and void once people start returning from the dead and EATING OTHER PEOPLE. Pragmatism sets the foundation and then idealism builds on top of it once they've actually got something to build on, and in their world, that foundation is gone. I know this is probably a character arc for Rick to slowly lose that idealism overtime and adopt a more gruff, pragmatic view, but the way they're handling it is clumsy in my eyes.

edit: wooo 4,000 posts.

SATCHMO · 11-29-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

It's the mid season break, so the show won't be back with new episodes until February.

What bugs me most about the show is that it only seems to be Shane who's acting like I'd expect someone to act after the downfall of civilization. I mean I don't expect everyone to start losing their humanity and reverting to a barbarian mentality all at once, but it's a plot element that not one character can carry, because it just makes them an stereotype. I'm also flabbergasted by Rick's desire for Lori to keep the baby, I mean I can understand his protest against abortion as a character trait of his idealism, but idealism kind of becomes null and void once people start returning from the dead and EATING OTHER PEOPLE. Pragmatism sets the foundation and then idealism builds on top of it once they've actually got something to build on, and in their world, that foundation is gone. I know this is probably a character arc for Rick to slowly lose that idealism overtime and adopt a more gruff, pragmatic view, but the way they're handling it is clumsy in my eyes.

edit: wooo 4,000 posts.

I disagree only to the extent that realistically the shift from idealism to a barbaric mentally would be much slower and more subtle given the situation they're currently in. Much of that shift occurs in thought processes that don't necessarily manifest in the actions of the respective characters in the same way and at the same rate. I think the character development has been superb, with the exception of Rick, who seems to show nothing less than the cliche Dudley-Do-Right altruistic behavior no matter what the situation happens to be, but then again he has the near constant audience of his wife and child, which would seem to repress any whims of self-interest.

LoathsomePete · 11-29-2011, 02:45 PM

I'm not saying that it should be an overnight thing, but I'd just like to see something subtle that indicates the survivor's humanity is slowly being chipped away by the anarchy around them.

As for characterization, I agree that many of the characters are well characterized except for a select few, Rick being one of them. Another was the little girl and her mother, who really only seem to exist to be the ones the others protect because they are too fragile to do it themselves. We know next to nothing about either of them except the mom married an asshole, so it seemed kind of messed up that they turned the little girl into a plot device for the second season, only to then put the other child who we've grown to like in the same exact danger, IN THE SAME EXACT EPISODE. If your only way to raise the stakes is by pulling the child endangerment card, you're not doing your series any justice, and then to make everything the characters did in the ensuing episodes to find her meaningless just really pissed me off.

It's like what jackhammer said, it's not the production, acting, or effects, that's ruined the show for me, but the writing.

NSW · 11-29-2011, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

It is very soap opera-ish, but I think it's also a damn good show, and the word zombie hasn't been mentioned once throughout either season. Sunday night's episode really brought the current stagnant predicament to a very interesting climax. I'm quite impatiently waiting for next week's episode.

While I agree that the second season on the whole has been fairly boring, you're totally right about Sunday's episode. It made the other 5 episodes they've shown so far (of season 2) worth watching for me.

**Janszoon** · 11-29-2011, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

It is very soap opera-ish, but I think it's also a damn good show, and the word zombie hasn't been mentioned once throughout either season. Sunday night's episode really brought the current stagnant predicament to a very interesting climax. I'm quite impatiently waiting for next week's episode.

I totally agree. I think the only reason it seems soap opera-ish is because it's more about character and the relationships between characters than the typical zombie movie. This makes sense to me considering that it's a much longer format than a movie and I actually think it works very well.

**Janszoon** · 12-06-2011, 07:10 AM

Stephen Fry in America
Interesting outsider's take on all 50 states in 6 episodes. Well sort of. He skims quite a few, including Pennsylvania, which surprised me given it's size and massive role in American history. It's fairly hit-or-miss, and a little more research on his part would have certainly have made it better and made him look a lot less ignorant (for example, Queens, New York, home to 2.25 million people from a very broad range of ethnicities, he describes as an "Italian neighborhood"). Nevertheless, parts of it were pretty good, especially episodes 3-5 where he covered the middle of the country. In these segments he managed to squeeze in plenty of local flavor, interesting information, social commentary and humor in a way that I found both informative and entertaining. I just wish he could have done as good a job with the rest of the series.

LoathsomePete · 12-06-2011, 11:47 AM

That's how I kind of feel about No Reservations by Anthony Bourdain, some episodes are great and really informative and others... not so much. I remember Stephen Fry came on Top Gear after he did that show and said that he gained a lot of weight while living in the US so nobody can say he didn't have an authentic experience.

Anyhow I just got caught up with this season's Supernatural and you'll be pleased to know that when I said that there was nowhere to go but down after the fifth season, I was completely right. I'm flabbergasted by just how close this show's demise followed The X-Files' back in the late '90's, hell it's pretty ironic because it was my love of The X-Files that got me into watching Supernatural back in 2005 when the series started. A pretty boring first season, more interesting second season, hugely improved third season, almost perfect fourth season, and satisfactory fifth season that should have ended the series. The show's original creator wanted it to be over after 5 seasons, but with the shows increased ratings during the 4th and 5th, and the two leads' signed contracts for 6 seasons, the producers decided to milk this cash cow till it's nipples turn to little black rocks. There's absolutely nowhere to go now, everything is a retread and we're halfway done with the 7th season and we still don't know what the stakes are yet. The third season it was trying to save Dean from going to hell, 4th season it was trying to stop Lilith from releasing Lucifer from hell, 5th season it was stopping Lucifer and the apocalypse. How the hell do you top the apocalypse? Even when the producers finally decide to put it out of it's misery, there's no clean easy way to do it. If they kill off the two main characters then it seems like a cop out, but they erased both of their past lives so there's nowhere to go for them except death, or retiring and living in some old backwoods house, scared shitless that something will come for them in the middle of the night. Both options suck, but they're the only options left.

**Janszoon** · 12-06-2011, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

That's how I kind of feel about No Reservations by Anthony Bourdain, some episodes are great and really informative and others... not so much. I remember Stephen Fry came on Top Gear after he did that show and said that he gained a lot of weight while living in the US so nobody can say he didn't have an authentic experience.

I can't even begin to imagine how much weight "a lot" is to someone his size.

~~Odyshape~~ · 12-10-2011, 12:23 AM

Anyone watch skins? I can't wait for series 6. I think its going to be aired in a few months

Electrophonic Tonic · 12-11-2011, 01:55 AM

I'll be watching Boardwalk Empire season 2 once that finishes up. But right now, I'm Alan Partridge is easily one of the funniest shows I've ever seen and it gives me hope that British TV can actually be funny, excluding Python obviously.

11-29-2011, 02:07 PM	#851 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	It's the mid season break, so the show won't be back with new episodes until February. What bugs me most about the show is that it only seems to be Shane who's acting like I'd expect someone to act after the downfall of civilization. I mean I don't expect everyone to start losing their humanity and reverting to a barbarian mentality all at once, but it's a plot element that not one character can carry, because it just makes them an stereotype. I'm also flabbergasted by Rick's desire for Lori to keep the baby, I mean I can understand his protest against abortion as a character trait of his idealism, but idealism kind of becomes null and void once people start returning from the dead and EATING OTHER PEOPLE. Pragmatism sets the foundation and then idealism builds on top of it once they've actually got something to build on, and in their world, that foundation is gone. I know this is probably a character arc for Rick to slowly lose that idealism overtime and adopt a more gruff, pragmatic view, but the way they're handling it is clumsy in my eyes. edit: wooo 4,000 posts. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

11-29-2011, 02:45 PM	#853 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	I'm not saying that it should be an overnight thing, but I'd just like to see something subtle that indicates the survivor's humanity is slowly being chipped away by the anarchy around them. As for characterization, I agree that many of the characters are well characterized except for a select few, Rick being one of them. Another was the little girl and her mother, who really only seem to exist to be the ones the others protect because they are too fragile to do it themselves. We know next to nothing about either of them except the mom married an asshole, so it seemed kind of messed up that they turned the little girl into a plot device for the second season, only to then put the other child who we've grown to like in the same exact danger, IN THE SAME EXACT EPISODE. If your only way to raise the stakes is by pulling the child endangerment card, you're not doing your series any justice, and then to make everything the characters did in the ensuing episodes to find her meaningless just really pissed me off. It's like what jackhammer said, it's not the production, acting, or effects, that's ruined the show for me, but the writing. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

12-06-2011, 07:10 AM	#856 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Stephen Fry in America Interesting outsider's take on all 50 states in 6 episodes. Well sort of. He skims quite a few, including Pennsylvania, which surprised me given it's size and massive role in American history. It's fairly hit-or-miss, and a little more research on his part would have certainly have made it better and made him look a lot less ignorant (for example, Queens, New York, home to 2.25 million people from a very broad range of ethnicities, he describes as an "Italian neighborhood"). Nevertheless, parts of it were pretty good, especially episodes 3-5 where he covered the middle of the country. In these segments he managed to squeeze in plenty of local flavor, interesting information, social commentary and humor in a way that I found both informative and entertaining. I just wish he could have done as good a job with the rest of the series. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

12-06-2011, 11:47 AM	#857 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	That's how I kind of feel about No Reservations by Anthony Bourdain, some episodes are great and really informative and others... not so much. I remember Stephen Fry came on Top Gear after he did that show and said that he gained a lot of weight while living in the US so nobody can say he didn't have an authentic experience. Anyhow I just got caught up with this season's Supernatural and you'll be pleased to know that when I said that there was nowhere to go but down after the fifth season, I was completely right. I'm flabbergasted by just how close this show's demise followed The X-Files' back in the late '90's, hell it's pretty ironic because it was my love of The X-Files that got me into watching Supernatural back in 2005 when the series started. A pretty boring first season, more interesting second season, hugely improved third season, almost perfect fourth season, and satisfactory fifth season that should have ended the series. The show's original creator wanted it to be over after 5 seasons, but with the shows increased ratings during the 4th and 5th, and the two leads' signed contracts for 6 seasons, the producers decided to milk this cash cow till it's nipples turn to little black rocks. There's absolutely nowhere to go now, everything is a retread and we're halfway done with the 7th season and we still don't know what the stakes are yet. The third season it was trying to save Dean from going to hell, 4th season it was trying to stop Lilith from releasing Lucifer from hell, 5th season it was stopping Lucifer and the apocalypse. How the hell do you top the apocalypse? Even when the producers finally decide to put it out of it's misery, there's no clean easy way to do it. If they kill off the two main characters then it seems like a cop out, but they erased both of their past lives so there's nowhere to go for them except death, or retiring and living in some old backwoods house, scared shitless that something will come for them in the middle of the night. Both options suck, but they're the only options left. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

12-10-2011, 12:23 AM	#859 (permalink)
~~Odyshape~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 526	Anyone watch skins? I can't wait for series 6. I think its going to be aired in a few months

12-11-2011, 01:55 AM	#860 (permalink)
Electrophonic Tonic Your Ad Here Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: The Twilight Zone Posts: 876	I'll be watching Boardwalk Empire season 2 once that finishes up. But right now, I'm Alan Partridge is easily one of the funniest shows I've ever seen and it gives me hope that British TV can actually be funny, excluding Python obviously.