What TV shows are people watching?

Trollheart · 05-26-2018, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chula Vista

Just figured it out. The network is called Antenna TV. They play nothing but stale and old reruns which must be really cheap to buy for re-broadcast.

1 out of every 2 commercials is one of those gut wrenching ones where someone pleads for you to help out ($$$). Kids with cancer, abused animals, animals on the brink of extinction, save a life, etc.

I've been the seeing the same damn 8-10 commercials played over and over again for the months I've been watching the network.

The agencies asking for money are St. Jude's, the ASPCA, the WWA, and the Save a Life Worldwide Foundation.

I think the 4 of them got together with a savvy Marketing group and came up with this idea: Get lots of people laughing and reminiscing over these old (cheap) shows and then tug at their hearts during the commercials to get donations.

Brilliant.

Luckily now we get to record all our shows, so hit that fast-forward button as soon as I see a sad kid in a desert, a distressed looking animal, or just that awful sad piano music that ALWAYS accompanies these ads.

The Batlord · 05-27-2018, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Luckily now we get to record all our shows, so hit that fast-forward button as soon as I see a sad kid in a desert, a distressed looking animal, or just that awful sad piano music that ALWAYS accompanies these ads.

Will you two be watching the same TV or is this some kind of esoteric exercise in finding subliminal messages?

**Yac** · 05-30-2018, 06:36 AM

The Terror.
Oh my. Oh my oh my. What an amazing ride it's been. In fact, i got to the book immediately after the tv show. Now with both behind me, I can say .. wow. Oh my oh my

But what is this Terror you speak of, Yac ? Well...
It's a story based on a book that was based on real events. The infamous Franklin's lost expedition, one of the most tragic and mysterious attempts to penetrate the arctic, here - to find a passage to china and India.
In the middle of the 19th century, 2 re purposed war ships - Erebus and Terror, with ~130 men aboard, set sail for the northern passage, and they were never seen again. In fact, the wrecks have only been discovered a couple of years ago. Over the years however, this story became a source of all kinds of speculations about what happened, with The Terror by acclaimed author Dan Simmons being the pinnacle of those.
But enough about history (I could spend hours writing about this, but I'm not here to bore you).
The show:

(the review below contains some spoilers, but it doesn't really spoil the plot any more than some basic knowledge of history does, so if you read the history paragraph above, it shouldn't be spoiling your fun).

And if you'd rather not spend 8 minutes of your precious life watching a review, risking facing a spoiler or two, but don't mind wasting 3 minutes, here's the official trailer:

At this point, I can't really point to a single thing that is wrong with the show. Acting is amazing, both heroes and villains are great (though the line is often blurred). The photography and scenery are stunning - even though it's to a large extent cgi and it was filmed in a studio in Hungary and on some rocky Croatian island, you can't really tell.
The atmosphere is very heavy and dark, and rightfully so. The whole thing is depressing and "misery porn", as the story is basically about things getting worse.. but at the same time, it's so different. So fresh.
Music is great, though it's mostly almost ambient noise.
And having read the book and seen the show, imo the show is something really rare - a genuine improvement. To me it seems like the writers took the original text and decided to slightly compress it (the book is 650 pages long..), slightly shift the focus, slightly fix the pacing .. and it all worked out really good. Then they decided to make some plot changes and imo, the vast majority were changes in a good direction.
10/10.

Chula Vista · 05-30-2018, 01:47 PM

Dan Simmons? I'm in. Thanks for the rec.

Akai · 06-14-2018, 08:59 AM

**Frownland** · 06-14-2018, 12:38 PM

Soooo much setup just like last season. Shame imo, I'm sure it'll ramp up towards the end again but it's not the best format.

debaserr · 06-14-2018, 12:47 PM

Streets ahead of S4. *Haven't seen S4 recut though.

But there isn't the same tempo as the first three for sure. The story has become labyrinthine. Everyone was in the same spot 99% of the time in the early seasons. Without that proximity / interplay you don't have the chance to make a lot of jokes.

Oh, and I actually miss the fully censored profamity. The lighthearted tone is sullied to some extent.

Chula Vista · 06-14-2018, 02:22 PM

Swear to god, it's been a week and I'm actually missing my comedy reruns. Barney Miller and Soap especially.

*heads over to Amazon.....*

Chula Vista · 06-14-2018, 04:42 PM

Just watched the episode of Comedians in Cars getting Coffee with Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Hilarious! Those two are ****ing priceless together even 20 years later.

Key · 06-17-2018, 02:29 PM

The Ranch

New season is on Netflix and it's fantastic.

05-30-2018, 01:47 PM	#6124 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Dan Simmons? I'm in. Thanks for the rec. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

06-14-2018, 08:59 AM	#6125 (permalink)
Akai Godless Ape Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Britannia Posts: 1,255	__________________ ''To be honest, in my opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter from a different perspective and by considering each and every one's valid opinion, I do believe that I forgot what I was going to say.'' S p o t i f y

06-14-2018, 12:38 PM	#6126 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Soooo much setup just like last season. Shame imo, I'm sure it'll ramp up towards the end again but it's not the best format. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

06-14-2018, 12:47 PM	#6127 (permalink)
debaserr eat the masters Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5,470	Streets ahead of S4. Haven't seen S4 recut though. But there isn't the same tempo as the first three for sure. The story has become labyrinthine. Everyone was in the same spot 99% of the time in the early seasons. Without that proximity / interplay you don't have the chance to make a lot of jokes. Oh, and I actually miss the fully censored profamity. The lighthearted tone is sullied to some extent. __________________ Last.FM* Last edited by debaserr; 06-14-2018 at 12:57 PM.

06-14-2018, 02:22 PM	#6128 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Swear to god, it's been a week and I'm actually missing my comedy reruns. Barney Miller and Soap especially. heads over to Amazon..... __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

05-30-2018, 06:36 AM	#6123 (permalink)
Yac Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: It's a secret too. Posts: 1,363	The Terror. Oh my. Oh my oh my. What an amazing ride it's been. In fact, i got to the book immediately after the tv show. Now with both behind me, I can say .. wow. Oh my oh my But what is this Terror you speak of, Yac ? Well... It's a story based on a book that was based on real events. The infamous Franklin's lost expedition, one of the most tragic and mysterious attempts to penetrate the arctic, here - to find a passage to china and India. In the middle of the 19th century, 2 re purposed war ships - Erebus and Terror, with ~130 men aboard, set sail for the northern passage, and they were never seen again. In fact, the wrecks have only been discovered a couple of years ago. Over the years however, this story became a source of all kinds of speculations about what happened, with The Terror by acclaimed author Dan Simmons being the pinnacle of those. But enough about history (I could spend hours writing about this, but I'm not here to bore you). The show: (the review below contains some spoilers, but it doesn't really spoil the plot any more than some basic knowledge of history does, so if you read the history paragraph above, it shouldn't be spoiling your fun). And if you'd rather not spend 8 minutes of your precious life watching a review, risking facing a spoiler or two, but don't mind wasting 3 minutes, here's the official trailer: At this point, I can't really point to a single thing that is wrong with the show. Acting is amazing, both heroes and villains are great (though the line is often blurred). The photography and scenery are stunning - even though it's to a large extent cgi and it was filmed in a studio in Hungary and on some rocky Croatian island, you can't really tell. The atmosphere is very heavy and dark, and rightfully so. The whole thing is depressing and "misery porn", as the story is basically about things getting worse.. but at the same time, it's so different. So fresh. Music is great, though it's mostly almost ambient noise. And having read the book and seen the show, imo the show is something really rare - a genuine improvement. To me it seems like the writers took the original text and decided to slightly compress it (the book is 650 pages long..), slightly shift the focus, slightly fix the pacing .. and it all worked out really good. Then they decided to make some plot changes and imo, the vast majority were changes in a good direction. 10/10.

06-14-2018, 04:42 PM	#6129 (permalink)
Chula Vista Toasted Poster Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: SoCal by way of Boston Posts: 11,332	Just watched the episode of Comedians in Cars getting Coffee with Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Hilarious! Those two are ****ing priceless together even 20 years later. __________________ “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

06-17-2018, 02:29 PM	#6130 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	The Ranch New season is on Netflix and it's fantastic.