Crackin' telly

Gubbins · Postby **Gubbins** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 04:26

Usually goes in the film thread but really it's a whole different medium.

It's a rare thing these days I find, what with all this glossy high concept nonsense that goes nowhere for 7 seasons until the writers realise they probably should have mapped out a story arc before putting it on the air... God I hate Lost.

But yeah, I finished The Sopranos recently, what a ride. Felt a little cheated by the ending but I've got over it now and decided it's my favorite show. Especially season 4, gripping stuff. In an attempt to fill the sizeable hole left in my life now it's over, I've been watching The Wire and Six Feet Under, both of which are brilliant. Mad Men's back now as well, it's only a matter of time before they all start running together in my head to form one super show about a bunch of Baltimore funeral directors in the early 60s.

So debate fans, which of the big 3 is your favorite? What's good from this side of the pond at the moment? Is it even worth having a TV what with DVD box sets and the wonders of the internet and torrents? Should I stop rambling and go to bed?

chippy · Postby **chippy** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 04:29

night night Gubbins :lol:

chippy · Postby **chippy** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 04:58

hehe seriously though Sopranos is one of the best tv shows Ive seen in a long long time and I am planning on buying the box set because I want to watch the lot again, its that good.

Sir David Attenborough is just fantastic and still produces awesome telly that makes the kids stop and watch just like he did when I was a child. The Darwin series and natures great events are just a joy to sit back and watch.
Amazon with Bruce Parry is another great show that had me tuning in every week to see what weird gunk he was going to ingest and trip his bollocks off to.
Oz and James Drink to Britain was a great laugh and shown me theres a great home brewery in Wigan which Im going to locate... cant beat a bit of local knowledge!
QI is one of my favorite comedy shows, it has me in stitches and I even learn something so it cant be that bad.

Wait up, all of these shows are on the beeb!! Well blow me down, I guess my licence fee is still worth paying, and TV aint dead.....yet!!

prowler · Postby **prowler** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:59

have you been watching this season of lost? lots of things are getting answered and it seems to be heading to a conclusion... i think this is the last season?

haven't had time to watch other tv shows, the last thing i saw was the 3rd season of Dexter, great show but i don't think they can beat season 2

Meenie · Postby **Meenie** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:14

i like watching repeats of stuff thats been on countless times before and that i was pretty un interested in at the first airing........oh hang on a minuite,NO I'M NOT!

Curse You Bloody Licence Fee! :evil:

Made Of Worms · Postby **Made Of Worms** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:20

Every time I don't get into one of the HBO glossies I feel a little bit more my own man. Loved Six Feet Under for a series and a half, enjoyed the first 24 but didn't crave more, sussed and hated Lost early on and consider anyone who's still being fishooked along to be a damn fool no matter how well they manage to force a conclusion, Heroes can just piss off, Nip Tuck was shit, Mad Men seems unsympathetic, slow, concept/style over substance ... um ... never got into the Sopranos despite watching a few but have to acknowledge prevailing opinion, see I've never liked mob stuff any more than I've liked cowboy stuff or war stuff, so I'd no need of Deadwood, although Band Of Brothers is the best mini series I've probably ever seen. Haven't had the opportunity of Brooker's only gush The Wire.

Peep Show, QI, the odd Have I Got News For You, This Week, Match Of The Day, want Futurama back on 4 instead of cadaverous Simpsons, Arrested Development ... um ... some BBC4 stuff on BBC2 after Newsnight, Later With Jools through one eye.

Then there's the nu media, sitting up late watching Louis CK standup, Rex the Runt, seventies Kiss shows on YouTube... :roll:

Mr Dogstand · Postby **Mr Dogstand** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:26

prowler wrote:have you been watching this season of lost? lots of things are getting answered and it seems to be heading to a conclusion... i think this is the last season?

haven't had time to watch other tv shows, the last thing i saw was the 3rd season of Dexter, great show but i don't think they can beat season 2

I'm loving Lost. When the final season finishes and the DVD is out, we will go back and watch everything from the beginning.....and this shall be our LOST WEEKEND (although I have a feeling it will take us about a week to watch everything).

Made Of Worms · Postby **Made Of Worms** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:29

Oh yes, and if I'm so partied out I can't move or think or even dribble, I actually don't mind a Top 100 Funny Manuel Falling Through The Bar. You can cheat the feeling that you're a complete waste of a life by skipping the top three or five, if you're conscious enough.

Brasseye is now thirteen years old.

Ally Craig · Postby **Ally Craig** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:43

Mr Dogstand wrote:I'm loving Lost. When the final season finishes and the DVD is out, we will go back and watch everything from the beginning.....and this shall be our LOST WEEKEND (although I have a feeling it will take us about a week to watch everything).

I think I'd rather actually watch the Lost Weekend. If real-life drinking binges were accompanied by a spooky theremin soundtrack, I'd indulge more often.

montoid · Postby **montoid** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 13:30

Louis CK standup

why do American stand-ups say the word ©unt really quickly as if there not totally confident using it though?

Batesy · Postby **Batesy** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 14:01

Antiques Roadshow. Not the same with Fiona Bruce though.

brother abnego · Postby **brother abnego** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 14:23

Gubbins wrote:It's a rare thing these days I find, what with all this glossy high concept nonsense that goes nowhere for 7 seasons until the writers realise they probably should have mapped out a story arc before putting it on the air... God I hate Lost.

I hear you...

...shit like 'Lost' illustrates a major problem common to both contemporary western TV drama and contemporary western antics in the Middle East (bear with me :bear:

). namely:

No Exit Strategy (and why should there be an exit strategy? If you have an exit strategy your revenue stream dries up). If I can further confuse my spiel by throwing in another metaphor, its like those birds that make a wound on a water bison's back, and then keep the wound open as a source of sustenance. '24' is where the two strands meet.

It just goes on and on and on and on and on, long after the thrill of the opening set-up has gone, and all you're left with is another witless soap opera with a high-concept front end.

You might as well be watching 'Neighbours'.

I like QI

Batesy · Postby **Batesy** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 14:31

brother abnego wrote:You might as well be watching 'Neighbours'.

Or Antiques Roadshow. (They should do a DVD of the Aspel years).

montoid · Postby **montoid** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 14:39

I like QI

sans Jupitus and Carr though, yeah?

put Brand on the bench aswell

Made Of Worms · Postby **Made Of Worms** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 14:46

Lose Davies I say.

Better yet, by season 5 of any 7 of these HBO leviathans, none of the ensemble are speaking to each other any more, having all completed affairs with each other and found out each other's wages, etc. I suppose one should be thankful that Arrested Development was cancelled after 2.

why do American stand-ups say the word ©unt really quickly as if there not totally confident using it though?

*Bzzz* Is it because america is truly madly deeply conflicted from bible belt to porn valley, to the point where 'squirt' got invented as a loophole?

Lost the will to tune into Antiques Roadshow at the end of Hugh Scully's reign, never liked Aspel really, right back to Ask Aspel. I've had dinner with Arthur Negus you know, though I was only like fourteen. There was a very close-up picture of Hugh Scully on the cover of a Radio Times once which I came across on a shroom trip and his made up putty face nearly made me physically sick.