The TV shows you've seen recently thread.

[BlueTsunami]

[fistfulofmetal]

i never even heard of this until today:

The River

Famed explorer Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) went looking for magic deep in the uncharted Amazon and never returned. The shocking truth about his disappearance is out there, somewhere, just waiting to be discovered. To the millions of kids who grew up watching his nature show, Dr. Cole was a hero. To his own son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), he was more of an enigma. Now, six months after he vanished, Lincoln is finally ready to bury the past when Dr. Cole's emergency beacon suddenly goes off. At the urging of his mother, Tess (Leslie Hope), Lincoln reluctantly joins her on a search for his father. To fund the rescue, they agree to let Dr. Cole's cagey ex-producer, Clark (Paul Blackthorne), film the mission documentary-style. The mixed crew of old friends and new acquaintances includes the sexy and resourceful Lena (Eloise Mumford), loyal mechanic Emilio (Daniel Zacapa) and lethal bodyguard Captain Kurt Brynildson (Thomas Kretschmann).

you can watch the pilot here:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/exclusive-the-river-sneak-peek-pilot-marbeley/5ra8ui0

it's from the makers of Paranormal Activity and yes, it is a "found footage" tv show. I hated Paranormal Activity but i actually really enjoyed this. It's able to capture that "mystery" that Lost had when it first started without the obvious tropes of shows that have attempted to duplicate it since.

based on the first two episode  it seems that it's gonna do a somewhat "monster of the week" structure with the various spooky paranormal stuff found in the Amazon while also having a specific plot thread that leads it all in one direction.

the thing is that it totally does a lot of the same things you saw in Paranormal Activity. They manage to setup camera in the important scenes and there is totally a part where they fast forward time throughout the night. unlike paranormal activity, the "day time" scenes still take place in a hostile location so you dont get that cold-hot thing where you're just waiting for it to be night for something to happen.

i dug it.

[Joe Molotov]

So is anyone watching Lost...I mean, Paranormal Activity...I mean, Lost... I mean The River tonight?

Edit: Whoops, didn't even read fistful's post. 

[Mupepe]

So is anyone watching Lost...I mean, Paranormal Activity...I mean, Lost... I mean The River tonight?

Edit: Whoops, didn't even read fistful's post. 

I want to.  What channel and what time??

[Joe Molotov]

ABC 9/8c

[Mupepe]

Yeah boi!  We gon' get our fuck on

I'll be watching it because Orin Peli or whatever seems to make decent stuff.  He was involved with Insidious right?  I liked that.

[Robo]

Started watching The League over the weekend.  Had some initial reservations about it being about fantasy football, but it's pretty damn funny.  I can't believe I'm only just now watching it, really.

[fistfulofmetal]

Yeah boi!  We gon' get our fuck on

I'll be watching it because Orin Peli or whatever seems to make decent stuff.  He was involved with Insidious right?  I liked that.

hey! you can watch the first two episodes right now here:
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/exclusive-the-river-sneak-peek-pilot-marbeley/5ra8ui0

[Mupepe]

Oh I saw that above but I tend to skim and I saw "sneak peek" so I didn't think it was the whole thing.  Thanks, dude!

[CajoleJuice]

Started watching The League over the weekend.  Had some initial reservations about it being about fantasy football, but it's pretty damn funny.  I can't believe I'm only just now watching it, really.

Me neither. Shit is amazing. FX owns so hard.

[Mr. Gundam]

I started watching The League consistently during season two. The ending for season three is pretty interesting.

[Huff]

Just came to post about The League. Watched all of season 1 and going to breeze through season 2 this weekend. Love this show 

[CajoleJuice]

I watched from the first ep, like with Always Sunny. FX

[BlueTsunami]

Started watching The League over the weekend.  Had some initial reservations about it being about fantasy football, but it's pretty damn funny.  I can't believe I'm only just now watching it, really.

The fantasy football aspect is treated as the thread for all the funny shit that happens. Sort of in the background. Definitely a show that can be enjoyed without being into fantasy football.

[Mupepe]

So is American Horror Story worth watching? 

[Diunx]

Yeah its pretty fun.

[Phoenix Dark]

Indian Summer, pretty good ep. But damn did Peggy magically gain weight, whoa 

[benjipwns]

While waiting around for shit, watched the first episode of The Finder when it was shown this weekend randomly. Wound up watching the other episodes to date. Really like it. Nothing fancy but seems like it could be one of those generally fun shows to watch regularly like most everything on USA. (Or The Good Guys, also on FOX.)

I'm kind of hooked on Justified. The show also makes me hungry for fried chicken and bourbon. =/ So not healthy.

Kentucky-bore: Is the state that full of neo-nazis for real? If I go to Kentucky and take the wrong road, will I receive Deliverance?

Eastern Kentucky is not the friendliest location. The idea of a "hillbilly" basically comes from there. And the Dixie Mafia is a real thing.

Incredible show.

Started watching The League over the weekend.  Had some initial reservations about it being about fantasy football, but it's pretty damn funny.  I can't believe I'm only just now watching it, really.

I started watching The League consistently during season two. The ending for season three is pretty interesting.

Just came to post about The League. Watched all of season 1 and going to breeze through season 2 this weekend. Love this show 

I watched from the first ep, like with Always Sunny. FX

Awww yeah, more true patriotic heroes.

[Stoney Mason]

Watched all of Life's Too Short.

There were entertaining bits to it and Warrick and his accountant did a good job but overall the weakest piece of work Ricky and Steve have done. Felt a bit obvious and lazy. And the celebrity cameo stuff is getting tired.

[Mupepe]

Watched The River last night.  Eh.  Moves too fast for my kind of mystery show.  Also, I'm used to bad acting and writing in my found footage genre but this was atrocious.  They're all like the lowest tier actors available.  All the characters are annoying and selfish pricks.  The character development was so forced.  It was like watching a soap opera because a character would change their mind over and over again to keep the story bouncing back and forth.  There were some nice moments, but it really felt like they couldn't nail the pacing or the writing when switching over to the television format from the movie format. 

[BlueTsunami]

I just watched The Rivers pilot and I like the supernatural aspect but the drama is so bad. Also "THERE REALLY IS MAGIC OUT THAR" made me groan. Its like, did they really need to bash the audience over the head with that statement? We just witnessed this dudes father walking on water via the found footage.

[Mupepe]

Oh god.  I hated when the son turned to the camera and said that.  Yeah, we got it dipshit.  No need to point it out AGAIN.  There's not a single good actor or well written character on the show.  Lost's ridiculousness was tolerated for so long because it had interesting characters (for the most part) and reserved pacing.  The River wants to throw so much freaky shit at you so quickly and it's all delivered with characters you want to murder.

Such a shame because the premise is fantastic and the setting is unique.  It could have really been great with a decent writing staff and cast.

[pilonv1]

Finally watching Archer, love me some H Jon Benjamin.

[Joe Molotov]

I heard it gets better after the pilot, I'm gonna keep watching for a while.

[Phoenix Dark]

The River sounds distinguished mentally-challenged, like Lost+shitty cam horror. ABC is trying so hard to find a hit lol

[etiolate]

I started watching the first season of Luther. It's enjoyable, but the jumps in logic that magically solve cases are rather hard to swallow. I can only qualify them by seeing the show as a British Dexter where the serial killer star has a different moral code than Dex and is further on the side of the law. That way I can somewhat buy Luther's ability to figure out his suspect's way of thinking and realizing "Oh he's using a boat" when there's hardly any evidence to suggest such.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Indian Summer, pretty good ep. But damn did Peggy magically gain weight, whoa 

[ZephyrFate]

FINALLY Max got a boyfriend.

[BlueTsunami]

Started watching The West Wing. So good. The dialog and relationships between all these characters are already compelling straight from the beginning.

[Dickie Dee]

Always wanted to watch it but couldn't get over the impression (from afar) that it's the writter's impression of how a POTUS & administration should be instead of how they actually are.

[BlueTsunami]

Always wanted to watch it but couldn't get over the impression (from afar) that it's the writter's impression of how a POTUS & administration should be instead of how they actually are.

I have no idea how the POTUS and his staff interact with each other in real life but there is a bit of a warm veneer to it. I don't mind it but this is probably due to my ignorance on the subject.

[Robo]

While waiting around for shit, watched the first episode of The Finder when it was shown this weekend randomly. Wound up watching the other episodes to date. Really like it. Nothing fancy but seems like it could be one of those generally fun shows to watch regularly like most everything on USA. (Or The Good Guys, also on FOX.)

I caught The Finder crossover episode of Bones not that long ago and really enjoyed it, more than I enjoy Bones itself generally.  I would watch a season of that once it's on Netflix.

[Beezy]

I started watching the first season of Luther. It's enjoyable, but the jumps in logic that magically solve cases are rather hard to swallow. I can only qualify them by seeing the show as a British Dexter where the serial killer star has a different moral code than Dex and is further on the side of the law. That way I can somewhat buy Luther's ability to figure out his suspect's way of thinking and realizing "Oh he's using a boat" when there's hardly any evidence to suggest such.

I think if I could look like anyone on Earth, it would be Idris Elba

*highfive*

[Himu]

I currently have an Elba-esque beard/goatee.

[Phoenix Dark]

with a Detective Bunk-esque belly

[Himu]

I'm not that big.

[ZephyrFate]

with a Detective Bunk-esque belly

[Beezy]

with a Detective Bunk-esque belly

damn

I can't grow a beard. I'll probably never be able to.

[Phoenix Dark]

Mad Men Kennedy v Nixon 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was SO about to declare that the definition of a shark jumping moment, oh man that explosion was crazy. But it was actually handled so well outside of that. Another great ep.

Don, willing to abandon his kids because of a little blackmail. Stand up guy. I'm so bummed he didn't just punch Campbell

On a side note I always found it interesting that Kennedy basically stole the election yet still won over 10% of the other side to become quite favorable for much of his three years. Yet there was still a pretty large group of poisonous far right wingers who hated everything he did. Our politics today have gotten worse, but it's worth noting that the 50s and 60s weren't nearly the utopian dream some insinuate they were when talking about how bad things are now.

[close]

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Finished Mad Men.  I thought the 4th season hit a nice stride, compared to the tangled messes that were the 2nd and 3rd seasons.

I'm now onto Spartacus.  Its 300 but with a lower budget, more full frontal, and less homoeroticism.  In fact, I only watched the first episode and I think any woman with a speaking part was completely naked on that episode.  I think I will like this show

[fistfulofmetal]

Stargate: Universe is pretty rad. It's like BSG. It's basically BSG, except in the Stargate.... universe.

[Himu]

Tonight's Spartacus owned my fucking balls.

[Himu]

Stargate: Universe is pretty rad. It's like BSG. It's basically BSG, except in the Stargate.... universe.

Really underrated show

[Phoenix Dark]

Finished Mad Men.  I thought the 4th season hit a nice stride, compared to the tangled messes that were the 2nd and 3rd seasons.

I'm now onto Spartacus.  Its 300 but with a lower budget, more full frontal, and less homoeroticism.  In fact, I only watched the first episode and I think any woman with a speaking part was completely naked on that episode.  I think I will like this show

Keep watching, I'm surprised you liked the first ep; it's generally regarded as the worst of the show.  I re-watched it a few weeks ago I liked it a lot more than I did on my first viewing, but it's far cheesier and "off" than the rest of the series

[Himu]

I liked the first episode and didn't see what was so bad about it but it's clearly the worst of the lot.

[fistfulofmetal]

Stargate: Universe is pretty rad. It's like BSG. It's basically BSG, except in the Stargate.... universe.

Really underrated show

I only have 3 more episodes left unfortunately. At first I was fond Chloe, then of TJ, but now I'm crushing hard on that red headed girl from the something alliance.

[chronovore]

Finished Downtown Abbey s1 tonight. The dialog sparkles. Anna is mine, hands off you lot. Thomas' problems can only be solved with a baseball bat.

[Phoenix Dark]

you can have anna. Gwen and Sybil 

really want to get more people's opinions on S2

[Himu]

I assume most of us watching are watching legal. PBS is airing s2 on Sundays.

Also, I feel sympathy for Thomas. Far more so than O'brien.

[Phoenix Dark]

Mad Men S1's finale was good but

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I find it rather ridiculous that Peggy was 9 months pregnant without knowing it. That twist kind of soured the ep for me, but I still thought it was good. I loved the scene between Don and Henry, and later Don's sales pitch.

Duck Phillips does remind me of Mitt Romney

Good to see Betty finally admit to reality on the infidelity. She had to know but ignored it all to play her role. It was interesting watching that facade crumble from episode to episode, to the point where she could finally face things

[close]

[Himu]

Women can go into labor without realizing their pregnancy you know.

[Phoenix Dark]

I guess but...meh

[Robo]

I accidentally cut the tip of my finger off with a safety razor tonight, but having to stop the bleeding gave me an excuse to watch two hours of The League at three in the morning. 

 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Women can go into labor without realizing their pregnancy you know.

Yes.  My cousin's fat wife didn't know she was pregnant and gave birth when she thought she had to take a shit.

[Barry Egan]

Women can go into labor without realizing their pregnancy you know.

Yes.  My cousin's fat wife didn't know she was pregnant and gave birth when she thought she had to take a shit.

You should make sure she sees season 2 of Louie.  It basically has the inverse of that situation in its first episode.   

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Finished Mad Men.  I thought the 4th season hit a nice stride, compared to the tangled messes that were the 2nd and 3rd seasons.

I'm now onto Spartacus.  Its 300 but with a lower budget, more full frontal, and less homoeroticism.  In fact, I only watched the first episode and I think any woman with a speaking part was completely naked on that episode.  I think I will like this show

Keep watching, I'm surprised you liked the first ep; it's generally regarded as the worst of the show.  I re-watched it a few weeks ago I liked it a lot more than I did on my first viewing, but it's far cheesier and "off" than the rest of the series

I'm up to the eighth episode.  I did notice that the first episode is more of a 300 rip off and the other episodes seem like a mix of Gladiator, 300, and Rome.  The story isn't that great but the indiscriminate amounts of people fucking and full frontal nudity is probably its greatest strength.  I'll keep watching.

[Himu]

The characters are what make Spartacus great. The drama, characters, and all the webs of sub-plots and sub-sub-plots.

[Phoenix Dark]

I'd argue Spartacus' story is great. Every episode is very well crafted and advances the story. I also love how there is no quick hero's ascent. Spartacus starts at the bottom of the totem poll and has to earn his way up.

[Himu]

Yeah I think the story is fantastic. It's pure Greek tragedy married with the wonders of Shakespeare and a lil' modern 'tude for great measure. Awesome.

[Phoenix Dark]

In terms of pacing it really surpasses Game Of Thrones, at least the first few episodes; GoT got pretty awesome in the finale three or so eps, but the previous ones were often hurt by exposition. Obviously GoT has to deal with a large backstory that Spartacus doesn't have so it's not a perfect comparison, but I still find it interesting.

also I'll say it again: Viva Bianca should have been Cersei