The TV shows you've seen recently thread.

[Kara]

was anyone else bummed that such a fine ass woman was with a total dweeb like Glaber. Even his name sounds flabby n sick.

Roman marriage was that kind of institution.

[deepest throat]

gotta give mad props to utopia for trolling the shit outta racist euro's in the second last ep of s2

[Madrun Badrun]

Generation Kill is nearly Band of Brothers good.

[jakefromstatefarm]

was anyone else bummed that such a fine ass woman was with a total dweeb like Glaber. Even his name sounds flabby n sick.

Roman marriage was that kind of institution.

Which I'm sure was what they were going for

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Reading through those Goldsworthy and Holland books, it's struck me multiple times how there needs to be a Caesar miniseries. Those last ~100 years of the Republic are tailor-made for a dramatization: years of buildup with Marius/Cinna vs Sulla, culminating with Sulla's confrontation with the 16 year old flamen dialis (Sulla: "divorce Cornelia" ; Caesar: "No" Sulla:); rise to power that introduces the main players, Pompey as the amicable rival, Crassus as the team dad, Cato as the main antagonist; break to Gaul for further character development and setting the pins up for the final act; Rubicon, shit hits the fan, Labienus' face-heel turn , Pompey getting got off screen, Cato pulling his fucking guts out on screen , all the bloody recompense for everyone that crossed Caesar; finish it all off with the Ides. Big ass budget for setpieces, use authentic Latin/Greek dialogue w/ subs, shoot it all like a Coppola film . All the characters are white guys even, HBO pls.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

caveat: haven't seen Rome, what am I missing out on?

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[ZephyrFate]

a really good first season with a stellar casting for Octavian/Augustus, and a rushed Season 2 with a somewhat good finale.

[Madrun Badrun]

I don't get why HBO hasn't gone back and done a new season of Rome either as a prequel or a sequel with new characters.  They know that shit sells.

[jakefromstatefarm]

Greco roman fiction is played the fuck out. Have some balls and pick another cultural setting besides europe

Oh yeah, like anyone wants to see a drama based on the Mauryan dynasty featuring Ashoka beating the fuck out of Buddhist insurrectionists then promptly converting, complete with fever dream sequences jacked straight out of the Ramayana .

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[ZephyrFate]

Can we get an Epic of Gilgamesh HBO show already.

[Phoenix Dark]

Rome was dope for a season, but even that season is overrated IMO. Good acting, great production...but there are some lol worthy antics that I don't really associate with great HBO programming.

S2 is a mess but understandable given that HBO fucked them. The idea that they didn't count DVD sales as revenue still baffles me to this day. Thank god they figured that shit out.

[toku]

The Rome sets were crazy as hell too. You knew thats where most of the money was going.

[Phoenix Dark]

Greco roman fiction is played the fuck out. Have some balls and pick another cultural setting besides europe

you mean you don't want a television adaption of Colleen McCullough's master works that bring Caesar to life.

[Kara]

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caveat: haven't seen Rome, what am I missing out on?

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I watched it when I drank a lot and / or was having a MDE so YMMV but I thought it was OK.

Lot of politicking, which is really all I'm looking for in a Roman period piece.

[StealthFan]

The Rome sets were crazy as hell too. You knew thats where most of the money was going.

It sure as fuck wasn't going to the battle scenes

Rome season 1 was dope. That lesbian subplot was a farce tho...

[StealthFan]

GoT has some flabby ass action choreography
 
Boardwalk's was way better.

[Phoenix Dark]

I thought Rome had a decent battle scene in the pilot, solely because it was an interesting depiction of Phalanx combat. And later in the season there was a good battle. It's not Game of Thrones/Spartacus levels, despite having a bigger budget than both shows (combined) but I didn't think it was a total farce. I like seeing battles from the commander's perspective so you can see the strategy involved, and Rome did quite a bit of that.

[StealthFan]

Rome had good battles when it had battles. The problem was when they skipped battles. There was one in season 1 that was hyped and then they just show the soldiers returning.

The arena battle in season 1 was awesome stuff.

[Phoenix Dark]

GoT has some flabby ass action choreography
 
Boardwalk's was way better.

There was a guy on GAF whose gf works on the show, and he'd always get elitist about the battles, like the choreography was "realistic" thus any criticism="you don't know what you're talking about." The sword fighting is slow and just...bleh. Not to mention the horrible editing which cuts each fight into tiny half second shots stringed together.

I liked the fights in the Neil Marshall episode though. BTW if you haven't seen Centurion go see it brehs, it's on Netflix

[Kara]

If anyone ever stans for GoT's fight scenes I just remember Mance "Go" Rayder's attack on the Wall in my head.

[ZephyrFate]

Rome was dope for a season, but even that season is overrated IMO. Good acting, great production...but there are some lol worthy antics that I don't really associate with great HBO programming.

S2 is a mess but understandable given that HBO fucked them. The idea that they didn't count DVD sales as revenue still baffles me to this day. Thank god they figured that shit out.

I think it's a bit much to call it overrated. Rome Season 1 is as good as most of HBO's programming... of all time, really. And there aren't many shows outside of The Wire or Enlightened that don't have "lol worthy" antics on HBO.

[StealthFan]

Yeah HBO is not sacred like its fanboys would have you believe. I am a big Boardwalk fan and there is plenty of questionable shit. Even The Sopranos suffered from "lol worthy" antics at times.

[Eric P]

I'd like a show set in the world of H.P. Lovecraft's stories too.

That would never happen/work for a myriad of reasons.

twitter reactions would be hilarious
"why does everyone keep fainting!?"

[Dickie Dee]

I'm trying to jog my memory, but what part of Rome had "lol-worthy antics"?

[toku]

I'm trying to jog my memory, but what part of Rome had "lol-worthy antics"?

The whole thing is kind of like Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead but with roman history.

[ZephyrFate]

Except pretty serious and with great drama.

[benjipwns]

I came to a conclusion while rewatching TOS recently that I'm just going to attempt to dismiss corniness in older shows from now on and try and view it as how it's "supposed" to look/feel. The remasters of TOS certainly helped when there were fake cityscapes instead of crinkled aluminum foil as the background of sets. 

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One I couldn't get over was in "Shore Leave" where they show the planet can recreate clothing/heal wounds/etc whatever the person wants. But Kirk just hangs out and leaves his shirt ripped and torn while other crew members get fixed up. Now I'm like "that's so Kirk."

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[toku]

Gave Twin Peaks another shot and I like it a lot more this time. It's still definitely corny, but I kinda like it more. The soundtrack is great, and I love Kyle McLachlan. I can see how it fathered the styles of a lot of modern TV. Also Alan Wake.

[Stoney Mason]

I came to a conclusion while rewatching TOS recently that I'm just going to attempt to dismiss corniness in older shows from now on and try and view it as how it's "supposed" to look/feel. The remasters of TOS certainly helped when there were fake cityscapes instead of crinkled aluminum foil as the background of sets. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

One I couldn't get over was in "Shore Leave" where they show the planet can recreate clothing/heal wounds/etc whatever the person wants. But Kirk just hangs out and leaves his shirt ripped and torn while other crew members get fixed up. Now I'm like "that's so Kirk."

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When people complain of corniness in old shows I tend to roll my eyes. It betrays a person's limitations in their inability to understand that the world changes and what a person views as important now was not always the case.

Which isn't to say that some things are indeed cheesy in and of themselves.

[Phoenix Dark]

In short, if you can't watch I, Claudius because it's "corny/out dated" you're distinguished mentally-challenged.

[Stoney Mason]

My pet peeve is when people rag on old special effects or use that as an excuse not to legit watch something which I've seen people do before. I mean I can laugh at cheesy special effects in a mst3k kind of way myself. But you are in serious danger of missing the point completely if you don't understand that special effects are simply a device to help tell a story. Not the story.

[Dickie Dee]

In short, if you can't watch I, Claudius because it's "corny/out dated" you're distinguished mentally-challenged.

I just started I, Claudius this week and think it's pretty great so far (Been meaning to watch it for a while but going through the History of Rome podcast really lit a fire)

It's wonderful so far but I can see why people might be put off. It's not very naturalistic and comes across more like a stage play put to film.

[Eel O'Brian]

Well you'd need a recurring main character (and supporting characters). It would be a loose adaptation. The world would be second to none though.

Lovecraft anything would be fucking amazing as a series of shorts / short episodic arcs produced by HBO or some such.


and people would watch it too.

You'd hardly find someone on here as big of a Lovecraft stanley as I am(Eel and Eric P might have me beat, though). But the whole "Incomprehensible, unpronounceable, inconceivable" aspects along with the complete indifference to humans most of the threats are, no romantic interests, how the old ones are used, etc. is very hard to translate.

I could see someone making it work regardless, and some stories are easier to replicate than others. Hell, an anthology like series could be gold. But my heavy cynicism, and seeing how some horror has been adapted on tv awfully lately despite being adapted well in the past(CW Dracula, anyone?), makes me skeptical to say the least.

I'm one hell of a hypocrite though. Since one of the first things I'm writing and want to film is a Call Of Cthulhu movie. So fuck me and my opinions.

Speaking of which, check out the silent movie adaption of that. It's a pretty decent fan movie and it should still be up on netflix.

You kinda got me pegged wrong, here   Not really a Lovecraft or mythos monster fan. My tastes in horror tend to go towards extreme pulp (EC horror comics, 80s gore flicks), or Robert Bloch/Roald Dahl at the other end of things.

[Eel O'Brian]

Also, after listening to Hardcore History's WWI podcasts, I'm ready for a Band of Brothers scale WWI series.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

please google before you say "all they did was sit around in trenches"

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[Phoenix Dark]

In short, if you can't watch I, Claudius because it's "corny/out dated" you're distinguished mentally-challenged.

I just started I, Claudius this week and think it's pretty great so far (Been meaning to watch it for a while but going through the History of Rome podcast really lit a fire)

It's wonderful so far but I can see why people might be put off. It's not very naturalistic and comes across more like a stage play put to film.

Agreed, I can see someone not liking the stage-y feel, but I've often heard the complaint that there aren't enough sets, the battles are lol worthy, etc. Come on. I agree with Stony 100%.

[Kara]

Also, after listening to Hardcore History's WWI podcasts, I'm ready for a Band of Brothers scale WWI series.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

please google before you say "all they did was sit around in trenches"

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On a scale of 1 to 10 of depressing, this show would get a Karakand.

[Yeti]

three breasts 

[ZephyrFate]

Great article on Vox about Rectify: http://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053383/rectify-is-the-best-show-youre-not-watching-here-are-5-reasons-why

[Kara]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzacs_(TV_series)

Might check this out.

S A D  B O Y S

[StealthFan]

My WWI niccas

I finished GoT season 1

Too bad the final reveal was spoiled by GAF avatars 3 years ago

[StealthFan]

Also I forgot the backlash over not showing the big battle at the end of season 1. A lot of people were wondering if they could pull it off in season 2 and I remember 4chan going apeshit over the Neil Marshal episode. I'm only on episode 1 of Season 2 but it already looks more expensive.

[jakefromstatefarm]

1st season is best season

Edit: and not even in a "truest to the source material" way, I just enjoy the scenes in Winterfell

[StealthFan]

That direwolf They should've kept that shit in side view through the bars. Looked cool then. Followed by an AWFUL cityscape shot with terrible composting work.

The set design is impressive, and looks filmic but some of this CGI

[Himu]

Orange is the new Black s2 ep1 :lupe

[Himu]

"You have to take that molest-me-daddy voice and go someplace else. Right now."

[Kara]

The last 10 minutes of Rectify's season 1 finale are brutal.

Especially that last shot above the cells.

Boreans getting me to watch something I'd never have watched otherwise.

[ZephyrFate]

The last 10 minutes of Rectify's season 1 finale are brutal.

Especially that last shot above the cells.

Boreans getting me to watch something I'd never have watched otherwise.

Ugh yeah, the final scene of Season 1 is only topped/matched by the final scene in Season 2, fittingly enough. Now get ready for a deeper look into Daniel's tortured psyche...

[Himu]

Orange is the New Black season 2 is amazing. Every episode has moments. Season 1 is funny but it's not this well written. Goddamn. There's shade being thrown every episode at this point.

[toku]

Season two is better because they realized how fucking awful Piper and her husband are so they focus way less on them. It's more ensemble show now.

[Himu]

Disagree. Piper really steps it up this season and her story and growth were fascinating. Her story is much, much better than Dana and her stupid fucking romance story. God, thankfully it's now over.

Just finished the season. Wow. The ending was cheesy as shit, but for me it was perfection.

[Himu]

didn't like how bursett was token lgbt fashion advice person. she had like 3 minutes worth of dialogue this season. wtf.

Still though, despite some flaws, one of the most ambitious, creatively inspired seasons of television I've ever seen.



This AV Club review http://www.avclub.com/review/orange-new-black-spreads-empathy-all-directions-205601



Last year when I finished season 1, I wanted season 2 immediately. I'm feeling the same thing for season 3. I'm glad I waited to let the hype boil over and not be spoiled before watching 2.

[Phoenix Dark]

less than a month to go

[Himu]

still haven't seen season 4

[StealthFan]

Downton Abbey

[Phoenix Dark]

Shut up Tiny Tim.

[Squiddy]

didn't like how bursett was token lgbt fashion advice person. she had like 3 minutes worth of dialogue this season. wtf.

Still though, despite some flaws, one of the most ambitious, creatively inspired seasons of television I've ever seen.

(Image removed from quote.)

This AV Club review http://www.avclub.com/review/orange-new-black-spreads-empathy-all-directions-205601



Last year when I finished season 1, I wanted season 2 immediately. I'm feeling the same thing for season 3. I'm glad I waited to let the hype boil over and not be spoiled before watching 2.

Can you explain that gif because I can't be arsed to watch the show when I got stuff like Extant, Falling Skies, and The Strain to keep track of.

[Himu]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

rosa is a terminal ovary cancer patient. She's in prison for bank robberies. She's shot and killed guards. She had three-six weeks to live and she hates and fears the idea of dying in prison, being a hardcore badass who wanted to die in a blaze of glory. One of her prison friends gives her the opportunity to steal the van after her last doc visit that confirms terminal illness and a deadline. That's her happy as fuck, free as a bird, as she feels alive again for one last time as she escapes, rocking her head naturally despite the lack of hair and living like she used to without any pretenses. She changes into the young version to show she's still that badass beauty despite the age, despite the cancer, she's still the same woman and now she's free to die like a human and not a bird in a cave.

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[Squiddy]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

rosa is a terminal ovary cancer patient. She's in prison for bank robberies. She's shot and killed guards. She had three-six weeks to live and she hates and fears the idea of dying in prison, being a hardcore badass who wanted to die in a blaze of glory. One of her prison friends gives her the opportunity to steal the van after her last doc visit that confirms terminal illness and a deadline. That's her happy as fuck, free as a bird, as she feels alive again for one last time as she escapes, rocking her head naturally despite the lack of hair and living like she used to without any pretenses. She changes into the young version to show she's still that badass beauty despite the age, despite the cancer, she's still the same woman and now she's free to die like a human and not a bird in a cave.

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[Madrun Badrun]

Rewatching Jeeves and Wooster.  What ho is going to become my standard greeting I think.

[Eric P]

by an odd coincidence i have been listening to the 70s radio plays the BBC produced.  great stuff.

[Madrun Badrun]

link?

[Eric P]

http://www.radiomickdanger.com/ListShows2.php?seriesname=Jeeves