Underestimating Middle-America Since 1950: Television Test Thread

[Reply #360 on:]

Another reason why Breaking Bad is so great.

TOTPD

[Reply #361 on:]

Another reason why Breaking Bad is so great.

Sir, you appear to be missing your picture. Must I remind you that it is illegal and immoral to go out in public pictureless? Shame, shame...

[Reply #362 on:]

Another reason why Breaking Bad is so great.

Sir, you appear to be missing your picture. Must I remind you that it is illegal and immoral to go out in public pictureless? Shame, shame...

[Reply #363 on:]

Weird, it showed up on my mobile ("CELLULITE TELEPHONE" for you yanks) before, but not now.

Meatable, are you some kind of deceased PEEL warlock seeking vengeance from beyond?!

[Reply #364 on:]

Weird, it showed up on my mobile ("CELLULITE TELEPHONE" for you yanks) before, but not now.

Meatable, are you some kind of deceased PEEL warlock seeking vengeance from beyond?!

Maybe, maybe not.

[Reply #365 on:]

Just when you thought Fox couldn't sink much lower...

[Reply #366 on:]

Just when you thought Fox couldn't sink much lower...

God, Fox. Talk about corporation so focused on making money that they don't care about the critics/fans/viewers/employees at all.

[Reply #367 on:]

It's typical "lowest common denominator" garbage, and the sad thing is, it's probably going to be a hit, too. Fuck, Two and a Half Men is still going strong after all this time, somehow.

[Reply #368 on:]

Too bad...I actually really like Seth Green, so it's hard for me to believe he would want to do that kind of sitcom with a laugh track...especially one that from the commercials seems so unfunny. I guess the money is too good to pass up.

[Reply #369 on:]

I guess the money is too good to pass up.

Really though, couldn't that be said about anyone who's ever been involved with Family Guy?

[Reply #370 on:]

Hey now, Family Guy was witty and hilarious in the first 3 seasons prior to cancellation. Anyone involved with those episodes deserves due credit.

[Reply #371 on:]

I used to like them (granted, I was a stupid teenager at the time), but watching them again now... Well, I can admit they're a helluvalot better than what the show became, but holy shit, they're still embarrassing.

[Reply #372 on:]

Eh? I really think they're not so bad. Hell, I even have a fondness for the first post-cancellation season, season 4 (excluding certain not-very-good episodes) and certain isolated episodes after that.

[Reply #373 on:]

To be fair, I gave up on the show in season 5, so I don't really have all that much of a gauge on just how different in quality it is. But "Patriot Games" was the episode that was awful enough to make me abandon the show forever, and I'm normally a very loyal viewer (hell, I stayed with Weeds and the US version of The Office 'til the bitter end).

[Reply #374 on:]

Yeah in retrospect old Family Guy doesn't hold up as well as old American Dad. It's still funny but the novelty has warn off especially considering how detailed the humor became in later seasons.

[Reply #375 on:]

Did anyone see the pilot for Brooklyn Nine-Nine? I haven't had a chance to check it out yet but it sounds pretty damn good - the cast is fantastic and it's created by Michael Schur (show-runner for Parks and Recreation). Also, The AV Club gave it a rather positive review and I generally trust their judgement on tv.

What a shame it's being paired up with Dads, though. That show cannot die soon enough.

[Reply #376 on:]

Why do I feel like I've heard of that show, but when I look it up on IMDB it doesn't look familiar?

I couldn't be bothered reading that Dads article or watching the video, but Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi? Aw. But I like them.

What other up-coming shows are coming out that we should keep an eye out for? Being in Australia, we really have to rely on international TV to help us out with entertainment. There's only so much Home and Away With Your Neighbours Eating Water Rats Off Eddie McGuire's Corpse one can stand.

Interesting little link I found on facebook:

IMDB Movie Challenge

I know this was pages ago now, but apparently before that was the last post I'd read. I'm kind of shocked that I got 96. There are a lot of movies in that list I have wanted/meant to see and still haven't. I guess my numbers were made up by the fact that Coldy made me watch all the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies.. plus some other movies I probably wouldn't have seen if he hadn't told me I should. I haven't watched stupid purely girly movies in a long time /

[Reply #377 on:]

Why do I feel like I've heard of that show, but when I look it up on IMDB it doesn't look familiar?

Because it only just started airing in the US last night, but has a super generic cop show name?

On that note, I finally watched it (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, that is, NOT Dads) and it's very, very good. Really strong pilot, especially for a comedy series since they generally take at least a few episodes to get into their own groove, but the creators here have indeed found a fresh take on the "cop comedy" genre; it never feels like they're treading old ground with it. The "police" aspect of their job is treated with the respect it deserves WHILE somehow managing to send up various action movie tropes, and the focus is primarily on the characters, which is good because the cast is fantastic. I definitely recommend it.

[Reply #378 on:]

I remember where I saw the name Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it was on a list of new shows I was looking at a couple of weeks ago and then completely forgot about until now. Must have been an exciting list.

Since we watched the pilot today, I can say I agree, set itself up well and we will definitely be watching more. Coldy described it as "Scrubs with cops".

There was another comedy show we saw on telly late at night recently (well, a few months ago), it had Mathew Perry in it so we were like 'eh' at first, but then we continued to watch what I assume was the pilot and it turned out to be not bad. Go On it was called. Apparently it got cancelled after one season so maybe it wasn't too good or people are lame, it was on quite late here so I already figured it wasn't doing too well in the US. Just like Futurama in season 3 or 4 and Arrested Development from season 1 were on at Never O'Clock. Even Scrubs was on at Never O'clock back in season 1/2. I never understood any of that. Especially Futurama. A PG cartoon on at 11pm or whatever it was.

Are other countries included in the whole ratings thing now that we seem to be getting shows within days/months of the original airings? Will that make any difference to shows living longer? Find out in the next thread! No guarantee thread will be renewed for another season.

[Reply #379 on:]

I started the first episode of House of Cards...the thing with the dog certainly sets the tone of the show.

[Reply #380 on:]

I've read consistently average things about House of Cards. The only Netflix series I'm really keen to see (excluding Arrested Development season 4, of course, since I've seen it about 10 times already) is Orange is the New Black.

[Reply #381 on:]

Well I like Kevin Spacey a lot and so far I'm enjoying the pilot though the length is kind of ridiculous (the pilot's four minutes shy of an hour). But if you're keen about OITNB then go watch it already!

[Reply #382 on:]

Naomi wants to watch it with me and we're currently mid-way through a bunch of other shows, so I gots to wait. 

I guess Netflix are going nuts with the episode lengths since, really, they can be as long as they want (Arrested Development's were totally inconsistent - the shortest was 27 minutes and the longest was just over 35, if I recall correctly).

[Reply #383 on:]

House Of Cards is fantastic. Personally I think it's much more worth watching than Orange Is The New Black (which I also really enjoyed) although to be fair they are two very different shows. Anyway, House of Cards is incredibly smart and very well written, and Kevin Spacey gives what is easily the best performance of his career so far. It's intense but well-paced and directed, and the end of the season leaves a lot to look forward to in terms of where the characters are. I definitely recommend it. Now that so many great dramas have ended or are ending, I'd say House Of Cards and Game Of Thrones are the two to really keep an eye on for right now.

[Reply #384 on:]

Beams, I'm pretty sure there was one AD season 4 episode that was well over 40 minutes. And it was one of the ones with George Sr. which weren't the best episodes to begin with.

I really enjoyed House of Cards, considering the length and the tone I don't see myself hardcore marathoning it like I did with OITNB but it'll more likely be an episode-per-day situation. Gonna watch episode two sometime before or after New Girl tonight.

[Reply #385 on:]

Beams, I'm pretty sure there was one AD season 4 episode that was well over 40 minutes. And it was one of the ones with George Sr. which weren't the best episodes to begin with.

No, the George Sr. episodes just felt like they were that long.

[Reply #386 on:]

I watched the first episode of "House of Cards" whilst I had Netflix on free trial in order to watch season 4 of Arrested Development.

It was well made and I like Kevin Spacey, but nothing about it was compelling enough to get me to watch another episode before the trial ran out.

[Reply #387 on:]

I really enjoyed House of Cards, considering the length and the tone I don't see myself hardcore marathoning it like I did with OITNB but it'll more likely be an episode-per-day situation.

You hit the nail on the head there. HoC is a great show but I was only doing one episode per week because of how heavy it is (I obviously go for more upbeat programs). When I would resume watching, I felt like I forgot too much of what had happened, since it is also a complex show.

All in all, though, I was quite impressed with the quality of this show, especially considering it's an online-original program.

[Reply #388 on:]

Honestly I found it entertaining enough to not be phased by how complex and political it is. Also, Kevin Spacey's soliloquies are often really funny and there are other moments of levity too. I actually did binge most of it, especially near the end of the season where things really pick up steam.

I wouldn't judge it based on only the first episode. It's a show with a slow build and gradual weaving of storylines, so you have to get into it to really enjoy it. There are also a few great perspective-changing revelations near the end of the season that give it lots of rewatch value.

[Reply #389 on:]

It's probably worth noting that my Netflix trial also gave me access to shows like Dexter that I hadn't seen before and are a lot easier to digest.

[Reply #390 on:]

I wrote an article on my blog, ranking 50 of TV's animated sitcoms from worst to best, and I'm whoring it out, here, now, even though, being on a Futurama forum, you probably know which show is going to take the top spot.

[Reply #391 on:]

"People who champion Bob's Burgers are either people who aren't aware of H. Jon Benjamin's previous improv-heavy animated work, or rather, people who are aware of it and miss Home Movies so much that they enjoy Bob's Burgers purely because it reminds them of it a little bit."

I'm plenty familiar with H. Jon Benjamin's other voice work (I love Archer), and while I find Home Movies somewhat amusing, I was never that huge on it (if anything I find Bob's Burgers to be much superior). So your assessment is pretty damn wrong.

I think you should give the show more of a chance. It's only gotten better as it's gone on. Season 3 has plenty of episodes with clever fully fleshed-out storylines that at least come close to rivaling episodes of shows like The Simpsons or Futurama, and it maintains a consistent sense of humor which I personally find hysterical.

On another note, I can't believe you think the Black Dynamite animated series is better than the movie. Black Dynamite is easily one of my top 5 favorite movies of the last decade. I can't imagine how you thought it got stale after 10 minutes, but different strokes for different folks, I guess. Just remember, donuts don't wear alligator shoes.

[Reply #392 on:]

I only watched a handful of episodes from the first season of Bob's Burgers before giving up, but I see it's just been confirmed for a 5th season, so I probably ought to give it another shot. I can believe it's gotten better - most of these shows do, if they stick around long enough.

I hated Black Dynamite (the film). It just didn't do it for me. I found the trailer hilarious, but the film just... meh.

[Reply #393 on:]

I just love how they manage to make fun of not just the acting and ridiculous plots of the blaxploitation genre, but also the laziness of the filmmakers in clever and subtle ways. Not to mention how insanely quotable so many of the lines are. In my book it's easily the best movie that's intentionally trying to be bad.

[Reply #394 on:]

My God, I love that movie. "But Black Dynamite, I sell drugs to the community!"

However, I really REALLY love the episode of the animated series where Bull Horn becomes a porn star. Willy Wanker was genius.

[Reply #395 on:]

Bullfrog was fantastic, did you guys watch the cartoon? THE GUY ONLY SPEAKS IN RHYMES!

[Reply #396 on:]

C_T You know there is a Season 3 of Moral Orel right? I highly recommend seeing it, even without being that much of a fan of the first 2 Seasons. Just seeing how dark the show can get from Nature onwards is really interesting and well written, especially considering how moral and happy everyone seems before that Season.

[Reply #397 on:]

No, I thought there were only the two seasons. No idea why. I'll check it out.

[Reply #398 on:]

Should I even bring up Sons of Anarchy here? Anyway, I am. This new season is an odd one so far, I feel as if it's peaked, but feel compelled to watch to the bitter end.

[Reply #399 on:]

You're welcome to talk about Sons of Anarchy but I would personally appreciate spoilers as I've only seen the first three seasons.

Also season 3 of Moral Orel is fantastic. Bleak as all hell, but really, really great. They did a special prequel earlier this year, too. I haven't seen it yet, but it's titled Beforel Orel.

On another note, I can't believe you think the Black Dynamite animated series is better than the movie. Black Dynamite is easily one of my top 5 favorite movies of the last decade. I can't imagine how you thought it got stale after 10 minutes, but different strokes for different folks, I guess. Just remember, donuts don't wear alligator shoes.

I completely agree. Black Dynamite the film is utterly brilliant. It has every type of joke you could ever make, and I find something new in it every time I watch it. No film has ever kept me laughing so consistently hard the whole way through. I thought the animated series, on the other hand, was complete and utter garbage. I watched the first few episodes, and it was just rehashing content from the show, but while adding this whole juvenile element that was neither clever nor funny. I think I gave up after the third episode. I still watch the film at least once or twice a year, though.

"HAH! I THREW THAT SHIT BEFORE I CAME IN THE ROOM!!!"