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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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This is also the first Yahoo! original series I've heard of since they got the rights to Community.
Apparently they had another one called Sin City Saints, but reviews have been less than favourable so I doubt I'll be checking it out. I honestly can't imagine Yahoo! Screen becoming all that prominent a streaming service, particularly when Netflix and Hulu are dominating the market so aggressively (their current strategies seem to be acquiring the rights to big name shows of the past, with Hulu just recently locking down Seinfeld for $180 million). Amazon also seem to have a decent dog in this fight, especially given the high level of critical acclaim they received for Transparent, but still, I imagine the race is still going to come down entirely to Netflix and Hulu at this point. Either way, it's exciting as hell to witness this revolution in media production and distribution, and if we're getting quality shows like Orange is the New Black in the process, I'm certainly not complaining. 
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Tachyon

DOOP Secretary

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« Reply #690 on: 05-11-2015 05:02 »
« Last Edit on: 05-11-2015 05:06 »
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Futurella? Isn't that some obscure show set in the year 4000?
Barbarella? I don't recall that the time period in which the film was set was ever specified, but I've only seen bits and pieces of Jane Fonda it.
Watching the first four episodes of BBC's The Real History of Science Fiction. Nothing groundbreaking, but it comes across as a bit more than yet another slick, over-produced broad scope sci-fi retrospective. And it's a chance to glimpse some of your favourite authors, actors, directors, and people involved in many sci-fi projects. I very much enjoyed seeing Rutger Hauer. But I'm still no closer to learning whether the bit of ad-libbing he did in his last line was spontaneous, or whether he'd thought it up beforehand. The first ep came on in the background just as I was making my afternoon tea (nachos and tequila*) and I found myself listening intently, then dashing back into the living room to watch snippets. And just watched all four episodes back-to-back  * I'd skipped both elevenses AND lunch!!
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Scrappylive

Liquid Emperor
 
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« Reply #692 on: 05-24-2015 06:25 »
« Last Edit on: 05-24-2015 16:02 »
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I watched the Late Show with David Letterman farewell today. It was really good. I've never been a regular viewer of the program, but I definitely acknowledge its value. Still, it wasn't until I started reading some of those retrospective articles regarding the program floating around the web ( One Two Three), as well as clips of other late night hosts talking about David Letterman himself ( One Two Three), that I understood his influence on the world of late night comedy. The final episode had plenty of nods to the past as well as a lot of fresh material, some of which is still making me laugh as I think about it now. It's definitely worth a watch. Yes, the full hour.
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Scrappylive

Liquid Emperor
 
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Hiro's off wasting his time on some stupid shit instead of being useful!
Heroes has a character named Hiro...?  Anyways, I've wondered in what ways Heroes infamously became terrible seemingly overnight. I think this is the first description I've seen of that. Do you know why it happened? I'd be interested in one day finding out at what moment the show became bad and then watching through the series from the start until just before that moment.
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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I didn't personally watch the series, though I've been subjected to much discussion on it, and the general consensus seems to be that the first season is good for the most part, and the rest of the show is pure crap. It's quite perplexing to me that they're rebooting it, given that the series pretty much bombed in every way possible (ratings, critical acclaim, fan base) after its first year. I'm guessing it's the network's ill-conceived attempt to cash in on the current superhero fad. Because, you know, we totally need another supehero series on tv right now. 
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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Precisely. This specific level of mainstream popularity can't sustain itself. I'm sure we'll still have superhero shows/movies for a very long time to come, but the sheer volume and frequency of it at the moment is the "fad" I'm referring to.
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UnrealLegend

Space Pope
   
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Anyways, I've wondered in what ways Heroes infamously became terrible seemingly overnight. I think this is the first description I've seen of that. Do you know why it happened?
Well, there was the writer's strike during season 2 which resulted in said season becoming very rushed, however it never really recovered from that. They started adding ridiculous characters whilst constantly ditching old ones for no particular reason. And like I said before, they were constantly making the characters have convenient personality changes which was simply infuriating. In short, it seems like they simply lost the first season's magic. There wasn't anything wrong with the acting in my opinion; it was the shitty writing. The first season is considered the best and I guess after that is the moment, but at the same time I don't think there's a drastic change in quality. It's pretty good altogether. I don't remember Heroes that well, but second season was probably the weakest.
I agree, although I think the third season is far worse than the second (Although "Fugitives", the latter half of season 3, was surprisingly decent). I'd say the decline started near the end of season one; it had an incredibly strong start and middle (The episode "Company Man" being my favourite in the show) but it just sort of fizzled out by the end and remained on that level of mediocrity until mid-way through season two, which is when it started becoming awful. It's quite perplexing to me that they're rebooting it, given that the series pretty much bombed in every way possible (ratings, critical acclaim, fan base) after its first year. I'm guessing it's the network's ill-conceived attempt to cash in on the current superhero fad. Because, you know, we totally need another supehero series on tv right now. 
It's definitely got a lot of competition, so I guess we'll see. If they can keep it smallish and not bite off more than they can chew it has some potential. Also, Heroes isn't based on any existing property so there's much more room for unique stories.
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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That's true, though the original run of Heroes was largely a product of its time. This was a series hot on the heels of shows like Lost and Prison Break - big budget serialised network dramas that blended various genres, boasted sizable casts and had some sort of central mythology/conspiracy driving the plot. Lost kept its quality impressively high for a very long time, with only the last of its six seasons being considerably disappointing, while Prison Break took a premise that, by its very design, should have only ran for 1 or 2 seasons at the most, and tried to capitalise accordingly, with disastrous results.
I'll concede that, if Heroes has indeed learned from its mistakes and takes a few pages from the more successful shows of this current era of television, the new series could very well be worth watching, but I'm still baffled by the very prospect of it. I mean, who the fuck is clamouring for a Heroes reboot anyway?
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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I have no idea. It's a risky time for a reboot as well since, like you said, the superhero genre is huge at the moment and it'll tank spectacularly if it's anything less than excellent.
NBC don't exactly have a good track record with... Well, pretty much anything on their network right now, critically or commercially (save from maybe Hannibal, which has garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim but still flounders in the ratings), so I think it'd have to be pretty fucking excellent to last beyond a single season.
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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Yeah, Orphan Black is fantastic. I'm watching the third season week-to-week right now and it's most definitely retained its quality thus far. Though we should probably take this to the Orphan Black thread. 
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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I actually think the low budget of Other Space added a lot of charm to the show. I agree that the finale was a bit disappointing (especially given how great some of the episodes leading up to it were), but I'd still love to have more of it.  I don't believe a second season has been confirmed (or denied) yet, though.
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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There's actually a lot less of Will and Furlong in season 3, if I recall correctly. Or more? I dunno. Either way, Veep is hilarious, and has some of the sharpest dialogue (and most understated performances) of any comedy out there right now. You should also check out Silicon Valley if you haven't already - the show that HBO begins pairing it up with in its timeslot from season 3 onwards. 
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Beamer

DOOP Secretary

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I felt season 1 had a bit of a shaky start but really hit its stride around the mid point, and the show's been on fire since. At least in the comedy department, anyway. I'll concede that Season 2 has been a tad more engaging, though, largely in part to the increasingly high stakes. About a week ago, I started House of Cards.
I'm beginning to consider watching a layer of paint dry instead, because that will probably be more interesting.
I actually just finished season 3 of this, and I still have some very conflicted feelings about House of Cards in general. Though, having said that, I'd never call it "boring." Pulpy, shallow and dumb, sure, but I at least found it to be consistently entertaining.
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