Well the KEY to watching television is to have a multiple channel DVR. I can record two channels and I find that is sufficient for nearly every occasion since you can select to only record new episodes and prioritize broadcast over cable, and with cable having so many repeats you invariably always get the show you want recorded. I have ~50 timers that record shows, but I never watch anything while it is being broadcast. In most cases I don't watch many shows during the season, and shows that I record that are cancelled I almost always delete without watching (why bother getting hooked if it is going away?) For instance I'm recording Dark Blue, The Gates, Haven and several others that I've yet to watch any of. The Timers include (these are off the top of my head): House V Glades The Gates Dark Blue Lie to Me Flash Forward Mentalist NCIS NCIS - LA Rookie Blue Burn Notice Truma Haven True Blood The Big C Weeds Boardwalk Dexter Doctor Who Closer Covert Affairs Warehouse 13 Eureka Smallville Glee Medium L&O Criminal Intent? (with Jeff Goldblum) Criminal Minds (WAY too dark for several seasons) Spelling Bee Vampire Diaries Proj Runway Top Chef Top Shot In any case, once I get around to watching TV, I'll watch two or three episodes of a show in a row, skipping the intros, the teasers and the commercials and esentially be able to watch an hour show in about 40 minutes. The system handles about 100 hours of recording and if not protected things will drop off the end. I think that anything that I've not wanted to watch, that long, deserves to get deleted. Still, most deletes are purposefull. I watched one or two episodes of a new series an if it's not a keeper I delete the rest and the timer. Sometimes, with shows that are somewhat predictable, I'll use the jump ahead 15 seconds button to skip car chases and other time wasters, if I find I'm watching a show in less than 30 minutes, I usually quit watching it. But, the net is I only ever watch what I want to watch, as opposed to watching the "least objectionable" thing that is on. Arthur
I've never seen it. Not a single episode. I never had a desire nor has anybody ever given it such positive testimony. We are talking about the stop motion-esque talking dinosaur program, right? Huh. With you palavering about its greatness, I'm inclined to give it a look. [Highlander intentionally left out] I truly miss the days of Star Trek and B5. If I can think of one TV series that I miss terribly, it's TNG. I was in Spain when it met it's end and for some reason never heard of the rumor of it's end before I left. My family knew I loved the show so much that my parents intentionally didn't tell me until I got home and started digging for reruns. It's not so much that they believed I would break down, or come home or something like that (I was having too great a time), but they knew that it was one of the things that got me through the depression of my mother dying and was with me until I became a young man. They just didn't want to spoil my fun. I've heard great things about "Leverage" and "Burn Notice". My buddy at work has turned me on to the TNT/USA shows which are turning out nicely. I caught an episode of "Leverage" with Seven of 9 and it was pretty good. Oh. And why are you mourning "V"? It's been renewed for another season: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_(2009_TV_series) Indeed. I watched the first two seasons on DVD in one weekend and was stunned by just how great the show was. But by the third season it got totally lost. There is still the great mini series "Sparta" that I've yet to see (except the first episode that had lots of full monty shots of men, so it can't be all that bad). Also, if you haven't seen "Hung", despite it's questionable name, is really an intelligent show. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but good. I was just talking with your bestest-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world, Countezero, about that show. And the mutual conclusion was: watchable, addictive, but ultimately a bit pretentious. It falls short of all the greatness that it's hyped up to be and has potential to be. Some things that--for me--make me like the show are all the "future" references they pack in. Like a scene in the first season: Male boss to secretary: "Hey toots can you make me a copy of this letter?" Ditsy secretary: "You want me to type it up for you?" Boss, with serious sarcasm: "Unless you have a machine somewhere that can make exact copies of it, then yes, I want you to type it up. All the homophobia and sexism is. . . it's just great. It's stuff that we could and would never do today, but take pleasure in watching for some reason. Like we're voyers into a past we sorta wished we could have seen and experienced with a little more detail. I'd even tolerate the homophobia for a few days just to go back to that time and see how at was. Ojalá that I could crack open a bottle of scotch in my office and tell horrifically ribald jokes without fear of reprisal! Which is why I kept wondering why it couldn't be moved to a cable network? It's not like the cast--save for Keitel--had any star power. Most were near to or no namers. GAWD it was so good. . . . miffed. I appear to be acquiring it for "The Cleveland Show" :::Rubs hands with glee!::: Adult swim's shows are great. "Robot Chicken" "Aqua Teen" (which is okay) "Drawn Together" (is that AS?) . . . oh and I forgot. . . please tell me you've seen "Super Jail" Oh gawd it's evil. But so funny. You have to see this clip: What a wonderful day for Cancer Back story: It's a show that houses the worst prisoners in the universe. The scarred up fellow singing (in the beginning) is a cannibalistic pedophile and he kidnaps the girl he's singing to. She was a patient in a hospital and is dying of cancer. At first he was going to eat her, but then he sorta falls in love with her. Upon reading her medical bracelet he mistakes "Cancer" for her name, but makes the mistake--again--of mispronouncing the "C" as an "S" and calls her "Sancer". It's vile, but I can't stop laughing. ~String
I love that it was a take off on the Honeymooners. And undoubtably one of the best shows ever written. "Hurling day" might have been one of my absolute favorites. Or the sly news shows they snuck in, like the one where the newscaster teases them about a story of a big comet heading to earth which "will end life as we know it", but "first, Sports headlines", or with the two cavemen they put together in the zoo, but couldn't figure out why they wouldn't breed. etc etc I'm the baby, gotta love me. Arthur
I will admit to watching one--and only one--soap opera, and it was Santa Barbara. I absolutely loved that show. Even to this day, I remember some of the plot twists and interesting stories, like: Eden Capwell & Cruz Castillo having to act as Santa Clause. Eden's weird "other self" Their arch nemesis who constantly vexed the entire Capwell clan That oddly enchanting tune they'd play when Eden or Cruz were in their romantic state.Good stuff. ~String
It's not stop motion, it's a combination of actors in costume and a few muppets for the few small characters (like the Baby). It's a prehistoric take off on the old Gleason comedy, The Honeymooners, but Alice and Ralph have two teenagers and a baby. DINOSAURS Episode "Hurling Day" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=easYTQgzPSM Arthur
Seasons one and two are also good, especially season 2. That is so true. I usually fast forward thru title sequences, but something about that TrueBlood opening sequence just mesmerizes me. Every time I see that house on stilts, the little KKK boy, the psycho in the rocking chair...... I just sit and stare. Anyone interested in the new Michael Chiklas show, No Ordinary Family? He kicked ass in The Shield, so I'm inclined to give it a look.
Sasquatch IS something I haven't seen before! I had forgotten about Super Jail. It is, in fact, pretty good, but I haven't seen much of it, and I much prefer it when I'm higher than Jesus. In truth, Robot Chicken annoys me. I mean, I sort of get the concept, but stoner humor—at least, to me—should be stuff that's funny to me when I'm stoned, not the art of sitting around and watching people act like they're on drugs. That is, give me some psilocybin and a room full of action figures, and I'm pretty sure I could have my own Robot Chicken experience without ever turning the TV on. But part of that is just that it's of a separate style of humor than I prefer. It doesn't grate on me like, say, Seinfeld did. But neither does it have the charm of Linklater's Dazed and Confused, nor the fragmented chaos of Family Guy. I think what bugs me is that Robot Chicken seems really deliberate. But I'll also give Cartoon Network some credit for Venture Bros. It's hit and miss, like the bit with Sasquatch: Brock: You could have told me Sasquatch was a dude. Steve: Huh? What, you couldn't tell? Brock: Not until I had to shave him. Steve: What, are you shy? Sasquatch doesn't have anything you haven't seen before. Brock: Sasquatch is something I haven't seen before. ("Home Insecurity") The desperation in Brock's voice is amazing. I literally fell over laughing at that one. ____________________ Notes: People's Republic of Venture. "Home Insecurity: Selected Quotes". Updated April 17, 2010. VentureFans.org. September 18, 2010. http://venturefans.org/vbwiki/Home_Insecurity/Quotes
No, it's 100% Muppetry. Most of the main characters are Big Bird technology: one human walking around in the costume moving the arms and legs, another articulating the face, and a third doing the voice. Baby Dinosaur and the occasional smaller creatures are Kermit/Piggy technology (or Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent or Oliver J. Dragon if you go back as far as I do): a single person doing the head with one hand, the arms with another, and the voice. (As opposed to Punch & Judy technology, doing it all with one hand and no facial expressions.) With computers and cabling, it's considerably advanced over the the classic Sesame Street shots and even the Muppet Show. If you haven't kept up with Muppet technology, rent "The Dark Crystal." The visuals are stunning, the characters are engaging, and the story will leave you drained. And that one is from twenty years ago! It's what "Avatar" might have been if they'd had to actually build all that stuff and make it obey the laws of physics, instead of just drawing it with a mouse in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Like any good series, you may have to watch a couple of episodes to get into the swing of it. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but as TV fantasies go I thought it had remarkable integrity. The characterizations were rich and there was genuine drama. It even had an inconsolably sad ending. Mrs. Fraggle, the English major, said it arguably qualified as Magical Realism: they changed just one thing about the universe and then let us watch how it played out. They answered all of our smart-ass questions, like what happens if an immortal dies underwater or buried in the ground: He wakes up, asphyxiates, and dies again, and keeps that up forever until his luck changes! I felt the same way about "Angel," although it was a lot more light-hearted, at least up until its own cataclysmic ending. Why isn't Charisma Carpenter a huge star today, instead of David Boreanaz? I see that it resonated with a period in your life when you needed it, but did you follow up with DS9? We both thought it was easily as good as TNG. B5 certainly was! Unfortunately Jeri Ryan was a temp while Gina Bellman was off having her baby. Not that I mind her but I was glad to see Ryan back in her element instead of doing ordinary forgettable drama series. The Washington Post said yesterday that it won't be back after all. A Martinez (the "A" is for Adolfo, which is why he goes by A) said that as a soap star you become accustomed to so few people recognizing you that if someone actually walks up to you gushing with appreciation, you invite them into the nearest coffee shop to chat. Then he took a trip to Europe, and from the moment he landed crowds were following him around. We ran into Catherine Bell of "General Hospital" in a supermarket one day and she talked to us for half an hour. (One of the benefits of living in Hollywood, you really do run into a star once in a while--Martin Mull and Pat Paulsen were charming.) I credit them with great restraint for not naming the feuding families Capwell and Montgomery or Montrose!
The movie has a "special" place in my family's heart: It was the first movie we rented on our brand new--futuristic--VCR back in '84ish. Personal taste. I remember disliking "Dark Crystal" and I definitely loved "Avatar". I have not seen "Dark Crystal" in over two decades, though, so I might have to pay it another visit. I caught a few episodes back in the 90's. I just never got into it, though. I remember thinking, "It's not real, SciFi if it's not on a ship." [How to not sound like I'm back pedaling. . . ???] While I "miss" TNG more (because of its effect on my formative years), I liked DS9 more based on story, characters and FX. Overall, DS9 was a superior series, especially season 6. Season 7 was awesome, but I really missed Terry Farrell, though as replacements go, Nicole De Boer-war was a good choice. Indeed. I just watched my "top ten" epsides again. It's one of the very few TV series that I actually own (Dexter, Farscape, B5 and some seasons of DS9) ~String
'Twas awesome Yeah, Dinosaurs was awesome. But, like so much of what Henson did, it was way ahead of the audience. And, this time, it was probably too far ahead. Then again, it got three seasons. Still, it seems like people didn't really understand the scale of what they were seeing.
Anyone see Boardwalk Empire last night? I liked it. I also saw LoneStar, ho-hum. The Event, on the other hand, was pretty good.
Okay. . . didn't see that show, Mad. But, I just watched the premiere of "Hawaii Five-0", "The Event", "Chase" and "House" (yes, I've had nothing to do this evening). Biggest surprise? "Hawaii Five-0". It was at the bottom of the list. Almost didn't even bother with it, but I figured I'd set the DVR to record it just to see. Credits show that it's a Kurtzman & Orci production (of JJ Abrams, Bad Robot, "Fringe" and "Star Trek" fame). Though formulaic, it was nonetheless highly enjoyable. Biggest disappointment? "The Event" Not even sure I'll tune in next week. Ultra lame. "Chase" was okay. "House" was pretty good. ~String
Really? I'm watching The Event right now, and it's intriguing, if nothing else. I've got Hawaii 50 on my DVR, but plan to hit the sack after finishing up The Event, so I'll watch it later. House was OK, nice to see him finally hooking up with Cutty and it not turn out to be a delusion.
Oh, for sh@t! Damn it, I completely forgot about The Event. Oh, well. It'll probably come up On Demand. No, I really don't like watching television shows on my computer. I mean, .avi and .mpg files are okay, but I'm using an old Apple power tower, and this thing hates Flash. Oh, hell, that's right. I have a Hackintosh with a Windows partition sitting out in the garage. I need to get that baby hooked up. House was entertaining, but ... really? That was the season premiere? I kept expecting a canned sitcom laugh track.
I didn't mean to imply that I didn't like "Avatar," sorry if it sounded that way. There's just something wondrous about knowing that everything in "The Dark Crystal" was genuine complete matter, not just electrons. Those little spinning things that flew like helicopters. I would never call "Highlander" sci-fi. It was fantasy. "Highlander," "Angel" and "Witchblade" were my top three fantasy series. They took themselves seriously, although "Angel" had a large dose of humor. A lot of sci-fi crosses the line into fantasy, but most fantasy stays on its own side of the line. DS9 was fabulous but we both would rate TNG a little higher. It got to range a little further from its storyline than DS9 did, so some of the individual episodes were exquisite. The one where Picard lived an entire lifetime on the planet that was about to die, and when he finally woke up on the Enterprise, they found the little package in orbit containing his flute, just so he wouldn't doubt that the experience was (sort of) real. As a musician that one still brings tears to my eyes. And every once in a while in later episodes he'd pull it out and play it! And of course my wife still chuckles, remembering that one year Patrick Stewart was voted "The Sexiest Man on Television" in a TV Guide poll. Every woman I ever mentioned that to just got this dreamy, unfocused look in her eyes and moaned, "Oh yeah....." Oh now that, THAT was perhaps the greatest show ever produced on television. Those writers had the most astoundingly creative ideas. The planet where the heir to the throne had to spend an entire lifetime as a statue, just listening and observing, before he was considered qualified to be a leader. Don't you wish we could implement that system on our planet?
After years of watching movies only, I now find myself watching TV shows almost exclusively. My list of favorites for various reasons: 30 Rock Archer Arrested Development Battlestar Galactica Breaking Bad Californication Carnivale Community Dollhouse Eastbound and Down Entourage Family Guy Firefly Food Party In Living Color Leverage Lie to Me Lost Mad Men Party Down Pushing Daisies Southpark Star Trek TNG Supernatural The Inbetweeners The IT Crowd The Venture Brothers True Blood Weeds I had always avoided tv because of my strong dislike for commercials, and to this day I only watch for the occasional live sports. As a personal rule I won't watch a show until the full season is available. That way I'm not subjected to commercials, and I have the option to finish off the season at my leisure. My favorite is Battlestar Galactica and I haven't even finished the series. Just started season 4... continues to amaze. Bummer it's the last season. I'm surprised there was no mention of Community until now - well written and very funny. Community, Arrested Development, Star Trek TNG, and Firefly are the only shows I've watched more than once.
You also spare yourself the irritation of becoming really engrossed in a great story, and then having it abruptly canceled in the middle of the season because it was not stooopid enough for the average viewer, and therefore did not bring in enough advertising revenue.
"The Inner Light". Easily one of the best Treks of all time. As touching episodes go, it's equaled only by "The Visitor" on DS9. In fact, DS9 had the best stand-alone episodes, bar none. "In The Pale Moonlight" (the best Trek episode, ever, bar none), "Favor The The Bold", "Inter Arma Enmim Silent Legis", "The Search" (riveting!), "The Way Of The Warrior", "Call To Arms", "A Time To Stand", "Sacrifice Of Angels" (one of my faves), "Tacking Into The Wind", and "What You Leave Behind." Seasons, 2, 3 & 4 were the best love story ever told. I still watch it with the same awe, to this day. ~String
