[masan's saddle]

I've just watched the first 2 episodes of Rubicon which is being re played on BBC2 at the moment. I've heard conflicting things about this show however the first 2 episodes were promising. Anybody seen it ? Is it worth sticking with or does it become a mess ?

[Binder of Demons]

I found it to be an enjoyable show, which had a lot of promise. Sadly, the show was cancelled after 1 season so you don't get any resolution to the story, just as the shit begins to hit the fan. A pity.

I know some people complained about the show being very slow, but having grown up watching the likes of Inspector Morse I had no issue with that, as the quality was there. It is hard to recommend to somoene considering it's lack of resolution.

[masan's saddle]

Binder of Demons, on 03 February 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

I found it to be an enjoyable show, which had a lot of promise. Sadly, the show was cancelled after 1 season so you don't get any resolution to the story, just as the shit begins to hit the fan. A pity.

I know some people complained about the show being very slow, but having grown up watching the likes of Inspector Morse I had no issue with that, as the quality was there. It is hard to recommend to somoene considering it's lack of resolution.

Cheers BOD, that's really disappointing though. The mellow pace was what got me watching to start with, along with the dialogue and quirkiness. Why the fuck do these really promising shows get canceled ? Tis most vexing, but I will probably watch the rest of it as it's still better than most of the shite on TV at the moment.

[Defiance]

I don't enjoy TV a whole lot, and I almost never watch anything live. These four series are pretty much the only things I ever watch (or, rather, watch again):

That 70's Show. Because everyone needs a sitcom. Great characters, although I refuse to watch a single episode in season eight.

Lost. I loved it from beginning to end. I know a lot of people hated how it turned out, but the show's themes really struck a chord with me. Again, awesome characters.

Top Gear. I'm not a car person, but ever since I started watching BBC2's Top Gear a year or two ago, Clarkson, Hammond, and May have been turning me into one. Every episode is great for some laughs, and nothing can beat the challenges.

24. My action junky fix. I still haven't seen the seventh or eighth season, due to the largely mediocre sixth one (which had a lot of potential, considering how amazingly it started), but I'll get around to it soon. Started watching these again with my wife recently, and she's enjoying them as well.

My wife also tried to get me into watching that new show, Alcatraz, but we ended up dropping it after the third episode. The villain-a-week thing got old fast, and the fact that not one of the villains was actually interesting or likeable was pretty shitty.

[amphibian]

I caught up on the last episode of Grimm - Organ Grinders - and that is a straight up "A". There's two tiny flaws that prevent it from getting the A+ grade, but that's the best episode of any new show I've watched in recent memory. Genuinely creepy at times and the story fired on all cylinders, rather than just this one or that one.

Quoting Kevin McFarland from the AV Club:

Quote

This could all just be a fluke, one great episode in the middle of the season that shows the potential Grimm never achieved in full, but right now I don’t want to look at it that way. If the show pulls it together and actually becomes a gripping, well-plotted supernatural show that merits inclusion with Angel or even The Vampire Diaries at this point, we’ll point back to this episode as the turning point that started the transition from confused and disparate police procedural to an assured and downright spooky drama.
Stray observations:
I spent so much time gushing about how surprised I was by the episode I barely mentioned Silas Weir Mitchell, who gets some great scenes tonight. Him buying human gall bladder had some great humor, and his dinner with Nick where he bemoans the lack of “getting to know you” topics of conversation was another perfect example of why he’s my favorite character on the show.

Add onto several moments of horror/dramatic gore (bodies and so on) that are truly pushing boundaries on TV and this is one hell of an episode.

The two flaws are that it seemed like the blutbad trip into the shop was kind of an excuse to shoehorn more Silas Weir Mitchell in and that the explaining of the organs and what belonged to whom seemed a bit too "step by step". That's it. I will gladly put up with slight narrative bending to get more Mitchell blutbad time and the other can be forgiven a bit.

I'm raving and I hope the next few episodes aren't a letdown from this.

Whoever took the lead among this group of writers [Stephen Carpenter (creator), David Greenwalt creator), Jim Kouf (creator), Akela Cooper, (written by) and Spiro Skentzos (written by)] needs to keep doing so. Awesome.

[Bonesaw85]

New season of my strange adiction starts on Sunday!

[Abyss]

Bonesaw85, on 07 February 2012 - 11:29 PM, said:

New season of my strange adiction starts on Sunday!

Sometimes that show freaks me out but i can't help but think 2/3s of the cases are staged/fake/exagerrated for tv.

[amphibian]

This week's episode of Grimm was another "A" grade. Terrific television that finally didn't end with "bad guy dead at the hands of the Grimm".

Seriously, this show is pushing boundaries with some of the creepy/murder stuff. Excellent writing, genuine atmosphere and the performers are hitting all their notes just right. All the storylines are blending together well.

"Or do you want me to give you the finger" was brilliant. Also, Fred from Angel!

Quoting the post I wrote just above to show that I did have some apprehension going into this.

amphibian, on 07 February 2012 - 04:17 AM, said:

I caught up on the last episode of Grimm - Organ Grinders - and that is a straight up "A". There's two tiny flaws that prevent it from getting the A+ grade, but that's the best episode of any new show I've watched in recent memory. Genuinely creepy at times and the story fired on all cylinders, rather than just this one or that one.

[...]

I'm raving and I hope the next few episodes aren't a letdown from this.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 11 February 2012 - 03:39 AM

[QuickTidal]

Watched the pilot ep of SMASH, which was being sold as Glee for adults. It's not. It seems to be a much more in depth look at the world of Broadway and all that goes with it.

Also, Kat Mcphee will get me watching and Jack Davenport...I will watch anything with Jack Davenport, and so far he is awesome in the role of the good, but sketchy director.

The only person I worried about was Debra Messing...but so far she's played it straight and not over the top so I can tolerate her.

Worth a look, we'll see if it lasts.

It's nice to see a show that approaches musical's as they are in reality, and not as some sort of reason to tell Beverly Hills-type HS stories and shoot music videos (GLEE).

[Abyss]

ALCATRAZ - caught the first three eps... the murderer-of-the-week element is fairly uninteresting altho points for making each one at least marginally interesting, but i'm totally into the overarcing plot. Curious to see where JJ is going with this.

FRINGE - Still strong.

ONCE UPON A TIME - Oh god make it stop. The ladybyss likes this so i'm toughing it out but argh.

GRIMM - Meh. Am not up to date and see many liked the latestbep, but the last few have been positiviely writhing in mediocrity.

PERSON OF INTEREST - Not bad. I like how the Finch and Reese's 'network' is expanding.

THE VOICE - i'm embarassed about how much i actually enjoy this show.

[QuickTidal]

Oh, and BEING HUMAN US continues to be really good! The addition of Dichen Lachman (Sierra from DOLLHOUSE) as the Vamp leader's daughter in charge of the Boston Vamps was a nice touch as she is significantly innocent and creepy at the same time.

I absolutely LOVE that they have approached the idea of Sally learning from other ghosts that she can "inhabit" living people to drink and party and make out ect. and behave human....as a really heinous drug. It adds a great new dynamic to the show.

I also really like how they handled Nora's reaction to her new "situation" between her and Josh.

It's also apparent that the US writers have purposely avoided watching anything of the UK show past Season 1 so they can go in their own direction...and personally I LOVE that direction so much better.

This show is WELL worth your time.

Oh and I nearly forgot the addition of Werewolf pureblood royalty = AWESOME.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 February 2012 - 09:13 PM

[McLovin]

ALCATRAZ - enjoying. Like Abyss said the formulaic killer-of-the-week format is mildly annoying, but this just seems to be a function of a new series. Hopefully we'll get more of an arc as we go on.

PERSON OF INTEREST - I'm getting impatient with this show. Has flashes of brilliance but pretty inconsistent.

GRIMM - while nobody was looking, it...got better. We'll see if they can keep it up.

ONCE UPON A TIME - on the opposite trajectory as Grimm. This needs to start going somewhere. This may be my first casualty of the season.

FRINGE - this season started good, but the pace has just been glacial. It pains me to say this but...I'm losing interest.

SMASH, THE RIVER, and TOUCH - I've DVR'd the premieres but haven't watched yet. I see QT likes SMASH which is encouraging. Any thoughts on the others?

Also, did I see right that MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION is coming back, only they added Stephen Hawking's name to the title? I set up the DVR to capture it, we'll see.

[QuickTidal]

McLovin, on 13 February 2012 - 09:06 PM, said:

SMASH, THE RIVER, and TOUCH - I've DVR'd the premieres but haven't watched yet. I see QT likes SMASH which is encouraging. Any thoughts on the others?

THE RIVER, I watched the premiere. It was suitably effed up (in a Paranormal activity way) and creeped me the shit out a few times (hanging doll tree, I'm looking at you!) and I don't think they are going for full out horror (as the commercials paint it)...as there are some REALLY interesting Amazon mystery aspects....and a few messed up jump or creep out moments.

Basically imagine if the PA movies had been about trying to get to the bottom of the mystery behind the demon and where it came from...that would be like this. Heavy on both mystery and scares in equal amounts.

So instead of scares for scares sake (like in PA), we get scares based on messed up stuff happening in one of THE MOST unexplored and inhospitable places on the planet. So it's like INDIANA JONES/PLANETARY, infused by PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and then filtered through LOST.

Bottom line: It was a REALLY solid debut outing. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and was impressed by the story and how they shot it. I'll be watching as the show goes on, as it's hard not to wonder what they will run into next in their search.

Oh and the pilot ends with a super twisty WTF moment that made my jaw drop open.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 February 2012 - 09:22 PM

[worry]

I just watched an episode of the Voice. They say "Y'all" more than Mrs. Coach did on Friday Night Lights.

[Slow Ben]

worrywort, on 14 February 2012 - 05:03 AM, said:

I just watched an episode of the Voice. They say "Y'all" more than Mrs. Coach did on Friday Night Lights.

Yeah, but its not as sexy.

[McLovin]

McLovin, on 13 February 2012 - 09:06 PM, said:

ONCE UPON A TIME - on the opposite trajectory as Grimm. This needs to start going somewhere. This may be my first casualty of the season.

...And they come roaring back with the Beuaty & the Beast episode.

McLovin, on 13 February 2012 - 09:06 PM, said:

Also, did I see right that MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION is coming back, only they added Stephen Hawking's name to the title? I set up the DVR to capture it, we'll see.

Appears I did not see right, it's just a replay of the original MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION renamed as STEPHEN HAWKING'S SCI-FI MASTERS. Still, there were a couple they never aired in the US back in '07 so I'm DVRing those.

[Abyss]

Slow Ben, on 14 February 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:

worrywort, on 14 February 2012 - 05:03 AM, said:

I just watched an episode of the Voice. They say "Y'all" more than Mrs. Coach did on Friday Night Lights.

Yeah, but its not as sexy.

True, but the witty banter between the Judges is more entertaining this season and they do get some genuinely good talent.
Unlike certain other shows (AI, XFactor) that emphasize the freak factor for the try-outs and then work overtime to convince the viewer that most of their contestants, lacking talent and/or personality are still worth watching. Y'all know wuddahmsayin'?


THE RIVER - i have the first couple of eps DVR'd but haven't watched yet. I find i get into new shows more if i stockpile a few at the start. Am liking the buzz i'm hearing tho', ie: QT with "it's like INDIANA JONES/PLANETARY, infused by PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and then filtered through LOST. ".

[MTS]

Anyone still watching Justified? This show is just top-quality week after week.

[QuickTidal]

Tonight's episode of THE RIVER was tense!! It was REALLY good. I look forward to where this show goes.

Episode 2 of SMASH was better than the pilot, and I'm liking where it is going as well.

[Chance]

MTS, on 14 February 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

Anyone still watching Justified? This show is just top-quality week after week.

Certainly and can't agree more probably the only show right now I watch as quickly as I can get it...

This post has been edited by Chance: 15 February 2012 - 08:29 PM