Fall 2012 & Spring/Summer 2013 TV Catch-all

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

And while it is no BBC Sherlock, we are actually enjoying Elementary. They are finally developing a character for Lucy Lui as Watson. And Jonny Lee Miller is a fun Sherlock, as his role is also finally getting some nuance. It's probably why the Mentalist has been sitting on the DVR unwatched for so many weeks now. It's scratching the same itch in a new way.

They did a weird thing last ep of Mentalist. Without comment or lead-in, the whole ep was a flashback to Patrick's first case with the SBI.

I think the main reason for this show was the last few seconds. Something is coming up soon regarding the FBI. I have a sneaky suspicion that since CBS pushed it to Sunday, this show is approaching the end of its run, and maybe we will finally see some serious movement in the Red John ark. I would love a season without Red John, but I don't think we're going to get that.

Regarding Jayhawker's summary of PoI, Arrow, and Elementary, all I can add is "yes!"

Dominic Knight wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

Arrow and PoI seem both be doing well rating wise, but I have no idea how Elementary is doing. The buzz has seemed negative, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was in trouble. If you spend the hour comparing it to the BBC Sherlock, you will come away disappointed. But if you look at it as a grittier version of the Mentalist, it's pretty damn good. It hits that sweet spot.

I'm actually getting really frustrated with how people are comparing the two (Sherlock and Elementary). Tumblr is definitely where the fandoms clash a lot, and it's not pretty. But people really don't understand that CBS approached BBC and said that they wanted to take their idea and make it their own. BBC said sure, but would be watching the show very closely and sue the instant they noticed anything too similar to their own. So it makes sense that the episodes aren't going to be like the books. But alas, people will fight and I'll continue to be annoyed because there are so many - on Tumblr - that believe you can't enjoy both shows.

My problem with Elementary is less that it's not the BBC's Sherlock and more that it's kinda lame and generic on its own. I'm not expecting CBS to clone the BBC's work, but I do expect them to do something more interesting with the character and setup than, as Jayhawker put it, create a somewhat grittier version of The Mentalist with the names find/replaced with "Sherlock Holmes" and "Joanie Watson".

It feels like CBS heard the buzz about the BBC's Sherlock, thought there was a market for a modern day take on Sherlock Holmes, and then greenlit an on-the-shelf project with a bit of a Holmes paint job. They had an opportunity to explore an interesting idea and create a unique, American take on the character, but instead they shoehorned the idea into an established template: you have your eccentric investigator with a unique skillset (crime novelist; always able to spot a lie; socially awkward bone-loving genius; expert at deduction) who teams up with a straight partner (no-nonsense lady copy; charming male cop; talented former surgeon) and solves crimes whose resolutions hinge on last-minute applications of their special skillset to previously-glimpsed scenes. Did you notice the detail in the scene where they interviewed the suspect? Everyone thought they were innocent, but the eccentric investigator noticed what you didn't (actually, what wasn't filmed) that we will now see in close-up in a blue-tinted flashback.

Elementary's problem is that despite having Sherlock Holmes in it, it's virtually indistinguishable from a whole slew of other crime investigation shows already on television. Part of what makes Sherlock so great is that the BBC clearly spent a lot of time and money to make something that stood out from the pack. I can understand why they wouldn't want CBS pig-backing off of that, but the fault there lies with CBS for their complete failure of imagination to create something outstanding of their own. I understand CBS is trying to avoid litigation, but why haven't their scripts bothered to even reference cases from Conan Doyle's work? They're in the public domain.

I've been watching Elementary each week, and I'll likely continue to do so. I'm not on Tumblr, so I haven't seen the warring fanbases that you're talking about, but I won't fault anyone for enjoy either or both shows. But I think CBS has made some mistakes with Elementary that go beyond threats of litigation from the BBC.

I know there are some other Survivor fans on GWJ. Was that not one of the best episodes ever? Some very interesting social dynamics, amazing editing, and one of the craziest Tribal Councils. It was so incredibly entertaining. Things are really starting to heat up, and I already feel this is one of the strongest seasons. Sure, we didn't get a lot of social gameplay before the merge because of Matsing, but I feel a great majority of players this season are strong. For the first time in many seasons, I have no idea who'll be at the end.

Holy crap, Lisa just opened her mouth and let it run wild last night. She should have kept quiet and she would have had Malcolm with her for at least a while, but she burned that bridge but good.

Abi pulling out her idol, man... I don't even know. What possible good could that have done for her? As far as I can tell, she's about as dumb as a box of doorknobs. Still, it'll be interesting to see what kind of effect that revelation has on the tribe. I don't think she's gonna get much love from Malcolm either, leaving his name out when she was counting off the people in her alliance. That was hilarious!

Malcolm flat out telling everyone he was going to play the idol and then not doing so was great, but he won't get away with that again.

Still absolutely loving Denise, she is just such a kick-ass contestant. Ok there may be some hometown pride there, but I never expected her to do this well and she's been very smart so far. I can totally see her going all the way and winning it.

My wife and I still caller her Ripley. Denise is freaking tough and really smart.

I have no idea why Penner voted for Abi on his own. I imagine letting Jeff Kent get tossed was not the saddest thing for him, though. He made it clear that he was coming after Penner eventually.

And Lisa misplayed her info so badly. I still can't believe it didn't result in Pete getting whacked. I wondered if he might have been able to get Abi to give him the idol, which apparently he didn't need. But he sweat out a close vote that would have been a tie had
Penner not thrown his vote away.

We are definitely rooting for Malcom and denise to get to the end. Although this season has a lot of players worth rooting for.

Penner has done a nice job, and gets major kudos for winning immunity with class. I was hoping he would not gloat, as some players on the block in the past have done. He gets how fast the game changes and that it is more importnat to build relationships than exert control. I think it will cost Pete, who may rightly know that Abi can't get votes in the end, but she is probably going to get his butt voted out before he gets there.

It's been a weird but fun season.

DP!

Coming in late to modern day Doctor Who. Just finished up Season 2 and I'm wondering if Torchwood would make for a worthwhile companion piece. How does it measure up?

mr_n00b wrote:

Coming in late to modern day Doctor Who. Just finished up Season 2 and I'm wondering if Torchwood would make for a worthwhile companion piece. How does it measure up?

Doctor catch-all is here

I asked the same thing a couple months back when I was in that spot.

Apparently Torchwood is hit and miss, and mostly miss. I've never bothered to try picking it up.

Stele wrote:
mr_n00b wrote:

Coming in late to modern day Doctor Who. Just finished up Season 2 and I'm wondering if Torchwood would make for a worthwhile companion piece. How does it measure up?

Doctor catch-all is here

I asked the same thing a couple months back when I was in that spot.

Apparently Torchwood is hit and miss, and mostly miss. I've never bothered to try picking it up.

This seems like a decent guide to which episodes of Torchwood to watch/skip.

Stele wrote:
mr_n00b wrote:

Coming in late to modern day Doctor Who. Just finished up Season 2 and I'm wondering if Torchwood would make for a worthwhile companion piece. How does it measure up?

Doctor catch-all is here

I asked the same thing a couple months back when I was in that spot.

Apparently Torchwood is hit and miss, and mostly miss. I've never bothered to try picking it up.

Torchwood season 1 is mostly miss, Season 2 is about equal parts hit or miss. Season 3 (the Children of Earth miniseries) is excellent. Season 4 (Miracle Day) is an interesting premise for a 3-5 episode miniseries padded with filler to make 10 episodes.

Been away from this thread for a little bit, but thought I'd add some things! With Doctor Who, me and my wife are right there with some people about catching up with old episodes. We're finally caught up except for this season and just waiting for the first episodes of this latest season to pop back up on BBCA. Never watched any of the Torchwood episodes and feel alright with that...glad to hear it's not too worth going back for.

I missed the conversation about The Mentalist and am sad :(. I LOVE Patrick Jane and am totally invested in the character! The series is of course way to serialized and "case-of-the-week" for my liking, but I can't stop watching Simon Baker because he is so damn charming! Me and the wife had to take a break and got behind because of all the shows we watch on Sundays, so The Mentalist takes a back seat and sits on the DVR for a little while. And the episode before the flashback one (100th episode) was super late starting because of Football (I think). And my wife and I (mostly the wife :p ) get a hang up on shows, even serialized ones like The Mentalist, where we can't skip an episode. So we had to finally get the time to watch it on god awful CBS.com.

Either way, finally watched the 100th episode, the first CBI case flashback one, and MAN! am I still in love with this show! I know they toy with the Red John thing a little too much, but just the complexities of Patrick Jane and the cuteness between Jane and Lisbon? That's still an awesome dynamic, IMO. I hope The Mentalist can go out on a high note, but it seems like they are getting the short end of a very tight Sunday line up.

Speaking of Sunday line ups, can't wait for tonight for more Dexter, Homeland and The Walking Dead! I love you TiVo! Thank you for making hard decisions on TV a little less hard!

Will keep up with The Mentalist, but not the highest priority...but you're still my homey Simon Baker!

It hasn't been brought up in a while, but I'm going to say it again. New Girl is still hilarious. The most consistently funny thing on TV for me since Community was last on.

Also, American Horror Story started off fine for me, but I have to admit it's losing me. I haven't been able to finish last week's episode without falling asleep so far

Thin_J wrote:

It hasn't been brought up in a while, but I'm going to say it again. New Girl is still hilarious. The most consistently funny thing on TV for me since Community was last on.

Agreed. That model episode a few weeks ago had me almost crying at the end. The League is the only other comedy on right now making me laugh as much.

Last Resort has been cancelled. I was hoping this show could continue the quality of the incredibly strong pilot directed by Martin Campbell, but nothing that followed was able to hold up to that standard. Guess I'll just have to get my Andre Braugher fix by rewatching Homicide.

mr_n00b wrote:

Last Resort has been cancelled. I was hoping this show could continue the quality of the incredibly strong pilot directed by Martin Campbell, but nothing that followed was able to hold up to that standard. Guess I'll just have to get my Andre Braugher fix by rewatching Homicide.

Yeah, I saw that coming. The first episode was great, but it quickly went downhill from there. We stopped watching it 3 weeks ago.

What're you talking about? Sure it's not up to the caliber of some cable shows, but Last Resort has been a very good network drama.

I caught up on Arrow. I really like it. I wonder if they're going to do anything with Dinah Lance and Speedy or if that's just a shout out like Diggle.

cyrax wrote:

What're you talking about? Sure it's not up to the caliber of some cable shows, but Last Resort has been a very good network drama.

I think we made it through just 2 or 3 episodes before bailing. It's wasn't bad. It just wasn't all that interesting to us. It's not a stinker like Revolution, but guess what isn't getting canceled? Go figure...

Grenn wrote:

I caught up on Arrow. I really like it. I wonder if they're going to do anything with Dinah Lance and Speedy or if that's just a shout out like Diggle.

We like it. I'm kind of interested in what other DC heroes and villains make it into the show. I'm not really up on Green Arrow stuff, but I like how they are filling out the show with guys like Deadshot.

Although, the best superhero show on TV is still Person of Interest. Everybody drink, because I brought it up again. But last week's show was so fun. It was fun to get Miles, er, I mean Leon, back into an episode.

"Who would be dumb enough to get in enough trouble to end up as a repeat number?" That was a fun scene.

Revolution might be my biggest TV disappointment of the year. The premise of a world suddenly without electric power and technology, the breakdown and reformulation of society, and the story of those who survived the first few years of rebuilding would make a fabulous topic for a series of books. If done well, I could actually see it being a decent TV show as well. Unfortunately, this show has botched it. Every episode seems to revolve around a craptacular low budget sword fight action sequence. The lead characters are not only unlikable but simply uninteresting.

Oh well. Sorry for the rant.

Jasonofindy wrote:

Revolution might be my biggest TV disappointment of the year. The premise of a world suddenly without electric power and technology, the breakdown and reformulation of society, and the story of those who survived the first few years of rebuilding would make a fabulous topic for a series of books.

Lucky for you, there is a series of books that covers just this scenario, Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. After a mysterious global storm, suddenly all high-energy technology stops working. No electricity, no gunpowder, not even steam power. The series follows survivors in the Willamette Valley in Oregon who are suddenly faced with a world in which technology has suddenly been rolled back by 500 years.

The first book in the series is a very good, grim read. The second book is a bit of a slog but worth it for the conclusion of the third book. There are several books after that which take place several decades down the road, but they start to get a bit slow and read more like high fantasy than the post-apocalyptic drama of the first three.

ruhk wrote:
Jasonofindy wrote:

Revolution might be my biggest TV disappointment of the year. The premise of a world suddenly without electric power and technology, the breakdown and reformulation of society, and the story of those who survived the first few years of rebuilding would make a fabulous topic for a series of books.

Lucky for you, there is a series of books that covers just this scenario, Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. After a mysterious global storm, suddenly all high-energy technology stops working. No electricity, no gunpowder, not even steam power. The series follows survivors in the Willamette Valley in Oregon who are suddenly faced with a world in which technology has suddenly been rolled back by 500 years.

The first book in the series is a very good, grim read. The second book is a bit of a slog but worth it for the conclusion of the third book. There are several books after that which take place several decades down the road, but they start to get a bit slow and read more like high fantasy than the post-apocalyptic drama of the first three.

Thanks for the tip!

Surprised no one is talking about Boardwalk Empire

The Mindy Project has the worst theme song ever, though I do generally like the show.

Last week's Criminal Minds was terrible. A couple of obsessive gamers get banned from their favorite game, so they kidnap a bus full of high schoolers to act out the dumbest game since the abortion of a film named eXistenZ.

Up All Night's Thanksgiving episode was a collection of all the things I hate about sitcoms.

I loved Criminal Minds for a long time, but we gave up on it halfway through the last season, as episodes were piling up on the DVR. I think the show has run its course and the episodes just felt more forced and silly.

As for Last Resort, it's already been canceled so I don't feel any urge to complain about all the dumb things going on in it.

The Mindy Project has the worst theme song ever, though I do generally like the show.

Oh god yes! The WORST theme song ever. I have no idea how that ever made it to air? The show is pretty good though.

Gaald wrote:
The Mindy Project has the worst theme song ever, though I do generally like the show.

Oh god yes! The WORST theme song ever. I have no idea how that ever made it to air? The show is pretty good though.

Oh good. I thought I was the only one that thought that show was actually pretty funny

I only just started watching the 2nd season of The B In Apt 23. Damn that season opener was pretty funny.

Yeah I keep checking it out when I remember. JVDB is really hilarious.

Survivor:

Spoiler:

Well f*ck me sideways, Abi pulled that out of her ass. Tribal was a nail biter. Thank god Denise didn't go home, that would have sucked. On the other hand, it was probably a strategic mistake for Lisa to vote for Penner. Denise and Malcolm pretty much have the game locked down now; it's their game to lose at this point.

Loving this season!