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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 3, 2014 17:05:32 GMT -5
I have liked NCIS for a while now. And I know that tv shows are not supposed to be realistic all the time. But, the seasoned opener had some ridiculous tech stuff. First they put a computer in a cage to separate it from the network. An actual physical box. When the virus jumped to the main network (of course) they said it broke out of the box and traveled down the power cord. Really? By the way, NCIS New Orleans is one of the worst written and acted shows I have seen in a long time. And those horrible fake accents. I totally understand your feeling about realism in TV shows. I think we have to take our cue from the show itself to "teach" us (brainwash us) as to the degree of realism. A show like Supernatural isn't hyper-realistic; that is, it teaches us that ghosts, demons, angels, etc. really do exist in the Supernatural universe. This is part of our expectations. We get it. However, in shows like Homeland or Murder She Wrote, ghosts and the like are not part of their universe and so, if ghosts show up, we feel ripped off because they're doing something outside our expectations of those shows' universe. A show like NCIS: New Orleans (or other hybrids) is part of our real world and so, our expectation is that they're going to be as realistic as possible -- unless it interferes with the entertainment component of the show. Hence, they unwittingly frustrate viewers by showing stupid things that defy what we believe to be part of that show's universe.
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Post by Thrill of the 'ville on Oct 5, 2014 17:03:34 GMT -5
I've seen the first season of The Americans. One of my favorite TV shows of all time -- well, Top 10 at least. Really enjoy The Americans...I'm a sucker for a lot of things with spies and people undercover.
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Post by azvb on Oct 5, 2014 21:53:36 GMT -5
I've seen the first season of The Americans. One of my favorite TV shows of all time -- well, Top 10 at least. Really enjoy The Americans...I'm a sucker for a lot of things with spies and people undercover. Great show. Looonnnnggggg time between seasons, however. I think the acting is so good.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 6, 2014 1:09:44 GMT -5
I've seen the first season of The Americans. One of my favorite TV shows of all time -- well, Top 10 at least. Really enjoy The Americans...I'm a sucker for a lot of things with spies and people undercover. Ever see the BBC series "Sleepers"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepers_(TV_series)Two deep-cover KGB agents who have been in the UK for so long that they basically became assimilated into their covers. The KGB accidentally "activates" them, but panics because nobody in the KGB remembers what their mission was supposed to be. And MI-5 and the CIA spot all the activity in the KGB and wonder what the deal is. It was made in 1991, just as the Iron Curtain was collapsing.
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Post by Thrill of the 'ville on Oct 6, 2014 16:26:09 GMT -5
Really enjoy The Americans...I'm a sucker for a lot of things with spies and people undercover. Ever see the BBC series "Sleepers"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepers_(TV_series)Two deep-cover KGB agents who have been in the UK for so long that they basically became assimilated into their covers. The KGB accidentally "activates" them, but panics because nobody in the KGB remembers what their mission was supposed to be. And MI-5 and the CIA spot all the activity in the KGB and wonder what the deal is. It was made in 1991, just as the Iron Curtain was collapsing. I heard about in once in passing but have never seen it. I'll have to put it on my list of shows I need to check out. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Post by azvb on Oct 6, 2014 23:21:15 GMT -5
Really enjoy The Americans...I'm a sucker for a lot of things with spies and people undercover. Ever see the BBC series "Sleepers"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepers_(TV_series)Two deep-cover KGB agents who have been in the UK for so long that they basically became assimilated into their covers. The KGB accidentally "activates" them, but panics because nobody in the KGB remembers what their mission was supposed to be. And MI-5 and the CIA spot all the activity in the KGB and wonder what the deal is. It was made in 1991, just as the Iron Curtain was collapsing. Sounds good.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 7, 2014 3:09:32 GMT -5
Ever see the BBC series "Sleepers"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepers_(TV_series)Two deep-cover KGB agents who have been in the UK for so long that they basically became assimilated into their covers. The KGB accidentally "activates" them, but panics because nobody in the KGB remembers what their mission was supposed to be. And MI-5 and the CIA spot all the activity in the KGB and wonder what the deal is. It was made in 1991, just as the Iron Curtain was collapsing. Sounds good. Keep in mind it's been 20 years since I saw it, but it stuck in my mind all that time because it was clever. Funny and tense. The two agents just wanted to keep their British lives (one a rich, single banker with several girlfriends and the other a middle-class, married, minor union boss with kids), but they were afraid the KGB wanted them to carry out their mission. The KGB, on the other hand, desperately did NOT want them to carry out their mission because they didn't even know what it was! All they knew was that they had some mid-60s mission and it was now the Glasnost era and whatever the mission was, it was probably inappropriate and maybe could even start a war. The thing is, I don't remember for sure if I ever saw the fourth hour of the show, because I don't remember how it turned out or if we ever did learn what their mission was. There was also a sub-plot about how one of them was at the 1966 World Cup final and had taken surveillance footage that definitively showed whether the disputed England goal was actually in or out. The local KGB controller was a huge soccer fan, and he spent more time involved with this film than he did chasing them down.
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Post by sevb on Oct 7, 2014 11:49:10 GMT -5
Gotham... its done a neat job of twisting all the various characters in right out of the gate... The Strain... interesting twist on the vampire thing
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 7, 2014 20:07:42 GMT -5
I generally like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's too Young Adult for me, but for entertainment value, it's passable. However, there are numerous things about the show that are just downright irritating. Here's a partial list (I'm only 2/3 of the way into Season 5):
1. In Season 4 (possibly the end of Season 3), Buffy "quits" her Slayer association with the Watcher's Council and Giles has been fired as the local Watcher. Nevertheless, Buffy continues to slay and Giles provides "Watcher" support. Why didn't the Watcher's Council assign a new slayer and new Watcher to Sunnydale? Of all places, I'd think Hellmouth would be the one place where the Watcher's Council would not neglect.
2. Shouldn't there be more than one slayer in Hellmouth, given the location's draw to vamps and demons?
3. Cell phones were rising in usage among consumers in the mid- to late-1990s and were prevalent among business users in the late 1980s. Yet, they don't make an appearance on the show. I'd think the Watcher's Council and all their resources would poney up the $$$ to sign up their Watchers with a call plan.
4. Anya is a 1,200-year old human-turned demon-turned human. She should have acquired a lot of experience and wisdom over the years and yet, she acts like a know-nothing alien who's learning Earth's customs for the first time.
5. Several times, Buffy and her Scooby gang are able to dust vampires with their stakes WITHOUT the stakes piercing the heart! They make it seem like it's easy to pierce the heart with a wooden stake. No, no. Not only do you have to aim right, the stake has to go through the rib cage to get to the heart. These things are not happening in Buffy. They merely show the characters touching the vampires' torso with the tip of the stake and then, woila! the vamps are obliterated.
6. The incessant Whoa-Is-Me melodrama among the characters.
7. The bad guys' inability to use Buffy's friends/family as hostages to trap and otherwise kill her. Most don't think of this idea and the ones that do, fail at it so spectacularly that all I can do is roll my eyes.
8. Buffy's irresponsible use of her friends for patrolling. There are vamps and monsters out there and they should already be dead after the first night. Speaking of, I'm surprised no super-human strength vampire and/or demon has been able to kill any of the very-human Scooby gang members.
9. The low production values.
10. Despite numerous sightings and first-hand experiences with vamps/demons/monsters/etc. -- not to mention all the killings that must go on -- everyone in Sunnydale acts like it's any other town. The population should've been decimated through death and migration. And the government should've already intervened (Season 4 reveals such a thing was going on, but it's too little too late IMHO). And Sunnydale should've made national and international news on a daily basis.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 8, 2014 1:08:02 GMT -5
I generally like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's too Young Adult for me, but for entertainment value, it's passable. However, there are numerous things about the show that are just downright irritating. Here's a partial list (I'm only 2/3 of the way into Season 5): 1. In Season 4 (possibly the end of Season 3), Buffy "quits" her Slayer association with the Watcher's Council and Giles has been fired as the local Watcher. Nevertheless, Buffy continues to slay and Giles provides "Watcher" support. Why didn't the Watcher's Council assign a new slayer and new Watcher to Sunnydale? Of all places, I'd think Hellmouth would be the one place where the Watcher's Council would not neglect. 2. Shouldn't there be more than one slayer in Hellmouth, given the location's draw to vamps and demons? 3. Cell phones were rising in usage among consumers in the mid- to late-1990s and were prevalent among business users in the late 1980s. Yet, they don't make an appearance on the show. I'd think the Watcher's Council and all their resources would poney up the $$$ to sign up their Watchers with a call plan. 4. Anya is a 1,200-year old human-turned demon-turned human. She should have acquired a lot of experience and wisdom over the years and yet, she acts like a know-nothing alien who's learning Earth's customs for the first time. 5. Several times, Buffy and her Scooby gang are able to dust vampires with their stakes WITHOUT the stakes piercing the heart! They make it seem like it's easy to pierce the heart with a wooden stake. No, no. Not only do you have to aim right, the stake has to go through the rib cage to get to the heart. These things are not happening in Buffy. They merely show the characters touching the vampires' torso with the tip of the stake and then, woila! the vamps are obliterated. 6. The incessant Whoa-Is-Me melodrama among the characters. 7. The bad guys' inability to use Buffy's friends/family as hostages to trap and otherwise kill her. Most don't think of this idea and the ones that do, fail at it so spectacularly that all I can do is roll my eyes. 8. Buffy's irresponsible use of her friends for patrolling. There are vamps and monsters out there and they should already be dead after the first night. Speaking of, I'm surprised no super-human strength vampire and/or demon has been able to kill any of the very-human Scooby gang members. 9. The low production values. 10. Despite numerous sightings and first-hand experiences with vamps/demons/monsters/etc. -- not to mention all the killings that must go on -- everyone in Sunnydale acts like it's any other town. The population should've been decimated through death and migration. And the government should've already intervened (Season 4 reveals such a thing was going on, but it's too little too late IMHO). And Sunnydale should've made national and international news on a daily basis. As long as there have been slayers, there has only been one slayer. She receives the magical strength of the slayer when the previous slayer dies. (Yes, I know, Kendra. And then Faith. But apparently that is either unusual or unprecedented. And it's implied that when Buffy dies, it won't "call" a new slayer, because Faith is still around. Faith was created when Kendra died.) Season 7 gets more into the whys and hows of the magic that crates the slayers. Maybe there were just too many plots that wouldn't have worked with cell phones? I know I didn't own a cell phone until long after Buffy was off the air, but I was pretty much the last person over the age of 5 who didn't own a cell phone, I think. I still don't always carry one around. Like I said in the earlier post, I think Anya's just a little broken by genetics, not by being a demon. There is one flashback scene from the time before she is a demon, and she's still exactly the same. As for the stakes through the heart thing, killing vampires on the show always seems to be as hard or easy as the plot needs it to be. Yeah, the show walked a line on the angsty melodrama and sometimes went too far. ESPECIALLY in Season 6, which I think you will hate based on your reactions here. (Even though there were some gloriously good episodes in Season 6, the over story arc just didn't work, IMO.) Lots of characters do get killed off, even by Season 5, but there is more of a (premanent) die-off of main characters in Season 6 and 7. There are hints all through the series that people realize things aren't normal in Sunnydale, but they mostly don't allow themselves to accept the truth. And maybe in the fictional world of Buffy, it's actually not international news that the mayor of a town turns into a 40 foot giant demon snake. Remember, Buffy is not really set in our universe -- unless you believe we really do have vampires and demons roaming about?
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2014 14:58:03 GMT -5
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 9, 2014 16:57:25 GMT -5
Just finished Buffy, Season 5. Some thoughts:
1. I was shocked that Tara, a key character, lost her marbles by Glory. It's akin to death. (I say this in a good way. Bad things should happen to major characters.) I don't know if she'll return to normal but if she does, it better not happen through some lame reason. 2. Of course, I know Buffy is not dead because there's a Season 6 and 7. 3. Dawn has the ugliest toes I've ever seen. 4. Willow acquired too much power in too short a time period. She borders on the superhuman which cuts into the credibility of this show. Ridiculous. 5. Buffy has its strong points, but season finales aren't one of them. 6. The melodramatic grieving by everybody over Joyce Summers' death doesn't ring true. Whenever someone's mother dies, the friends of that someone don't grieve that hard. The bond is not that strong. Even in Buffy, there weren't enough examples of strong bondage between Joyce and Buffy's friends.
Here are some things I like about Buffy:
1. The Willow/Tara relationship is a pleasant surprise. Given that I never saw it coming, I like it even more. The more a narrative keeps me guessing, the more I like it. 2. Spike and his complexity. 3. The death of Joyce Summers. She was dead weight on the show. The only good episode for Joyce was the chocolate episode where everyone regressed to their teen psyche. 4. The appearance of Dawn, the key in human form, was another pleasant surprise. However, they botched the Dawn character by making her into this annoying little brat that I just wished for her death. I don't know why writers gravitate toward stock character types instead of crafting complex and unique qualities. Take Elaine from Seinfeld, for example. She's a woman -- and a hot one at that (back in the 1990s) -- and yet, the writers never used any stereotypes of what a woman should be like. She was complex. And that made her extremely interesting. 5.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2014 17:21:26 GMT -5
Hard to address your comments without spoilers. Many of your complaints were voiced by the fans at the time of the first run, by the way. Dawn was incredibly unpopular, but she gets better. Fans were starting to grumble that Willow's magic was too powerful, and the writers took this in an unexpected direction in Season 6. (Not really a successful direction, though.... Season 6 has many issues.) At this point in the series, Spike was perhaps the most popular character. This led to him being somewhat overused, though.
In real time we did not actually know Buffy would come back. Season 5 was the last on on "The WB," but another network (UPN) picked it up. The return of Buffy was done in an interesting way, with lots of long-term consequences. It definitely was not an "I'm back! It was all a dream!" kind of deal.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 9, 2014 18:50:39 GMT -5
In real time we did not actually know Buffy would come back. Season 5 was the last on on "The WB," but another network (UPN) picked it up. The return of Buffy was done in an interesting way, with lots of long-term consequences. It definitely was not an "I'm back! It was all a dream!" kind of deal. I almost forgot about the lack of realtime element in my viewing experience of this show. Despite my many criticisms, I totally understand that my viewing of this show on DVD in 2014 is skewed because I'm not watching it in 1997-2004 during its original run.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2014 22:06:03 GMT -5
I was shocked that Tara, a key character, lost her marbles by Glory. It's akin to death. (I say this in a good way. Bad things should happen to major characters.) I don't know if she'll return to normal but if she does, it better not happen through some lame reason. (BTW, I think she recovered when Glory was killed in the last episode of Season 5.)
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