Good TV

Bobotron · Feb 11, 2016, 2:26 AM

@lordbelh
It's worth it (particularly if you can find the Vampire Diaries episode/pilot thing that apparently isnt part of Season 1 on Netflix). Vampire-ruled New Orleans, Witches floating around doing magic in secret, and werewolves that are on the fringes and pretty awesome when they show up... but mostly focusing on vampires in a Carthian-esque (to me) rulership under one guy, and then the posh (or unpredictably crazy, in the case of Klaus) Originals and their not-so-infallible plans and schemes in N'awlins.

Arkandel · Feb 11, 2016, 2:31 AM

What I didn't like about the Originals' concept is that the sheer premise was that this family of extremely powerful ancient vampires - one of whom at least is basically unkillable - went to a city they really wanted back but for some reason they didn't simply take over right away, other than 'it'd make for a boring show'.

The politics between different supernaturals were fun while I was still watching though.

Bobotron · Feb 11, 2016, 2:50 AM

@Arkandel
Eh, I get why they went the route they went. Really, Klaus is the only one who wants New Orleans back in his control, really. Rebekah and Elijah are along for Klaus' insane ride due to their weird familial love (and their weird-ass twisted craziness).

I think they get a lot of mileage out of the 'unkillable except by one means' of the Original Vampires there, myself. But I like the way that they can get the shit beat out of them as an example that, yes, these are some of the most powerful supernaturals on the planet, but they're not unbeatable. It gives a good bit of tension to the show, wherein an 'unkillable' foe in other shows tends to just be unbeatable too.

Arkandel · Feb 11, 2016, 2:52 AM

@Bobotron Yeah, that's true. It just makes it really hard to portray them as ever being the underdog, you know? Sure, we always know the stars of the show will win in the end but it takes some of the tension away when they're the monsters other monsters consider their bogeymen.

ThatGuyThere · Feb 11, 2016, 3:20 AM

I never watched Vampire Diaries but I do enjoy Originals.
Not sure I would call it good but it is perfectly serviceable television which is my bar for things I don't pay for.

hedgehog · Feb 11, 2016, 3:46 AM

Not sure if it's been brought up yet, but what do people think of 'The Magicians'? I'm having this weird tension between it being something really good if I hadn't read the trilogy, and the fact that I HAVE read the trilogy, so there's all sorts of things that are just wrong. It isn't preventing me from watching it, at all, but my SO is getting annoyed with it.

Arkandel · Feb 11, 2016, 3:47 AM

@hedgehog I love it. Atm it's my favorite show on TV.

hedgehog · Feb 11, 2016, 4:10 AM

@Arkandel

I will say this: Elliot is dead on. And Monday's episode has given me all kinds of great ideas for things I want to to with my oneiromancer, I tell you what.

Gingerlily · Feb 11, 2016, 2:46 PM

@Three-Eyed-Crow said:

Oh man, I wish I could watch the early seasons of "Sons" again.

And maybe some day, when I've purged the feelings of deep disappointment from latter season "Sons" from my mind.

I finally finished SoA. That was a long binge. A painful one at the end. I think I might have gotten more out of it in a non-binge, watching it weekly over years. All together like that the last seasons are just a -world of pain- -for everyone- that -goes on and on-. So I am in agreement with you. I think the last two seasons definitely could have been one season and still handled the major things that needed to happen. Also that side non-Hamlet-allegorical characters just SUFFERED ALL THE PAIN for no apparent reason. If there is a moral to this story message received I will not be joining any outlaw motorcycle gangs. It's a bad plan.

I still very much enjoyed the show, but yes, first 2-3 seasons were the best. Aren't they on most shows though? Planning my next binge...I've never actually seen the Wire, though I live smack between Charm City and DC. I'm told it is fantastic television, plus then when people ask me where I am from and I answer and the say "Oh, all I know about MD is from the Wire" I can say "Yeah, it's not all like that" and be more authoritative.

Gingerlily · Feb 11, 2016, 11:07 AM

@ThatGuyThere said:

I never watched Vampire Diaries but I do enjoy Originals.
Not sure I would call it good but it is perfectly serviceable television which is my bar for things I don't pay for.

I loved The Vampire Diaries in a campy guilty pleasure way, it was cheesy fun. I wanted to watch The Originals but they kept bouncing around when it was and I never seemed to catch up, so that's a Netflix plan some day.

Gingerlily · Feb 11, 2016, 11:10 AM

@lordbelh Vampire Diaries definitely got a little worse each season. Also they had those kind of midseason breaks that would put the seasons into two story arcs and one was always completely inane and one was interesting. It had an extra hold on me because I totally read those books in 8th grade when I should have been studying geometry and those imaginary guys were the first imaginary vampires i fell in love with <3. To be 13 again.

Gingerlily · Feb 11, 2016, 11:13 AM

Okay last post in a row, I'm catching up.

Who is going to watch Vinyl? Am I the only one super excited about this? A show about the seedy 70's rock scene produced by Scorsese and MICK JAGGER? Have you seen the previews? The booze, the guitars, the mustaches, the PANTS.

It's just me isn't it

Coin · Feb 11, 2016, 1:01 PM

@Gingerlily said:

Okay last post in a row, I'm catching up.

Who is going to watch Vinyl? Am I the only one super excited about this? A show about the seedy 70's rock scene produced by Scorsese and MICK JAGGER? Have you seen the previews? The booze, the guitars, the mustaches, the PANTS.

It's just me isn't it

Poor, lonely @Gingerlily.

Three-Eyed Crow · Feb 11, 2016, 2:46 PM

@Gingerlily said:

@Three-Eyed-Crow said:
I finally finished SoA. That was a long binge. A painful one at the end. I think I might have gotten more out of it in a non-binge, watching it weekly over years. All together like that the last seasons are just a -world of pain- -for everyone- that -goes on and on-. So I am in agreement with you. I think the last two seasons definitely could have been one season and still handled the major things that needed to happen. Also that side non-Hamlet-allegorical characters just SUFFERED ALL THE PAIN for no apparent reason. If there is a moral to this story message received I will not be joining any outlaw motorcycle gangs. It's a bad plan.

It was hard to watch the last season of "Sons" even weekly, because of all those extra-long episodes. And because I'd inevitably fall a couple weeks behind and do two or three at a time, and I'd want to reach through the TV and strangle an editor. I suspect I'll like it more upon rewatch. Gemma is still an awesome character and it makes me sad Katey Sagal never got an Emmy for that role. The second season in particular is still one of my favorites.

THE WIRE IS AWESOME. Last season isn't as good as the first four, but it only suffers by comparison. It was all filmed on location in Baltimore and the head writers were both long-time residents, but it's definitely Baltimore As American City Metaphor.

tragedyjones · Feb 11, 2016, 4:51 PM

I am contractually obligated to both point out The Wire as tv gold and upvote your post.

TNP · Feb 11, 2016, 6:01 PM

I watch a ton of police procedurals and crime dramas. The Wire was amazing. And I stopped watching it after a few episodes. It was too much like watching the news.

I don't watch TV to get immersed in how bad reality can be.

tragedyjones · Feb 11, 2016, 7:17 PM

@TNP That is fair criticism.

Warma Sheen · Feb 11, 2016, 8:24 PM

I understand the sentiment, but to me The Wire was amazing. It felt real. It was not a crime drama in any normal sense of the world. It was not "easy watching" with snappy one liners and sunglasses and The Who, by any means. People always talk about how television desensitizes people to violence. This did the opposite - even though it did it in the same basic format every other show does it. It managed to take horrible tragedies and make you feel like they were horrible tragedies. But I suspect that many people felt like @TNP and avoided the show for that reason, which is why despite how amazing it was, it never won anything substantial.

But when a scripted TV show immerses you so much that you feel the 'real' in it, that's kinda the holy grail of a good drama. So screw Hollywood.

Three-Eyed Crow · Feb 11, 2016, 9:32 PM

I will say, the reason I enjoyed The Wire as much as I did is because it made me love and invest in its characters more than almost any other series I can name (with the possible exception of Friday Night Lights). Including people who'd be one-off villains in any other series. It's admirable in many other ways, but that's why I love it, and why it never felt like Eating My Vegetables TV. I can understand why it feels like homework to some people, but it never did for me after I got past the first few episodes (I feel like there's a moment in the fourth episode of S1 where you're either hooked or you're not).

Arkandel · Feb 11, 2016, 9:34 PM

@Three-Eyed-Crow FNL falls into this weird category for me where I don't like the sport it's about at all but some of my favorite TV shows or movies are in it. Same thing as baseball; I hate the actual sport but The Natural is one of my favorite films of all time.