TV - What's your passion (NON-sports)?

[VF21]

I used to absolutely LOVE tv. Unfortunately, some of the crap nowadays is just painful to watch. I go with some old stand-bys: The Law and Order shows (including L&O UK), NCIS, and JAG. Despite my absolute disdain for reality shows, I do watch Deadliest Catch, Hells Kitchen, and MasterChef. One relatively new show that gets my attention from time to time is Vikings. Nice to see that some channels have brought back Miami Vice and Starsky and Hutch as well.

The last thing that I can be even remotely considered is a homer, but I gotta tell you that with all the complaining about how bad things seem, we damn sure have a great Kings broadcast with Grant and Jerry. Grant has the knowledge and Jerry is just funny without even trying, or half the time knowing what he's saying. It's never dull.

Finally, the NBAonTNT post-game shows with Kenny the Jet, Crack-fu, and the Chucksta are on point.

Okay, FTI because you're new - we generally DON'T talk about the Kings here. The Lounge is a play to go when you need a break from talking about all-things Kings.

And no offense to anyone else, but could we keep this about NON-sports stuff? There are so many threads already that talk about this broadcast team and that broadcast team, etc ad nauseum...

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I watched Avatar the Airbender and came away a little disappointed from the first few Legend of Korra episodes. I've never really watched them since. how do you like it?

I liked Korra a lot better than Last Airbender; I felt like the original series was too 'kiddie' for my tastes. Plus, the notion of children saving the world, where so many qualified adults had/have failed is a cartoon trope that I've always found annoying. At least Korra, while young, was considered an adult by the standards of her culture, and was well into her twenties by the end of the series. The fighting/bending was not as elegant in AtLA, but rather more abrupt and brutal, which suited my sensibilities right down to the ground. I liked how they dealt with problems on Korra better, in general: sometimes they operated with force, sometimes with stealth, and sometimes with diplomacy. And, when they did operate outside of the law, Korra and her team weren't always shown to be justified in her/their actions, just because she's the Avatar; there were just enough "What the hell, hero?" moments to keep me happy.

I also found Korra to be a more interesting Avatar than Aang: I liked how, where Aang ran away from his role as Avatar, and had to grow into wielding the power at all, Korra embraced it from the very beginning, and had to mature into learning how not to use it as a sledgehammer. Where Aang was a pacifist, who had to learn that there were times when he needed to be assertive, Korra was practically a berserker, and had to learn when not to fly off half-cocked.

Overall, I felt like LoK dealt with a greater variety of topics, in a much more adult manner, than AtLA. I don't know how good of a "kids show" that made it, but I thought it excelled as a series in general; best "Western Animation" series I think I've ever seen.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

And no offense to anyone else, but could we keep this about NON-sports stuff? There are so many threads already that talk about this broadcast team and that broadcast team, etc ad nauseum...

Hey, I kept my post diplomatic, didn't I? If he'd posted that in Kings Rap, you'd probably still be reading my response to him.

 

[VF21]

Hey, I kept my post diplomatic, didn't I? If he'd posted that in Kings Rap, you'd probably still be reading my response to him.

Fair enough.

 

[Hoovtrain]

Anyone seen The Missing on Starz? Very dark but excellent show. Just actually watched the season for the 2nd time in about 3 weeks

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I think I may have to re-watch this week's episode of Scorpion in order to grok the fullness, but I'm going to tentatively give this one a thumbs down.

The 'Drew drama' subplot rings hollow to me: they're not going to write Paige and Ralph out of the show, in order to go to Portland with Drew. And they're not going to have Paige and Drew get together, even if she doesn't end up with Walter (which, OF COURSE she is), so this whole subplot is the ultimate false dilemma.

I'm not someone who covets 'realism' in television in particular, but I watch enough TV that seeing them interrogating Ralph without a parent or a child advocate present was a WTF moment. And Cabe just standing there in the observation room, letting it happen? Really?

The whole notion of that whole neighborhood matching the exact schematics of the level in the game? I'm sure that the bad guy took the time to get the dimensions of all of those abandoned buildings... all the way down to the trap door? And let's not discuss Cabe allowing Walter to go after the baddie alone, after he'd already gotten the drop on a trained federal agent.

Things I liked:

• Toby and Happy. Whether they end up shipping these two or not, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jaden Wong appear to have great on screen chemistry. Much more than Elyes Gabel and Katherine McPhee, who are apparently in an actual offscreen relationship.
• Toby getting to show off his medical knowledge. It tends to get overlooked on television how, unlike psychologists, psychiatrists actually have to go to medical school, and it's totally believable to me that a guy who is supposed to be a genius would be able to make use of this information he learned that happens to be outside of his specialty.
• EL GUAPO!!!

 

[B.O.B.]

Okay, FTI because you're new - we generally DON'T talk about the Kings here. The Lounge is a play to go when you need a break from talking about all-things Kings.

And no offense to anyone else, but could we keep this about NON-sports stuff? There are so many threads already that talk about this broadcast team and that broadcast team, etc ad nauseum...

OK, then delete that part of it.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I caught the series premier of Agent Carter last night. I liked it. I would even say that I liked it a lot. But I'm going to have to beg to differ with the people who say that they liked it better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I wasn't getting that at all. I don't know if it's the setting (I'm reading a lot of praise online about the fact that the show is set in 1946), which I'm not personally into, or if it's the fact that they don't seem to have a handle on how to make Peggy look awesome without all of the men on the show looking incompetent, which is another pet peeve of mine (not men looking incompetent in particular, but just the general trope of everybody on a show who's not the protagonist being incompetent). It's like the House effect, except that Peggy is not the unlikable character that Greg House is.

With that said, Peggy Carter IS awesome! That character is both well written and well acted. Hayley Atwell is brilliant in this role... and it doesn't hurt that she is absolutely gorgeous. She has immediately shot up to Number Two with a bullet on Mister Slim's 'hottest women on TV' list.

 

[VF21]

I think I may have to re-watch this week's episode of Scorpion in order to grok the fullness, but I'm going to tentatively give this one a thumbs down.

The 'Drew drama' subplot rings hollow to me: they're not going to write Paige and Ralph out of the show, in order to go to Portland with Drew. And they're not going to have Paige and Drew get together, even if she doesn't end up with Walter (which, OF COURSE she is), so this whole subplot is the ultimate false dilemma.

I'm not someone who covets 'realism' in television in particular, but I watch enough TV that seeing them interrogating Ralph without a parent or a child advocate present was a WTF moment. And Cabe just standing there in the observation room, letting it happen? Really?

The whole notion of that whole neighborhood matching the exact schematics of the level in the game? I'm sure that the bad guy took the time to get the dimensions of all of those abandoned buildings... all the way down to the trap door? And let's not discuss Cabe allowing Walter to go after the baddie alone, after he'd already gotten the drop on a trained federal agent.

Things I liked:

• Toby and Happy. Whether they end up shipping these two or not, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jaden Wong appear to have great on screen chemistry. Much more than Elyes Gabel and Katherine McPhee, who are apparently in an actual offscreen relationship.
• Toby getting to show off his medical knowledge. It tends to get overlooked on television how, unlike psychologists, psychiatrists actually have to go to medical school, and it's totally believable to me that a guy who is supposed to be a genius would be able to make use of this information he learned that happens to be outside of his specialty.
• EL GUAPO!!!

1. The whole Ralph-Drew thing makes little sense to me, too. It's more suited to daytime soaps than to this show. But I wonder if they're trying to reach the demographic that likes daytime soaps and was only watching the show because their boyfriend/husband/son etc. forced them into it.

2. Also my first reaction. But since it was a "national security" kind of thing, I have to wonder if the intention was a subliminal dig at the whole national security issue.

3. I didn't have a problem with the idea that the computer game setting could and did match the abandoned neighborhood exactly. I viewed it as another indication of a warped mind that would get perverse pleasure out of mimicking real life exactly. It was intended to be another poke in the eye of the good guys.

I totally agree with you on the things you liked and I LOVE EL GUAPO!

 

[VF21]

Looking forward with mixed feelings to the premiere of Galavant. I see it as being either campy and entertaining or annoying beyond all belief.

Well, it's a big thumbs down for me on this thing. What COULD have been campy and entertaining was totally ruined by it being a freaking musical. It's bad Monty Python and the Holy Grail meets The Princess Bride but with absolutely so much forced humor it just makes you want to gag.

 

[Warhawk]

I caught the series premier of Agent Carter last night. I liked it. I would even say that I liked it a lot. But I'm going to have to beg to differ with the people who say that they liked it better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I wasn't getting that at all. I don't know if it's the setting (I'm reading a lot of praise online about the fact that the show is set in 1946), which I'm not personally into, or if it's the fact that they don't seem to have a handle on how to make Peggy look awesome without all of the men on the show looking incompetent, which is another pet peeve of mine (not men looking incompetent in particular, but just the general trope of everybody on a show who's not the protagonist being incompetent). It's like the House effect, except that Peggy is not the unlikable character that Greg House is.

With that said, Peggy Carter IS awesome! That character is both well written and well acted. Hayley Atwell is brilliant in this role... and it doesn't hurt that she is absolutely gorgeous. She has immediately shot up to Number Two with a bullet on Mister Slim's 'hottest women on TV' list.

I have this recorded to watch later. Looking forward to it.

 

[kingsboi]

new season of Shameless premieres on Sunday night...awesome show and lots of comedy!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

One other thing I forgot to mention about Agent Carter: even if I didn't like any other part of it, any show that uses Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside" is worth watching, at least once.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

new season of Shameless premieres on Sunday night...awesome show and lots of comedy!

I actually like this show a lot; I'd like it even better if there were at least one character on the show who wasn't a sociopath. I mean, even Debbie is deranged.

I got to that whole block of shows late, actually: I started watching House of Lies only because of how much they promoted the show during last year's All-Star weekend, and after I got hooked on it, I got hooked on Shameless because of how much they promoted that show during House of Lies.

 

[kingsboi]

I actually like this show a lot; I'd like it even better if there were at least one character on the show who wasn't a sociopath. I mean, even Debbie is deranged.

I got to that whole block of shows late, actually: I started watching House of Lies only because of how much they promoted the show during last year's All-Star weekend, and after I got hooked on it, I got hooked on Shameless because of how much they promoted that show during House of Lies.

it's all the dysfunction that draws you in....it's entertaining to watch for sure

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Actually, having not gotten into the show until Season 4, I really only got into the show because of Lip. He's pretty much the only redeemable character on the show right now.

Having since had a chance to see the first three seasons, apparently the 'only sane man' role was previously filled by Fiona and Debbie, but they both went off the deep end last season. At least Fi looks like she might be returning to a sympathetic character, but Debs is headed deeper into Crazy Town.

 

[kingsboi]

Debs is heading into teenager territory so that isn't too surprising to me especially considering what happened to her in the first two seasons....Ian is a rebel who might as well pull a stick up in this new season

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Or he might pull a Monica, and slit his own wrists.

 

[VF21]

A week or so ago, I couldn't sleep. I turned the TV on and found a gem of a show that apparently only ran for 2 years, Sports Night. If memory serves (and it sometimes doesn't) I vaguely recall some KF members mentioning this show at various times but I had never seen it before. I'm now totally hooked and recording the two episodes a night and will continue to do so until I've seen them all.

It's a shame this show was pulled. It's witty and clever and sarcastic and a show about a sports show. Pretty much everything I like.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I got a good laugh out of these comments I read about the season finale of The Librarians from another message board:

Jerry O'Connell shows up in an ep where his wife "slides" between Earths. Clever.

More Freudian, they had him stick a classic phallic symbol into his wife.

 

[VF21]

Justified is back for its final season. The writing/acting is just as good as ever.

 

[arwen undomiel]

 

[VF21]

Backstrom on Fox looks good in its initial episode. Rainn Wilson, formerly of The Office, plays a homicide detective with human flaws and weaknesses yet as incredibly adept as his job as Hugh Laurie in House. All they need to do to make this a success is keep the writing tight and not let it become a parody of itself.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

In the last forty-eight hours, I've watched the season premiers of Black Sails and The Americans.

I liked the The Americans premier way more.

 

[kingsboi]

what is "The Americans" about? I'll be checking out Black Sails since I watched the first season and I found it fairly entertaining. I'm liking Shameless so far....hilarious as ever.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

what is "The Americans" about?

Short answer? Spies.

 

[kingsboi]

who is their broadcaster?

 

[VF21]

who is their broadcaster?

FX

 

[VF21]

Fortitude - wow.

From Wikipedia: Fortitude is a British psychological thriller television series created and written by Low Winter Sun's Simon Donald. A 12 episode series was commissioned by Sky Atlantic in 2013, and started airing on 29 January 2015. The series is set in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, above the Arctic circle, with a close-knit community and will be filmed in both the UK and Iceland.

I'm watching it on pivot (197) on DishNetwork.

 

[Tetsujin]

Fortitude is pretty much Broadchurch with the addition of polar bears and Dumbledore, which means it's freaking great.

Speaking of Broadchurch, the second series has been very good, even if (apparently) it has a tenuous grasp on the British legal system, which I am admittedly not an expert on. If you were a fan of the first series and in the US, definitely catch it when it premieres in March on BBC America.

Far and away though, the most balls-to-the-wall insane show of the year has been the third season of Banshee, which has thus far featured a chick getting her trachea torn out of her throat after a ridiculously brutal fight scene, crazy Native American terrorists shooting up a strip club to bad results, and a fat mobster being torn in two after being thrown out of his own big rig portal mob office. All in one episode. Sure, it's on Skinemax which means the occasional pointless sex scene (but if you watch GoT, you should be pretty used to those by now) but if you can overlook that cheesecake aspect and the fact that the entire premise of the show makes no sense (ex-con impersonates a small-town sheriff whilst also committing crimes and generally sucking at being a cop), it's pure popcorn entertainment.

With a bunch of amazing comedies back up and rolling (the final season of Parks and Rec has been phenomenal), the Americans coming back last week, and HBO getting ready to unleash a tidal wave of shows in a few months (Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep, among others), I hardly (thankfully) have time for Kings games at all.