The Official Good Television Thread
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TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
So after watching the first four episodes of GoT im pretty confused as to what other people were expecting by the 4th episode. Yeah, last season we got a huge death early on, but that was only last season. I just don't see how these four episodes weren't on par with the rest of the series. If anything i'd actually say that these they have been pretty strong. Especially the last two. The first episode was better than the first episodes of all the other seasons outside of S1.
I'm kind of glad that a few people lowered my expectations ... i was expecting a dip in quality, only to get wowed again at how good this series is.
I'm kind of glad that a few people lowered my expectations ... i was expecting a dip in quality, only to get wowed again at how good this series is.
Vegard Pompey
ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU
Yeah I don't get it either. I watched the first four episodes when they leaked and thought they were great. I've never considered it the greatest show on television exactly but they've pretty much got what they're doing down to a science now. The show's so streamlined now, each episode is just bursting with meaningful content, which is basically the complete opposite of what book 4 was like.
I could never watch it on a week-to-week basis like some do though. Binge-watching ftw.
I could never watch it on a week-to-week basis like some do though. Binge-watching ftw.
SentinelSlain
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no country for old wainds
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the best tv of this century > basically all the best cinema of this century tbh. and no, the walking dead is not relevant to that equation
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
i agree ... almost completely, minus There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men of course.
rms
Active Member
I can't really fathom a 21st century movie list, but TV has definitely taken a big step forward.
SentinelSlain
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I have watched so little 21st century TV shows that I can't really dispute that. I think the big budget US series certainly wipe the floor with Biker Grove, Grange Hill, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, etc etc, 90s UK shite. It doesn't mean I have the patience to watch them though.
unknown
fuck ftagn
UK is doing some good stuff with Black Mirror, Luther, the first two seasons of Sherlock and Black Orphan
Complaining that all British TV from the 90s is shit because mainstream programmes watched only by plebs are shit?
The big budget, more cinematic style shows were kicked off by The Sopranos, which started in 1999. The US made some cool shows like The X-Files and Twin Peaks in the 90s, but the UK made a load of great comedies. Used to be way better at documentaries too.
no country for old wainds
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^agree with all of that really
as far as the 21st century goes nothing i've seen beats deadwood & the wire for me
as far as the 21st century goes nothing i've seen beats deadwood & the wire for me
rms
Active Member
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
MasterOLightning
Optimator
Mad Men is dropping the ball at the end. I was quite happy with the way they ended one character's storyline tonight, but there was some dreck in there too. It's hard for there not to be affecting moments in the course of writing off characters the audience has followed for 8 years, but I'm not digging what they're doing for the most part. Still one episode to rebound. Maybe I'm too used to the Wire approach where the penultimate episode was always the best.
Vegard Pompey
ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU
That Mad Men finale was damn weird. If anyone has thoughts on it I'd love to hear them. I feel like some of the impact of the ending was lost on me because I've never heard of that ad before.
MasterOLightning
Optimator
Spoilers for Mad Men, but not really.
It was apparently a very popular ad that ran for many years starting in '71. It's a very cynical ending. Don has co-opted his personal breakthrough into commercialization. After remarking earlier in the series that love is just something ad men invented to sell women nylons, now he's taken the peace and love of the era to sell people a Coke. I really disliked it. I thought it would have ended just fine with the shot right before it.
I was actually moved by Leonard's feelings and Don's response. Though Brett Gelman was a bad casting choice. Why include someone best known from a comedy about group therapy? Took me out of the moment.
Peggy and Stan was sort of too-neat, but it had been teased out for quite a while. Pete and Trudy made sense. Joan and Roger's endings were less plausible, but whatever. And someone had to get lung cancer.
Just about everyone gets a happy ending. That'll show you what wealth and white privilege will get you.
One other thing that disappointed me was that with all the music at their disposal, they really didn't use it to great effect in the final season. There could have been more moments as great as the Tomorrow Never Knows montage.
I'll rewatch, but season 7B felt very inessential. It's tough to remember many of the plot elements. It was really an epilogue for everyone other than Don, and that waitress storyline will be about as fondly remembered as the serial killer in the last season of The Wire.
It was apparently a very popular ad that ran for many years starting in '71. It's a very cynical ending. Don has co-opted his personal breakthrough into commercialization. After remarking earlier in the series that love is just something ad men invented to sell women nylons, now he's taken the peace and love of the era to sell people a Coke. I really disliked it. I thought it would have ended just fine with the shot right before it.
I was actually moved by Leonard's feelings and Don's response. Though Brett Gelman was a bad casting choice. Why include someone best known from a comedy about group therapy? Took me out of the moment.
Peggy and Stan was sort of too-neat, but it had been teased out for quite a while. Pete and Trudy made sense. Joan and Roger's endings were less plausible, but whatever. And someone had to get lung cancer.
Just about everyone gets a happy ending. That'll show you what wealth and white privilege will get you.
One other thing that disappointed me was that with all the music at their disposal, they really didn't use it to great effect in the final season. There could have been more moments as great as the Tomorrow Never Knows montage.
I'll rewatch, but season 7B felt very inessential. It's tough to remember many of the plot elements. It was really an epilogue for everyone other than Don, and that waitress storyline will be about as fondly remembered as the serial killer in the last season of The Wire.
Vegard Pompey
ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU
I don't see it as a sell-out from Don's perspective. Throughout the entire series advertisement to him was a means of artistic expression and he always got emotionally involved in his work. I don't think his experience at the hippie community meant any less to him just because he turned it into an ad.
The scene with Leonard was great. I didn't recognize the actor so that was no issue for me. I've always gotten the most emotional about Mad Men in earlier seasons in those rare moments where people's barriers come down and they're being truly open-hearted, so it was great to see them get one more of those in before the end.
Regarding the waitress; I always felt Don's obligatory flings each season were generally the weakest part of the series. This one I thought was at least an interesting contrast with the previous ones, being an older and sadder girl and the entire romance just abruptly ending a couple episodes in.
Ultimately I share your indifference towards this season. The whole thing just felt distinctly peak-less. A little funny here, a little melancholic there but there was just nothing resembling the kind of crazy good episodes this show pumped out regularly in its best seasons (3-5 imo). Like you pointed out, there weren't even any great music moments.
Even so I'm a little sad it's over :/
The scene with Leonard was great. I didn't recognize the actor so that was no issue for me. I've always gotten the most emotional about Mad Men in earlier seasons in those rare moments where people's barriers come down and they're being truly open-hearted, so it was great to see them get one more of those in before the end.
Regarding the waitress; I always felt Don's obligatory flings each season were generally the weakest part of the series. This one I thought was at least an interesting contrast with the previous ones, being an older and sadder girl and the entire romance just abruptly ending a couple episodes in.
Ultimately I share your indifference towards this season. The whole thing just felt distinctly peak-less. A little funny here, a little melancholic there but there was just nothing resembling the kind of crazy good episodes this show pumped out regularly in its best seasons (3-5 imo). Like you pointed out, there weren't even any great music moments.
Even so I'm a little sad it's over :/
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UCOXZLU/ref=s9_simh_gw_p74_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1Y9AHTF5XJ81KS8Z61HX&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop[/ame]
... finally.
... finally.
