The Official Good Television Thread
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rms
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Why do you consider it so highly? I really enjoyed it, but I don't think it's even the best HBO show.
Currently rewatching The Sopranos right now..just downloaded The HD-Wire revamp, too. Glad that boxset I bought 2 years ago is now obsolete.
voilenoir
Nicole
no country for old wainds
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it's just incredibly intelligent, immersive, emotionally raw television that's burned into my brain for all time. it's fuckin' shakespearean is what it is, in the best senses of the word. i do like the wire just as much though to be fair. i think they complement one another perfectly.
i've always loved this conversation in slant about which is better out of the DEADWOOD, THE WIRE and THE SOPRANOS. i confess to only having seen the first season of THE SOPRANOS (which i liked but didn't consider on the same level as the above), but i'm aware it goes off in some different directions - i'd better get around to watching the rest.
Vegard Pompey
ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU
The Sopranos is insane. There were times where it really tried my patience but I've seen it twice now and I love it. It goes from being a satirical mobster dramedy by the first season to an existential drama about self-actualization and buddhism and a thousand other things by the sixth. It's a ridiculously eccentric show that's completely incomparable to all the subsequent TV dramas it has influenced. It's an absolute must-watch for anyone into TV.
rms
Active Member
I'll read that piece later. I think outside of season 2, The Wire is flawless and amazing telelvision. And the sweeping messages across the systemic problems in our country opened my eyes further and who knows how many countless others. I wonder what impact it has on the larger population agreeing that the Drug War is a lost cause. Seems that True Detective is attempting to convey this similar kind of knowledge in their first and second seasons.
Guess i'll rewatch Deadwood next, I remember the first season being more entertainment-television but becoming a solid show. Think I would rank HBO;
Wire
Six Feet Under
Sopranos
Deadwood
Curb
no country for old wainds
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idk about the 'entertainment-television', i think DEADWOOD is probably the least accessible of those due to the complexity of the language and the subtlety with which it explores its themes. i know there's a smaller physical scale but it covers the same areas as THE WIRE really: politics, crime, education, journalism, law, etc are all present, and all connected into one big organism in the same way. DEADWOOD is more about the primitive, flawed, idealistic beginnings of the same institutions that have become rigid and ineffectual and exploited in THE WIRE, i suppose; both shows examine the same things, but from different historical angles. and they come to a lot of the same conclusions actually, although DEADWOOD never got the chance to be judged as a finished product so it's a little harder to say what DEADWOOD was ultimately intended to be. THE WIRE kinda seems more urgent and painful because of how clearly contemporary it is, but i think much of DEADWOOD is timelessly relevant. i think there's a case for saying DEADWOOD has more scope in the sense that everyone's already imprisoned in THE WIRE before it even starts, cogs in a big broken machine, whereas in DEADWOOD these characters are the ones building the machine. possibilities are limitless, everything matters, real choices and real change can happen. still not sure which i prefer though, i just tend to end up defending DEADWOOD because THE WIRE is more established.
rms
Active Member
Deadwood's my favourite drama. Whoever was responsible for its cancellation should be shot. I still sometimes wish I had subtitles for Jane though. I never had any trouble with the accents/language in The Wire but she's always tested my ears.
Rediscovered Ideal last night. Great dark/surreal comedy with Johnny Vegas (back when he was grotesquely overweight) as a weed dealer. So many good UK comedies from the 00s that never got much recognition.
Rediscovered Ideal last night. Great dark/surreal comedy with Johnny Vegas (back when he was grotesquely overweight) as a weed dealer. So many good UK comedies from the 00s that never got much recognition.
CiG
Sand-Boondy Assassin
This.
Black Books man, just for a start.
I had no issues with Jane's accent by the way.
I love the Wire, it pretty much changed my standard, I love the slow tempo and how complex and thoughtful it is, but I couldn't get into Deadwood. I've only seen pilot and I was bored halfway through it. Probably because I don't like pre-20th century TV.
Same with Black Books, I felt it was trying too hard to be funny and was based too much on awkwardness. I really enjoyed Coupling though.
Same with Black Books, I felt it was trying too hard to be funny and was based too much on awkwardness. I really enjoyed Coupling though.
CiG
Sand-Boondy Assassin
Trying too hard to be funny? That criticism always seems pretentious to me.
Did you laugh or did you not?
Did you laugh or did you not?
No I did not. It just seemed too forced to me, trying to make me laugh every 5 seconds. I'm okay with british humour, but it has to be more subtle. Generally, I don't like "in your face" jokes, I like jokes that make me smile, but not laugh out loud.
I may have laughed once or twice through the episode, but it can't make up for another 20 boring awkward minutes. But it's just my opinion, and I understand that Black Books is highly rated, so it has to have some quality.
no country for old wainds
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best '00 british comedies were JAM, PEEP SHOW, EXTRAS and THE THICK OF IT for me. wasn't that big on what i saw of BLACK BOOKS, never been a bill bailey fan in general tbh.
dude, if i quit every time i couldn't get into the *pilot* of a show i'd have missed out on nearly all my favourites. i actually think it has enough in common with THE WIRE that it'd be very difficult to love one and not really like the other, if you gave it some time that is. i don't like pre-20th century TV either as a general rule.
dude, if i quit every time i couldn't get into the *pilot* of a show i'd have missed out on nearly all my favourites. i actually think it has enough in common with THE WIRE that it'd be very difficult to love one and not really like the other, if you gave it some time that is. i don't like pre-20th century TV either as a general rule.
CiG
Sand-Boondy Assassin
I prefer ridiculous humour in British comedy myself, huge Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson fan over here, haha.
That's all I was trying to get out of you, haha.
That's all I was trying to get out of you, haha.
no country for old wainds
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I actually plan on checking Deadwood again. I have so many shows I want to watch and even more I want to check that I have to do some judgement by pilot. I know that if the show has things I hate [e.g. is historical and has some annoying, irational characters (like woman character that's screaming or crying every few minutes)] and the plot doesn't interest me, I am not gonna watch it even if it was highest rated show of all times and everybody'd love it.
For this TV season, I already have 30 shows to check and I'm gonna judge them by pilot. Some of them I'll add to my "to watch" list, some of them I may revisit in the future and the rest I'm not gonna care about.
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
As of right now the only shows that my DVR is is set to record are Hell on Wheels, True Detective, Ray Donovan and The Strain. Last two are pretty heavy on the cheese but i still somewhat enjoy watching. This seasons of TD isn't anything special either. I was enjoying Mr. Robot but a certain scene/angle from a few weeks ago was so cringeworthy that i had to drop the series altogether.
edit: I still need to watch The Wire, but as far as HBO shows go for me it's Deadwood > Game of Thrones > Boardwalk Empire = Rome > Sopranos.
I might need to watch The Sopranos again, but i just dont see how that show is one the same level as the other four i mentioned. I actually thought Showtimes Brotherhood was far better than The Sopranos in just about every single way.
edit: I still need to watch The Wire, but as far as HBO shows go for me it's Deadwood > Game of Thrones > Boardwalk Empire = Rome > Sopranos.
I might need to watch The Sopranos again, but i just dont see how that show is one the same level as the other four i mentioned. I actually thought Showtimes Brotherhood was far better than The Sopranos in just about every single way.
I've seen the racism, Eurosong, Speed 3, seniors football match, and kicking Bishop Brennan up the arse episodes an unhealthy number of times. I just checked, I guess those are all from series three. I should go back to the first two and give them more attention.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is essential viewing, too.
