What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Gregarius wrote:

mads b. wrote: We are watching The Americans - a show about a couple of KGB agents living deep undercover in America in the 80's. It's of course about espionage and counterespionage, but it's also about a couple and their kids which makes for a nice contrast. Also, they've nailed the style pretty well.

First season is great and the show could easily have ended there - it would have felt like a full arch. However, season 2 is also quite good, and things are bleak but intense around 10 episodes in.

That's awesome-- that's exactly where we are! I agree completely: It's a really fantastic show. I especially appreciate how many things are left unsaid, leaving the viewer to read between the lines. Also, actions have consequences. They may be immediate, or they might not show up for several episodes, but they always occur.

I love this show. So tense, and so many plot threads in the air at once. I will not leave any spoilers.

I thought season 2 was better than 1 for The Americans. Big fan of the show.

I'm watching Mr. Robot and being blown away. I dig the direction and style, reminds me a bit of a more sophisticated Fight Club. The core atmosphere has a Matrix vibe if the sci-fi was gutted out.

I just finished a few weeks of binge watching the entire Spartacus series on Netflix earlier this week. Wow, that show was so much better than I ever imagined it would be. It's funny, because many years ago when the series first came out, I started to watch the first episode and I didn't even make it through before shutting it off and moving on. Over the last year my game group and I played the Spartacus board game several times, and they all gushed on and on about how good the show was, saying I should get past the first few episodes and it gets much better. So I gave in and decided to give it another shot.

Not only was I not disappointed, I think this series ranks very high among my favorite TV shows. The final episode was particularly emotional and it was a roller coaster of a ride I'm glad I took. I have to imagine this show got a lot of love and has numerous fans here at the fortress.

I have seen every season of Spartacus except for the final one. I enjoyed it, but in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Everything was so extreme. The violence was ludicrous, the drama was over the top, and even the sex was extreme given that it wasn't taking place in a soft porn movie. Beyond that, there seemed to be an effort to escalate all of the extreme behavior, from episode to episode and season to season.

airmarkus wrote: I just finished a few weeks of binge watching the entire Spartacus series on Netflix earlier this week. Wow, that show was so much better than I ever imagined it would be. It's funny, because many years ago when the series first came out, I started to watch the first episode and I didn't even make it through before shutting it off and moving on. Over the last year my game group and I played the Spartacus board game several times, and they all gushed on and on about how good the show was, saying I should get past the first few episodes and it gets much better. So I gave in and decided to give it another shot.

Not only was I not disappointed, I think this series ranks very high among my favorite TV shows. The final episode was particularly emotional and it was a roller coaster of a ride I'm glad I took. I have to imagine this show got a lot of love and has numerous fans here at the fortress.

It is a totally gonzo show. Which was like a breath of fresh air when I watched it.

Shellhead wrote: I have seen every season of Spartacus except for the final one. I enjoyed it, but in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Everything was so extreme. The violence was ludicrous, the drama was over the top, and even the sex was extreme given that it wasn't taking place in a soft porn movie. Beyond that, there seemed to be an effort to escalate all of the extreme behavior, from episode to episode and season to season.

It was definitely extreme and I agree in that there was probably a considerable effort to try and always top themselves with the violent kills as the series went on. The 300-like imagery and the over the top violence is what initially turned me off, but the plot is what drew me in. The fact that it was based on historical figures and events made it even more interesting, although I know a huge amount of it was not even close to what the people and events were really like.

You should give the final season a shot, particularly the last episode.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is so good, y'all. Seven hour-long episodes just fat packed with plot, complex characters, excellent performances. Well worth it.

Mr. Robot. Great stuff!

Legomancer wrote: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is so good, y'all. Seven hour-long episodes just fat packed with plot, complex characters, excellent performances. Well worth it.

I just finished that last night. Worth watching, for sure, but I didn't love it. Great performances, some interesting parts, but it didn't grab me at all times. A little bit convoluted, and I felt like the writing in particular could have been wittier or more entertaining, considering how cool the subject matter and premise was. Seven episodes was fine, but some drag quite a bit, so like many of these kind of extended mini-series, I think it would have been more fluid and better served with six or five.

Archer Vice, aka season five of Archer, is sucking so far. Four episodes in, and I haven't laughed out loud even once. I hate that the first episode ended with a lengthy spoiler of the rest of the season. And I'm done with Pam. They have only been using her for one joke for the last three episodes now, and it wasn't funny the first time. Really, this whole season seems to be collapsing under the weight of too many callbacks to previous jokes, and seriously lacking in any new humor.

Vice did suck and they do drag that Pam joke out the rest of the season. Good news is the following season they're back to being spies. You could probably skip Vice actually.

Somehow I have managed to watch the first two seasons of Stargate SG-1 despite finding it, at best, comfortably mediocre.

I totally get the appeal of it now. For one, it has a very Star Trek-y quality, there is a certain intangible element about the stories that calls to mind classic Trek. I think it might be the positive, humanist perspective. Or how they jump around fixing folks' problems and making their lives better usually through negotiation, solving a mystery or resolving a conflict. Or it could be the chintzy costumes, I don't know.

But I think what really sells the show is how NORMAL it is...I love how it's this planet-hopping, space travel show...but humanity doesn't have spaceships. They just jump through the Stargate and go anywhere. That's a cool concept. And they are really just regular folks. Soldiers. There was one episode where they were at one of the characters' house and it was just like any ol' house out there. SUV in the driveway, front porch, the whole thing. But later in that episode there was all this crazy time-travel shit, mind-controlling parasites and so forth.

I also think the concept that the Goa'uld took humans off of earth, enslaved them, and sent them to other planets is actually really cool...and that they brought their indigenous cultures with them. That's pretty neat. At first, I was like "why the hell are there Mongols on another planet", but then I got it.

I actually couldn't point to a particular episode that I thought was exceptionally well written, well acted or had a really cool part. But I've still enjoyed it in kind of a passive way. I'll put it on while I'm working or doing something else, catching the high points but not getting all bunkered down and invested in it.

I guess it's like a really good serving of mashed potatoes.

Been watching Silicon Valley season 1. I really like it, more than most people seem to. I think it has to do with my profession---I'm not in tech but I'm in a similarly overly white collar, Intellectual with a capital I profession so the characters work well for me. And man. The Peter Gregory character. So god damn funny, what a shame the actor died.

I watched seaon 1 of Powers. Never would have expected one of the best superhero shows to come from the Playstation Network. I liked the powers as celebrities angle and how the "heroes" were all about marketing themselves for fame and/or profit. Wolf was an interesting villain so powerful and dangerous that kids have nightmares about him and even other criminals want him locked up. At the same time the way his power works and how they keep him secure you wouldn't wish on anybody. Johnny Royalle and Retro Girl were the other two standout characters for me.

Gary Sax wrote: Been watching Silicon Valley season 1. I really like it, more than most people seem to. I think it has to do with my profession---I'm not in tech but I'm in a similarly overly white collar, Intellectual with a capital I profession so the characters work well for me. And man. The Peter Gregory character. So god damn funny, what a shame the actor died.

Don't stop on Season 1. There's some extremely funny stuff still to see in Season 2. I enjoy the lawyers a lot.

This is squarely aimed at me, so even when they get Hollywood stupid about tech, I'm still laughing. Mike Judge has a golden touch.