TV

[las6]

24 is a bit wierd to be honest. It was marketed as a series that would revolve around those 24 hours, but if you do in fact watch a full season, you'll notice that most of the stuff is not very much at all connected and there are these smaller, roughly 3 to 6 episode storyarcs where everything usually goes to shit, as always in shows like these (such as prison break). It never really fully utilizes the one thing it's supposed to be - a series of events that happen in the course of one day. Take the "timer" off and it could be just like any other show.

Oh man, Terminator SCC was goood. But it was actually a deep, intelligent drama dressed as "edgy" series. There are some similarities with the latest Stargate to be sure, yes, especially on the visual/action side. While the new Battlestar Galactica shares some similarities (edgy, scifi) I don't think it's very similar with the two shows I mentioned before. BSG is much much rougher, lower budget stuff that does have it's own appeal.

If you're a fan of Firefly, you might give Whedon's other shows a chance. They maybe targeted for a younger audiences (20+) but if you like Whedon's style, pretty much any of these series is going to be good. So Buffy, Angel or Dollhouse - not to mention Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog which is a must see even if it's a musical one-off thingy!

Moving on from the fantasy/scifi to a really good remake of a scandinavian murder mystery called The Killing. The only downside is that they are making a second season, so... it's not exactly a finished story. Also if you are looking for a intellectual thriller, there was this neat little gem called Rubicon.

If you like gritty zombie suspense then Walking Dead is a pretty good bet. It's a solid series.

[AaronF]

There hasn't been another American show yet that lives up to Twin Peaks season 1.

Possibly the best bit of TV I've ever seen.  I try and forget about the later episodes

Same. Cooper is probably my favorite TV character of all time. The 2nd season is just painful. Especially the whole civil war side story. Ugh. I did enjoy the final two episodes, though.

24 is a bit wierd to be honest. It was marketed as a series that would revolve around those 24 hours, but if you do in fact watch a full season, you'll notice that most of the stuff is not very much at all connected and there are these smaller, roughly 3 to 6 episode storyarcs where everything usually goes to shit, as always in shows like these (such as prison break). It never really fully utilizes the one thing it's supposed to be - a series of events that happen in the course of one day. Take the "timer" off and it could be just like any other show.

Yeah, I'd agree with that but mostly for the later seasons.

[fog]

Thanks as ever chaps

While the new Battlestar Galactica shares some similarities (edgy, scifi) I don't think it's very similar with the two shows I mentioned before. BSG is much much rougher, lower budget stuff that does have it's own appeal.

I've never seen any BSG so I might give that a try.

If you're a fan of Firefly, you might give Whedon's other shows a chance. They maybe targeted for a younger audiences (20+) but if you like Whedon's style, pretty much any of these series is going to be good. So Buffy, Angel or Dollhouse - not to mention Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog which is a must see even if it's a musical one-off thingy!

I've caught the odd ep of Buffy over the years and it was ok, but didn't grab me.  Dollhouse I've just had to look up on imdb and sounds like a really cool idea.  One for the list.

Moving on from the fantasy/scifi to a really good remake of a scandinavian murder mystery called The Killing. The only downside is that they are making a second season, so... it's not exactly a finished story. Also if you are looking for a intellectual thriller, there was this neat little gem called Rubicon.

So the remake of The Killing is decent?  I've seen a few people rave about the original and just assumed the remake would be terrible like most or the recent remakes of Japanese horror movies have been.

If you like gritty zombie suspense then Walking Dead is a pretty good bet. It's a solid series.

That's actually one series I have watched recently.  I have very mixed feelings about it though as it was good, but I'm a big fan of the comics and while the first episode follows the comics almost exactly, the rest went in a completely different direction and wasn't as good.  Hopefully now there is going to be a second series they can get back to the original stories which are awesome.

[TheKhakinator]

...not to mention Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog which is a must see even if it's a musical one-off thingy!

This, SO much. Blew. My. Mind. And it's what got me into Firefly.

About to watch new Community. Dug the new HIMYM, so far, too.

[fog]

About to watch new Community. Dug the new HIMYM, so far, too.

Just watched the first ep of series 3 and it was superb.  Loved the intro sequence and the "mean lean deaning machine" 

[fog]

I'm 4 episodes into the first series of 24 and so far so good.  I'd never given it my full attention before and was anticipating the story being stretched to fill the 24hrs, but they've actually packed a lot of story and action in so it's holding my interest.

...and Dexter I just couldn't get into.

I'd definitely recommend giving Dexter another go.  I watched 4 or 5 episodes and just thought it was ok and didn't like any of the main characters.  Once it gets going though it's all great and series 4 is one of the best things I've seen on TV in years.  John Lithgow is amazing in it.

[TheKhakinator]

About to watch new Community. Dug the new HIMYM, so far, too.

Just watched the first ep of series 3 and it was superb.  Loved the intro sequence and the "mean lean deaning machine" 

Really? I must have missed that bit... I watched it incredibly tired though... will have to rewatch.

When I first watched Donnie Darko, I was completely unaware of any rabbit in the film...

[fog]

When I first watched Donnie Darko, I was completely unaware of any rabbit in the film...

lmao    Don't get me started on the merits of Donnie Darko though....

[TheKhakinator]

When I first watched Donnie Darko, I was completely unaware of any rabbit in the film...

lmao    Don't get me started on the merits of Donnie Darko though....

Okay, got confused. XD Read "deaning machine" as "cleaning machine". Very good ep now I've seen it again.

[fog]

I'm 4 episodes into the first series of 24 and so far so good.  I'd never given it my full attention before and was anticipating the story being stretched to fill the 24hrs, but they've actually packed a lot of story and action in so it's holding my interest.

About halfway through the first series of 24 now and it's still enjoyable, although I seem to have hit the mid season "how can we stretch this for another 12 episodes" bit.  The number of coincidences is funny and we are deep in cars sliding off cliffs and memory loss (seriously?) territory.

[las6]

...prepare for them stretching it for about 7 or so seasons. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that if you are going to check out Dollhouse, you might want to fast forward through the first six episodes or so. While I like the series, those first few episodes are just embarrassingly bad. Most of the blame for that falls on the network that insisted they make the series more "sexy". You can guess how that turns out. (even if the setting would have legitimate reasons for exploring such storylines...)

[fog]

...prepare for them stretching it for about 7 or so seasons. 

lol 

I expect nothing less.  When you resort to memory loss as a storyline halfway through series 1 I can't wait to see how desperate they get later.

I must admit I was expecting it to be a bit grittier and a bit more complicated when in fact it's all a bit throwaway and lightweight.  Not that that's a bad thing mind, I'm a few more eps in though and it's still enjoyable enough.


Elsewhere S03E02 (yes I did that) of Community was typically great.  Playing Operation on a sleeping Pierce at the end    More Ken Jeong though please.

[AaronF]

...prepare for them stretching it for about 7 or so seasons. 

lol 

I expect nothing less.  When you resort to memory loss as a storyline halfway through series 1 I can't wait to see how desperate they get later.

I must admit I was expecting it to be a bit grittier and a bit more complicated when in fact it's all a bit throwaway and lightweight.  Not that that's a bad thing mind, I'm a few more eps in though and it's still enjoyable enough.

Yeah, it's pretty mindless like I said. It's definitely a turn your brain off type of show and it only gets more ridiculous in the later seasons. The action is the reason I watched every season.

[fog]

...prepare for them stretching it for about 7 or so seasons. 

lol 

I expect nothing less.  When you resort to memory loss as a storyline halfway through series 1 I can't wait to see how desperate they get later.

I must admit I was expecting it to be a bit grittier and a bit more complicated when in fact it's all a bit throwaway and lightweight.  Not that that's a bad thing mind, I'm a few more eps in though and it's still enjoyable enough.

Yeah, it's pretty mindless like I said. It's definitely a turn your brain off type of show and it only gets more ridiculous in the later seasons. The action is the reason I watched every season.

Well with suitably adjusted expectations I'm still enjoying it.  No doubt I'll try the other series too and see how just how ridiculous it gets

[TheKhakinator]

I love that episode of Community in season 2 where

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They show clips from a whole bunch of random adventures the group has had that aren't actually in any other episodes, and there's the crazy stuff going down in the Western theme town and all that.

Classic stuff.

Not a big fan of Ken Jeong myself... well... it depends on the episode. Back in the Spanish days I found him a lot funnier. For me it was always Abed back in season 1.