kinuta Posted March 27, 2014 Report Posted March 27, 2014 I made it about half way through the first season of Orphan Black but was just too daft for words. I watched a few episodes of Downton Abbey but found it too bland and formulaic for my taste. I've nothing against 'costume' dramas but prefer to watch Remains Of The Day or Gosford Park. The producers of Downton Abbey have correctly gambled that no one is around who is old enough to remember the original Upstairs Downstairs. I'm watching The Americans and Nashville. I know Nashville is straight soap opera but I like it anyway. Other soaps, maybe that's too broad a term, I'm addicted to are Chicago Fire, featuring the delectable Gabby, and Chicago PD. Gabby Quote
Shawn Posted March 27, 2014 Report Posted March 27, 2014 I'm old enough to remember Upstairs Downstairs, or more accurately I remember suffering through it when I was a kid. They replayed it on Masterpiece Theater in the late 70s/early 80s, I think it came on right before Mystery. Anyway, my Mother watched it and I would invariably end up having to sit through it and to my 10 year old mind each episode felt like it lasted 7 hours. That's one of the reasons I was surprised I liked Downton Abbey, I usually can't stand stuffy costume dramas. But the characters and the cast make this one work for me. The show is definitely formula, some of the plots creak so badly it's hard to hear the dialogue, but there's something about it that keeps me interested and entertained. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted March 27, 2014 Report Posted March 27, 2014 Only DC/Hill series produced that is worth watching......ever. Quote
jazzbo Posted March 27, 2014 Report Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) kinuta, I love Nashville as well, T-Bone Burnett does a great job with the music, the casting is good, and I love seeing all those great guitars! I tried to watch Chicago Fire. . .but so far couldn't hang. May try it on disc. I want to because of Monica Raymund who was one of the great things about Lie to Me. (I see that she plays Gaby thanks to kinuta's post). She's gorgeous and reminds me of someone I love personality wise (as far as I can tell from what I see of her outside of characters she plays). Edited March 27, 2014 by jazzbo Quote
jazzbo Posted March 27, 2014 Report Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) The first two episodes of "The 100." This is a WB show with lots of pretty twenty-somethings (including a busty Australian Reese Witherspoon resembles-a-lot) and a post apocalyptic Earth plot that is part Lord of the Flies and may become a Planet of the Apes clone before it's all done. Entertaining so far in a mindless TV way. Has Paige Turco and Henry Ian Cusick as grown ups in the cast and also Isaiah Washington as Chancellor Thelonious. Edited March 27, 2014 by jazzbo Quote
Shawn Posted March 28, 2014 Report Posted March 28, 2014 The first two episodes of "The 100." This is a WB show with lots of pretty twenty-somethings (including a busty Australian Reese Witherspoon resembles-a-lot) and a post apocalyptic Earth plot that is part Lord of the Flies and may become a Planet of the Apes clone before it's all done. Entertaining so far in a mindless TV way. Has Paige Turco and Henry Ian Cusick as grown ups in the cast and also Isaiah Washington as Chancellor Thelonious. I watched the pilot, it's actually not one of the better CW shows I've seen but was still mildly entertaining. The few CW shows I watch all have better actors, production values and writing but I will still probably end up watching the season to see how it progresses. They launched 5 new dramatic series this season, 2 of them were immediate hits and were promptly renewed (The Originals, Reign), the other 3 either flopped (Star-Crossed) or are borderline whether they will be renewed or not (The 100, The Tomorrow People). Star-Crossed and The Tomorrow People were both horrendously bad and deserve to be cancelled. Next fall the new series about The Flash begins (Arrow spin-off) and there is also a Supernatural spin-off in the works. No word on other possible shows yet, they will probably have enough programming space to launch 2 more series in the fall depending on how many they cancel at the end of this season (which could be as many as 3). The current plan to only launch genre shows (comic book, horror and sci-fi) is still in effect as far as I know. Quote
Matthew Posted March 30, 2014 Report Posted March 30, 2014 Prohibition by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick. Finished watching this one tonight. I thought it was a very good documentary on the forces that caused Prohibition, the effects, and repeal of the 18th Amendment. I actually learned a lot about its history. Quote
kinuta Posted March 31, 2014 Report Posted March 31, 2014 Endeavour First show of the new season. Quote
JSngry Posted April 6, 2014 Report Posted April 6, 2014 Flip The Frog cartoons on some PD Roku channel. Damn, these things are pretty spritely, how they remained so unknown, I don;t know. Quote
JSngry Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 More Flip The Frog...fire demons sucked up by vacuum cleaner underwear remover and a hothead horse that says "Damn", and so very much more, all in about six minutes. Who ever the percussionist is who played these things, they earned their pay, no doubt! And this, the first(?) color sound cartoon ever?!?!?!?! Quote
Shawn Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 And this, the first(?) color sound cartoon ever?!?!?!?! First cartoon with a soundtrack was My Old Kentucky Home (1926) though it was an early experimental system and wasn't completely synchronized with the picture. The first cartoon that used a click track for synchronization was Steamboat Willie (1928). The cartoon you linked uses 2-strip technicolor, several filmmakers experimented with that process. The first cartoon to use real 3-strip Technicolor was Disney's "Flowers and Trees" from 1932. Quote
JSngry Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 Ok, but this would have been the first color and sound cartoon, then, correct? Albeit with a more primitive system, 1930. I know next to nothing about this area, just enjoy watching, but apparently this Ub Iwerks guy who did Flip was working closely with Disney pretty early on, and left because he felt he wasn't getting his share of credit. These Flip things are pretty crazy stuff, really, and do very much have some of the characteristics of the early Disney work I've seen. I wonder if that's Roger Kellaway playing the piano on the opening? Quote
kinuta Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 Endeavour Season 2 episode two. Not especially strong outing, the two leads didn't seem to be convinced of the merit of the story. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 About half way thru the first season of "The Americans" in a race to get to the "on demand" versions of the second season before they disappear. Quote
jazzbo Posted April 7, 2014 Report Posted April 7, 2014 That's a great show. . . hope you get through the On Demand in time! Quote
JSngry Posted April 8, 2014 Report Posted April 8, 2014 More Flip the Frog, this one with the moral that people should practice birth control, but if they don't, then fathers should be allowed to kill their babies (once they learn to properly shoot a proper gun, that is), otherwise they'll end up being adopted by inept show-biz frogs practicing to be Tibetan monks, never learn any table manners, and life will be hell for everybody. Still trying to figure out why Flip kinda faded into obscurity among general audiences. The message is universal. Quote
kinuta Posted April 13, 2014 Report Posted April 13, 2014 Prime Supect 4 - The Missing Child & Inner Circles Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted April 13, 2014 Report Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) The first couple of episodes of the recent 'Endeavour' series. Contrived plots and the main character overdoes the 'I've just had a brainwave' facial expressions but an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes. I've got to the stage where when I'm in Oxford I hear Barrington Pheloung scores in my brain. Also Ian Hislop's 'Olden Days' - episode 1 about the changing fortunes of Arthur and Alfred over the centuries in British perception. Popular historiography - the construction of the past, a subject dear to my heart. He'd have a field day with jazz....or music in general. Edited April 13, 2014 by A Lark Ascending Quote
jazzbo Posted April 13, 2014 Report Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) Monday Michiru "Routes Live in Japan." Bass is recorded too high at the beginning of the show, but damn, this is a good concert video. What a woman! Edited April 13, 2014 by jazzbo Quote
Shawn Posted April 16, 2014 Report Posted April 16, 2014 Coupling (BBC) - Another great Steven Moffat show, one of the funniest series I've watched in awhile. Quote
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