General Television Thread

[TKz]

I don't really think like that, just to be clear. Personally I love it, but it's pretty much one of my two favorite genres being done well on television, so for me, it can almost do no wrong. Though, even I get a bit fed up with the sheer amount of nudity that gets thrown around sometimes. I can't remember the episode, but somewhere down the line there's one that seems to have breasts every other scene... and most of the time, there's 100% no need for it.

[Nick Adams]

Watched the latest episode of Ultimate Spider-Man, it had a random person named Miles Morales (black) on a list of potential Spider-Man understudies. Gotta' love when it's referencing Ultimate Comics. Fun fact - in Ultimate Spider-Man the comic, Miles

goes to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier uninvited, just like how Peter does in the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series.

[Josh]

Though, even I get a bit fed up with the sheer amount of nudity that gets thrown around sometimes. I can't remember the episode, but somewhere down the line there's one that seems to have breasts every other scene... and most of the time, there's 100% no need for it.

I know I brought that up originally, but the ubiquitous nudity/sexual situations don't really bother me, in and of themselves. I can't necessarily defend their place in those moments/episodes/the series, but it doesn't intrinsically offend or bother me. I mean, I'm the guy who got a bunch of people here to donate money to a play that featured me nude roughly 75% of the time I was on stage.

If I have any quibbles with the nudity/sexual content, they are more contextual:

- We get a ton of female nudity/sexual situations that greatly favor the men, but - while there is some male nudity (perhaps even more than any other series on the air) - the show mostly goes out of its way to avoid showing sexual situations that favor the woman or explicit male nudity.

I assume that's partly due to the strange cultural double-standards that networks (even HBO) tend to adhere to, thus putting some form of pressure on producers, as well as a reflection of the sexual attitudes of the (imagined) times the show means to reflect.

That said, this all still tends to make clear that mostly men are making this show. Outside of explicitly sexual matters and general nudity, the show does do a lot more than most to reflect many kinds of women, and often very positively. Aria and Breehan (?) are obvious examples of this, and even the more villainous or subservient women get to be more three-dimensional than just "she's a bitch/whore". But the realm of sexuality still stands as the one frontier of the show where women are often overlooked.

- It's clearly heavily leaned upon as a means to keep attention, which I think reflects a slight distrust in the audience's attention span.

The show does a great job of slowly creating, then weaving, multiple threads, taking multiple episodes to let you know why a particular character or relationship matters in the grand scheme. It makes the payoffs much more satisfying. But since this means several episodes can go by without resolving any major threads, the nudity/sexuality (as well as the fights) seem to be metered out like snacks before the meal can finally be served. It's as if the producers are saying, "We know political intrigue can be boring, so have some tits/blood while you listen to the dialogue."

Like I said, it seems to indicate a lack of trust in the audience's attention span. Of course, it's possible they're right about that.

Again, though, I really do like the show a lot. In fact, I think the more you like something, the more you want it to always be perfect, and so you become even more critical.

That was much longer than I meant for it to be.

[fr34k]

To be fair, there is a lot of sex in the books as well and I think they are doing a good job of adapting them. Yes there is a lot of it and not everything is necessary, but that's not something that's a problem solely with the TV show.

Good god, I hope this season is really the last of HIMYM:

The one minute summary by Barney of everything that has happened so far in the show just showed how ridiculously drawn out all of this is by now.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Nick, does Ultimate Spider-Man get any better? At all? I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes and was pretty thoroughly unimpressed with it, so I stopped watching.

[Benji]

Nick, does Ultimate Spider-Man get any better? At all? I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes and was pretty thoroughly unimpressed with it, so I stopped watching.

Nope. I honestly don't know why I'm still watching. It's not quite as terrible as early episodes indicate, but I wouldn't suggest jumping back on the wagon.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Goddamn Disney. Why couldn't they have just greenlit another season or two of Spectacular Spider-Man?

[fr34k]

So, second episode of Revolution. Better than the pilot, still has many problems to deal with, but Esposito was once again awesome.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm glad to hear it was better, at least! I DVR'd it but I also still haven't gotten a chance to watch Boardwalk or Treme from this week yet so it's only third priority on the DVR queue.

[fr34k]

I'm glad to hear it was better, at least! I DVR'd it but I also still haven't gotten a chance to watch Boardwalk or Treme from this week yet so it's only third priority on the DVR queue.

And that's how it should be. Boardwalk wasn't as good as last week's (but still solid) and Treme was a nice start to the season. Are you watching Ben and Kate GoGo? If so, tell me what you think, not sure if I'll start watching it, but the AV Club gave it a solid review.

Edited September 25, 2012 by fr34k

[GoGo Yubari]

On the plane into Baltimore I watched about half of the pilot (we landed before it finished and I started watching it a few minutes in). It's pretty charming? I'm pretty sure the early reviews are like "we like the characters and smiled a lot but didn't laugh a ton" and that's about right. For a comedy pilot, that's a very good place to be.

[Ron]

Boardwalk Empire:

So far I am loving Gyp (Bobby Cannavale) he is just so un-balanced and seems like a complete psycho. I can't wait to see more of him snapping. I really like him as a potential rival for Nucky.

I want Harrow to just lose his mind and go complete revenge mode against everyone that had a part in Jimmy's death. Seeing him kill Horvitz in the first episode was a pleasant surprise, but I want to see more.

Nucky being obsessed with a new woman? I like that it is causing him problems and he's usually best when he's up against it, and with missing Rothstein's shipment this week, and Rosetti starting to come at his business, things are going to be very interesting.

Now off to watch the last 2 episodes of the L.A. Complex. Have you been keeping up with it GoGo?

[Nick Adams]

Nick, does Ultimate Spider-Man get any better? At all? I watched the first 3 or 4 episodes and was pretty thoroughly unimpressed with it, so I stopped watching.

Nope. I honestly don't know why I'm still watching. It's not quite as terrible as early episodes indicate, but I wouldn't suggest jumping back on the wagon.

Yeah. The most it does is experiment with story telling styles (e.g. shown from a hand-held camera). I would've loved another season or two of Spectacular on a Disney station, but I don't really mind Ultimate. As Benji notes, it isn't as bad as a couple of the beginning episodes might make you think, it really isn't much more than a kids' show that happens to feature Spidey, but it's just mindless entertainment for me. I mostly enjoy the references to the comics, and the random breaking of the fourth wall.

[Josh]

To be fair, there is a lot of sex in the books as well and I think they are doing a good job of adapting them. Yes there is a lot of it and not everything is necessary, but that's not something that's a problem solely with the TV show.

I figured. Just replace any television references with book references, and it's still the same. And again, sex/nudity doesn't offend me, even when it's unnecessary. It's just the very male view of it all that sticks out.

[GoGo Yubari]

Now off to watch the last 2 episodes of the L.A. Complex. Have you been keeping up with it GoGo?

Yup. Not everything works (like anything with Beth, though Simon had a funny sub-subplot in the first episode last week, and I'd like to see Raquel, I don't know, actually succeed at this point), but there's still good stuff.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Treme:

Davis' musical tour is great ("It's a laundromat..") and kind of sad at the same time. LaDonna's belligerent houseguest routine was awesome, especially "do you have a paper bag? I think I may just go finish this out on the corner!" an "LaDonna WILL choke a bitch!"

Really loved how out of place Terry seemed in Indianapolis too.

"How's the sorghum coming in?"

[Ron]

Now off to watch the last 2 episodes of the L.A. Complex. Have you been keeping up with it GoGo?

Yup. Not everything works (like anything with Beth, though Simon had a funny sub-subplot in the first episode last week, and I'd like to see Raquel, I don't know, actually succeed at this point), but there's still good stuff.

Just watched them both and I gotta say they were good. The Season Finale itself was much better than the first episode, but it set everything up nicely for the 2nd episode, which I really really enjoyed. I think they did a good job wrapping up the season and setting up for a (hopeful) season 3 or making it a series finale. Thoughts:

Abby - Gets married to a guy she barely knows, he leaves to Germany. She follows. Meh. I didn't like her storylines at all.

Nick/Sabrina - My two favorite characters have been Nick and Kal, so I like the majority of his scenes. I didn't expect her to tell him not to come with her, but it made sense and I'd really like to see Nick be successful.

Connor - I thought he was a lot more interesting in season 1, and I didn't like the whole 'Scienetics' thing. I think they could have done it a better way, not sure how, but I'm sure they could have done it a better way.

Raquel - Her get rich scheme backfired and her new boyfriend is arrested. The movie trailer seemed like a success, but once again if she has success in one avenue it seems like she always struggles in another. While the movie trailer seems like the movie could be a decent 'comeback' for her, the fallout of the scam is surely going to ruin all the good.

Beth and Simon - they didn't add much. I had hopes for them after the first episode of the season, but more often than not they bored me.

Kal - Finally, the ongoing struggle of the closeted Rap star. The last few episodes just had everything around Kal crumble and when he usually lashed out, this time he kept his emotions in check and dealt with things. This eventually led to his 'coming out' message on his website, which I thought was a pretty powerful scene as he has struggled through both seasons with it and it finally seems that he is at peace with who he is. I loved watching his scenes as I thought Andra Fuller was the best part of the show and I'll be kinda bummed if this is the end, but I think everything was tied up to make it as a series finale should it be canceled.

Oh and Rook killing Jest? Damn.

[Ruki]

Just finished the second episode of Revolution....better than the first, still not a bad show. I don't see it getting more than one season though, unless it starts to pick up.

[Colly]

To be fair, there is a lot of sex in the books as well and I think they are doing a good job of adapting them. Yes there is a lot of it and not everything is necessary, but that's not something that's a problem solely with the TV show.

I figured. Just replace any television references with book references, and it's still the same. And again, sex/nudity doesn't offend me, even when it's unnecessary. It's just the very male view of it all that sticks out.

Or not, as the case may be

[Baddar]

Alphas started up again last night. The first season wasn't great, but improved a lot towards the end. I'll give it a watch over the weekend.