General Television Thread

[Commander Sheepard]

So even though I hate Glee (don't ask why, reasons too numerous to mention), I think I may have to watch this week just to see and hear Neil Patrick Harris sing Dream On. The little clip they played during The Simpsons just now was the first I've seen of him in it, and it looked AWESOME.

[zero]

Fucking NBC is moving Parks & Recreation to midseason 2011 in favor of a show where a middle manager moves to India to manage a customer service call center.

With this network hurry up and fucking die already? They've essentially killed Parks & Rec, they're moving 30 Rock to 8:30, Steve Carrel's leaving The Office after next year, and Community is way too smart and way too funny for this piss poor excuse for a network. Fuck NBC, fuck Jay Leno, and fuck this bullshit.

[GoGo Yubari]

To be fair, Chuck was made a midseason replacement and it's survived to season four and it's starting in the fall as well. I hate this news because Parks & Rec is one of my favorite shows on television but I wouldn't say that this "kills" it. To be honest, aside from that decision I can't really blame NBC for anything there; Carrell leaving The Office is surely his decision and not the network's, and I can understand moving 30 Rock to 8:30 as it means they're attempting to give this new show a strong lead-in.

[TKz]

And despite my love of it, 30 Rock isn't exactly quite as great as it was a year or two ago.

[GoGo Yubari]

30 Rock needs more Elizabeth Banks and less Julianne Moore.

[TKz]

30 Rock needs more Elizabeth Banks and less Julianne Moore.

Needs more Kenneth and Tracy and less LOL LIZ LEMON IS OLD AND SINGLE.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm actually glad Kenneth has taken a backseat. He's a character who is amazing in moderation. Also I'd agree except Michael Sheen is fantastic as Wesley Snipes.

[TKz]

Oh, totally, I love Sheen in 30 Rock, hell, I love Sheen in just about anything, but I'm so tired of the show revolving around Liz trying to find a husband. I much prefer when the rest of the cast is the highlight of the episode. Obviously Liz is the main character, but it was far more enjoyable when her stories were more about her trying to keep the show in order. I still maintain that the best episodes of 30 Rock are Tracey Does Conan or the episode where Jack takes on Kenneth in the Poker Tournament.

[zero]

NBC's Thursday line-up is the best it's ever been (seriously), and they're shuffling around what is arguably the funniest show on TV right now in favor of a comedy about a dude moving to India to work at a call center that's written by the guy that wrote 140 episodes of the George Lopez Show. I'll give you a rundown of the first 13 episodes:

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH WELL BUT TALK TO AMERICANS WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THEIR COMPUTER! LOLZ!

It's just more of NBC fucking up a good thing before anyone can even enjoy it. Making people wait a year for Parks & Rec will surely hurt the show (remember how many shows the writer's strike killed after long absences?), messing up what was the perfect line-up in favor of what is sure to be pure garbage, and saddling Parks & Rec with shows called "Perfect Couples," "Friends With Benefits" and "The Paul Reiser Show" (shudder) in midseason is just insulting. Even without knowing anything about those shows, I 100% guarantee they will blow just based on their cringe-inducing 1990s sitcom titles. Infuriating.

[livid]

I really don't see what the huge deal is. NBC is in dire need of more hit shows and having The Office lead-in will undoubtedly help the new show's chances. Not to mention, let's not act as if Parks & Rec is getting shit on entirely with this deal since it's likely to get the 9:30 slot when it comes back anyways. Just a smart move business-wise, really. Also, I understand the skepticism about the new show but Community wasn't exactly getting praised before it aired, either. So how about waiting until there's actually something to judge before getting all up in arms about it?

And yeah, if Chuck can survive the mid-season bump then I'm pretty sure that Parks & Rec can considering it's in a lot better of a spot than Chuck was when it was bumped.

EDIT: So I saw some clips of Outsourced and it doesn't look that great but nothing too offensive, either.

[zero]

I was extremely excited about Community, Joel McHale and Chevy Chase had me sold from day one.

After reading about the new shows:

Outsourced - A manager is sent to India to oversee a staff of customer service representatives... how can this be anything but stereotypical racial humor?

Friends With Benefits sounds like a complete rip-off of How I Met Your Mother. Two friends have casual sex while the male lead (Dick from Veronica Mars) looks for the woman who fits his unique set of standards. Complete with a womanizing best friend that fucks anything that moves.

Perfect Couples sounds like every sitcom that's ever been churned through the machine. Couples try to figure out that wacky thing called love, hilarity ensues.

The Paul Reiser Show stars Paul Reiser, who hasn't been relevant in about 15 years, so yeah.

I'm "up in arms" because it annoys me when networks fuck up a good thing. If Seinfeld debuted today, it wouldn't last 12 episodes before they canceled it, and that show was practically a bomb for three seasons before it became one of the biggest shows in television history. But now, Conan gets seven months to host The Tonight Show, and the funniest show on TV gets sidelined for a year in favor of a sitcom about an Indian call center.

[TKz]

Seriously? The best show on TV? Did I watch the wrong show or something? I couldn't get past about 3-4 episodes before losing interest...

EDIT: Ryan Hansen is getting his own show? Really? I like the guy in Party Down and Veronica Mars, but not in a "Why doesn't this guy have his own show?" way. I'm 99% sure he'll play the exact same character he's played in everything.

[zero]

I said funniest show on TV, not best. And the show has improved dramatically in season 2. Season 1 wasn't very good, but Season 2? Yeah, funniest show on TV right now, with Community at a very close second.

[TKz]

I have a hard time imagining Community as a second in the funniest show to anything right now. I guess I'll try and power through. Though I think part of it may be because I just don't 'get' the whole The Office style humour. I liked it in the UK The Office, but the US one never really did anything for me.

[GoGo Yubari]

Nah, Zero's right. Best sitcom on TV right now. Judging it on the first season is silly because if you judged The Office on its first season it wouldn't be particularly memorable either.

ALSO:

the male lead (Dick from Veronica Mars)

And Party Down takes another hit if they want to go to a third season. Damn. Good for Ryan Hansen but I'd still miss him if Party Down got picked up again.

[Hellfire]

Well if they're going to have a show about a guy working in an Indian call center, they should get these guys.

Anyways, this may be the show that makes me angriest today, since I just had to call a call center earlier and spent like an hour and a half yelling at the people there. I can definitely see some opportunities for funny stuff there though, but a guy thats written 140 episodes of George Lopez show doesn't give me any hope at all.

[TKz]

As long as Party Down can keep Lizzy Caplan, Adam Scott, Ken Marino and Martin Starr I'm sure it'll keep up the quality if it makes it to the next series. Ken Marino especially as he's been the highlight for me personally.

[Damian WayLNKe]

So anyone know anything about the upcoming set of new shows for the Fall? From what I can tell the big three are going to be Running Wilde (Fox), Undercovers (NBC) and No Ordinary Family (ABC). Running Wilde stars Will Arnett and it is from one of the creators of Arrested Development. Undercovers is the next J.J. Abrams show and it is about a husband and wife coming out of retirement to re-join the CIA as spies (sounds like Alias 2). No Ordinary Family is about a family that gains special powers after their plane crashes in the Amazon River and it stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and Julie Benz (Dexter).

[zero]

Community gets better with every single episode.

And honestly, I don't think calling those shows the funniest on TV right now is all that big of a compliment. Don't get me wrong, I love both shows, but it's not like there's a lot of competition right now in the comedy department.

FOX has Glee, which is incredibly polarizing, the Sunday cartoons that haven't been funny in years, and shit like Til Death.

CBS has How I Met Your Mother, which I still enjoy, but nowhere near as much as Community or P&R, The Big Bang Theory, which I find to be painfully overrated, and then a bunch of absolute shit like Rules of Engagement, Accidentally on Purpose and Gary Unmarried.

ABC has Modern Family, which is the only real competition for NBC's line-up and is genuinely hilarious. Better Off Ted was up there too, but of course that got canceled. Scrubs ended last year, regardless of what they tried to pass off as a Season 9. Then there's Cougar Town, which I've admittedly never watched, but I highly doubt anyone would consider it the funniest show on TV.

Not much else left, especially not on network TV.

[LittleDaniel]

If you're so unhappy, you could just do what I do and not watch television very often.

And before anyone says something along the lines of "Well why are you in the tv thread if you don't watch tv," I'm procrastinating writing a paper that's due in twelve hours and this thread has had a lot of activity