For me, nothing topped series like "I, Claudius" and "Malice Aforethought" (the original). So BBC for me. Also like "Inspector Lewis" a lot.
For me, nothing topped series like "I, Claudius" and "Malice Aforethought" (the original). So BBC for me. Also like "Inspector Lewis" a lot.
They talk real funny on that channel.Originally Posted by JKL2000
Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!
Agreed, the last decade or so has pretty much blown away most of what came before it especially when it comes to drama. For me it has gotten almost difficult to enjoy movies anymore as the best TV can match them and can flesh things out so much more. HBO raised the bar initially, and for me at least “Lost” was a breakthrough show that completely changed the way I watch TV. Pretty much everything I watch since (with the exception of some comedies) are continuous running stories. Single episode programs are pretty much completely out of my wheelhouse now.
Watched it last night, and had the same thought, though I was laughing at myself for thinking it.....
My wife is binge-watching Bates Motel. So since this show precedes the events of Pscho but it's set in the present day, it makes the events of Psycho have to take place around 2030.
I disapprove.
My wife insisted on watching Bates Motel too. First season was just over-the-top melodrama. Second season was just the right amount of crazy.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Totally agree about TV shows vs. movies. Also, good observation regarding continuous running stories. I'm not sure who started it but no one else did it at the time [I wanna say it was LA Law; remember how they used to start the show, "previously on LA Law"?] Now, it seems most do, altho the running stories often take the role of subplot. One thing I'd like to comment on that Facelift pointed out in his last post is that while the best shows are usually on cable networks (and I agree), those seasons are half of what they used to be. It makes the writing tighter. Broadcast network shows have longer seasons so sometimes episodes can feel like filler. Which is why I pick The Good Wife as the best show on TV, for the last 5 or so seasons. Not only is the writing as good as anything listed in this thread, but they do it week in and week out for 22-23 weeks as opposed to only 13 (and the office politics can be just as rich as on House of Cards). To get an idea of what I'm talking about, just imagine if the The Walking Dead was 22 weeks. Oy vey.
I forgot to mention another show that I find incredibly entertaining: Person of Interest. I almost gave up on the show during the first half of the first season but they really ramped shit up in the second half. By the end of the third season they had so many running subplots and returning characters it could make your head swim trying to remember everything. I don't know that I would call it a great show but it's certainly much better than the rest of the dreck on TV which shouldn't be surprising as the show's creator is Jonathan Nolan, the guy behind the story that the movie Memento was based on, and who collaborates with brother Christopher Nolan on a regular basis.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
No comments on last night's episode? I thought it was really good. They are going down an interesting tangent with Rick's group and the people who have been behind walls for the whole thing.
Yeah, it was a good one. Carol's whole Stepford wife shtick is great. That's the way to put up a front. Rick's last line in episode was cool. Highlight was the two guys getting their asses handed to them by Glenn and Daryl. Like Karl said, the Alexandrians are weak and soft. They've no idea how much shit the Grimers have been through.
Oh yeah - nice to see the total change in direction. It opens up a lot of possibilities for the show. I hope they stay there awhile (I think they do in the comics, based on Wikipedia's summaries).
I was thinking last night that it would be great if they did a total 180 for a show concept, like make it centered almost exclusively on Alexandria characters and have the tone be totally different from Walking Dead - light and airy and maybe involve a mundane situation more common in a sit-com than a show about Zombies. Something like what the X-Files would do from time to time. I think it could be hilarious (in a really good way). Of course, have somebody get eatan by a zombie at the end to break the mood.
I doubt things will remain hunky-dory in Alexandria for very long - remember Rick couldn't find the gun he hid in the blender? Remember how the gay guys knew everyone's names? How everyone's being recorded? There's certainly something under the surface and Rick's last words will likely come back to haunt him (I'm assuming all the houses are bugged and everything they say is being recorded).
I'm still amazed Rick would all the entire group into Alexandria AND hand over all their guns - after everything they've gone through, just doesn't fit Rick's character (or Darryl's....).
Peter
Well, Daryl did get to keep his bow so they're not totally weaponless. And I am confident that Carol has the weapons situation well in hand. Man, did she ever play this right.
On the objectification front, they really missed an opportunity having just Rick shower up.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Dealing with these kinds of situations on a frequent basis is necessary to follow and enjoy the show.
Rick has ugly feet.
Seriously, I thought it was good, too, until they gave up their guns. <shaking head> But I went with it anyway; I've come to expect anything from this show. I balked, tho, when Glenn and the others were picked for the run but given only handguns. Had I been Glenn, I'd have refused until they gave me my assault rifle. In fact, the Congresswoman said that they could check out their guns anytime they wished. So why not ask for your own gun?
Loved it when Glenn decked the dick.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
I'm predicting that something will occur to show the Alexandrians that they need to muscle up and train for the worst. Then Daryl will get a job as "company militia commander" to train them on how to survive and fight.
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
I wanna say both Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were also among the first batch of continuously running stories.Hal said:
Totally agree about TV shows vs. movies. Also, good observation regarding continuous running stories. I'm not sure who started it but no one else did it at the time [I wanna say it was LA Law; remember how they used to start the show, "previously on LA Law"?] Now, it seems most do, altho the running stories often take the role of subplot.
Regarding last's night's episode, I liked it and found the pace for this type of episode just right. Now that we have the basic idea of Alexandria and a hint of a few cracks its time to crank up the suspense.
Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!
I only watched HSB sporadically and had never seen StE (was in the service at the time) but I'd say you're right about HSB; it probably was the first. Both predate LA Law, btw.
As for Alexandria, the episode was written & directed to add a subtle sense of dread. The question is, is that dread a red herring or is something actually wrong with Alexandria?
If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say it's a red herring.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
For me, Alexandria feels like a recycled plot and maybe that's just my weariness with the show's concept talking. We keep lurching from scenario to scenario without anything changing. Every paradise gets overrun eventually, no one the group meets can be trusted, pretty soon the survivors are back on the road minus one or two semi-popular characters. I don't know if the comics are like this but I suspect they somewhat are. This has become just Gilligan's Island with the undead. If they ever get off the island the series ends. That ain't gonna happen until the ratings tank. I can be strung along for a few seasons but damn, this is getting old.
There are thousands of places in America that could be sealed off against zombies: walled communities, islands, military installations, shopping malls, factories, hospitals (oops, done that one), prisons (why give up now), sports arenas. Hell, even a mountain could be held given how slow and clumsy the walkers are. Speaking of mountains, what about Cheyenne Mountain? I'm sure Jackson, O'Neil, and Carter took the last gate trip out (now there was a show that was smarter than it had a right to be) but the president and half of their cabinet are probably holed up there, safe and sound. There's just such little lack of imagination in this series, at least compared to genre fiction. It grates on me. Steal a goddamn tank. Can anyone fly a helicopter? Well then get another firetruck, there's one in every town. Nope, we're gonna walk on foot or take vehicles that can't plow through a zombie herd. Get about semi hauling a tank of diesel, three or four more big rigs, maybe a wrecker and DRIVE! Hell, retro fit a semi tanker like they did in Road Warrior. Put a gravel blade on the front of the lead vehicle and DRIVE!
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
When the main group has attained some kind of safety, (the farm, the prison, Alexandria) the show becomes not about the overcoming zombies, but about using the zombie apocalypse to reveal the facets of humanity. To the show's credit, I think it has become better at this over time (the prison episodes, IMO, were better than the farm episodes).
Most horror films have paper-thin characters because they are just props to move the plot along - you are watching to see the monster/s and the havoc that they will wreak. That works over the short term (a film or a short series). WD introduced a subplot in this direction (getting to DC to work on fixing the problem), but ultimately abandoned it. For a seasons-long foray, the show would have become even more boring much quicker (IMO, anyway), if it kept to more of the monster-movie formula. Why can't they do both, you might be asking? Well, I guess they could, but so far are choosing not to. I don't have a problem with it. It's a zombie apocalypse - being able to build a self-sufficient, fully-functioning large community-state that is secure and protected from zombies would probably occur at some point, but I would suspect that most of humanity's survivors wouldn't be included in it. So even if one or several are out there, Rick's group happens to be among a likely majority who - at this stage of the apocalypse, anyway - are still wandering.
One thing I've always wondered about the communities: given the rules established by WD, I would think that one of the first things any organized society would have to establish is some kind of fail-safe against their own mortalities. People are going to die at some point - some suddenly - and when they do, it won't matter how secure the exterior walls are. When they were in the jail, I thought that the best thing would be for everyone to sleep in a solitary cell locked from the outside. Kind of depressing, perhaps, but it would be a 100% guarantee against anybody who dies in their sleep. if you wake up and aren't a zombie, you simply unlock the door and join everybody else. If you happen to die before morning, however, you'll not have the intellectual or motor skills necessary to key the lock and get free. Your snarling would alert the living that you had perished, and you could be easily killed without risk - probably without even having to open the door.
In a non-prison environment, i think the best way to go would be to make it mandatory for people to latch their arm or leg to some kind of cuff attached to their bed before going to sleep at night. So even if you die in the night, you'd not be able to cause any harm to others. Couples would have to sleep in separate beds in order to guarantee their own safety from a deceased partner, but that seems like not too big a deal (frankly, any of the marrieds might even view it as something of a reprieve).
But, it seems like nobody in the WD universe is all that concerned about this. Maybe they're going to write something like this into an episode, and have everybody find out the hard way.
Last edited by Facelift; 03-03-2015 at 04:46 PM.
Definitely the fortress aspect is recycled however it appears that in this situation most of the occupants have never been outside the walls and judging from what I've seen it appears that with the exception of the fact they live behind a wall, daily life may not have changed much.Jerjo said:
For me, Alexandria feels like a recycled plot and maybe that's just my weariness with the show's concept talking. We keep lurching from scenario to scenario without anything changing. Every paradise gets overrun eventually, no one the group meets can be trusted, pretty soon the survivors are back on the road minus one or two semi-popular characters. I don't know if the comics are like this but I suspect they somewhat are. This has become just Gilligan's Island with the undead. If they ever get off the island the series ends. That ain't gonna happen until the ratings tank. I can be strung along for a few seasons but damn, this is getting old.
Duncan's going to make a Horns Emoticon!!!
Ironically, that's exactly how the show was pitched.
Anyone else think it was odd Darryl was still holding onto the dead possum when he was being videotaped?
I'm worried about the way they are portraying Daryl this 1/2 season, he really doesn't want to play anymore... I think he'll be knocked off soon.
Also, Michonne has moved into the Hershel/Dale role. Which is making her softer, rather than the warrior she used to be.
I sure did. I think the girl who "doesn't like Carl" knows something.......we'll find out what it is, soon enough. It's pretty clear Rick is willing to give it a chance, but also clear that if necessary they will take over. Based on what we've seen so far, our group's coup would be relatively easy to accomplish.
I guess they could, but I don't think that they would actually do this. It's not their style. If things get bad in Alexandria, they'll just leave, IMO. After all they've been through, stabbing your problems in the skull is probably just easier at this point than trying to enforce your will upon a large group of people.
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