Random TV Talk III - Do the Russell Coight

[No spoken words]

My DVR is not just grabbing a little Strange and Norrell for me, but, it's all over this too:

Deutschland 83 – SundanceTV

 

[U2inUtah]

Hmmm early reviews not looking so hot for True Detective Season 2.

I hope it's still worth watching. Season 1 was great

 

[lazarus]

My DVR is not just grabbing a little Strange and Norrell for me, but, it's all over this too:

Doucheland 83 – SundanceTV

I'll bet.

 

[No spoken words]

That wasn't nice.

 

[lazarus]

True Douchetective.

 

[Hewson]

That wasn't nice.

It could just be a term of endearment

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-mzyaqvmR8

 

[No spoken words]

True Douchetective.

Stop it Laz!

 

[corianderstem]

Oh lay off, Laz. GEEZ.

 

[lazarus]

Don't tell me what I can't do!!

 

[corianderstem]

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Definitely going to pass on True Detective as there's no reason anybody should bother given the reviews. Life is way too short to watch what is essentially another detective story and one with only a 61/100 on Metacritic to boot. We live in a world that now produces an overwhelming amount of great television, so there's no reason to stick with something just because it has the same name as something else that you liked.

The same metric can obviously be applied to future seasons of American Horror Story, Fargo and The Missing. There's merely branding and some tonal qualities in common between subsequent seasons, but otherwise, it's essentially a different series every time it returns to our screens.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

So, I figured I would try and group every pretty good-to-great drama currently on television on here into a few distinct categories and hopefully with the help of some other users we could get a go-to list going for each other and any passerbys. In particular, I want to answer the question of "Are there any shows as good as our dearly departed Mad Men?" when the answer is quite clearly an affirmative yes, even if people aren't exactly certain of what they are.

A: Television's Top Tier Dramas

- The Affair
- The Americans
- Better Call Saul
- Black Mirror
- The Fall
- Fargo
- Game of Thrones
- The Good Wife - for the record, I have never watched this
- Hannibal
- House of Cards
- The Knick
- Orange Is The New Black
- Rectify
- The Returned ("Les Revenants")
- Sherlock


This group ranges from clearly one of the best shows all-around right now (The Affair, The Americans, Rectify, etc.) to ones that are extremely impressive and do at least one aspect very well (The Knick's incredible directing by Soderbergh, for example, or House of Cards perfection as shallow popcorn fare).



B: Television's Next Batch

- Bloodline
- Broadchurch
- Call The Midwife
- Happy Valley - could be a Group A choice, I haven't investigated yet
- Manhattan
- Masters of Sex - could arguably be in Group A, imo
- The Missing
- Orphan Black - could argue for Group C given it's genre material, but Maslany's incredible performance elevates it. Probably was Top-Tier in Season 1.
- Outlander

This bunch includes shows that aren't quite there yet, may never quite be there or once were among the best and have dipped a bit in quality.



C: Well-Done Genre Shows (Mileage Will Vary)

- American Horror Story
- Daredevil - could rank much higher, I have yet to investigate this one
- Doctor Who
- Gotham
- Penny Dreadful
- Sleepy Hollow
- The Strain
- Vikings
- The Walking Dead

- Pretty self explanatory as your interest in the subject matter will have a much larger effect on whether or not you enjoy these shows. They're all currently flawed to an extent that I can't rank them much higher objectively. On a personal level, I could say I'm a big Doctor Who fan or think The Strain is perfect at what it does, but it wouldn't really be fair to these other programs in this group that people like for their own subjective reasoning whereas I can point out to specific reasons why something like Outlander is above the fray.


D: Network Television's Last Hurrah

- The Blacklist
- Empire (ew)
- Jane The Virgin
- Scandal

- Basically, anything left on the basic networks that gets a bit of favorable critical ink. Not much left here as cable has practically all of the gold nowadays. Do we even need this category for our discussion? Who has the time?


E: Incredibly Polarizing

- The Leftovers

- It certainly has its adherents.


F: Retirement Center

- Downton Abbey (watch Seasons 1-3)
- Homeland (watch Seasons 1-2)
- True Detective (watch Season 1)




Gun to my head, I'd say Rectify is the best drama on television with The Affair and The Knick not too far behind.

Game of Thrones is hovering around there as well, but they don't really do anything new on that ship rather than just keeping it chugging along at a high whereas these other shows all have to try harder to keep the wheels in motion. Although, GoT is soon going to be running on the strands of what they haven't already adapted and what chapters from Martin's next book they have read in full before plunging into an end-run that will consist of them having to flesh out mere sketches of what happens from now until the saga's conclusion. It could get messy.


Emmy nominations will certainly see a repeat of Mad Men (and its fifth win), Game of Thrones and House of Cards all taking up three of the six spots. Breaking Bad and True Detective aren't eligible this time around, for obvious reasons, so that will free up at least two more spots (possibly three if those doing the nominating come to their senses about Downton Abbey by this point). Orange Is The New Black is a guarantee now that they've been rightfully forced to switch categories due to a new rule change involving the length of these programs. I figure The Affair is also a lock given its praise and Golden Globe win. That either leaves one spot for a surprise (Saul? Americans? return of The Good Wife?) or an awful rubber-stamp for Downton.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

My Comedy Shortlist (i.e. Just What I Watch):


Sitcom:

Arrested Development (yes, it's coming back)
Broad City
Catastrophe
Doll & Em
Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (yes, it's coming back)
The Last Man On Earth
Louie
Man Seeking Woman
Moone Boy
Mozart in the Jungle
Please Like Me
Silicon Valley
Togetherness
Transparent
You're The Worst


Animation:

Adventure Time
Clarence
Bob's Burgers
Gravity Falls
Rick and Morty
The Simpsons


Parody:

Another Period (Downton, etc.)
A Touch of Cloth (cop shows, etc.)
Spoils Before Dying (uh...shitty novels/tv-miniseries?)


Sketch:

Almost Royal
Inside Amy Schumer
Key & Peele
Nathan For You





Highly Loved Currently But I'm Not That Into Them:

Fresh Off The Boat
Girls
Modern Family - nobody likes this anymore except for Emmy voters
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep

 

[Lancemc]

Broad City is the only thing on TV that matters

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Definitely going to pass on True Detective as there's no reason anybody should bother given the reviews. Life is way too short to watch what is essentially another detective story and one with only a 61/100 on Metacritic to boot. We live in a world that now produces an overwhelming amount of great television, so there's no reason to stick with something just because it has the same name as something else that you liked.

And the winner for pretentious post of the day goes to...

 

[corianderstem]

I'm going to give the new True Detective a try and decide for myself.

I liked but didn't love the first season, but want to see if I like this one better.

Also, I was losing interest in Orphan Black in a big way this season, but the last few episodes turned it around. yay.

 

[Lancemc]

True Detective S1 was fine, but I imagine much of what was appealing about it to me was owed to Cary Fukanaga and my understanding is he's not directing any of S2 so fuck it.

 

[No spoken words]

I am going to watch S2 of True Detective mostly because I love SoCal noir-ish stories, modern or more classic. We'll see how it goes.

Still need to start S3 of Orange is the New Black. And all the other shit I've mentioned the last week or so. And Sense8 at some point.

 

[corianderstem]

I finished Transparent last night, so now I can move on to S3 or Orange Is the New Black.

I don't have much I'm watching this summer, so maybe I can catch up on some shows I've been meaning to watch.

I wasn't going to re-up for Showtime to catch Masters of Sex this season (I thought last season was disappointing), but now that I've learned Josh Charles is on this season, I changed my mind.

 

[No spoken words]

I never started Masters of Sex but plan to eventually.

Current stuff that the DVR is grabbing is limited. Rectify will add to that when the new season starts. Really excited to watch Strange/Norrell now that I'm back home, really hoping I like it.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

And the winner for pretentious post of the day goes to...

I don't see how...just illustrating why I wouldn't bother watching it. If it didn't have the name "True Detective" and launched as a new series with these reviews there would be very little buzz surrounding it. Everyone's entitled to do whatever they like and I can't blame anyone who wants to watch the follow-up to one of last year's best programs.

 

[Lancemc]

Hannibal is still killing it this season

 

[No spoken words]

I'm 2 episodes behind on Hannibal, but sure did love watching L'Chiffre return to Europe in the season opener.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I don't see how...just illustrating why I wouldn't bother watching it. If it didn't have the name "True Detective" and launched as a new series with these reviews there would be very little buzz surrounding it. Everyone's entitled to do whatever they like and I can't blame anyone who wants to watch the follow-up to one of last year's best programs.

Maybe try, I don't know, watching an episode before deciding you don't like the new season? I know thats a crazy concept though so whatever...

 

[Lancemc]

who gives a shit who watches it for why or why not

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Silicon Valley kinda sucks.

 

[deep]

Documentaries often do.

tapatalk, it works

 

[lazarus]

Anyone still watching Orphan Black? This season was a mixed bag, with the whole "Castor" plotline yielding pretty weak results. But it finished strong (finale was this weekend) and Tatiana Maslany added yet another clone variation to her already impressive roster.

 

[No spoken words]

I am still watching, 2 episodes left before I'm finished with Season 3.

Have not loved the Castor plot line and the set for the army base or whatever it was was so weak and obviously fake that it took me out of the scenes occurring there sometimes.

I'm enjoying everything else, though, and looking forward to the last 2 episodes.

2 behind on Hannibal.

2 behind on Strange/Norrell, which includes the premiere.

Need to watch the Deutschland 83 premiere.

Need to watch the True Detective premiere.

Finished VEEP last night, god bless that show.

After I finish all this DVR stuff i'll turn my attention to S3 of OITNB and Sense 8. And maybe finally watch all of The Thick of It.

 

[corianderstem]

Anyone still watching Orphan Black? This season was a mixed bag, with the whole "Castor" plotline yielding pretty weak results. But it finished strong (finale was this weekend) and Tatiana Maslany added yet another clone variation to her already impressive roster.

Agreed. I was losing interest quickly this season, but the past few episodes picked it back up.