Television

[Magician]

Television seems to have almost surpassed film as the medium for intelligent, provocative entertainment. I'd venture that the crap v. quality ratio is now better in television then in film.

Currently watching:
Sons of Anarchy

Eagerly awaiting:
LOST: The Final Season

Best Television of the Decade:
The Wire

Well worth watching:
Dexter
It's Always sunny in Philadelphia
The Office
Deadwood
The Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Mad Men

Magic Related:
Derren Brown's Mind Control
Penn & Teller's Bullshit

[Acid, Bitter and Sad]

eagerly awaiting Breaking Bad

[laughed]

24 .

[Aleks]

The attractive brunette from Lost was in the restaurant that I worked at the other day.

The actor Lochlyn Munro was in the restaurant as well.

This is at a small restaurant an hour away from Vancouver

[Faust]

Magician, what kind of fucking crack are you smoking? TV is one big sewer with a rare semi-precious stone stuck in it.

[endersgame]

/thread

[Magician]

Magician, what kind of fucking crack are you smoking? TV is one big sewer with a rare semi-precious stone stuck in it.

That was the state of television until recently but now it's really maturing as an art form. The serialized, long-form nature allows for subtle characterization and epic-ness in scope largely absent from contemporary film. Some of the best television even plays directly on television's campy, pulpy past (Battlestar Galactica)

I defy you to watch shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica, Six Feet Under, Mad Men or mini series like Band of Brothers and still make that statement. Even the lighter fare is outpacing cinema, I can't think of any recent film comedies that measure up to the perverse absurdism of It's always Sunny in Philadelphia or the good-natured suburban angst of The Office. Even Soutpark hides some truly biting social commentary underneath it's crude hilarity.

In an economic climate such as this television becomes a much more relevant entertainment option; free, legal, high-quality episodes on my laptop are going to be winning out against a ten dollar trip to my local theater. Also: hands down, I have not come across any drama (theater/film etc) more powerful then The Wire produced in the last ten years.

Television may not have an Orson Welles or a Hitchcock or a Bergman - but neither does film, at least nowdays. Meanwhile David Simon is tip-tapping at his keyboard while Polanski languishes in a California jail cell.

[Fuuma]

Magician, what kind of fucking crack are you smoking? TV is one big sewer with a rare semi-precious stone stuck in it.

American TV series have gotten really good while I can't say the same of their equivalent (mainstream American films). It's definitely not art but it is often well-crafted and engrossing genre.

I mean the wire, the shield, sons of anarchy, breaking bad etc all good.


Oh and...

Two good recent french series:

Pigalle la nuit
Braquo

[Fuuma]

That was the state of television until recently but now it's really maturing as an art form. The serialized, long-form nature allows for subtle characterization and epic-ness in scope largely absent from contemporary film. Some of the best television even plays directly on television's campy, pulpy past (Battlestar Galactica)

I defy you to watch shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica, Six Feet Under, Mad Men or mini series like Band of Brothers and still make that statement. Even the lighter fare is outpacing cinema, I can't think of any recent film comedies that measure up to the perverse absurdism of It's always Sunny in Philadelphia or the good-natured suburban angst of The Office. Even Soutpark hides some truly biting social commentary underneath it's crude hilarity.

In an economic climate such as this television becomes a much more relevant entertainment option; free, legal, high-quality episodes on my laptop are going to be winning out against a ten dollar trip to my local theater. Also: hands down, I have not come across any drama (theater/film etc) more powerful then The Wire produced in the last ten years.

Television may not have an Orson Welles or a Hitchcock or a Bergman - but neither does film, at least nowdays. Meanwhile David Simon is tip-tapping at his keyboard while Polanski languishes in a California jail cell.

Bergman made tv mini-series (think Fanny and Alexander). Hell Fassbinder, Lynch and Von Trier also did.

[Johnny]

eastenders is pretty good at the moment, and silent witness was really good tonight

[Faust]

Defy me to watch some shows?! Let's not get too serious here :-)

Mad Men is pretty good, I admit, but I've lost interest in the middle of the third season anyway. I watch an occasional episode of 30 Rock, and it's witty. Band of Brothers was great, but it was essentially a long film, and I saw it on DVD. As for the rest you've mentioned, I couldn't care less about Sopranos, and the rest I probably couldn't care to start watching. There is no way TV could ever measure up to cinema, if we are talking about serious taste. That's just absurd. For low-to-lower-middle-brow entertainment, Ok, sure, but personally I rarely have time or desire to be entertained that way unless I am really mind-numbingly tired. Even then I would much prefer something like the Daily Show. I only watch sports on TV, but I don't really consider it entertainment.

Now go read a book.

[galia]

Sons of anarchy is awful, you people ARE on crack

I mean, I like some series, but I can't take them too seriously. Breaking Bad might be an exception, but then I thought Oz also was and upon re-watching it I found it enjoyable but full of weaknesses and too obvious, so time will tell

I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of Lost or 24 though. Too much ridiculous taking itself seriously

[Fuuma]

Defy me to watch some shows?! Let's not get too serious here :-)

Mad Men is pretty good, I admit, but I've lost interest in the middle of the third season anyway. I watch an occasional episode of 30 Rock, and it's witty. Band of Brothers was great, but it was essentially a long film, and I saw it on DVD. As for the rest you've mentioned, I couldn't care less about Sopranos, and the rest I probably couldn't care to start watching. There is no way TV could ever measure up to cinema, if we are talking about serious taste. That's just absurd. For low-to-lower-middle-brow entertainment, Ok, sure, but personally I rarely have time or desire to be entertained that way unless I am really mind-numbingly tired. Even then I would much prefer something like the Daily Show. I only watch sports on TV, but I don't really consider it entertainment.

Now go read a book.

The Wire is an utterly brilliant piece of sociological commentary and takes full advantage of the medium. It is novelistic in the way that it sustains storylines over the course of the entire series and not from episode to episode.

I used to be like you and couldn't bear to watch TV series, very few exceptions aside (say the prisoner).

[Fuuma]

Sons of anarchy is awful, you people ARE on crack

I mean, I like some series, but I can't take them too seriously. Breaking Bad might be an exception, but then I thought Oz also was and upon re-watching it I found it enjoyable but full of weaknesses and too obvious, so time will tell

I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of Lost or 24 though. Too much ridiculous taking itself seriously

I don't watch lost and couldn't finish the second season of 24, boring and stupid show.

Regarde Braquo c'est marrant, dialogue en papier mâché façon polar série noire et atmosphère torturée. Ça me rapelle les publicités de "Brut" à l'endos. C'est vraiment du genre mais tout à fait consommable.

[laughed]

I don't watch lost and couldn't finish the second season of 24, boring and stupid show.

Regarde Braquo c'est marrant, dialogue en papier mâché façon polar série noire et atmosphère torturée. Ça me rapelle les publicités de "Brut" à l'endos. C'est vraiment du genre mais tout à fait consommable.

The only reason why I like it is Kiefer. He used to go to a hole in the wall bar I used to go to and he was a really nice guy. And let's just say, dude could party. Saw him on Letterman last night, obviously still the same ol Kiefer. Plus I always liked him since growing up on The Lost Boys and him yelling "You're dead meeeeaaatt!!!!"

One thing I sure as heck don't watch are comedies. My brother and multiple friends tried to get me into It's Always Sunny... I watched like 5 minutes. Not my thing. The last time I watched a sitcom was obviously Seinfeld, and even then I have to agree, TV is a waste, I would much rather waste my time elsewhere - like here.

Downloaded some Japanese tv - Oh Mikey! now that's some tv.

[reborn]

That was the state of television until recently but now it's really maturing as an art form. The serialized, long-form nature allows for subtle characterization and epic-ness in scope largely absent from contemporary film. Some of the best television even plays directly on television's campy, pulpy past (Battlestar Galactica)

I defy you to watch shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica, Six Feet Under, Mad Men or mini series like Band of Brothers and still make that statement. Even the lighter fare is outpacing cinema, I can't think of any recent film comedies that measure up to the perverse absurdism of It's always Sunny in Philadelphia or the good-natured suburban angst of The Office. Even Soutpark hides some truly biting social commentary underneath it's crude hilarity.

In an economic climate such as this television becomes a much more relevant entertainment option; free, legal, high-quality episodes on my laptop are going to be winning out against a ten dollar trip to my local theater. Also: hands down, I have not come across any drama (theater/film etc) more powerful then The Wire produced in the last ten years.

Television may not have an Orson Welles or a Hitchcock or a Bergman - but neither does film, at least nowdays. Meanwhile David Simon is tip-tapping at his keyboard while Polanski languishes in a California jail cell.

5 words keep television in general from being good: Keeping up with the Kardashians.

for every good bit of content intended for television, there are at least a few dozen crappy fill in the void shows. I am not sure you can say the same for cinema...the main reason, economy of production.

Even if a movie sucks, it'll still be made because there's an audience and the possibility of recouping production costs. in the case of television, it's crap but let's try airing it before "are you smarter than a fifth grader."

[Fade to Black]

Sons of anarchy is awful, you people ARE on crack

I mean, I like some series, but I can't take them too seriously. Breaking Bad might be an exception, but then I thought Oz also was and upon re-watching it I found it enjoyable but full of weaknesses and too obvious, so time will tell

I can't for the life of me understand the appeal of Lost or 24 though. Too much ridiculous taking itself seriously

Yeah OZ didn't age very well. That was my favorite show in high school. Is it just me, or does something about the chiaroscuro of late 90s-early 00s visual stuff date really badly? I enjoy watching things from the 80s up to even the early 90s, but somewhere around 98 to 2002 doesn't sit so well.

I've only watched through season 1 of Breaking Bad, I thought it was excellent so far, but it didn't strike me as a premise that could last for many seasons. Then again I haven't checked out Season 2, so I have no idea where the writers took that show.

[DRRRK]

I wacht around 700 films per year and I still find some tv shows extremely good.

When do you sleep?

[lowrey]

I admit to watching quite a bit of television but certainly not because it would be any sort of an art form to me, I think its just good, no-brainer entertainment.

from comedies, the only one I can think of watching regularly is 30 Rock. I like The Office but not always. I tend to watch pretty random episodes of inane crime shows like CSI, Criminal Minds etc. The Wire is good, but they used to show it here at like 2am so I only watched it very occasionally. Lost and some of the other mega popular shows haven't really caight me.

[dolochov]

When do you sleep?

just wanted to ask the same question. that'd be 2 films per day, what i'd love to do as well but won't fit in my time schedule because of other hobbys.

the only tv series i watch regulary is lost since i quite like the storyline with its depiction of hidden secrets and chimerical mystery, things that i loved to fathom as a child, which allows me overlook the sometimes uninspired characters and the seemingly forced story turns.

oh, am i sometimes watch family guy. stewie and brian are the most hilarious comedy duo in tv history.