There's one for movies and one for music so I figured to start one for TV as it can be such a polarizing form of entertainment. I'll primarily post TV news I find out about (so maybe it's not so random), but also anything else I have to say. This could also be a good place to post about a TV show that doesn't have it's own thread. And if enough people talk about it then maybe a thread could evolve from here. Hell, even post your current or past favorite shows!
Showtime has virtually surpassed HBO with its original programming. HBO no longer has The Sopranos and only one season of The Wire left. Deadwood and Rome are long gone. And no more Extras. Its current on-goings at this point (that people actually watch) are Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage. I've never been a big CYE fan and Entourage (as most posters here will attest) has gone way down hill. I'm a fan of Flight of the Conchords but is it too niche for HBO? We'll have to see. John From Cincinnati was just too much of a trip and not enough of an actual show for most people. Tell Me You Love Me has been renewed for a 2nd season but besides "professional" reviewers, it is getting pretty bad reviews from the public and barely 1 million viewers tuning in. On the other hand Showtime is growing by leaps and bounds with its original programming. I never even had Showtime as part of my cable subscription until August. When Weeds first came on I was intrigued but ended up watching it on DVD. I waited until the 2nd season came out on DVD to watch it as well. But I loved each of them so much and each had such great cliff hangers I knew I couldn't wait another year to check out season 3 on DVD. So I ordered Showtime (plus, I was a little interested in David Duchovny's Californication). Even though I subscribed I had a few weeks until the new seasons of each started. But I have OnDemand so I started watching Dexter. Which has turned out to be phenomenal. And Brotherhood. Which, after one season, I am liking more than I ever did The Sopranos. I've heard plenty of good about The Tudors so it will be the next one for me to start watching. We'll see what happens going forward.
Oh, and maybe this will play a part in the future. David Simon (one of the creators of The Wire) is already working on his next show idea for HBO. It's about musicians trying to re-start their lives in New Orleans after Katrina. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXVKOKi-B-NB6dCUZZ-8Gu1_15xwD8S9APC80
I think that "Dexter" is the first Showtime show that could have made it on HBO. "Weeds" is entertaining but is uneven and doesn't touch the best of "Curb Your Enthusiasm". (That being said, "Weeds" right now is better than "Curb Your Enthusiasm".) I enjoy "Californication" but I'm not sure that it's much different than "Entourage". Both shows offer a male-centric view of life in California, a fantasy. I enjoy both shows, but I understand my wife's complaints about each. The thing missing on HBO right now is the hit show. "Tell Me You Love Me" is an uncomfortably realistic and excellent show, but it's appeal will never be more than niche. The best show on television is not a breakout hit. "Rome" and "Deadwood" were never hits. Maybe HBO does not want to create another series with wide appeal, but what strategy is that? ('Let's get rid of some of these pesky subscribers.') I think that gap has narrowed but HBO still can ride the cache of it's past hits ("The Sopranos", "Six Feet Under" and "Sex and the City") and it still has the best show on television. However, if HBO doesn't develop something for 2008 then their advantage may be gone. For the record, "The Tudors" was very disappointing. Even between my DVR and OnDemand, I couldn't finish the first season.
Must see tv: 1) Lonesome Dove 2) The Wire 3) Best of Youth (Italian) Honorable mentions 1) All in the Family 2) Homicide All the rest: You should have been watching movies or reading a good book.
My random thought about TV is that I like it much more on Netflix. Like I want to wait until Thursday to see a show...
One show that had good buzz on the pilot but did not get picked up by CBS for the fall and may or may not become a mid-season replacement is Babylon Fields. It's a zombie show where the dead don't just run about moaning about brains and trying to eat people. They try to go back to their old lives with family, etc. The big name for the show is Ray Stevenson, known to you TV fans as Pulo from Rome. Here are 3 clips from the pilot: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid824731283?bctid=1243629413 http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid824731283?bctid=1243715064 http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid824731283?bctid=1243715065 This is a show I would definitely be interested in and watching if it was aired.
Along with the Star Wars animated TV series, George Lucas announced they have just begun work (vetting writers primarily) on a live-action Star Wars TV show. http://tv.yahoo.com/contributor/294...4__ER:75764;_ylt=AgCY0HoqyzQ9gyA7VSWoAMr6o9EF It is not about the characters we know from the movies.
I am annoyed by a surprising number of TV character actors. For example, Doris Roberts pisses me off like a Suzy Homemaker commercial.
New writers? That should give us hope. This might be great. Some of the expanded Star Wars universe (novels and games) has been very well done. Some of it hasn't.
Thanks for posting. That sounds like it will be really interesting. I've seen short news stories here and there about this subject, but a series would be wonderful. When it comes to things involving New Orleans, television needs more Harry Shearer.
First cancelled new show of the season is: Viva Laughlin by CBS! No surprise there. It lasted just 2 episodes. One followed CSI last Thursday and then one in it's regularly scheduled spot on Sunday night. CBS already has a winning filler though with the next season of The Amazing Race in the can and ready to air in two weeks. And the first new half-hour sitcom to get a full season order is: The Big Bang Theory by CBS! It's drawing good ratings in its Monday night line-up with the other 3 sitcoms CBS airs. Nothing great by any means but it definitely has some funny moments revolving around its geeks.
So, out of curiosity, I watched one episode of the Cavemen show. I expected it to be horrible. It was pretty damn funny.
Well, I would rephrase that to say "the vast majority of television sucks." My favorite show is the History Channel's Modern Marvels. Learn something new every time I watch it. Basically my TV watching consists of House, (though I fear that is running out of steam now), CSPAN, the EPL on Fox Soccer Channel, NOVA, Frontline. The Frontline program on Iran was pretty good I thought. I may watch Charlie Rose if he has his science panels, but that's purely by accident. You can always catch up on them with Google video. I'll channel surf the NFL games, but often I will just catch highlights. I will watch most of the World Series. I used to watch the Sunday morning news shows, but I just check RealClear Politics for info there. I used to have the business channel on during the day while I worked, but now that I don't trade actively much anymore, it's simply not worth it.
Over the course of the last four years, I've watched less and less TV, and the only things worth watching are Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galagtica, and South Park. (before that the list included The Sopranos as well) I'll tune in to Lost and Heroes occasionally but they're not worthwhile investments like the aforementioned shows. There is a small percentage of quality TV, but the majority of it just flat out sucks.
I don't think amount of quality TV has changed. It just seems proportionally smaller compared to the growing quantity of having 250+ channels. I mean could you name more than four TV shows that were great ten years ago? Q
Let's see... ten years ago I would have been making time in my schedule for: The X-Files ER Buffy Seinfeld South Park the Simpsons Star Trek: Voyager Law & Order [was still fresh and fun to watch] News Radio
I sometimes wonder what the impact of multiple TVs in one household has been on the nature of television shows. Have shows become more specialized as producers realize that they don't have to please an entire family sitting in front of one set anymore? Actually, I don't sometimes wonder this. I've only wondered it just this once.
Basically, these days, I have almost no time left in my day for television, and what I've found is that the less I watch, the more I realize how much I hate what's on. The vast majority of television isn't good; it's just good enough. But my greater gripe regards the entertainment programming. In short, there is no form or art or entertainment--not books, not movies, not drama, not dance, not anything--that is as utterly compromised, market-tested, and popularity-based as television. Even a show as fantastic as The Sopranos had entire seasons that failed, because the drama is never permitted to follow its natural narrative arc. The show continues as long as people keep watching it. We rent BBC mysteries sometimes, and we watch the Friday News Hour and some soccer. I sometimes pop on CNBC for a few minutes. That's pretty much it these days.
The X-Files (Lost or Heroes) ER (Grey's Anatomy) Buffy (I don't know, Bionic Woman?) Seinfeld (The Office) South Park (still good) the Simpsons (Adult Swim) Star Trek: Voyager (there is some show on SciFi that people here love) Law & Order [was still fresh and fun to watch] (take your pick of crime procedural) News Radio (30 Rock) The shows to the right are of roughly similar quality to your list. My point being that there is still quality TV out there, it may be a little harder to find now that we are sorting through 200 more channels. Or I could argue from the other direction, that TV sucked 10 years ago too. Q TV I'm enjoying now: The Colbert Report The Daily Show South Park The Office House Bones How I Met Your Mother Lost The Boondocks