What have you been watching? - 7/25/2013

[Dave Gray]

I've been watching two TV shows lately.

1) Star Trek: The Next Generation.  I have watched selected episodes of the first 2 seasons to get a base and now I'm watching episode by episode, starting with season 3.  I'm about halfway through the season and people are correct.  It's way better than the beginning.  I want to move on to the other Star Treks, as well, but feel like I should finish this out before I try new things.  There's a lot left to watch, though.  It could take me years.

2) Orange is the New Black.  This is a Netflix original series about a woman who goes to prison for something she had done 10 years earlier.  Now someone who shops at Whole Foods and watches Man Men is leaving her fiance to go to a women's prison.  It's drama + comedy, similar in style to Weeds.  I'm 4 episodes in and enjoying it a lot.

[Sunstroke]

Been watching a bit more TV lately, mainly on Netflix. I've been focusing on catching up on two shows whose main male characters were the leads in older Joss Whedon offerings. Castle, starring Nathan Fillion (oF Firefly fame) and Bones, starring David Boreanaz (of Angel fame). I really like both shows to this point, and am particularly enjoying the acting of Fillion and Boreanaz.

Bones: Extremely excellent supporting cast work, and the interpersonal relationships between the characters (an area that, in many past shows, has turned me off) is really good. Nice short-term plot lines with several excellent extended plots (like The Gravedigger). I sometimes get a little tired of the female lead (Emily Deschanel) and her perpetual science-speak, but the rest of the show makes up for it.

Castle: Not quite the impressiveness of the supporting cast as Bones, but the relationship between Castle and Beckett (played by the yummy, yet believably detectivish Stana Katic) is pretty awesome, and I find it is easy to relate to the novelist character of Fillion. Plus, the manly sarcasm that Fillion displayed as Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly really blossoms in this show.

I also watched the one aborted season of Primeval: New World. It was meh at best, though I liked some of the dinosaur effects.

[pondwater]

Pretty much just been waiting for the Walking Dead and Impractical Jokers new seasons to start. TV is pretty much shit these days. The older I get, the shittier it gets. I guess it's not TV, it's me, haha.

[Dave Gray]

^ I totally disagree.  TV is far and away better than it's ever been.  What are you talking about???  These shows are getting to the point where they rival movie quality.

[Sunstroke]

^^^ Gotta agree with Dave on this one...to me, it seems like TV is currently riding a high wave.

There's obviously some low points (here's looking at your fat mug, Honey Boo Boo), but overall, I think the number of high quality shows is very good right now.

[Fau Teixeira]

We recently moved houses and with that move we had to change cable providers. we went from Uverse to DirectTV so I took the opportunity to decide what shows to record and watch.

We've been watching the newsroom (which i really like) and we've been watching Franklin and Bash

[bsfins]

I don't have a DVR..So I watch most stuff new,or west repeats...

- Lot's of Baseball,mostly bad Cubs baseball...
- Naked and Afraid- I liked the 4 episode mini series naked castaway,then saw this advertised.I find that I am strangely fascinated by it,and how the people react to things happening to them...
- Bang goes the theory
- Top gear
- Wheeler dealers
- Ice road truckers,but I missed most of the season (I didn't realize it had started up)What I've seen so far this year seems like it sucks ass...
- Mysteries at the museum reruns
- Monumental mysteries
- Carson on TCM -Old interviews from the Tonight show with Johhny Carson..I'm loving seeing these from the smoking on the set,to the stuff on the set,to what they talk about...
- Royal Pains -It was fine when it was about medical stuff,the spy secretive Boris stuff...Jumping the shark stuff IMO...
- Shipping wars on occasion

I just got HBO back this month,because I was bored...
-Real Sorts with Bryant Gumbel
-Real time with Bill Maher

Waiting for the return of Face off August 13th....And Duck dynasty

A lot of stuff is now in rerun semi-recently
Graham Norton show
River Monsters
Mythbusters

[Phishfan]

I am also watching the Newsroom. It is from Aaron Sorkin and has a similar feel to how the West Wing was done if you liked that.

Other shows on my list
Copper
Breaking Bad (just started watching as Sundance replayed it)
Ray Donnovan

[pondwater]

^ I totally disagree.  TV is far and away better than it's ever been.  What are you talking about???  These shows are getting to the point where they rival movie quality.

If you're talking about quality in a technical aspect, I would agree. However, if you are talking about quality as far as a content perspective, I would have to disagree. Just seem like there is no originality anymore. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and seen a bunch of shit and not much stands out to me these days. All the fake  scripted reality tv ain't helping. Like I said, it's probably me more than tv.

[Dave Gray]

There's a lot of bad TV, granted.  But there's more good TV that I can even fit in.

[Buddhagirl]

I just finished Orange is the New Black. Other than that I'm not really watching anything. (No cable.)

[bsfins]

Hey Phish,you mentioned Copper,did you watch Ripper street? I never watched Copper,but after seeing Ripper street, I thought it might like Copper.I think they are roughly set in the same time period,(I think they might use the same sets (or maybe set designer)) from watching the promos.A lot of stuff looks sort of familiar.

[Tenshot13]

Dexter
True Blood
Falling Skies
Under the Dome
America's Got Talent
Wilfred
Can't wait for Breaking Bad to come back in a few weeks!

[Thundergod]

All my favorite shows are on break til Sep./Oct. except for one, Mythbusters.

Other than that, catching up with The Deadliest Warrior and 1000 ways to die online. 

[bsmooth]

Copper
Sherlock Holmes
Luther
Justified
Castle
Just started Boardwalk Empire