What was the last TV show you watched?

[Touchofevil]

Hippie ninja! lol lol

Half Round might just learn to finish things but likely not.

lol
Half Round > Short Round

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Vikings "Paris" episode. (this will soon end. 2 or 3 more episodes, and then I probably will not watch another season if it somehow gets picked up again).

1) can ANYONE tell me what the mass/ceremony meant with the iron masks? Paris is under siege? Paris is about to go to war? Another pointless ceremony thrown at the show rather than writing something worthwhile?

2) why are we spending so much time in Wessex, England, and now Paris? Isn't this show about vikings and that culture? I suppose when you're only plot devices are dishonest crap like Floki being made to seemingly, repeatedly betray Ragnar...and then resolved to be entirely loyal to Ragnar. And then repeat that with almost every primary character, every season, and with the same outcomes.

3) did anyone else laugh at that catwalk contraption the genius Floki was building, and then when they showed his final work, it was a bunch of floating ladders? Thank goodness for the costume people, because the rest of this show is created by sub-par simpletons.

4) why aren't we spending more time with the Bjorn and Porunn? What little time we do get with the vikings is now wasted on yet another subplot that they will surely underdevelop and neglect. What's her deal? Is she supposed to be yet another schizophrenic, conveniently inconsistent character? Why is she depressed? Because she got her ass kicked? Because of her face? Postpartum depression? Can we please go somewhere with this one damn thing???

5) why is King Ecbert hitting on his one-eared daughter-in-law?

6) what in the hell was that childish chant Floki led? Yes, the episode needed another goofy, and ultimately useless, ceremony. Blew me away how stupid that was.

I could ask another ten questions, because this show makes no sense to me at this point. Maybe I'm the dunce. Though last season ended up being the cheapest of drama, at least it was moving in a direction. This season strikes me as pointless and without direction at all. I'm confident they'll wrap it all up very nicely in the final twenty minutes, relying mostly on faith for us to buy into it all. One more drumming: it absolutely will not be because they earned the outcome or came about it in an honest manner.

 

[jamespowers]

lol
Half Round > Short Round

Yeah, he grew up after Indy.

 

[Touchofevil]

UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas. Some nice fights today.

 

[AmateisGal]

"The Blacklist."

I have to admit, I'm slightly disappointed in this season. I like the first season a lot better. It seemed tighter, more focused than this season.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas. Some nice fights today.

It came on at 10am here in HoosierLand ending at 4pm.

 

[Touchofevil]

It came on at 10am here in HoosierLand ending at 4pm.

The prelims started at 8:00 am here with the card ending around 1:00 pm. I am currently rewatching the main card. Howabout that Mendes?

 

[Fading Fast]

"The Blacklist."

I have to admit, I'm slightly disappointed in this season. I like the first season a lot better. It seemed tighter, more focused than this season.

I'm waiting for it to drop into Netflix. I really enjoyed the first season, so am disappointed to read your comment. It is one of the few network shows that seemed to be approaching cable TV shows like "Homeland," "True Detective" and "Orange is the New Black" in quality. Spader was (hopefully still is) absolutely killing it as "Red."

 

[dh66]

Wonder Woman......it had Linda Carter in a Wonder Woman costume fighting some nazis.
What else do you need to know?

 

[AmateisGal]

I'm waiting for it to drop into Netflix. I really enjoyed the first season, so am disappointed to read your comment. It is one of the few network shows that seemed to be approaching cable TV shows like "Homeland," "True Detective" and "Orange is the New Black" in quality. Spader was (hopefully still is) absolutely killing it as "Red."

Spader is still killing it as Red, so no worries there. However, I feel as though the show has lost its focus as far as a main focal point. The first season focused on Berlin and the organization around him. The second half of the second season (to save you spoilers) loses the focus of that and I think it suffers because of it. It's still good, don't get me wrong, but not as tightly plotted. (But I'm a writer, so I tend to judge a bit more harshly).

 

[Fading Fast]

Spader is still killing it as Red, so no worries there. However, I feel as though the show has lost its focus as far as a main focal point. The first season focused on Berlin and the organization around him. The second half of the second season (to save you spoilers) loses the focus of that and I think it suffers because of it. It's still good, don't get me wrong, but not as tightly plotted. (But I'm a writer, so I tend to judge a bit more harshly).

I've noticed with the better quality shows, "Boardwalk Empire," "Homeland," and "Downton Abbey," as examples, that they tend to have strong first seasons - as I think the original writers created a very thoughtful story arc for a season - then there is a lull in the second season as if someone said, "what, we were picked up for another season, oh, guess we have to throw a story line together," but then as the series goes on, the quality picks back up as they start planing things out for multiple seasons.

Having no inside-baseball knowledge of how TV really works, that's just my idiot viewer's sense of what happens.

Glad that Spader's still doing great - what a career revival.

 

[AmateisGal]

I've noticed with the better quality shows, "Boardwalk Empire," "Homeland," and "Downton Abbey," as examples, that they tend to have strong first seasons - as I think the original writers created a very thoughtful story arc for a season - then there is a lull in the second season as if someone said, "what, we were picked up for another season, oh, guess we have to throw a story line together," but then as the series goes on, the quality picks back up as they start planing things out for multiple seasons.

Having no inside-baseball knowledge of how TV really works, that's just my idiot viewer's sense of what happens.

Glad that Spader's still doing great - what a career revival.

I agree with you. "Downton Abbey" definitely had ups and downs with its seasons - I liked the first two, but the third gutted me (Sybil AND Matthew both dying did me in); I was pleasantly surprised at how well done the fifth season was, though I really got tired of the Anna/Bates storyline.

 

[Fading Fast]

I agree with you. "Downton Abbey" definitely had ups and downs with its seasons - I liked the first two, but the third gutted me (Sybil AND Matthew both dying did me in); I was pleasantly surprised at how well done the fifth season was, though I really got tired of the Anna/Bates storyline.

Trying to give new life to a tired cliche, they have beaten the Anna/Bates crime horse well past its death. Stop, it is painful for everyone - just stop. Thank God, most of the story lines are fresher and more thoughtful. I was very impressed that they gave Maggie Smith a real story arc - and a love story at that - this year instead of having her just deliver sniper-like put downs.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Throwing, potentially, a lifetime of ideas at a first season makes some sense. There's no way to know if it will be successful or if it will get picked up for another season, and they aren't one and the same. Some quality shows, with loyal fanbases, don't get picked up for second seasons. Writers and showrunners have to balance a tightrope between tossing everything they got at a first season and being prepared for a longer running series. It's yet another reason to marvel at the likes of Mad Men.

It is somewhat similar to musicians and their first album vs their second album. They have a lifetime to develop that first album. They've edited that material a thousand times. Every dream has been honed to a precision edge. They become successful, and then the record company wants another album in nine months. If they lived in a vacuum where fame, temptations, a new life, and the plethora of other distractions didn't come into play, they would still only have a short period to try to repeat something that took years to manifest. It's really what separates the artists from the players, and it is clear there aren't all that many artists.

 

[Fading Fast]

Throwing, potentially, a lifetime of ideas at a first season makes some sense. There's no way to know if it will be successful or if it will get picked up for another season, and they aren't one and the same. Some quality shows, with loyal fanbases, don't get picked up for second seasons. Writers and showrunners have to balance a tightrope between tossing everything they got at a first season and being prepared for a longer running series. It's yet another reason to marvel at the likes of Mad Men.

It is somewhat similar to musicians and their first album vs their second album. They have a lifetime to develop that first album. They've edited that material a thousand times. Every dream has been honed to a precision edge. They become successful, and then the record company wants another album in nine months. If they lived in a vacuum where fame, temptations, a new life, and the plethora of other distractions didn't come into play, they would still only have a short period to try to repeat something that took years to manifest. It's really what separates the artists from the players, and it is clear there aren't all that many artists.

All very good points.

 

[Touchofevil]

Vikings and a couple of episodes of Dig.

 

[AmateisGal]

All very good points.

Agreed.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Spader was (hopefully still is) absolutely killing it as "Red."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Spader is the only reason I'm still watching The Blacklist. In my opinion the show is a bit better than most, but without him it would have been just another run-of-the-mill police procedural that probably wouldn't have earned a second season.

 

[AmateisGal]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Spader is the only reason I'm still watching The Blacklist. In my opinion the show is a bit better than most, but without him it would have been just another run-of-the-mill police procedural that probably wouldn't have earned a second season.

Spader definitely gives the show its juice. It kept me on my toes the first season. But the second season...well, it's lost some of its thrill.

 

[Stearmen]

This Old House Hour & The Good Witch!