What was the last TV show you watched?

[Fading Fast]

Enjoyed watching something good for a change !
episode 3

Last year, I watched the entire 700 episodes over several weeks during my workout. An absolutely perfect way to enjoy it as it really helped pass the workout time by, but I didn't need to be as focused as I would with a new show or movie. And despite its almost over-the-top reverent style, I still enjoyed it greatly as baseball will always be America's great game. And I do respect that he showed much of the seedy side - it wasn't all rah-rah. Also, really interesting to see how the game has evolved both owing to skill changes and technology changes.

 

[Fading Fast]

Barrett-Jackson Live

Oh, to be wealthy.

Yesterday, walking down 1st Avenue (speed limit is theoretically 25mph, but most do 30 -40 when traffic allows), I saw a black Ferrari absolutely punch it from zero to some number well past 40mph: it sounded like the deep, baritone roar of a mighty beast (it echoed in the canyons of the buildings well after it had past) and flew by every other car (with some incredibly skilled in and out moves) as if they were standing still.

Incredibly arrogant, stupid and dangerous thing to do, but man did it feel good to just see that beyond-imressive machine open up and show just a little of what it can do without even really trying.

Every other car looked sad and enervated.

 

[Touchofevil]

Amen to that! Let's have some fun.... what wouldja git if money wuz no object???? Hmmmm???? Hennnh???? Hmmmmm????

Worf

Hmmmmm.....ummmm......uhhhhhh........that's gonna take some thought. I sure saw a few that woulda been fun. Hmmm mm .................

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

[video=youtube_share;PSOmrdKJzEE]http://youtu.be/PSOmrdKJzEE[/video]

Great new show on BBC 1.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AmateisGal]

The whole thing is written in the most simplistic way. I don't think there has been an interesting conversation yet. They barely have conversations. If you think about it, the characters don't really interact that much. If we could read a script, not a single interaction is probably longer than a half page, and you know how scripts aren't formatted for efficiency. I understand that we're talking about a simpler time and between the illiterate and/or working class a fair percentage of the time. I get the setting in all its period limitations, but at the same time, language was also rich and potentially, greatly profound in that same period. To go back to my drinking game about Ross and his horse, the show spends as much time on scenic views and the grandiose visual as it does dialog. I like the scenic views, and I also understand how important they are to the cadence and vibe of the show. It's not an either/or. Half-way or greater through the season, I'd like some meat in which to chew. Give me some greater substance. For instance, they've established that Ross is an empathetic, good, and true steward, but because they spend so little time on character interaction, I don't feel they did the work to establish his relationship with the prison boy (forgetting his name now). All of a sudden, without a lot of set-up, he and the doctor are breaking several laws to go see him, and then remove him? It's all quite romantic, but it didn't necessarily make a lot of sense from any perspective other than the humane one. To further that, the drinking binge? Why did it affect Ross so deeply? The entire program is playing out like a budget romance novel, not a good piece of literature. Maybe I'm dense for needing a handful of episodes to realize it, but to be honest, I didn't. I like the show, but I'm liking it less now that I feel it has established itself as what it is: a basic story with basic characters with basic language. Take away the beautiful technical side, and I think you'd be left with a program that could play at 1PM weekdays, and it wouldn't be one of the top ones at that.

*to put it more succinctly, this show is entirely trite.

I can understand this - to a point. I think it is incredibly hard to condense two novels into a seven-episode show. I do feel, though, that the did a great job in establishing the connection between Jim (the boy who they tried to rescue from prison) and Ross. Ross employed him, helped him resolve the issue with the pregnant girlfriend who became his wife, gave him and his wife a place to stay, and tried to keep him out of prison (the courtroom scene). Jim serves as a symbol of the lower class and how shabbily they're being treated, how the gentry relates to them, and how the gentry's policies affect them.

More dialogue? Sure. I'd love some meatier scenes. But again, when you have so much story to tell and are trying to be faithful to the books, you don't have the time to have ten-minute conversations on-screen. That's why you have to make the most of those scenes and the dialogue has to be absolutely integral to the story. I think they've done a brilliant job of doing that. It's like when I write a book: each scene and each snippet of dialogue has to further the story somehow, add to the plot, etc. I have to cut out extraneous stuff because it is just fluff and actually detracts from the story itself. The same could be said for Poldark. Each scene is necessary and vital to the story in some way.

I quite enjoy it, and don't feel that it's trite at all. I feel like they explore a lot of incredibly large issues: the role of women in the 18th century and really, how powerless they were to choose their own destiny in so many ways (example: Verity); what justice really means and how it is so different between the classes - a poor man poaches to feed his family and is sent to prison while a gentrified man who cheats at cards and basically steals people's money is allowed to get away with it; how one man can truly make a difference in the lives of many; how power and greed can corrupt absolutely (the Warleggan clan).

So, yeah. I think there are a TON of meaty issues here. We will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Stand By]

Agreed. Derek really is a wonderful program. I am glad to read someone else is watching it.

Oh, my girlfriend and I are Jones-ing to get to the next episode (Season 2, Ep. 2).
At the end of the last episode of Season 1, I tell you, I don't mind admitting that we both had tears running down our faces and I was a whisker away from bawling like a little girl! Sheer joy.
And THAT is the power of fine acting + good writing + finely developed characters that you develop an emotional response for (even though they aren't real). Brilliant television. Period.

And many could learn from it in this increasingly tawdry western world. It takes the focus away from the shallow and selfish Kardashian-esque Z-List "celebrities" and places it firmly on ordinary folk doing ordinary jobs in the community and leading very ordinary lives - and it's these so-called ordinary people who are there for us at the end when families are often not and when it matters the most and it teaches all the high value of simple kindness. It's a show that is as simple as it is refreshing and beautiful. It's truly inspiring and really makes me want to volunteer at our local rest home for the elderly …

 

[Feraud]

Agreed and I could not have said it better myself! Gervais gets bonus points for using his celebrity status to support animal rights. Success in life should be more than about what one pulls in. Giving back and using one's voice for the greater good is a trait we need to hold in high regard. Ok I'm off the soapbox now!

 

[Feraud]

Season 2 of Halt and Catch Fire has been very good. I am enjoying it more than s1.

 

[Stand By]

Agreed and I could not have said it better myself! Gervais gets bonus points for using his celebrity status to support animal rights. Success in life should be more than about what one pulls in. Giving back and using one's voice for the greater good is a trait we need to hold in high regard. Ok I'm off the soapbox now!

I agree. It also teaches/reminds us all to look differently - and more deeply - at those seemingly ordinary people around us (as everyone has a story - and the old look old on the outside but are often still young on the inside) …

And Ricky Gervais said it perfectly as Derek when he spoke of the pain he felt of his father having abandoned him as a child: "It's why animals are better and I like them. They don't leave their young. They stay and they fight if they have to - to protect. They wouldn't think of leaving". That got me. Bulls-Eye. Can't argue with that!

 

[Feraud]

Derek says more in an offhand comment than most characters on television who are trying to sound intelligent.

 

[Stand By]

Derek says more in an offhand comment than most characters on television who are trying to sound intelligent.

Precisely!

 

[Touchofevil]

The Strain and The Rockford Files

 

[1mach1]

The Strain and The Rockford Files

Nice!

 

[1mach1]

Impratical Jokers

 

[Touchofevil]

Impratical Jokers

Just the same thing I was going to post. Those guys are too funny. Murray on the scooter in the store had us rolling.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

UFC Unleashed &
UFC Tonight Special Edition
'Ronda Rousey'

 

[MisterCairo]

HBO documentary on Edward Snowden; we finally got our Italian satellite tv back working on ship!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I thought this season of Girls was its best yet.

I think I might have to agree. Solid throughout. Some truly brilliant scenes.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

UFC 190
coming up
HD

 

[Touchofevil]

The Luct-Desi Comedy Hour and UFC 190 preliminaries