What was the last TV show you watched?

[Zombie_61]

The final episode of Hell on Wheels. Somewhat lackluster, as I expected, but they brought a couple of things full circle and I thought the overall tone was a fitting way to end the show.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Last night the "Heroes & Icons" channel on basic cable started their All Star Trek routine: they claim they will run all the episodes of all 5 Star Trek TV series in order. Not 24 hours a day, but 1 ep from each series each day. They kicked it off with "The Man Trap," the first ST episode that aired in September 1966. I've seen it many times, but not with the modern effects, and not in quite a while. I can see why Roddenberry & Co. chose it as their premiere. All the basic elements of what we think of as "Star Trek" are there. Plus in those early episodes, they emphasized that the Enterprise was a big ship with lots of crew, and that like naval vessels today, it has established security routines (i.e., when Kirk orders "General Quarters," we see crewmen darting through the corridors and taking up their posts -- it's not only scenes of the bridge).

And when the ship passes the camera, we hear engine noise. Yes, Roddenberry's people knew we wouldn't hear that in space; but it conveys the impression of a BIG ship, and a powerful one.

Those who laugh at William Shatner as a ham should watch his first 5-6 outings as Kirk, before he and his directors began to let him off the leash. His Kirk is restrained and strong, with only a hint of humor -- a believable young ship captain.

 

[Worf]

After the season finale of Game of Thrones, Hubby and I started watching the entire show again from season 1, episode 1. I didn't watch all of it with him when he watched it the first time around, so watching it now is filling in a bunch of information for me that was missing before. We are on season2, episode 10 now. Thank goodness for OnDemand!!

Dagnabit! You succubussed me into doin' the same thing!!!! Watched all of Season One yesterday! I was a total schlub and lay on the couch the whole day! You're so right... I've picked up clues and hints of many things to come that we're embedded right from the start....

Worf

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Preacher. OK, this isn't just fun. It's the best thing on TV right now. Great characters. Good dialogue. Good story. Great technical work that is only surpassed by the brilliance of Mr.Robot, though they are like comparing a British roadster and a muscle car.

Hell on Wheels. Thank goodness that mess is over. The 10-minute deal with the cast talking about the show ending was a little strange, but that is apropos.

Ray Donovan. I'm not into this season. I don't care about Abby's cancer. Paula Malcomson is a good actress. Give her something compelling. I don't care about Mickey as a character at all. AT ALL. Bunchy's domestic problems aren't interesting or explored from a fresh perspective. Postpartum depression? Really? Did a Showtime bean counter tell the writers they needed women's issues? Bunchy has always been a weak, one-dimensional character. Conor playing with guns...we all know that won't end well, and that is already boring. Bridget's arc is only worthwhile because the actress is relatively decent. The boxer/incest/Lisa Bonet situation flops around in the background as filler. Lena, Avi, and Lena and Avi all have more potential than some of these other characters.

 

[Babydoll]

Dagnabit! You succubussed me into doin' the same thing!!!! Watched all of Season One yesterday! I was a total schlub and lay on the couch the whole day! You're so right... I've picked up clues and hints of many things to come that we're embedded right from the start....

Worf

Oooh, so good! Lazing with Dany & Tyrion is never wrong! Keep up the exemplary work, sir!

 

[Touchofevil]

Preacher
Another episode and another forty or so minutes of a lot of fun. Great dialogue, great characters, great acting, great directing, great show. A shame that the season is almost over.

 

[Touchofevil]

Fast N' Loud and Misfit Garage
The cars, Aaron, and Tom: The Good
The scripted drama and lame delivery of everyone else: The Bad

 

[DNO]

I'm not a car buff but anytime I stray onto the show Restoration Garage while I'm surfing the channels I can't resist watching. In what other show can you watch them restoring a 1931 La Salle, a mid-sixties Jaguar E-type and a limo built for George VI all in one episode? I don't know if it's aired south of the border or not. The firm is located in a smallish town just north of Toronto and the vehicles they work on are amazing.

 

[Touchofevil]

Overhaulin'

 

[Stearmen]

Hell Below: Hitler's Revenge.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The original Star Trek 2nd pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before": Shatner's first outing as Kirk. It's one of his very best, with suspense, creepiness, good dialogue ("In a month, [Mitchell] will have as much in common with us as we'd have with a shipful of white mice"), and a real life-or-death decision for Kirk to make.

Right behind it H & I ran the second ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a sloppy retake on the Original Series episode "The Naked Time." The 1966 one (which will be on tonight, Wednesday) had real suspense and steadily built one problem on top of another to a "Wow!" climax. The 1987 sequel/remake at least refers to the earlier story, as it was part of Federation history. But the newer story ends up being unconvincing, and I'm still not sure if they intended some scenes to be funny or not. I imagine Gene Roddenberry telling the crew, "We'd better improve on stuff like this or we won't last 13 weeks!"

Fortunately, they did improve -- and tremendously.

 

[1mach1]

Match Game '76

 

[Stearmen]

Phantom Works.

 

[Fading Fast]

The original Star Trek 2nd pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before": Shatner's first outing as Kirk. It's one of his very best, with suspense, creepiness, good dialogue ("In a month, [Mitchell] will have as much in common with us as we'd have with a shipful of white mice"), and a real life-or-death decision for Kirk to make.

Right behind it H & I ran the second ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a sloppy retake on the Original Series episode "The Naked Time." The 1966 one (which will be on tonight, Wednesday) had real suspense and steadily built one problem on top of another to a "Wow!" climax. The 1987 sequel/remake at least refers to the earlier story, as it was part of Federation history. But the newer story ends up being unconvincing, and I'm still not sure if they intended some scenes to be funny or not. I imagine Gene Roddenberry telling the crew, "We'd better improve on stuff like this or we won't last 13 weeks!"

Fortunately, they did improve -- and tremendously.

Because of your comments, I just watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before," for the first time in a long time. Yup, not subtly, but it dove right into the "big" philosophical questions: man versus God, absolutely power - absolute corruption, compassion as part of humanity, knowledge needing wisdom.

All this came at you fast and furiously as Kirk - as Kirk always does - fires everything (physical and mental weapons) in his arsenal to survive. Say what you will for Shatner, you can see and feel him thinking, looking for any button to push, any higher ground to gain to survive. It's heavy handed, but works as his and the writers' passion draw you in. When time permits, I'm on to "The Naked Time." (The next episode you noted - stop thinking anything else.)

 

[Doctor Strange]

Plenty of great episodes in the first season. Unlike TNG, the original series didn't require a season and a half to find itself, it hit the ground running. In fact, the majority of the series finest episodes aired in the first season.

That said, there is a distinct settling in after the first half-dozen episodes or so made: one of my friends used to refer to "that Forbidden Planet tang" of the early episodes, which feel more like 50s sci-fi than classic Trek after it hit its stride. (And of course, Trek owed plenty to Forbo Planet - paramilitary space cruiser setup, fairly intellectual plot, visiting a colonized planet with odd goings on, a giant leap forward in visual effects, and - most importantly - the captain/first officer/ship's doctor triumvirate of heroes. Heck, in "The Menagerie" they literally refer to Talos IV as "the only forbidden planet in the system"!)

 

[Touchofevil]

Barney Miller
It's been a long time. I really liked
The show when I was a kid.

The seventies sure were ugly.

 

[Fading Fast]

Barney Miller
It's been a long time. I really liked
The show when I was a kid.

The seventies sure were ugly.

Even though not my personal taste, the early hippies / flower child / counter culture '60s style - clothes, hair, jewelry - had a fresh spirit to it, a rawness to it, a honest breaking-of-windows feels to it powered by joy, youth, energy, rebellion. It might not be your taste, but you could feel that something was, to steal a line, happening here. By the seventies, that was all gone and we were left with polyester, wide lapels, bad hair, crazy colors and no cohesion - it was all over the map and the entire map was ugly.

 

[Touchofevil]

Even though not my personal taste, the early hippies / flower child / counter culture '60s style - clothes, hair, jewelry - had a fresh spirit to it, a rawness to it, a honest breaking-of-windows feels to it powered by joy, youth, energy, rebellion. It might not be your taste, but you could feel that something was, to steal a line, happening here. By the seventies, that was all gone and we were left with polyester, wide lapels, bad hair, crazy colors and no cohesion - it was all over the map and the entire map was ugly.

And then the infection continued on in to the eighties. The world has never recovered from the something which happened in the sixties. The seventies as a child was much nicer/kinder/better than it is today. That said, Barney Miller was fun to watch once again.

 

[Touchofevil]

A show that always delivers, a couple of episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.

 

[Stearmen]

bad hair, crazy colors and no cohesion - it was all over the map and the entire map was ugly.

Are you sure you're not talking about the 80s?