What was the last TV show you watched?

[Edward]

Over the season so far, my wife and I have had two occasions to re-wind to properly hear something Delaney had said, but this "mumbling" is something quite common.

To this day, and I am the son of a Scotswoman, I can't understand 60% of what "Chibs" is saying on Sons of Anarchy. Tom Flannagan's from Glasgow, my mum was from Paisley.

it's not the accent, it's the mumbling. And we have a 100 watt sound system, so it's not a volume thing.

Heh. Chibs is one of the more intelligible characters for me, but then the Glasgow dialect isn't, as a rule, all that far away from my own, and I did spend a lot of time travelling over to Scotland over the years. I've not noticved a mumbling issue with Taboo, but I remember there being a huge hoo hah about it with the Beeb's Jamaica Inn a couple of years ago. (Never watched it myself, so I don't know what it was like).

 

[MisterCairo]

the Glasgow dialect isn't, as a rule, all that far away from my own,

I know someone who needs subtitles to watch Hamish Macbeth. To me, it's like they're speaking the Queen's.

I guess it's all in how the listener receives it. And how the speaker delivers it!

 

[AmateisGal]

That show was a gem. Plots were a bit of a made up mess, but who cares, it was all about the characters (and wonderful period sets and details).

I know after the series ended, they came back and did a few follow up episodes that, at the time, they indicated they might do again. Does anyone know if new episodes have been or will be shot?

I'm not sure if they're planning to make anymore episodes or not. I'll have to do some internet sleuthing.

I really do love this show. It's just utterly fantastic.

 

[Touchofevil]

Audio problems? We're watching it on a laptop , but no problem.... Is it a dialogue familiarity thing, I wonder.

I believe it is that, the crappy sound of new tvs, and the mumbling of Hardy.

 

[MisterCairo]

I believe it is that, the crappy sound of new tvs, and the mumbling of Hardy.

My wife seems to like the way he mumbles...

 

[Fading Fast]

My wife seems to like the way he mumbles...

My girlfriend seems to be okay with it to and even with the idea of him eating crackers in bed.

I'm never comfortable with the way she objectifies men like Hardy - it seems belittling to him.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Over the season so far, my wife and I have had two occasions to re-wind to properly hear something Delaney had said, but this "mumbling" is something quite common.

To this day, and I am the son of a Scotswoman, I can't understand 60% of what "Chibs" is saying on Sons of Anarchy. Tom Flannagan's from Glasgow, my mum was from Paisley.

it's not the accent, it's the mumbling. And we have a 100 watt sound system, so it's not a volume thing.

If user Edward goes back in this thread a few pages, to when we first started watching and talking about Taboo, they'll notice that most of us have also been talking about how screwed the audio is on this program. Most of us are experiencing this. It's certainly not the only program with mix and stereo channel problems. Some stations, like FX, have more consistent problems because they're either producing and/or broadcasting in 7.1 surround sound (or whatever the latest movie technology is). I noticed in when watching The Knick on Cinemax, but they also flash all the audio tech proprietary logos on the screen before the episodes start. It must be a selling point, or at least a bragging point for someone on the production team to be able to claim they're working on the cutting edge in their field.

It's a surround sound channel thing for sure because of the technology, but it's also a mix problem. When they're mixing the audio, the gain is too low on the vocals. Delaney could mumble all he wants if they would raise his channel in the mix. If they did, you wouldn't have to have a sound bar and 23 speakers in the room. It would still be advantageous to have all that gear, but it wouldn't darn near be necessary. They should offer this as an option.

You aren't going to run into these troubles watching The Big Bang Theory because CBS broadcasts in basic stereo (2 channels) and jacks the vocals in the mix. Everyone has two speakers in their TV, so they won't alienate anyone watching their programs. It appeals to the greatest numbers. Old school.

 

[Touchofevil]

My wife seems to like the way he mumbles...

I don't think that it is the mumbling she likes.

 

[Touchofevil]

My girlfriend seems to be okay with it to and even with the idea of him eating crackers in bed.

I hope that is where it ends.

 

[Stearmen]

A 1962 episode of Have Gun - Will Travel, "The Waiting Room." It's a mystery variation on 3:10 to Yuma, except that Paladin isn't tasked with finding a murderer. He's escorting a murderous criminal (James Griffith) to jail. Griffith's character, Dave Wilder, says he has lots of "family" who'll spring him and shoot Paladin in the bargain . . . and so Paladin must discover which of the people waiting for the train (an old Indian woman, a young cowboy, a dance-hall girl, the station agent, or a middle-aged black man) is Wilder's ally.

The clues are planted fairly, especially since the major clue is right in front of the viewer for more than 10 minutes of the 30-minute show!

 

[Stearmen]

The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The last three. He sure did go through them fast!

 

[MisterCairo]

The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The last three. He sure did go through them fast!

The last thing any woman of nobility wanted to hear from that king:

"NEXT"!

 

[Edward]

If user Edward goes back in this thread a few pages, to when we first started watching and talking about Taboo, they'll notice that most of us have also been talking about how screwed the audio is on this program. Most of us are experiencing this. It's certainly not the only program with mix and stereo channel problems. Some stations, like FX, have more consistent problems because they're either producing and/or broadcasting in 7.1 surround sound (or whatever the latest movie technology is). I noticed in when watching The Knick on Cinemax, but they also flash all the audio tech proprietary logos on the screen before the episodes start. It must be a selling point, or at least a bragging point for someone on the production team to be able to claim they're working on the cutting edge in their field.

Ahhh! That makes sense. Hadn't occurred to me it might be a difference in thed way it's being broadcast in the US compared to here....

I know all about issues with surround and stereo..... Until we finish the redecoration, we're just using my little portable TV. I bought it originally for the kitchen, then when my larger CRT died, I just switch over to using the 19" LCD. As it's only a little portable, with a DVD player built in, it's not designed to cope with a BD with multi channels, the upshot being that I can't hear the dialogue on a BD unless it has the option to switch to 2.0 sound. Won't be a problem in a few months, but it's frustrating for now. I gather there's an outboard conversion box I could buy to rectify that, but it would cost as much as a cheap set of surround speakers!

 

[Stearmen]

I rewatched the end of The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Interesting, that even though he used the Protestant Reclamation to get a divorce, he hated it, and tried to stamp it out in England! For all intense and purpose, he was a Catholic to his dying days!

 

[MisterCairo]

This week's Taboo, gosh what a great episode!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Timeless - I'm still enjoying it.

It's got just enough dramatic surprises, just enough decent production design in its historical settings, and a solid cast. And it's also - I'm not quite sure how to say this - in some ways a refreshingly old-fashioned network SF/drama series. At a time when "peak TV" is expanding in all kinds of challenging directions, there's some comfort to be found in an old-school TV show that doesn't require a lot of effort to watch. (E.g., I also watched the pilot for Legion last night. Fascinating, but it was downright exhausting to figure out what was actually going on.) I'm not claiming there aren't some clunky subplots, weak action sequences, varying acting, and assorted dramatic cheap shots. But I can't help but like a show that's partly trying to make history more palatable to the average viewer. And Abigail Spencer has long deserved this kind of juicy lead role.

Anyway, I'm enjoying Timeless enough that I really hope it gets renewed.

 

[Touchofevil]

Last night, Taboo. We are happily behind an episode since we are watching it on demand (less commercials). We are really enjoying this show.
Right now, The Andy Griffith Show. Always a nice way to start the day while drinking a cup of coffee.

 

[Fading Fast]

I believe it is that, the crappy sound of new tvs, and the mumbling of Hardy.

Article from today's WSJ on just this issue:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tv-is-hard-to-hearbut-you-can-fix-that-1487183404

It's a subscription site, so I'll also summarize:

1. New TVs (even the expensive ones) have terrible sound as the speakers are an afterthought (assumption is the TV will be hooked up to a sound system) - also, speakers tend not to face forward and instead sends the sound in the wrong direction (usually down or to the back)
2. Repositioning the TV so that the sound from the speakers reflects better into the room could help (my commentary "good luck with that")
3. Play around with the TV audio settings (might help, but see my commentary in point 2 above for my real opinion)
4. Buying a sound bar is the most direct and simple solution (full-on sound systems are more expensive and involved to install)
5. The Sonos sound bar - the one I bought - is noted as a very good, but not inexpensive, solution / less expensive sound bars mentioned were the Zvox AccuVoice AV2000 and Yamaha's AS-106 (if the Sonos last as long as I anticipate, the annualize cost of having great sound will be modest, but there is no getting around the upfront cost, but the other sound bar choices might be solve the problem for less money)
6. Wireless headsets can also solve the problem as most TVs are bluetooth capable today

 

[Touchofevil]

Article from today's WSJ on just this issue:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tv-is-hard-to-hearbut-you-can-fix-that-1487183404

It's a subscription site, so I'll also summarize:

1. New TVs (even the expensive ones) have terrible sound as the speakers are an afterthought (assumption is the TV will be hooked up to a sound system) - also, speakers tend not to face forward and instead sends the sound in the wrong direction (usually down or to the back)
2. Repositioning the TV so that the sound from the speakers reflects better into the room could help (my commentary "good luck with that")
3. Play around with the TV audio settings (might help, but see my commentary in point 2 above for my real opinion)
4. Buying a sound bar is the most direct and simple solution (full-on sound systems are more expensive and involved to install)
5. The Sonos sound bar - the one I bought - is noted as a very good, but not inexpensive, solution / less expensive sound bars mentioned were the Zvox AccuVoice AV2000 and Yamaha's AS-106 (if the Sonos last as long as I anticipate, the annualize cost of having great sound will be modest, but there is no getting around the upfront cost, but the other sound bar choices might be solve the problem for less money)
6. Wireless headsets can also solve the problem as most TVs are bluetooth capable today

Tried step 2, but that was a joke. Fortunately, we had a sound bar we had bought a few years back which solved the problem.

 

[Fading Fast]

Tried step 2, but that was a joke....

Hence my, "good luck with that" comment for step two as that sounded like hooey. Glad you had a sound bar around.