What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]

[Jayjay]

Technically, almost none of us would exist without Hitler. No WW2 would mean that people would be in slightly different places, thus meaning everyone's parents would have conceived their children at different times, and with different combination of genetic material. So when you go back in time to kill hitler, be prepared to return to a world where nobody knows you.

 

[Shadowy Man]

My one goal in life is to invent a machine that can send me to an alternate reality where Firefly ran a full series arc... and shown in its original order.

yes yes yes, can I hitchhike along?

Or at the very least we could have someone hand over the DVDs of the full run of Firefly from this alternative reality, Man in the High Castle style.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Technically, almost none of us would exist without Hitler. No WW2 would mean that people would be in slightly different places, thus meaning everyone's parents would have conceived their children at different times, and with different combination of genetic material. So when you go back in time to kill hitler, be prepared to return to a world where nobody knows you.

Or appreciates what you did. Because nuclear weapons were still developed and then used in large numbers in a war that wiped out 70% of the Northern Hemisphere's population.

 

[Opoponax]

American Gods

I never finished reading the book. It started out promising, but then plodded on through things that should've been cool, but just weren't. However, the TV show so far is better than the book. I think it's primarily due to the actor who plays the lead character, Shadow Moon. In the book, Shadow starts off as interesting character but then jello-fies into a lump that's too dim to react appropriately to all the weird shit going on around him. Either that or he has the emotional repertoire of a rock. But the guy who plays Shadow Moon in the TV series actually reacts as you would expect him to.

Also, the characters are really brought to life in a way the book just didn't.

The story is about how the old gods are fading away and need to wage war on the new gods taking over the world, which in this case is technology. It's a really cool idea that was dully executed in the book, but is really brought to life in this series. Only two episodes in but:

8/10

 

[Shadowy Man]

American Gods

I never finished reading the book. It started out promising, but then plodded on through things that should've been cool, but just weren't. However, the TV show so far is better than the book. I think it's primarily due to the actor who plays the lead character, Shadow Moon. In the book, Shadow starts off as interesting character but then jello-fies into a lump that's too dim to react appropriately to all the weird shit going on around him. Either that or he has the emotional repertoire of a rock. But the guy who plays Shadow Moon in the TV series actually reacts as you would expect him to.

Also, the characters are really brought to life in a way the book just didn't.

The story is about how the old gods are fading away and need to wage war on the new gods taking over the world, which in this case is technology. It's a really cool idea that was dully executed in the book, but is really brought to life in this series. Only two episodes in but:

8/10

I read the book so long ago I don't remember it. I'll likely try out the series.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

Supersized vs Superskinny, cuz I lie punishing my fat-ass while reminding myself of the benefit of a shorter existence, heh heh.

 

[Jayjay]

Grimm, seasons 1-4.

Pretty boring monster-of-the-week show. The premise is that every other guy in Portland is secretly a half-animal like a werewolf, werepig, wererat, werewhatever, and the protagonist finds out because he's a "Grimm" who hunts them down. He's also a cop so the formula ends up being that every week there is some mysterious killing and he and his werewolf buddy and other friends investigate. The stories at first take their inspiration from Grimm fairy tales, but shortly they run out of material so they pick up stuff from other mythologies and cliches. There is also a backstory involving a hidden conspiracy and something about miraculous super-babies. The gimmick is actually pretty original, but the execution is dull and formulaic. The cast of characters, apart from the wolf-man played by Silas Weir Mitchell, best known for playing Haywire in Prison Break and who really saves this show as well, have no charisma whatsoever. The plot twists in the backstory make no sense, and characters keep dying and coming back to life and changing personalities with no rhyme or reason. This would work so much better as a sitcom following the werewolf Monroe and his adventures.

 

[Sarpedon]

Star Wars: the Clone Wars, season 2.

Because I like Star Wars Rebels so much, I reluctantly started watching the Clone Wars series. Season one was poor. I found neither the characters compellingly portrayed, the animation good, nor the plots of the episodes well written. I hoped that Season 2 would be an improvement in the same way that Rebels season 2 was better than season 1. I was not disappointed. The animation is around 10 times better, and plot and character around 4 times better. I just got finished watching an episode that was a homage to WW2 submarine movies. I'd give this season a 7/10, while the last season is about a 3/10.

 

[TSwizzle]

Extras, 9/10; Stars Ricky Gervais as a struggling actor doing work as an extra on movies. It's laugh out loud funny. I've seen it before but it is available on Netflix and thought I'd give it another go. The episode with Kate Winslet really did have me chuckling as she tries to give Maggie advice on how to talk dirty to her boyfriend.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Extras, 9/10; Stars Ricky Gervais as a struggling actor doing work as an extra on movies. It's laugh out loud funny. I've seen it before but it is available on Netflix and thought I'd give it another go. The episode with Kate Winslet really did have me chuckling as she tries to give Maggie advice on how to talk dirty to her boyfriend.

I enjoyed this show a lot. Have you seen the episode with Patrick Stewart yet?

 

[TSwizzle]

Extras, 9/10; Stars Ricky Gervais as a struggling actor doing work as an extra on movies. It's laugh out loud funny. I've seen it before but it is available on Netflix and thought I'd give it another go. The episode with Kate Winslet really did have me chuckling as she tries to give Maggie advice on how to talk dirty to her boyfriend.

I enjoyed this show a lot. Have you seen the episode with Patrick Stewart yet?

I haven't got to that one yet although I will have seen it when it aired originally on HBO. I was shocked to find out the series is from 2005 !

 

[TSwizzle]

Extras, 9/10; Stars Ricky Gervais as a struggling actor doing work as an extra on movies. It's laugh out loud funny. I've seen it before but it is available on Netflix and thought I'd give it another go. The episode with Kate Winslet really did have me chuckling as she tries to give Maggie advice on how to talk dirty to her boyfriend.

I enjoyed this show a lot. Have you seen the episode with Patrick Stewart yet?

Just watched it last night, very funny. "I've seen everything", cracked me up. It's quite interesting that Gervais was able to get so many A list type celebrities to appear on his show. Christ, he even managed to get "Barry from Eastenders" to be a regular.

 

[another1]

American Gods

I never finished reading the book. It started out promising, but then plodded on through things that should've been cool, but just weren't. However, the TV show so far is better than the book. I think it's primarily due to the actor who plays the lead character, Shadow Moon. In the book, Shadow starts off as interesting character but then jello-fies into a lump that's too dim to react appropriately to all the weird shit going on around him. Either that or he has the emotional repertoire of a rock. But the guy who plays Shadow Moon in the TV series actually reacts as you would expect him to.

Also, the characters are really brought to life in a way the book just didn't.

The story is about how the old gods are fading away and need to wage war on the new gods taking over the world, which in this case is technology. It's a really cool idea that was dully executed in the book, but is really brought to life in this series. Only two episodes in but:

8/10

The Bufotenin hallucination in Techboy's limousine was right on point. I was going to stop watching until I saw that. They visually reproduced EXACTLY what things are like when you lick one of those toads. The digital artifact effect... like a corrupted AVI file trying to play... they nailed it. Always thought things look a little digitalized when on Bufotenin, or whatever is in those frogs. Frog juice. He said he was smoking "synthetic toad skins" but the little frog inside the pipe didn't look like any psychoactive toad I've seen. Just there for show I guess. Still cool that they managed to show an actual hallucination as it is commonly seen. Hallucination scenes are never quite right. They did an awesome job. Still, why would a tech God be into entheogens? I'd think that would be part of some shamanic God's routine. Yet the whole show is completely psychedelic and beyond anything I've seen in that regard. Hard to take shows seriously when they turn the trippy dial up to 11. "But these go to 11" is their reasoning I suppose.

Oh and thank you for explaining what the show is about. I had no clue. The opening credits are a bad trip. I barely made it past those. I jump into these shows knowing nothing about them and sometimes it is more fun that way. But Jesus Christ this is a fucked up show. I believe that was the first fully erect penis I've seen on a network show. The fully erect penis of the man floating in space? See it? That was disgusting... but hey they show clits so why not show some cocks? Not a big fan of cocks on screen but I do like balance.

Which God is McShane? Forgive my ignorance but something tells me McShane will turn out to be real God. Like, the one Baptists worship. You know, the actual God. Wednesday mentioned "everyone needs Jesus" and it made me suspicious. I liked the comment about Americans having no identity because I feel that is true in some ways.

I'm glad to see McShane working on a show like this. It would probably suck without him. I was upset that he was only in one episode of 'Thrones. He belongs in King's Landing. Maybe even wildling territory. Can't go wrong with McShane no matter where he's at. That Whittle guy, I don't like him. I don't like his character Shadow Moon either. He is an oblivious asshole. No substance at all. Kinda muddled. Just doesn't react to things the way you'd think a person would. Maybe that is the point but screw Shadow Moon. I know I'd hate this book, now that you describe it. It sounds really, really dumb. If it was written in the past decade I have no respect for the author. I won't even look up his or her name. Screw that. If it was written in like 1975, yeah it is a pretty cool book. Still won't read it but yeah pretty neat (for the 70's)

 

[Shadowy Man]

I just finished the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I can say that although I lavished it with praise in my earlier posts, the ending was pretty disappointing, given that the final story was solved with a couple of massive dei ex machina. It really sours what was otherwise a fantastic run of a series.

 

[KeepTalking]

Which God is McShane?

Wednesday is Odin. The big clue is when he says "Wednesday is my day", Wednesday = Odinsday. It is also somewhat hard to catch in the series for some reason but his right eye is a glass eye, the book made it a bit more obvious. In Norse mythology, Odin gouged out his eye in order to receive knowledge from the Well of Urd.

Forgive my ignorance but something tells me McShane will turn out to be real God. Like, the one Baptists worship. You know, the actual God. Wednesday mentioned "everyone needs Jesus" and it made me suspicious. I liked the comment about Americans having no identity because I feel that is true in some ways.

I'm glad to see McShane working on a show like this. It would probably suck without him. I was upset that he was only in one episode of 'Thrones. He belongs in King's Landing. Maybe even wildling territory. Can't go wrong with McShane no matter where he's at.

McShane is definitely a top notch actor, and I agree that the show would not be the same without him.

That Whittle guy, I don't like him. I don't like his character Shadow Moon either. He is an oblivious asshole. No substance at all. Kinda muddled. Just doesn't react to things the way you'd think a person would. Maybe that is the point but screw Shadow Moon. I know I'd hate this book, now that you describe it. It sounds really, really dumb. If it was written in the past decade I have no respect for the author. I won't even look up his or her name. Screw that. If it was written in like 1975, yeah it is a pretty cool book. Still won't read it but yeah pretty neat (for the 70's)

I like the portrayal of Shadow Moon in this adaptation, I agree that he was too deadpan in the book, but many fans of the book are going in the opposite direction with this, saying that his portrayal here is too emotional and incredulous. The book is more than a decade ago, but not by much, it was published in 2001, and written by Neil Gaiman, whom I would imagine you might have heard of. In general, I find that Gaiman has great ideas, and for the first half of whatever he is writing, he is usually a very interesting read, but tends to lose the plot before the end, and becomes nearly unbearable by time he wraps it up. This applies to many of his short stories as well. That gives me hope for the series over the book, as the series doesn't really have to end.

 

[another1]

In Norse mythology, Odin gouged out his eye in order to receive knowledge from the Well of Urd.

Hm I didn't notice his eye. McShane's eyes are screwed up already. I should have guessed his buddy with the hammer is Thor. Why is Thor Romanian Gypsy, or whatever? Shouldn't he be um. Hm didn't know about the Wednesday thing either. I really should have but blocked that one out because too many people I know are WAY too into that.

McShane is definitely a top notch actor, and I agree that the show would not be the same without him.

Just happy to see him doing something cool. And nah there is no cooler actor. For Odin I don't know, but in general McShane is the man for any job you need done. I know I would not watch this if not for McShane.

No idea who Gaiman is. 2001 is too recent for this stuff. I should have said past four decades. Why didn't he just write a script and send it to Starz? They will put anything on the air. They're no HBO. Trying hard, but copper will never be gold. As for the supposed book, I don't understand how someone could read something like that. It wouldn't hold my attention like a show adaptation does.

 

[beero1000]

Hm I didn't notice his eye. McShane's eyes are screwed up already. I should have guessed his buddy with the hammer is Thor. Why is Thor Romanian Gypsy, or whatever? Shouldn't he be um. Hm didn't know about the Wednesday thing either. I really should have but blocked that one out because too many people I know are WAY too into that.

McShane is definitely a top notch actor, and I agree that the show would not be the same without him.

Just happy to see him doing something cool. And nah there is no cooler actor. For Odin I don't know, but in general McShane is the man for any job you need done. I know I would not watch this if not for McShane.

No idea who Gaiman is. 2001 is too recent for this stuff. I should have said past four decades. Why didn't he just write a script and send it to Starz? They will put anything on the air. They're no HBO. Trying hard, but copper will never be gold. As for the supposed book, I don't understand how someone could read something like that. It wouldn't hold my attention like a show adaptation does.

Not Thor,  Czernobog and the  Zoryas.

 

[another1]

Oh God too much. I can't pronounce those names. Appreciate it but I can't click that. They're generic, right? Like... not real Gods? Fables and whatnot? It would be a much better story if only the real Gods did battle, huh.

 

[beero1000]

Oh God too much. I can't pronounce those names. Appreciate it but I can't click that. They're generic, right? Like... not real Gods? Fables and whatnot? It would be a much better story if only the real Gods did battle, huh.

There wouldn't be a story at all if only the 'real' gods did battle. The plot pulls gods and goddesses from a variety of different real and historic pantheons, as well as inventing new gods for the modern age.

Spoiler:

Show

You probably don't have enough info yet to figure out which god Shadow is...

 

[another1]

I'll pass on the spoiler. I missed Odin, the most obvious thing so far apparently. Will be better to remain clueless til the last episode. The tech God is pretty real. Realest of all. Maybe the spoiler has something in it about all of the Gods being technological in a way that even tech God isn't aware of. So maybe the last episode involves them all morphing into one. And Shadow Moon standing there looking confused as always. Whittle is a bad actor. He doesn't play confused very well. I just don't like him. Do you?