What's on the ol' boob tube RIGHT NOW.... or close to now

[undeadmonkey]

I'm a huge Bryan Fuller fan, Pushing Daisies is one of my absolute favorite shows. Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls were enjoyable, and Hannibal started off fantastic, didn't like where it went, but it was a beautiful show in all regards.

[Buscemi]

I'm holding off on Dead Like Me for the time being as Fuller only worked on the first few episodes before conflicts led everyone to go separate ways (I also read the movie, of which Fuller had nothing to do with, was awful). I'll get to it as soon as I finish Pushing Daisies and Hannibal.

Meanwhile, I might get a free 30-day Hulu trial just to watch Mockingbird Lane (it's only available on that site, as far as I know). And his next two (American Gods and the new Star Trek) should be great.

[Buscemi]

The list (38/52, updated 4/29/2016):
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Arrested Development
Better Off Ted
The Birthday Boys
The Boondocks
Children's Hospital
The Critic
Dead Set
Dilbert
Eastbound and Down
Fallen Angels
F is for Family
Flight of the Conchords
Fresh Off the Boat
Friends
Garfunkel & Oates
Gossip Girl
The Greatest Event in Television History
Hannibal
Infomercials (Adult Swim)
Key West
Miracles
Mom
Poker After Dark
Pushing Daisies
The Ranch
Seinfeld
The Simpsons
Snapped
The Spoils of Babylon
Strangers with Candy
30 for 30
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
The Walking Dead
W/Bob & David
Woke Up Dead
Wonderfalls
Workaholics

Recent watches:
- W/Bob & David: Basically, this is Season 5 of Mr. Show (with the same season length as Season 1 with four episodes, the making-of is a special that isn't part of the order despite Netflix listing it as an episode) with the same cast (and The Birthday Boys appearing in a few episodes, making it somewhat of a crossover). Though the show isn't nearly as good as that one, it does have some gems (the best episode being Episode 2, which has a dry cleaning sketch setting up for a musical on a house).

- Mom: What could have been a great cable series becomes a mediocre network series in Chuck Lorre's hands (I mainly watched this because it was supposed to be an improvement over his other shows). The acting is good but that's all I can really say as the jokes are often lame and the laugh track never quiets down. But I guess that's CBS and Lorre for you.

- Better Off Ted: four episodes into this two season series and it's an entertaining satire of corporate incompetence (think a live-action version of Dilbert). The acting and writing is well-executed but you can probably see why ABC never really gave the show a chance.

Edit: finished Season One. Linda is the best character on the show. The two scientists are entertaining as well.

Second edit: finished Season Two. An even better season and it's too bad we didn't get a Season Three as the series finale left some clues on what Season Three would have been (such as the possible downfall of the company).

- Snapped. I was killing some time and found that the TV had been left on a Snapped marathon on Oxygen. It actually wasn't too bad.

- Season 2 of Pushing Daisies. Finished the whole season in a day (with sleep in between) and it's sad that we never got the planned Season 3 (which apparently would have involved zombies). I also found it amusing there was an episode involving the Muffin Buffalo lady (who became super pissed inbetween Wonderfalls and this) and a pre-Modern Family Eric Stonestreet (and they were the episode's culprits).

- F is for Family. I don't find Bill Burr funny (I think he tries way too hard to be shocking) but I gave it a chance based on Laura Dern and Sam Rockwell being in the cast and the animation having a Mike Judge-type look to it. I ended up getting a cliche show (Frank, Burr's character, is basically a thinner Peter Griffin with none of the humor) that's trying too hard to be shocking. I really don't get the love for Netflix's animated series when they are basically Fox shows with sex and strong language (and it's funny that Netflix does really well on Bob's Burgers reruns, a Fox series). A pass.

- Gossip Girl. I never liked the show but I did watch the Valley Girls episode because Krysten Ritter was in it, expecting the typical backdoor pilot of "the main characters are set aside and we get something different". Instead, it's typical "rich people doing rich people things" nonsense with not much Krysten (this completist in me is like when I tried to seek everything Jennifer Connelly in the early part of the decade). I'm not sure if I want to seek out her few minutes on Gilmore Girls because I don't like that show either (same "rich people doing rich people things" problem).

- Strangers with Candy. Saw and liked the first two seasons many years ago. Watching Season 3 now and the show just doesn't hold up. Comedy has evolved considerably since 2000 and though the actors themselves are funny, the situations (and parody of said situations) just feel like a product of its time (much like Gossip Girl above).

- The Critic. Joined Crackle and saw this was one of the available shows. Love those parodies of 90's movies and pre-online film criticism.

- Key West. Learned about this one through lists of quality shows that got killed after one season and found someone on YouTube posted all the episodes (sourced from the original airings from a Fox affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island). Watched the pilot and it's obvious that the show was ahead of its time (twenty years later and a show like this would be a cult hit on a channel like AMC or Sundance). In a way, the show is like a Southeastern version of Chinatown.

- The Spoils of Babylon. A five minute Funny or Die sketch stretched to a series. Filled to the brim with cliches (from the pretentious director to parodying epic movies), I have to wonder how anyone thought this was a good idea. Good thing IFC got better with series.

- Garfunkel & Oates. I might have to take back that statement on IFC. I thought this was supposed to be a sketch-based series, instead it's IFC's attempt at Girls. Lindhomme and Micucci are talented but the show just isn't interesting and is kind of there. I'm not surprised IFC dumped the series.

- Woke Up Dead. Obvious product placement and low budget aside, this miniseries from Crackle isn't too far so far (I've watched the first five episodes but Crackle's use of Adobe Flash and the dated files causes the resolution to be pixely and choppy). Jon Heder and Krysten Ritter are enjoyable and even Josh Gad's tolerable. Hopefully Crackle runs better on the last 17 episodes.

Edit: finished the series. It's obvious they left things open for a Season 2 but I guess the actors became too busy to do another year. Maybe one of these days, someone like Adult Swim could do a similar show focused around Krysten's character.

- Dead Set. It's too bad this isn't better known in the US (it aired on IFC but faded into obscurity here despite the acclaim, Riz Ahmed being in the cast, and being from the director of the later '71). More or less, it's as if Marshall McLuhan wrote Night of the Living Dead. It serves as both a quality horror series (the running zombies are a lot scarier than had they gone with traditional zombies) and a criticism of reality television. And I liked how Charlie Brooker and Yann Damange went with a downbeat ending instead of cheapening it to satisfy typical television audiences.

- Workaholics. Bros doing stupid stuff. Pass.

- Andy Richter Controls the Universe. At first glance, it may seem like a vehicle for Andy Richter when he's not Conan's sidekick. But once you watch it, it's really more of the blueprint of Better Off Ted (Victor Fresco created both shows). Though this one is less sci-fi oriented and the boss is more likeable, it's hard not to compare the two. I watched the first six episodes (the DVD set is kind of odd in its episode formatting, as instead of 6-7-6 or 6-6-7, the three discs are done as 6-8-5, giving the unaired episodes their own disc) and on the Andy Richter Scale, I'd give it an 8.5 so far.

Edit: finished the series. Byron (played by the same actor who played Phil on Better Off Ted) was the best part.

- Dilbert. This series seems to have a love it or hate it reputation among the comic strip's fans but I'm liking it so far. I'm seven episodes in (the DVD set has both seasons) and it's more or less an animated precursor to the later Better Off Ted. The Pointy Haired Boss gets some choice dialogue and there's something amusing about having a Hank Scorpio-type character that looks like a Beanie Ball in Dogbert. And Daniel Stern was a great choice for Dilbert.

Edit: finished Season 1. The season declines a bit towards the end but it's still decent.

- Hannibal: Season 2. Four episodes in and it's just as good as Season 1 if not better.

Edit: Season 2 finished. Season 3's going to be really interesting.

- The Boondocks. Watched a Season 2 episode recently and this show really doesn't hold up today. It's so mid 2000's that it hurts.

- Miracles. Only watched this one as Shout! Factory did the DVD set and I'm not really sure why. It's nothing more than heavy-handed religious cheese disguised as a supernatural series. The show is too brightly lit and the acting is rather flat.

- Poker After Dark. Watched some of this (reruns air on the NBC Sports Network) at a pizza place. Now, I don't get poker but once you watch a bit of it, it can be entertaining. Just the whole concept of fortunes won and lost in a game of high stakes can be compelling after one gets past the fact that it's poker. I was most fascinated by a player who had a pretty good idea of a poker face by wearing sunglasses (and she had one the first hand). It got me to wondering, "you know if this show were a movie, she'd have one hell of a backstory".

- The Ranch. I watched Netflix's attempt at a multi-camera sitcom for Sam Elliott and Debra Winger. At least they try is the only good thing I can say about this show. It's nothing more than a more adult version of a Chuck Lorre sitcom and further proves my belief that a lot of Netflix's shows are nothing more than network shows with more graphic content.

[W]

I just finished Season 2 of The Leftovers. Anyone with HBO should watch this. It's from the guy behind Lost not named JJ Abrams and they started out basically saying "We are not going to answer all the mysteries and you're just going to have to deal with it." Especially the big mystery that the show is based around. That gives them the freedom to do whatever the Hell they want and not be chained to "we have to answer this and that" like in Lost. There are tons of Lost Easter eggs as well for Lost fans (two characters in season two are named Evangaline and Lilly for instance).

The series is about what happens when 2% of the entire population of the world just disappears at the same moment. Not enough to destroy civilization, but not so few that anyone in the world can ignore it because generally everyone knows "departed" people. There's also no foreseeable reason for the departures (some are good/some are bad, male/female, child/adult, etc). You don't know (and will not know) what happens and neither do any of the characters in the show. Each character deals with loss (or lack of loss when everyone else has lost) in completely different ways. Some fall into religion, some cults, family, nihilism, science, etc to answer the questions of where did they go, why, how, etc. Some just say "Eff it. I'm in debt/I hate my spouse/etc. I'm just going to disappear and everyone will think I departed too."

Season 2 is one of the best seasons of any show I've ever seen and if you stopped watching through Season One (probably because of Tom or the GR), Season 2 is pretty much a must watch. The last half of the season is especially tense.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I stopped watching The Leftover 5 episodes into Season 1, mostly because it was just depressing and didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Pretty sure I stopped immediately after they stoned an old lady. Was just unnecessary.

And Busc, I assume you've seen the first 2 seasons of Breaking Bad?

[W]

I stopped watching The Leftover 5 episodes into Season 1, mostly because it was just depressing and didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Pretty sure I stopped immediately after they stoned an old lady. Was just unnecessary.

And Busc, I assume you've seen the first 2 seasons of Breaking Bad?

Yeah, that's the GR stuff I was talking about. And everything involving Tom Garvey and Holy Wayne (besides the very first time you see Wayne). I want to say around episode eight or so of season one it starts to become one of the best shows going right now. I really can't wait until the start of season 3.

[Buscemi]

And Busc, I assume you've seen the first 2 seasons of Breaking Bad?

I have not.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

And Busc, I assume you've seen the first 2 seasons of Breaking Bad?

I have not.

What! Krysten Ritter is a huge part of those seasons, I know she's in all of Season 2 but I can't remember if she's in 1 or 3.

You should watch Breaking Bad just because it's great and she's great in it.

[Buscemi]

It's on my list (along with Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 and Jessica Jones and Veronica Mars and an obscure Starz series called Gravity). Hell, I'd even watch her episodes of 'Til Death.

Right now, my highest priority is Season 3 of Hannibal. I must know how it ends.

[Buscemi]

So I finished Hannibal. The early part of Season 3 contains probably the weakest episodes (most notably the season premiere, which doesn't have Hugh Dancy) but the fourth episode of the season is among the best of the series and the final six episodes (covering the plot of Red Dragon) are very high quality (being nearly as great as Michael Mann's Manhunter). It's too bad NBC dumped the show on Saturday nights (during the summer, no less) towards the end as the Red Dragon episodes deserved a big audience.

Now the big questions: did Will and Hannibal survive the fall?. And did Bedelia really eat her own leg?

[Buscemi]

The list (39/52, updated 5/4/2016):
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Arrested Development
Better Off Ted
The Birthday Boys
The Boondocks
Children's Hospital
The Critic
Dead Set
Dilbert
Eastbound and Down
Fallen Angels
F is for Family
Flight of the Conchords
Fresh Off the Boat
Friends
Garfunkel & Oates
Gossip Girl
The Greatest Event in Television History
Hannibal
Infomercials (Adult Swim)
Key West
Miracles
Mom
Poker After Dark
Pushing Daisies
The Ranch
Seinfeld
The Simpsons
Snapped
The Spoils of Babylon
Strangers with Candy
Tales from the Crypt
30 for 30
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
The Walking Dead
W/Bob & David
Woke Up Dead
Wonderfalls

Recent watches:
- Tales from the Crypt. Watched most of Season 5 (I'd already seen one episode so I didn't watch the whole season in one go but technically watched all of Season 5). I miss old fashioned anthology shows, especially when they could get big casts without worrying about the budgets. It also shows you what HBO used to be before they got obsessed with the same two shows.
Workaholics

[Ron Burgundy]

Wow, boosh, u been on a tv rampage! Trying to get ideas for scripts eh?

So, I've been watching silicon valley s3, regular show, pawn stars (don't ask) and finished off Bette call Saul s2- which was stunning, gaining ground on breaking bad.

But there is the obvious one, a game of thrones, thoughts?

[Buscemi]

Well, my recent obsession with Bryan Fuller inspired much of my most recent script (I'd describe it as Bryan Fuller archetypes in a National Treasure plot in a way).

I haven't watched much TV lately due to the draft, reading the works of Thomas Harris (after finishing Hannibal, I just had to read Red Dragon, finished it in three days, I also read Black Sunday in two days), and preparing for New York but I have been watching Season 6 of Tales from the Crypt. Interesting season, that one was.

[Ron Burgundy]

Seriously though, who has seen the most recent episodes of GoT? What did u think?

[numbersix]

As always, I'm enjoying GOT.

I don't think there has been any major surprises so far. A few deaths, but no one significant (or maybe I'm just used to surprises). In fact, the biggest surprise was seeing Jon Snow and Sansa reunite. I was too used to the Starks doomed to never meet again.

I think this season is all about setting up the New Generation. Ramsay taking the reins in the North, the Sand Snakes coming from the south, those religious fanatics (probably my favourite storyline at the moment), Littlefinger amassing his own army, and now it seems Sansa is gaining her own strength, and possibly becoming one of the most interesting characters. Think the New Generation are more fanatical and more vicious than previous. Wonder if that's an intentional commentary on where we are today, having to face religious funamentalism or the populist insanity of someone like Trump.

Pity the Danaerys storyline is continuing to be repetitive, with another scene that's a variation on something we've watched before. And I couldn't give a shit about Ayria anymore.