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

[undeadmonkey]

figured we could sustain a separate thread for television. Seems like tv shows are being taken more serious lately by talented people and more high quality shows coming out and well just more shows in general, i don't know where to start looking for a new show to follow. I've had a few shows end the past two years and also a few more ending soon, so i've been looking for new shows, but it's a bit daunting, there are just so many out there i dont know where to start. i've found a few promising ones but i've also seen some really bad ones. So i figured if we share what we've seen and rate, it would give us a starting point. you could post on series (old or new) as a whole, or also the weekly episodes you follow.





to start off a few that i have tried over this past month,

Falling Skies 8/10
An alien invasion show, aired on TNT. first season is 10 episodes and finished them all this week. I thought it looked poor when it was being advertised in the beginning of summer and i don't really know what got me to start watching it, but i was hooked after the pilot. It takes cue from Battlestar Galactica by focusing the story on the characters and not the action, which, when there is some, isn't great, due to the low budget for effects. nevertheless, the show doesn't seem lacking, there is a great parental dynamic of a father just trying to keep his sons safe, some military politics thrown in. great acting, would highly recommend.


Misfits: Pilot 5/10
british show, only saw the pilot so far. interesting premise and they are trying hard not to fall into the cliches, the almost constant handheld shaky cam felt a bit gimmicky to me. maybe i have just untrained ears, but it seemed like most of the characters have different accents and it takes me out a bit. Nothing sticks out to me as far as i need to continue watching, but i think i will give it another chance.


Pretty Little Liars 2/10
don't ask me why, i don't really have an excuse, other than i have heard a lot of people talking about it and comparing it to GG. but i think it's nothing like it. Seen the first 2 episodes. Boring characters, awful cliched situations that don't even have an ounce of believability in them, and whenever there is a scene with someone breaking into the house and a character calls out 'hello, anybody there'. i'm OUT


Web Therapy: Pilot 5/10
Lisa kudrow is endearing even as a high strung therapist who has no patience. There were moments it lagged but also some moments i laughed out loud. I read that the whole show is ad-libbed, only beats are written out beforehand which the actors need to hit. As of this moment, it seems a little unpolished, but with some great therapy patients added as recurring cast it really has potential and it's truly unlike anything out there on tv at them moments, the whole show is seen as through a webcam. Will definitely give it another chance.


Dead Like Me: Pilot 3/10
being a huge fan of Brian Fuller and Pushing Daises, also, to a slightly lesser extent, Heroes and Wonderfalls, maybe my expectations were too high, but i got nothing out of this. The main character is a very passive protagonist, as far as the pilot goes. The VFX were horrendous, which isn't surprising for 2003 tv, but still. and the supporting cast/characters are just plain boring. Don't think i'll be continuing.


Torchwood 6/10
a friend of mine has recently gotten into Dr Who and has been pestering me to see it, but with the length of the whole series and the many different incarnations, i don't know really where to start and i'm not in the mood to start at the beginning with the old shows to be honest, so i decided to start with the spinoff. Seen the first 2 episodes so far, It seems like a fun version of Xfiles, the VFX also aren't too great, but it's not too detrimental, i'm curious to see what other trouble they can get into, so i'll continue watching it.

few more shows i'me thinking of starting, Entourage and Happy Endings.

[MisterInformative]

I'm told I should start The Tudors. But a show that I really like, that few other people seem to have heard of, is Party Down.

[W]

I'm looking for my next show to Netflix. I keep seeing Party Down on there, but just aren't sure about it. I keep seeing Mad Men on there too, but I don't actually know anyone that's watched it and only know about it through awards and Bill Simmons articles.

[silversurfer19]

Just finished the first series of The Walking Dead, which, after a really strong start, tailed off towards it's last few episodes, with the last episode in particular a completely underwhelming affair. Still, I love zombie films/shows so will probably give the second series a go when it's released here, though without Darabont on board I've got to question if the quality can be maintained.

Another show I love right now, and for which I just bought the first series on DVD, is Psychoville, the follow up from two of The League Of Gentlemen (a series I listed in my top 5 tv shows of all time). Visciously dark, even more so than LOG, with such a fantastically gruesome comedy element, it really is the blackest of comedy you can get, with bizarre characters such as a hook handed children's party clown, a dwarf with telekinetic powers, a murder obsessed man child, and a deranged midwife (played marvelously by Dawn French). Each character's story is intertwined by letters with chilling messages which are delivered to them under the title : "I know what you did". Anyone with a keen desire for really dark comedies should love it.

Other than that, I'm watching the new series of Futurama which has for the most part continued where the series left off with some brilliantly funny episodes.

I didn't hook onto Breaking Bad's first episode but with all the acclaim I may look into it, same with The Wire and Game Of Thrones which haven't shown over here yet.

[Ron Burgundy]

Falling skies looks like something i could get into

And SS, ive been meaning to watch Walking Dead for a while now, but when i saw that it only had 1 season i never plunged straight into it, cause i did watch ep 3 or 4 a while back and thought it was a cool way of doing zombie.

Didnt know Darabont was attached though...

And also, Breaking Bad warrants another go.

Right now im about 6 eps in The Wire, its a great, gritty but smart Tv show.

And about 4 eps in Freaks and Geeks, boosh, why did they only do 1 season?

[englishozzy]

Anybody watching Game of Thrones right now?? and whats your opinions??

Im still waiting for it to come on over here and it looks really really good.

[Ron Burgundy]

ill second that game of thrones q, its got Sean Bean,who is ace

[numbersix]

UDM, watch Season 3 of Torchwood. It's essentially a mini-series caled Children of Earth, and it's one of the best sci-fi seasons of any show. Peter Capaldi is excellent as the civil servant, and the lead cast are also great. Also interesting to see an openly bi-sexual male lead.

Mr I, don't bother with The Tudors. The Anne Boleyn story isn't bad, but honeslty I felt it wasn't worth it. It's also very trashy.

SS, Watch all of Season 1 of Breaking Bad (6 episodes). I assure you that you'll be hooked. I'm watching Season 4 so far, and it's still a great show. And AMC have called an end to it (with 16 more episodes across 2 seasons) meaning that hopefully there'll be no more padding.

The WAlking Dead. I watched it almost 2 times, and to be honest I was totally underwhelmed. These guys are in a zombie apocalypse, and they don't act desperate enough. There's no sense of impending doom and hopelessness. And the narrative arcs are generally quite weak. Darabont fired the writing staff after Season 1, and I can see why. But now Darabont was fired, so who knows what way it'll go. I'd rather rewatch Brooker's Dead Set, to be honest.

Must check out Psychoville.

The Wire is genius, one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. It takes a while to get into, but after a few episodes I was totally involved in its world, and its comments on this one.

Game of Thrones is certainly worth checking out. Again, the first episode was weak, but its immersive and involving, with some great characters.

I'm also watching the latest season of Entourage (getting really boring) and Curb (still going strong), and finished the UK rebooted and modernised Sherlock. Let me tell you the writing and story is way better than Guy Ritchie's film.

[undeadmonkey]

I wouldn't bother with Tudors either. You could watch the first season, which is ok, but it gets really boring soon after, i tailed off somewhere in the middle of season 2 and haven't returned.


Have also seen The Walking Dead. I thought it was entertaining, but definitely has it's weak moments. Though i will check out the second season when it comes out as i do think it has potential.


I'll also agree that Game of Thrones is worth checking out, A very strong cast all around that keep the fantasy stuff from being cheesy and while some episodes are stuffed a bit with superfluous sex (which i think are just there to shock, others have argued that they are necessary and informative ) other episodes are really good. Episode 9, i think it was, was fantastic.


6. Yea, i liked the first few episodes enough to continue watching Torchwood, although if for some reason it gets boring i'll skip ahead and see Children of the Earth on you word

[Buscemi]

They only did one season of Freaks and Geeks because of low ratings. NBC constantly shuffled the show around and hardly promoted it (probably because it wasn't Friends). But at least they let Paul Feig write a decent ending for it.

I don't get how anyone could get into Gossip Girl. It's nothing more than The O.C. (which was a complete ripoff of Beverly Hills 90210) in New York created by one of the biggest hacks in television. But then again, some people absolutely love trashy shows and The CW will air anything.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I'm looking for my next show to Netflix. I keep seeing Party Down on there, but just aren't sure about it. I keep seeing Mad Men on there too, but I don't actually know anyone that's watched it and only know about it through awards and Bill Simmons articles.

Party Down is fan-fucking-tastic.

I've only seen the pilot of Mad Men (and wrote a paper on it), but it seems leisurely - or a nicer way of saying slower than molasses.

[undeadmonkey]

I've only seen the pilot of Mad Men (and wrote a paper on it), but it seems leisurely - or a nicer way of saying slower than molasses.

I've only seen the pilot as well and felt the same

[NSpan]

If you're on the fence about Party Down, just give it a shot. Season 1 is only 10 episodes--it's not exactly a huge commitment.

[Ron Burgundy]

hmmmm interesting

[MisterInformative]

Season 2 of Party Down is similarly short, I'd say the show as a whole is definitely worth a watch. Another one I feel like got cancelled unjustly. This is one of my favorite quotes from the first episode:

"I'm sorry, I forgot your name..."
"That's funny, most people remember it."
"Why's that?"
"It's Scrotum Phillips."