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2014 TV show thread
I figure we can start a new thread, since the last post in the prior thread was on 12/31.
Did anyone else watch The Assets on ABC? The critics have seemed to go out of their way to say it's not horrible, but I just don't see it. The acting was atrocious, the sets felt thrown together, and the editing was just odd. It didn't feel like scenes had any natural flow or that the characters were real people. I started watching Orphan Black today, and in comparison The Assets just seemed amateurish. I was hoping this would tide me over until The Americans came back, but I don't see that happening. |
I watched the first episode-I went in "blind"-had not seen previews just knew it was about the CIA and espionage. Did not realize it was based on real events. I thought it was okay, but won't be watching future episodes. Acting wasn't bad-other than perhaps the advisor? mentor? to the lead female character. Not great acting either.
I think they tried to show they were real people especially with the female lead-the scenes with her family where she had to keep them separate from her work life-overhearing her daughter on the phone about how terrible a mother she was, etc. It was the first hours of a short run series so I'm not sure we'll see much attempt beyond the female lead to show them as "real people"-viewers will be more interested in the traitor and espionage scenes anyway. It was pretty interesting see how far we've come technologically since the 80's when this show is set in-we'd be doing things far far differently today in the same situation with all the technology available for intelligence agencies to use. |
Justified returns Tuesday night, with more Crowe's, more Wynn Duffy, and generally amazing reviews of its first few episodes.
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And Archer returns the 13th.
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If you're looking for new shows, idk, I'm probably just a sucker for the genre, but Michael Bay is producing a "prequel" series to Treasure Island. It should be... interesting at least. Premieres on Starz on the 25th. There's also a new SyFy show called Helix coming the 10th getting pretty favorable reviews.
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Seeing Boyd and Wynn Duffy together multiple times in that preview has me really excited. |
Yeah - Black Sailz looks like it could be fun. If it's "Spartacus-style Pirates" I'll enjoy it. Anything more is total gravy AFAIC.
Helix is something they've been promoting the hell out of - looking forward to seeing if it holds up to their hype. |
2 new shows on my radar are Helix on SyFy and True Detective on HBO.
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Downton Abbey comes back tonight
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Looking forward to True Detective.
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I wasn't a big fan of it. I will watch another episode just to be sure though... |
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I look forward to my wife being horny after watching Matthew McConnaghey in a cop show |
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Is it sad that I pick movies on the weekend based on the percent chance that they could make my wife horny? |
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I think it's pretty smart actually! |
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Sad? {shrug} But it definitely ain't unique ;) |
all I'm saying was Magic Mike was such a letdown in that department...but at least Olivia Munn
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I've been watching "Betas", an exclusive on Amazon (free to those that have Amazon Prime). It's about a group of people trying to make a social app start up. Has all the usual geek cliches, but I'm enjoying it so far for what it is.
I tried watching Alpha House, but I turned it off half way through the first episode. Also through Amazon Prime, I've been watching a lot of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. I started watching his show on CNN (Parts Unknown), so I've been watching No Reservations (which was for the Travel Channel) on Amazon. Really great shows (both shows are exactly the same, mostly travel + food). Really looking forward to the second season of House of Cards (Feb 14th, that weekend is bookmarked for some binge watching). |
Last night CNN ran a documentary called Sole Survivor. You may have seen the ads for it, and it'll run one more time before it eventually moves to Netflix.
I'm watching it right now and it's very emotional for me. One of the stories contained is the Comair crash in Lexington and the story of the surviving first officer. I wasn't working the morning of the crash, but I was a first officer at Comair at the time, but not on that particular plane, and although I didn't know either pilot personally I had flown with the flight attendant. I had flown in and out of LEX prior to and after the crash. I knew some of what they were up against that morning. The crash was very personal for all of us. It wasn't a huge, huge company, and there were a lot of ancillary issues to the industry that were going on at the time too. We tried to support the families of the crews as much as we could, but what can you really do? Anyway, if you find yourself watching this understand how close to home it hits for me. |
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Off to a great start. They keep taking second bananas from second tier comedies and turning them into great villains. Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy (and on Burn Notice, too) is great. Last year I had my doubts about Mike O'Malley, but he was outstanding as Nick Augustine. So I have high hopes for Dave Foley and Will Sasso as Canadian drug dealers. Justified seems written by Neal Stephenson in a good way: lots of details that are very right. This episode had the Jamaican kid (yet another second banana from a one and done comedy) denying he was gator poaching. Then as Raylon leaves, a gator leaps up to grab the bait and hangs there. Also Raylon shooting Dewey's plastic pool. |
Season 4 of Shameless starts on Sunday. I'll be watching that obviously, as I love it WAY to much.
Also the new drama True Detectives starts on Sunday at the same time. PVR that thing, because i got very high hopes. McConaughey and Harrelson are great, and I love Michelle Monaghan. |
Syfy is FINALLY showing the premiere of Helix tonight at 10pm EST-an hour and a half debut. I've tried to stay away from the hype and spoilers because I want to be surprised by it-what little I've seen has me doubting it will be very good though-especially if Zombies are involved
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I thought Foley was noticeably awful in his one scene, but the others have been terrific as you point out, so maybe he'll turn around. |
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My wife and I are also big fans of Downton Abbey. We are going to try to watch the season premier this weekend. |
Helix anyone?
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Don't mind if I do :D |
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I watched it, need to see more with where they are going with the retrovirus before deciding whether I like it or not. Right now leaning towards not. |
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it's definitely alien in origin (or just an ancient sentient lifeform) or something like that, because it has that like...intelligence. |
Watched Helix. I give it a 7/10 thus far. But based on the previews for the season, I think I'll really like where they end up going with the story.
Really though, I don't feel anything for any of the characters yet, so hopefully that gets better as the season moves on. I'll definitely give it a shot for a whole season though. |
Think this from an EW article, is a pretty good guess as to where the series is going.
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Anyone seen the new show Intelligence? Been waiting for something new with Sawyer in it.
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I saw the first episode and thought it was alright. I really like the actor/character, so hoping the show takes off. We'll see how it goes in future weeks I suppose |
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Pretty much what I thought-good actors cast-especially John Billingsley and Rosalind Chao (Chinese Intelligence Chief) in a more serious role for them. The twist at the end with the Chinese woman was nice. I suspect though that the Chinese govt won't allow the show to be seen there :) I did think it was way to early to reveal the truth about the lead character's wife though-would have liked to play the search for the truth play out a bit more. |
The first episode of "True Detective" was great.
I feel like there have been quite a few gruesome "cops on the trail of a serial killer" shows the last couple of years - quite a few indeed - (in fact, some aspects of the murders in the show feel like they were taken directly out of the first season of "Hannibal") but I enjoyed it. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey did not disappoint. |
I watched "Helix" last night.
I will keep with it for a while, but I wasn't that impressed overall. There was just too much stupidity by people who are supposed to be professional, very, very smart PHD-level professionals: For example:
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I feel like 95% of the non comedic shows on tv now feature people doing absolutely bone headed things in order to advance a plot. I get more enjoyment out of Octonauts.
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This is true. I am comfortable with it up to a point. I guess in "Helix" it just seemed more egregious as a result of how bonehead the actions were, the threat level and how trained/educated/professional these people are supposed to be. |
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Glad to see Les Stroud has new episodes of Survivorman out. The one last night in Tierra del Fuego was about the worst I've ever seen him get. He was thoroughly beaten down.
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The Rabbids cartoon on Nick after Ninja Turtles is odd and has a European feel to it with a lot of physical comedy and crude humor and very little dialog. But it's kindof fun, if you're in a dumb and weird mood.
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Can they get anymore guest stars on Justified? Avon Varksdale, Newsradio, the black guy from The Practice, probable Emmy winner Michael Rappaport
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Yeah Justified has been nuts with the guest stars the first couple weeks. I dunno if Rappaport is supposed to be the big bad this season or not, but if so, they haven't done a very good job yet of introducing him. It doesn't matter, its Justified, it will end up awesome, but its felt like a slightly underwhelming start so far... maybe b/c I don't care at all about anything Boyd is doing right now, I dunno.
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I think he is the big bad.
I've enjoyed the start, does feel kind of samey though. |
I watched most of the An Idiot Abroad episodes. Am now watching The Moaning of Life. Hoping it's as funny.
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I think I'm going to actively root for the virus in Helix.
So many stupid decisions by so many supposedly "smart" people just to advance the plot. It's a dumb show. |
Pretty good chance everyone with DTV will have a messed up recording of the Following
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Apparently Duck Dynasty had its season premiere this week. I was curious not because I watch the show, but because I wondered how the recent flap would affect its ratings.
The show drew 8.5 million people. Well short of last season's summer premiere. Still though 8.5 million is very respectable for a cable show. Source |
Giving Trophy Wife a shot since I love Ackerman and Whitford, for very different reasons. It's serviceable through 2 episodes although the former wives are kind of grating, and not in a good way, but more of a get in the way way.
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I like trophy wife but it seems like a near mortal lock for cancelation.
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Anyone else like The Goldbergs? I really love the show having grown up in the 80's.
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Yep. I worry too few people are watching though. Show has gotten better every week. The going to the video store to rent a movie was captured perfectly last week. |
I think the kid playing Adam is just perfect. Not to mention the dad who walks in after a day of work and drops his pants at the front door. One of my favorite episodes was when Adam Pops went to the theater. The movie rental episode was great. My kids were like $59.95 for a video tape?
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Watched the first few episodes of season 3 of Girls to see if it got any better and no, it hasn't. Season 1 was decent enough, season 2 sucked and looks like season 3 isn't going any better.
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You should check out TV-by-the Numbers. Their Bubble Watch is usually pretty accurate. |
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I don't think that I like the artistic choice to just generically set it in the 80s, where stuff like the Phillies losing the series is cut with stuff that happened several years later. I'd prefer continuity if at all possible. My fear is that once Adam ages, the show will just lose a lot of it's appeal as he becomes awkward looking. They should have attempted to get as many episodes in the can before he goes through puberty. Maybe he'll age gracefully or maybe they'll just re-cast the lead. Hard to say. The mom is great, she brings it every episode. |
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FWIW, the latest there says Quote:
While The Trophy Wife (also mentioned in this same discussion recently) is listed as "Cancellation Predicted" |
Trophy Wife is owned by ABC, which is going to at least make it slighter than it should possibility for a surprise renewal. I actually prefer it to the Goldbergs and i think Trophy Wife could become a hit with some retooling and a better time slot.
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It's a bit of a tough read, since the numbers were actually up from the previous season finale. My suspicion is that oversaturation in the retail space during the holidays did more damage than any of the "controversy", even some of the most diehard fans of the show were getting a bit weary from the Walmart onslaught. |
I watched a couple episodes of The Goldbergs and wasn't impressed at all. To me it felt like it wanted to be The Wonder Years - the '80s version - but just came across as lame and obnoxious.
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That annoyed me at first -- Barry idolizing Darryl Dawkins, when he was off the Sixers by '82?? A reference to Coctail from '88, in the same ep where they cover DeLorean going to jail? I'm beginning to like that there really is no timeline, as opposed to other flashback shows. I think it might free them up to do more. As long as they are a little careful about mixing references. Agreed on the mom, who is not only funny but...well, there is something about 80s MILF that I kinda like. Regarding Adam, it's funny - it seems like the eps I've seen focus on Barry as much as anything. |
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I'm soooo happy that I didn't misread that bit. Otherwise it would have gotten REALLY gross. |
Shark Tank is probably my favorite show on TV right now I think.
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I love Shark Tank. It's so great how all the investors have different personalities. Mark Cuban's my favorite. |
I like how you can tell that Cuban has the obvious control of the room because he could simply buy all of them combined.
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I know it's pretty lowbrow, but I like Mom on CBS.
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I have said it before, but it amazes me how I can see a 30 second commercial for a show and know it will be total shit, yet a whole slew of people making 7 figures each cant see it. I get they have to put something on, but I see commercials for shows like Ironside and think, are you kidding me?
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I always wonder what the shows that don't make it are like. I expect them to be shit, but then I saw the Susan 323(the Silverman one) pilot and it was way better than the shit NBC puts on. There was a Carolla animated pilot that was out there and it got passed over for that Allen Gregory show and Napoleon Dynamite. It's baffling. |
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What they ought to do - and I'd think it'll happen at some point sooner rather than later, is stream all the pilots on Hulu over the course of say...two weeks, track the viewing of them (how many people, how long, etc) and then greenlight the ones that people actually watch. Or fuck - let the viewing public vote and decide. It wouldn't completely solve the problem, because pilots are not always a great representation of how a show will evolve, but it would solve some of the obvious "one and done" stinkers. |
Amazon already does that, or at least they did, thats why Zombieland didnt get made.
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True Amazon has started doing that. I was referring to the broadcast networks I suppose. Hell - they don't even have to use Hulu - they each have apps and websites where you can watch episodes, just use those. They could even sell fucking advertising on their own websites then. It's so fucking obvious. 21st century...c'mon. |
There's been a shift into straight to series orders this year with many shows bypassing the traditional pilot process. I would hope the networks will now look to eliminate the current series order sizes and do even more limited length series. Fox seems to have figured this out.
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Too narrow a self-selecting audience to be a representative sample for the majority of shows ... which are aimed at audiences that have never f'n heard of Hulu, much less are Hulu users. |
Here's a quickie thumbnail of what I meant above
This is for ANY streaming video of any kind, never mind whether that's YT or FB or Hulu Quote:
Would work great if your show is going on Disney/Nick/MTV ... a lot less useful if you're CBS. |
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I think it's just the natural cycle of a reality TV show. They all seem to only have a few years of being on top before they start a decline. That's why I've always felt they were smart for whoring out their name to so many products. Strike while the iron is hot. They've still got years left and 8 million is a solid number, but it's just inevitable that another show will come along and grab the country's attention for a few years and start the cycle all over again. |
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I went on to point out that all the networks have their own apps and websites - they could do it on those. :p |
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That's the thing though, the figures I cited showed how few people that make up a lion's share of audience for many networks watch ANY streaming video on ANY vehicle. (i.e. I stopped singling out Hulu) And those numbers are the maximum possible, which would include those who only watch video of their new nephew being cute on Facebook. The number who ever watch something longer form is going to be considerably smaller. I'm trying to think if I've ever sat through any TV show beyond clip length online, off hand I can't think of one. |
how big was that DD wal mart deal? they had so much shit for sale that it was pretty much ludicrous.
The show will be fine, also. They'll keep making it until the profits dry up and at that point people will have moved onto something else. I read some article about how it was "only" at like 3.9m in the key demo, and I was thinking that it was basically 2X the numbers that most network shows draw there, and 3X the numbers of stuff like Parks and Rec or Michael J Fox(just using those two as examples). Hell, 3.9m viewers in the demo is more than New Girl routinely draws overall IIRC. |
It just got all Lovecraftian up in "True Detective."
"King In Yellow" and "Carcosa" FTW! |
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I love Shark Tank. Just started watching it a few months ago and now am catching old episodes on CNBC on Tuesday nights. Also really enjoying True Detective. Glad there are a few shows to hold me over until Game of Thrones and Walking Dead start back up. I also wonder if I should get back into Justified. I watched most of season one but felt like it was a chore towards the end. For the fans on here does it get better in later seasons or am I just not going to enjoy this particular show? |
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If you got all the way through season 1 and didn't like it then it might just not be for you, as I think the second half of season 1 is a decent representation of what the show is throughout. That said, most people consider season 2 to be the strongest season, and some new characters are introduced that many people really really like. So if you have the time I'd definitely recommend trying the first few episodes of season 2 and seeing if you get into it. |
I started watching the intro to episode 2 of True Detective and there were scenes in there that i had no recollection of actually happening. Probably not a good sign, although i heard there are some A+ assets on display in episode 2.
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You heard correctly. |
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Thank you thank you thank you! I didn't know it was on CNBC. I just started watching it a few months ago as well, and is now a Saturday morning tradition with my 10 year old. We love it. |
Did someone mention that The Assets was already pulled?
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Restaurant Impossible really reminds me of many of the situations I saw working in the restaurant industry. Owners who have no idea what they are doing. Catastrophically bad decisions made by unqualified people. Food that could be better if it had a bit of tweaking. I know Irvine had that problem with his resume, but I tend to think that he might actually be a good guy.
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That is kind of why I was asking. I didn't finish season one. I think my dvr screwed up and I was missing like episode eight (I want to say the last episode I saw Shane is in prison and they are looking for an art collection) and never ended up going any further. I should love it... Bullock and Shane are two of my favorite tv characters. I thought maybe it got better from that point. If it were on Netflix or something I would catch up right now but fx doesn't utilize it's on demand as well as HBO does. |
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They have two on every Tuesday and every once in a while it seems like they run 4-5 because my dvr fills up. The ones from season one are a little strange with a giant table they sit at like the Supreme Court and a lot less banter than they seem to have now but it's definitely one of my current favorites. |
If you guys like Shark Tank then see if you can find the British original somewhere out there. It's called "Dragon's Den."
In fact here - I'll do the work for you http://www.ovguide.com/tv/dragons_den.htm |
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In that case my recommendation to give it another try is much, much stronger. The first 4'ish episodes were almost completely "case of the week" type stories, and while there are definitely case of the week stories scattered throughout the series, there are many episodes that only deal with main plotlines and the show becomes much, much more serialized. Since you aren't too far past that shaky opening set of episodes then I think there's a much better chance you'll enjoy it. Goggins and Olyphant are great together and you'll get a lot of that scattered throughout the series, and if you're not quite sold on Boyd Crowder (shane/goggins) just yet, he does go through some changes, in a good way IMO, and a way that fits the show. |
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Dancing in tights. Yes, definitely yes. (She's less than a year older than my wife, so this isn't a surprise. The fact that I'm not deterred by 80s hair, maybe.) |
anyone watch Klondike?
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ARGH!! More people need to be watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine! C'mon peoples! |
I'm doing my part, but while I like the show and feel it has potential, I don't know that it's quite wow'd me to the point where I'd be sad for it to go away
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Ratings went up last night. Combine that with a post super bowl slot and two golden globes and I assume it gets a second season. I really like the show so I'm happy about that. |
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Brooklyn 99 is not going to be cancelled. I usually like TVbythenumbers, but I think they've been unnecessarily pessimistic about this show. It's FOX's #2 comedy and they've paired it with New Girl for the post Superbowl slot. And last night's episode actually outperformed New Girl. |
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I agree with you about the show's outlook. But more people should be watching the show. It's too good for it to even be in the bubble conversation. |
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that's pretty interesting news for NBC. Although I'd imagine that people would have expected the Michael J Fox show to do better. |
While Nine-Nine was up 36% this week versus last week's series low, it seems worth noting that the mark came with both NCIS and Marvel:Shield airing repeat episodes.
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If you Comcast On Demand (and Starz), the 1st episode of Black Sails is up. I thought it was okay, but it definitely suffers if you try to compare it to Game of Thrones or a movie. And the nudity was a little over the top, but you know, Starz.
Weird thing I didn't realize - apparently NBC is also launching one set at the same time centered on a Blackbeard played by John Malkovich - Crossbones | John Malkovich as Blackbeard the Infamous Pirate | NBC |
Yeah - it's a Starz series - I wouldn't try to compare it to Game of Thrones.
Not sure I said it on here, but if it's "Spartacus Pirates" I'll be more than happy with it. Looking forward to the NBC one, but I imagine it'll suffer the same fate as Andre Braugher's series. Too high production costs and probably too niche in terms of viewership for their audience. But then again, Once Upon a Time has found a viewership on one of the major networks, so what do I know. |
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The Last Resort comparison makes some sense, because both shows suffer due to have to invent reasons to keep characters on land because filming on the ocean is too expensive, but the Last Resort pilot was much better and felt bigger imo - if anything the problem was that later episodes didn't live up to that level of action, tension and production value (as well as the question of where it could really have gone after one season - should have just been an extended mini-series.) |
The first episode of Blacks Sails is supposed to be free viewing on Starz' website, but every time it starts, I get a Type Error - Error #1009.
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The new show on History "Ten Things You Don't Know About..." is pretty interesting. But Henry Rollins isn't aging well at all. He looks like he is in his mid-70s.
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