Master Index of Archived Threads


New TV 2013

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 30 2013 10:09 PM

A whole lot of expository? Yes. A bunch of it in the form of "this is how I feel about this"/"this is how I feel about this" conversations? Yeah, okay. A couple of straight-out-of-the-playbook, the-protagonist-hid-that-knife/body/other thing-just-in-time-to-keep-it-away-from-the-other-guy's-unintentionally-intruding-eyes thriller cliches? Oh, yes. But if that first ten minutes were any indication-- along with more than a handful of moments throughout the rest, Keri Russell working Mom jeans, and a customarily excellent Noah Emmerich as the (surprise!) FBI agent next door-- the Russian-spies-next-door/spycraft-as-marriage-metaphor period-piece "The Americans" looks... promising.

Benjamin Grimm Jan 31 2013 05:31 AM Re: New TV 2013

Has anyone watched The Following? I've been recording but haven't watched yet.

Frayed Knot Jan 31 2013 06:11 AM Re: New TV 2013

AMERICANS -- Taped but not yet watched. I owe Keri Russell at least a viewing. FOLLOWING -- Watched the first two. Kevin Bacon is an ex-FBI who suffered career burn-out after he cracked a serial killer case some 6 or 8 years back and then wrote a best-seller about same. Said killer, a lit prof who takes Poe a bit too seriously, escapes from prison in Episode one (leaving a trail of bloody bodies behind) and Bacon is (unofficially) called back to action despite his battles with the bottle. They recapture him fairly quickly, but now it's apparent he has a following of cultists ready to continue his evil plan and only Kevin Bacon has the intimate knowledge of the killer's thinking to thwart this krazed killer kult. It could either get good or sink into suckdom. I'm sticking with it for now.

Edgy MD Jan 31 2013 07:52 AM Re: New TV 2013

I went to a Poe Birthday Bash/dramatic presentation last week. Posters for The Following were everywhere. The room was filled with folks who take Poe a bit too seriously, and we soon learned that the producers of The Following were helping to underwrite the evening. They raffled off posters and props signed by the cast of The Following through the evening, and continuously promised us a special sneak preview of The Following before the evening was done. As the night started winding down, it became clear that the sneak preview of The Following was going to be the evening's last event. We all looked to my friend Mike, the big Poe fanatic in our party and a native of Philadelphia, just like Kevin Bacon of The Following, and we asked him if he wanted to stay for the preview --- the preview of The Following. "The way I look at it is that they're going to show us a TV show," said Mike. "And I have a TV at home that can do that." So we split early. And as we turned the corner, we saw hundreds of other patrons Following us out of the theater.

Ceetar Jan 31 2013 08:02 AM Re: New TV 2013

Edgy MD wrote: "The way I look at it is that they're going to show us a TV show," said Mike. "And I have a TV at home that can do that." Plenty of people get real excited for previews. Personally if it was up to me (It's not, I'm married) I wouldn't even watch the "next week on ______" bits. I think we're going to watch the Following, but it conflicted with something else so we haven't yet. Maybe I'll wait until we're partway in and someone can tell me if it's bad or good so I can either avoid it because it's bad or avoid it because it's good and on Fox and will get canceled.

Edgy MD Jan 31 2013 08:11 AM Re: New TV 2013

It looks like just another excuse to seduce young adults into acting creepy.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 31 2013 10:23 AM Re: New TV 2013

I've seen 1 1/2 episodes of The Following. Kevin Bacon's excellent. The rest of it... well... not nearly; it's playing at psychological terror with characters that aren't characters, but archetypes with characteristics. It feels like something that's going to rely HEAVILY on plot and plot twists... and man, do I not care to sign on for Manhunter 2: The Carnival Ride Version. If someone else watches more, and gives me an indication that I've been hasty, well, maybe I'll give it another whirl-- given my limited DVR-backlog-sifting time, in the meantime, I'll stick to the good stuff, or the stuff that looks like it could get great.

metirish Jan 31 2013 11:35 AM Re: New TV 2013

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: A whole lot of expository? Yes. A bunch of it in the form of "this is how I feel about this"/"this is how I feel about this" conversations? Yeah, okay. A couple of straight-out-of-the-playbook, the-protagonist-hid-that-knife/body/other thing-just-in-time-to-keep-it-away-from-the-other-guy's-unintentionally-intruding-eyes thriller cliches? Oh, yes. But if that first ten minutes were any indication-- along with more than a handful of moments throughout the rest, Keri Russell working Mom jeans, and a customarily excellent Noah Emmerich as the (surprise!) FBI agent next door-- the Russian-spies-next-door/spycraft-as-marriage-metaphor period-piece "The Americans" looks... promising. Meant to watch The Americans , seems to have a bit of The Charm School about it.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 07 2013 07:21 AM Re: New TV 2013

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: A whole lot of expository? Yes. A bunch of it in the form of "this is how I feel about this"/"this is how I feel about this" conversations? Yeah, okay. A couple of straight-out-of-the-playbook, the-protagonist-hid-that-knife/body/other thing-just-in-time-to-keep-it-away-from-the-other-guy's-unintentionally-intruding-eyes thriller cliches? Oh, yes. But if that first ten minutes were any indication-- along with more than a handful of moments throughout the rest, Keri Russell working Mom jeans, and a customarily excellent Noah Emmerich as the (surprise!) FBI agent next door-- the Russian-spies-next-door/spycraft-as-marriage-metaphor period-piece "The Americans" looks... promising. Got around to the first ep last night. I like anything set in 1981 so I'm on board. Could barely get over how much Dadspy reminded me of Marcia Brady's toy-salesman hubby Wally.

metirish Feb 07 2013 08:00 AM Re: New TV 2013

Got around to Monday Mornings last night, a new medical drama on TNT.....I'm sceptical of medical shows...hate Greys Anatomy....I like my medical shows like Chicago Hope ...so I was chuffed with Monday Mornings...the title refers to the regular Monday morning surgical meetings where the top Dr. summons one surgeon to a Q&A on a case, basically you are fed to the lions with all the other surgeons sitting in...typically one with a bad ending...... stellar cast David E. Kelley & Sanjay Gupta are the writers...... http://www.tntdrama.com/series/monday-mornings/

Frayed Knot Feb 07 2013 10:42 AM Re: New TV 2013

One thing about 'The Americans' is that if this weren't the age of DVRs I would have bailed already. Now it's possible that a sober analysis of this will show that it's no worse than other shows and I've merely gotten used to zapping through commercials, but the breaks during this show seem both longer and more frequent than normal.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 13 2013 11:16 PM Re: New TV 2013

Forget "promising." Between the caper with multilayered emotional stakes (and the antidote speech, and the mother-daughter ear-piercing thing) last week, and the more deliberate, slow-burn pas de trois-- with a hefty amount of the good Pakula/Lumet shit-- this week... this show is starting to come together, and it's quite good in the becoming.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 18 2013 08:33 PM Re: New TV 2013

I've seen 1 1/2 episodes of The Following. Kevin Bacon's excellent. The rest of it... well... not nearly; it's playing at psychological terror with characters that aren't characters, but archetypes with characteristics. It feels like something that's going to rely HEAVILY on plot and plot twists... and man, do I not care to sign on for Manhunter 2: The Carnival Ride Version. If someone else watches more, and gives me an indication that I've been hasty, well, maybe I'll give it another whirl-- given my limited DVR-backlog-sifting time, in the meantime, I'll stick to the good stuff, or the stuff that looks like it could get great. Just checked in to The Following for the first time since those first couple of eps... and, between the shock violence and edits/music designed for reflexive, involuntary pulse-pounding... my nerves feel jangled, like I just got off of a ramshackle, dangerous, pop-up-church-carnival amusement ride. Popped online immediately afterward, and almost like it was fated, this popped up on my Twitter feed; it's a nice essay on modern TV violence, and-- among many other points-- goes a long way to explain why I find this show so damned unpleasant. (As well as part of why I find The Walking Dead so problematic.)

metirish Feb 18 2013 08:43 PM Re: New TV 2013

"Inside Combat Rescue : Visions of War" on Nat Geo, riveting new show.

Centerfield Feb 19 2013 08:15 AM Re: New TV 2013

I feel like too much of the plot of The Following depends on incompetent police/FBI work. Last night's episode especially. The Americans is much better.

Frayed Knot Feb 23 2013 11:58 AM Re: New TV 2013

'The Americans' has apparently been successful enough through just four shows to warrant being picked up for a second 13-show season. This may or may not be good news for fans of the show. Sometimes I think writers for these type of shows have enough plot in their heads to get through the initial time-frame but then suddenly have to re-plan for the series NOT ending as soon as they thought and suddenly they find themselves with a lot more territory to cover.

RealityChuck Feb 23 2013 03:26 PM Re: New TV 2013

I saw Zero Hour. You shouldn't have to. No cliche left behind. Watching it will convince you that you're clairvoyant and can see the future.

TheOldMole Feb 23 2013 05:05 PM Re: New TV 2013

Kevin Spacey can smile, and smile, and be a villain. House of Cards.

Vic Sage Feb 24 2013 09:00 AM Re: New TV 2013

that show is amazing -- I love it when the villain is the "hero", because he has the vision to see what he wants and the balls to do whatever it takes to get it.