Craig The 12 Doctor?
- Thread starter tyicepaws
- Start date
x68000
Mega GP Mania
WARNING.............................RAMBLING COMMENCES
There are loads of great US TV Series, such as 24, Heroes, The Wire etc, but these are my favourites.
DAY BREAK. If you liked Groundhog Day and you like great unravelling thrillers, then this is absolutely fantastic. Probably the best little-known series ever. The storyboarding is just mind boggling. How this wasn't massive, I have no idea, I was actually quite resentful that Heroes was so huge yet nobody had heard of this at the time.
TRUE BLOOD. From the creator of Six Feet Under, this is very different. It at frst seems to be like Popcorn TV and I think he even described it as such but that's underselling it, because it oozes class.
DEXTER. Basically this is fucking brilliant. Michael C. Hall who was the gay David from Six Feet Under stars as Dexter, an amazing achievement.
E-RING. Took me a couple of episodes to really get into it, but that wasn't so much me getting into it as it was the show massively getting better by episode 3. Stars Benjamin Bratt as a total military better than SEAL dude who retires from the field to work in the Pentagon to give extra insight on tain operations and stars Dennis Hopper as his boss, who's brilliant. At first I found this show a bit irritating yet compelling so I stayed with it and I'm so bloody happy that I did becuase it turned into something monumental! The whole structure of the show was fantastic, the characters were fantastic, and the way the budget was ultra-carefully allocated was just amazing. It didnt have loads of action but when there was it was amazing quality, and it also had loads of amazing military secret techniques, weapons and tools which were so new and freah, it was stunning to watch. One of my favourite 'tools' was used on home soil when they had to get inside a church held by American terrorists and they used this experimental camera which was like a robot snake, it was absolutely stunning. I remember when I was halfway through this, I started watching an episode of NCIS which was always advertised (also on FX) and the shows seem quite similar in basic idea, but NCIS seemed like a joke by comparison. The upsetting thing is NCIS got a load of series and a spinoff and E-Ring got 1 series. What the hell is wrong with US TV executives?
THE UNIT. First series I wasn't mad on, it seemed like a nice idea having a secret military unit going off and doing stuff and also seeing their home life back on base, but all the operational ideas seemed to totally rip off E-Ring to the point that they must have watched E-Ring just before they wrote the scripts! It was still interesting though and had a really great cast, led by the original 'President Palmer' from 24. However, season 2 took a massive leap forward in quality and I felt it really came into it's own then and held itself up against E-Ring: even though the shows were actually quite different in many ways, I'd always compared them. The finale to season 2 stands as just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen on TV, the way it all went to hell in the last couple of episodes was utterly brilliant. It never quite reached those highs in the next 2 series but it was almost always excellent from then on. Real shame it got cancelled after that.
CHUCK. At first this seems a bit daft… and actually it is daft, but intentionally. The premise seems a bit unbelievable, but that's part of the charm. Chuck is brilliant as is Casey (Adam Baldwin who was a total bastard in Day Break), it's comedic yet clever as hell and has great action, great will-they-won't they romance. For something which initially seems simply daft, it's actually utterly brilliant once you give it half a chance.
BURN NOTICE. Took me a few episodes to get into this. At first it seemed a bit too much fluff and too smug but I realised it was very slick and very clever. Quality show which is also like a B&Q leaflet on how to do espionage/spy stuff!
GENERATION KILL. Tthis show shocked me like nothing I've seen before, and it's so anti-American that I'm surprised that the creators weren't tried for treason! Once you get past the first episode where all the soldiers are the most irritating human beings on the planet, you start to appreciate what it's all about and that it was all intentional anyway. Quality in every single way and by comparison, The Hurt Locker is meaningless and utterly inferior. Every single way. There's got to be a reason that some of these films dont make the big money in the cinemas and it's maybe not because they're too clever for the neanderthal general public, maybe it's becuase there's stuff on TV which is better. Better story, more realistic, better acted, better written, better produced, equally as well-made, more though-provoking, has a better sense of purpose and what it's trying to say (i.e. the truth, whereas The Hurt Locker isn't actually trying to say anything).
THE LOST ROOM. This is more like a 5 hour one-off than a full TV series, and I can't even remember all the things which happened in it now. It stars Peter Krause who's in Dirty Sexy Money alongside Donald Sutherland ( but he came to prominence as the main character in Six Feet Under, playing Michael C. Hall's (Dexter) brother. He's a very likeable actor, and The Lost Room is an incredibly well-written, imaginitive, inventive... thing. It feels movie quality and almost as if there was a decision at some point on whether to go full Hollywood movie (say 2 1/2 hours) or a 13-episode TV mini series, and after a load of discussions, they ended up somehwere in the middle. It also feels as if it's a mid-budget Hollwood movie thing too, very impressive for a TV show, like they used a full season's budget on those 5 hours. For that reason alone, you should watch it.
SLEEPER CELL. This was my Lunar: The Silver Star moment of TV shows, by that I mean it's the TV show I've enjoyed watching more than any other. I don't know if I think it's the best or my favourite, but at the time of watching, the first season consumed me like nothing else I've ever seen on TV. A few things have come close, Dexter and some other stuff like Day Break which I've mentioned here, but nothing as much as Sleeper Cell. I prefer to watch my TV shows on a week-to-week basis on TV, feeling the exquisite pain of having to wait another week for the next episode and letting what I've just seen perculate in my mind, rather than get the instant hit of watching an entire season in a couple of days and then be done with it. I don't think you always appreciate the work as much that way. Anyway, I was literally eating, sleeping and dreaming about Sleeper Cell when I wasn't watching it. The famous New York Times quote on the front of the DVD box proudly announcing "better than 24!" probably hurt this show as much as it helped it, because my comparison, 24 is Rambo and Sleeper Cell is something like The Wire. It's very slow and methodical, not all guns blazing Jack Bauer stuff. It's incredibly deep, intelligent, incredibly topical, though-provoking and it's so well acted and so well made and produced that it pulls you into it's world more than just about anything this side of Avatar. You drink in the atmosphere of this show. First episode felt quite different to the rest, almost like it was made earlier because it was less perfect, but after that it's just supreme TV. In a way, this is as much what the critics are saying about The Hurt Locker as Generation Kill is, it's just that conceptually, Generation Kill is a more clear match. But Generation Kill just tells things like they are, it's no bullshit, and if it's thought-provoking, it's simply because of what actually happened rather than some crap the writers and directors put in to feed you. On the other hand, Sleeper Cell, and all the Muslim and terrorism topics, is giving the viewer much more to mentally toil with. I absolutely fell in love with this one. Inevitably, they made a second season, which it never needed and it was comparitively crap but still better than a lot of stuff out there.
********************If you are still reading this, what is wrong with you??
***************************
There are loads of great US TV Series, such as 24, Heroes, The Wire etc, but these are my favourites.
DAY BREAK. If you liked Groundhog Day and you like great unravelling thrillers, then this is absolutely fantastic. Probably the best little-known series ever. The storyboarding is just mind boggling. How this wasn't massive, I have no idea, I was actually quite resentful that Heroes was so huge yet nobody had heard of this at the time.
TRUE BLOOD. From the creator of Six Feet Under, this is very different. It at frst seems to be like Popcorn TV and I think he even described it as such but that's underselling it, because it oozes class.
DEXTER. Basically this is fucking brilliant. Michael C. Hall who was the gay David from Six Feet Under stars as Dexter, an amazing achievement.
E-RING. Took me a couple of episodes to really get into it, but that wasn't so much me getting into it as it was the show massively getting better by episode 3. Stars Benjamin Bratt as a total military better than SEAL dude who retires from the field to work in the Pentagon to give extra insight on tain operations and stars Dennis Hopper as his boss, who's brilliant. At first I found this show a bit irritating yet compelling so I stayed with it and I'm so bloody happy that I did becuase it turned into something monumental! The whole structure of the show was fantastic, the characters were fantastic, and the way the budget was ultra-carefully allocated was just amazing. It didnt have loads of action but when there was it was amazing quality, and it also had loads of amazing military secret techniques, weapons and tools which were so new and freah, it was stunning to watch. One of my favourite 'tools' was used on home soil when they had to get inside a church held by American terrorists and they used this experimental camera which was like a robot snake, it was absolutely stunning. I remember when I was halfway through this, I started watching an episode of NCIS which was always advertised (also on FX) and the shows seem quite similar in basic idea, but NCIS seemed like a joke by comparison. The upsetting thing is NCIS got a load of series and a spinoff and E-Ring got 1 series. What the hell is wrong with US TV executives?
THE UNIT. First series I wasn't mad on, it seemed like a nice idea having a secret military unit going off and doing stuff and also seeing their home life back on base, but all the operational ideas seemed to totally rip off E-Ring to the point that they must have watched E-Ring just before they wrote the scripts! It was still interesting though and had a really great cast, led by the original 'President Palmer' from 24. However, season 2 took a massive leap forward in quality and I felt it really came into it's own then and held itself up against E-Ring: even though the shows were actually quite different in many ways, I'd always compared them. The finale to season 2 stands as just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen on TV, the way it all went to hell in the last couple of episodes was utterly brilliant. It never quite reached those highs in the next 2 series but it was almost always excellent from then on. Real shame it got cancelled after that.
CHUCK. At first this seems a bit daft… and actually it is daft, but intentionally. The premise seems a bit unbelievable, but that's part of the charm. Chuck is brilliant as is Casey (Adam Baldwin who was a total bastard in Day Break), it's comedic yet clever as hell and has great action, great will-they-won't they romance. For something which initially seems simply daft, it's actually utterly brilliant once you give it half a chance.
BURN NOTICE. Took me a few episodes to get into this. At first it seemed a bit too much fluff and too smug but I realised it was very slick and very clever. Quality show which is also like a B&Q leaflet on how to do espionage/spy stuff!
GENERATION KILL. Tthis show shocked me like nothing I've seen before, and it's so anti-American that I'm surprised that the creators weren't tried for treason! Once you get past the first episode where all the soldiers are the most irritating human beings on the planet, you start to appreciate what it's all about and that it was all intentional anyway. Quality in every single way and by comparison, The Hurt Locker is meaningless and utterly inferior. Every single way. There's got to be a reason that some of these films dont make the big money in the cinemas and it's maybe not because they're too clever for the neanderthal general public, maybe it's becuase there's stuff on TV which is better. Better story, more realistic, better acted, better written, better produced, equally as well-made, more though-provoking, has a better sense of purpose and what it's trying to say (i.e. the truth, whereas The Hurt Locker isn't actually trying to say anything).
THE LOST ROOM. This is more like a 5 hour one-off than a full TV series, and I can't even remember all the things which happened in it now. It stars Peter Krause who's in Dirty Sexy Money alongside Donald Sutherland ( but he came to prominence as the main character in Six Feet Under, playing Michael C. Hall's (Dexter) brother. He's a very likeable actor, and The Lost Room is an incredibly well-written, imaginitive, inventive... thing. It feels movie quality and almost as if there was a decision at some point on whether to go full Hollywood movie (say 2 1/2 hours) or a 13-episode TV mini series, and after a load of discussions, they ended up somehwere in the middle. It also feels as if it's a mid-budget Hollwood movie thing too, very impressive for a TV show, like they used a full season's budget on those 5 hours. For that reason alone, you should watch it.
SLEEPER CELL. This was my Lunar: The Silver Star moment of TV shows, by that I mean it's the TV show I've enjoyed watching more than any other. I don't know if I think it's the best or my favourite, but at the time of watching, the first season consumed me like nothing else I've ever seen on TV. A few things have come close, Dexter and some other stuff like Day Break which I've mentioned here, but nothing as much as Sleeper Cell. I prefer to watch my TV shows on a week-to-week basis on TV, feeling the exquisite pain of having to wait another week for the next episode and letting what I've just seen perculate in my mind, rather than get the instant hit of watching an entire season in a couple of days and then be done with it. I don't think you always appreciate the work as much that way. Anyway, I was literally eating, sleeping and dreaming about Sleeper Cell when I wasn't watching it. The famous New York Times quote on the front of the DVD box proudly announcing "better than 24!" probably hurt this show as much as it helped it, because my comparison, 24 is Rambo and Sleeper Cell is something like The Wire. It's very slow and methodical, not all guns blazing Jack Bauer stuff. It's incredibly deep, intelligent, incredibly topical, though-provoking and it's so well acted and so well made and produced that it pulls you into it's world more than just about anything this side of Avatar. You drink in the atmosphere of this show. First episode felt quite different to the rest, almost like it was made earlier because it was less perfect, but after that it's just supreme TV. In a way, this is as much what the critics are saying about The Hurt Locker as Generation Kill is, it's just that conceptually, Generation Kill is a more clear match. But Generation Kill just tells things like they are, it's no bullshit, and if it's thought-provoking, it's simply because of what actually happened rather than some crap the writers and directors put in to feed you. On the other hand, Sleeper Cell, and all the Muslim and terrorism topics, is giving the viewer much more to mentally toil with. I absolutely fell in love with this one. Inevitably, they made a second season, which it never needed and it was comparitively crap but still better than a lot of stuff out there.
********************If you are still reading this, what is wrong with you??
***************************
sbt
Member
torpor said:Happy to head off anywhere with Karen Gillan for two months if it'll help.
'Tis the very least I can do.
+25
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sbt
Member
Mantis said:
Yes, but you're in Stockport so they're probably only just getting round to showing the ones from the mid-70s :lol:
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x68000
Mega GP Mania
Lancashire Vs Cheshire hatred won't be tolerated around here :rolleyes:sbt said:
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Bosbeetle
Terminally lost
I really liked twin peaks
x68000
Mega GP Mania
i will always love some Twin PeaksBosbeetle said:I really liked twin peaks
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VRAndy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2008
- Messages
- 1,127
The Doctor never seems to actualy do that. Recently he's tried to explain it by vaguely mentioning that he can't "cross into established time streams" (Except for cheap tricks.)Philly said:Dont be daft man... If he had a tardis he would of gone forward in time told himself not to get the cases from china... then further forward... then two months more, then brought all the fully assembled Pandoras back to Dec. 2008 and posted them out! Job done!
Even when he lands in the wrong year he tends to just deal with it instead of trying go back to when he intended to land.
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x68000 said:
The only ones out of those which are on in the UK (unless you have subscription Satellite, I don't know what they show) are True Blood, Chuck and The Unit.
True Blood: This is the vampire drama yeah? I wasn't really interested after the BBC commissioned Being Human, which filled all my vampire drama needs. It was funny too, is True Blood funny?
Chuck: It just seemed to silly for me. Silly in the wrong way, if you get my meaning. Not silly like Monty Python or Spaced.
The Unit: It was advertised on Virgin 1. The way they market shows makes me NOT want to see them.
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iprice
Certified Guru
Dexter is indeed ace.
There's also -
Criminal Minds
Medium
NCIS
CSI:NY
Grey's Anatomy - keeps the girlies happy anyway
Miami Medical
House
All American, all enjoyable tv.
There's also -
Criminal Minds
Medium
NCIS
CSI:NY
Grey's Anatomy - keeps the girlies happy anyway
Miami Medical
House
All American, all enjoyable tv.
x68000
Mega GP Mania
Mainly on FX on Sky (UK&Ire)SomeGuy99 said:
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x68000 said:
Ah. I only have Freeview.
For non UK people:
Freeview = Terrestrial Digital TV (part operated by the BBC and... Rupert Murdoch).
Sky = Subscription Digital Satellite TV (owned by one... Rupert Murdoch).
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Alpha2
Heroic Autobot
Bad news Heroes Fans: Canceled. I hope you're a season behind so you can enjoy the last few eps.
It's getting to the point that you almost cant be a real fan of something for fear of it getting killed. Moreso I think I've glad to have gotten into Doctor Who because of the deplorable lack of decent scifi TV over here, even with a network devoted to it! Chuck's fun, I havented watched a single episode of Smallville this season due to the switch to DTV making the station all but unwatchable, there's no Star Trek anymore, and Stargate Universe has abandoned the fun vibe of the previous shows for the angsty, annoying, dirty style of BSG which I hated (I will say the last few episodes it has lightened up a bit mostly due to fan response but it's still no where near as enjoyable ad SG1 or Atlantis.)
The pandora could dominate the world if it wasnt for lack of funding.
It's getting to the point that you almost cant be a real fan of something for fear of it getting killed. Moreso I think I've glad to have gotten into Doctor Who because of the deplorable lack of decent scifi TV over here, even with a network devoted to it! Chuck's fun, I havented watched a single episode of Smallville this season due to the switch to DTV making the station all but unwatchable, there's no Star Trek anymore, and Stargate Universe has abandoned the fun vibe of the previous shows for the angsty, annoying, dirty style of BSG which I hated (I will say the last few episodes it has lightened up a bit mostly due to fan response but it's still no where near as enjoyable ad SG1 or Atlantis.)
The pandora could dominate the world if it wasnt for lack of funding.
Alpha2 said:
Is it okay that I feel good about this? I was faithful for a few seasons till it stopped being coherent or interesting.
Alpha2 said:
Just want to point out that Dr Who was off the air for decades. The BBC cancelled it in the eighties. It was kind of like:
Alpha2 said:
If they don't bring this back at some point, I think my life will lose all meaning. Dear America: Don't make it decades this time.
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Alpha2
Heroic Autobot
The last season of Heroes, you could sense them trying to fix the things that were broke. The thing that hurt it most was the writers strike. The network had to take what they had of that season and a midseason miniseries called Villians and kitbash it into a finished half season, when the writers returned they had to fix all the holes left from the shoddy editing as well as the fact that the executive producer had left to work on Pushing Daises. By the time he got back after IT was canceled, the public opinion has swayed to a point where no one wanted to really give a chance to heal. It's sad really.
As for Star trek I think the success of the reboot has them questioning exactly what to do next. Can they get away with another season in the same Next gen universe with the changes made by the movie or just start fresh in the new universe. It's a hard choice to make, I dont envy it.
As for Star trek I think the success of the reboot has them questioning exactly what to do next. Can they get away with another season in the same Next gen universe with the changes made by the movie or just start fresh in the new universe. It's a hard choice to make, I dont envy it.
