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Shows that are good, but I'm a fun-hating curmudgeon

Cardinal said:
There are television shows that come around that I can genuinely recognize as being extremely well crafted, but I just can't be bothered to care about for entirely personal reasons, either because I'm annoyed by the very premise or because I'm just not especially interested in the genre itself. Madmen was previously the standard bearer for this concept. I'm perfectly capable of recognizing the superior narrative, acting, pacing, directions, etc., but a pair of car battery cables connected to my testicles can't make me care about an ad agency that takes places in 1950's America. No, don't tell me how relevantly and accurately the culture, history and misogyny of that era was portrayed...really...I just don't care.

Rome was another one of those "super well crafted but I can't seem to get into it for some reason" shows.

The latest example is Netflix's OJ Simpson show. It's well cast, well directed, super clever and poignant, but you can't make me forget that I lived through that extraordinarily annoying time period, and I would rather flush my eyeballs out with acetone than relive it. That said, if you're not old enough to remember the OJ Simpson bull****, you should watch it because I'm still capable of recognizing that it's an excellently crafted piece of entertainment. Really, you'll enjoy it, but don't try to talk to me about it, because I'll unfollow you on Facebook and put you on ignore on this forum if you do.
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I felt that way about Breaking Bad. Never got into it, but obviously it was a very well done show. Like you, I can't get worked up over Mad Men )never heard of Rome). Those shows are simply not compelling enough for me to look forward to seeing them like I did the Sopranos or the Wire.

Orange is the New Black never really worked for me either, but I did at least suffer through a few seasons of it before tiring of the concept. Dexter I really enjoyed, but it became stupid after about season 2.
 
PoS said:
I tried to get into it, but I couldn't.



Mad Men was great. Don Draper was one of the most complex characters Ive ever seen and the show was worth watching on him alone.

My favorite shows in no particular order: Man in the High Castle, Gomorra, Boardwalk Empire (the first 3 seasons only, then it went downhill), Narcos, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Killing (original Danish version), Mad Men, The Wire, Rome, GoT, Black Sails, The Expanse, Westworld, Breaking Bad, Fargo, Les Revenants, Silicon Valley, The Bureau, The Missing, Mr Robot, House of Cards.
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Aw. It was really good in the first 3 seasons. Then they started making them for binge watching I feel.


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Mr Person said:
Well, I suppose I am too an "idea guy" so I love PKD stuff. I love temporally inconsistent plots, meanandering plots, plots that go nowhere, as long as they tell a story - that really does seem to reflect reality in many ways - stories, an infinity of stories, and most of them go nowhere interesting. The Man in the High Castle was one of his most fragmentary works. I'll grant that. There is no single plot and there isn't even anything like a proper ending. But it's about people behaving in a situation given them, and I'm content with that. I'm not even sure what it's supposed to be about. I'll have to re-re--read it again, but I'm fairly certain that the resolution doesn't actually resolve anything.

It still love his stuff. I like uncertainty. After all, living one's own life is the most uncertain prospect possible.

Again, I may be a bit of a weirdo. And at this point, kinda drunk.
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Well if you like reality bending sci-fi with a drunken protagonist then you ought to try Rick and Morty. That show is hilariously nuts. :lol:
 
Cardinal said:
There are television shows that come around that I can genuinely recognize as being extremely well crafted, but I just can't be bothered to care about for entirely personal reasons, either because I'm annoyed by the very premise or because I'm just not especially interested in the genre itself. Madmen was previously the standard bearer for this concept. I'm perfectly capable of recognizing the superior narrative, acting, pacing, directions, etc., but a pair of car battery cables connected to my testicles can't make me care about an ad agency that takes places in 1950's America. No, don't tell me how relevantly and accurately the culture, history and misogyny of that era was portrayed...really...I just don't care.

Rome was another one of those "super well crafted but I can't seem to get into it for some reason" shows.

The latest example is Netflix's OJ Simpson show. It's well cast, well directed, super clever and poignant, but you can't make me forget that I lived through that extraordinarily annoying time period, and I would rather flush my eyeballs out with acetone than relive it. That said, if you're not old enough to remember the OJ Simpson bull****, you should watch it because I'm still capable of recognizing that it's an excellently crafted piece of entertainment. Really, you'll enjoy it, but don't try to talk to me about it, because I'll unfollow you on Facebook and put you on ignore on this forum if you do.
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Me too, but probably closer than you.

I had to be in that same courthouse during that trial.

What a circus that was. It was as crazy as crazy gets.

I refuse to watch any of those shows about the case as each one will have its point of view which will have nothing to do with reality or how things were.
 
Cardinal said:
Yes, The Wire is also a show worth getting into. And to answer your next question: Breaking Bad is also a decent way to pass the time.
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I started The Wire. I like it so far. I project I will be entertained for 2-3 seasons, no farther though. I think it's just too derivative of crime dramas to be totally unique, like BB. BB is probably the greatest television show ever created.
 
Winston said:
I started The Wire. I like it so far. I project I will be entertained for 2-3 seasons, no farther though. I think it's just too derivative of crime dramas to be totally unique, like BB. BB is probably the greatest television show ever created.
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I don't know you, but I think you will change your mind.
 
blackjack50 said:
You perfectly described my feeling towards The Godfather and Boardwalk Empire. Thank you for this thread.


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I don't know why you'd write off the Godfather because it was two movies and not a long running series, but I completely agree with you on Boardwalk Empire. Fantastic show, couldn't get into it.
 
Winston said:
I started The Wire. I like it so far. I project I will be entertained for 2-3 seasons, no farther though. I think it's just too derivative of crime dramas to be totally unique, like BB. BB is probably the greatest television show ever created.
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The Wire may look derivative at first glance but its not. I wasn't expecting to like it but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try. I was blown away and binged the whole thing. I think its the greatest TV show ever.
 
PoS said:
The Wire may look derivative at first glance but its not. I wasn't expecting to like it but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try. I was blown away and binged the whole thing. I think its the greatest TV show ever.
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See, I try to tone down language like that about shows I genuinely believe in. "Underpromise and overdeliver," my grand-da always used to tell me.
 
Cardinal said:
See, I try to tone down language like that about shows I genuinely believe in. "Underpromise and overdeliver," my grand-da always used to tell me.
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You are the master of understatement.
 
So should I get into The Americans? If so, what's it comparable to? Cold War spy thriller stuff isn't a genre I'm especially into. But then, as I said before, I'm not into Westerns either and I did just fine with Deadwood.
 
PoS said:
The Wire may look derivative at first glance but its not. I wasn't expecting to like it but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try. I was blown away and binged the whole thing. I think its the greatest TV show ever.
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Yeah, DeAngelo's story arc is coming along nicely. Same with the police bureacracy.
 
Winston said:
Yeah, DeAngelo's story arc is coming along nicely. Same with the police bureacracy.
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Oh youre in for a treat. Season 1 is excellent but things kick up a notch in succeeding seasons. Season 2 is a whole different animal and just as good. Season 3 is the most action packed, while Season 4 is probably the saddest part of all. Season 5 brings everything full circle.

Cardinal said:
So should I get into The Americans? If so, what's it comparable to? Cold War spy thriller stuff isn't a genre I'm especially into. But then, as I said before, I'm not into Westerns either and I did just fine with Deadwood.
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I couldnt get into it myself, so sorry, can't help you. :2wave:

I'm really liking Taboo right now. Tom Hardy is a badass. After that I'm gonna binge Iron Fist and see if the critics are right.
 
PoS said:
Oh youre in for a treat. Season 1 is excellent but things kick up a notch in succeeding seasons. Season 2 is a whole different animal and just as good. Season 3 is the most action packed, while Season 4 is probably the saddest part of all. Season 5 brings everything full circle.



I couldnt get into it myself, so sorry, can't help you. :2wave:

I'm really liking Taboo right now. Tom Hardy is a badass. After that I'm gonna binge Iron Fist and see if the critics are right.
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Taboo is fantastic. This show highlighted why Tom Hardy is a respected actor: he has killer stage presence. I also respect a story that knows exactly where it's going.

There are so many shows that had the potential to be something really cool but just didn't know where they wanted to go. I think Gotham was such an example. It had truly great characters to play with (the Penguin being goddamn genius in its potential), and if the narrative had had a damn clue where it wanted to end up it could have been a contender. Instead it completely switched directions every three or four episodes and I hit the eject button altogether by the middle of the second season out of frustration.

I hit the eject button on Iron Fist after the second episode.
 
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Cardinal said:
Taboo is fantastic. This show highlighted why Tom Hardy is a respected actor: he has killer stage presence. I also respect a story that knows exactly where it's going.

There are so many shows that had the potential to be something really cool but just didn't know where they wanted to go. I think Gotham was such an example. It had truly great characters to play with (the Penguin being goddamn genius in its potential), and if the narrative had had a damn clue where it wanted to end up it could have been a contender. Instead it completely switched directions every three or four episodes and I hit the eject button altogether by the middle of the second season out of frustration.

I hit the eject button on Iron Fist after the second episode.
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Youre right about Iron Fist. Im currently watching episode 1 and its pretty awful. Danny Rand is more naive than a 10 year old boy (the age was when he disappeared). The main character is pretty silly and a man child- its like that Elf movie with Will Ferrel except he knows martial arts. The bad guys (if I could call them that) is his childhood bully? :doh

Jessica Jones was bad, Luke Cage was maybe average at best, and boring at worst. Daredevil was great in season 1 but got worse in season 2. I'll maybe watch one more episode and if it doesnt get better, I'm stopping it.

I hated Gotham too. I gave it one season in which I skipped through most of the episodes before just giving up. The whole concept to me is silly. Why make all of Batman's villains come alive when there's no Batman to stop them? Heroes and villains need each other. What they should do is to bring Luke Cage and Iron Fist into Gotham and fight the villains there lol.

The rate this is going, I'm going to have to struggle and wait till next week when Black Sails is finished so I could binge watch the final season (sad it got cancelled, it is a darn good show). Bah, maybe I'll rewatch The Wire again.
 
Deadwood
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Being Human (UK version only)
Battlestar Galactica

Hated Madmen, FTR.
 
PoS said:
The Wire may look derivative at first glance but its not. I wasn't expecting to like it but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try. I was blown away and binged the whole thing. I think its the greatest TV show ever.
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I'm halfway through S2. Still captivating. I have one small criticism. Too many characters. It's hard to keep them all straight. I'm not opposed to many story lines interweaving, but, it has to be done with finesse. I'm making a prediction... Ziggy turns informant. Just the way he's dissastisfied with life and feels "left out" and he always gets picked on, even though he's a jackass.. I think he turns snitch because he doesn't feel validated, part of the team, or valuable to the operation.
 
Winston said:
I'm halfway through S2. Still captivating. I have one small criticism. Too many characters. It's hard to keep them all straight. I'm not opposed to many story lines interweaving, but, it has to be done with finesse. I'm making a prediction... Ziggy turns informant. Just the way he's dissastisfied with life and feels "left out" and he always gets picked on, even though he's a jackass.. I think he turns snitch because he doesn't feel validated, part of the team, or valuable to the operation.
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LOL Ziggy Sobotka has my vote as the most annoying character on TV since AJ Soprano. I wanted him to die so badly lol. My favorite characters are McNulty, Lester, Stringer Bell and especially Omar- who is just a unique badass. That assassin from NY is pretty cool too. Just wait till you get to Season 3, which introduces Marlo Stansfield and his badass enforcers.

Oh and I gotta add Clay Davis to the list too- he cracks me up everytime he says sheeeiiiitt! :lamo
 
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Cardinal said:
There are television shows that come around that I can genuinely recognize as being extremely well crafted, but I just can't be bothered to care about for entirely personal reasons, either because I'm annoyed by the very premise or because I'm just not especially interested in the genre itself. Madmen was previously the standard bearer for this concept. I'm perfectly capable of recognizing the superior narrative, acting, pacing, directions, etc., but a pair of car battery cables connected to my testicles can't make me care about an ad agency that takes places in 1950's America. No, don't tell me how relevantly and accurately the culture, history and misogyny of that era was portrayed...really...I just don't care.

Rome was another one of those "super well crafted but I can't seem to get into it for some reason" shows.

The latest example is Netflix's OJ Simpson show. It's well cast, well directed, super clever and poignant, but you can't make me forget that I lived through that extraordinarily annoying time period, and I would rather flush my eyeballs out with acetone than relive it. That said, if you're not old enough to remember the OJ Simpson bull****, you should watch it because I'm still capable of recognizing that it's an excellently crafted piece of entertainment. Really, you'll enjoy it, but don't try to talk to me about it, because I'll unfollow you on Facebook and put you on ignore on this forum if you do.
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Love the thread title, very creative. :)


For me its this new mini-series about the Joan Crawford/Bette Davis feud that has been so uber-hyped. Looks like high production values, but dear and fluffy Marilyn Monroe I just don't CARE... rather spend the time cleaning my toenails.
 
PoS said:
LOL Ziggy Sobotka has my vote as the most annoying character on TV since AJ Soprano. I wanted him to die so badly lol. My favorite characters are McNulty, Lester, Stringer Bell and especially Omar- who is just a unique badass. That assassin from NY is pretty cool too. Just wait till you get to Season 3, which introduces Marlo Stansfield and his badass enforcers.
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Omar does have a presence about himself that is worth no small amount of envy.
 
PoS said:
LOL Ziggy Sobotka has my vote as the most annoying character on TV since AJ Soprano. I wanted him to die so badly lol. My favorite characters are McNulty, Lester, Stringer Bell and especially Omar- who is just a unique badass. That assassin from NY is pretty cool too. Just wait till you get to Season 3, which introduces Marlo Stansfield and his badass enforcers.
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I think I'm safe in assuming The Wire was Idris Elba's and Michael K. Williams' breakout roles. While this obviously applies to Elba, Williams has found no shortage of work since then. But Dominic West? I expected to see a lot larger roles for him since then.
 
Cardinal said:
I think I'm safe in assuming The Wire was Idris Elba's and Michael K. Williams' breakout roles. While this obviously applies to Elba, Williams has found no shortage of work since then. But Dominic West? I expected to see a lot larger roles for him since then.
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Idris Elba is British, and I think he was already a star in the UK before he landed a role in the Wire, but it does count as his breakout role in the US. Yeah, I wonder about Dominic West, he seems to be doing just bit parts these days.
 
PoS said:
Idris Elba is British, and I think he was already a star in the UK before he landed a role in the Wire, but it does count as his breakout role in the US. Yeah, I wonder about Dominic West, he seems to be doing just bit parts these days.
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His agent needs to be fed to crocodiles.
 
OK, so I ditched Iron Fist and now currently watching Fauda (TV Series 2015? ) - IMDb , its a Isreali TV show about an elite commando unit (maybe Unit 217 or Sayeret Matkal, not sure at this point) tasked with killing a Palestinian terrorist in the occupied territories. I've just watched the first episode and it shows the conflict from both sides. It seems to take a neutral stance and that's a good thing. This should keep me going until Black Sails wraps up so I can binge it.
 
We don't seem to have a "what are you watching" thread and I"m lazy. I'll fit this in.

Re-watching Season XI (2016) of Red Dwarf, an on-and-off-and-on air low-budget British comedy with a sci-fi setting. Some mid-seasons weren't quite as good, but it's back in form. Hilarious.




In the general orbit of various intelligently absurdist shows (Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, Fawlty Towers, Archer, South Park). It's just that the first couple episodes in the very first season (1988 or something) took a bit to get off the ground...
 
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