I am currently watching television programmes

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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby elfismiles » Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:03 am

Howdy and Welcome AGENT ORANGE COOPER - nice avatar! :wave:

I loved Deadwood and enjoyed John From Cincinnati ... there's a thread (or atleast comments) about JFC around here somewhere:

search.php?keywords=%22John+From+Cincinnati%22&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

EDIT: Well, I sure THOUGHT there had been more discussion of JFC here ... I recall being turned onto it by both a forum post showing a screenshot that someone interpreted as a warning (related to 911?) and a friend of mine who urged me to watch.

Agent Orange Cooper » 11 Nov 2015 09:46 wrote:Re: Luck, I thought the much-hyped decision of teaming Milch with Michael Mann was the show's undoing. There were massive ego clashes and they ultimately put Mann in complete control of direction and Milch was in control of the writing. So the direction and the writing were not on the same page. It made for a pretty disjointed viewing experience. They started to find a groove in the last couple episodes (that finale was top-notch) but then it was over. My conspiracy theory was that it was really cancelled because Milch & Mann weren't working well together and HBO refused to let Milch have full control as he had on Deadwood and John From Cincinnati. Or maybe it was just the horses. btw if you haven't seen those two shows, you really ought to!
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby guruilla » Tue Nov 17, 2015 1:59 pm

semper occultus » Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:54 am wrote:
KUAN » 08 Nov 2015 13:53 wrote:I'm also enjoying Detectorists - thanks semper by way of stefano.
Fargo, season one and now two are good



...half way through the second series now :D

they've maintained the standard and god knows you need something to raise a chuckle these days

I was going to bring this up: I didn't like the first season much & gave up after two or three episodes. Then when I heard such good things about season 2, I thought I'd give it a try and now I am really enjoying it. This then led to a troubling thought: what if all this TV watching has caused a slow, imperceptible erosion of my critical faculties? If I went back and re-watched season 1, would I enjoy it more now? :popcorn:

This was a disturbing thought. Does anyone else agree that Fargo 2 is way better than Fargo 1?
It is a lot easier to fool people than show them how they have been fooled.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby KUAN » Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:13 pm

I had to jog my memory banks to remember season one. I'd say it was excruciating, whereas season two was more slapstick.
I can only point to this, which I'd posted in the comedy thread:


Quote:
Developing a sudden liking for slapstick comedy such as Mr Bean or The Benny Hill Show, could herald the onset of dementia up to nine years before the illness is diagnosed.

According to University College London (UCL), a change in sense of humour can provide a "red flag" to family members and doctors, giving an early warning sign that neurodegenerative disease has begun.

Many family members notice behavioural and personality changes in their loved ones in the years before dementia is diagnosed, and researchers speculated that humour may be one of the most obvious alterations.

Friends or relations of 48 people with different forms of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's Disease were asked to rate their preference for different kinds of comedy and how it had changed over 15 years. The researchers found that people with both types of dementia preferred slapstick humour to more cerebral satirical comedy, such as Yes Minister, or absurdist comedy, such as that of Monty Python and The Goon Show, even if they had previously been fans of more complex comedy.


People with frontotemporal dementia also appeared to develop a darker sense of humour, taking delight in other people's misfortunes. And when they made jokes they tended to be graphic, smutty or childish in their subject, according to the study. Many stopped laughing altogether. The same was not true of Alzheimer's sufferers.

While Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia, frontotemporal dementia is the most common cause of dementia in the under-55s.

Friends and relations reported seeing the changes in sense of humour for both forms of dementia an average of at least nine years before the start of more typical dementia symptoms such as memory loss.

Dr Camilla Clark who led the research at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL, said: "As sense of humour defines us and is used to build relationships with those around us, changes in what we find funny has impacts far beyond picking a new favourite television show.

"These findings have implications for diagnosis - personality and behaviour changes should be prompts for further investigation, and clinicians themselves need to be more aware of these symptoms as a potential early sign of dementia.

"As well as providing clues to underlying brain changes, subtle differences in what we find funny could help differentiate between the different diseases that cause dementia.

"Humour could be a particularly sensitive way of detecting dementia because it puts demands on so many different aspects of brain function, such as puzzle solving, emotion and social awareness."

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

- Daily Telegraph UK

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Sorry, now I'm being mean :evilgrin
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:02 pm

guruilla » Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:59 pm wrote: Does anyone else agree that Fargo 2 is way better than Fargo 1?


Absolutely. Quite a stark difference between the two casts & scripts. Photography remains gorgeous.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby guruilla » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:41 am

Wombaticus Rex » Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:02 pm wrote:
guruilla » Tue Nov 17, 2015 12:59 pm wrote: Does anyone else agree that Fargo 2 is way better than Fargo 1?


Absolutely. Quite a stark difference between the two casts & scripts. Photography remains gorgeous.

:thumbsup (no "phew" smilie)

I see the "What is Comedy?" meme has spread to this thread now; lots of crossovers happening, or maybe I am just noticing it coz I am starting to read more threads than my own ones....?
It is a lot easier to fool people than show them how they have been fooled.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby widefidelity » Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:08 am

guruilla » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:59 am wrote:Does anyone else agree that Fargo 2 is way better than Fargo 1?


I'll also chime in and agree that the second season is operating at a different level than the original. By my recollection, the first season hung together sloppily, and was tonally inconsistent. Some excellent moments and striking images throughout, but without the vision and drive of this season.

I half-heartedly tried to watch an episode of CSI: Cyber a couple weeks ago while cooped up in a hotel room. Paint-by-the-numbers gibberish. Images of hackneyed depravity and likeable, competent authority figures strung together by narrative rote. The gulf between great TV and filler is truly shocking, but the tools now exist to make it easier than ever to retreat into a filter bubble of your own devising. So at least we have that.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby Agent Orange Cooper » Wed Nov 18, 2015 3:37 am

elfismiles » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:03 am wrote:Howdy and Welcome AGENT ORANGE COOPER - nice avatar! :wave:


Why thank you! :sun: I have been lurking a while, just dippin' my toes in.

I loved Deadwood and enjoyed John From Cincinnati ... there's a thread (or atleast comments) about JFC around here somewhere:

search.php?keywords=%22John+From+Cincinnati%22&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

EDIT: Well, I sure THOUGHT there had been more discussion of JFC here ... I recall being turned onto it by both a forum post showing a screenshot that someone interpreted as a warning (related to 911?) and a friend of mine who urged me to watch.


I actually wrote a brief little article about JFC being a so-called "9/11 truth" show—sort of a reductive way of putting it, but I originally posted it on medium.com and was hoping to attract some interest with a memorable, if simplistic, headline. There are definitely heavy 9/11 themes all over it, not the most cryptic of which are the crowd-scenes with huge INVESTIGATE 9/11 signs conspicuously placed.

I have a pet conspiracy theory that it was these more subversive elements in JFC (and perhaps the portrayal of George Hearst in season 3 of Deadwood) that were what put Milch on the outs with the Network—that and his buddy Chris Albrecht (head of HBO during their 'glory' years) being ousted via sexual assault allegations, the timing of which definitely didn't work out in Milch's favor. Every one of his pilots since has been rejected or just torpedoed like LUCK was.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby elfismiles » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:53 pm

Thanks for the link to your JFC article ... yeah those signs were what I was remembering someone pointing out. Just glanced at the article and saw the awesome image...

Image

Looking forward to reading what you wrote.

And again ... WELCOME.

And a big HOWDY to WideFidelity!

Agent Orange Cooper » 18 Nov 2015 07:37 wrote:
elfismiles » Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:03 am wrote:Howdy and Welcome AGENT ORANGE COOPER - nice avatar! :wave:


Why thank you! :sun: I have been lurking a while, just dippin' my toes in.

I loved Deadwood and enjoyed John From Cincinnati ... there's a thread (or atleast comments) about JFC around here somewhere:

search.php?keywords=%22John+From+Cincinnati%22&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

EDIT: Well, I sure THOUGHT there had been more discussion of JFC here ... I recall being turned onto it by both a forum post showing a screenshot that someone interpreted as a warning (related to 911?) and a friend of mine who urged me to watch.


I actually wrote a brief little article about JFC being a so-called "9/11 truth" show—sort of a reductive way of putting it, but I originally posted it on medium.com and was hoping to attract some interest with a memorable, if simplistic, headline. There are definitely heavy 9/11 themes all over it, not the most cryptic of which are the crowd-scenes with huge INVESTIGATE 9/11 signs conspicuously placed.

I have a pet conspiracy theory that it was these more subversive elements in JFC (and perhaps the portrayal of George Hearst in season 3 of Deadwood) that were what put Milch on the outs with the Network—that and his buddy Chris Albrecht (head of HBO during their 'glory' years) being ousted via sexual assault allegations, the timing of which definitely didn't work out in Milch's favor. Every one of his pilots since has been rejected or just torpedoed like LUCK was.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby Nordic » Sat Nov 28, 2015 2:50 am

I just started The Man in the High Tower. And I'm already hooked. Philip K Dick, really nice production values. So far (3.5 episodes in) it's working for me.

I have a guess as to where it's going and I'm looking forward to seeing if I'm right. If I am right, I'll actually be a little disappointed. I want it to be smarter than I am.
"He who wounds the ecosphere literally wounds God" -- Philip K. Dick
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby Grizzly » Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:42 am

The Man in the High Tower. Has always been one of my favourite books. I prolly wont be watching , but I will say, what if ... what if they really did win. And here we are. The silent Reich.



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“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.”

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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby elfismiles » Sat Nov 28, 2015 3:52 pm

Started watching tMitHC with friends Wednesday night. We're up to the 5th of 10 episodes.

Image

Lovin it! :yay :thumbsup
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby stefano » Sat Jan 09, 2016 5:17 pm

Just launched a torrent for The Man in the High Castle, hopeful about it.

The Affair is pretty good. Cool exploration of how people's versions of events differ, and a well acted essay about relationships and trust and the fragility of the ties that bind us to the people in our lives. I sometimes find it weird, though, how rich everyone is in US series. In The Affair a lot of the plot is about money, but the people who supposedly don't have it look pretty sorted. And just about every US series I watch is about lawyers and businesspeople or celebrities, always in these crazy houses.

Better Call Saul breaks that mould - just thought of it - that's very good. Very good camera work and colour editing (like Breaking Bad), and uncommonly good character development - even though I felt he resists the temptation of corruption to an extent that doesn't gel with his later character in Breaking Bad.
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby DrEvil » Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:05 pm

Has anyone seen Fortitude? It takes place in a fictional town on Svalbard (basically Longyearbyen with a new name) and has a slight Twin Peaks vibe going. Small town with lots of secrets and a murder mystery that goes.. uh.. sideways. I would recommend not reading any plot synopsis.

Also just watched Gomorra - La Serie (US title: Gomorrah), an Italian mafia drama which was pretty good.
"I only read American. I want my fantasy pure." - Dave
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby MinM » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:03 am

This might be interesting...

@io9: New Fox pilot asks whether tech billionaires should own the police http://on.io9.com/0bNGC48
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Re: I am currently watching television programmes

Postby DrEvil » Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:18 pm

Been watching 'The Expanse' lately. It's been described as Game of Thrones in space, which it is not, but it's still pretty good, surprisingly so for a Syfy show. It has an actual budget!
The books it's based on are very good (by James S.A. Corey, pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank (George R.R. Martin's assistant, which is probably where the GoT comparison came from)).

First episode is on youtube (only 480p though):


Also watched the first two episodes of the X-files reboot, which were pretty crap tbh, especially the ridiculous conspiracy rant in the first episode.
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